Games of the Day

The Yankees travel to Baltimore as the teams start a three-game series with implications for both the AL East and AL Wild card races. New York trails Boston by 3 1/2 games for the division lead, and leads Baltimore by 3 1/2 games for the first wild card slot. The Orioles are tied for third in the wild card race with the Angels, both 1 1/2 games behind Minnesota. Jordan Montgomery takes on Dylan Bundy in game one. Montgomery is a strikeout machine, with 123 K in 130 innings, helping him limit opponents to a .240 BA. He pitched better than his ERA overall, but allowed 11 of his 18 home runs with men on base, and that situation accounts for about 40% of his batters faced. Bundy is very similar; good strikeout number, okay walk numbers, but a lot of home runs allowed. Sixteen of the 24 home runs Bundy allowed came with the bases empty, helping him to an ERA under 4.00.

The Astros travel to Seattle with Dallas Keuchel facing Erasmo Ramirez. Keuchel’s 2.91 ERA would rank fourth in the AL if the qualifying level were set at 110 innings. He achieved that level by limiting home runs, just 11 in 114 1/3 innings. Ramirez owns a lower ERA since joining the Mariners, 3.62 versus 4.80 with the Rays, despite allowing home runs at a higher rate.

The Rays are four games behind the Twins for the second wild card as the teams open a three-game series in Tampa Bay. Jose Berrios takes on Alex Cobb. Berrios has now pitched about twice the innings of his poor rookie year of 2016. He allowed one more home run, the same number of walks raising his K rate a bit. That combination helped him lower his ERA over four runs. Cobb comes off a strange August in which he made just three starts, going 0-2 despite a 2.20 ERA.

Finally, the Arizona Diamondbacks try to continue their improbable comeback against the Dodgers. Arizona won 10 in a row while the Dodgers went 2-8 to cut Los Angeles’s lead to 13.5 games. This three-game series will be Arizona’s last chance to beat the Dodgers head-to-head. Rich Hill takes the mound in Phoenix against Robbie Ray. Hill followed up his great July (1.45 ERA) with a poor August (4.71 ERA). He allowed seven home runs in August after allowing eight through July. Ray makes his fifth start of the season against the Dodgers, 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA. He struck out 39 in 24 innings, but did allow four home runs and 12 walks.

Enjoy!

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