BASEBALL MLB ARTICLES

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. ... 

In the third game of a four-game weekend series, the Washington Nationals will face the Arizona Diamondbacks down in the desert as they try and get back to the top of the NL East. After a slow start, the Nationals have been playing better baseball, but is that enough to contend with the team with the NL’s best record? With Stephen Strasburg on the mound opposite a fill-in option for the D-Backs, they’ve certainly got the pitching matchup on their side. ... 

A big four-game series between two National League contenders wraps up on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball this weekend as the Arizona Diamondbacks play host to the Washington Nationals in this series finale. The D-backs will look to maintain—or extend—their NL West lead in the game as they play a sudden hot Nationals’ squad. Jeremy Hellickson will take the hill for the Nationals against Zack Godley of the Diamondbacks.... 

The Los Angeles Angels were one of the primary competitors for the Minnesota Twins in the race for the second AL Wild Card spot in 2017. Now, the two meet for the first time in 2018 on Thursday—for the first of four in Anaheim—under very different circumstances. Both teams were looking to build off positive momentum in 2017. For the Angels, that’s put them neck-and-neck with the Astros atop the AL West while the Twins have struggled a bit through the first month and a half. ... 

ESPN gets the national television rights for Game 2 of the series pinning the Boston Red Sox against the New York Yankees in the Big Apple. On the mound in Game 2 of this three-game series, the Yankees have a pitcher who has been cruising along much like the rest of the team in Masahiro Tanaka whereas the Sox will hope that David Price can rediscover his command after slumping through his last five starts. ... 

You cannot put too much on any series that’s played in May, but any series pinning the Boston Red Sox against the New York Yankees is a fun one and with the two atop the AL East and separated by a single game, there’s more meaning. Still, even after this series, there will still be 13 more meetings between these clubs. Of course, if one can grab the early momentum in the season series, it could certainly help build confidence for the next rivalry showdown. ... 

The New York Yankees will host the first place Boston Red Sox in the first of three Tuesday night. It’ll be the fourth installment of classic Yankee-Red Sox rivalry for the 2018 season. After a lull the rivalry, these two teams are back atop the AL East standings and battling for divisional supremacy. Kicking off this series, the Bronx Bombers are going with their best arm, Luis Severino, while the Red Sox have Drew Pomeranz lined up to take the ball. ... 

The Minnesota Twins split their first series in a National League park. They open another series with the pitchers stepping to the plate on Monday as they travel to Busch Stadium to take on the St. Louis Cardinals. Both these teams entered the season with playoff ambitions. Behind Monday’s likely starter Carlos Martinez, the Cardinals remain in a solid position to deliver on those expectations while the Twins will look to a rookie making his second career start in Fernando Romero to outduel the two-time All-Star. ... 

Not exactly a premier matchup, but the Detroit Tigers do sit in second place in the AL Central despite a lackluster 13-17 record. In the third game of a four-game series, the Tigers will face a familiar, divisional foe in the Kansas City Royals. The Royals are at the beginning of a rebuild and currently sit with the second worst record in the American League though they did take the first game of the series aginst the Tigers. ... 

The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres will meet in the second game of a three-game international series held in Monterrey, Mexico. While the Dodgers were a World Series team last year, this showcase of Major League Baseball in Mexico may not quite be what it was supposed to be given the struggles of Los Angeles in both the box score and the injury list. The loss of Corey Seager still weighs on this team, but they may also still feel the loss of Rich Hill whose turn comes up again in this game. The Padres send Bryan Mitchell to the bump in this series middle game. ... 

Wrapping up a three-game set south of the border, the Los Angeles Dodgers should have their ace ready to make the start in this showcase game, giving fans in Mexico a real taste of Major League pitching. While Clayton Kershaw hasn’t been in peak form yet in 2018, he’s still pitching well and will have a chance to polish up against a lackluster San Diego Padres team that’ll counter the ace with a 23-year old rookie southpaw, Eric Lauer. ...