Jim Feist

The St Louis Cardinals continue to move up in the NL Central division, now just 2-games back of 2nd place Milwaukee and 4.5-games back of first place Cubs. The Cardinals have won four of their last five games and seven of their last nine games. Daniel Ponce de Leon makes his 6th start of the season today. While de Leon has no record, he has a nifty 2.49 ERA and 1.066 WHIP in those starts. In addition, the Cardinals have won four of his five starts. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh continues to find ways to lose games. The Bucs lost two of their three to the Phillies over their weekend series and have now lost seven of their last nine games. Trevor Williams gets the start today for Pittsburgh. Williams is 3-3 in his 13 starts with a 5.16 ERA. Williams has been hit hard in recent starts, allowing 13 earned runs over his last two outings and 24 earned runs over his last four starts. I like the Cardinals here today. They have the better starter and have been playing the better ball. Take St Louis.

 The Reds have lost five of their last six games and nine of their last 12 games. Today, the Reds begin a series at Milwaukee and will send Sonny Gray to the hill. Gray is only 5-6 in his 19 starts, but has a decent 3.31 ERA and 1.132 WHIP. In fact, Gray has been solid in recent starts, allowing five total runs over his last four starts (27 1/3 innings) with just five walks and 35 KO's. Meanwhile, the Brewers have fallen to second place in the NL Central, 2.5-games back of the Cubs. Chase Anderson takes the ball today for the Brewers. Anderson is 4-2 in his 14 starts this season with a 3.88 ERA. Anderson has also been very good of late, allowing two runs or fewer in each of his last five starts. Both these starters today have been excellent lately and while I don't like a side here, I'm playing the UNDER.

 The Yankees had their 5-game win streak snapped on Sunday by the Rockies after taking the first two games in the series. The Twins beat the A's on Sunday, 7-6, snapping their 2-game losing streak. The Yankees are 64-34 now in the AL East, some 9-games ahead of the Rays. New York starts C.C. Sabathia today who is 5-4 in his 15 starts. Sabathia has been solid of late thought, allowing three runs or less in each of his last four games. The Twins improved to 60-38 with their win and are 3-games ahead of the Indians for the AL Central. Minnesota sends Martin Perez to the hill today. Perez is 7-3 in his 16 starts with a 3.79 ERA. Sabathia can be a question mark at times, but I like his recent starts and you can't get much better in offense than the Yankees. Play New York.