Saturday, 07/20/2019 (903) NY METS vs. (904) SAN FRANCISCO
Favoring: NY METS against the spread.
JEFF SAMARDZIJA is 0-11 (-14.9 Units) against the run line against NL East opponents over the last 3 seasons.
The average score was SAMARDZIJA 2.7, OPPONENT 7.6 - (Rating = 3*)

Saturday, 07/20/2019 (919) BOSTON vs. (920) BALTIMORE
Favoring: BOSTON against the spread.
RICK PORCELLO is 26-11 (+16.4 Units) against the run line vs. an AL team with an on base percentage .330 or worse over the last 2 seasons.
The average score was PORCELLO 6.4, OPPONENT 4.6 - (Rating = 2*)

While a team always wants to score first, an early deficit is hardly anything challenging for the New York Yankees to overcome. In each game of their four-game winning streak, the Yankees fell behind early only to quickly rally.

New York seeks a fifth straight win Saturday afternoon when it continues a three-game interleague series against the Colorado Rockies at Yankee Stadium, where temperatures are expected to approach nearly 100 degrees.

The Yankees are a season-high 30 games over .500 after opening the series with an 8-2 victory. Like they did in their three wins over Tampa Bay, the Yankees scored eight unanswered runs, highlighted by a grand slam from Edwin Encarnacion in the third, a two-run homer by Aaron Judge in the sixth and two RBIs by former Colorado infielder DJ LeMahieu.

"We always know we have a lot of ball game to play, especially when you get down early," Judge said. "And it doesn't stop with this lineup."

Those hits gave the Yankees their 15th win in the last 18 home games and a 22-6 mark in their last 28 games since June 15. Those hits also put the Yankees in position to win another home series and improve to 13-0-1 in their last 14 home series since dropping two of three to the Chicago White Sox April 12-14.

The Rockies are on a five-game losing streak. They are getting outscored 116-59 in a 2-12 slide since June 30.

Ryan McMahon homered and Garrett Hampson had an RBI double but the Rockies struck out 17 times.

"Tonight was a bad night," Colorado manager Bud Black said. "We got to be able to do a better job of putting the ball in play.

"We're in a little bit of a bad rut both on the mound and at the plate and a little bit of that is strikeout related."

Masahiro Tanaka (6-5, 3.81 ERA) will start on five days' rest due to Thursday's doubleheader and is seven strikeouts away from 900 in the majors. His next win will be his 170th combined win between the majors (70) and Japan (99).

Tanaka last pitched Sunday when he won his third straight decision by allowing two runs on four hits in six innings of a 4-2 win over Toronto.

Tanaka is facing Colorado for the first time and is 8-8 with a 3.70 ERA in 20 career interleague starts.

Antonio Senzatela (8-6, 5.79) starts for Colorado and his next win will tie Jon Gray for the team lead. In his last eight starts, Senzatela is 5-2 with a 5.77 ERA as the Rockies have scored 41 runs in the five victories, including Sunday when he allowed eight runs on seven hits in 5 1/3 innings in a 10-9 win over the Cincinnati Reds.

Senzatela is facing the Yankees for the first time and is 3-3 with a 4.95 ERA in nine career games (eight starts) against American League opponents

The heat figures to be on again Saturday at a sweltering Wrigley Field as the Padres and Cubs meet for the second game of a three-game series.

But the temperature could be much hotter on the Padres, who have lost six of seven games coming out of the All-Star break while displaying some of their worst fundamentals of the season.

Was it the oppressive heat at Wrigley Field on Friday that forced the Padres into two costly errors in a decisive eighth inning? Or was it simply an extension of bad play?

"It was extraordinarily hot for both sides," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said after Friday's game. "It was a sloppy game."

The Padres have been playing sloppy games for a while now. They have committed nine errors in the past five games in addition to a number of mental mistakes. The team that closed out the first half by winning three straight games at Dodger Stadium has dropped into the basement of the National League West division.

"We have not been fundamentally sound," Padres manager Andy Green said.

The Padres hope to snap out of their funk Saturday against a surging Cubs team (6-1 since the break) with San Diego left-hander Joey Lucchesi (7-4, 3.92 ERA) starting against Chicago left-hander Jose Quintana (7-7, 4.21 ERA).

