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Another Monday, and that means another week of baseball is upon us. That also means that it's once again time for us at EOB to tell you what's going to happen before it happens. Yes, it's the Eye On Baseball Weekly Predictions. Guaranteed to almost certainly be incorrect! Onward ...
1. The Rangers will widen their lead in the AL West.
At present, the Rangers hold a slim one-half-game lead over the Athletics in the AL West. However, it says here that their lead will grow over the week to come. As for the A's, they'll play three at home against the Mariners followed by a weekend series in Baltimore. Texas, meantime, gets three at home against the Astros, and that precedes three on the road against the White Sox. That's a significantly easier go of it for the division leaders. Yeah, I made the same prediction last week and was wrong, but this time I mean it. Totally.
2. Paul Goldschmidt will become the first NL hitter to reach 100 RBI for the season.
File under: gut feeling. Goldschmidt's been heating up over the last week, and in the week to come he'll spend his time in two excellent parks for power hitters: Cincinnati's Great American Ballpark and Philadelphia's Citizens' Bank Park. Presently, Goldschmidt has 96 RBI, which is good for the NL lead. This week, he becomes to first NL hitter to reach 100 RBI for the season.
3. Max Scherzer will win his 19th game.
Scherzer, who picked up his 18th win of the season on Sunday, will go for number 19 against the Mets. He's likely to start Saturday opposite Dillon Gee, but there's a chance he could go Friday against Matt Harvey (provided that's how the Mets' rotation shakes out). Either way, Scherzer will notch another W.
4. The Mets will lose a one-run game.
This season, the Mets have played the most one-run games of any team: 44 out of 122 total games played. Given their knack for the one-run affair and given that they'll play a total of five games against the mighty Braves and Tigers, I'm saying they lose a one-run contest in the week to come.
EOB Predictions Tally: Last week, I myself -- because I ruin everything -- went a foul-smelling 1-for-5 and thus diminished our season-long total to 28-for-61 (.459). My apologies for what I have wrought.
