Monday, July 18, 2016

Games of the Day

The Mets travel to Chicago to start a three-game series against the Cubs. Steven Matz faces Jon Lester in game one. Matz shows great power and control in his sophomore season, striking out 90 and walking just 23 in 96 innings. The ten home runs he allowed represent his only weakness this season. Lester pitched better at home this season, with just six of his 16 home runs coming in Chicago. He pitched about the same number of innings home and away, despite making two more starts on the road.

The Rangers lead the Angels by 14 1/2 games as the western rivals open a three-game series in Anaheim. The teams are headed in slightly different directions as Texas is 3-7 in their last 10 games, while LAnaheim is 7-3. A.J. Griffin takes on Nick Tropeano. Griffin pitched well in his six road starts, posting a 3.45 ERA. He is just 1-0 in those games, however. Griffin is still no going deep in those games, pitching a total of 28 2/3 innings. Tropeano strikes out plenty of batters, but his walk and home run rates are very high. His low ERA is due to allowing a .135 BA with runners in scoring position, 7 for 52.

Finally, the White Sox send Chris Sale against the Mariners and Wade LeBlanc. Sale goes for his 15th win of the season against three losses. He performs better on the road, 7-1 with a 2.33 ERA, versus 7-2 with a 4.55 ERA at home. Only four of his 17 home runs allowed came on the road.

Fifteen wins through the end of July is not that unusual. Max Scherzer was the last to do it, going 15-1 in 2013. The last to reach 16 wins by the end of July was Ubaldo Jimenez, who started 16-2 in 2010. Curt Schilling started 18-3 in 2002, and finished with 23 wins.

LeBlanc makes his fourth start of the season. He walked just three batters in 15 1/3 innings.

Enjoy!



from baseballmusings.com http://ift.tt/29UqG1P

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