Lucchesi will be making his 19th start. He has given up 46 runs (44 earned) on 84 hits and 28 walks in 101 innings with 96 strikeouts. He made one start against the Cubs as a rookie in 2018 and got a no-decision, giving up three runs (two earned) on seven hits and no walks with nine strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.

The Padres are 9-9 in Lucchesi's starts this season.

Quintana has allowed 55 runs (50 earned) on 112 hits and 32 walks with 88 strikeouts in 107 innings this season. The Cubs are 9-9 in his 18 starts.

The 30-year-old has a 1-0 record against the Padres with a 2.77 ERA in two starts. He has given up four runs on nine hits and four walks with 11 strikeouts in 13 innings.

One of the highlights in the series is the showcase of shortstops Javier Baez of the Cubs and Fernando Tatis Jr. of the Padres.

Baez, who is now 26, debuted at the age of 21 years and 274 days. Tatis opened his rookie season in March at the age of 20 years and 85 days. Baez showed growing pains as a rookie, hitting .169 with nine homers and 20 RBIs.

Tatis was spectacular during the first half of the season. Recently, however, he has struggled. He has committed six errors in the seven games since the All-Star break and is 2-for-18 with 11 strikeouts in the first four games of the road trip.

"Tatis and Baez are two of the more fun guys to watch in baseball," Green said before Friday's game, which included Baez's 23rd homer. "They both tag guys in a way that no one else does. They can contort their bodies and avoid tags in a way no one else can do. They play with literally no fear of a mistake on the baseball field. They are willing to take chances."

Today’s game features pitchers Joey Lucchesi and Jose Quintana — another battle of the southpaws. As always, the over/under did not open until this morning. Yesterday’s game opened at 12 and rose to 12.5 in about 15 minutes, while today’s affair opened at 11 and moved to 11.5 shortly before publication.

To the east in Motown, the Jays and Tigers will begin playing in mid-90s weather with a fairly stiff right-to-left breeze. Pitchers Trent Thornton and Daniel Norris are on the mound, and despite the over getting the majority of support, this total has remained at its opener of 10.5.

Twins have crushed left-handed pitching all season long, ranking second vs. lefties with a 123 wRC+. Oakland ranks third vs. lefties with a 116 wRC+.

Nicholas Castellanos is heating up at the plate mainly by keeping his head up.

It has nothing to do with mechanical adjustments. Castellanos, the Detroit Tigers right fielder, has put aside the disappointment of not signing a contract extension and the anxiety of being on the trading block.

He'll likely be batting cleanup once again on Saturday when the struggling Tigers host the Toronto Blue Jays in the second game of a three-game series. Detroit has lost five straight, including a 12-1 thumping Friday in the series opener.

While his team has spiraled to the league's worst record, Castellanos has displayed consistency at the plate. He had a five-game hitting streak snapped on Friday but has gone hitless in just five starts since June 2. He is batting .300 with two homers and eight RBIs this month.

"I'm enjoying July," he said to the Detroit News. "July has been a good month. Just getting back to enjoying baseball and trying to have as much fun as possible."

Castellanos is a free agent at the end of the season. He'll likely be wearing another uniform next season and perhaps within the next two weeks, if general manager Alex Avila can find a suitable trade.

The uncertainty affected his performance earlier in the season.

"This, probably, in its own way, has been the most difficult year I've had, just with everything that's gone on," he told the News. "It's just a learning experience. All I can do is show these guys (his teammates) that you've got to go out and play every day and do what you can to help the team."

Daniel Norris (2-8, 5.14 ERA) is scheduled to start for Detroit. He has gone winless in his past 11 starts, with his last victory coming on May 12.

The left-hander had a chance to end the drought in his last outing at Cleveland on Monday. The Tigers were leading 5-3 in the sixth and Norris retired the first two batters in the inning, then gave up two hits. The bullpen gave away the lead.

Norris has never started against Toronto, the team for which he made his major league debut. He's come out of the bullpen in two career outings against the Blue Jays, holding them scoreless over 3 1/3 innings.

Blue Jays rookie right-hander Trent Thornton (3-7, 5.25 ERA), who will oppose Norris, is enduring growing pains. He's struggled mightily in three of his past four outings.

