What’s on Tap: Previewing tonight’s action

A full slate of games tonight, as it’s Tuesday and that’s what happens on Tuesday.

The biggest one is out in Los Angeles where Madison Bumgarner and the Giants start a big series against the Dodgers. San Francisco is game back in the standings but they have their ace going for them, which is nice. He can hit a little bit too.

The Mets are running Jonathon Niese out against the Cardinals, which is interesting given that they had a day off yesterday and could’ve skipped Niese, but hey, they ain’t my team.

Prospect Jake Thompson of the Phillies, making his fourth career start, goes against the relatively grizzled veteran Carlos Rodon, who is making his 44th. Rodon is just over a year older than Thompson. Practically ancient.

The matchups:

Houston Astros (Joe Musgrove) @ Pittsburgh Pirates (Ivan Nova), 7:05 PM EDT , PNC Park

Washington Nationals (Reynaldo Lopez) @ Baltimore Orioles (Kevin Gausman), 7:05 PM EDT, Oriole Park at Camden Yards

Los Angeles Angels (Tyler Skaggs) @ Toronto Blue Jays (R.A. Dickey), 7:07 PM EDT, Rogers Centre

Boston Red Sox (Clay Buchholz) @ Tampa Bay Rays (Chris Archer), 7:10 PM EDT, Tropicana Field

Kansas City Royals (Yordano Ventura) @ Miami Marlins (Andrew Cashner), 7:10 PM EDT, Marlins Park

Texas Rangers (Derek Holland) @ Cincinnati Reds (Dan Straily), 7:10 PM EDT, Great American Ball Park

Colorado Rockies (Jon Gray) @ Milwaukee Brewers (Chase Anderson), 8:10 PM EDT, Miller Park

Detroit Tigers (Anibal Sanchez) @ Minnesota Twins (Kyle Gibson), 8:10 PM EDT, Target Field

Philadelphia Phillies (Jake Thompson) @ Chicago White Sox (Carlos Rodon), 8:10 PM EDT, U.S. Cellular Field

New York Mets (Jonathon Niese) @ St. Louis Cardinals (Jaime Garcia), 8:15 PM EDT, Busch Stadium

Atlanta Braves (Rob Whalen) @ Arizona Diamondbacks (Archie Bradley), 9:40 PM EDT , Chase Field

Cleveland Indians (Danny Salazar) @ Oakland Athletics (Sean Manaea), 10:05 PM EDT, Oakland Coliseum

Chicago Cubs (Jake Arrieta) @ San Diego Padres (Christian Frederich), 10:10 PM EDT, Petco Park

New York Yankees (CC Sabathia) @ Seattle Mariners (Tiajuan Walker), 10:10 PM EDT, Safeco Field

San Francisco Giants (Madison Bumgarnder) @ Los Angeles Dodgers (Kenta Maeda), 10:10 PM EDT, Dodger Stadium

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Tim Tebow is not having a very good go of it in Triple-A. He’s hitting .157/.216/.231 in his first 34 games at the minors’ top level. This is somewhat problematic given that the worse the Mets’ season goes — and it ain’t going great right now — the more likely it is that they’ll want to give him a big league cup of coffee at the end of the year. I mean, they still might do it anyway, but I’m sure they’d like his slugging percentage to be higher than his weight when they do.

Yesterday, though, the Heisman Trophy winner did something good: he hit a dinger. His first since his promotion to Syracuse. It came in his 105th at bat of the year.

The homer was the product of a recent hot — well, let’s call it warm — streak that he’s been on of late. Tebow has hit in seven of his past nine games, raising his average from .130 to .157. He has five doubles and 11 RBI on the year to go with that homer. Citi Field, here he comes.

Here’s the blast is in all of its minor league glory:

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