Inside the Chalk

The Toronto Blue Jays will send Marco Estrada to the hill tonight at the Coliseum to face Jesse Hahn and the Oakland Athletics. Over Estrada’s last 3 starts, he is 2-1, with an ERA of 4.67, a 1.27 WHIP, and the Jays are 4-0 in his last 4 starts against the American League West. Oakland will send Jesse Hahn to the rubber. Hahn is 0-2 over his last 3, with an ERA of 5.79, a WHIP of 1.50, and Oakland is 1-5 in his last 6 starts. Toronto is just the better team here and their heavy bats should get to Hahn tonight.

Tonight’s Pick:

Toronto Blue Jays

The St. Louis Cardinals were swept over the weekend by the Chicago Cubs but I like their chances for a victory today when they open a 4-game set at Great American Ball Park against the Cincinnati Reds. The Cards will send Carlos Martínez to the rubber today. Martínez has been solid, with a record of 4-4, a 3.08 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. The Reds will counter with Asher Wojciechowski and he is 1-0, with a 5.62 ERA, a 1.00 WHIP, and in his last outing against Toronto, he gave up 4 runs on 4 hits with 3 homers, in 4 innings of work. Cincinnati is 1-5 in their last 6 overall and St. Louis is 5-1 in Martínez last 6 starts against the Reds.

Today’s pick:

St. Louis Cardinals

There will be a lopsided pitching duel today at Camden Yards when the Boston Red Sox send the flamethrowing Chris Sale to the hill to face the Baltimore Orioles’ Chris Tillman. The southpaw Sale is 6-2, with an ERA of 2.77, a 0.91 WHIP, and the Red Sox are 5-1 in his last 6 starts. Tillman is 1-2, with an ERA of 5.87, a 1.87 WHIP, and the Orioles are 2-6 in his last 8 home starts. Watch your back, Machado.

Today’s pick:

Boston Red Sox

The Cleveland Indians and the Kansas City Royals opened a 3-game set yesterday at Kauffman Stadium with the Royals taking the opener 4-0. I like the Indians chances today to even the score. The Indians will start Carlos Carrasco and the Royals will counter with Jason Hammel. Carrasco has been delivering, with a record of 5-2, a 2.89 ERA, a 0.92 WHIP, and the Indians are 7-1 in his last 8 starts in Kansas City. Hammel has been getting lit up. He is 1-6, with an ERA of 6.18 and a 1.71 WHIP. The Royals are 0-4 in his last 4 starts and 1-5 in his last 6 home starts. In the last 15 games between these two teams, Cleveland has won 11 of them. Edge Indians.

Today’s pick:

Cleveland Indians

The Washington Nationals’ Bryce Harper appealed his 4-game suspension and is expected to be in the lineup tonight when the Nationals go for a 3-game sweep of the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park. Max Scherzer, who was dominant in his last outing, striking out 13 against San Diego, takes the hill for Washington. Scherzer is 5-3, with a 2.77 ERA, a WHIP of 0.94, and Washington is 20-7 in his last 27 road starts. Matt Cain gets the call for the Giants. Cain has been unreliable, losing his last 2 starts and is 3-3, with an ERA of 4.45 and a 1.50 WHIP. Washington has won 4 of the last 5 meetings and I like their chances tonight.

Tonight’s pick:

Washington Nationals

The Red Sox’ Chris Sale will face his old team for the first time when Boston and Chicago play the second game of a 3-game set. Sale is having another stellar year, with a record of 5-2, a 2.34 ERA, a WHIP of 0.81 and leads the majors with 101 strikeouts. In the southpaw’s career at Guaranteed Rate Field, he is 42-24 with a 3.01 ERA. José Quintana gets the nod for the White Sox. Quintana is off to a slow start. He is 2-6, with an ERA of 4.82, a 1.30 WHIP and was drilled in his last outing when Arizona nailed him for 8 runs on 8 hits, in 4-1/3 innings. Boston lost its last 2 games but the flamethrower Sale should get them back on track.

Tonight’s pick:

Boston Red Sox