The Astros have won three of their last four games and they have the AL West well in hand up 18 games on the 2nd place Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers. The Tigers have lost four in a row and they are in 4th place in the AL Central 11 games back of the Cleveland Indians and nine games out of the Wild Card. They have been outscored 30-11 in their four game skid including an embarrassing 16-2 loss to the Kansas City Royals previous to their last game. Detroit is only 7-18 this season against teams from the AL West. Houston is the highest scoring team in baseball and Jose Altuve is the leading hitter batting .369 and in his current 19-game hitting streak he is hitting a scorching .524. Collin McHugh was not sharp in his season debut and while he was lit up in his last start against the Tigers last season he will be decent tonight. He will not have to be great, as he will be spotted several runs by the lineup, who will get to Boyd. The Astros will take this game and send the reeling Tigers to their 5th straight loss.

The Diamondbacks have won two in a row and three of their last four games. While they are 12 games out of first place in the NL West they are in the lead in the NL Wild Card. Arizona has scored 10 runs in two of their last four games. The Cardinals had their three-game win streak snapped with their loss to the Diamondbacks in the first game of this series. They are in 3rd place in the NL Central 4.5 games back of the Chicago Cubs and they may have to rely on winning the division to make the playoffs since they are 7.5 games out of the Wild Card. St. Louis had won five straight at home and averaged 6.2 runs per game in that span before being shut out in Game 1 of this series. Ray was lit up in his last start, which was at home and he has been lights out on the road. He will bounce back and have another good road start and he will be backed by solid run support. The Diamondbacks will get to Wacha in this game and they will take this game for their 4th win in their last five games.

Since sweeping the Rangers in a four-game set the Orioles have lost four of their last six games including their last two. They totaled 34 runs in the sweep of Texas and in their last two games they have only scored five runs. Baltimore is in 4th place in the AL East seven games back of the Boston Red Sox and they are 5.5 games out of the Wild Card. The Rangers have lost two of their last three games and were embarrassed in their last game losing 22-10, which was at home no less. They are well out of the AL West race, but are still in the Wild Card 4.5 games back. Chris Tillman has been sitting on one win since May 7th and he has been decent in his last three outings and had a good start against the Rangers. Still, even though Texas is coming off a bad loss they did score 10 runs in the game and they will score a few off Tillman. Cashner has also been decent as of late and he will have the better start in this game. Texas will get the win in this game and improve their chances at an AL Wild Card.

The Mets won the first two games of this series, but lost to the Padres yesterday. They have been playing well as of late winning six of their last seven games, but they are still 13 games out of first place in the NL East and nine games out of the NL Wild Card. The Padres are also out of the playoff picture, but they are over .500 (28-26) in their last 54 games. They scored six runs in the win over the Mets last night and had not totaled that many runs in four previous games. Flexen is a solid prospect for the Mets and while he will not get shelled San Diego will now give him a good welcome to the Majors getting a few runs off him. On the other side of the coin Perdomo will have another good start and hold the New York lineup in check. The Padres will take this series finale and salvage a split in the series.

After dropping five games in a row the Rays have rebounded and won their last two games. They have a solid lineup, but they have not scored more than five runs in their last 10 games. Tampa Bay is in 3rd place in the AL East 2.5 games back of the Boston Red Sox and 1.5 games back of the Yankees. New York has won three in a row and five of their last six games. In their three-game win streak they have outscored their opponents 19-11. While both pitcher’s in tonight’s match up are coming off solid outings the Rays have had little success against the Yankees with Archer on the hill while New York has had a lot of success facing Tampa Bay with Sabathia on the mound. Look for that to continue in this game. Archer has pitched well as of late, but has not gotten much run support and that will happen in this game. Sabathia will shut down the Tampa Bay lineup and lead the Yankees to their 4th win in a row.

The Royals are smoking hot winning their last seven games and are going for the road series sweep tonight. Their pitching has been great in their win streak and in the first two games of this series they have only allowed four runs. Kansas City is in 2nd place in the AL Central and even in winning seven in a row they are still 1.5 games out of first place trailing the Cleveland Indians, who have won five in a row. The Tigers have lost three of their last four games and they are in 4th place in the division 8.5 games out of first place. Tough call in this pitching match up, but something tells me Kennedy will have the better outing facing Sanchez. After being less than impressive in his last start against the Tigers he got a win in his last time facing them going seven innings and giving up two earned runs in an 8-2 KC win. This game will be just like the first two in the series, as they will be low scoring games and the Royals will get the win completing the sweep.

