Tim Michael

T.M. Selection: Chicago Cubs.

I like the Chicago Cubs to win this game against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday. The Cubs haven't looked good for a majority of the year but they have been getting better and I like what I have seen from them in their games lately. They didn't look good at all in their series against the Pirates last week but they responded well to that series loss and picked up a series win over the Cardinals on the weekend. They even shutout the Cardinals in 1 of those games with a great pitching performance and I expect them to do the same in this game. Keegan Thompson (7-2, 3.10 ERA) is up for the Cubs here and he has looked great all year, picking up the most wins on this pitching staff this year and being their most reliable arm to go to in these starts. He only had 1 bad start this year where he gave up 7 runs after some great performances coming out of the bullpen earlier this year but he has looked a lot better since that start and went 6+ innings in both of his previous 2 starts, only giving up 1 run between the 2 starts. The Reds haven't been producing a lot of offense this year, it does come in spurts for them but this is still a team that has looked terrible all year and has a lineup that is riddled with injuries. The Reds do have Luis Castillo (2-4, 3.71 ERA) up on the bump for them here but he hasn't had a lot of great starts this year and has also been really up and down too. He just gave up 4 runs in his most recent start and 3 runs in his start before that, which isn't terrible but it isn't great either and they are going to need a better performance from here with Thompson pitching on the other side. I expect the Cubs to shut down the Reds here and I see the Cubs putting up some runs on Castillo here. I like the Cubs to win this game.

T.M. Prediction: 5-2 Cubs.

T.M. Selection: New York Yankees -1.5.

I like the New York Yankees runline in this game against the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday. The Yankees just had a very close series over the weekend where they took 2/4 games against the Astros and did so with a great offensive effort late in the games they won. This team continues to come through no matter how much they are trailing by and they did it again last night against the A's, winning that game 9-5 after going down 5-1 early in the game. They continue to stay hot at bat and put up the runs and I expect nothing less from them here against 1 of the worst teams in the league this year. The A's just won 2/3 games from the Royals over the weekend but they still haven't looked good in their games lately with the wins becoming scarce for them. Frankie Montas (3-7, 3.21 ERA) is up for the A's here and he has looked bad in a lot of his starts this year. He just had a good start in his most recent game, pitching 8 innings with no runs given up, but I don't think he is going to replicate that here in a road game against the best team in baseball. The Yankees carry the best overall record and home record this year and I think they are going to get a much better performance from their starter here than they did last night. JP Sears (2-0, 0.00 ERA) is up for the Yankees here and he has only made 3 appearances in the MLB in his career, 2 being as a reliever and 1 as a starter, but he hasn't given up a single run in 7 innings pitched in the majors now and has looked good in all of those games. His last appearance was a start where he pitched 5 innings and didn't give up a run. He has been pitching in the minors since that previous start but has been killing it there with an ERA lower than 1.50 and I expect him to put up similar numbers against a team that may as well be in the minors with the way they have played this year. I like the Yankees runline in this game.

T.M. Prediction: 7-1 Yankees.