The Rangers have lost two of their last three games and they are 18 games out of first place in the AL West. However, all is not lost for them and even five games under .500 they are only four games out of the 2nd NL Wild Card. The Mets are coming off being swept in a three-game home series against the L.A. Dodgers and they have lost four in a row overall. They are out of the playoff race and sit in 4th place in the NL East. In getting swept by the Dodgers in their last series the Mets were shut out twice and scored four runs in the other loss. Cashner has been solid as of late and he will have a good outing facing a struggling New York lineup. On the other side of the coin Flexen will not have a good outing, like his other two this season, and will exit early once again. The Rangers will take this Game 1 and send the reeling Mets to their 5th loss in a row.

The Orioles have won two in a row and seven of their last nine games and are in 4th place in the AL East 7.5 games back of the Boston Red Sox. They are only 2.5 games out of the 2nd AL Wild Card. After Baltimore scored seven runs in losing two in a row they have totaled 17 runs in their last two games. The Angels have lost two in a row after a four-game win streak and while they are out of the AL West race they are three games out of the Wild Card ½ game back of the Orioles. After L.A. only gave up 11 runs in winning four in a row they have given up 16 runs in losing their last two games. Both of tonight’s starts had great last outings and while Ramirez has not been his best at home Bundy was lit up previous to his last outing. Ramirez will have the better start tonight and the Angels will get to Bundy and that means the Halos will take the first game of this series and pass the Orioles in the race for the AL Wild Card.

The Cardinals have won two in a row and with them several games out of the Wild Card their best chance to make the playoffs is to win the NL Central where they are 3.5 games back of the Chicago Cubs. They have totaled 17 runs in their last two games after only scoring three in losing their previous two games. The Royals snapped their two-game losing streak in their last game and they are 2.5 games out of first place in the AL Central and have the 2nd AL Wild Card only ½ game up on the Tampa Bay Rays. Martinez has not been sharp as of late and while Kennedy has also not been that sharp the Royals have won eight of his last10 starts. The issue for Kansas City this season has been their lineup, but they did score nine runs in their last game and they will light up Martinez tonight. Like usual Kennedy will not have a great outing, but not a bad one and the Royals will take the first game of this interleague series.

The Phillies have the fewest wins in the Majors and after winning five in a row they have dropped their last five games. They need a win today to avoid being swept in the 2nd straight series. Philadelphia has been outscored 31-13 in losing five in a row. Not only do the Phillies have the fewest wins in baseball, but also the fewest road wins. Colorado is surging winning four of their last five games including their last three. While they are 14.5 games out of first place in the NL West they are in the lead in the Wild Card ½ game up on the Arizona Diamondbacks and five games up on the Milwaukee Brewers. Colorado has scored 17 runs in their three-game win streak. One of the few bright spots for the Phillies this season has been Nola, who has been pitching great in his last several starts. Look for him to have another good start while Hoffman will struggle. Nola will lead the Phillies to a rare road win and they will avoid the series sweep.

These teams have split the two games in this series and today is the rubber game. The Blue Jays have won three of their last four games and in those wins they gave up eight runs and in the lone loss they gave up 16 runs. Toronto is in the basement of the AL East 9.5 games out of first place and they are five games out of the Wild Card. The Astros have lost four of their last five games, but they still have the best record in the AL and have the AL West pretty much in the bag with a 14.5 game lead over the Seattle Mariners. In Game 1 of this series Houston exploded for 16 runs, but in the four losses in their last five games they have only totaled 10 runs. Stroman did not have a great last start, but got help from the lineup, which he will get today as well. Stroman got the better of Fiers in the Toronto win a little less than a month ago and that will happen in this finale, which the Blue Jays will take sending the Astros to their 5th loss in their last six games.

The Mariners had lost two in a row before beating the Royals yesterday. They are well out of the AL West race, but only 1.5 games out of the 2nd Wild Card spot, which the Royals have. Seattle only totaled five runs in losing two games in a row before scoring five in yesterday’s win. The Royals have lost four of their last five games and they are in 2nd place in the AL Central 3.5 games out of first place and in the Wild Card they have a ½ game lead over the Rays and a 1.5 lead over the Mariners. Kansas City has only scored 11 runs in their last five games with six of them coming in the lone win in that span. Hernandez has not been sharp giving up four earned runs in each of his last two starts. The Mariners have won those games giving King Felix solid run support, but he will not get that in this game. Duffy has been great in his last two starts and he will have another good one tonight and get some help from the lineup. The Royals will win this game and hold onto the 2nd Wild Card.

The Brewers have won two in a row and three of their last four games and they are in 2nd place in the NL Central only ½ game back of the Chicago Cubs. While their offense has been struggling a bit lately their pitching has been great only giving up a total of eight runs in their last four games with five of them coming in the one loss in that span. The Rays had won three in a row before losing the first game of this interleague series. Like the Brewers their pitching has been solid as of late giving up a total of nine runs in their last four games. Cobb was lit up in his last game, but that game was on the road facing the Houston Astros, who rank 1st in the Majors in runs scored. He will have a solid home outing tonight and get the better of Davies in what be a low scoring pitcher’s duel. The Rays will win this game and go for the series win tomorrow.

