Inside the Chalk

Danny Salazar takes the hill for the Cleveland Indians today as they try to get one back from the visiting Baltimore Orioles. Salazar over his last 3 has an ERA of 3.24 and a WHIP of 1.62 and the Indians are 6-1 in his last 7 home starts. Ubaldo Jimenez gets the nod for the Orioles and over his last 3 he has struggled, posting an ERA of 9.60 and a WHIP of 2.20. The Orioles are 0-4 in his last 4 road starts. Wolf is behind the dish and Cleveland is 7-3 in his last 10 calling it.

Today’s pick:

Cleveland Indians

The Minnesota Twins will have their word cut out for them when they take their 4-19 road record to Safeco Field to take on the King, Felix Hernandez, and the Seattle Mariners. The King has owned the Twins, posting a lifetime ERA of just 1.93 against them and he shut them out this year on April 25th. The Mariners’ Robbie Cano is on fire. He is riding a 4-game hitting streak where he is 6-17, with 2 homers 6 RBIs and batting 3.53. The kid who is back from AAA Rochester, Pat Dean, takes the hill for the Twins. In his 14 innings in the Bigs, he is 0-1 with an ERA of 3.86 and a WHIP of 1.57 in 14 innings of work. The number is high but the Mariners should get this one.

Today’s pick:

Seattle Mariners

The Atlanta Braves are 2-19 at home this year but 11 of those losses are by less than 3 runs. That tradition has continued in their 3 game series with Milwaukee losing last night 2-3 in extras and 2-1 on Tuesday. Matt Wisler will try to end that trend when he takes the hill tonight for Atlanta. Wisler has been sharp over his last 3 outings, posting an ERA of 2.45 and a WHIP of 1.14. Wily Peralta goes for the Brewers and he has struggled. Over his last 3 starts, he has an ERA of 6.06 and a WHIP of 1.90. Milwaukee is 1-4 in Peralta’s last 5 road starts and 6-15 in their last 21 at Turner Field. Taking the home team here.

Tonight’s pick:

Atlanta Braves

The Cincinnati Reds have had few bright spots this year but Daniel Straily is one. He takes the hill tonight at Chavez Ravine to face the lefty Scott Kazmir and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Straily is 2-1 on the season with an ERA of 2.85 and a WHIP of 1.20. The Dodgers’ Kazmir is 3-3 on the season with an ERA of 5.23 and a WHIP of 1.34, and the Dodgers are just 2-6 in his last 8 starts. Adrian Gonzalez has been in a funk at Dodgers Stadium, batting a rare .177. Pat Hoberg is calling the game behind the dish and road teams are 8-2 in his last 10 Wednesday games. Hey this one is worth a shot on Cincinnati at +155.

Tonight’s pick:

Cincinnati Reds

Stephen Strasburg will try to end the New York Mets 4 game winning streak when he takes the mound tonight at Nationals Park. Strasburg has been dominant so far in 2016. He has yet to lose a game, posting a 7-0 record with an ERA of 2.80 and a WHIP of 1.08. Last Thursday he faced Matt Harvey and the Mets in Queens. He was electric, striking out 10, and yielding just 1 run on 6 hits. Harvey on the other hand didn’t fare as well and the Nationals nailed him. Harvey lasted only 2-2/3 innings, giving up 9 runs on 8 hits and 2 walks. Matt Harvey is 3-6 on the season and has an ERA of 5.77 with a WHIP of 2.80. The number is high, but with the Nationals going 11-1 in Strasburg’s last 12 home starts, I’m laying the juice and taking Washington.

Tonight’s pick:

Washington Nationals

After getting swept by the Yankees at home over the weekend, the Oakland Athletics will try and right the ship when they travel to Safeco Field tonight to take on the Seattle Mariners. The lefty Rich Hill takes the mound for Oakland. Over his last 3 outings he is 3-0 with an ERA of 2.55 and a WHIP of 0.96. Hill faced Seattle on April 9th and in 6 innings of work he struck out 10 and gave up only 1 run. Taijuan Walker gets the nod tonight for the Mariners. Over his last 3 games he has an ERA of 5.68, a WHIP of 1.34 and has yielded 5 homers in 12-2/3 innings. Oakland is 5-0 in Hill’s last 5 road starts and they are 5-1 in their last 6 at Safeco Field. Siding with Oakland tonight who is a slight underdog.

Tonight’s pick:

Oakland Athletics

The Chicago Cubs are a force but so are the San Francisco Giants. San Fran is 9-1 in their last 10 games and Mad Bum, who takes the hill tonight for the Giants has been lights out. The Giants are 5-0 in his last 5 starts and 10-1 in his last 11 against the National League Central. Bumgarner over his last 3 starts is 2-0 with an ERA of 1.57 and a WHIP of 0.87. Kyle Hendricks takes the hill for the Cubs. Over his last 3, he is 1-1 with an ERA of 3.00 and a WHIP of 1.00.

Tonight’s pick:

San Francisco Giants