First place teams battle in Baltimore as Rick Porcello and the Tigers take on Bud Norris and the Orioles. Porcello owns a great career record for a pitcher with a 4.46 ERA, but this season he’s doing a better job of keeping the ball in the park and striking out batters, so his 3.49 ERA helped him to a 5-1 record. He’s always been good at avoiding free passes, he stays healthy, making him a perfect back of the rotation starter for a good offensive team. Norris always posted a strikeout rate that should lead to success, but now he appears to have a defense behind him to help.

The Angels finish their series in Toronto with a battle of lefties as C.J. Wilson faces Mark Buehrle. Wilson may be the best big free agent signed by the Angels in recent years. He sports a 34-19 record and a 3.56 ERA with LAnaheim, his strength coming from a home run rate of 0.74 per nine innings. Buehrle’s low ERA comes mainly from great results with runners in scoring position. Opponents are just 3 for 39 with two walks and nine strikeouts.

Both Florida teams play on the west coast, and both games offer excellent matchups. The Rays send Cesar Ramos against The King, Felix Hernandez. Ramos has been tough to hit as a starter, allowing a .200 BA. He’s walked 14 and struck out 14 in that role, leading to a .319 OBP. He’ll need to find his control to stay successful. Fernandez issued just two intentional walks from 2009 through 2014. He issued 13 in his first four seasons. He either doesn’t get into too many IBB situations, or he just feels he can get anyone out.

Finally, Tom Koehler leads the Marlins into Los Angeles to face the Dodgers and Dan Haren. Koehler, like Ramos walks quite a few batters for a pitcher with a 1.99 ERA. He’s only allowed three homers in 45 1/3 innings, and like Ramos, doesn’t allow many hits. Haren sports an ERA of 1.86 in three starts at Dodger Stadium this season, although he did allow five unearned runs.

Enjoy!