Category: Sports News

TODAY’S GAME: The Astros and Blue Jays will play the 2nd game of this 3-game set this afternoon at Rogers Centre.

RHP Peter Lambert (6-4) will start for the Astros as he takes on Jays RHP Shane Bieber, who is making is 1st start of the season.

Today is Lambert’s 1st career start and 2nd app. vs. TOR (other app. was in relief at Rogers Centre-3.0 IP, 0 R, 4/12/24).

RIDING THE LAMBO: Today’s Astros starter RHP Peter Lambert will make his 12th start/app. of the season.

He has pitched well as of late, posting a 4-0 record in his last 5 starts with a 2.83 ERA (9ER/28.2IP).

In his most recent start on June 17 vs. DET, he allowed 1 run on just 2 hits in 7.0 innings of work to earn the win in a 4-2 Astros victory (0 BB, 5 SO).

Lambert’s 4 wins since May 24 are tied for tops in the Majors in that span.

Lambert pitched last year for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows in the NPB, posting a 3.98 ERA (55ER/124.1IP) with 111 strikeouts in 23 appearances in Japan.

He began this season at Triple A Sugar Land (1.84 ERA in three appearances) before being called up April 17.

ROAD TRIPPIN: Today is the 2nd game of a 7-game road trip for the Astros, during which they will visit TOR (3G) and DET (4G), respectively.

Road Success: The Astros are 10-7 in their last 3 road trips combined…they have have posted a 16-13 record on the road since going 1-9 on their 1st road trip of the 2026 season.

Road Raking: The Astros are T-1st in the AL in road batting avg. at .251…they also rank 2nd in road SLG (.414) and OPS (.740) and 3rd in road HR (52) and OBP (.325).

ASTROS-BLUE JAYS: The Astros were 4-2 vs. TOR in 2025 (3-0 at home, 1-2 at TOR).

HOU pitched very well vs. TOR last season, posting a 1.86 ERA (11ER/53.1IP) vs. them in 6 games while allowing just 31 hits in 53.1 IP for a .169 opponent batting avg.

Jays hitters were just 32×189 vs. HOU pitching overall last season.

Recent Success: Including last night’s game, the Astros have won 6 of 9 and 8 of their last 12 vs. TOR.

LAST NIGHT’S RECAP: The Astros were topped by the Blue Jays in last night’s series opener, 4-2.

RHP Hunter Brown started the game, but had no decision (3.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 4 SO).

Jeremy Pena (1×2, R), Isaac Paredes (1×3, RBI) and Jose Altuve (1×3, RBI) contributed offensively.

An RBI-single by Jose Altuve in the 6th inning tied the game at 2-2, before TOR added single runs in the 7th and 8th innings to pull ahead.

Astros hitters were limited to just 5 singles by Blue Jays hurlers.

CLOSE CALLS: The Astros are now 14-10 in two-run games and 8-4 in one-run games.

THE SLOW TURNAROUND: Over the last month (May 21-June 22), the Astros are 17-12 (.586), which is T-2nd-best in the AL in that span.

RECENT STROS: The Astros have won 4 of 6 and 6 of their last 10 games.

HISTORIC HOMERS: Per Elias, Yordan Alvarez’ 25 HR are tied for the 2nd-most in franchise history through the club’s 1st 80 games.

The record for HR through the club’s 1st 81 games is 27, set by Lance Berkman in 2002.

Most HR thru 80 Team Games
26 – J. Bagwell, 1994 & 1999
25 – Y. Alvarez, 2026
25 – L. Berkman, 2002

Most HR thru 81 Team Games
27 – L. Berkman, 2002
26 – J. Bagwell, 1994 & 1999

ALL-STAR VOTING: Yordan Alvarez leads all AL DH’s in All-Star voting, per MLB’s update yesterday.

His 1,974,459 votes rank 2nd in the AL and 3rd overall in the Majors.

ROCKIN AT ROGERS: In his last 15 games at Rogers Centre, Yordan Alvarez has 7 HR and 16 RBI and is hitting .370 (19×50) in that span with an .860 SLG and a 1.362 OPS.

PEN PALS: Since May 15, the Astros bullpen has the best ERA in the AL with a 2.82 clip (39R/124.2IP). The Astros are 20-15 since May 15.

OKERT’S 0’S: LHP Steven Okert has not allowed a run in his last 15.0 innings, which is the longest scoreless streak by an Astros hurler this season.

His streak, which spans 12 apps., is the longest cons. inning scoreless streak since RHP AJ Blubaugh recorded 22.1 cons. scoreless innings from Aug. 23, 2025-March 26, 2026.

