Inside the Chalk

The Cleveland Indians and the Chicago White Sox will open a 3-game series at Progressive Field tonight. Two flame throwers will face off in game 1 with the lefty, José Quintana pitching for the Sox and Corey Kluber for the Indians. Quintana, over his last 3 outings is 1-0 with a 2.11 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP. Over Kluber’s last 3 outings, he is 3-0 with a 1.71 ERA and a WHIP of just 0.90. Quintana has trouble with the AL Central and the White Sox are just 2-8 in his last 10 starts. Chicago has struggled against Cleveland. They are 0-4 in their last 4 in Cleveland and 0-6 in their 6 meetings. Kluber has been lights out at home, winning his last 5 starts. Indians should get this one.

Today’s pick:

Cleveland Indians

The Texas Rangers were held scoreless over the weekend and will try to bounce back tonight when they open a 3-game home set against the Oakland Athletics. The A’s Ross Detwiler will face his old team tonight when he makes his second start of the season. Detwiler was sharp in his last outing and is 1-0, with an ERA of 2.13, and a WHIP of 1.03. Martin Perez gets the nod for the Rangers and has been tough at home, with a 6-1 record and an ERA of 2.47. Oakland has struggled away from the Coliseum, going 24-31 and they are 5-11 in their last 16 overall. The Rangers bats should get back on track tonight.

Tonight’s pick:

Texas Rangers

The Colorado Rockies will try to avoid a sweep when they send Tyler Chatwood to the hill to face Adam Morgan and the Philadelphia Phillies. Chatwood has been dominant on the road. The Rockies are 9-1 in his last 10 road starts and over his last 3 outings, he is 1-1 with an ERA of a 3.20 and a WHIP of 1.22. The Phillies’ Adam Morgan is 0-2 over his last 3 starts, with a bloated ERA of 8.79 and a WHIP of 2.16, and the Phillies are 0-5 in his last 5 home starts. Rockies avoid the sweep today.

Today’s pick:

Colorado Rockies

The Baltimore Orioles are on the verge of being swept by the Oakland Athletics, losing the first 3 of a 4-game set at the Coliseum. The Orioles’ bats have gone silent, with All-Star Mark Trumbo going 0-11 in the series, and catcher Matt Wieters is just 1-10. The Orioles’ bats might wake up today when they face Andrew Triggs. Triggs is making his second start of the season and is 0-0, with a 5.35 ERA and opponents are batting .297 against him. Chris Tillman gets the nod for the Birds and he is 14-4 on the season, with a 3.50 ERA. Tillman is 3-0 with a 2.58 ERA in 6 career starts against Oakland, and last faced them on May 8th and notched a victory. Baltimore should avoid the sweep today.

Today’s pick:

Baltimore Orioles

If the New York Mets want to stay in the playoff hunt, they cannot afford to lose a home series to a bottom dweller like the Arizona Diamondbacks. Tonight they will try to even the score when they send the veteran Bartolo Colón to the mound. Colón is 10-6 on the season, with an ERA of 3.46 and was sharp in his last outing, holding the Yankees to 1 run in 6-2/3 innings. Robbie Ray gets the start for Arizona. Ray is 5-11 with an ERA of 4.83 and has lost his last 3 starts. The Diamondbacks are just 3-14 in Ray’s last 17 road starts and 1-5 in their last 6 in Queens. Even with all of their injuries, New York should get to Robbie Ray.

Tonight’s pick:

New York Mets