Midweek MLB Series To Watch: National League
With the NBA and NHL seasons winding down and the start of the NFL and college football seasons still three months away,
Personally from a fan standpoint, I’m much more of a college baseball fanatic than I am an MLB fan, and my eye will mostly be on the upcoming College World Series, but before the CWS starts this weekend, I’ll be following a few intriguing MLB series during the week, with midweek rivalry showdowns on tap in both the AL and the NL.
Below, I take a look at a couple of series in the National League that are worth putting your money on this week, and later, I‘ll take my look at the American League, where there‘s a trio of eye-catching series.
Philadelphia Phillies v. New York Mets
The Mets have a chance to gain some ground on the NL East-leading Phillies this week as the defending World Series champions. New York enters today three games behind Philadelphia in the NL East, but things could look a whole lot different after this series wraps up on Thursday. The Mets already have an edge over the Phillies this season, coming into this series 3-1 against their NL East rivals this season after splitting in a rain-shortened two-game set in Philly and then dropping two on the road.
Though the Phillies have the excellent road mark and just took three in a row against a Padres team that entered last week with a 17-6 home mark, I like the Mets here, because the pitching matchups are heavily in their favor, so much so that a sweep isn‘t out of the question.
Tuesday: J.A. Happ has been excellent in his three starts, allowing only 11 hits and five runs in 18.1 innings, but Johan Santana has had the Phillies’ number since joining the Mets last season (3-0 in six starts, hasn’t allowed more than three runs in any of those starts, 42 strikeouts and only 9 walks in 43.1 IP). As a bonus tip, go with the under here.
Wednesday: Outside of allowing six runs and eight hits in six innings in a 9-6 win over Washington on May 30, Cole Hamels has been excellent since starting the season with a couple of poor outings. But, he hasn’t beaten the Mets in his last five starts, with his last win against them coming on August 14, 2006.
On the flip side, Mike Pelfrey is 2-0 against the Phillies this season. Pelfrey didn’t do himself any favors by allowing nine runs in 3.2 innings on Thursday at Pittsburgh, but provided he pitches as well as he has for most of the season, it’ll all come down to getting support from his offense. He’s winless in his last five starts, but prior to Thursday, the previous four starts had seen him allow only seven runs in 27 IP. The Mets did him a favor by rallying in the late innings in three of those games to win and avoid saddling him with tough-luck losses, but he’ll certainly be hoping that he doesn’t have to settle for another no-decision on Wednesday.
Thursday: If the first two games go as I expect, the Phillies will be looking to avoid the sweep on Thursday, with Jamie Moyer going up against Tim Redding. Moyer has struggled against the Mets in his two starts this against them this season. Redding’s season and career numbers are anything but eye-popping, but he has pitched very, very well throughout his career against the Phillies.
Los Angeles Dodgers v. San Diego Padres
If there’s a series that you absolutely can’t miss taking action on this week, it’s this two-game set between NL West rivals. The Dodgers have the best record in the majors by a comfortable margin even after losing Sunday’s series finale to Philadelphia, and their sparkling 39-20 mark has come on
On the flip side, the Padres are one of the league’s worst road teams with an 8-19 mark. Since winning four of their first five road games this season, the Padres are a woeful 4-18 away from the friendly confines of PETCO Park.
The Dodgers swept a four-game series at home in their last meeting (April 30-May 3), and I see them taking both games on Tuesday and Wednesday. Besides the exploits of Adrian Gonzalez, many a San Diego offensive performance has been forgettable this season, and that should be the case against L.A. Tuesday starter Chad Billingsley is 7-3 this season, and he’s also 7-3 against San Diego in his career, including two wins in two starts this season. He’ll be followed by Clayton Kershaw, who has pitched very well against the Padres thus far in his young career (3-0, 30 IP, 19 hits allowed, 9 runs allowed, 27 strikeouts). Those numbers don’t bode well for the Padres, but they do bode well for your wallet.
Dont Agree? Let us Know. We love hearing your thoughts and picks!
Loading ...
