Inside the Chalk

The Philadelphia Phillies snapped their 4-game losing streak last night and they will win again today. Zack Wheeler is expected on the hill for the Phillies. He is 10-2 with a 2.53 ERA and a WHIP of only 0.93. Forget about it.
TODAY’S PICK: PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES

After last night’s 6-4 loss to the Baltimore Orioles at Birdland, the Philadelphia Phillies have now lost 4 straight but will get back in the Win column tonight when they play the second game of their 3-game set with the Orioles. The Phillies are expected to have All-Star Cristopher Sánchez on the hill and his numbers speak for themself. He is 13-4 with a 2.73 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. The Orioles are expected to counter with Shane Baz. He is 4-9 with a 3.98 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. Harper and company are due and will light this guy up.
TONIGHT’S PICK: PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES

The Tampa Bay Rays will be hosting the Chicago White Sox tonight in St. Pete. The Rays own the best home record in baseball, at 40-16. They are expected to have Nick Martinez on the hill and he has been throwing flames. Martinez is 10-2 with a 2.46 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP. Enough said.
TONIGHT’S PICK: TAMPA BAY RAYS

The Boston Red Sox will go for a series win when they wrap up their 4-game set tonight with the Athletics in Sac. Boston is expected to have their ace Sonny Gray on the hill. Gray is in the running for the AL Cy Young with some impressive numbers. He is 12-2 with a 2.78 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP over 106.2 innings of work. The Red Sox are 7-0 in his last 7 road starts and they are an impressive 31-22 away from Fenway. Boston should have success against the Athletics’ expected starter Mason Barrett. He is 1-1 with a 4.74 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP over just 24.2 innings of work. The Athletics are clunkers when they take the field at Sutter Health Park, with a record of 21-32, and will have their hands full tonight with surging the Red Sox.
TONIGHT’S PICK: BOSTON RED SOX

The New York Mets and the Atlanta Braves will play a day/night double-header Wednesday in Queens. More often than not teams split double-headers so who ever loses Game 1 take them in Game 2.
TONIGHT’S PICK: GAME 1 LOSER (ATLANTA BRAVES)

With last night’s 8-5 loss to the Baltimore Orioles at Comerica Park, the Detroit Tigers have lost 3 straight but they should get back on the rails tonight. In Game 2 of their 3-game set, the Tigers are expected to lean on Troy Melton to throw strikes, and he has been in the zone. Melton is 5-1 with an ERA of only 1.95 and a 0.95 WHIP. He last faced Baltimore back on May 24th and he delivered, allowing just 2 hits, 1 run over 5-2/3 frames and Detroit cruised to a 4-1 victory. On the other side, the Orioles are expected to give the nod to Dean Kremer and he has struggled. Kremer is 1-3 with a 5.06 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. He was lit up in his last turn against the Boston Red Sox, giving up 6 runs on 8 hits and Boston went on to a 6-3 victory. He is also 0-3 in his career against Detroit with a bloated ERA of 7.13. If AJ Hinch lets Melton go deep into the game, which is a rarity these days, the Tigers should come out on top.
TONIGHT’S PICK: DETROIT TIGERS

The Philadelphia Phillies will head south tonight to open a 3-game set with the Miami Marlins. The Marlins have lost 12 straight games and after tonight it could very well be 13. The Phillies are expected to send their ace to the hill, Zack Wheeler, and he is not in the habit of losing. Wheeler is 10-2 with an ERA of only 2.16 and a barely visible WHIP of 0.88. In his career he has owned the Marlins, with a record of 14-4 and a 2.50 ERA. The Marlins are expected to hand the ball to Tyler Phillips. He is 2-5 with a 3.52 ERA, a 1.39 WHIP, and in his career against the Phillies he is 0-1 with a 5.93 ERA. Philadelphia is coming off a 11-4 romp over the New York Yankees and is 5-2 this year against Miami.
TONIGHT’S PICK: PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES