BringInTheLefty
Pretty much a regular
-$49,660
Approaching my budget for season
4 Lefties on the mound today
Chen-Marlins
Boyd-Tigers
Ramos-Rangers
Manaea-A's
Chen vs Rea
Rea will be making his 12th start of the season Monday (7:10 p.m.) while facing the Marlins for the first time in his career. Ironically, Wei, who will be making his 130th career start, has never faced the Padres.
And this will be the first meeting of the season between the two teams, each of which lost the rubber games of series on the road Sunday.
Miami was blanked 6-0 by Arizona in Phoenix as it fell to 2-4 after two stops of a three-city road trip.
The Padres dropped a 2-1 decision at Colorado ... adding to one of the worst stats in all of baseball for 2016. The Padres are 0-10 on Sundays this season -- and 1-20 in the finales of the 21 series they've played to date.
On the flip side, the Padres are 14-7 in the openers of series.
Rea is 3-2 with a 4.74 earned run average going into his 12th start of the season. Chen is 3-2 with a career-high 4.56 ERA going into his 13th start. Chen, a product of Taiwan by way of the American League, has only one win in his past seven starts. Rea is 0-1 in his last five starts.
One area where Rea might have an edge is with the bat. Rea is 3-for-22 this season with an RBI and three runs scored and is 5-for-31 in his career. Chen is 0-for-28 in his career at the plate and recently switched to hitting right-handed.
"I just started hitting right-handed," Chen recently told Miami reporters, "so I'm going to need a little time adjusting."
Chen's first hit wouldn't be the first hitting milestone for a pitcher against the Padres this season. Bartolo Colon hit the first homer of his career against Shields when he was still with the Padres on May 7.
Ramos vs Manaea (both lefties)
While the condition of Darvish's shoulder remains a mystery, so does Monday's starting pitcher. Banister said left-handed reliever Cesar Ramos was "most likely" to get the start but did not fully commit to him. Ramos is 1-2 with a 3.58 ERA in seven appearances (three starts) and has made two appearances spanning five innings since May 21.
The murkiness regarding Darvish's shoulder is not the only physical issue Texas is dealing with. Adrian Beltre missed his fourth consecutive game Sunday due to a hamstring injury, and although Banister said the third baseman is making progress, the team does not have a timetable for his return.
In the meantime, the Rangers kept winning, as their 6-4 decision at Seattle on Sunday was their eighth victory in 10 games. Cole Hamels allowed one run in seven innings, and Mitch Moreland and Ian Desmond hit two-run homers.
While the Rangers have won seven of nine meetings with Seattle, they were outscored 19-7 in a three-game sweep in Oakland from May 16-18 but are 15-5 since then. The A's owned a 19-22 record when Khris Davis homered four times in the sweep. Since then, the Athletics have lost 14 of their past 21 games.
Oakland ended a seven-game losing streak Sunday by getting home runs from Marcus Semien, Jake Smolinski and Danny Valencia in a 6-1 victory over the Reds at Cincinnati. During the skid, Oakland batted .219 and posted a 5.16 ERA.
"You have to stay positive," Smolinski said. "It's a long season, a lot of things can happen. We just have to even out those tough spots we've been hitting. We just have to stick with it and come out every day ready to play."
The first pitch of the game will start about an hour after the Golden State Warriors begin Game 5 of the NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Oracle Arena across the parking lot. Oakland will hope Sean Manaea can pitch as well as Stephen Curry can shoot 3-pointers.
Manaea is 2-3 with a 6.20 ERA but has pitched better recently, going 2-3 with a 4.18 ERA in his past five starts. Manaea last pitched Tuesday in Milwaukee, when he allowed five runs and six hits in seven innings during a 5-4 loss to the Brewers.
The right-hander's only start against Texas was also his first career victory. On May 16, he allowed one run and four hits in 6 2/3 innings of a 3-1 win.
Boyd vs Shields
James Shields (2-8, 5.06 ERA) will make his second start since joining the White Sox on June 4 in a trade with the San Diego Padres. Shields will try to bounce back from a miserable first start with the White Sox in which he allowed seven earned runs in two-plus innings against the Nationals.
Shields, 34, is familiar with the Tigers after spending the majority of his career with Tampa Bay and Kansas City in the American League. In 18 career starts against Detroit, Shields is 7-6 with a 4.10 ERA.
Left-hander Matt Boyd (0-1, 3.38 ERA) will start for the Tigers. The 25-year-old hurler did not earn the victory in his last outing despite limiting the Toronto Blue Jays to one run on three hits in 5 1/3 innings. Monday's game will mark his first career appearance against the White Sox.
Tigers second baseman Ian Kinsler carries a hot bat into the series. Kinsler recorded the first five-RBI game of his career Saturday against the Yankees, and he slammed a two-run home run in Sunday's finale.
"He's kind of Steady Eddie," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus told MLB.com. "He plays all the time, he's basically always hitting the same spot in the lineup. He's very intense and into the game. He's a catalyst and he brings a lot of attitude to the ballpark, in a good way."
