Game Day: Monday, June 8th

The first week of June is in the books.  What did I enjoy about the past week in baseball?  Sandy Alcantara picked up a pair of wins for the Marlins and my guy Estuery Ruiz quietly had a nice week.  I have been a proponent of Ruiz for some time now and it's nice to see him contributing on an MLB ball club.  Jacob DeGrom is out of jail with a pair of quality starts and a pair of wins for the Rangers.  A's rookie Gage Jump posted a pair of wins and looks like he is going to stick in Sacramento's rotation for the remainder of the season.  The Mets are playing well.  It's nice to see Bo Bichette hitting.  The NL East is more exciting with the Mets in contention.  Ohtani is getting a little cocky, he's like a spoiled kid sticking his tongue out.  Zach Wheeler, Chris Sale, Kyle Harrison, Max Meyer, Bryce Elder and Christopher Sanchez all hanging back in the pack waiting for Ohtani to get blown up.  The NL Cy Young race is entertaining.  Ryan Ward is getting some playing time for the Dodgers and I'm happy to see him collecting some big league hits.  Nick Madrigal is back in the big leagues and hitting well with the Angels.  

Let's take a look at the teams who either won two series or lost two series to begin the month.  

Who's Hot?

- Atlanta Braves:  (5-1) - continue their winning ways with a series win over Toronto and a sweep of the Pirates.

- Philadelphia Phillies:  (5-1) - keeping pace with a sweep of the Padres and two of three over the White Sox.

- Detroit Tigers:  (5-1) - a sweep of the 1st place Rays and a series win against the AL West leading Seattle Mariners.

- Miami Marlins:  (5-1) - swept the Nats and took two of three from the Rays.

- Milwaukee Brewers:  (5-2) - the Crew took care of their business with a split at home versus San Francisco and a sweep on the road in Denver.

- Kansas City Royals:  (5-2) don't crown them but a series win over the Reds and three of four on the road in Minnesota is a nice start to the month.

- Texas Rangers:  (4-2) - two series wins over a pair of winning teams. Wins against St. Louis and the Guardians.

Who's Not?

- Tampa Bay Rays:  (1-5) - swept by the Tigers and dropped a series in Miami.

- San Diego Padres:  (1-5) - swept at the end of May by the Phillies and swept to open the month of June, again, by the Phillies.  Lost a series to the Mets to boot.  

- Cincinnati Reds:  (1-5) - dropped two of three to the Royals and were swept by Cardinals.

- Chicago White Sox:  (2-4) - on the road for six games, lost two of three to the Twins and the Phillies.

- Chicago Cubs:  (2-4) - the Bay area beat up on the Cubbies at the Friendly Confines, they drop a pair of home series to the Giants and the A's.

- Los Angeles Angels:  (2-4) - lost a series to the Rockies and another to the Dodgers.  

Four interesting series to begin the week:

Braves @ White Sox - Acuna vs. Acuna and a big test for the White Sox this week.  White Sox get the Dodgers this weekend.  

Rangers @ Royals - two teams from the Whose Hot? list, this is the series to watch to begin the week.  Royals like playing from behind. They do their best work when they are ten games under .500.  

Reds @ Padres - interesting matchup to begin the week, two sinking ships, winner gets some MO into the weekend.  

Rays @ Red Sox - a series win over the Rays and the Red Sox will fly back to Boston with a day off on Thursday and that is nice.

That's it for Game Day.  It's Monday, only eight games on the schedule.  At first glance, there does look to be some good pitchers on the card.  I'll likely have a pick later this afternoon.  Stay tuned.

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