MLB on Sling TV: Rangers at Tigers and Nationals at Cubs on FS1; regional action on Fox Sports Networks
Texas Rangers (Griffin 3-0, 2.32) at Detroit Tigers (Pelfrey 0-4, 5.68), 1pm ET on FS1
AJ Griffin enjoyed a solid first full season in the big league in 2013, going 14-10 with a 3.83 ERA. Yeah, he gave up a league-leading 36 homers, but he’d pitched 200 innings with a pretty good SO/BB ratio of 3.17. And then he needed Tommy John surgery, and ended up needing two years to recover, during which time he got cut by the A’s, the only organization he’d ever known. As luck would have it, the Rangers found themselves in desperate need of pitching after the injury to Yu Darvish, and signed Griffin to be their fifth starter. Now he’s undefeated, his home run rate is way down, and with it his ERA… it’s a nice story, so far.
Meanwhile, things have just gotten worse for Mike Pelfrey, whose last start was his worst of an already bad season. On May 1, Pelfrey got chased by the Twins after just 4 innings, in which he surrendered 5 runs on 8 hits and 3 walks. The Tigers managed to survive Pelfrey’s abysmal start, winning 6-5, but man… Pelfrey’s been so bad this year that his best start of the season saw him walk 6 while striking out 3.
Washington Nationals (Gonzalez 2-1, 1.15) at Chicago Cubs (Hammel 4-0, 1.24), 4pm ET on FS1
Gio Gonzalez appears to have regained the form that had him looking like a perennial All Star in 2012. Over the next three seasons, Gonzalez was a solid if unspectacular 32-26 with a 3.57 ERA, a far cry from the 20-game winner he’d once been. This year, however, he’s got a 1.15 ERA, second-best in the NL, though he’s only got 2 wins thanks to some shoddy run support (2.86). That said, there’s maybe cause for concern, as his start last saw him go 6 shutout innings, but he gave up 2 walks, while striking out just 1 – this is not a long-term recipe for success.
Jason Hammel is having a similarly out-of-his-mind start to 2016, having gone 4-0 with a 1.24 ERA. His last start, Monday against the Pirates, was his worst of the year, as he went 5 innings, giving up 2 runs on 5 hits and 1 walk – that’s as bad as it’s gotten for Hammel thus far. Given how potent the Cubs offense is, he could regress to the mean quite a bit before racking up his first loss.
Here’s the action from the FOX Sports regional networks across the land:
Boston Red Sox (Price 4-0, 6.14) at New York Yankees (Eovaldi 1-2, 5.46), 1:05pm ET on YES
Pittsburgh Pirates (Locke 1-2, 4.72) at St. Louis Cardinals (Wainwright 2-3, 6.68), 2:15pm ET on FOX Sports Midwest
Kansas City Royals (Kennedy 3-2, 2.61) at Cleveland Indians (Anderson tk), 4:10pm ET on FOX Sports Kansas City & SportsTime Ohio
Arizona Diamondbacks (Miller 0-3, 8.49) at Atlanta Braves (Teheran 0-3, 3.72), 7:10pm ET on FOX Sports Arizona & FOX Sports South
Milwaukee Brewers (Nelson 4-2, 3.05) at Cincinnati Reds (Finnegan 1-1, 3.97), 7:10pm ET on FOX Sports Cincinnati & FOX Sports Wisconsin
Minnesota Twins (Santana 0-1, 3.15) at Chicago White Sox (Sale 6-0, 1.66), 7:10pm ET on FOX Sports North
Philadelphia Phillies (Hellickson 2-2, 4.88) at Miami Marlins (Koehler 2-3, 7.25), 7:10pm ET on FOX Sports Florida
New York Mets (Colon 2-1, 2.56) at San Diego Padres (Shields 1-4, 3.23), 8:40pm ET on FOX Sports San Diego
Tampa Bay Rays (Odorizzi 0-1, 3.12) at Los Angeles Angels (Weaver 3-1, 5.40), 9:05pm ET on Fox Sports Sun & FOX Sports West