BASEBALL MLB ARTICLES

The Washington Nationals head to Citi Field on Thursday for the first of four against the division rival New York Mets. While the Mets were supposed to be the Nationals’ biggest competition for the division, the two teams have turned into the biggest disappointments so far as Washington desperately tries to stay in the mix as New York continues to fade into the bottom of the NL standings. Now, the Nationals, behind Max Scherzer, will try to take advantage of their matchup against the Mets even w... 

The Texas Rangers and Boston Red Sox will close out a three-game series on Wednesday night with Texas’ Bartolo Colon going for the record for most career wins by a Latin American pitcher. The veteran right-hander will have his work cut out for him if he’s to achieve that record, facing one of the game’s best teams and one of the league’s best pitchers with All-Star southpaw Chris Sale toeing the rubber for the Sox. ... 

The San Francisco Giants and Chicago Cubs meet for the second and final time this season in a three-game series. This time, it’ll be the Giants hosting. These two teams don’t exactly have a rivalry going, but here in the 2018 season, it is interesting to note that these two teams represent the last teams to win a World Series in an even-numbered season since the Philadelphia Phillies took the 2008 Fall Classic a decade ago. ... 

Not exactly a premium matchup of World Series, but the Minnesota Twins will play host to the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night, pinning two teams with their eyes towards the future against each other. These divisions rivals won’t have aces battling it out on Tuesday, but it does look to be a fair matchup based on the starters as the Twins will go with Aaron Sledge and the Royals haven’t announced their starter as their rotation is decimated by injury and ineffectiveness. ... 

The Washington Nationals and Pittsburgh Pirates feel like they’re in two different classes and, in fact, the Nationals are buyers while the Pirates are likely sellers. Nevertheless, as these two teams get set for the first in a three-game series on Monday, the two are rather close based on the record. The Pirates will host the Nationals on Monday looking to take advantage of the Nationals’ struggles while Washington hopes Pittsburgh can offer easier wins compared to their more recent opponents.... 

The Los Angeles Dodgers will close out their three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball. While it’s not really a battle for Los Angeles, these two are interleague rivals and do share a city in name despite no being exactly geographically correct. The rivalry makes it a fun matchup for these west coast teams. The Dodgers will try and put the nail in the coffin to the Angel’s slimmest of postseason hopes while the Angels may be nothing more than spoilers for teams like the Dodgers at this point. ... 

Typically primetime, nationally televised games feature a balanced matchup of contending teams, but on Saturday, FOX will feature one of the game’s best teams against one of its worst as the rebuilding Kansas City Royals play host to the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox will throw David Price in the contest against the Royals’ rookie right-hander Brad Keller who has impressed so far in his young career. ... 

This weekend will feature a big series between the NL East and NL Central leaders in what could be a postseason preview. For now, it’s just a series between the Atlanta Braves and Milwaukee Brewers, but will serve as a statement series with Saturday’s game broadcast nationally. Both these teams are starting to get more national air time as they continue playing well. We’ll see which can thrive on the big stage Saturday with the Braves turning to veteran Anibal Sanchez to make the start and the Brewers have Brett Suter lined up to take the ball. ... 

In the late game on Independence Day, the Arizona Diamondbacks will host the St. Louis Cardinals in the desert in the finale of a three-game series against two NL contenders. This is a big series by both teams, already in the heat of divisional races. We have a prime pitching matchup in this contest, too, as two of the NL’s biggest surprises square off with Miles Mikolas and Patrick Corbin both scheduled to take the mound in the series finale.... 

It’s fitting that the city of Philadelphia would be featured in a nationally televised game on the Fourth of July, but this game may not be the most balanced of matchups as the Philadelphia Phillies continue their push for the postseason against the Baltimore Orioles in the finale of a brief two-game series. To make things more imbalanced, the Phillies send ace Aaron Nola to the hill to mystify the Birds who have yet to announce their starter for the contest. ... 

The New York Yankees will host the Atlanta Braves in a best-of-three series this week as the team with the second-best record in the AL host the team with the second-best record in the NL. Despite a similar positioning in their respective leagues, the Yankees entered Sunday with six more wins than the Braves. Atlanta still has more to prove this season than the Yankees, but a good showing in a three-game series against the Bronx Bombers would sure make a statement. ... 

The Boston Red Sox will have a pitcher hitting for just the third time all season and first since April 3 when they head to Washington, D.C. to take on the Washington Nationals in their third interleague series of the year. The Sox are picking a good time to play the Nationals as they continue to struggle offensively. Rick Porcello will try and take advantage of the struggling offense as he pitches the series opener on Monday and tries to outduel former teammate Max Scherzer. ... 

The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox will wrap up the latest installment of their heated rivalry Sunday when the Bronx Bombers host the Sox for the finale of three. This is just the matchup ESPN loves to show on Sunday Night Baseball. As tired as some fans are of the Boston versus New York rivalry, the matchup sells and makes great television. This one is particularly great given David Price and Luis Severino are slated to take the mound. ... 

