Inside the Chalk

Two lefties square off tonight on the south side when the Chicago White Sox send their ace, Chris Sale to the mound to face Matt Boyd and the Detroit Tigers. Sale has a league-leading 14 wins on the season, with a 3.18 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP. Matt Boyd enters tonight’s contest with a 1-2 record, an ERA of 4.91 and a WHIP of 1.31. Detroit is 1-8 in Boyd’s last 9 road starts and 2-5 in his last 7 starts on 4 days’ rest. Chris Sale has been dominant at home, going 8-2 in his 10 starts and he is 4-0 in his last 4 home starts against the Tigers. Doug Eddings is calling it today and Detroit is 1-4 in their last 5 with him behind the dish. The White Sox should end their 3 game skid tonight.

Today’s pick:

Chicago White Sox

Detroit’s sensational rookie, Michael Fulmer, takes the hill tonight on the south side when they play the second game of a 4 game set against the Chicago White Sox. Fulmer is 9-2 on the season, with an ERA of 2.13. Over his last 10 starts, he has an incredible ERA of 0.69 and that is not a typo. Detroit is 11-1 in Fulmer’s last 12 starts and 6-2 in their last 8 meetings with Chicago. Jacob Turner, the ex-Tiger and Detroit’s overall 9th round selection in the 2009 Draft, gets the nod for the White Sox tonight and he has not lived up to his billing. He is 0-1, with an inflated ERA of 18.02 and was drilled by the Angels on Sunday, yielding 8 runs on 7 hits in 4 innings of work. Chicago is 1-7 in their last 8 outings and probably have thrown the towel in for the 2016 campaign.

Tonight’s pick:

Detroit Tigers

The Pittsburgh Pirates are 9 back in the National League Central and cannot afford to lose a series to a bottom dweller like the Milwaukee Brewers. So tonight they’ll send the hard throwing southpaw Francisco Liriano to the hill to try to take the rubber game in this 3-game set. In Liriano’s last 3 outings, he is 1-1 with a 3.94 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. The Bucs are 6-1 in his last 7 starts when he has 5 day’s rest and 9-2 in his last 11 against a team with a losing record. The Brewers will counter with Matt Garza who has been struggling. Over his last 3 outings, he is 0-3 with a bloated ERA of 8.80 and a WHIP of 1.96. Milwaukee is 1-5 in Garza’s last 6 starts and 0-5 in his last 5 outings against a team with a winning record. The Brewers have had issues at PNC Park, posting a dismal record of 2-6 in their last 8 there. Gerry Davis is pulling the strings tonight and that favors the Pirates. They are 7-1 in their last 8 when he is behind the dish. I like Cutch and company tonight.

Tonight’s pick:

Pittsburgh Pirates

The Oakland Athletics took the first 2 games of a 3 game set against the Houston Astros and will try to go for the sweep today in an afternoon contest at the Coliseum. The Astros’ Doug Fister gets the start and he will face off against Oakland’s Daniel Mengden. Fister is 9-6 this year, with a 3.64 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP. Fister is 2-1 on the season against the Athletics, which includes a win at the Coliseum where he gave up only 1 run in 6-2/3 innings. Mengden is 1-4 on the season, with an ERA of 5.54 and a WHIP of 1.49. Mengden was nailed in his last outing against the Jays on Friday, giving up 7 runs on 6 hits with 3 walks in 3-1/3 innings. Houston is 6-1 in Fister’s last 7 road starts and 11-0 in their last 11 Wednesday games. Astros avoid the sweep.

Today’s pick:

Houston Astros

Two southpaws will face off tonight in Oakland when the Houston Astros send Dallas Keuchel to the mound to face Dillon Overton and the Athletics. Keuchel has found his groove, going 2-0 with a 2.37 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP over his last 3 outings. Houston is 5-0 in Keuchel’s last 5 starts and 7-1 in his last 8 against the Athletics. Dillon Overton was just called back up from Triple-A Nashville. In his last outing in the Big Leagues on June 30th, he was drilled by the San Francisco Giants, yielding 8 runs on 8 hits with 3 walks in 3 innings of work. Overton is 1-1 with an inflated ERA of 11.42 and a 2.31 WHIP in his last 3 Major League starts. The Astros can hit lefties, posting a 5-1 record in their last 6 games against them. Oakland, on the other hand, has struggled against southpaws at home, going 0-6 in their last 6 at the Coliseum. I like the Astros in this situation.

Tonight’s pick:

Houston Astros

The New York Yankees will try for 2 wins in a row when they host their American League East rival, the Baltimore Orioles, tonight in the Bronx. The Orioles are sending the 1-6 Kevin Gausman to the mound tonight and Baltimore is just 5-16 in his last 21 road starts. The Yanks counter with the 6-5 Ivan Nova. New York is 5-2 in Nova’s last 7 starts against the Orioles. Baltimore has struggled at the stadium, going 3-8 in their last 11 in New York. I like the Bombers in this one.

Tonight’s pick:

New York Yankees

The best team in baseball, the San Francisco Giants, will try to avoid a sweep against the San Diego Padres when they send Johnny Cueto to the hill today at Petco Park. Cueto has been dominant. He is 13-1 with a 2.47 ERA and WHIP of 1.00. The Giants are 16-2 in Cueto’s last 18 starts and 9-0 in his last 9 road starts. Pomeranz was supposed to get the nod today for the Padres but they offed him to Boston. Why, I don’t know… So Edwin Jackson will start for the Padres. He is 0-1 with a 5.91 ERA and a 1.78 WHIP. The Giants are 19-7 in their last 26 meetings with the Padres.

Today’s pick:

San Francisco Giants