-$28,275
8 Lefties on the bump:
Hamels-Texas
Kershaw-Dodgers
Keuchel-Astros
Chen-Marlins
Garcia-Cards
Bumgarner-Giants
Miley-Seattle
Rodon-White Sox
Keuchel vs Rodon
Keuchel attempts to halt a five-start winless streak Tuesday night against the Chicago White Sox, who return home seeking to rebound from their first losing week of the season.
Keuchel was tagged for eight runs and 10 hits in six innings of an 11-1 loss, dropping him to 0-4 with a 7.98 ERA over his past five starts. He's allowed five or more runs four times over that stretch, during which opponents are hitting .355.
"I think I try to be too perfect on a lot of pitches, and that's not the way you go about it," he told MLB's official website. "You work on the plate until you work off and expand, and sometimes I try to be too fine. That works against me a lot more than it helps me."
Houston's other arms didn't fare much better against the hard-hitting Red Sox, who recorded 14 hits in Sunday's 10-9 victory. Boston hit .342 and scored 33 runs in winning three of four in the series.
A visit to U.S. Cellular Field may not yield a turnaround for Keuchel, as he's lost both his previous starts there and owns a 7.04 ERA on the road. He did pitch well in a 4-2 loss there last June, allowing two runs in seven innings.
Keuchel will likely be working with a new catcher with the Astros expected to recall Evan Gattis from the minors. The slugger was sent to Double-A Corpus Christi, where he hit .375 with five home runs and 10 RBIs in 11 games, on May 6 to make the position switch.
The promotion comes at an opportune time, as Gattis is 3 for 6 against an also struggling Carlos Rodon (1-4, 4.99). The young left-hander fell to 0-3 with a 6.75 ERA over a five-start stretch after allowing six runs and 12 hits over 6 2/3 innings Tuesday at Texas.
Rodon, who threw six scoreless innings to outduel Keuchel on June 9, has been one of few weak links on a staff that tops the AL with a 3.17 ERA and has helped Chicago (24-14) lead the Central.
The pitching wasn't as strong, however, during a 2-4 road trip that ended with Sunday's 7-5 loss to the New York Yankees. The White Sox also committed two errors - one preceding Carlos Beltran's game-tying two-run homer in the sixth inning - after going a team-record 12 straight games without one.
'Not a great road trip for us, but we'll put it behind us,' said outfielder Adam Eaton, who homered Sunday and is hitting .359 over his last 10 games. 'It's been a tough road, playing some good teams and lost some close ballgames.'
The Astros are 5-14 on the road and have yet to win a series as the visitor. They've lost seven of eight at Chicago
Kershaw vs Weaver
Kershaw (5-1, 1.74 ERA) posted a 1.92 ERA from 2013-15, which was 0.38 better than any other qualifying pitcher, and only former teammate Zack Greinke joined him with a mark under 2.50. In strikeouts per nine innings, Chris Sale (10.67) led co-seconds Kershaw and Max Scherzer (10.42) in that time, but just about any other meaningful pitching category to assess individual performance belongs to Kershaw.
The left-hander has been even filthier at home with a 1.04 FIP and .404 OPS in four starts and has thrown three-hit shutouts in his last two home outings with 27 strikeouts. The latest was Thursday's 5-0 win over the New York Mets, in which Kershaw fanned 13 and issued a rare walk - his fourth of the season. He's struck out at least 10 in a franchise-record five straight starts. Sale did it in eight straight just last season, so that's not the impressive part.
The fact that he's done it while never walking more than a batter is and makes him the first pitcher to ever go five straight with at least 10 Ks and at most one walk. His strikeout-to-walk ratio is - the decimal and digits are in the right places here - 19.25. Bartolo Colon is second at 9.00, and no one has ever put together a single-season mark in the teens in data available to 1913. The closest was Phil Hughes' 11.63 anomaly in 2014.
"He's the best by far," closer Kenley Jansen told MLB's official website. "Watching him doing that, man, I don't know what to think. I wasn't there when Sandy Koufax was there, but to see him break all these records â?¦ he's the best, man, the best on the planet."
