MLB Games Of The Day For Saturday, Aug. 20

One of the early matchups on our massive Saturday slate of MLB games features the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs, two teams from the NL Central that always have great battles on the field. Despite the Cubs being pretty miserable this season, they actually have put up a real fight recently. They have an impressive record on the run line as an underdog this season, showing the signs of a team that is better than what they seem. Meanwhile, Milwaukee has the much better record and is trying to keep up with the St. Louis Cardinals for the division crown. They have fallen behind now by three games, and need every win they can get at this point if they want to come back. The Brewers have a pitiful record as a favorite on the run-line, meaning they really aren't that impressive.

People might think this game is going to be a stinker, but I beg to differ. There is a better game on the schedule today, but I think this one will wet our beaks heading into the night slate. Freddy Peralta on the mound for the Brew Crew, Marcus Stroman taking the hill for the Northsiders. Neither guy has been that great this season, but both have pretty good WHIPs, at 1.17 and 1.18 respectively. The difference for me here is how poorly Stroman has been at Wrigley. For a guy that was excited to play there, he may not be now with a terrible 7.81 ERA in six starts. He's also 0-3 in those games. Peralta has been a better pitcher on the road as well, which is where he will be for this one. He owns a 2.59 road ERA compared to his 5.67 home ERA.

I like the Brewers to get a win here and keep pace with St. Louis in the division race.

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Fast forward to the nightcap, where we get a pair of serious World Series contenders taking the field against one another in what should be an epic showdown and awesome series. The Houston Astros will take on the defending champion Braves in a "Clash of the Titans" type of game. Each team will be vying to get taste of what they might have in store for them should they actually meet in the big game, which is a real possibility. The Astros, led by superstars like Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker, will see Spencer Strider on the mound. Strider has some nasty stuff, as indicated by his 142 strikeouts in just 14 starts.

While Houston has virtually already clinched the AL West, the Braves are trying to catch the New York Mets in the NL East. Atlanta is within striking distance, but will need to keep Ws flowing in order to have a chance to catch up. Led this season by Dansby Swanson, Austin Riley and Matt Olson, the Braves feature an extremely dangerous lineup that even got to Mets starter Jacob deGrom the other night for a few runs. That is hard to do, but this offense has that capability. They will take on Cristian Javier here, another one of Houston's great starting pitchers. They have a plethora of those, but Javier may be one of the more underrated ones. He sports an impressive 2.96 ERA this season, and just a 1.03 WHIP.

The difference here may be the fact that Houston doesn't seem to like supporting Javier much, as he has a 7-8 record with under a 3.00 ERA. Pretty crazy how that works, but with Javier also having a 3.80 road ERA compared to Strider's impressive 2.66 home ERA, I'll be backing the defending champs tonight.

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I struggled a bit to find another game that I would possibly want to tune into outside of the Braves game, so I went with a couple of other teams from the NL East here. While the pitching matchup isn't overly exciting, the stakes of the game certainly are. New York is hanging on to a small lead in the division as I mentioned previously, and the Phillies are no pushover. Philadelphia is probably too far back to vie for a division crown at this point, but they can certainly make an effort down the stretch, and we have seen stranger things happen. Getting a couple of games back against the Mets here would be huge for them, and of course, the Braves as well.

This is Game 2 of a doubleheader Saturday, so Game 1 could have a large impact on what happens in the second go around. Neither Trevor Williams nor Bailey Falter are that appealing from a viewing angle, but Williams has been pretty good with a 3.02 ERA this season. Falter is 0-3 with a huge 4.85 ERA and an even worse 5.89 home ERA. I expect some offense to be put up here under the lights, especially for New York, as they should be able to get to Falter pretty quickly. If you like offense, this certainly could be the game for you.

Look for the Mets to get the win here and keep themselves ahead of the pack in the NL East for now.

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