Inside the Chalk

The Tampa Bay Rays will go for a sweep of the San Francisco Giants when they wrap up their 3-game set this afternoon at the Trop. Over the first two games, the Rays have outscored the Giants 8-1. The Giants have now lost 5 straight, are a dismal 6-11 on the road, and dead last in the league in scoring, averaging just 3.2 runs per game. Today they are expected to face Steven Matz, who is 4-1 with a 4.31 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP. Tyler Mahle is expected on the bump for the Giants and the Rays (who are averaging 4.5 runs per game) should be able to put up some runs against the right-hander. Mahle is 1-4 with an elevated ERA of 5.87 and a 1.63 WHIP. Tampa is hot, winning 8 of their last 9. They are 10-4 at home and have won 6 straight in St. Pete, outscoring their opponent 30-7 over that span.
TODAY’S PICK: TAMPA BAY RAYS

The Chicago Cubs and the Arizona Diamondbacks will play the middle game of their 3-game set this afternoon at Wrigley. The Cubs took game one last night, 6-5, and are smoking hot. They have now won 3 straight, 9 in a row on the north side, and 13 of their last 16 overall. Chicago is expected to give the nod to Shota Imanaga and he has great numbers. The southpaw is 2-2 with a 2.88 ERA and a WHIP of just 0.87. Right-hander Ryne Nelson is expected on the hill for the D-backs and he has been getting lit up. Nelson is 1-2 with a 7.71 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP which is not good. The Cubs have the edge in runs scored, runs allowed, run differential, batting average, hits, homers, and are the side to consider.
TODAY’S PICK: CHICAGO CUBS

The Philadelphia Phillies fired their manager Rob Thomson and promoted Donny Baseball as the new skipper, and it’s already paying dividends. The Phillies shut out the San Francisco Giants last night, 7-0, in Mattingly’s debut. Tonight in the middle game of their 3-game set at Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia is expected to turn to southpaw Cristopher Sánchez to throw strikes. Sánchez is 2-2 with a 2.94 ERA, a 1.60 WHIP, and the Giants are 0-5 in their last 5 road games against a left-handed starter. The Phillies are loaded with talent and will turn this season around. That is a given. 
TONIGHT’S PICK: PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES

The New York Yankees will be in Texas tonight to take on the Rangers and they will take care of business. Max Fried is expected on the hill for New York and when he gets the nod good things happen. They win. The Yankees’ southpaw is 3-1 with a 2.40 ERA and a WHIP of only 0.77. Enough said.  
TONIGHT’S PICK: NEW YORK YANKEES