Vegas is absolutely LOVIN’ UP on some Tanaka this afternoon with a line that says “Don’t even bother. The Yankees have it locked”. But here at Front Stoop Sports, we’re no fools, and for that, we take everything Vegas says with a grain of salt. Tanaka’s coming off the biggest game of his career against the Rays last week where he sent Tampa Bay back to pre-school with 14K’s over 8 innings. The question here though is, was that an anomaly, or has Tanaka found his groove? I doubt the latter, but I’m sure the game did wonders for his confidence. The team Tanka gets to test his hot streak against today are the lowly Detroit Tigers; the forgotten team of the Central. And the man leading them into battle? None other than old man Zimmermann. If you’ve been up to date with my picks so far this year you know I stand behind good pitching and nothing changes today. Tanaka may not dazzle like he did last week, but he’s backed by a powerful offense that plays best when they’re home. No way am I picking Ryan “The Hag” Zimmermann. Yankees pull off the first of today’s #BPS matchups.
I hate J.A. Happ. I hated him when he was with the Phillies and I hate having to pick him now; too inconsistent and unreliable when needed the most. But the Blue Jays are riding high, winners of 6 of their last 10; Toronto comes into today’s game to play against a team who’s just finished one of the biggest clearance sales of the year. The White Sox lineup is essentially all AAA players after they traded away the majority of their big name stars before the deadline in order to get an early start on a rebuild. Toronto wins this one by default (and no help from Happ).
This matchup’s interesting… Once upon a time, just a few months ago, the Minnesota Twins were on top of the world; leaders of the AL Central, the Twins were clicking on all cylinders- pitching at a high level, playing great defense, and providing quality hits up and down their lineup. The Padres? Laying in a dumpster in San Diego, playing for nothing and giving their fans even less. But boy have the tides turned… San Diego has hit a (minor) resurgence since the All Star break and the Twins seem lost somewhere in the luscious forests I picture Minnesota having. The line’s too close, but I can’t say it enough- pitching is everything in baseball, and today the Twins have it. Expect Ervin Santana to pitch well today in the gorgeous weather San Diego provides on a day-to-day basis; he was once in the conversation for AL CY Young. I say he shows examples of that today.