Approaching my budget for season
4 Lefties on the mound today
Chen-Marlins
Boyd-Tigers
Ramos-Rangers
Manaea-A's
Chen vs Rea
Rea will be making his 12th start of the season Monday (7:10 p.m.) while facing the Marlins for the first time in his career. Ironically, Wei, who will be making his 130th career start, has never faced the Padres.
And this will be the first meeting of the season between the two teams, each of which lost the rubber games of series on the road Sunday.
Miami was blanked 6-0 by Arizona in Phoenix as it fell to 2-4 after two stops of a three-city road trip.
The Padres dropped a 2-1 decision at Colorado ... adding to one of the worst stats in all of baseball for 2016. The Padres are 0-10 on Sundays this season -- and 1-20 in the finales of the 21 series they've played to date.
On the flip side, the Padres are 14-7 in the openers of series.
Rea is 3-2 with a 4.74 earned run average going into his 12th start of the season. Chen is 3-2 with a career-high 4.56 ERA going into his 13th start. Chen, a product of Taiwan by way of the American League, has only one win in his past seven starts. Rea is 0-1 in his last five starts.
One area where Rea might have an edge is with the bat. Rea is 3-for-22 this season with an RBI and three runs scored and is 5-for-31 in his career. Chen is 0-for-28 in his career at the plate and recently switched to hitting right-handed.
"I just started hitting right-handed," Chen recently told Miami reporters, "so I'm going to need a little time adjusting."
Chen's first hit wouldn't be the first hitting milestone for a pitcher against the Padres this season. Bartolo Colon hit the first homer of his career against Shields when he was still with the Padres on May 7.
Ramos vs Manaea (both lefties)
While the condition of Darvish's shoulder remains a mystery, so does Monday's starting pitcher. Banister said left-handed reliever Cesar Ramos was "most likely" to get the start but did not fully commit to him. Ramos is 1-2 with a 3.58 ERA in seven appearances (three starts) and has made two appearances spanning five innings since May 21.
The murkiness regarding Darvish's shoulder is not the only physical issue Texas is dealing with. Adrian Beltre missed his fourth consecutive game Sunday due to a hamstring injury, and although Banister said the third baseman is making progress, the team does not have a timetable for his return.
In the meantime, the Rangers kept winning, as their 6-4 decision at Seattle on Sunday was their eighth victory in 10 games. Cole Hamels allowed one run in seven innings, and Mitch Moreland and Ian Desmond hit two-run homers.
While the Rangers have won seven of nine meetings with Seattle, they were outscored 19-7 in a three-game sweep in Oakland from May 16-18 but are 15-5 since then. The A's owned a 19-22 record when Khris Davis homered four times in the sweep. Since then, the Athletics have lost 14 of their past 21 games.
Oakland ended a seven-game losing streak Sunday by getting home runs from Marcus Semien, Jake Smolinski and Danny Valencia in a 6-1 victory over the Reds at Cincinnati. During the skid, Oakland batted .219 and posted a 5.16 ERA.
"You have to stay positive," Smolinski said. "It's a long season, a lot of things can happen. We just have to even out those tough spots we've been hitting. We just have to stick with it and come out every day ready to play."
The first pitch of the game will start about an hour after the Golden State Warriors begin Game 5 of the NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Oracle Arena across the parking lot. Oakland will hope Sean Manaea can pitch as well as Stephen Curry can shoot 3-pointers.
Manaea is 2-3 with a 6.20 ERA but has pitched better recently, going 2-3 with a 4.18 ERA in his past five starts. Manaea last pitched Tuesday in Milwaukee, when he allowed five runs and six hits in seven innings during a 5-4 loss to the Brewers.
The right-hander's only start against Texas was also his first career victory. On May 16, he allowed one run and four hits in 6 2/3 innings of a 3-1 win.
Boyd vs Shields
James Shields (2-8, 5.06 ERA) will make his second start since joining the White Sox on June 4 in a trade with the San Diego Padres. Shields will try to bounce back from a miserable first start with the White Sox in which he allowed seven earned runs in two-plus innings against the Nationals.
Shields, 34, is familiar with the Tigers after spending the majority of his career with Tampa Bay and Kansas City in the American League. In 18 career starts against Detroit, Shields is 7-6 with a 4.10 ERA.
Left-hander Matt Boyd (0-1, 3.38 ERA) will start for the Tigers. The 25-year-old hurler did not earn the victory in his last outing despite limiting the Toronto Blue Jays to one run on three hits in 5 1/3 innings. Monday's game will mark his first career appearance against the White Sox.
Tigers second baseman Ian Kinsler carries a hot bat into the series. Kinsler recorded the first five-RBI game of his career Saturday against the Yankees, and he slammed a two-run home run in Sunday's finale.
"He's kind of Steady Eddie," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus told MLB.com. "He plays all the time, he's basically always hitting the same spot in the lineup. He's very intense and into the game. He's a catalyst and he brings a lot of attitude to the ballpark, in a good way."
