Inside the Chalk

The Colorado Rockies blanked the San Diego Padres, 3-0, yesterday at Petco Park but they are still a pathetic 8-34 away from Coors Field. Today the two teams will wrap up their series before heading into the All-Star break and expect the outcome to be different. Even with yesterday’s win, the Rockies are still just 1-9 in their last 10 at Petco and will have Jon Gray on the hill. Gray is 5-6 with a 4.05 ERA and the Rocks are 0-6 in his last 6 road starts. The Padres, who are 33-18 at home, will counter with the young upstart Ryan Weathers. Weathers, who comes from good stock, is 4-2 with a 3.02 ERA and the Padres are 4-0 in his last 4 home starts. The Friars can smack the ball and should get to Gray this afternoon.
TODAY’S PICK: SAN DIEGO PADRES

The Seattle Mariners are currently a slight dog going into tonight’s game #2 with the Los Angele Angels, despite cruising to a 7-3 victory last night at T-Mobile. The Halos are just 3-7 in their last 10 road games and 0-5 in their last 5 against the AL West. Lefty Patrick Sandoval is expected to take the hill for LA and he has decent numbers. Sandoval is 2-2 with a 3.86 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP but took the loss in his last outing against the Mariners back on June 6th. The Mariners are 28-19 at home and are expected to turn to Chris Flexen to throw strikes. Flexen is 7-3 with a 3.80 ERA. a 1.25 WHIP, and has delivered this year at home, with a record of 5-2 and a nasty ERA of 1.99. The Mariners are 7-3 in their last 10 meetings with the Angels and 9-1 in their last 10 against a left-handed starter.
TONIGHT’S PICK: SEATTLE MARINERS

The New York Mets Taijuan Walker doesn’t get the publicity that the other top hurlers get but he should, and with weather permitting, he is expected to get the nod tonight when New York hosts the Pittsburgh Pirates in a 3-game set at Citi Field. Walker has nasty stuff and is 7-3 with an ERA of just 2.44 and a 1.01 WHIP. Pittsburgh is just 13-29 on the road and expected starter J.T. Brubaker had better bring his A-game tonight against a Mets team that is 26-12 in Queens. Brubaker’s numbers are not great, with a record of 4-8, a 4.09 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. The Mets are 6-1 in the last 7 meetings with the Pirates and 4-1 in their last 5 against them at Citi Field. If you don’t mind laying the heavy juice, New York is worth considering.
TONIGHT’S PICK: NEW YORK METS

The Detroit Tigers are hot, winning 4 of their last 5, and will travel to Minneapolis tonight to open a 4-game set with the struggling Minnesota Twins. Not only are the Tigers as a whole on a roll, so is their expected starter, the young southpaw, Tarik Skubal, who is 4-0 over his last 7 starts with a 3.40 ERA. On the other side, Minnesota is expected to turn to lefty J.A. Happ to throw strikes and he has seen better days. Happ is 4-4 with a 6.09 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP. The Twins have lost 7 of their last 9 and are just 1-5 in their last 6 home games against a left-handed starter. Tigers stay hot.
TONIGHT’S PICK: DETROIT TIGERS

The Toronto Blue Jays have fared well against the Baltimore Orioles, winning 36 of the last 53 meetings overall, and despite last night’s loss to the O’s, the Jays are 8-2 in their last 10 at Camden Yards. Matt Harvey, the expected starter for the Orioles, has not performed well this year, at 3-9 with a 7.34 ERA, and is 0-1 in 2021 against the Blue Jays, with a 6.30 ERA. On the flip side, the Jays expected starter, Hyun-jin Ryu, has. He is 7-5 with a 3.65 ERA and is 2-0 this year against the Orioles, with a 3.69 ERA. Toronto has lost their last two but get back on track tonight in Baltimore.
TONIGHT’S PICK: TORONTO BLUE JAYS

The Houston Astros are coming off an impressive 4-game sweep of the Cleveland Indians in Cleveland and will return home tonight to Minute Maid Park to face their AL West foe, the Oakland Athletics. Two flamethrowers are expected to oppose each other tonight with Chris Bassitt getting the nod for Oakland and Framber Valdez for Houston. Bassitt is an impressive 9-2 with a 3.04 ERA but the lefty Valdez is a little bit better, at 5-1 with an ERA of only 2.18. The Astros get it done at home, with a mark of 26-16, and have won 7 of the 10 meetings with the Athletics this year, including the last two in Oakland.
TONIGHT’S PICK: HOUSTON ASTROS