A couple of ace pitchers from the Land of the Rising Sun are set to start this Sunday. Masahiro Tanaka leads his New York Yankees against the wild card-chasing Seattle Mariners. And a little later, Yu Darvish will look to maintain his perfect record as a Dodger when LA hosts the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Seattle Mariners had their two-game winning streak snapped as they lost to the Yankees, 6-3. But tonight’s starter, Andrew Albers, should give them a decent chance to bounce back and win. The 31-year-old right-hander has performed very well in both of his starts this season. He’s gone five innings and has given up six hits in his two outings, with the Mariners winning on both occasions.
He’s set to go up against Yankees ace Masahiro Tanaka. The right-hander has been pitching very well of late, putting up a 2.52 ERA over his last four starts. He’s been getting sufficient run support as well, with the Yankees putting up a total of 24 runs over his last two starts.
Writer’s Prediction
Tanaka (-200) leads the Yankees to another home win.
Milwaukee Brewers vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (4:10 PM ET)
The Milwaukee Brewers will be looking to put the Dodgers in a rare losing skid after the Brew Crew won last night’s game, 3-0. Right-hander Jimmy Nelson will get the start for Milwaukee. Apart from a disastrous nine-earned run outing against the Cincinnati Reds, Nelson has performed reasonably well in August. He’s given up three earned runs in each of his last two starts, but has done just enough for the Brewers to get the win on both occasions.
Nelson will match up with the Dodgers’ Japanese ace Yu Darvish. Darvish has won each of his first three starts for the Dodgers, although he did give up three solo home runs in his most recent outing against the Chicago White Sox. Meanwhile, the Dodgers offense has been hit or miss recently, seeing as they’ve been shut out in two of their last four games.
Writer’s Prediction
Darvish and the Dodgers (-200) bounce back to beat the Brewers.
