Jim Feist

The Mets can beat the Marlins on Saturday due to Zac Thornton providing them a decent left-handed pitching matchup, but they also have the deeper lineup with power across it and the benefit of playing at home.

Thornton boasts a 2-1 record with a 2.43 ERA and 0.91 WHIP over 29+ innings. He’s given up just 20 hits and two homers while striking out 22 and walking seven. Miami has performed poorly against left-handed pitching this season at 10-17, so Thornton should be able to get the Marlins off the bases early.

Tyler Phillips comes at New York with a strong 3.52 ERA to this point but his 4.62 FIP paints a uglier picture. Phillips has walked 38 hitters in 84+ innings and that inability to go deep in counts could spell trouble against Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto, Bo Bichette and the rest of the Mets’ lineup. New York has also hit more homers than Miami this year so the Mets have more game-changing bats than their opponent does.

Friday’s loss didn’t feature much offensive production from the Mets but Lindor continued to hit well by belting his ninth homer. He has a 1.098 OPS with three homers and nine RBIs over his last seven games so he leads a dangerous Mets lineup into Saturday as their leadoff hitter.

Friday’s win aside, Miami has not played well on the road. The Marlins were just 21-31 away from home entering the weekend and they also fail to hit lefties much better than .250 as a team. If Thornton pitches to competence and lasts five or six innings the Mets should be able to give the ball to their best relievers with a lead.

Thornton should keep Miami’s hitters in check, Phillips has a command issue and the Mets have more power in their lineup. New York should be able to bounce back from Friday’s loss.

Jim's Play: 902. Mets

The New York Yankees are poised to take Game 2 of their series against the Chicago Cubs on Saturday for several reasons. They have the better starting-pitching matchup and they’re riding high after blanking Chicago in Friday’s opener.

Max Fried takes the mound for New York against Cubs starter David Peterson. Fried has a 4-3 record with a 3.23 ERA and 61 strikeouts entering Saturday. Peterson (6-7) owns a much higher ERA at 5.80. That clear edge for New York should help the team maintain early control.

On a smaller scale, Fried should be able to avoid danger if he allows Chicago opportunities to continue putting runs on the board. He doesn’t need to go eight scoreless innings. If Fried keeps the Cubs close to spotless through five or six frames, New York can lean on its bullpen, which sports its fair share of weapons.

Chicago’s hitters also dealt with another difficult outing against left-handed pitching on Friday. The Cubs finished with only five hits and managed to get only two runners as far as second base. New York allowed only two hits in its 2-0 victory and certainly boasts the better bullpen. That’s scary news for Chicago hitters, who feasted against Drew Smyly earlier in the week.

Amed Rosario and Spencer Jones homered against Shota Imanaga on Friday. Rosario is likely to come to the plate several times against Peterson, who would appear to be a far easier matchup. Chicago struck out 10 times against Warren on Friday after posting six strikeouts against Smyly on Tuesday.

Peterson flashed competence for stretches during the year but not enough for his season stats to look impressive against a Yankees team that has enough power to turn games around in an instant. Of course, New York probably won’t need to mash. However, four or five runs should do it if Fried takes care of business early.

Jim's Play: 921. Yankees

The Colorado Rockies have a legitimate shot at upending the Kansas City Royals on Saturday. The Rockies roll into this matchup with momentum and they also check both boxes as favorites with their home-field advantage and offense expected to see chances against Luinder Avila at Coors Field.

Colorado won Friday’s series opener 3-1 on solid pitching and some opportunistic hitting. The Rockies limited Kansas City to one run, capitalized on an error and even got an RBI double from Brenton Doyle in his return from the IL. The Rockies didn’t blow the game open with big innings, but they found ways to scratch across runs when needed. If Colorado plays like it did on Friday, there’s a good chance they win the series.

Kansas City will counter with Avila, who is hitting the bump sporting a 5-3 record and 4.81 ERA with 59 strikeouts. Avila’s ERA is helped by a lower-than-average strand rate and opponents are still reaching base at an inflated clip. Both of those stats work against him in Denver, where singles and doubles often lead to innings with multiple runs. Colorado’s probable starter Ryan Feltner is coming off a good start as well and he owns a 3-5 record with a 5.73 ERA. Feltner gets the pitching edge, but he also gets to face a Royals offense that put up zero on Friday in what looked like a missed opportunity.

Kansas City has one of the least reliable offenses on the road. The Royals come into Saturday with a record of 19-35 away from Kauffman Stadium. At home, Kansas City has a much better 26-27 record. Their bats went mostly silent on Friday, managing just one run against what has been one of the worst season-long pitching staffs in baseball.

Colorado’s lineup is powerful enough to take advantage of Avila. Mickey Moniak is giving Rockies’ fans plenty to cheer about with his production against right-handed pitching. Doyle’s return from injury helps Colorado both offensively and defensively. TJ Rumfield and Hunter Goodman give the Rockies even more potential run producers to worry about from the middle of their lineup.

Jim's Play: 926. Rockies 

The Las Vegas Aces and Chicago Sky have proven they can score at will so they should both be heading OVER Saturday’s total. Vegas averages 91.7 points per game and Chicago follows behind at 87.8 points per game which pushes this matchup to around 180 combined points per game. Scoring hasn’t been an issue in this matchup as the first game between these two teams went OVER 206 points (Las Vegas won 107-99). A’ja Wilson presents a serious problem inside but Chicago boasts enough offense with Skylar Diggins, Kamilla Cardoso and Azura Stevens to keep games close against an Aces defense that hasn’t always been stout. Vegas shoots well enough to hit their average and Chicago is good enough to hit close to theirs so with Vegas shooting efficiently and the market total hovering around 183½ count on another OVER paced game going in the upper 180s.