After a six-game losing streak the Brewers have rebounded and won two of their last three games. They are still in first place in the NL Central, but they are only ½ game up on the defending champion Chicago Cubs. Milwaukee is led by their lineup and they have scored 20 runs in their last three games after struggling at the plate in their six-game skid. The Nationals had won two in a row where they only gave up five runs before getting shut out 8-0 in the first game of this series. They have the NL East pretty well in hand with a 11.5 game lead over the 2nd place Atlanta Braves. While the Nats have a potent offense they have only scored 19 runs in their last five games. Nelson has top-notch stuff, but he did not have a good last outing and has not been good on the road this season. However, I think he will have a good start tonight against a Washington lineup that has not been lighting up the scoreboard lately. Gonzalez will also have a bounce-back outing, but Nelson will get the better of him and the Brewers will win this game and go for the series sweep tomorrow.

The Marlins have lost three of their last four games and they are in 4th place in the NL East 14 games back of the Washington Nationals. Their pitching has been solid as of late giving up 11 runs in their last four games with six of them coming in the lone loss in that span. The Rangers had won three in a row before losing the first game of this interleague series. While they are 18 games out of first place in the AL West they are only 3.5 games out of the Wild Card. Straily has not been particularly sharp in his last two starts and I don’t expect him to be in this game. The Rangers were shut out in yesterday’s game, but they will make up for that by getting several runs tonight. Hamels was shelled in his last start, but back at home where the Rangers have won his last three starts, he will have a good outing. With that and the Texas lineup waking up after taking the game off yesterday they will get the win.

The A's have lost three of their last four games, lost the first game of this series, and they have the 2nd fewest wins in the AL. They are in last place in the AL West 22 games back of the Houston Astros. On top of that they are tied with the Reds and the Phillies for the fewest road wins in the Majors. The Blue Jays snapped their three-game losing streak with their win over the A's yesterday and they are in the basement of the AL East nine games out of first place. They got the W yesterday, but they have only totaled nine runs in their last four games. Gray has been on the trading block and this may be his last start for Oakland. He has pitched well as of late and look for him to have another strong outing against a Toronto lineup that has struggled lately. Valdez will be familiar with the Oakland bats since he was on the squad this season, but the A's will still tag him up for a few runs. Gray will be the star in this game and lead the A's to a win north of the border.

The Orioles snapped their two-game skid with a win in their last game and they are in 4th place in the AL East seven games out of first place. They have won five of their last seven games and their lineup has been pretty solid in that span. The Rays are reeling losing four in a row, but they are still only 3.5 games out of first place in the AL East. They were swept in their last series at home against the Texas Rangers where they lost all three games by one run. Gausman had a good last outing, but was shelled in his previous two starts. He had a fantastic outing in his lone start against the Rays this season, but that game was in Baltimore and he has not pitched well on the road this season and that will continue tonight. Snell is still looking for his first win of the season and in his last two starts he has given up three earned runs. He will pitch decent tonight, but the main reason the Rays will take this game and snap their streak is their lineup will score several runs.

The Royals are hot winners of five in a row and they are now only 1.5 games back of the Cleveland Indians in the AL Central. While they only rank 25th in the Majors in runs scored they have totaled 39 runs in their five game win streak with 16 coming in their last game facing the Tigers. Detroit has won two of their last three games and they are in 4th place in the AL Central 6.5 games out of first place. These teams just recently met in a three-game set in Kansas City where the Tigers won the first game and the Royals won the last two. Hammel is coming off a good start and while he will be ok in this one he will not hold the Tigers lineup in check. Verlander has been pretty good in his last couple of outings and unlike his last few outings he will get some run support. He has been a better pitcher at home this season and he will the Tigers to the win and snap the Royals win streak. 

The Nationals had lost two in a row before winning the 2nd game of this series yesterday. They are running away with the NL East 11 games up on the 2nd place Atlanta Braves. Bryce Harper went deep in yesterday’s gave and he has three HR in his last four games. The Diamondbacks had won two in a row before losing Game 2 yesterday. While they still have a sizeable lead in the NL Wild Card they have lost 10 of their last14 games and they are in 2nd place in the NL West 11 games back of the L.A. Dodgers. Great pitching match up in this game and it will be a pitcher’s duel and a low scoring affair. Strasburg will have the better outing and he will lead the Nats to win and they will take this series.

The Red Sox have lost two of their last three games and they are in first place in the AL East 3,5 games up on the Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees. The Red Sox have a great team ERA on the season, but in the two losses in their last three games they have given up 15 runs. The Angels have won two of their last three games and they are in 3rd place in the AL West 18 games back of the Houston Astros. L.A. will have to rely on the Wild Card to make the playoffs and they are 3.5 games out of the AL Wild Card. Porcello has had two solid starts in a row, but the lineup has not helped him out much. The reigning Cy Young winner will have another good outing today and the Red Sox will get to Bidwell and gets some runs off him. Boston will win this series finale and win the series in the process.

