Friday’s MLB Picks
Baseball pushes on towards the postseason and Friday offers a full schedule of games. Our team of writers and handicappers has three picks for Friday’s action.
Houston Astros (80-72) at Pittsburgh Pirates (64-89)
As fast as the Houston Astros played themselves into the playoff race, they’ve needed less time to practically play themselves out of it.
The fading Astros look to avoid a sixth consecutive loss when they begin their final road series on Friday night against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Houston (80-72) fell 8-1 on Thursday to conclude a sweep at the hands of the Marlins, who like the Astros, are five games behind of the NL wild-card leading New York Mets with nine remaining.
The loss left Houston winless since Hurricane Ike struck the Gulf Coast and forced the first two games of its weekend home series with the Chicago Cubs to be moved to Milwaukee’s Miller Park.
Houston, which had won six straight and 14 of 15 to move within three games of the wild-card lead before the storm forced it to sit idle last Friday and Saturday, is hitting .107 (16-for-150) while being outscored 38-11 during its five-game skid.
The right-hander, who’s one loss away from tying a season high set in 2007, is 2-4 with a 4.55 ERA in 11 starts against Houston and 0-1 with a 6.39 ERA in three starts versus the Astros in 2008.
Pittsburgh lost 4-3 in 12 innings to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday and dropped three of four to the NL West leaders.
Nate McLouth doubled and drove in a run for Pittsburgh, which is on the verge of a fourth consecutive season with 90 or more losses.
The All-Star center fielder is batting .377 (23-for-61) with 16 RBIs in September, and .321 with three homers and seven RBIs this season versus Houston.
Pick: Pittsburgh – View game matchup | Best line +110 SBG Global
Philadelphia Phillies (86-67) at Florida Marlins (80-72)
Pat Burrell had not been coming through for the Philadelphia Phillies down the stretch. The same certainly can’t be said of Brett Myers.
After getting a timely hit from Burrell in their seventh straight win, the NL East-leading Phillies send Myers to the mound in the opener of a three-game series with the surging Florida Marlins on Friday night.
Philadelphia (86-67), which has a one-half game lead over the New York Mets in the division race, is on its longest run since winning nine straight in 2006.
Burrell helped the Phillies extend their streak, hitting a tiebreaking two-run homer in the sixth inning in a 4-3 win over the Braves on Thursday night to complete a sweep of the nine-game season series in Atlanta.
Burrell, batting below .200 since July, was the hitting star as Philadelphia became the first team to sweep a season series longer than four games in Atlanta.
Cameron Maybin took Ramirez’s place batting leadoff and Alfredo Amezaga moved to shortstop. If Ramirez still can’t play, Amezaga will likely be back at shortstop and playing behind Josh Johnson (5-1, 3.30 ERA).
Johnson, who returned July 10 for his first start since undergoing elbow ligament replacement surgery last year, has allowed three runs or fewer in 11 of his past 12 outings.
The right-hander earned a win in his last outing, allowing two runs and six hits while striking out a career-high nine batters in six innings as Florida beat Washington 4-2 on Saturday night.
Johnson is 1-0 with a 1.42 ERA in two starts versus the Phillies this season, and 2-1 with a 3.62 ERA in four starts and two relief appearances against them all-time.
Florida is 9-6 against Philadelphia this season.
Pick: Florida – View game matchup | Best line +125 SBG Global
New York Mets (85-67) at Atlanta Braves (67-86)
The New York Mets haven’t been able to find a way to win at Turner Field this season. In this case, their beleaguered bullpen can’t take all of the blame.
Running out of time to regain the top spot in the NL East, the Mets look to win for the first time in seven games in Atlanta as they open a three-game series with the Braves on Friday night.
New York (85-67) beat Washington 7-2 on Thursday night to remain within one-half game of Philadelphia in the NL East and increase its wild card lead to 1 1/2 games over Milwaukee, which lost 7-6 in 12 innings to the Cubs.
The veteran left-hander is 6-4 with a 3.39 ERA in 13 starts against Atlanta.
The Braves will counter with Jo-Jo Reyes (3-11, 5.50), who is 0-7 with a 6.80 ERA in his last 10 starts. The left-hander lasted two innings against the Mets in the finale of a doubleheader on Saturday, giving up four runs and five hits as the Braves lost 5-0.
Reyes is 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA in two career starts versus New York. He’ll be trying to help Atlanta avoid its fourth straight loss.
Atlanta fell 4-3 to Philadelphia on Thursday, finishing the season 0-9 at home against the Phillies. Philadelphia is the first team to sweep a season series longer than four games in Atlanta.
Pick: NY Mets – View game matchup | Best line -140 SBG Global
Did you like this article? Subscribe to our Baseball news feed for the fastest updates delivered right to you – Click here to Subscribe
