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Nationals Begin New Week At Toronto Blue Jays
Picked to dominate the AL Central Division this season, it has instead been a struggle for the Detroit Tigers who were five games under .500 and six games behind the Chicago White Sox in the standings when the weekend began.
Cincinnati was also picked to contend if not win the NL Central, and the Reds have not disappointed so far with the lead over a surprising Pittsburgh Pirates squad and the defending World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals.
The Reds and Tigers collide to finish off the weekend on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball (8:00 p.m. ET) from Great American Ball Park. Detroit is sending rookie Drew Smyly to start the contest in Cincinnati against Homer Bailey. Don Best is sending this game out with the Reds a $1.30 favorite and the run total at 9½.
Don Best Sports analyst Pat Williams believes Smyly (2-2, 3.71) is one of the reasons the Tigers can't get on a roll due to his inconsistencies on the mound, but Kenny White disagrees.
"Let's don't blame it on Drew Smyly," White noted when discussing this matchup. "He's 23...and I like his strikeout to walk numbers. Drew Smyly's going to be a really good major league pitcher."
Detroit has dropped five of Smyly's last six starts, and is 5-6 when he takes the ball this season, but the young left-hander still maintains a decent ERA and owns a 55:17 K/BB ratio in his first 60-2/3 innings.
White also believes Bailey (4-4, 4.39) will need to develop a third pitch to complement his fastball-slider combination before he will begin to develop into the pitcher he's always been touted as being. Bailey pitched the Reds into the winner's circle four consecutive starts before his last outing at home vs. Pittsburgh. The Pirates scored six times in the first three innings to chase Bailey early in an 8-4 win on June 5, that start coming seven days after Bailey had tossed a complete-game 4-hitter against then in Pittsburgh.
The pitching matchup could play right into the strengths of both lineups. Detroit is batting .273 vs. right-handers, 30 points higher than when the Tigers face southpaws, while Cincinnati is slugging at a .456 clip vs. lefties, well above their numbers against righties.
Nats Begin Week In Toronto
A new week dawns on Monday when the Washington Nationals trek across the border to meet the Toronto Blue Jays in the opener of a 3-game set. First pitch at Rogers Centre is 7:07 p.m. (ET) with a pitching battle between Washington's Edwin Jackson and Toronto's Brandon Morrow.
Jackson is sporting a very good 3.11 ERA, but hasn't had much luck or run support with the Nationals just 3-8 in his 11 starts. That's been the case most of his career as Jackson certainly has the stuff to be a solid major league starter, but it hasn't materialized into a lot of success for the well-traveled right-hander.
"When he came up with the Dodgers, they thought he was going to be the next great Los Angeles Dodger pitcher," White said. "He's been coveted by six major league teams that thought he could also be the same with them. But finally this year, he's having one of the best seasons he's ever had."
Washington started its weekend series in Boston with a slim 1-game lead at the top of a wide-open NL East that found the favored Philadelphia Phillies in last. Williams wonders if the Nationals can score enough runs over the course of a full season to make the playoffs for the first time since 1981 when they were known as the Montreal Expos.
The AL East also looks a bit upside down with the Red Sox at the bottom, and one of the reasons the Blue Jays are in the thick of the race is their starter on Monday. Morrow is 7-3 with a 2.90 ERA, and that ERA is even more impressive when you note he allowed six earned runs in two-third of an inning a couple of starts back in Texas.
Morrow leads the major leagues with three shutouts, the most recent in his last start against the White Sox in Chicago on June 6. His ERA is more than two runs higher in six starts at home (3.89) than the half-dozen Morrow has made on the road (1.88). Five of the seven home runs were also hit at Rogers Centre.
Picked to dominate the AL Central Division this season, it has instead been a struggle for the Detroit Tigers who were five games under .500 and six games behind the Chicago White Sox in the standings when the weekend began.
Cincinnati was also picked to contend if not win the NL Central, and the Reds have not disappointed so far with the lead over a surprising Pittsburgh Pirates squad and the defending World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals.
The Reds and Tigers collide to finish off the weekend on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball (8:00 p.m. ET) from Great American Ball Park. Detroit is sending rookie Drew Smyly to start the contest in Cincinnati against Homer Bailey. Don Best is sending this game out with the Reds a $1.30 favorite and the run total at 9½.
Don Best Sports analyst Pat Williams believes Smyly (2-2, 3.71) is one of the reasons the Tigers can't get on a roll due to his inconsistencies on the mound, but Kenny White disagrees.
"Let's don't blame it on Drew Smyly," White noted when discussing this matchup. "He's 23...and I like his strikeout to walk numbers. Drew Smyly's going to be a really good major league pitcher."
Detroit has dropped five of Smyly's last six starts, and is 5-6 when he takes the ball this season, but the young left-hander still maintains a decent ERA and owns a 55:17 K/BB ratio in his first 60-2/3 innings.
White also believes Bailey (4-4, 4.39) will need to develop a third pitch to complement his fastball-slider combination before he will begin to develop into the pitcher he's always been touted as being. Bailey pitched the Reds into the winner's circle four consecutive starts before his last outing at home vs. Pittsburgh. The Pirates scored six times in the first three innings to chase Bailey early in an 8-4 win on June 5, that start coming seven days after Bailey had tossed a complete-game 4-hitter against then in Pittsburgh.
The pitching matchup could play right into the strengths of both lineups. Detroit is batting .273 vs. right-handers, 30 points higher than when the Tigers face southpaws, while Cincinnati is slugging at a .456 clip vs. lefties, well above their numbers against righties.
Nats Begin Week In Toronto
A new week dawns on Monday when the Washington Nationals trek across the border to meet the Toronto Blue Jays in the opener of a 3-game set. First pitch at Rogers Centre is 7:07 p.m. (ET) with a pitching battle between Washington's Edwin Jackson and Toronto's Brandon Morrow.
Jackson is sporting a very good 3.11 ERA, but hasn't had much luck or run support with the Nationals just 3-8 in his 11 starts. That's been the case most of his career as Jackson certainly has the stuff to be a solid major league starter, but it hasn't materialized into a lot of success for the well-traveled right-hander.
"When he came up with the Dodgers, they thought he was going to be the next great Los Angeles Dodger pitcher," White said. "He's been coveted by six major league teams that thought he could also be the same with them. But finally this year, he's having one of the best seasons he's ever had."
Washington started its weekend series in Boston with a slim 1-game lead at the top of a wide-open NL East that found the favored Philadelphia Phillies in last. Williams wonders if the Nationals can score enough runs over the course of a full season to make the playoffs for the first time since 1981 when they were known as the Montreal Expos.
The AL East also looks a bit upside down with the Red Sox at the bottom, and one of the reasons the Blue Jays are in the thick of the race is their starter on Monday. Morrow is 7-3 with a 2.90 ERA, and that ERA is even more impressive when you note he allowed six earned runs in two-third of an inning a couple of starts back in Texas.
Morrow leads the major leagues with three shutouts, the most recent in his last start against the White Sox in Chicago on June 6. His ERA is more than two runs higher in six starts at home (3.89) than the half-dozen Morrow has made on the road (1.88). Five of the seven home runs were also hit at Rogers Centre.
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