Al McMordie – Sports Handicapper

At 10:10 pm, our selection is on the Milwaukee Brewers over the San Diego Padres.  If you were looking at the Brewers in the pre-season and thought they had a pretty good team, but wondered who was going to step up in the rotation, you were not alone.  But it seems that question has been answered.  26-year-old RHP Brandon Woodruff has emerged as the ace of the Milwaukee staff.  Woodruff is 8-1 with a 3.87 ERA and 1.16 WHIP in 14 starts.  And, barring a meltdown over the next three weeks, he should be named to his first All-Star squad.  Woodruff will toe the rubber for the 15th time tonight, and it will be his first-ever start against the Padres.  Perhaps most impressive about his season so far is the fact that the Brewers are 12-2 in his starts this year and 17-5 in his last 22 trips to the mound going back to last season.  Despite the loss on Monday, the Brewers are still 9-4 in the last 13 meetings with the Padres (who have actually performed better on the road this season (17-17) than they have at home (19-20)).  Take the Brewers.  As always, good luck...Al McMordie.

At 7:10 pm, our selection is on the Houston Astros over the Cincinnati Reds.  The Reds surprised the Astros on Monday night and took a well-deserved 3-2 victory from arguably the best team in the Majors.  But the Reds only have one true ace -- Luis Castillo -- and he pitched last night.  So, now they have to play two more against Houston without his services.  That leaves guys like tonight's starter -- RHP Anthony DeSclafani -- to carry the load.  And that's a huge drop-off from Castillo, who improved his numbers to 7-1 with a 2.26 ERA with Monday's victory.  To make matters worse for Cincy, they have to face RHP Justin Verlander this evening.  The 36-year-old just seems to get better with age, as the 'Stros ace is 9-2 with a 2.41 ERA in 15 starts heading into tonight.  That puts him on track to have an even better season than he did in 2018 when he went 16-9 with a 2.52 ERA, and finished 2nd in the AL Cy Young vote.  Lastly, Verlander is an inter-league monster, with a 34-7 record and a 2.76 ERA in 49 career starts vs. teams from the National League.  Take the Astros.

At 8:05 pm, our selection is on the Cleveland Indians over the Texas Rangers.  With the unpredictable state of the Indians' rotation, it seems like there are always opportunities for up-and-coming pitchers.  Corey Kluber is out until sometime in August, Carlos Carrasco has some sort of blood condition that isn't being discussed publicly (which is a very bad sign), and Danny Salazar has been injured since the 2017 season.  Enter young (24-year-old) Zach Plesac, who is the nephew of former MLB pitcher Dan.  The rookie hurler has started four games for the Tribe and has a very nice 2.92 ERA and 0.97 WHIP so far.  The Rangers lineup is certainly formidable, but Plesac would seem to be up to the task, having already faced the lineups of the Yankees, Red Sox, White Sox, and Reds in his four outings.  With all of the challenges the Indians' pitching staff has faced this season, you would expect their numbers to suffer, but right now they are amazingly third in the AL with a 3.87 team ERA.  Finally, Cleveland is 10-4 in the last 14 meetings with Texas.  Take the Tribe.