MLB Weekend Cheat Sheet
By: Marc Lawrence
It's suddenly September and with it MLB call-ups as rosters expand to 40-man teams. It's also the beginning of the stretch drive for playoff positioning in the pennant races.
With that, let's take a look into the top four series on tap on the basepaths this weekend. Remember, all results are within the series and all pitcher records are 'team starts' (the team's record in games in which the pitcher starts) versus this opponent.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Philadelphia Phillies at Houston Astros
Most Recent Series Result: Phillies 5-3 last 8 games
Most Recent Series Result at the Site: Astros 10-6 last 16 games home
Key Day/Month Stat: Phillies 15-3 Saturdays away
Best Arm in the Series: Phillies’ Hamels 5-0 4.42 ERA career team starts
Worst Arm in the Series: Astros’ Rodriguez 0-1 7.20 ERA career
San Francisco Giants at Milwaukee Brewers
Most Recent Series Result: Brewers 9-3 last 12 games (4-3 this season)
Most Recent Series Result at the Site: Brewers 16-4 last 20 games home (2-1 this season)
Key Day/Month Stat: Brewers 9-1 Saturdays; Giants 1-5 Saturdays away
Best Arm in the Series: Brewers 2-0 2.57 ERA home career team starts
Worst Arm in the Series: Giants’ Zito 0-4 8.55 ERA away career team starts; Sanchez 0-3 15.13 ERA career team starts
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Detroit Tigers at Tampa Bay Rays
Most Recent Series Result: Tigers 5-3 last 8 games (2-2 this season)
Most Recent Series Result at the Site: Rays 6-1 last 7 games home
Key Day/Month Stat: Rays 15-2 Saturdays; Tigers 1-5 Saturdays away
Best Arm in the Series: Tigers’ Verlander 5-0 4.20 ERA career team starts, Rays’ Shield 5-0 2.97 ERA career team starts
Worst Arm in the Series: Rays’ Niemann 0-1 1.56 ERA career
Boston Red Sox at Chicago White Sox
Most Recent Series Result: Red Sox 14-4 last 18 games (3-1 this season)
Most Recent Series Result at the Site: Red Sox 8-3 last 11 games away
Key Day/Month Stat: White Sox 12-3 Saturdays
Best Arm in the Series: Lester 2-1 4.13 ERA career team starts
Worst Arm in the Series: White Sox’ Danks 0-2 6.19 ERA home career team starts; Garcia 0-2 7.50 ERA last team starts home