Inside the Chalk

The Philadelphia Phillies cannot afford to go down 0-2 to the New York Mets today or they are in deep trouble because it’s off to Queens for the next one. Today at Citizens Bank Park, the Phillies are expected to give the nod to southpaw Christopher Sánchez. He is 11-9 with a 3.32 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP. In 17 starts before his home crowd Sánchez has been dealing, posting an ERA of only 2.21. The Mets are expected to send ex-Yankee Luis Severino to the hill. Severino is 11-7 with a 3.91 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP in the regular season. In the best of 5, the Phillies have to even the score today and they know it. Philadelphia is 54-28 at home and will come out swinging.
TODAY’S PICK: PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES

The New York Yankees will be well-rested, hopefully not too well-rested, when they host the Kansas City Royals tonight in game 1 of the ALDS. New York had the best record in the American League, at 94-68, and were 44-37 in the Bronx. Kansas City finished the regular season with a record of 86-76 and took care of business in the AL Wild Card series, sweeping Baltimore and allowing only one run over the two games. Tonight’s expected starters are Michael Wacha for the Royals and Geritt Cole for the Yankees. Wacha had a good regular season, posting a record of 13-8 with a 3.35 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. After a slow start due to injury, the reigning AL Cy Young winner Cole found his command. The Yankee ace finished the season with a record of 8-5, a 3.41 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP. In his last turn of the season against the Baltimore Orioles, Cole was throwing flames. He allowed only two hits and no runs over 6-2/3 innings, and the Yankees cruised to a 10-1 blowout. Cole has also had success in his career against Kansas City. He is 4-1 with a 2.77 ERA, 65 punchouts, and the Bombers were 5-2 this year against the Royals.
TONIGHT’S PICK: NEW YORK YANKEES

The Milwaukee Brewers were facing elimination yesterday as the New York Mets were up 3-1 but the Brewers stood their ground, rallied to a 5-3 comeback win, and forced a game 3 in the NL Wild Card series. Tonight, at American Family Field, the expected starters are Tobias Myers for Milwaukee and lefty José Quintana for New York. Both pitchers were in the zone going down the stretch. Quintana was 10-10 in the regular season with a 3.75 ERA, a 1.25 WHIP, and was 4-1 to finish the season with an ERA of only 0.74. It doesn’t get much better than that. Myers was 9-6 in the regular season with a 3.00 ERA, a 1.17 WHIP, and was 3-1 down the stretch with a 3.03 ERA. He last faced the Mets on Saturday in relief, where he pitched 4 scoreless innings, yielding only one hit, no runs, and the Brewers cruised to a 6-0 victory. Quintana has been dealing but the Brewers feast on left-handed starters. They are 7-1 in their last 8 against southie starters and 5-1 in their last 6 against them at home. The Brewers have also won 6 of the 8 meetings with the Mets this year and will have the home crowd behind them.
TONIGHT’S PICK: MILWAUKEE BREWERS

The San Diego Padres will host the Atlanta Braves in game 1 of the best of 3 tonight when they kick off the NL Wild Card series. The Braves had to play a doubleheader yesterday with the Mets and then had to hop a flight for San Diego so fatigue could be an issue for them. The Padres are a very dangerous team and should go deep into the playoffs. The Friars are expected to hand the ball to Michael King and he has been in the zone all year. The Yankees are probably wishing they had never let him go. King is 13-9 with a 2.95 ERA, 201 strikeouts, and San Diego is 6-0 in his last 6 starts in game 1 of a series. Atlanta has yet to announce a starter for tonight, but Brian Snitker said Chris Sale will likely not play in this series due to back spasms, which is good news for Padre fans. Let’s just hope he isn’t bluffing. The Padres were hot down the stretch, going 7-3 over the last 10, and were 4-3 this year against the Braves.
TONIGHT’S PICK: SAN DIEGO PADRES

The NL Wild Card picture is on the wall today when the New York Mets and the Atlanta Braves play a doubleheader at Truist Park. The scenario is this. If either the Braves or Mets sweep today, they are in and so are the Arizona Diamondbacks. If the Mets and Braves split, they both advance and the Snakes will be sent packing. In the second game of the doubleheader, the Braves are expected to have the front runner for the NL Cy Young on the hill, lefty Chris Sale. The Condor has been throwing flames all year. Sale is 18-3 with a 2.28 ERA, a 1.01 WHIP, and it gets better. Over his last 4 starts, Sale is a perfect 3-0 with an ERA of only 1.13. The Mets will more than likely give the nod to Luis Severino for game 2. He is 11-7 with a 3.91 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP, which are good numbers but in his last turn on Tuesday against the Atlanta Braves, Sevy was dinged for 4 runs over 4 innings of work and Atlanta went on to an easy 5-1 victory. Going into today’s games, the Braves are 45-34 at home, have won the last 3 meetings with the Mets, and have the best southpaw on the planet on the hill, Chris Sale. Need I say more?
TODAY’S PICK: ATLANTA BRAVES – GAME 2

It’s not a good time for the New York Mets to go on a losing streak but they have. With last night’s loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, they have now lost three straight, trail the Braves by one game in the Wild Card hunt, and are tied with the D-backs. Today they will wrap up their series with the Brewers and then tomorrow play a doubleheader with the Braves, so they are still in the thick of things. The Mets will try to get back on the rails today when they send southpaw David Peterson to the hill. Peterson has been delivering, with a record of 9-3, a 3.08 ERA, and a 1.33 WHIP. The expected starter for the Brewers is Colin Rea. He comes in at 12-5 with a 4.17 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP but has been shaky going down the stretch, which includes giving up 10 runs on 11 hits over 4 innings of work against the Giants back on September 11^th. The Mets need this one more than the Brewers and I expect they come out swinging today.
TODAY’S PICK: NEW YORK METS