Here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world today:
1. Guardians’ winning streak runs into Skubal:
The Guardians have won six games in a row and 11 of their past 12 to storm back into the conversation for a spot in the postseason. That includes taking the first two games of a three-game set against their division rival in Detroit, but now if they’re going to complete the sweep and extend their winning streak they’ll need to take down the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner. Tarik Skubal has arguably been even better in 2025 than he was last year, with a 2.26 ERA and 2.45 FIP in 28 starts with a 32.1% strikeout rate, making him a strong candidate to win the award for a second straight year. Cleveland right-hander Tanner Bibee, who has a 4.44 ERA in 29 starts this year, will be tasked with keeping the Tigers in check.
2. Can the Mariners take advantage of Houston’s day off?
The Astros jumped out to a half-game lead over the Mariners in the AL West last night, but Houston does not play today while the Mariners face the Royals in Kansas City at 1:10pm local time. A win for Seattle would push them into a tie for the AL West, which would have massive implications on their upcoming weekend series against the Astros. While the Mariners would simply need to win the series to wrest control of the West if they win today, a loss to Kansas City today would mean they can only walk out of their set in Houston with a division lead if they sweep the Astros on their home turf. Veteran righty Luis Castillo (3.76 ERA) will be on the mound for Seattle. Kansas City will counter with deadline acquisition Stephen Kolek (3.71 ERA in 17 starts).
3. Pitchers’ duel between rivals:
The Dodgers and Giants clash in L.A. at 7:10pm local time and will send two of the NL’s best hurlers to the mound. Giants righty Logan Webb has a 3.34 ERA and 2.71 FIP this year — his fifth consecutive season with an ERA under 3.50 and a FIP under 3.20. The Dodgers will counter with Yoshinobu Yamamoto. His 162 1/3 innings handily trail Webb’s 188 2/3, but Yamamoto has the more dominant run prevention numbers. The 27-year-old has posted a 2.66 ERA with a 2.96 FIP in 28 starts while striking out an excellent 29.3% of his opponents. The Giants are two games back in the NL Wild Card race, while the Dodgers hold a two-game lead over the Padres in the hunt for the NL West title.
Small technical point: Even if Seattle loses to KC today, they would still have the de facto division lead from taking 2 of 3 from Houston over the weekend and ending up in a tie, as it would mean that Seattle took the season series and thus has the tiebreaker.
Taking 2 of 3 from Houston is like asking Santa Claus to give you gifts early
Seattle-Houston season series is currently 5-5 but the Mariners have the better division record. Whoever wins this weekend’s series at Daikin Park will thus win the season series and control their destiny for the AL West.
Bibee has been incredible in his last two outings:
15.2 innings 2 ER 13 K 1 BB 7 H
Ofc Detroit is better than the White Sox or the Rays, so we’ll have to see if he can match Skubal when facing a stronger lineup.
If Cleveland wins, they’ll be riding high momentum for the weekend 4 gamer (makeup DH) against deadline sell-off Twins.
They are the only real threat to late rally for a WC vs Boston and Mariners/Astros division runner-up.
Honestly, the Guards can still win the division. Tigers could…could…miss the playoffs. They have to win 4 of their last 10 games. They gotta get to 89 wins. Cleveland will need to go 9-2 ( which would mean 18-3 in their last 21) to tie the Tigers and thus the division as they would hold the tie breaker over Detroit. If they do that…they deserve the division.
Tigers are 4-6 in their last 10. They finish with 3 in Cleveland then 3 in Boston, who is also in a fight to stay in the playoffs. My guess is the Braves are going to try to protect the field and will give the Tigers everything they have this weekend,
Would be nice to bury the Giants this weekend….
Im rooting for anyone who could stand in the way of the reds.. which is mostly the reds lol
I genuinely can’t tell if the reds wanted to make the postseason or not it’s like they want to be the best team that doesn’t qualify
Refs are only close to a playoff spot because of Manfred’s Mickey Mouse version. .500 teams shouldn’t be rewarded with a playoff spot.
So let’s completely eliminate the NFL, NHL and NBA who have had teams with losing records make the playoffs.
Has nothing to do with Manfred. It’s the nature of the beast and the almighty dollar.
Cha-ching!
One of those teams with a losing record beat the top team in the NFC. It was lead by the only time they had recorded an earthquake caused by fans. It was called BeastQuake and happened during one of if not the best running play ever in a football game.
+100 points for Beast Quake mentioned here
Lol
Gonna take a major task to bury the Giants.
Really need a good shovel. The hole is longer than normal, and it takes more time.
Dodgers got to Webb on Saturday. Hopefully he is again not sharp
How about an article on how Seatle built this competitor and MONSTER prospect rankings…..?
How’d d’ey do d’at?
By several years of early draft picks due to subpar play on the field. Same way the Astros did id back in the early teens until now. Also doesn’t help that the division both our teams play in is definitely one of the weaker in baseball for the last 10-15 years. Plus, getting hot at the right time.
So really you have no idea what you’re talking about considering you compared Mariners drafting to Houston. Got it.
Start with 2016 draft since Dipoto was hired on September 28 2015 vs starting with the Astros early teens draft.
I see a lot of single digits for The Trash Cans vs The M’s
baseball-reference.com/draft/index.fcgi?team_ID=SE…
baseball-reference.com/draft/index.fcgi?team_ID=HO…
Those Astros teams didn’t get high picks from “subpar play on the field”, they straight up tanked for a lustrum.
The Astros tank to get a Trash Can Ring, others use some combination draft, develop, trade & sign to win a ring.