It’s the first Free Lineup Friday of August as the division races continue to heat up. Last night Sonny Gray made his debut for the Yankees. It wasn’t a terrible start but he still picked up the loss as the Yankees fell to the Indians. Kluber was dynamic in that game striking out 11 batters. Boston’s bats have been alive and helped them pick up the win against the White Sox and take more of a lead over the Yankees in the division.
Tonight we have a full slate of games, with Yu Darvish making his Dodger debut.
Low-Scoring Plays
L.A. Dodgers @ New York Mets – Yu Darvish vs Jacob deGrom could set up to be the best pitching matchup of the day. The Dodgers are hot and the team I like in this game. Darvish should feed off of the energy the Dodgers have and pitch lights out now that he’s in a playoff race. Citi Field is also huge and the Mets don’t have many home run hitters so it shapes up well for Darvish’s debut. deGrom will have a good day as well, but the Dodgers are way too much for any pitcher to handle.
Targets: Darvish, Bellinger
Chicago White Sox @ Boston Red Sox – Boston’s bats have been hot as Nunez and Devers are leading the charge. However we know that Boston’s offense is streaky so don’t expect much from them. Rodriguez gets the call for Boston who has been okay this year. Porcello had a good start last night against the White Sox who are not a good team. Look for Rodriguez to have a good game in this one and keep the game low scoring. Boston needs to win this game and they will but they won’t put up 9 runs like they did last night.
Targets: Rodriguez, Betts, Nunez
Detroit Tigers @ Baltimore Orioles – Not too sure why the Orioles weren’t sellers at the deadline. They don’t have a shot at the division at least in my eyes they don’t. Verlander takes the mound for the Tigers who was rumored to be on the trading block. He may be put up for waivers now but either way the Tigers believed in him and kept him on the team. I like him to take that into account and he will feed off of that. The Orioles aren’t a great team, although they could be. Lock Verlander in your lineup.
Targets: Verlander, Cabrera
High-Scoring Plays
New York Yankees @ Cleveland Indians – The Yankee offense can’t be shut down two nights in a row. They were struck out 11 times last night and have to go against Bauer tonight. Bauer isn’t as good good as Kluber so the Yankees should be able to score here. The Indians have a great lineup as well and will be able to score off of Garcia who gets the call for the Yankees. First to 6 wins this game and that will be the Yankees.
Targets: Judge, Sanchez, T. Frazier
Miami Marlins @ Atlanta Braves – R.A. DIckey takes the mound for the Braves and if you read this blog you know how I feel about Dickey. I hate him, he is terrible and will be serving up batting practice fastballs to Stanton. The Marlins have picked up their play this second half of the season. They still aren’t good but they would have a shot at the playoffs if the Nationals weren’t one of the best teams in the league. Regardless look for the Marlins to score runs in this one.
Targets: Stanton, Gordon
My Line Up
SP- Darvish- LAD
SP- Rodriguez-BOS
C-Posey-SF
1B-Rizzo-CHC
2B-Kinsler-DET
3B-Frazier-NYY
SS-Story-COL
OF-Thames-MIL
OF-Puig-LAD
OF-Shwarber-CHC
Check out our MLB Breakdown Spreadsheet and our Pitcher Breakdown Spreadsheet (these picks – all over/unders – are now at 58.0% accuracy since June 30) where you can compare key statistics and numbers for today’s games.