Inside the Chalk

The AL East leading 95-57 Baltimore Orioles are coming off a series win against the Houston Astros and will now set their sights on the 72-81 Cleveland Guardians when the two clubs open a 4-game set tonight at Progressive Field. The Orioles are an impressive 50-27 on the road and are expected to have Grayson Rodriguez toeing the rubber. Rodriguez is 6-4 with a 4.53 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP, but it gets better. Over his last 3 turns, he is 2-1 with an ERA of only 1.96, a 1.25 WHIP, and in his last outing against the Tampa Bay Rays he tossed 8 scoreless innings and the O’s went on to an 8-0 shutout win. Baltimore is 6-0 in their last 6 road games against a team with a losing record and 8-0 in Rodriguez’s last 8 starts against a team with a losing record. Cleveland has yet to announce a starter for tonight’s matchup but whoever it is shouldn’t matter. Baltimore is the real deal!
TONIGHT’S PICK: BALTIMORE ORIOLES

The Baltimore Orioles are starting to feel the heat from the 93-59 Tampa Bay Rays. With last night’s 6-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels at the Trop, the Rays are just 2½ games back of the O’s for the lead in the AL East. Tampa will go for their 5th straight win in St. Pete when the Angels and Rays play the middle game of their 3-game set. The 68-83 Angels have lost 6 straight and cannot wait for this disastrous season to end. LA is expected to send Reid Detmers to the hill. He comes in at 3-10 with a 4.77 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP. Tampa is expected to have Aaron Civale toeing the rubber. Civale is 7-3 with a 3.06 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. The Rays have everything to play for and the Angels don’t. LA is without superstars Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani, and they are just 2-8 in the last 10 meetings with Tampa. The Rays won’t come cheap but are still worth considering.
TONIGHT’S PICK: TAMPA BAY RAYS

With last night’s 4-2 loss to the 75-76 Boston Red Sox in Arlington, the 82-68 Texas Rangers have now lost 4 straight and will turn to Nathan Eovaldi to get them back on the rails tonight in the second game of their 3-game set. The ex-Red Sox pitcher is 11-4 with a 2.96 ERA, a 1.09 WHIP, and is 3-0 against his old club with an ERA of 4.78. Tanner Houck is expected to get the nod for Boston. He is 5-9 with a 4.94 ERA, a 1.33 WHIP, and the Red Sox are 0-6 in his last 6 turns as a road underdog. Texas sits 1½ games back of Houston for the lead in the AL West and if they want to catch them they had better get their act together, and they will. The Rangers have Josh Jung back in the lineup, as well as Adolis García, which will get their lethargic offense clicking again.
TONIGHT’S PICK: TEXAS RANGERS

After being swept at home by the Los Angeles Dodgers, the 81-68 Seattle Mariners will look to get back on track when they visit the 46-103 Oakland Athletics tonight to open a 3-game set. Seattle is in a heated battle with Texas and Toronto for the last two wild card spots and they need to take care of business against the worst team in baseball. Oakland native Bryan Woo is expected to be on the hill for the Mariners and he will be extra motivated tonight to be at his best for the many friends and family that will be in attendance. Woo is 3-4 with a 4.16 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP but has been throwing flames of late. In his last turn against the Angels, Woo allowed just 4 hits and 0 runs over 5-2/3 innings, and the Mariners went on to an 8-0 victory. In his last start against the Athletics on August 28th, he allowed just 3 hits and 0 runs over 6 innings of work, and Seattle went on to a 7-0 shutout win. The A’s are expected to send J.P. Spears to the bump. Spears is 5-11 with a 4.45 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. The Mariners have dominated the Athletics this year. Seattle is 9-1 over the last 10 meetings, outscoring Oakland 52-18 over that span.
TONIGHT’S PICK: SEATTLE MARINERS

The 78-71 Minnesota Twins and the 57-92 Chicago White Sox will wrap up their 4-game set today in a matinée on the south side. Today’s probable starters are Sonny Gray for the Twins and Dylan Cease for the White Sox. Gray is 7-7 with an ERA of only 2.96 and a 1.19 WHIP. Cease is also 7-7 but has a 4.87 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP. Despite yesterday’s 7-6 loss, Minnesota holds a 2-1 lead in the series. They have outscored Chicago 26-11 over the first 3 games and are 6-1 in the last 7 meetings.
TODAY’S PICK: MINNESOTA TWINS

The Houston Astros have a slim lead over the Texas Rangers and the Seattle Mariners for the top spot in the AL West, and if they want to keep it, they cannot afford to lose to bottom feeders like the Kansas City Royals and they know it. After losing Game 1 of their 3-game set to the Royals last night, 4-2, at the K, I expect Dusty Baker will have his boys ready and they bounce back tonight. The expected starter for the Stros is the rookie J.P. France and he has been dealing. France is 11-5 with a 3.61 ERA, a 1.32 WHIP, and in his last turn against a potent San Diego offense he allowed just 1 run on 4 hits over 6 innings and Houston went on to a 12-2 romp. On the flip side, KC is expected to send leftie Cole Ragans to the bump. Ragans’ numbers are good at 6-4, with a 3.01 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP but he is 0-2 in his career against Houston with a 5.56 ERA. The Astros are 6-0 in France’s last 6 starts against a team with a losing record, 5-0 in his last 5 road starts,10-2 in his last 12 starts overall and have the edge in runs per game, run differential, batting average, hits, home runs, and so on.
TONIGHT’S PICK: HOUSTON ASTROS

Yesterday’s game between the San Francisco Giants and the Colorado Rockies was postponed. Refer to yesterday’s blog for tonight’s matchup because nothing has changed.
TONIGHT’S PICK: SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS