Sports Handicapper Dan Kaiser's Picks & Predictions

The Kansas City Royals face off against the Detroit Tigers in AL Central action. The Royals were looking to put some pressure on the Tigers this series, but have lost two in a row and are now 11.5 games behind the Tigers in the division. Kansas City is now 3.5 games out of the wild card race. Seth Lugo will look to avoid the sweep when he takes the mound. He is 8-6, with a 3.73 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. Detroit stumbled after the break but had won five in a row and nine of their last 10. They are looking for their second straight series sweep, after winning three in a row from the Astros. Jack Flaherty gets the start for the Tigers. He is 7-12 with a 4.51 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. He went seven innings and allowed just three hits and struck out nine against   Houston last time out. Lugo has posted an 8.05 ERA in his last four starts. Detroit is 8-2 against Kansas City this year. Flaherty has not been great this season but has a 3.45 ERA at home and is coming off a great start. Lugo has allowed seven runs in 10 innings against Detroit this season. Even if Flaherty allows some runs this Tiger offense will score off of Lugo. I will take the Tigers pen over the Royals.

Play on Detroit. This is a 3% play

The Nationals are facing off against the Phillies in game three of their series. They have split their first two games. The Phillies have a 6-5 record against the Nationals this season. The Nationals had their three game winning streak snapped yesterday. The Nationals rank 29th overall in ERA at 5.31. Offensively they rank 19th in runs and 20th in batting average. Jake Irvin gets the call for the Nats. He is 8-8 with a 5.30 ERA. He is 0-4 with an ERA of 6.10 and 26 strikeouts in 7 appearances versus the Phillies in his career. The Phillies should be going for their seventh win in a row and a sweep of the Nationals but they let one get away late on Friday. The Phillies are eighth in the league in ERA at 3.77. Ranger Suarez gets the start for Philadelphia. He is 9-6 record with an ERA of 3.25 and 111 strikeouts in 19 appearances. He is 7-2 with a 4.47 ERA of 4.47 in 16 appearances against the Nationals in his career. The Phillies are 6-2 against the run line as favorites in their last 8 games at home. On the road against the Phillies, Irvin is 0-2 with a 7.41 ERA in 3 appearances. Suárez is 4-1 with an ERA of 4.45 and 26 strikeouts in 9 appearances against the Nationals at home in his career. Irvin gives up the long ball and the Phillies have the bats to take advantage. I think the Phillies have a huge advantage on the mound. Lay the 1.5 on the Phillies.

Play on Philadelphia minus 1.5 runs. This is a FREE play

The Blue Jays have taken the first two games of the series. Kevin Gausman is expected to start for Toronto. He is 8-9 with a 3.78 ERA. He is 4-1 with a 1.96 ERA in his career against Miami. Toronto ranks 19th in team ERA at 4.20. The Marlins are expected to go with Eury Perez on the mound. He is 5-3 with a 3.48 ERA in 13 starts this season. He is 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA and nine strikeouts in his career against Toronto. Miami ranks 24th in team ERA at 4.53. Both pitchers are coming off strong outings last time out. Toronto leads the league in hitting and they should be able to do some damage against Perez and the Miami bullpen. I look for the Blue Jays to come away with the sweep.

Play on Toronto. This is a 3% play.

The Cubs took down the Angels on Saturday 12-1 and will look for the sweep today. Chicago is tied with the Philadelphia Phillies for the second most wins in the NL but they are still six games out of first place in the NL Central. The Cubs rank sixth in the Majors in runs scored and ninth in team ERA. Chicago has won seven of their last 10 games and are 34-30 on the road. Jameson Taillon gets the start for the Cubs. He is 8-6 with a 4.26 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. LA has lost four of their last five games and are 10.5 games out of first place in the AL West and are 7.5 games out of the Wild Card. The Angels rank 17th in runs scored and 26th in team ERA. Kyle Hendricks gets the start for LA. He is 6-8 with a 4.93 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. The Angels have lost three of his last four starts. He has 12 runs in his last 14 1/3 innings over three starts. Hendricks has been torched in his last three starts and the bullpen is not very good. The Cubs bats got going yesterday and I expect them to carry that over against Hendricks.

Play on Chicago. This is a 4% play