The MLB is 118 games into the season. So far, the Yankees have been dominant and feature Mark Teixeira as the leading AL MVP candidate. But don’t count other teams out. Here is a preview of 3 series’ featuring the Giants, Mets, Phillies, Braves, Red Sox and Rangers.

San Francisco Giants (63-53) against the New York Mets (54-63)

San Francisco has been struggling lately; they are only 5-5 in their last 10 games while the Mets are even worse with a 4-6 record in their last 10. The Mets and the Giants split their first two games of the series.
The third game of their series is scheduled on August 16 at New York.

The Giants will deploy Jonathan Sanchez (5-10, 4.61 ERA) to the mound against the Mets. Sanchez has been terrible on the road with a record of 1-8 but in his most recent road start Sanchez pitched seven shut-out innings against the Houston Astros. If Sanchez throws like he did against the Astros, the Giants will go one-up the Mets in the series.

New York Mets’ Mike Pelfrey (8-8, 4.88 ERA) gets the start against the Giants. Pelfrey’s season can be described as inconsistent. He does have one thing going for him though; he is 1-1 against the Giants with a 1.38 ERA. If Pelfrey can get support from the Mets hitters, he will pitch more comfortably and effective against the Giants.

I expect the Mets to split the four game series with the Giants.

Philadelphia Phillies (65-49) against the Atlanta Braves (61-55)

This is a good match up and enjoyable series for the fans. The Braves are five games behind the Phillies in the NL East leader board. The series between the Braves and Phillies is split 1-1.

The Atlanta Braves have been playing excellent baseball recently. The Braves have lost only 2 times in their last 10 games. Meanwhile the Phillies are only 6-4 in their last 10.

Javier Vazquez (10-7, 2.90 ERA, 171 K’s) will start for the Braves in the second game. Vazquez has been a consistent force on the mound. In his last six starts, he racked up a record of 5-0.

The Phillies will call on rookie J.A. Happ (8-2-6, 2.75 ERA) to lead them on the mound. Happ has been pitching well on the road, boasting a 1.84 ERA when pitching away from Philadelphia.

The third game of the series is a toss-up because both teams have capable pitchers. The game will be decided by how lucky the hitters fare against two excellent pitchers.

Boston Red Sox (66-50) against the Texas Rangers (65-50)

The Red Sox are just 4-6 in their last ten games while the Rangers sport a 6-4 record in their last ten.
Junichi Tazawa (1-1, 4.05 ERA) will start for the Red Sox. Tazawa led the Red Sox to victory against the Detroit Tigers to earn his first win of the season.

Tazawa will be going up against Dustin Nippert (3-1, 3.62). In his last outing, the Indians handed Nippert and the Rangers a 5-0 loss.

Expect the Red Sox to win two out of three games in the series.