In Okert’s current streak, which began on May 23 at CHC, he has allowed just 4 hits in those 15.0 innings pitched.

HADERADE: In his 8 appearances since coming of the IL on June 3, opponents are just 2×26 off LHP Josh Hader.

Hader has posted a 1.13 ERA (1ER/8IP) and is 5-for-5 in save opportunities (.077 opp. avg., .038 WHIP).

ON THE DEFENSIVE: The Astros have the best fielding pct. in the AL at .989 and are tied with the A’s for the fewest errors committed with 30.

1B Christian Walker has led the way, as he has not committed an error in his 77 games played at 1B.

Dating back to last season, Walker has not made an error in his last 99 games at 1B (last error was August 23 at BAL).

POSITIVE IMPACT: Since SS Jeremy Peña returned to the lineup on May 18, the Astros have gone 18-14, while Peña has hit .297 (35×118) with 5 doubles, 6 homers and 18 RBI in 32 games.

TAPPING FOR SUCCESS: Astros batters have won an MLB-best 55 ABS challenges and lead the Majors in challenge success rate (60%).

Isaac Paredes (9-for-9) has the most successful challenges in the Majors without losing one.

Jose Altuve has been successful on 14-of-19 challenges (74%), ranking 2nd in the Majors in successful challenges.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Tuesday, June 23, 3:07 p.m. CT

Location: Rodgers Centre, Toronto, ON

TV: Space City Home Network

Radio: KBME 790 AM & 94.5 FM HD2; TUDN 102.9 FM HD2 (Spanish)

Let’s start this off with some good news: If the Braves play straight-up mediocre .500 baseball from this point forward, they should still have enough wins to get them back into the Postseason. The fantastic level of form that they reached during late-March and throughout April and most of May has essentially ensured that the Braves have a nice little “nest-egg” of sorts to play with as far as their Postseason chances go.

PECOTA still has the Braves at a 74 percent chance of winning the NL East and a 98 percent chance of making the Postseason in some form. FanGraphs’ Playoff Odds also paints a rosy picture by giving them an 80 percent chance of winning the division and a 97 percent chance of making the Postseason. In the grand scheme of things, it’s fine. It may be “Blackheart” Lio Rush’s version of “fine” but it’s fine nonetheless.

With that being said, it’s hard not to feel a bit alarmed by what we’ve seen from the Braves since mid-May. There were concerns about the starting rotation heading into this season and while the rotation did a fantastic job early on in order to dispel most of those concerns, they’ve finally started to rear their ugly head and it’s been pretty concerning! Since May 18, Atlanta’s rotation has collectively produced an ERA of 5.20 (ERA- 125) and a FIP of 4.64 (113 FIP-). Both of those numbers are near the bottom of Major League Baseball and a lot of that has to do with the fact that outside of former White Sox hurlers Chris Sale and Martín Pérez, the rest of the rotation has been struggling mightily.

Grant Holmes looked better on Monday night but he still has trouble getting through two turns on the lineup on any given night, much less getting any deeper than that. Spencer Strider was pretty inconsistent while he was healthy and now he’s out for the foreseeable future and it doesn’t help that JR Ritchie has essentially been baptized by fire as Strider’s replacement. Bryce Elder’s magical ride has come to a screeching halt and his most recent start where he got blown up for eight runs in a single inning of six innings of work represented the clear nadir for both Elder and this rotation at the moment.

Sale (60 ERA-, 42 FIP-) and Pérez (81 ERA-, 80 FIP-) are the only regulars who have an ERA- and FIP- below the league average of 100 since May 18 — everybody else is far over. Grant Holmes is the “best” of the bunch with an ERA- of 116 and a FIP- of 158. As bad as Elder has been (169 ERA-, 121 FIP-), Strider was actually a little worse with an equivalent ERA- of 169 and a worse FIP- of 157. JR Ritchie has tried his best but so far that’s resulted in an ERA- of 240 and a FIP- of 187.

The bullpen has essentially been carrying the pitching staff since mid-May, as they are currently leading baseball in ERA- since May 18 (65) and are top-five in FIP- at 85. No matter who they’ve called upon in the bullpen (whether it’s been high-leverage guys like Raisel Iglesias, Robert Suarez or Dylan Lee or the rest of the relievers like Dylan Dodd, Reynaldo López, Tyler Kinley, Didier Fuentes and even Carlos Carrasco being called upon to eat innings), everybody’s known their role and gotten the job done while the rotation has largely struggled. Their performance has been one of the only things keeping this current downturn in form from being an actual mid-season collapse.