He tossed six scoreless innings against Baltimore on July 7. In the other three outings, he surrendered a combined 17 earned runs and 23 hits in 7 1/3 innings.

On Monday, Thornton lasted just 1 1/3 innings at Boston, giving up five runs, five hits and three walks.

"I was trying to nibble too much and be too cute," Thornton told SportsNet Canada. "When you're behind 1-0, 2-0, those are hitters' counts. They do damage in counts like that."

The Blue Jays don't believe Thornton would benefit from a trip to the minors. He's been a steady presence in the rotation.

"I don't think that's an option right now," manager Charlie Montoyo said of demoting the 25-year-old. "I think he'll be fine."

Thornton was fine in his major league debut on March 31 against Detroit, holding the Tigers scoreless over five innings and striking out eight.

Oscar Mercado was as cold as can be to begin the month of July, but the rookie sure is heating up now.

Fresh off his first career five-hit performance, Mercado bids to provide an encore as the surging Cleveland Indians aim to record a season-high seventh straight victory on Saturday against the visiting Kansas City Royals.

Mercado collected four singles and a double in Cleveland's 10-5 win in the series opener to improve to 10-for-19 with three homers, eight RBIs and six runs scored in his last five games.

"It feels good, but I think it feels even better to be playing the way we are," the 24-year-old Mercado said. "I have this thing that today is already over, you enjoy it for tonight, and be ready to play tomorrow."

Mercado's hot streak comes on the heels of his disastrous 1-for-25 stretch with six strikeouts to begin July.

"Everybody's going to go through a tough stretch, but you know a first-year player is," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "To see him not wilt, to see him come back with a vengeance, that's pretty exciting."

Mercado isn't alone in swinging a hot bat for the Indians, as Jose Ramirez is riding an 11-game hitting streak and Tyler Naquin has recorded multi-hit performances in six of his last seven starts.

Naquin, who belted a two-run shot on Friday, has six doubles, three homers and 11 RBIs in 11 games this month.

Keeping Cleveland in check on Saturday will be the responsibility of right-hander Jakob Junis (5-8, 5.08 ERA), who allowed one run on five hits while striking out a career-high 10 batters in Monday's 5-2 win over the Chicago White Sox.

The victory was the first since May 30 for Junis, who permitted 11 runs on 15 hits to drop back-to-back decisions to Cleveland on June 26 and July 2, respectively.

Junis sports a 2-4 record with a 6.43 ERA in nine career appearances (eight starts) against Cleveland.

Francisco Lindor, who had three hits and three runs scored on Friday, is a robust 11-for-22 with six extra-base hits (three homers, three doubles) and nine RBIs against the 26-year-old Junis.

Cleveland right-hander Adam Plutko (3-1, 5.40 ERA) will take the mound after recording four straight no-decisions, including one on June 24 when he allowed one run on one hit -- a solo homer by Whit Merrifield -- in four innings versus Kansas City.

Plutko answered that outing by yielding back-to-back five-run performances, with three homers surrendered against Detroit on Monday.

The 27-year-old owns an 0-1 mark with a 5.06 ERA in three career appearances (two starts) versus the Royals.

Merrifield, who ripped a three-run triple on Friday, is 19-for-48 with seven extra-base hits (four doubles, one triple, two homers), nine RBIs and eight runs scored versus Cleveland this season.

"Offense did a nice job and (Merrifield) got us within one at that point and we had to do the best we can to hold it, but ... it got away from us late," Kansas City manager Ned Yost said.

All-Star Jose Berrios will try to snap a streak of six consecutive starts without a victory when he takes the mound Saturday night for the Minnesota Twins against the Oakland A's in Minneapolis.

The right-handed Berrios (8-5, 3.10 ERA) last won a decision on June 6 at Cleveland, 5-4. Since then he has gone 0-3 in six starts, including a 7-2 loss at Oakland on July 4, when he gave up three runs on six hits and three walks in five innings while striking out just two batters.

Berrios has struggled against Oakland in his career, compiling an 0-2 record and 6.32 ERA in three starts.

Left-hander Brett Anderson (9-5, 3.79) will start for the A's. Anderson is 3-3 with a 3.83 ERA in nine games (seven starts) against Minnesota and is 1-1 with a 2.37 ERA in three career starts at Target Field.

