BASEBALL MLB ARTICLES

After five games against each other this year, the season series between the New York Mets and New York Yankees comes to an end on Monday with a makeup of a game postponed due to rain on July 22. This isn’t the 2000 World Series featuring two elite New York teams. Instead, this is more a David versus Goliath story though can the Mets really beat the Goliath that is the Yankees and even the season series? They’ve got the right arm on the mound in Jacob deGrom, but will have to overcome Luis Severino to give deGrom his second consecutive victory. ... 

After a strong start to the year, the Los Angeles Angels have faded into the group of also-rans in the American League while the Oakland Athletics took the opposite path sailing along for the first part of the season before their recent hot spell. The A’s will look to keep the good times rolling when they roll into Anaheim to start a three-game series on Friday. To kick off the series, Oakland will turn to Brett Anderson while Felix Pena gets the nod for the Angels. ... 

The Seattle Mariners have fallen behind the Oakland Athletics in the Wild Card race and the Mariners are still a threat to both the A’s and the Houston Astros in the NL West. The Astros currently hold a 6.5-game edge on Seattle, but the Mariners will try and cut that down over the weekend as they kick off a four-game head-to-head series on Thursday night. Thursday’s game will be a fun one to watch with both teams sending their aces to the mound and James Paxton and Justin Verlander are slated to... 

In what is a surprisingly important battle for the NL Wildcard, the suddenly competitive Pittsburgh Pirates will journey out west to the mountains to take on the Colorado Rockies in a three-game set. The Rockies took two of three when these two teams met in Pittsburgh back in April and will be looking for a similar result from this series. They’ll have to face a reinforced Pirates rotation, however, which includes Chris Archer who is slated to start game three of the series.... 

The Los Angeles Dodgers and Oakland Athletics both find themselves in the heart of key postseason races when they meet for the first game of a brief two-game series on Tuesday night. While the Dodgers have a much better chance at their division, the A’s coming into the series with a better record in a more difficult division. Can the A’s continue to prove the doubters wrong against a big-name team like the Dodgers? They’ve got their best on the mound to prove the point on Tuesday as Sean Manaea will make the start for Oakland opposite the Dodgers’ Rich Hill. ... 

The Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals are two of three teams battling for the top spot in the NL East. These two clubs will meet in the Nation’s Capital on Wednesday night following a doubleheader on Tuesday. The Braves have found success in this matchup this year, winning seven of their first 12 meetings and also have the upper hand in the standings when they send Mike Foltynewicz to the hill in Wednesday’s game looking to extend their lead on the Nats. ... 

A World Series rematch series between the Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Dodgers kicks off on Friday night with the Astros sending Justin Verlander to the hill against the Dodgers’ likely starter, Alex Wood. The Astros were victorious in a hard fought seven-game series last time these teams met. Things are a bit different this time around with the likes of Manny Machado, Brian Dozier and Robert Osuna involved in the showdown. ... 

With the rest of the AL Central selling at the deadline, the Cleveland Indians can cruise to the postseason, but they still have to play the games and that includes hosting the middle game of a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday. In the contest, the Indians will throw their ace, Corey Kluber, against the 28-year old Felix Pena who is trying to establish himself at the Major League level for the pitching hungry Angels. ... 

The historic rivalry continues with yet another ESPN Sunday Night Baseball game featuring the beasts of the AL East: the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. It’s the Sox who are in first place and hosting the Yankees in this series finale, looking to end the four-game set on a good note, but they’ll have David Price on the mound who has been terrible against the Yankees this year while the inconsistent Masahiro Tanaka pitches for the Yankees, looking to extend a scoreless streak. ... 

On Monday, the Philadelphia Phillies head south to the desert of Arizona to take on the Arizona Diamondbacks and kick off a three game series between teams battling for their respective division crowns. To start the series, the Phillies turn to one of their dueling aces with Jake Arrieta getting the start while Zack Godley figures to try and build off his last start and gain some momentum moving forward for the D-Backs.... 

A pair of NL West teams meet for the first of four on Thursday as the San Francisco Giants journey to the desert to take on the Arizona Diamondbacks in the aftermath of the non-waiver trade deadline. At the deadline, the D-Backs established themselves as contenders with a few key moves while the Giants were mostly inactive, toeing the line between contender and pretender. They’re more contender than pretender with Madison Bumgarner on the mound and he’s slated for the start on Thursday opposite ... 

The Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers will meet up for the third game of a four-game series out in Hollywood on Wednesday, a day after the dust settles from the non-waiver trade deadline. Both teams will feature new players at the hot corner, too, each with the same initials. The Dodgers landed the deadline jackpot of Manny Machado while the Brew Crew are hopeful Mike Moustakas adds a bit of left-handed pop to their order. Which of those two will end up on the winning side on Wednesday? The starting pitching probably has more of an impact on that than the two aforementioned players as Rich Hill and Chase Anderson are scheduled to take the hill. ... 

