Author: Dillon Hunt

After a wild game 1 that ended in an 11-10 Toronto victory I might have to declare this the most interesting series we have lined up for us this weekend. The A’s are hot, they took down the Yankees to end their home stand and come out on the road looking to take these games from Toronto and gain ground on the Astros and the wildcard standings. The Bluejays are in desperation mode, after averaging just 3 runs per game in august this team needs to produce more frequently at the plate, the inability to put up runs, and some awful bullpen appearances have put this clubs season on the line. They will have to seriously go on a run for any chance at a wild card spot, and I just don’t see it happening, it will be interesting to see what they can come up with against a really good Oakland squad. Tomorrow’s game is at 3:07 PM ET and the pitching matchup will be Paul Blackburn (2.81 ERA 0-1) Vs. Jose Berrios (3.53 ERA -9-7) who have both looked vulnerable as of late. I have to give the edge to the A’s in this one, they have been able to produce more runs as of late, and will be a bit unnerved about blowing an 8-2 lead last night. Whenever Starling Marty, or Josh Harrison get on base they have been efficient at stealing bags and getting into scoring position, this along with the power the lineup has coming from other areas tell me the A’s will be able to make up for a bad Blackburn start as they hopefully can grab some runs from Berrios. Look for an Athletics victory if the trends continue so far as the A’s producing runs and the Bluejays struggling. But this one shapes up as a good matchup for the Bluejays to get back on track, which I hope they can do to give us an entertaing, and high scoring affair. The Jays are just a bit unpredictable right now as far as what you are gonna get, do we see the team that has been putting up 3 runs per game, or the team that stormed back from down six in the eighth inning to win a thriller. Tomorrow’s matchup will answer a lot of these questions, but I think the fact there is so many questions surrounding this matchup tells you why this will be a great series. Let’s see how it shakes out tomorrow, but I would back an Athletics victory if I was to bet on this game, but I might avoid it due to the uncertainty surrounding the Jays.

The indomitable Yankees lineup that was formed at the trade deadline is starting to show some of the weaknesses that critics were worried about. Untimely strikeouts, and hitting into four double play balls seriously hurt the team tonight. Giving up six runs was not ideal, but I would imagine if we didn’t see all those double plays the Yankees would have came out on top tonight. Taillon continues to hit a bit of a rough patch as he has gotten roughed up in back to back starts. He is usually great at getting out of jams but Jared Walsh took him deep in the fourth with a three run blast to kill his hopes of getting out of the fourth unscathed. The Angels took advantage of a busted play on a double steal that saw Ohtani take home after Sanchez attempted to throw to second in the fifth, and Gosselin drove in two runs earlier in the inning. Taillon ends up leaving the game in the fifth inning after allowing six runs. The bullpen would hold strong, but as mentioned before the double plays go on to kill the Yankees momentum in multiple innings. Down the stretch. Stanton hit a shot of a sac fly in the eighth which looked like it was going to tie the game at six a piece. It fell just short at the warning track, and that was pretty much the end of the Yankees come back bid as Voit went down swinging after pinch hitting for Odor, I am sure many Yankees fans were wondering why not give Odor a chance when he has so many clutch hits in his career, but looking for Voit to hit a bomb wasn’t the worst idea. Iglesias came in to close it down, and the Angels end up winning again over the Yankees. Tomorrow the Yankees are going to throw everything and the Kitchen Sink at this Angel team as they have Gerritt Cole coming to the mound. They are going to need to get off of this losing streak, so count on the yankees to come out on top tomorrow.

Tuesday was a hell of a night for the Rays, they went up against Brad Peacock and things did not go well for The Red Sox starter, as he got lit up for four earned runs in the third inning as the Rays put on a contact hitting clinic to run up the score early. After building a comfortable lead for Yarbrough the Rays saw him coast to 6 innings of 2 run baseball, and then turned to the bullpen. A late rally for the sox was cut short when the Rays brought in Kittredge to shut it down. Boston had a valiant effort to try to come back, and they cut it down to an 8-5 ballgame, but when you are up against the Rays and you let them go up big early you are going to need to do a lot more than try to rally all the runs back in the 9th. Boston has to see the Rays two more times on Wednesday, and Thursday, and they will try to pick up 1 or 2 of these games. Tomorrow will be their best chance as they have Chris Sale going on the mound for them, and he has looked pretty dominant so far in his return. This is a hard game to call, but even though Boston is going up with their ace, I still like the Rays to find a way to get after Sale, he has looked good so far, but he has not faced a line up like this. I would think we might be getting the Rays at an underdog price with Sale on the mound, so jump on the Rays ML at +130 or better in this matchup, otherwise this is a no bet type of game for me.

If you were to ask me how I think the Phillies would fare against the Diamondbacks a few weeks back when they were in first place I would have said they will surely win those two series. Well here we are and the Phils find themselves 0-4 against the worst team in baseball this year, and for some reason they decide to take the night off hitting every time they see them. It doesn’t help when you have to rely on your worst pitcher in game 1 of a series, but Matt Moore wasn’t completely terrible, and I would put more of the blame on the hitters not being able to provide him any support in the early going. Unfortunately for the Phillies it is looking like their season is going to crash and burn, this lineup is completely toasted without Rhys Hoskins, as pitchers can just avoid Harper and get the guys behind him out. Hoskins is out for the year to have abdominal surgery, and I would just about hang my cleats up if I was the Phils this year. The lack of development in the minors has ruined this team’s depth, and the injuries have resulted in a lost season, as the guys they call up cannot consistently hit, get on base, or field. Mickey Moniak where are you? Aside from the trouncing the D-backs inflicted all game the Phils tried to rally back in the ninth and almost did. Miller couldn’t get it done and ended the night with a strikeout, as the bank was looking pretty dispirited to say the least. They run it back tomorrow, and this will be a game I would suggest avoiding betting on, but if you are feeling the urge to do so, roll with the D-backs Moneyline or +1.5, the Phils are huge favorites, and should win but until I see them beat this team I wouldn’t bet on them to do it.