The Dodgers have the best record in baseball and they have won 15 of their 18 games since the All Star break. They have won 10 of their last 11 games and they are running away with the NL West with a 14 game lead over the 2nd place Arizona Diamondbacks. The Mets have lost four of their last five games and are 14 games out of first place in the NL East. New York has given up 24 runs in their last five games. These teams last met in June where the Dodgers swept the series and where likely NL Rookie of the Year Cody Bellinger was 6 for 15 with three HR. This game is the big debut of Yu Darvish and while he will be much better than his last start he won’t lead the Dodgers to a win. DeGrom will have another great home start and out-duel the Mets leading them to the W.

The Cardinals have lost two of their last three games and they are in 3rd place in the NL Central 4.5 games back of the Chicago Cubs. The lineup has been the main issue for the Cardinals this season and they have only totaled 13 runs in their last seven games. The Reds had their three-game win streak snapped in their last game and they are in the basement of the NL Central 13.5 games out of first place, they had scored 20 runs in winning three in a row before being shut out in their last game. Leake has had no luck facing his former team in the Reds and the Cardinals have lost his last seven starts facing them. I think that trend will continue in this game. The Reds have the 3rd worst record in the NL, but they have played well facing the Cardinals. Wojciechowski will continue his silid pitching in a starter’s role in this game and lead Cincy to a win.

While the A's are out of the playoff picture and have the 2nd fewest wins in the AL they have won four of their last five games. Oakland has totaled 29 runs in their last five games. The Giants and their nightmare of a season continues and they have lost five of their last six games. They are in the basement of the NL West and they have the 2nd fewest wins in the NL. Graveman has not appeared in a game in several weeks and I think he will have a good outing tonight even though the A's have not had much success in his last several road starts. Blach had a decent last outing, but the A's lineup will get to him for a few runs in this interleague game. While the A's have lost 19 of their last 26 interleague games they will stay hot and win this one taking this home-and-home series.

After winning six straight the Yankees have lost two in a row and three of their last four games. They have only scored three runs in their last two games and while they have the Wild Card lead they are one game out of first place in the AL East. The Indians have lost three in a row, but are still in first place in the AL Central 2.5 games up on the Kansas City Royals. Before their three-game losing streak, the Indians has won nine in a row. Great pitching match up tonight and all eyes will be on Gray, who was the price hurler in the trade market. He will have a solid debut for New York, but has a tough match up facing Kluber at home. Don’t look for a high scoring game in this one and even on the road I see Gray having the better outing and the Yankees will take this game in a low scoring affair and hand the Indians their 4th straight loss.

The Mariners are hot winners of four in a row and they have won the first two games of this series and go for the sweep tonight. This season they have won eight of their 11 games against the Rangers. Seattle has totaled 26 runs in their four-game win streak. They are well out of the AL West race 15 games back of the Houston Astros, but only 1.5 games out of the Wild Card. While the Mariners have won four straight the Rangers have dropped four in a row where they have been outscored 28-17. They are 5.5 games out of the AL Wild Card. Miranda has been decent in his last few starts, but something tells me the Rangers will get to him in this game. On the other side of the coin Cashner will have a good home outing and keep the Mariners’ lineup in check. Texas will win this game andavoid the sweep snapping Seattle’s four-game winning streak.

After winning nine in a row the Royals have lost three of their last four games and they have lost the first two games of this series. They have only totaled three runs in the first two games of this series. Kansas City is in 2nd place in the AL Central two games back of the Cleveland Indians and they have the 2nd AL Wild Card 1.5 games up on the Seattle Mariners and Tampa Bay Rays. The Orioles have run four in a row and while they rank 2nd to last in the Majors in team ERA they have only given up nine runs in their last four games and six came in one game. They are in 4th place in the AL East six games back of the Boston Red Sox and 3.5 games out of the Wild Card. Vargas was an All Star this season and while he will have a decent outing Hellickson will have a better one. He was not sharp in his last outing for the Phillies, but he will get a lift from switching to a team that is still in the playoff race. Vargas is a lefty and the Orioles have won their last five games facing a left-hand starter. That trend will continue, as Baltimore will win this game and complete the series sweep.

The Phillies have the worst record in the Majors, but they are hot winners of five in a row. They are coming off a four-game sweep of the Atlanta Braves and they have outscored their opponents 32-13 in their five-game win streak. However, all of those wins were at home and this season the Phillies are tied with the Oakland A’s for the fewest road wins in the Majors. The Angels had won two in a row before their last loss and they have lost four of their last six games. They are well out of the AL West race with the Houston Astros running away with the division and they are five games out of the AL Wild Card. The Angels have won their last nine games facing the Phillies, but that streak will end in this game. Nola has been great in his last two starts and he will have another great start tonight while Nolasco will struggle again. The Phillies will take this game and extend their season best winning streak to six games.