The teams have split the first two games of the four-game series, with Minnesota rallying to take the opener, 6-3, on Thursday night behind a three-run pinch-hit home run by Eddie Rosario while Oakland, with shortstop Marcus Semien leading the game off with a homer and finishing just a single short of the cycle, rebounding to win on Friday night, 5-3.

That victory moved Oakland into sole possession of the second wild-card spot, one game behind the Cleveland Indians for the first wild card. The A's haven't lost back-to-back games since dropping a doubleheader at Texas on June 8 and are 37-17 since May 16. That ties them with the New York Yankees for the best mark in baseball during that span.

"It seems like almost every time we come back and play a good game," Oakland manager Bob Melvin told the San Francisco Chronicle. "I think that's one of the things we've been able to do is put a tough one away. ...

"(Yesterday) was pretty rough, and the guys come back in the first inning (to take a 2-0 lead on Friday night). It's a tough group."

Oakland, which has closed to within 5 1/2 games behind the Houston Astros in the American League West, has won seven of its last eight games and is 20-6 in its last 26 games.

"It just shows the resiliency in our team," said infielder Chad Pinder, who drove in the final run with a sixth-inning single on Friday night.

Pinder said the series with the Twins, who saw their AL Central lead slip to three games, has a playoff feel to it.

"I got that vibe when they were at our place (in early July)," he said. "As you've seen the last two nights, this is a great ball club. These are the series where you have to really bear down and every single pitch counts."

Friday night's loss was the fourth in five games for Minnesota.

"Ultimately, it was one of those games where we just got beat, and that's going to happen," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "You can't really point to one thing or even two things (for the loss). I think overall it was just a game where we didn't do enough to win, and that's going to happen."

The last time Mike Soroka faced the Washington Nationals, his outing ended early and painfully. The Atlanta rookie right-hander will hope for better results Saturday when he starts for the Braves against the Nationals in the third contest of a four-game series.

The teams traded wins the past two days in Atlanta, with the Nationals rolling to a 13-4 victory Thursday before the Braves pulled out a 4-3 decision Friday.

Soroka (10-1, 2.24 ERA) started June 23 at Washington but was removed after pitching two scoreless innings. He was hit by a pitch on his pitching forearm in the top of the third and stayed in to run, but Josh Tomlin took over on the mound in the last of the third.

Soroka, who grew up in Canada, said after the game, "I've been hit with enough (hockey) pucks and baseballs in my lifetime to know what's going to be the aftermath of getting hit. ... Good news is, the inflammation's going to get out of there and hopefully I'll be in line for my next start."

The 21-year-old didn't miss a turn in the rotation. In fact, he is 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA in three starts since getting plunked. Overall, he has given up more than two runs in just four of 16 starts this year.

His mound rival on Saturday will be Anibal Sanchez (5-6, 3.71 ERA). The 35-year-old right-hander pitched for the Braves last season, making 25 appearances, 24 starts, and going 7-6 with a 2.83 ERA.

Sanchez has not lost to Atlanta since 2012. He is 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA in two starts against the Braves this year and 6-11 with a 4.78 ERA in 20 career starts vs. Atlanta.

He did not figure in the decision in his latest start when the Nationals lost 4-3 on Sunday after the Philadelphia Phillies' Maikel Franco hit a walk-off homer in the ninth inning.

Sanchez went six innings and allowed six hits and three runs.

"I think today, my command early in the first inning was really good, and later on I (fought) with the command," Sanchez said postgame. "But at the end, I just used the right pitch to get out of (a key) jam."

The outing wasn't one of Sanchez's best in recent weeks, as he is 5-0 with a 2.40 ERA in his past nine starts. He has tossed exactly six innings in seven of his past eight starts, and he went 5 1/3 innings in the other outing during that span.

In Soroka's latest start, on Sunday in San Diego, he allowed no runs on six hits in seven innings to beat the Padres. He threw just 83 pitches and had nine strikeouts and one walk.

The Braves called up Kyle Wright to start Friday against the Nationals, and that gave Friday starter Julio Teheran and Soroka an extra day of rest for their turns.

Teheran was in line for the win Friday before Washington's Victor Robles tied the game in the top of the ninth with a two-run homer off Atlanta closer Luke Jackson.

However, the Braves got a walk-off single from Josh Donaldson with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth off Fernando Rodney.