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Two teams going in two opposite directions will be meeting on Tuesday night where the red hot Chicago White Sox visit the ice cold Pittsburgh Pirates who are now occupying last place in the National League Central Division.
Prior to being shut out against the Chicago Cubs on Sunday the White Sox took two out three in their last two series against the Detroit Tigers and Cubs where they managed to outscore them by a 30-9 margin. Last week the Sox who are 7.5 games behind in the Central Division had a four game winning streak which was their longest since last September.
The White Sox had quite a few hot hitters in their line up. Leading the way is veteran catcher A.J. Pierzynski who after a slow start has hit for a .500 average with a homerun in his last 10 at bats. Also scorching the ball has been outfielder Alex Rios who has hit .455 in his last 11 at bats and slugging first baseman Paul Konerko who has hit .440 in his past 25 at bats.
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For the past couple of seasons the Tampa Bay Rays have always had the Toronto Blue Jays number and so far this year is proving to be no exception.
Toronto who are currently sitting fourth in the American League Eastern Division five and a half games behind the Rays have f or whatever reason struggled badly at Tropicana Field over the past year and a half. Last year Toronto lost eight out of nine in Tampa and dating back to 2007 Tampa has won nine consecutive season series with Toronto.
Earlier this month Tampa had their way with Toronto relief pitching as they swept the Jays in Toronto as the Jays hurler surrendered 23 runs and 34 hits.
On Tuesday night Tampa Bay picked up where they belonged against Toronto as they opened up their three game series by spanking their division opponent by a convincing 9-0 score. In analyzing this series I’m picking Tampa to beat Toronto on Thursday. A huge reason for this is the Rays dominance against the Jays in recent seasons along with their first baseman finally showing signs of getting hot.
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Victor Martinez would probably not admit it but chances are great that he is feeling extra motivated in returning to Cleveland and facing his former team.
Martinez who spent almost eight seasons with the Indians was traded to the Red Sox last July 31 and comes into this series hitting .600 in his last 20 at bats. This streak includes registering 10 multi hit games in his past 15 contest.
Besides for Martinez hitting so well along with Kevin Youkilis (.500 batting average in past 18 at bats) and Dustin Pedroia (.375 batting average in past 16 at bats) I like the Red Sox to win on Tuesday because coming into this series they have won five straight games.
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Even though the Minnesota Twins are overall a much better ball club I really believe that the Oakland A’s who have been playing great baseball as of late will on Friday night emerge victorious. 
One reason why I’m siding with Oakland is that they have been dominant at home and that’s where this series is taking place. The A’s who are only .5 games behind the Texas Rangers for the American League Western Division has posted an impressive 18-9 home record while the Twins who are leading the Central Division by 3 games are a mediocre 13-13 away from Target Field.
Minnesota suffered a huge loss a few days ago when second baseman Orlando Hudson became sidelined with a wrist injury. Not only can he do wonders on defence but this veteran has provided some top of the order pop seen in his .305 average and 60 hits. Also missing is Alexi Casilla who is also on the disabled list.
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After taking three out of four against the Cleveland Indians there are no reasons to believe that the surging New York Yankees can’t have another successful series against another bottom feeding team in the Baltimore Orioles.
Unfortunately for the reeling Orioles who as of Tuesday are on a five game losing streak and are dead last in the American League East they will be playing in Yankee Stadium where the Yankees have as of Tuesday put together an impressive 16-7 record. Meanwhile the Orioles who are already 18.5 games behind first have a dismal 6-22 road record.
New York who currently occupy the Wild Card position and sit only 2.5 games behind the front running Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East have some red hot hitters led by third baseman Alex Rodriguez who on Monday in an 11-2 victory against Cleveland hit a grand slam and added six RBI’s. In his past 11 at bats he is hitting for a simmering .455 average. In that last series New York feasted on Cleveland pitching by hitting for an incredible .387 average while scoring 37 runs. Another hot hitter is Robinson Cano who hasn’t slowed down this season. This second baseman is hitting for a .588 average over his past 17 at bats and has slammed two homeruns. Against Cleveland he was 10 for 17 with 10 RBI’s. Also coming off a productive weekend series is first baseman Mark Teixeira who in his past 8 at bats has hit for a .375 average with a homerun.
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