Weekend MLB Cheat Sheet
By MARC LAWRENCE
The final weekend on the basepaths before this year’s All-Star break finds teams in both circuits fighting hard for position. That’s because teams in first place at the break go on to make the playoffs 70 percent of the time.
FYI: teams that find themselves 1 to 5 games back at the break are just a 47 percent proposition to land a spot in the postseason while teams of more than five games out hold a less than 10 percent chance of gaining an extra paycheck.
With that, let’s take a look at four of the bigger series on tap 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.
Enjoy the weekend.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
St. Louis Cardinals at Chicago Cubs
Most Recent Series Result: Cardinals 5-1 last 6 games (6-3 this season)
Most Recent Series Result at the Site: Cubs 4-1 last 5 games (2-1 this season) home
Key Day/Month Stat: Cubs 17-4 home Sundays; Cardinals 2-6 Sundays
Best Arm in the Series: Cubs’ Dempster 4-0 2.93 ERA home career
Worst Arm in the Series: Cardinals’ Carpenter 1-4 4.28 ERA away career
Los Angeles Dodgers at Milwaukee Brewers
Most Recent Series Result: Dodgers 6-2 last 8 games
Most Recent Series Result at the Site: Dodgers 12-7 last 19 games away
Key Day/Month Stat: Dodgers 5-0 away Sundays; Brewers 0-5 Sundays
Best Arm in the Series: Dodgers’ Billingsley 2-0 2.57 ERA career starts
Worst Arm in the Series: Dodgers’ Milton 1-4 5.45 ERA last 5 starts
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Chicago White Sox at Minnesota Twins
Most Recent Series Result: White Sox 4-1 last 5 games (4-2 this season)
Most Recent Series Result at the Site: Twins 9-1 last 10 games home
Key Day/Month Stat: Twins 16-5 Fridays; White Sox 6-14 Fridays
Best Arm in the Series: Twins’ Baker 2-0 2.77 ERA last 2 home starts
Worst Arm in the Series: White Sox’ Danks 0-2 9.68 ERA last 2 away starts
New York Yankees at Los Angeles Angels
Most Recent Series Result: Angels 10-6 last 16 games (1-2 this season)
Most Recent Series Result at the Site: Angels 13-4 last 17 home
Key Day/Month Stat: Angels 16-2 home Sundays; Yankees 4-10 away Sundays
Best Arm in the Series: Angels’ Lackey 4-1 4.35 ERA last 5 home starts
Worst Arm in the Series: Yankees’ Pettite 1-3 7.97 ERA last 4 starts