Slugfest of the day goes to the Nationals at the Reds with Tanner Roark facing Homer Bailey. Batters hit .324/.384/.520 against Roark since the start of June. Bailey pitched two poor outings, then two good outings after his return from the disabled list, but one of those bad outings was against Washington, allowing eight runs in 1 2/3 innings.

Jose Quintana makes his Chicago Cubs debut in Baltimore against Ubaldo Jimenez. Quintana’s ERA was up this year due to a much higher than usual walk rate for him. He increase his K rate as well, and I wonder if trying to K more batters led to worse control. Camden Yards has not been kind to him during his career. I don’t know when the Orioles decide that Jimenez can no longer pitch well. He allowed eight home runs in 27 1/3 innings at home this season.

The Rays are benefiting so far from the Yankees and Red Sox splitting their games so far this weekend, as the Rays keep moving up in the AL East. A win by Tampa Bay against the Angels, and a split of the Yankees and Red Sox double header would put Tampa two games behind the Red Sox and two games ahead of the Yankees. Chris Archer takes on Parker Bridwell. Archer pitched to some bad luck this season. His 3.95 ERA is half a run higher than his xFIP, and he allowed a .329 BABIP. If those number regress to the mean in the second half, Archer’s record should look pretty good. Bridwell owns a 3.24 ERA despite allowing seven home runs in 33 1/3 innings. With a .294/.353/.500 slash line allowed, he seems to have escaped disaster so far this season.

Enjoy!