MLB on Sling TV: Orioles at Tigers on TBS, Cubs at Astros on ESPN; Sunday’s Action on FOX Sports Regional Networks
(all times Eastern, starters subject to change)
Baltimore Orioles (Tillman 15-5, 3.76) at Detroit Tigers (Verlander 14-7, 3.28)
1pm ET on ESPN
Chris Tillman got pounded his last time out, giving up 6 runs on 6 hits and 5 walks in just 2+ innings against the Astros – it was so bad that it raised his ERA by 30 points, which is really hard to do this late in the season. To be fair, Tillman was promptly sent to the DL with an ailing shoulder, and this will be his first start back, and man could do the O’s need him.
Well look who’s pitched his way into the AL Cy Young race… Justin Verlander is now 2nd in WAR, strikeouts and innings pitched… Look, he won’t win it, but he’ll get some votes and he deserves them. Since the start of July, Verlander’s gone 7-1 with a 2.09 ERA, and 102 strikeouts vs. 19 walks in 90 ⅓ innings, dragging the Tigers kicking and screaming into playoff contention.
Baltimore was in 1st place in the AL East as recently as August 12, but have played sub-.500 ball since then, while the Blue Jays and Red Sox have made their moved, and the O’s headed into the weekend in 3rd in the East at 76-63, 2 games behind the Red Sox, but in possession of the second Wild Card spot, just a game ahead of Detroit, at 75-64.
Chicago Cubs (Arrieta 16-6, 2.84) at Houston Astros (Fiers 10-6, 4.29)
8pm ET on ESPN
The Chicago Cubs are so stacked this year that reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Jake Arrieta has been their third-best starter. Arrieta has seen his strikeout rate fall a touch, his walks jump from 1.9/9IP to 3.5, and his homers nudge up from .4/9IP to .7, and he remains among baseball’s top starters. Still, when you’ve got the game’s best defense behind you, and the best offense supporting you, you can afford to backslide a bit.
So here’s a funny thing about Mike Fiers in 2016: he leads the NL in wild pitches with a career-high 16 in just 149 innings, but his walk rate has dropped from 3 per 9 last year to 2.2 per 9 this year – so is he wild or crazy? To put those wild pitches into context, in his previous 404 innings, he’d uncorked just 14. In his last start, Fiers held the Indians to 2 runs over 5 innings en route to a 6-2 win.
The Astros got off to a terrible start this year, opening the season 17-28, falling far behind the Rangers in the AL West. Since then they’ve gone 57-37, the third best record in baseball over that span, behind only the Cubs and – wait for it – the Rangers. So far all their improvement, they still went into the weekend 8 ½ back of Texas, and 2 ½ back of Baltimore for the second Wild Card berth.
Watch the Baltimore Orioles vs. Detroit Tigers at 1pm ET on TBS by subscribing to Sling Orange or Sling Blue, then the Chicago Cubs vs. Houston Astros at 8pm ET on ESPN on by subscribing to Sling Orange.
Here’s the action from the FOX Sports regional networks across the land:
Tampa Bay Rays (Andriese 6-7, 4.58) at New York Yankees (Cessa 4-0, 4.07)
1:05pm ET on Fox Sports Sun & YES
Baltimore Orioles (Tillman 15-5, 3.76) at Detroit Tigers (Verlander 14-7, 3.28)
1:10pm ET on FOX Sports Detroit
Los Angeles Dodgers (Maeda 14-8, 3.29) at Miami Marlins (Esch 0-1, 4.82)
1:10pm ET on FOX Sports Florida
New York Mets (Colon 13-7, 3.22) at Atlanta Braves (Perez 2-2, 5.47)
1:35pm ET on FOX Sports South
Cleveland Indians (Kluber 15-9, 3.16) at Minnesota Twins (Berrios 2-5, 9.21)
2:10pm ET on FOX Sports North & SportsTime Ohio
Kansas City Royals (Kennedy 10-9, 3.76) at Chicago White Sox (Sale 15-7, 3.07)
2:10pm ET on FOX Sports Kansas City
Milwaukee Brewers (Davies 10-7, 4.01) at St. Louis Cardinals (Weaver 1-2, 3.96)
2:15pm ET on FOX Sports Midwest & FOX Sports Wisconsin
Texas Rangers (Lewis 6-1, 3.21) at Los Angeles Angels (Weaver 10-11, 5.37)
3:35pm ET on FOX Sports Southwest
San Francisco Giants (Moore 9-11, 4.14) at Arizona Diamondbacks (Greinke 12-5, 4.54)
4:10pm ET on FOX Sports Arizona
Colorado Rockies (Bettis 12-7, 4.88) at San Diego Padres (Jackson 4-5, 5.55)
4:40pm ET on FOX Sports San Diego
Watch baseball on FOX and FOX Sports Regional Networks by subscribing to the Sling Blue.
All stats courtesy of ESPN and Baseball Reference