Game Day: Tuesday, May 19th

Let's follow up on the division series right quick.  

Guardians won the opener against the Tigers, 8-2.  Framber issued four walks and only recorded three strikeouts.  Guardians' bats stayed hot. Guardians win with pitching and defense.  If the Guards are scoring runs, they are a tough team to beat.  Parker Messick (5-1) starts game two of the series for Cleveland.  Messick has been the Guardians most effective and consistent starter this season.  He faces Keider Montero who starts for Detroit.  Montero has pitched well.  He wasn't strongly considered for the rotation this off-season, you could say the Tigers did everything they could to jam him into the bullpen as their longman, but they are now heavily invested in Montero with Tarik Skubal on the injured reserve.  Montero has stepped up and has been an integral part of the Tigers' team this season.  Game Two of a four-game series at Comerica Park.  First pitch at 5:40 PM CDT.

The Rays put a stamp on it last night with a 16-6 win over the Orioles at the Trop.  I made an error in yesterday's article stating that this series was at Camden Yards.  It is at the Trop in Tampa Bay, or rather St. Petersburg, FL.  Shane McClanahan allowed four earned runs in last night's game but records his fifth win of the season.  This Rays' team is fired up.  There isn't much else to say about it.  They are the hottest team in the league.  Game Two of a three-game series features Kyle Bradish (2-5) for the O's against Griffin Jax (1-2) who gets the ball for Tampa.  The Jax experiement rolls into its' second week.  The former closer is now part of the Rays' rotation as a result of the season-ending injury to Ryan Pepiot.  It is an interesting sideline to follow.  First pitch at 5:40 PM CDT.

Brewers womped the Cubs, 9-3.  Milwaukee is the league's second hottest team.  The Rays and the Brewers have been the two most exciting teams in MLB this season.  The Cubs are a wonky mess.  Eight earned runs charged to Shota Imanaga last night.  If Imanaga regresses or finds his way to the injured reserve, the Cubs' rotation will be all but obliterated.  Shane Drohan threw 4.1 scoreless innings in relief of Brewers' starter Brandon Sproat who exited in the fifth.  The Brewers have three or four pitchers in long relief roles out of their bullpen as a mechanism to keep innings low into the second half of the season.  It has worked out well thus far.  Big pitching matchup today.  Brewers' phenom and superstar Jacob Misiorowski (3-2) takes on the Cubs' unheralded and underrated starter Ben Brown (1-1).  Brown was the best pitcher in the Cubs' bullpen early in the season but was moved into the rotation as a result of injuries to Cade Horton and Matthew Boyd.  He is a two-pitch pitcher, working a heater and a knucklecurve ball.  It is yet to be determined if he can pitch effectively as a starter.  He gets the ball tonight at Wrigley Field in a high-pressure game.  It will be a big test for Brown.  First pitch at 6:40 PM'  CDT.

Michael King stepped up and shut down the Dodgers.  The Padres were all smiles last night with that win.  There isn't anything better than winning a 1-0 game in a great pitchers' duel. Big win for the Padres but the bigger victory would be taking the series and that is still up for grabs.  Padres have Griffin Canning (0-2) scheduled to start and he hasn't pitched all that well in his return from achilles surgery.  They will definitely need the bullpen tonight.  Emmett Sheehan (3-1) starts for LA.  Sheehan can light it up but is at best a three.  Padres will need to get some runs off Sheehan if they are to win this game tonight.  Dodgers' bullpen is deep and well rested.  It is the biggest game on the card tonight.  First pitch at 8:40 PM CDT from PETCO Park in San Diego.  A Padres win clinches the series.  

Elsewhere around the league, the Mets scored 10 runs in the 12th inning to beat the Nationals 16-7.  Mets have won six of seven and seven of their Last10.  

Pirates and Cardinals haven't played many important games lately but the two storied NL Central franchises have a long history and a lot on the line this week.  Cardinals are only a game back of the Brewers in the NL Central, 3.5 games ahead of the Pirates.  It's a big series for both clubs.  Game One of a three-game series starts this afternoon at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, MO.

I haven't looked too closely at the odds this morning but stay tuned for a pick later this afternoon.  

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