BASEBALL MLB ARTICLES

In the third game of a four-game weekend series against divisional foes, the Minnesota Twins will host the Cleveland Indians with hopes of closing the gap between them in the standings. Despite a disappointing start to the season, the Twins are still technically in the race, but Cleveland is starting to pull away. To stay relevant, they’ll need their Saturday starter—Lance Lynn—to continue pitching the way he has his last two starts. Even if he does, however, Minnesota still will have a difficult matchup on Saturday with Trevor Bauer toeing the rubber for the Tribe. ... 

The Chicago Cubs are starting to play better baseball but like their counterparts on Saturday, the New York Mets, they’re mired in a tough division. With so much divisional competition, both teams need to win their out of division games. This series could go to the road team, but the hometown Mets have the edge on the mound for Saturday with Jacob deGrom making the start for New York with Chicago’s starter still up in the air. ... 

In the third game of a four-game series against the Boston Red Sox on Saturday, the Houston Astros will once again try and show why they’re the defending World Series champions. Of course, this series is a rematch of sorts of a 2017 ALDS that the Astros tore through. On the mound, this matchup is intriguing, too, with a pair of former Cy Young Award winners and former teammates, too, battle with David Price and Justin Verlander both scheduled to pitch. ... 

On Sunday night in primetime, the Houston Astros finish off what was the hardest schedule in baseball over the last week with the final game of four against the Boston Red Sox after taking on the New York Yankees to start the week. To close the series—hopefully on a strong note—the Astros have one of their best stories on the mound. Charlie Morton and his 2.26 ERA take the mound for Houston while the Sox will lean on Rick Porcello who’s had a good start to the season, but has struggled a bit of late. ... 

After a series against the Yankees in the Bronx, the Houston Astros will return home on Thursday, but the competition doesn’t get any easier as the Astros welcome the Boston Red Sox to Texas. Boston, New York and Houston remain at the top of most Power Rankings, boasting the best combination of pitching, hitting and defense. These are the three most complete team in the AL, if not the Majors, and after taking on one of the big dogs this past week, the Astros will try and survive four games against the Sox. ... 

While battling it out atop the NL East, the Atlanta Braves will play host to the Washington Nationals over the weekend to stave off the divisional favorites. Atlanta’s been a pleasant surprise this season, outperforming expectations. The young core has developed faster than expectations, but does this team have enough to hold on through the dog days of summer? With the schedule flipping to June and the Nationals surging, we’re about to find out.... 

The New York Yankees and Houston Astros wrap up a three-game series on Wednesday in what is a rematch of a May 2 win for the Yankees. This time, the game will be played in New York, giving the Bronx Bombers an extra edge. Luis Severino and Dallas Keuchel match up on the mound nearly a month after Severino’s first career complete game ended in a shutout of the Astros. Don’t look for Severino to be quite as masterful this time around, but can he do enough to capture another win—this time at home—opposite an establish pitcher like Keuchel? ... 

Both winning fewer than 40-percent of their games and ranking at the bottom of their respective divisions, the Texas Rangers will host the Kansas City Royals in the third game of a four-game series on Saturday. This matchup will, surprisingly, be broadcast nationally despite the futility of the two teams, giving the nation another chance to see the ageless wonder, Bartolo Colon, on the mound for the Rangers. He’ll be opposed by Ian Kennedy for the Royals. ... 

The struggling Los Angeles Angels don’t get a break this weekend as they head to the Bronx to take on the New York Yankees. All three games will be broadcast nationally with Saturday’s showdown live on FOX. The Angels will try to get back to the winning team they were in the first part of the season while attempting to cool off a red-hot Yankee offense. The Angels’ starter for Saturday is still up in the air, but they’ll get an inconsistent Sonny Gray against them. ... 

Pitching wins championships and both the Houston Astros and Cleveland Indians have pitching—at least starting pitching, giving us some epic pitching matchups throughout the four-game series. The whole series could be a postseason preview. While the Indians haven’t hit their stride, yet, they’re still the team to beat in the AL Central just as the Astros are in the AL West. In the third game of this series on Saturday, we’ll see Lance McCullers Jr. matchup against Carlos Carrasco in would could be a pitchers’ duel. ... 

ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball this week will feature the Chicago Cubs, playing host to the San Francisco Giants, in the finale of a three-game weekend series. The Cubs are in a dog fight in a stacked NL Central. Chicago hasn’t gotten the pitching they’ve expected, including from Sunday’s starter in Yu Darvish. Darvish is hoping to get on a roll as he opposes Ty Blach in this primetime showdown. ... 

It’s the Wild West in the National League with the NL West up for grabs. The Diamondbacks had the division under wraps last month, but have fallen fast with injuries and poor performance. Now, the Colorado Rockies hold the top spot as they get ready to open a series against the San Francisco Giants on Memorial Day. The contest will feature Chad Bettis and Andrew Suarez on the mound as the two teams fight for NL West supremacy.... 

Sometimes it’s not about who you play, but when you play them and for these two teams, the scenarios as it relates to that statement couldn’t be any more different. Over the weekend, the New York Yankees will host the Los Angeles Angels in a best of three set. The Yankees come into play scorching hot and the Angels—after a strong start—are scuffling. Based on recent trends, the Yankees should have the clear upper hand. ... 