As a matter of fact, the bullpen may be the one thing holding this entire team together at the moment because the offense has absolutely cratered for about a month or so. From Opening Day until May 17, the Braves as a team hit .265/.328/.444 with a wOBA of .337 and a wRC+ of 113 with the team wRC+ being second in all of baseball only behind the Dodgers. Ever since May 18, however, things have changed drastically. Atlanta has been hitting .232/.296/.377 at the plate with a wOBA of .306 and a team wRC+ of 87. Ever since mid-May, Atlanta has essentially been rolling out the third-worst offense in all of baseball with only the Padres and the Guardians being worse.

Now, a lot of that probably has to do with the fact that Drake Baldwin was missing for quite some time during that span and also Ronald Acuña Jr. has also been sitting on the sidelines for long stretches as well. It also didn’t help that during that period when both Baldwin and Sean Murphy were gone, Atlanta actively decided to play throwback National League baseball where they were effectively using the catcher as the pitchers’ spot in the lineup.

Bless Sandy León and Austin Wynns for trying but León putting up a wRC+ of -84 in 37 plate appearances is truly astonishing and it was also painful to see Wynns add to that with a -73 wRC+ over 14 additional plate appearances. It’s clear with the addition of Joey Bart that the Braves have done a complete 180 in what they value in backup catchers since clearly León’s defense and experience behind the plate was not enough to overcome the overall black hole of plate production that he was delivering during his time out there.

Also, Ha-Seong Kim’s plate performance has been shocking and not in a good way. Any time where the Braves put out León and Kim at the same time, there were going to be two hitters in the lineup where it would’ve been a shock to see them get a hit. It’s something you just can’t have and it’s why the light-hitting Jorge Mateo has been getting plenty of opportunities and why Atlanta has also been desperate to keep Mauricio Dubón in the lineup no matter where he plays.

Things got to the point where Matt Olson played right field at the tail end of a game last week because of the domino effect of substitutions that resulted in Walt Weiss making sure that Kim didn’t have to take an at-bat while the field shuffling was going on. He’s got to get it going soon but it’s also one of those cases where it’s tough to keep giving him plate appearances while he’s this terrible at the plate.

Atlanta has been getting positive contributions from Michael Harris II, Ronald Acuña Jr. (when healthy), Matt Olson, Ozzie Albies and Mauricio Dubón but it’s clear that they can’t carry the team when there are multiple hitters carrying a negative wRC+. Austin Riley’s inability to get going has also been frustrating to observe as well. Guys like Mike Yastrzemski, Eli White, the aforementioned Mateo and Dominic Smith are trying their best but it’s also clear that they are in a position where they need to perform out of their shoes in order to keep the offense afloat on a nightly basis in recent times.

I’ve regularly had Alex Anthopoulos’s preseason opinion on this team running through my mind for most of this season. He was right when he said that if this team was going to bounce back, the offense would need to return to good form after spending the better part of two years wandering in the wilderness. We saw that play out with the scalding-hot start that this team got off to to begin the season. Now we’re seeing the offense’s fortunes coincide with the team’s fortunes and it’s frustrating to see.

With all of that being said, I do have real hope that Atlanta’s offense will get things together. While watching them struggle lately has been truly frustrating, it’s not a hopeless situation. On the other hand, the starting rotation needs help and they need it badly. Folks have been screaming about the need to add to this rotation since this past offseason and now it has become glaringly clear what needs to be addressed at the deadline. I’ve already stated my opinion on whether or not the Brave should go after Tarik Skubal if the opportunity presents itself but even if they don’t swing for the fences in that regard, it’s clear that Atlanta should be trying to figure out a way to improve this rotation between now and the deadline.

Whether that’s simply bringing up Hurston Waldrep or going after some arms from teams that are planning on selling at the deadline (and there will be a handful), if the Braves are going to be serious about confirming their Postseason spot and also hopefully doing some damage when they get there, the rotation has to be improved. The bullpen is carrying the load for the pitching staff and the lineup has shown that they can make it happen at the plate for a decently-long stretch. On paper, the rotation has been the weak spot for the longest time and now they’ve mostly come crashing back down to earth after spending the early portion of this season in glorious orbit.

It’s clear that the Braves aren’t going to simply walk away with the division now that the Phillies are showing some real signs of being serious in recent weeks. The Braves still have a fairly nice lead in the division and as long as they don’t truly collapse then the Postseason is well within their grasp. This is a resilient bunch so I’d imagine that they will fight through this rough patch and get back to something close to what we saw from them earlier this season.

