It is September 1st and football season is around the corner as baseball is in full swing. Make sure you take a look for Mario’s columns this football season, as he will help you win some money. Justin Verlander is a Houston Astro, the deal was struck just before the deadline when it was rumored the Verlander vetoed the trade at first. This is a massive play for the Astros as they need starting pitching badly, it will be interesting to see if Verlander has enough left in the tank to get it down in the postseason.
We have a full slate of games, and it’s free lineup Friday.
Low-Scoring Plays
L.A. Dodgers @ San Diego Padres- The Dodger have lost 5 in a row and need some answers. Well the answer is here as Clayton Kershaw is back on the mound. I wouldn’t take Kershaw in his first game back if he was playing a good team. However it’s the Padres are not a good team, and Kershaw should dominate. Kershaw’s numbers are phenomenal at 15-2 with .88 WHIP and an ERA around 2.
Targets: Kershaw, Puig, Bellinger
Cleveland Indians @ Detroit Tigers- The Tigers are clearing house getting ready for their rebuild. Upton was traded yesterday as well as Verlander. Mike Clevinger gets the call for the Indians who has been ok this season. Nothing great in his numbers but against a poor Tigers team, and the post season around the corner I love Clevinger to turn it up. The Indians will be able to score runs in this one as well so stack some of their players.
Targets: Clevinger, Encarnacion, Lindor
High-Scoring Plays
Boston Red Sox @ New York Yankees- The Yankees scored 6 off of E-Rod last night. Tonight will be even easier for them as they go against Doug Fister. Fister had a one hit shutout two starts ago so he has potential. However he doesn’t have experience in the big game, and Yankee Stadium is a hitters ball park. Sanchez is one of the hottest players in baseball-aside from Stanton. He will be a great play, Judge is due for a home run as well.
Targets: Sanchez, Judge
Washington Nationals @ Milwaukee Brewers – Tanner Roark gets the call for the Nationals which is why I love the Brewers in this game. We know the Brewers can mash the ball, Shaw and Thames are both plays that I love today as they are both due for home runs. Thames price point is great, I know he fell off of the map from where he was at during the begging of the year but he is a guy that is capable of multi-home runs games and a play that I love today.
My-Line up
Kershaw-LAD-SP
Lackey-CHC-SP
Vazquez-BOS-C
Thames-MIL-1B
Sogard-MIL-2B
Shaw-MIL-3B
Torreyes-NYY-SS
McCutchen-PIT-OF
Bautista-TOR-OF
Trumbo-BAL-OF
Check out our MLB Breakdown Spreadsheet and our Pitcher Breakdown Spreadsheet (these picks – all over/unders – are now at 56.6% accuracy since June 30) where you can compare key statistics and numbers for today’s games.