It’s almost the end of September, so everyone’s eyes are on the standings. Wednesday night will feature two games between division rivals: Red Sox/Orioles and Giants/Dodgers.
The Red Sox have taken the first two games of their four-game set against the Orioles at Camden Yards, widening their NL East lead to four games over the Blue Jays and five games over the Orioles, now in third place. Clay Buchholz, who has had a miserable 2016, will make the start tonight against Ubaldo Jimenez at 7:05 PM EDT. Buchholz returned to the rotation earlier this month and two of his three starts since have been solid. Jimenez has had a similar season as Buchholz: struggling, getting demoted to the bullpen, then returning to the rotation in strong fashion. In five starts since getting moved back into the Orioles’ starting rotation, Jimenez has a 3.28 ERA.
Meanwhile, the Giants and Dodgers have split the first two games of their three-game set. Matt Moore will toe the rubber tonight against Kenta Maeda at Dodger Stadium in a 10:10 PM EDT start. The Dodgers hold a five-game lead with 11 games left to play, so it’s a lead that seems safe.
Other games with playoff implications tonight: Braves/Mets, Royals/Indians, Yankees/Rays, Nationals/Marlins, Tigers/Twins, and Pirates/Brewers. Now’s a good time to get MLB.tv if you don’t have it already.
The rest of Wednesday’s action…
Boston Red Sox (Clay Buchholz) @ Baltimore Orioles (Ubaldo Jimenez), 7:05 PM EDT
Chicago White Sox (Chris Sale) @ Philadelphia Phillies (Jerad Eickhoff), 7:05 PM EDT
Atlanta Braves (Ryan Weber) @ New York Mets (Bartolo Colon), 7:10 PM EDT
Kansas City Royals (Ian Kennedy) @ Cleveland Indians (Corey Kluber), 7:10 PM EDT
New York Yankees (Masahiro Tanaka) @ Tampa Bay Rays (Alex Cobb), 7:10 PM EDT
Washington Nationals (Max Scherzer) @ Miami Marlins (Tom Koehler), 7:10 PM EDT
Cincinnati Reds (Robert Stephenson) @ Chicago Cubs (John Lackey), 8:05 PM EDT
Los Angeles Angels (Jered Weaver) @ Texas Rangers (Derek Holland), 8:05 PM EDT
Detroit Tigers (Buck Farmer) @ Minnesota Twins (Jose Berrios), 8:10 PM EDT
Pittsburgh Pirates (Chad Kuhl) @ Milwaukee Brewers (Jimmy Nelson), 8:10 PM EDT
Arizona Diamondbacks (Zack Greinke) @ San Diego Padres (Luis Perdomo), 9:10 PM EDT
San Francisco Giants (Matt Moore) @ Los Angeles Dodgers (Kenta Maeda), 10:10 PM EDT