The Tigers have lost two in a row after winning four straight and they sit in 4th place in the AL Central 5.5 games back of the Cleveland Indians. They scored a total of 36 runs in winning four in a row, but in losing two straight they have been outscored 20-7. Detroit has the best division record in the AL Central at 22-18. The Twins have won two of their last three games and while they only rank 26th in the Majors in team ERA they have given up only 16 runs in their last five games. Minnesota is only ½ game out of first place in the division with the Indians losing six of their last seven games. Santana was an All Star this season and ranks tied for 2nd in the AL in wins and 3rd in ERA. His last two starts have been good ones and while the Twins have only won one of his last five home games and they have the worst home record in the AL they will get the W tonight behind their Ace.

The Marlins have lost two in a row and five of their last six games and they are in 4th place in the NL East 14.5 games out of first place. They were outscored 15-5 in losing their last two games to the Phillies, who have the worst record in the Majors. The Reds are reeling losers of six of their last seven games and they are in the basement of the NL Central 10.5 games back of the Milwaukee Brewers. They have the worst team ERA in baseball and in their last seven games they have given up at least 10 runs four times. Urena has been one of the bright spots of the Miami staff this season, but was rocked in his last outing. However, he will have a good start tonight facing a struggling Reds lineup that has only scored nine runs in their last four games. Bailey has been shelled in three of his five starts this season and he will not have a good outing in this game. Miami will chase him out early and with Urena giving them a good start they will win the first game of this NL series.

The Yankees have lost three of their last four games and with them slumping for the last few weeks they are now in 3rd place in the AL East 4.5 games back of the Boston Red Sox. In their last four games they have only totaled three runs in the three losses and six runs in the lone win. The Mariners have been hot as of late winning six of their last seven games. While they are 15.5 games back of the Houston Astros in the AL West they are only 1.5 games out of the AL Wild Card. Seattle’s last six games have been on the road and while they are only 2-9 in their last 11 home games those two wins have come in their last three games in their house. Both pitchers in tonight’s match up are coming off solid outings, but have to take King Felix and the Mariners in this one with the Yankees’ lineup struggling to score runs. Seattle will take this game moving over .500 on the season and hand New York their 4th loss in their last five games.

The Rangers have lost four in a row and in losing the first three games of this series they have been outscored 25-4. They have given up double-digits in runs in their last two games and in losing four in a row have only totaled seven runs. Texas is in 4th place in the AL West 17.5 games out of first place. The Orioles have looked great in this series and nothing like the team that was swept at home in a three-game set against the Chicago Cubs in their first series after the All Star break. They sit in 4th place in the AL East eight games back of the Boston Red Sox. Hamels has been lights out as of late not giving up any earned runs in his last two starts and he will have another strong outing in this series finale. Facing Miley the Texas lineup will snap out of their funk and tag the struggling hurler up for several runs. Behind Hamel and a solid offensive performance the Rangers will win this game and avoid the series sweep.

The Nationals are red hot winners of six in a row and they have opened up an 11.5 game lead in the NL Central over the 2nd place Atlanta Braves. They have outscored their opponents 49-20 in their six game win streak. The Nationals drew first blood in yesterday’s game scoring first and when they have scored first this season they are 40-13. The Angels have lost three of their last four games and they are in 4th place in the AL West 18 games back of the Houston Astros. They have only scored 11 runs in their last four games and in the five games since reigning MVP Mike Trout is back he has hit safely in every game and went deep and had a HR in the loss to the Nats in the last game. Gonzalez has been solid as of late and it will help that the potent lineup will help him out with several runs of support in this game. Nolasco has pitched well as of late at home, but he will get lit up in this game. Take the Nationals to win and sweep the two-game set.

These teams have split the first two games of this series and they have both been one-run games. Overall, the Blue Jays have lost three of their last four games and they are in the basement of the AL East nine games back of the Red Sox. Toronto has totaled 14 runs in their last four games. After losing two in a row the Red Sox have won two of their last three games and while they are in first place in the AL East they are only two games up on the surging Tampa Bay Rays. Boston isled by their pitching and while they have a good lineup they have not scored more than five runs in their last eight games. Sanchez is coming off a good start, but was shelled in his previous two starts and while he may not get shelled in this game he will not have a good outing. On the other side of the coin Pomeranz will bounce back from a less than impressive outing in his last start and lead the Red Sox to the win.

The Tigers have won three in a row and four of their last five games. They are in 4th place in the AL Central six games back of the Cleveland Indians. The Detroit lineup has been getting it done at the plate lately totaling 27 runs in their last three games. The Royals are reeling losing six of their last seven games and with their last loss they fell under .500 on the season. Their lineup has been slumping only totaling 16 runs in their last seven games. Both of tonight’s starters will be well rested in this game, especially Wood, who had his last start skipped and has not appeared in a game since July 2nd. Boyd would likely still be in the minors if it was not for the injury to Norris and the Tigers would like to have Norris on the hill, as Boyd will get hit hard tonight. Kansas City’s lineup will snap out of their slump facing Boyd and with Wood having a decent outing it equals a Royals’ win. Kansas City will win, get back to .500, and snap the Tigers three-game winning streak.