Weekend Watch

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Saturday, May 11
The Yankees will roll out LHP CC Sabathia at Tropicana Field against the Rays on Saturday. That's a good and bad thing. The Yankes are 4-1 over his past five starts, and 7-3 in his past 10 appearances on a Saturday, for whatever that is worth. However, they're also just 2-5 across his past seven against a winning team, and 1-4 in his past five on the road against sides with a winning overall record. The Rays have handled the twig well against left-handed starters, going 8-3 in their past 11. They're also 13-6 in the past 19 at home vs. LHP. However, Tampa Bay is just 1-7 in their past eight at home against Sabathia, while going 2-10 in his past 12 starts overall against the rotund lefty. The under is also 5-1 in Sabathia's past six road stars against the Rays, while going 5-2 in his past seven overall. The under is 12-5 in the past 17 meetings in this series, too.

 The Reds and Giants do battle in the Bay Area, and the stay hasn't been nice for Cincinnati so far. They lost two of their three games from the Athletics in their interleague battle across the Oakland-Bay Bridge, including being no-hit by RHP Mike Fiers on Tuesday. They will turn to RHP Anthony DeSclafani, the winning pitcher in their 12-4 rout of the Giants on Monday afternoon in the Queen City. In fact, DeSclafani has been a bit of a good luck charm for the Red Legs, with Cincinnati winning in each of his past four outings dating back to April 14. However, the Giants have also been hot with RHP Jeff Samardzija on the hill, going 5-1 in his past six outings. However, the Giants are just 5-11 in their past 16 at home vs. RHP, and 7-16 in their past 23 tries against pitchers with a 1.15 WHIP or less.

It's a nice pitching matchup on the left coast when RHP Max Scherzer and RHP Walker Buehler hookup at Dodger Stadium. Things haven't exactly gone according to plan for Scherzer during the early going, as he is a poor 1-4 with a 3.78 ERA. However, chalk to record up to a lack of run support, as he still has a .292 on-base percentage against and a solid 1.17 WHIP while turning in three consecutive quality starts. Oddly enough, Buehler has a much poorer ERA at 4.95, but he has a perfect 4-0 record. That's baseball. The Vanderbilt product also has just two quaility starts over seven outings this season. The Nats are 0-5 in Scherzer's past five outings, and 0-4 in his past four against winning teams, but again, think offensive support, or lack thereof. The Dodgers are 4-0 in Buehler's past four at home, and 7-2 in his past nine overall.

Weather Report
The winds will be whipping from first base to third base at a 12-15 mph clip at Target Field, knocking down fly balls off of the bats of left-handed hitters. In Denver, no snow this time around, but the Padres and Rockies will experience a stiff wind blowing in from straightaway center field into the face of the batters at a 10-13 mph clip, tailing off by the later innings.

At Busch Stadium in St. Louis, there is a 50-50 shot of rain for the Pirates-Cardinals game, so expect to see the tarpaulin come out at some point, and perhaps even a postponement if the weather gets too bad. These teams face each other frequently, so there isn't as much urgency to force the game to go on. The Angels and Orioles will also experience some weather, with a 30-40 percent chance of showers called for during their game. They might be able to dance through the raindrops, however.

Sunday, May 12

It's a battle of lefties at Target Field for the Tigers-Twins series finale. LHP Daniel Norris has been decent, going 1-1 with a 3.81 ERA overall, although the Tigers have lost in each of his past three appearances. Chalk that up to poor run support in the past two, as they're averaging just 2.5 runs per game over his past two outings. He has failed to last longer than five innings in each of his four appearances, as he is still getting stretched out after starting out in the 'pen. So look for the Tigers bullpen to get called upon by the sixth inning. LHP Martin Perez goes for the Twinkies, and what a find he has been. He is 5-0 with a 2.83 ERA and .310 OBP against, with the Twins a perfect 4-0 in his past four outings. He enters with three straight quality starts, and he hasn't allowed a run in his past two outings (15 total innings). The 'under' is 3-0 in his past three, and 4-1 over the past five appearances.

The Phillies and Royals have two righties, RHP Vince Velasquez and RHP Jakob Junis, toeing the slab on Sunday. We'll see wind knocking down balls from left-handed hitters (see below), so that's good news for both of these guys. It might be especially helpful to Junis, who has allowed eight homers in just 44 innings over his eight outings. He sits at 3-3 with a 5.52 ERA and .357 opponent on-base percentage, and he has turned in just one quality start over his past six outings. While Junis is 2-1 at home this season, he has a terrible 5.64 ERA, 1.48 WHIP and .350 OBP against. For Velasquez, he is just 1-2 overall, but he has a solid 3.86 ERA and 1.39 WHIP. He has actually been less hittable on the road, going 1-1 with a 3.32 ERA as opposed to a 5.19 ERA at home. The under has cashed in six straight appearances by Velasquez, too.

On Sunday night the Brewers and Cubs will lock horns in the nationally televised game of the week. RHP Jhoulys Chacin takes the ball for the Brew Crew, and it's been an odyssey for him so far. He is 3-3 with an eye-sore 5.03 ERA, although his WHIP is still a decent 1.27. He has been a little better lately, going 1-1 with a 3.60 ERA across 15 innings over his past three starts, and his WHIP is even better at 1.07. The Brewers are just 2-4 across his past six outings, and the under is 6-1 over his past seven. The Cubs counter with LHP Jon Lester, who is 2-1 with a sparkling 1.41 ERA and 1.03 WHIP. He has been untouchable lately, going 1-1 with a 0.50 ERA and 0.78 WHIP over 18 innings across his past three outings. He also hasn't allowed a home run in the past three starts, no has he allowed a long ball in his 13 innings at Wrigley Field this season. Despite his outstanding numbers, the Cubs are still just 4-2 in his six outings, and the over is surprisingly 4-1 across his past five.

Weather Report

The forecast for the Angels-Orioles finale on Sunday looks ugly. There is a 50-70 percent chance of rain for the early afternoon, although the rain is expected to taper off in Charm City by the late afternoon. They might be able to squeeze this one in, but expect heavy delays. The same holds true for the Marlins-Mets finale, with rain in the forecast all afternoon. These NL East combatants see each other frequently, so a postponement and make-up day-night doubleheader later in the season wouldn't be a surprise.

The rest of the MLB venues appear to be rain-free, but wind will be a factor for the Phillies-Royals interleague series finale at Kauffman Stadium. The winds will be gusting anywhere from 10-13 mph out to right field, good for left-handed hitters especially.