The Cardinals ended a five game losing streak last night with a 3-2 win against the Cubs in their first game at Wrigley Field since losing the NLDS to them last season. They’ll try to even the season series at 4-4 tonight behind Adam Wainwright (5-4, 4.78 ERA) who they’ve gone 9-5 behind this season. He’ll be matched up against Jason Hammel (7-2, 2.26) who is a -140 favorite with a total set at 8....
However, it’s the Cubs (17-6, +6.5 units) who are -150 favorites to win the series with Jake Arrieta and Jonathan Niese matched up on Tuesday and then Jon Lester and Juan Nicasio set for Wednesday’s finale. Last season, the Cubs won 11 of 19 regular-season meetings. MORE: MLB live odds page The Cubs lost to Atlanta, 4-3, on Sunday and haven’t lost two straight games this season. Through the first month of the season, they look every bit the part as 3-to-1 World Series favorites....
Sure, the Tigers (22-22) are playing well and Verlander (3-4, 4.58 ERA) has looked sensational over his past three starts allowing only four runs combined while striking out 27, but the Tigers lost two of those starts. In one of them (at home vs. Texas on May 8), Verlander didn’t allow a run over seven innings and the bullpen allowed seven runs in the eighth and Detroit eventually lost 8-3....
Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred is willing to at least test the waters, especially after witnessing Canadian fans pack Rogers Centre in Toronto this season with an average of 41,880 fans and invade Safeco Field in Seattle when the Jays and Mariners played in September. MORE: Eight fateful franchise relocations Before baseball returns to Quebec, though, a number of things need to happen. Manfred told reporters Tuesday the first one is settling on a new collective bargaining agreement to replace the one that is set to expire in December....
You’ve probably read a couple of articles grading the draft, and you’ve read scouting reports on the guys your team took in the first couple of rounds. Maybe you’re really excited. Maybe you wonder what that particular front office was thinking during those three draft days. MLB DRAFT 2018: Picks, top prospects from Rounds 1-10 But right now, it’s all speculation. You probably know this. You need a spot of patience....
Wieters and Anderson will have to console themselves with nice pay raises. MORE: Eight AL stars primed for offseason moves | What should baseball do to fix qualifying offer system? By accepting the Orioles’ $15.8 million qualifying offer to play for the team in 2016, Wieters gets a nice bump in pay from his 2015 salary of $8.3 million. The Baltimore catcher is a three-time All-Star who hit .267/.319/.422 in 2015 despite missing the first half while recuperating from Tommy John surgery....
The levels of uncertainty are unprecedented. Will baseball be able to play a 162-game season in 2021? Will spring training start on a normal timeline? Will fans be allowed in the stands next season and, if so, at what capacity? Will the National League use the designated hitter again in 2021? The list of questions feels endless. The only certainty about that level of uncertainty is this: We are going to see teams default to not spending money, with so many unknowns surrounding 2021 revenue....
MLB odds: Today’s lines from Las Vegas Blue Jays (79-59) vs. Red Sox (65-73) Drew Hutchison (13-3, 5.07 ERA) vs. Joe Kelly (9-6, 4.84 ERA) Line: Blue Jays -120Total: 10 (OVER -115)Time: 7:10 p.m. ET It’s no secret the Blue Jays’ lineup has given Drew Hutchison (13-3, 5.07 ERA) some of best run support among any pitcher this season, knocking in 6.8 runs per start. Oddsmakers opened the total at a whopping 10 runs – the total has closed at this figure or greater only six times at Fenway this season....
Amsinger then made a prediction, albeit a random one, that ended up coming true. (Watch the video here) MORE: ASG photos | Jeter praise | Wainwright’s struggles Trout: Now we’re playing great ball, and we’re trying to catch the A’s. Amsinger: It’s going to be awesome, man, when you drive in Derek Jeter in his final All-Star Game tonight. That’s going to be so cool. Trout: That would be sick....
Chicago has waited an awfully long time to be excited about the Cubs again, but it appears that wait is finally going to be rewarded. The Cubs beat the Giants 8-6 on Saturday for their third win in a row and ninth in their last 10 games. The young and energetic squad is comprised of a multitude of top prospects and pitchers that are starting to hit their strides....
What a day for Mets outfielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis. The 27-year-old utility outfielder entered Sunday’s game with zero home runs on the season, but changed that in a big way with three long shots in a win against the Diamondbacks. The performance came seemingly out of nowhere, as Nieuwenhuis had only hit 13 home runs in his three-and-a-half-year career. He managed only three homers in each of his previous two seasons, for goodness sake....
Harvey and other MLB players have testified in the trial of Eric Kay, the Angels’ former communications director who is accused of providing Skaggs with the drugs that killed him, The Washington Post reported. Harvey said he and Skaggs ingested drugs inside the Angels’ stadium in 2019 and said Skaggs told him he would occasionally crush the pills and snort them in the bathroom of the stadium’s clubhouse, Jorge Castillo of The Los Angeles Times posted on Twitter....
Through the Los Angeles Dodgers' early season slide into last place, the injuries to key players, and the reports that his job was in jeopardy, the third-year manager kept his cool. He told everyone that the talent was there and the team's fortunes would change. Did they ever. The Dodgers went on a 42-8 tear from late June to mid-August to win the NL West and earn their first playoff appearance in four years....
“You stick around long enough,” White said. “You’ll see some s—.” MORE: Biggest moments from Game 5 | Five takeaways | Dumbest unwritten rules White was referring to the top of the seventh, which included one of the strangest plays anyone had ever seen that gave the Rangers the lead on the Blue Jays in the winner-take-all contest, followed by a delay while fans hurled full beers and assorted garbage from the stands....
Los Angeles is out in front 1-0 in the NLDS for the third straight year and fourth time in the last six seasons. Of the four series the Dodgers started 1-0, they have gone on to win all four. Now the Nationals will have to fight back with Stephen Strasburg in Game 2 on Friday. MLB playoffs 2019: Three takeaways from Dodgers’ Game 1 NLDS win over Nationals First inning nerves cost Patrick Corbin, Nationals There’s no way around it, Patrick Corbin’s nerves very well may have cost the Nationals Game 1....
“Sandoval was in Boston (on Tuesday) where I am told there is a 90% chance that he will sign with the Red Sox,” O’Donnell writes. “The other 10% goes to the Toronto Blue Jays.” HOT STOVE: Top 10 free-agent outfielders | Infielders | Pitchers | Catchers According to the report, returning to San Francisco was never the first choice for the 28-year-old Sandoval. That’s why he asked the Giants for a seven-year deal, knowing the team would balk at that....
The most unnerving part of a job search. MORE: These minority managerial candidates deserve a shot Impressions matter. Communicating and presenting the right image, both in print and in person, is essential. But most important, one must secure the opportunity to interview in order to land the job. The importance given to and stress of “The Interview” definitely holds true in the world of academia, where I have worked over the past several decades....
Well, maybe “fun” is the wrong word, but overreacting is exactly what happens, without fail every year, when players don’t meet expectations in the first 25 games or so. The sky is falling. Sometimes, the sky isn’t falling. Let’s take a look at five players who have struggled so far this season and figure out whether they’ll be just fine or whether the end is near. FAGAN: MLB Power Rankings — But sometimes, the sky is falling…...