After the Houston Astros took two of three at home against the Cleveland Indians, the two division leaders will face-off in another weekend series, this time in an extended four-game set starting on Thursday. Houston will look for another series win in this one and the Astros certainly look like the better team, again. Nevertheless, this series—again—features some excellent pitching matchups with three rematches plus and talented fourth matchup that should keep each game in this four-game series close. ... 

The Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians already split a two-game series in Cleveland last month. Tuesday’s series opener in Chicago, however, will mark the Tribe’s first time back to Wrigley Field since the Cubs beat the Indians in Game 5 of the 2016 World Series, forcing the series back to Cleveland where the Cubbies eventually broke their 108-year championship drought. Trevor Bauer, who pitched in that World Series will toe the rubber for the Indians in this game opposite Tyler Chatwood, a newcomer to the Cubs. ... 

A couple wins over the weekend aside, the Los Angeles Dodgers are still amid a disappointing start to their season. A game away from a World Series Championship last year, the Dodgers came out of the gate cold and have been riddle with injuries from Day 1. To get back in the hunt, the Dodgers need to beat the teams ahead of them and that includes Tuesday’s opponent, the Colorado Rockies. The Dodgers will host the Rockies on Tuesday in the second game of a three game set with Chad Bettis and Kenta Maeda lined up for the matchup. ... 

In what many expected to be a postseason preview series in March now looks like a lopsided affair with the Washington Nationals hosting a disappointing Los Angeles Dodgers team. These two teams were the preseason favorites in the NL and they’ve gone in opposite directions here in the early going. To keep their slim hopes alive, the Dodgers need a good showing in this series and will turn to Alex Wood to try and outduel Stephen Strasburg in the series finale on Sunday. ... 

For their Sunday Night Game of the Week, ESPN is featuring a pair of division leaders in what is a potential postseason matchup with the Cleveland Indians journey deep in the heart of Texas to take on the Houston Astros. Of course, that does over simplify things a bit with the Indians sitting at .500 and struggling offensively—and in the bullpen. They’ve stayed afloat with their starting pitching. With that, Carlos Carrasco will have the difficult assignment of going toe-to-toe with Lance McCullers Jr. ... 

With the New York Yankees’ series against the Nationals washed away, the Yankees head south to Texas to take on the Texas Rangers and kick off the final leg of what’s become a soft six and a partial game road trip. As a friendly greeting to the Lone Star State, the Yankees will be meet by old-friend Bartolo Colon who starts for the Rangers opposite Masahiro Tanaka for New Yorkers.

First pitch for the game between the Yankees and Rangers is scheduled for Monday, May 21, 2017, at 8:05 p.m. ET at Globe Life Park in Arlington. The matchup will be shown on ESPN. ... 

This isn’t exactly a powerhouse matchup between division leaders, but both the Oakland Athletics and Toronto Blue Jays are still in the mix in the AL, each sitting around-.500. In the third game of this three-game series, we get a bit of a mismatch pitching matchup in favor of the visiting A’s who will send Sean Manaea to the hill opposite Joe Biagini. The Jays will hope home field—and country—advantage helps them overcome the mismatch. ... 

A pair of 2017 playoff teams meet for a three-game series over the weekend when the Houston Astros host the Cleveland Indians. The series is capped off with a primetime showdown on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball. Overall, the series could be a nice playoff preview. Of course, for that to happen, the Indians will have to improve their play. They’ll certainly get tested in this series with the Astros boasting the game’s best rotation. But, if any AL team can challenge that title, it’s the Indians. ... 

Before the season started, the New York Yankees versus Washington Nationals was a common World Series pick. The two meet up in the second game of a two-game series on national television Wednesday in what could still be a World Series preview. Regardless of any potential preview, it’ll be a good matchup to watch with the grizzled veteran southpaw, C.C. Sabathia toeing the rubber for the Yanks and perennial Cy Young contender Max Scherzer on the bump for the Nationals. ... 

The St. Louis Cardinals and Minnesota Twins kick off a brief two-game interleague series on Tuesday when the Cardinals head to the Twin Cities to take on the Twinkies. Both the Twins and Cardinals were second wildcard competitors in their respective leagues last year with Minnesota nabbing the playoff spot and the Cardinals falling just shy. This year, they both find themselves competing their respective divisions whether by quality of play or lack of quality amongst the rest of the division. Either way, these teams matchup with plenty on the line—even for a May series—and will go with Jake Flaherty and Jose Berrios on the bump. ... 

The Houston Astros and Los Angeles Angels begin Round Two of the battle for the AL West on Monday with another three-game showdown. The Angels won the first round with a 2-1 series win and will look to make it back-to-back series victories to get back to first place in the division. For now, the Astros hold that honor and will try to widen the gap behind their collection of All-Star starters slated to the take the hill. ... 

Not exactly a premier matchup of division leaders, but the Tampa Bay Rays and Kansas City Royals open a series on Monday with a game broadcast on ESPN. The self-proclaimed worldwide leader in sports often gets criticized for featuring just a couple teams on all broadcasts. This matchup is a clear example to refute that claim and while it features two under-.500 teams, it should still be a good matchup and a nice early chance for large market teams to see some potential deadline trade pieces on the national stage. ...