Still, it’s becoming very clear that the team won’t be able to simply put it into cruise control down the stretch. There are some real concerns with this team at the moment and hopefully we’ll see them get addressed at some point soon. We’ll see what happens, though.

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Toronto Blue Jays slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is heating up and profiles well for continued success against Houston Astros starter Peter Lambert, making Over 1.5 total bases for Vladdy my favorite play tonight.

Read on for my Astros vs. Blue Jays predictions and MLB picks for this Tuesday, June 23 matchup.

Astros vs Blue Jays predictions

Astros vs Blue Jays best bet: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Over 1.5 total bases (+105)

Toronto Blue Jays slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. profiles extremely well against Peter Lambert. 

The Houston Astros starter primarily throws a fastball/sinker/slider combination, which is a pitch mix that Vladdy has handled well this season, with a .314 batting average and a .331 BABIP.

Lambert has also allowed solid contact at a 7.5% rate, which is 1.6% above league average.

Guerrero Jr. is barreling the baseball more efficiently lately, too, which has seen an uptick in production over the last two weeks where he owns a .409 average and a .591 SLG.

Additionally, Guerrero Jr. has eclipsed this number in four of his last five games with a .526 SLG over this stretch, showing serious signs of a turnaround, which gives me confidence in his market.

I’d bet Guerrero Jr. Over 1.5 total bases down to +100. 

COVERS INTEL: Guerrero ranks in the 94th percentile in xBA, and owns a 137 WRC+ over his last 20 at-bats.

Astros vs Blue Jays same-game parlay (SGP)

George Springer is turning a corner, too, sporting a .351 average and 1.090 OPS over his last 10 games, recording a hit in eight of those outings. Additionally, he’s historically hit well against Lambert‘s pitch mix. 

I’ll also add Kazuma Okamoto Over 0.5 hits. He owns a .375 average against Lambert's pitches since June 1, while recording at least one hit in 13 of 18 games this month.

Astros vs Blue Jays SGP

• Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Over 1.5 total bases
• George Springer Over 0.5 hits
• Kazuma Okamoto Over 0.5 hits

Astros vs Blue Jays home run pick: Kazuma Okamoto (+280)

Okamoto profiles well against Lambert, who gives up a lot of solid contact, while ranking in the 48th percentile in hard-hit rate.

This all plays into Okamoto’s strengths, as he barrels the ball as well as anyone on the Jays roster and leads the team with 17 home runs while owning a .553 SLG and a 58.1% hard-hit rate against Lambert's pitch mix.

Additionally, Lambert has surrendered six home runs over his last seven-outings.

Despite the good matchup for Okamoto, the home run market is volatile, so I’ll make this a half-unit wager. 

Astros vs Blue Jays odds

• Moneyline: Houston +112 | Toronto -132
• Run line: Houston +1.5 | Toronto -1.5
• Over/Under: Over 8.5 | Under 8.5

Astros vs Blue Jays trend

The Blue Jays have hit the Over in 13 of their last 21 games (+4.30 Units / 19% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Astros vs. Blue Jays.

How to watch Astros vs Blue Jays and game info

Astros vs Blue Jays latest injuries

Astros vs Blue Jays weather

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The Dodgers got about as good of a pitching game as they could have hoped for in the series opener against the Minnesota Twins. Eric Lauer followed an opener on Monday, in part to avoid having him face Byron Buxton three times. Buxton proved why by hitting his 25th home run of the season in the first inning against said opener, Will Klein.

Lauer entered a 1-1 game in the second inning and got all the way through the seventh with no runs and no hits on his ledger, and a 2-1 lead.

The only other time a Los Angeles Dodgers reliever pitched at least six innings without allowing a hit was Dave Stewart on August 9, 1982, pitching the final six frames of a 13-inning win over the Cincinnati Reds at Dodger Stadium.

That Stewart performance was part of a chaotic pennant race for the Dodgers, who trailed the Atlanta Braves by 10 games as late as July 28. The Stewart game was the seventh straight win that brought them to within a half-game of Atlanta. The Dodgers would claim first place the next day, only 13 days after that 10-game deficit.