The Atlanta Braves and St. Louis Cardinals meet up for the middle game of a three-game weekend series on Saturday in a nationally televised game. Both the Cardinals and Braves find themselves in the middle of contention here as the midway point to the season draws near. This game—and series—could be a playoff preview for two historic teams who are looking to get back to October baseball. In this game, the pitching matchup could feature a couple exciting youngsters with Luke Weaver against one of the Braves youngsters coming up to replace Brandon McCarthy. ... 

The middle game of three between the Colorado Rockies and Los Angeles Dodgers is slated for national television on Saturday. It’ll feature two teams heading in completely opposite directions, one in a heated battle for the top spot in the NL West and the other desperately trying to hold on to relevance as it slips closer and closer to moving from buyer to seller at the non-waiver trade deadline. For the Rockies, the bleeding needs to stop now. They’re expected to send German Marquez to the mound on Saturday to make the start opposite Kenta Maeda for the Dodgers. ... 

In years past, a Yankee-Red Sox matchup was often oversold in the name of rivalry, but this year the hype is real. The New York Yankees will host the Boston Red Sox in a best-of-three series over the weekend as the two teams remain neck-and-neck for the best record in the American League East. Perhaps the best race in the AL, the battle for AL East supremacy still has a long way to go but both teams will be looking to make a statement over the weekend against their hated rival. ... 

The Los Angeles Angels will wrap up the second leg—including a makeup game in Kansas City on Monday—of a four city road trip on Thursday with the final of a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway. At seven games out of a wildcard spot in June, the Angels are a long shot for postseason play while the Sox are seemingly shoe-ins for October. Can the Angels make up ground with a win in the finale of this series mismatch? They have a solid pitching matchup with Jaime Barria on the hill against the knuckleballer Steven Wright. ... 

The Chicago Cubs got a bit of revenge against the Los Angeles Dodgers last week, topping L.A. two games to one in a three-game series at Wrigley Field. With the season series continuing in Los Angeles this week, The Dodgers will look to issue a little payback, including in Tuesday’s middle game which will be broadcast nationally. The Dodgers have one of their biggest bright spots pitching that game in Ross Stripling while his counterpart for the Cubs has yet to be announced. ... 

This New York Yankees’ team is the best we’ve seen in years and could be the best since 2009 when the Bronx Bombers last won the World Series. New York won that series over the Philadelphia Phillies. They’ll face Philadelphia in a three game interleague series in the City of Brotherly Love starting on Monday. Both these teams have been remade since their last battled in the Fall Classic, but both are in contention here in 2018 and bring plenty of youthful exuberance. ... 

The second and final regular season series between the Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers starts Monday with the first of four games in the City of Angels. The Cubs took the series when these teams met in Chicago and the Dodgers will look to return the favor at home. Jon Lester beat the Dodgers in the series finale at Wrigley Field and figures to get the nod in Monday’s matchup opposite Kenta Maeda for Los Angeles. ... 

The Tampa Bay Rays come up short—like most teams—when compared to the New York Yankees. They’ve lost five of six over their first two head-to-head series. They’ll get another chance against the Bronx Bombers this weekend, including in the middle game of three on Saturday on national television. The Rays will host the Yankees in this game, looking for better results than last weekend in the Bronx. Wilmer Font will need to out pitch Sonny Gray to give the Rays a shot. ... 

The Seattle Mariners are quickly falling out of the AL West race. They’re still within striking distance of the Houston Astros, but the Mariners are in the midst of a difficult stretch and it doesn’t get easier on Saturday when the Mariners take on the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park for the middle game of a three game series. Seattle has Mike Leake slated to make that start as they go against the Red Sox’s young southpaw, Eduardo Rodriguez.... 

A key three-game series between the Philadelphia Phillies and Washington Nationals, two contenders for the NL East division crown, comes to a close in the Nation’s Capital on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball. After finishing 2017 with the second worst record in the NL, the Phillies have made major strides this year and will look to make a statement on national television with a win on Sunday. To do so, they’ll need a good outing from Nick Pivetta who is slated to get the start. Washington’s starter ... 

The Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets will kick-off a three-game series up in the Big Apple on Friday with the teams heading in completely opposite directions. After a hot start, the Mets are in free fall now and are starting to shop their veteran players while the Dodgers were nearly dead and buried just a month ago, but have ascended the standings in a hurry despite injuries. Now the two will meet face to face with Alex Wood and Zack Wheeler on tap to get the ball in this series opener. ... 

The Seattle Mariners are the surprise team in the American League to this point in the season and will make the trip across country to take on the New York Yankees on Tuesday. The Mariners are still trying to prove they belong with the big boys and while their record would suggest they do, a big series win against the Yankees—starting with winning Game 1—would go a long way. While the pitching matchup on Tuesday won’t mirror a potential Wild Card showdown, it’s not beyond the realm of possibilit...