BASEBALL MLB ARTICLES

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. ... 

Coming out of the All-Star Break, the Chicago Cubs are hosting the St. Louis Cardinals in a usual five-game series including a doubleheader on Saturday. The first game of the doubleheader is a make-up of an April 16 postponement with the night game of the day-night twin bill the original scheduled contest. In that night cap, the Cardinals have John Gant coming up to make the start while Tyler Chatwood will get the nod looking for his first win against the Cards in his third start against them th... 

The Nation’s Capital was the center of the baseball world this past week, but eyes will remain on Washington D.C. as the season resumes with the Washington Nationals hosting the Atlanta Braves in a best of three series. Important for the dynamics of the NL East, Washington will be trying to climb back in the division race with the Braves do their best to keep the Nationals down as they battle with the Phillies for the top spot in the division. ... 

There was a ton of storylines coming out of the All-Star Game, but the two biggest featured the Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers for very different reasons. From old tweets from Josh Hader to the saga of Manny Machado—which indirectly impacts both teams, these two teams were the spotlight and now get ready to kick off their respective second halves in a head-to-head battle on Friday. ... 

Not to miss a chance to showcase one of the game’s biggest rivalries, the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs will kick off the second half of the season for MLB with a primetime matchup on Thursday night. The only Thursday game on the schedule, the All-Star break is cut a bit short for these two clubs as the Cubs send Kyle Hendricks to the hill against the Cardinals who have yet to announce their starter for this game.... 

Every year injuries to players like Clayton Kershaw and Carlos Correa prevent some of the game’s bigger stars from getting a chance to take center stage, but instead the door is opened for up-and-coming players to get into the national spotlight. This year’s crop of first time All-Stars include exciting youngsters like Ozzie Albies and Eddie Rosario while also giving a chance to grizzled veterans like Nick Markakis and Charlie Morton. As always, the game will feature the best of the best in Major League Baseball and although there’s nothing riding on the game, pride is still a strong motivating factor for both the AL and NL teams. ... 

BookMaker is the only online sportsbook where you can get the earliest MLB moneylines, runlines, totals and props. If you want to wager on baseball odds like the pros do, you need to join BookMaker today! The MLB Home Run Derby will take place on Monday, July 16, 2018 at 8 p.m. ET at Marlins Park. The event will be televised live on ESPN. ... 

It’s been an interesting first half for both the Seattle Mariners and Colorado Rockies as they meet on Sunday for the finale of their weekend series and first halves. Both teams will look to head into the All-Star break with a win under their belt and feeling good heading in the second half. Seattle, of course, is sitting in a better position than the Rockies, but both will be playing in meaningful games coming out of the break, pushing for the postseason.... 

In a potential postseason preview, the Cleveland Indians will host the New York Yankees in game three of a four game series on Saturday. The Indians, a benefactor of a weak division are virtual locks to win the AL Central while the Yankees are in a heated battle for the AL East despite boasting ten more wins than Cleveland. While both teams go with their aces in the series opener, this Saturday night showdown offers an interesting pitching matchup of its own with C.C. Sabathia starting for the Yankees and Mike Clevinger on the bump for the Tribe. ... 

Despite the names, the Los Angeles Angels and Los Angeles Dodgers are not exactly crosstown rivals like the Mets and Yankees or Cubs and White Sox. Nevertheless, these two teams do still have a friendly—at least sometimes, friendly—interleague rivalry. Of late, it’s the Dodgers with the edge in that rivalry. The Dodgers will host the Angels over the weekend looking to extend that edge though it was the Angels that took the series when the two teams met down in Anaheim earlier this year. Can the Dodgers return the favor in a best of three over the weekend? ... 

The Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox continue their four-game series on Friday the 13^th at historic Fenway Park for the second game of the series. Boston has owned the Blue Jays—and most of the rest of the AL—to this point in the season, winning seven of nine meetings. Rick Porcello will be tasked with keeping that going on Friday as he gets the start for Boston. The Jays haven’t yet revealed their scheduled starter for the contest....