Six other Brooklyn Dodgers pitchers logged at least six hitless innings in relief:

• Ed Reulbach, August 13, 1913 vs. Pirates
• Elmer Brown, September 26, 1913 vs. Giants
• Doug McWeeny, May 6, 1926 at Cardinals
• Jack Banta, June 24, 1949 at Pirates (6 2/3 innings)
• Carl Erskine, September 5, 1949 vs. Braves (7 innings)
• Bob Milliken, September 9, 1953 at Reds (8 1/3 innings)

The longest of these hitless relief outings was by Bob Milliken in 1953. He took over for rookie Johnny Podres with two outs in the first innings — looked like an injury of some sort, as Podres didn’t pitch again for 13 days — then finished out the game by recording the final 25 outs.

Tuesday game info

• Teams: Dodgers at Twins
• Ballpark: Target Field, Minneapolis
• Time: 4:40 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA, TBS (out of market)
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

Count me shocked that the Mariners were able to win one of their games against that trio of lefty starters the Red Sox rolled out last weekend. That win on Sunday wrapped up a 3-3 homestand and pushed the team another game ahead of their division rivals. Now the team embarks on a midwest road trip through Pittsburgh and Cleveland.

With a ton of young talent matriculating into the big leagues and a starting rotation anchored by Paul Skenes, the Pirates looked poised to break out of their long rebuilding cycle this year. They actually spent money on a few free agents in the offseason and traded for some more talent to bolster the lineup. They were rewarded with a quick start to the season, running a 16-11 record through April 25. They’ve fallen back towards .500 since then, though they’re still in the thick of the NL Wild Card hunt. 

The Pirates signed Ryan O’Hearn to the largest free agent contract for a position player in franchise history this offseason. That’s pretty incredible from an organizational standpoint and that it ended up being O’Hearn who set that record. To his credit, O’Hearn has been a solid first baseman and corner outfielder for the past three years and he’s been just as good for the Pirates this season, rocking a 115 wRC+. They also traded for Brandon Lowe and that has worked out wonderfully; he’s leading the team in home runs with a 126 wRC+. Among the holdovers from last year, Bryan Reynolds has bounced back from a dismal season in 2025 to lead the team with a 145 wRC+. Unfortunately for the Pirates, young phenom Konnor Griffin has been sidelined with a forearm injury for the past month.

Probable Pitchers 

Updated Stuff+ Explainer 

• Stuff+ scores for Mariners starters

Mitch Keller has been a solid, if uninspiring mid-rotation starter for the last five years. He’s also been incredibly consistent in that time; his FIP hasn’t risen above 4.08 and hasn’t fallen below 3.80. Despite that consistency, his peripherals look the worst they’ve been since 2021; his strikeout rate has fallen to 18.4% and his walk rate has jumped up to 8.8%. Only some good home run luck has allowed him to keep his FIP inside that range mentioned above. He’s always been a tinkerer, and this year, he’s reintroduced a cutter to his repertoire. The real issue is that his other two fastballs have been crushed by opposing batters and the rest of his secondary pitches haven’t been able to make up the difference.

Between Paul Skenes, Konnor Griffin, and a host of other top prospects on the Pirates roster, it’s been easy to overlook Braxton Ashcraft. He was a top prospect in his own right and had a strong debut season last year, compiling a 2.71 ERA and 2.78 FIP in 18 relief appearances and eight starts. The Pirates were pretty cautious with his workload last year but have given him a full-time role in the starting rotation this year and he’s run with the opportunity. He’s got a pair of excellent breaking balls that more than make up for the lack of a strong fastball. Nearly half of his pitch mix is made up of those breaking balls, and their quality is such that he doesn’t really need an offspeed pitch to keep left-handed batters at bay. He can just spin a curveball or bury a slider to a lefty and generate enough swing and miss to thrive.

Among the non-Skenes pitching prospects in Pittsburgh’s pipeline, Bubba Chandler had the most hype. And while Ashcraft is having the type of season we expected from Chandler, Chandler probably has the higher ceiling once he fully develops. A lack of command is the biggest area he needs to address — an issue that’s led to a 13.1% walk rate this year. His fastball is fantastic with velocity and carry at the top of the zone. His tremendous arm speed helps his changeup really play up, though he’s still working on developing his trio of breaking balls. Once he figures out his command and finds a bit more consistency, he’ll be a top of the rotation arm for the Pirates. Until then, he’s a work-in-progress.

The Big Picture:

The Rangers managed to climb back into a tie with the Athletics after winning their weekend series against the Padres and winning the first game of a series against the Marlins yesterday night. For their part, the Athletics wound up splitting their four-game series against the Angels last weekend and will start a three-game set against the Giants tonight. The Astros are also lurking at 3.5 games back in the division; they won their series against the Guardians over the weekend but dropped the first game of their series against the Blue Jays yesterday.