The Rays have lost four of their last five games and they are in 3rd place in the AL East 4.5 games back of the New York Yankees. Tampa Bay has given up 34 runs in their last five games. The Astros had lost two in a row before a win over the Rays in the first game in this series. They are running away with the AL West with a 16-game lead over the Seattle Mariners. Houston has the most wins in the AL and they have the 2nd most wins in the Majors. The Astros had only totaled four runs in losing two in a row before blowing up for 14 runs in their last game. Archer has not been bad in his last few starts, but he has not gotten much help from the lineup or the bullpen. He will have a decent outing, but he will not shut out the Houston lineup. Fiers will also be decent and I think this game will be won by the Astros bullpen that will keep the Rays in check after Fiers leaves the game. The Astros will get the W and send the Rays to their 5th loss in six games.

The Nationals had lost two in a row before a win in their last game and they have firm control of the NL East 13 games up on the 2nd place Marlins. They had given up 14 runs in losing two in a row before only allowing one in their last game. The Marlins had their four-game winning streak in their last game and they had only given up eight runs in winning three in a row before giving up six in their last game. Gonzalez is a lefty that has had success against the Marlins in his career and this season and Miami has lost seven of their last 10 games facing a left-hand starter. Urena has been one of the bright spots for the Marlins staff this season, but has been rocked for five earned runs in two of his last three starts. Gonzalez will have a 2nd straight solid outing tonight while Urena will struggle facing a potent Washington lineup that has only scored nine runs in their last three games. That lineup will break out tonight and the Nats will take this game winning their 2nd in a row and handing the Marlins their 2nd loss in a row.

The Indians had their nine-game win streak snapped in their last game and they are in first place in the AL Central with two-game lead over the Kansas City Royals. They had totaled 66 runs in the nine-game streak before only scoring one run in their last game. Cleveland is led by their pitching staff and in their last five games they have not given up more than four runs. The Red Sox have lost six of their last eight games and with the Yankees recent six-game winning streak, which was snapped in their last game, the Red Sox have fallen into 2nd place in the AL East ½ game back of New York. They have only totaled 15 runs in the six losses in their last eight games. Clevinger has been solid on the season and while he is coming off a rough outing he will have a good outing tonight against the struggling Boston lineup. On the other side of the coin Fister will not have a good outing, as Cleveland will hit him hard in this game, get the win, and send the Red Sox to another loss.

This is the rubber game in this series, as these teams have split the first two games. The Orioles snapped their three-game losing streak with their win over the Rangers yesterday and they are in 4th place in the AL East 7.5 games out of first place. The Baltimore lineup has been struggling some lately only totaling 11 runs in their last four games. The Rangers have lost two of their last three games and they are well out of the AL West race 18 games out of first place. Texas is 4.5 games out of the AL Wild Card and Baltimore is 5.5 games back. The Rangers have only won one of their last five games facing a left-handed starter, but that trend will not continue in this game. Miley is a lefty, but he has been hammered lately giving up a total of 17 earned runs in his last three starts. Perez was ok in in his last start, but he did not get any run support. He will get plenty of that in this game and add that to a decent start and it equals a Texas win. The Rangers will win this game and the series and keep their hopes alive for a AL Wild Card berth.

The Cubs and Brewers have split the two games in this series and today is the rubber game. Chicago has won four of their last five games and they are in first place in the NL Central with a 1.5 game lead over the Brewers. Their pitching has been solid as of late only allowing a total of 11 runs in their last five games. The Brewers have lost three of their last four games and they could really use a win in this series finale to close the gap on the Cubs. Milwaukee still has seven more games against the Cubs this season including hosting them in a four-game set in their 3rd to last series of the season. Lackey has been pitching pretty well as of late and he will be facing a Brewers lineup that has only scored 10 runs in their last four games with five of those coming in one game. He will have a good start in this game, but he will not totally shut the Brewers out. Davies will have the better start and in his last two starts he has not given up a single earned run. Like the first two games of this series this finale will be a low scoring affair and like Game 1 the Brewers will come out on top and take the series.

The Twins snapped their four game losing streak with a win over the A's in the first game of this series. They are in 3rd place in the AL Central six games back of the Cleveland Indians and they can get back to .500 with a win tonight. In MinnesotA's four game skid they had given up a total of 27 runs before only giving up three in Game 1 of this series. The A's have lost five in a row and seven of their last eight games and are in the basement of the AL West 24.5 games back of the Houston Astros. Oakland has only totaled 12 runs in their five-game skid. Mejia has not been great as of late, but he has been great in his last two road starts where he did not give up any earned runs in 10 innings of work. He will have a solid outing tonight facing a struggling Oakland lineup. Smith may not get lit up, but he will not get much support and the Twins will take this game and send the A's to their 6th straight loss.