Several Major League Baseball series this week are drawing attention for their potential postseason implications and the continuation of longstanding rivalries.
The Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs will play a five-game series at Wrigley Field, including a doubleheader on Monday. The teams have split their eight meetings so far this season, but the Brewers have won three of the last four. Milwaukee recently had a 14-game winning streak that increased its division lead over Chicago from one game to eight. This is the final regular-season meeting between these clubs, with Milwaukee having an opportunity to solidify its position in the NL Central.
The Houston Astros and Detroit Tigers will meet for three games in Detroit. Earlier this year, Houston took two out of three from Detroit, seeking some redemption after being eliminated by the Tigers in last year’s AL Wild Card Series. Both teams struggled in July but have shown signs of improvement recently. A notable pitching matchup is expected between Hunter Brown and Tarik Skubal on Tuesday night. Brown has posted a 2.57 ERA over his past five starts, while Skubal leads several major league categories including WHIP and fWAR.
In Philadelphia, the Mariners and Phillies will face off for three games starting Monday. The Mariners are close behind the Astros in the AL West, while the Phillies hold a five-game lead in the NL East. Both teams have strong lineups and rotations, making this series particularly interesting as both could be contenders for a World Series appearance later this year.
A four-game set between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees begins Thursday at Yankee Stadium. “It’s the Red Sox versus the Yankees — need we say more? OK, we will. That aforementioned sweep really kicked off a prolonged swoon for the Yankees, who went from 4 1/2 games up in the AL East to 5 1/2 games back,” according to Brian Murphy. The Yankees enter as winners of five of their last six games after sweeping St. Louis, while Boston holds a slight edge over New York for an AL Wild Card spot despite dropping six of its previous ten contests.
Red Sox rookie Roman Anthony has quickly become an everyday leadoff hitter after signing an eight-year contract extension following just 46 big-league games. He currently holds a .398 on-base percentage and .832 OPS overall; those numbers rise to .458 OBP and .973 OPS over his last 18 games.
Finally, another rivalry continues as the Los Angeles Dodgers visit San Diego for three games against the Padres this weekend. The Dodgers swept San Diego at home last weekend to take control of first place in their division and now lead their season series 8-2 over San Diego.
“Betts delivered the game-winning blow in Sunday’s series finale at Dodger Stadium and has recorded a .341/.400/.523 slash line with 12 runs and nine RBIs in his previous 11 games,” Murphy noted about Dodgers star Mookie Betts’ recent performance.
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