September 21, 2016

Games of the Day

The Blue Jays and Mariners finish their series with Aaron Sanchez facing Felix Hernandez. Sanhez is now 22-10 in his short career with a 2.96 ERA. The most impressive thing about his is while his strikeout rate is good but not great, his batting average allowed is very low, .218. Part of that comes from an extremely high ground ball rate. Hernandez stands 11-6 this season despite a rather high for him 3.79 ERA. This year is making up a bit for all those seasons he posted great ERAs and didn’t win many games.

Ian Kennedy tries to stop Corey Kluber from reaching 18 wins as the Royals battle the Indians. Kennedy pitched well down the stretch, not losing in his last ten starts. He is 5-0 with a 2.14 ERA, and allowed just five home runs in 63 innings. Kluber struck out 21 Royals in 18 innings this season, so even the Royals have trouble putting the ball in play against the Indians ace.

Max Scherzer tries to retake the Cy Young Tracker point lead as the Nationals face the Marlins and Tom Koehler. Scherzer may get the prize due to his outstanding last three months of the season, in which he so far posted a 2.16 ERA. He also brought his home runs allowed under control. Koehler is one of Bryce Harper‘s favorite home run targets. Harper hit six home runs in 34 PA against Koehler, the most he hit against any pitcher.

Finally, Masahiro Tanaka battles Alex Cobb as the Yankees face the Rays. Tanaka owned the Rays this season, 3-0 with a 2.22 ERA in four starts. He struck out 29 and walked one in those games. Cobb makes his fourth start since returning from Tommy John surgery. So far, he held batters to a .271 OBP.

While not a game of the day, Texas can clinch the AL West with a win over the Angels and a Houston loss to the Athletics. The Astros play in the afternoon, so Texas will know if they are playing for the title when they take the field.

Enjoy!

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