Believers in WHIP have to agree. His 0.73 mark is on pace to be the best ever in those more than 100 years of data and just the third under 0.80 ahead of Martinez in 2000 (0.74) and Walter Johnson in 1913 (0.76). Sale is at 0.76 this season.
There's also this for those interested in win-loss record, such as manager Dave Roberts: In the 97 career regular-season starts in which the Dodgers have given him four runs of support, he's 81-0. His 5.66 RSA this season is well over his 4.47 career mark, so that could happen with greater frequency.
"If we don't have enough incentive to get four runs when he pitches, there you have it," Roberts said. "It's just a credit to him. When you need a shutout and to save your bullpen, he does that. If you give him a lead, he has that way that you know he smells the finish line and smells blood."
The Angels have comparatively decent numbers against Kershaw - 4-2 with a 2.91 ERA in eight starts - but that's not going to matter if the Dodgers get to four runs, and that's likely against Jered Weaver. He's given up at least four in four of his seven starts and doubled that in Thursday's 12-10 loss to St. Louis.
Weaver (3-2, 6.10) gave up nine hits - three home runs - in four innings for one of the worst starts of his career.
"He started to miss with some pitches around the fourth, fifth inning, and those guys didn't miss the pitches," manager Mike Scioscia said.
The Angels (17-21) opened the series with Monday's 7-6 win, sending the Dodgers (20-19) to their second straight loss. But those came with Alex Wood and Kenta Maeda on the mound.
It was the Angels' fourth straight win after a sweep in Seattle, which even included a win over Felix Hernandez.
Hamels
Still looking to tie the club mark with a 12th consecutive winning decision, Hamels tries to help the visiting Rangers snap a five-game skid against the Athletics on Tuesday night.
Texas' run of 14 straight wins with Hamels (4-0, 2.95 ERA) on the mound ended May 1 when he surrendered four runs in five innings of a 9-6 loss to the Los Angeles Angels. Five days later, the left-hander looked dominant in seven one-hit innings of a 5-1 win at Detroit, but he regressed by coughing up five runs - three earned - in 5 2/3 innings of Wednesday's 6-5 victory over the Chicago White Sox.
Hamels struck out nine without a walk against the White Sox
Hamels is 11-0 with a 3.12 ERA in 17 starts since his last losing decision Aug. 7 at Seattle. Bobby Witt went a franchise-best 12-0 over 14 starts in 1990.Hamels is 1-1 with a 1.29 ERA in two career starts against Oakland, one in 2011 and the other last season. Chris Coghlan has faced him the most, going 9 for 29 with two home runs a triple and two doubles.
Oakland grabbed its fifth straight win in this series with a 3-1 victory in Monday's opener. Sean Manaea, Sean Doolittle, John Axford and Ryan Madson held the Rangers to three singles and a double, and Marcus Semien hit his 10th home run.
Bumgarner
Bumgarner (4-2, 2.72 ERA) held San Diego to two runs and fanned nine over 6 2/3 innings in a 5-4 victory on April 25, the first of three straight winning starts for the Giants' ace. He was in line for a fourth after permitting three hits over 6 2/3 innings Wednesday against Toronto, leaving with a 4-1 lead the bullpen couldn't hold.
The three-time All-Star is 3-0 with a 1.69 ERA in his last five meetings with San Diego (17-22), though he hasn't won at Petco Park since July 2013. Bumgarner is 0-1 with a 5.63 ERA in three starts since.
...I was thinking about this last nite when I saw U jump on them again. U have been good on the Texas sided tms and I have been against U on many to my dismay. Astros‘ pitching staff has hugely underachieved this season as the team ERA is ranked in the bottom third of baseball. That’s what makes Friday night’s season debut of promising 2015 rookieLance McCullers. McCullers is making first '16 start after being hurt and he was 6-7, 3.22 in 22 MLB starts as a rookie LY.I dont have the Stros on the no play list ...yet but they are on the bottom of my. I feel we can find some winning matchups in some of their homes games 
rayer