Art Aronson

This is a 10* play on MILWAUKEE

The Brewers continue to handle their business as they've beaten the Padres two straight, pulling them into a tie for the Wild Card with the Cubs. Milwaukee was actually swept out in San Diego earlier in the year, but facing the Padres now has proven advantageous as not only do they have the homefield advantage, they're the only motivated side in this matchup. San Diego has lost six in a row now with three of those losses seeing them score just one run and the other three seeing them give up at least 10. That's a bad combo. Two of the games where they scored only one run have come here in this series and there's really no reason to expect they'll perform any better at the plate tonight. Milwaukee is 11-1 in its last 12 games as they've gotten hot at the perfect time. The starter for tonight, Adrian Houser, was the one who started the only loss in the L12 games. However, he should rebound nicely here vs. a team that's hitting only .205 in the last week. Houser has a 3.12 ERA his previous seven starts. As for Padres starter Dinelson Lamet, you're looking at an 0-4 team start record his last four outings. The Padres have also lost eight straight road games. Play on MILWAUKEE

AAA

This is an 8* play on the METS

We used the Mets yesterday and that worked out well as they were able to stay relevant in the Wild Card by beating Colorado 6-1. The Rockies had previous won six of seven, but it's still been a bad year, one that likely ends with them in last place in the NL West. Facing a team that has nothing left to play for, the Mets have to take advantage here as their playoff hopes remain slim. It's a four game deficit that they're still facing with only 11 left to play. You have to like that they have Noah Syndergaard pitching today. He's had Colorado's number in the past, going 2-0 with a 2.42 ERA in four starts, though none of them have come here at Coors Field. A big key here is that Wilson Ramos will NOT catch for Syndergaard. In the 16 starts with Ramos as catcher, Syndergaard's ERA is 5.20. In the other 11, with either Nido or Rivera behind the plate, that number drops to 2.22. Just as encouraging as having Syndergaard pitching for the Mets is who will be starting opposite him for the Rockies. Jeff Hoffman just hasn't been very good. He has a 7.03 ERA and 1.69 WHIP in 12 starts, one of which was against the Mets and he gave up six runs. Coincidentally, Syndergaard pitched that game for the Mets, a 6-1 win. The Mets offense should continue to take advantage of the opportunities provided by Coors Field and Syndegaard should handle the Rockies in short order. Play on NY METS

AAA

This is an 8* play on WASHINGTON

The Cardinals now have two teams hot on their heels as the Brewers and Cubs are both just two games back in the NL Central race. After scoring just two runs in each of the first two games here vs. Washington, you can imagine that Max Scherzer is the last sight they wanted to see when they look out at the mound today. Scherzer is from St. Louis and has pitched very well here at Busch Stadium in the past. Four starts here have resulted in a 1.44 ERA and a 35-4 strikeout to walk ratio. He's allowed just four runs in 25 innings. While he missed about a month on the DL, Scherzer has an 11-2 team start record since the start of June. He's also gone 7-1 in 11 road starts this year with a 2.26 ERA and 0.95 WHIP. Those are all obviously outstanding numbers and what you want to see when taking the Nationals this afternoon. That's the call here as despite Adam Wainwright's own recent pitching prowess, we don't see St. Louis being able to hang with the favored Nats in this spot. Only a handful of teams have a better scoring margin on the road than Washington, all of them first place teams. Play on WASHINGTON

AAA