SERIES TO WATCH
RED SOX AT RAYS (Aug. 24-26)
One of the reasons the Red Sox have a big lead in the American League East is the way they’ve handled the Rays — Tampa Bay is 5-11 against Boston but is 8-7 against the second-place Yankees. The Red Sox are 5-2 at Tropicana Field, where Xander Bogaerts is hitting .333 with six doubles and a home run. Left-hander Blake Snell is 2-0 with a 0.95 ERA in three starts against Boston.
PIRATES AT BREWERS (Aug. 24-26)
The last time these teams met, the Pirates pulled off a rare five-game series sweep just before the All-Star break at Pittsburgh, knocking the Brewers out of first place in the National League Central. The Pirates are 8-2 vs. Milwaukee this year thanks to the hitting of Gregory Polanco (.321, three homers) and Josh Bell (.313, nine walks).
NATIONALS AT PHILLIES (Aug. 27-29)
The Nationals are chasing the Phillies and Braves in the NL East, so these head-to-head meetings are crucial if they’re to have a shot at a third consecutive division title or even a spot in the playoffs. After this series, they have three more games against the Phillies this season (Sept. 10-12, also at Philadelphia). The Nationals had a seven-game winning streak at Citizens Bank Park as recently as 2016-17, but they’ve lost six of their last eight there, including three of four this year. Bryce Harper has 13 homers in 44 games in Philadelphia (Carlos Beltran had 14, the most by a visiting player) and will be a free agent after the season, and the Phillies figure to be one of his suitors.
DIAMONDBACKS AT GIANTS (Aug. 27-29)
It’s not far from “sweep or bust” for the home team. Solving Paul Goldschmidt would be a start; he has four homers and a 1.271 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) in the series’ 16 games. Arizona seeks to hand a lead to Archie Bradley, who has retired all but two of 14 Giants batters he has faced at AT&T Park. The D’backs need to sort out how to defend Austin Slater, who in six games against them this year is 10for-21 (.476) with three doubles and four walks.
TWINS AT INDIANS (Aug. 28-30)
The Twins’ hopes of ending the Indians’ two-year reign as AL Central champions are all but finished. However, Minnesota has played respectably against Cleveland this season, splitting 16 games as left fielder Eddie Rosario has hit .348 (23-for-66) with four doubles and six home runs. Indians third baseman Jose Ramirez is 18-for-56 (.321) with three doubles, five homers and 15 walks in the season series while shortstop Francisco Lindor has homered six times.
ATHLETICS AT ASTROS (Aug. 28-30)
These teams cap a stretch of six games in 14 days as they size each other up in their surprising race for the AL West title. Houston has held the edge over the division for most of the season, and it appeared in June that the Mariners would be its biggest challenger. But Oakland has served notice to the defending World Series champions that it isn’t intimidated by winning five of their last seven meetings.