The afternoon games concentrate on the NL West race. The Dodgers and Rockies start the contests with Carlos Frias facing Jorge De La Rosa. Frias allowed three home runs in his 19 relief innings, but with good walk and K numbers. He did not allow a run in his six innings as a starter. de la Rosa pitched much better in Colorado than on the road with a 3.30 ERA at Coors versus 5.24 away.

In Arizona, Madison Bumgarner takes on Andrew Chafin. The Giants ace set a personal single season high this year with 204 strikeouts. Chafin had a successful MLB debut, allowing no runs in five innings in his first MLB start.

The Royals draw a tough opponent as Chris Sale and the White Sox battle Yordano Ventura. Sale qualifies for the ERA title, but his low innings pitched probably keep him from winning the Cy Young award. He has struck out 192 in 163 innings. Ventura holds opponents to a .204 BA with runners in scoring position this season.

Milwaukee needs a win as they send Mike Fiers against the first place Cardinals and ace Adam Wainwright. Fiers owns a 1.84 ERA on the strength of just 33 hits allowed in 53 2/3 innings, thanks to a high strikeout rate. Wainwright would own a 19-9 record for the second season in a row with a win.

The Angels can clinch a tie for the AL West Championship with a win over Seattle, and an outright win if Oakland also loses. James Paxton stands in the way of LAnaheim, which sends C.J. Wilson to the mound. Opponents are just 5 for 50 against Paxton with runners in scoring position. Wilson allowed the Mariners nine runs in 13 1/3 innings this season.

Finally, Derek Holland and the Rangers try to spoil the Athletics run at a wild card as Texas faces Jeff Samardzija. Holland has yet to issue a walk in three starts since coming off the disabled list. Samardzija continues his habit with the the Cubs of pitching well but not picking up wins, mostly due to poor offensive support. The A’s have scored three runs or less six times for Jeff.

Enjoy!