Eric Schroeder
My free play for tonight is the Philadelphia Phillies over the sad, sad New York Mets.
So rather than send Matt Harvey to the hill, Mets GM Sandy Alderson, manager Terry Collins and pitching coach Dan Warthen all decided it would be better if he didn't, after a poor outing on Saturday against the Houston Astros - the league's best hitting team.
Perhaps they should give all the Mets a day off, as Collins summed up the decision to sit Harvey and an indecision as to who would pitch today with the definition of this disappointing campaign: "I haven’t the faintest idea just yet."
And, as of 8:15 a.m. pacific, I still haven't seen who is throwing.
It's that bad, for a deteriorating season that may see the Phillies with the worst record in baseball, but the Mets challenging the San Francisco Giants as truly the worst team in the bigs.
I'm taking the Phillies here, but really I'm siding against New York.
4* PHILLIES
Jack Brayman
My free play is on the late card, as I like the Colorado Rockies to push the San Francisco closer to a historic loss total. As a lifelong Los Angeles Dodgers fan, nothing except a World Series ring would make me happier, than to see the Giants experience one of their worst seasons ever.
The Giants need to close the season 9-12 to avoid losing 100 games for just the second time in franchise history, dating back to 1883. In 1985 the Giants went 62-100.
The lowly Giants are 3-17-3 in road series this season, and come into this game with a National League-worst 22-49 road record.
I won't bother listing pitchers, but I'm confident with Colorado's Kyle Freeman on the hill, as the Rockies are 15-10 when he starts. The rookie is 2-1 with a 2.37 ERA in three starts against the Giants this season, including 2-0 at Coors Field.
Won't matter, though, as any pitcher will do. Take the Rockies.
5* ROCKIES
JOHN MARTIN
Diamondbacks vs. Dodgers
Play: Diamondbacks +160
I've been backing the Diamondbacks and I will continue doing so at a great price again today. The Diamondbacks are now 13-0 in their last 13 games overall. The Dodgers have packed it in, going 1-10 in their last 11 games overall. It's easy to understand considering they have a huge lead in the NL West and for home-field advantage throughout. Taijuan Walker was a great addition to the rotation this year. He is 8-7 with a 3.42 ERA in 23 starts, 5-4 with a 2.81 ERA in 13 road starts and 2-0 with a 0.54 ERA in his last three outings. Kenta Maeda is 12-6 with a 4.29 ERA in 22 starts for the Dodgers, but just 1-2 with a 7.20 ERA in his last three starts. He faced the Diamondbacks in his last outing on August 31st where he gave up 7 earned runs in 3 innings of a 1-8 loss.
Bruce Marshall
Rangers at Braves
Pick: Rangers
Will give Texas a shot in the nightcap of this DH tonight in Atlanta. The Rangers continue to hang in the AL wild card race and can expect Cole Hamels to begin bearing down in September after a couple of recent shaky starts. The Braves have tailed off over the past month and tonight's starter Julio Teheran has been erratic this season with a 4.75 ERA.
The Prez
Cleveland at Chicago
Play: Under 8.5
The American League Central first place Cleveland Indians square off against the AL Central last place Chicago White Sox on Wednesday night. First pitch is scheduled for 8:10 p.m. ET at Guaranteed Rate Field with the Tribe's Carlos Carrasco (13-6, 3.67 ERA) opposing the Pale Sox Reynaldo Lopez (0-2, 6.06).
The Cleveland Indians are in fine form and the primary reason for their current 13-game winning streak is the health of their rotation and bullpen. While they are looking to tie a franchise mark of 14 straight victories set by last season's team skipper Terry F. isn't going to focus on a win as much as he is resting some of his starters and managing the game to the strength of his team which is his pitching staff.
Carrasco has allowed fewer than two runs in four of his last five starts and is 2-0 with a 1.33 ERA in three starts against the White Sox this season. The Indians' right-hander is off a solid effort against the Detroit Tigers in which he surrendered one run over seven innings with no walks and eight strikeouts. Carrasco sports a 3.67 ERA, has an elite 13 percent swinging strike rate and is a nasty matchup for the aggressive White Sox lineup due to his 10.02 K/9 rate. He has pitched to his traditional numbers, his 3.67 ERA, with his 3.32 FIP, meaning he is in line to threaten 20 wins by the end of the regular season slate.
Lopez is off a loss to the Tampa Rays but threw a quality outing allowing three runs and five hits over six innings. The young prospect has punched out 19 across 16 1/3 innings of work and optimism is high for the former Washington Nationals right-hander. Lopez was 5-5 with 61 strikeouts in 60 1/3 frames in 11 appearances and six starts with Washington last season.
Carrasco has owned this current Chicago lineup and Lopez has an advantage the first two times through the Cleveland lineup tonight due the Tribe not having a lengthy book on his arsenal, which includes an elite change up that has induced a near 33 percent swing and miss ratio.
OC Dooley
Indians / White Sox Over 8
For those into UMPIRE statistics you will see at the bottom of the analysis this is an excellent percentage wager. The OFFENSE of the White Sox is getting their "second" lift this week as rookie outfielder Nicky Delmonico is return from an 11-day stint on the disabled list where he was dealing with a wrist sprain. In his initial 22 games at the major league level Delmonico had an outstanding batting average (.307) to go along with his SIX HOMER count. The week began with the White Sox activating Yohan Monada from the disabled list and he is baseball NUMBER ONE rated minor league prospect. I am aware that Cleveland's Carlos Carrasco has owned Chicago this season (1.33 ERA) but tonight marks the FOURTH time that the White Sox are facing the hurler from a "divisional" foe. The Palehose go with Reynaldo Lopez who spent most of the campaign at the Triple-A level and already has had a major league stint on the disabled list. The UMPIRE tonight is Manny Gonzalez and for whatever the reason his games have gone a staggering 17-5 OVER the total