This week brings an important three-game series between the Houston Astros and the Seattle Mariners. The Mariners will host the Astros in the best of three with a need to win the series to help put an end to a troublesome slide that’s seen them regress, losing ground in both the AL West race—falling further back of Houston—and in the second Wild Card spot where their hefty advantage has all but disappeared. In the middle game of this series, the Mariners will hope Mike Leake can continue to pitch well as he’s matched up against Charlie Morton. ... 

It seemed farfetched at the beginning of the season, but as the month of July comes to an end, ESPN will carry both games of a two-game set which may be a World Series preview between the Boston Red Sox and the Philadelphia Phillies. These two teams top their respective divisions with the Sox several games up on the Yankees in the AL East and the Phillies at the top of the hill in the NL East. Philadelphia has their rotation lined up to make a statement in this series, too, sending Aaron Nola an... 

From worst to first, the Philadelphia Phillies have had a remarkable turnaround since last year and will get to test themselves against the team with the best record in baseball when they head to New England to take on the Boston Red Sox in the first of a brief two-game series on Monday. The Phillies will send the big guns to the hill in what they hope to be a World Series preview with Aaron Nola set to start. The Red Sox, meanwhile, will counter with either David Price or Drew Pomeranz.... 

The Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals meet on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball yet again as the wrap up a three game weekend series. This is the eighth meeting between these two teams since the All-Star break a week and a half ago. We’ve seen these two teams match up time and time again so there’s little mystery left including with each team’s starter. Kyle Hendricks and Jon Gant are slated to match up in this series finale. ... 

In a continuation of a potential postseason preview series, the Atlanta Braves will host the Los Angeles Dodgers in the third game of the four game set on Saturday evening. It should be a fun matchup against two of the NL’s more balanced teams. This game in particular will feature a pair of southpaws on the hill with former Brave lefty Alex Wood pitching for the Dodgers and second year lefty Sean Newcomb on the bump for Atlanta. ... 

Despite a better run differential, the Los Angeles Angels sit 11 games back of the Seattle Mariners as the two teams prepare for a weekend series head-to-head in Anaheim. The Angels figure to be sellers at the deadline as they sit 11 games out of the second Wild Card and a couple games under-.500. Meanwhile, despite a worse overall differential, the Mariners are in position to by, making a push for their first postseason in years. Can that momentum carry the Mariners in this series or will the A... 

The season hasn’t gone according to plan for the Minnesota Twins who find themselves selling rather than buying as the non-waiver trade deadline looms. Things don’t get any easier for the Twins this weekend either as they head to historic Fenway Park to take on the Boston Red Sox with the first game of four on Thursday night. For the series opener, it figures to be Kyle Gibson on the hill with the Sox starter still up in the air. ... 

This is truly a battle of David versus Goliath, except in this game, the Baltimore Orioles seemingly have even less chance than David as they play host to the Boston Red Sox in the finale of a three game series. The Sox enter the series playing some of their best baseball of the series and boasting the best record in the sport; the Orioles meanwhile have the worst record in baseball. While Dylan Bundy is on the mound and may have the best arm in the Orioles rotation, he’s matching up against David Price of the Red Sox and will face—perhaps—the best lineup in the game. ... 

As the losses begin to mount for the Washington Nationals, they continue a tough week out of the gate in the second half against the Milwaukee Brewers. The Brewers will host Washington for a best of three with the pivotal middle game slated for Tuesday and set to be broadcast nationally. In this middle game of three, the Nationals will turn to No.5 starter Jeremy Hellickson while the Brew Crew are expected to active Junior Guerra off the DL to toe the rubber.... 

Following a three-game series against the Brewers, the Los Angeles Dodgers next venture to the City of Brotherly Love where they’ll take on the Philadelphia Phillies. Much like their past series against Milwaukee, the Phillies are another team that were vying for the services of Manny Machado before the Dodgers scooped him up. Now, he’ll play against the Phillies as the Dodgers look to keep on the roll they’ve been on since mid-May. ... 

Sunday represents the finale of the 2018 season series between the New York Mets and New York Yankees as the Bronx Bombers host the Metropolitans at Yankee Stadium. The Mets will put up their best in this nationally broadcast game, sending Jacob deGrom—their lone All-Star—to the mound fresh off his All-Star performances while the Yankees hope their offense, bullpen and the pitching of Masahiro Tanaka are enough to overcome the Mets’ ace. ... 

After a five-game series against the Cardinals, the Chicago Cubs will stay at home and welcome in the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday night to kick off another long series, this one being four games. The pitching matchups for this series have yet to be announced as the Cubs will exhaust five starters in four days leading into it and the D-Backs have yet to set their post-All-Star game rotation beyond their first series. Regardless, it should be a fun game between two contenders fighting for positioning in divisions that are bunched up at the top. ... 

While in the running early, the Los Angeles Angels now sit 14-games back of the division leading Houston Astros as they get set to host the defending World Series Champions as the second half of the season kicks off. These two squads will match up in the middle game of three on Saturday with the Astros giving ace Justin Verlander the ball and the Angels hoping Nick Tropeano’s return from the DL is a triumphant one in an apparent rotational mismatch. ...