Major League Baseball has now completed its All-Star break in Atlanta, and the regular season will resume on Friday. Here are two very intriguing series that baseball fans should keep an eye on.
Boston Red Sox @ Chicago Cubs
This is a very meaningful interleague series that features two franchises that have an incredibly rich history, and have extraordinarily loyal fan bases. The Red Sox enter the series as the hottest team in baseball. Before the All-Star break, they swept the Washington Nationals, Colorado Rockies and Tampa Bay Rays. As a result, they have won their last 10 games.
However, the Red Sox will be in a much more challenging test this weekend at Wrigley. The Cubs are 18 games above the .500 mark at 57 wins and 39 losses and lead the Milwaukee Brewers by a game in the National League Central.
The Red Sox are at 53 wins and 45 losses and are in third place in the American League East. They trail the Toronto Blue Jays by three games and the New York Yankees by two games. Remarkably the Red Sox have gone on their hot streak ever since trading Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants.
The Cubs have been led this season by first time All-Stars Pete Crow-Armstrong of Sherman Oaks, California, and Matthew Boyd of Mercer Island, Washington. Crow-Armstrong is second in the National League in stolen bases with 27. The only National League player with more stolen bases this season is Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop O’Neil Cruz of Nizao, Dominican Republic with 29. Boyd, is second in the National League earned run average at 2.34. The only National League player with a better ERA is the reigning National League Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes of Fullerton, California. Skenes of the Pirates is at 2.01.
The Red Sox are led by starting pitcher Garrett Crochet of Ocean Springs, Mississippi. Crochet is second in the American League in wins with 10, leads Major League Baseball with 160 strikeouts, and leads the American League with a 2.23 earned run average. Crochet will pitch Sunday for Boston.
Milwaukee Brewers @ Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers lead the National League West at 58 wins and 39 losses. The Brewers are at 56 wins and 40 losses. Milwaukee is second in the NL Central behind the Cubs, and have the top wildcard spot in the senior circuit. The Brewers are led by starting pitcher Freddy Peralta of Moca, Dominican Republic. Peralta, who will start Saturday, leads the Majors with 11 wins. The Dodgers are led by catcher Will Smith of Louisville, Kentucky, and phenom Shohei Ohtani of Mizusawa, Japan. Ohtani leads the National League with 32 home runs, and Smith leads the National League with a .323 batting average.
The post Two most intriguing MLB series from July 18-20 appeared first on The Sports Daily.