MLB on Sling TV: Cubs at Cardinals, Padres at Giants on ESPN; regional action on Fox Sports networks
Chicago Cubs (Hammel 5-1, 2.31) at St. Louis Cardinals (Wacha 2-4, 4.03) 7pm ET on ESPN
Jason Hammel continues to do a pretty decent imitation of teammate Jake Arrieta, right down to their beards, but in his last start, Hammer got slapped around a bit, as he fell victim to the longball. In 6 innings against the Brewers he surrendered 4 runs on 5 hits, including 2 homers, while walking 4 and striking out 7 in 5-3 loss.
Michael Wacha has been suffering mightily from a batting average on ball in play of .340, 60 points above his career average coming into the season. Couple that with a slightly elevated walk rate and some bad defense, and suddenly a 2015 All Star finds his stat line looking very average. After a tough 2016 debut (4.1 IP, 10 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 3 SO), Wacha had been pitched well through his next 5 starts, with a 1.91 ERA and a 2.6 SO/BB, but in his last 3 starts he’s lasted a total of just 14 innings, giving up 16 runs (12 earned) on 22 hits and 6 walks.
The Cardinals on Monday faced the Cubs, with Randal Grichuk launching a walkoff home run off Adam Warren to give St Louis a 4-3 win. The Cubs remain atop the NL Central at 29-14, while the Cards are in third, 6 games back, at 24-21
San Diego Padres (Cashner 2-3, 4.93) at San Francisco Giants (Samardzija 6-2, 2.66) 10pm ET on ESPN
Andrew Cashner, fresh of the disabled list with a hamstring issue, will be making his first start since May 8, when he gave up 3 runs on 8 hits and a walk in 5 innings of a 3-2 loss to the Mets. Cashner was at his best in 2013 and 2014, posting a 2.87 ERA over 298 ⅓ innings with a 2.91 SO/BB, and just .6 homers per 9 innings. But since then he’s struggled, as his walk rate has jumped to 3.3 per 9 and his homers to .9 per 9, leading a 4.43 ERA.
One year after suffering through the worst season of his career, Jeff Samardzija is back on track. In 2015, Samardzija led the AL in hits, earned runs and homers on his way to going 11-13 with a 4.96 ERA. Still, there was a lot of head scratching when the Giants signed him to a 5-year, $90 million contract, but he’s been worth every penny thus far. His most recent start was his best so far, as he went 8, giving up just 1 run on 3 hits, while K’ing 8 in a 6-2 win over San Diego. It was the third time in four starts that he’s gone 8 innings and given up just 1 run.
Last night, San Francisco’s Johnny Cueto threw a 2-hit shutout, and Hunter Pence hit a two-out double in the bottom of the 9th to give the Giants a 1-0 walk-off win over the Padres. The Giants are 28-19 and in 1st place in the NL West, while the Padres are the division’s cellar dwellers at 19-27, 8 ½ games back of SF.
Don’t miss other games on your local FOX Sports regional network:
Tampa Bay Rays (Odorizzi 1-2, 3.81) at Miami Marlins (Koehler 2-4, 4.71) 12:10pm ET on FOX Sports Florida & FOX Sports Florida
Arizona Diamondbacks (Miller 1-5, 6.64) at Pittsburgh Pirates (Liriano 3-3, 4.63) 7:05pm ET on FOX Sports Arizona
Toronto Blue Jays (Dickey 2-5, 4.50) at New York Yankees (Eovaldi 4-2, 4.44) 7:05pm ET on YES
Chicago Cubs (Hammel 5-1, 2.31) at St. Louis Cardinals (Wacha 2-4, 4.03) 7:10pm ET on FOX Sports Midwest
Milwaukee Brewers (Nelson 4-3, 3.07) at Atlanta Braves (Teheran 1-4, 2.73) 7:10pm ET on FOX Sports Southeast & FOX Sports Wisconsin
Philadelphia Phillies (Hellickson 4-2, 3.99) at Detroit Tigers (Verlander 3-4, 4.58) 7:10pm ET on FOX Sports Detroit
Los Angeles Angels (Chacin 1-2, 5.21) at Texas Rangers (Perez 1-4, 3.48) 8:05pm ET on FOX Sports Southwest & FOX Sports West
Cleveland Indians (Tomlin 6-0, 3.56) at Chicago White Sox (Sale 9-0, 1.58) 8:10pm ET on SportsTime Ohio
Kansas City Royals (Volquez 4-4, 3.79) at Minnesota Twins (Santana 1-2, 3.13) 8:10pm ET on FOX Sports Kansas City & FOX Sports North
Cincinnati Reds (Wright NA) at Los Angeles Dodgers (Bolsinger 0-1, 6.23) 10:10pm ET on FOX Sports Cincinnati
San Diego Padres (Cashner 2-3, 4.93) at San Francisco Giants (Samardzija 6-2, 2.66) 10:15pm ET on FOX Sports San Diego
All stats courtesy of ESPN and Baseball Reference