Two Key MLB Series that begin August 3

As the month of August is set to begin there are two intriguing American League series that are set to start on Thursday. Let’s take a look at the Houston Astros at New York Yankees and the Seattle Mariners at the Los Angeles Angels.

Houston Astros @ New York Yankees

The Astros have the second Wildcard spot at the moment with a record of 62 wins and 47 losses and are one game back of the Texas Rangers in the American League West. Houston is comfortably in a playoff spot by four and a half games over the Boston Red Sox. The Yankees meanwhile are at 56 wins and 52 losses and are three and a half games back of the Toronto Blue Jays for the third Wildcard spot in the American League.

Even though the newly acquired Astros starting pitcher Justin Verlander is the biggest name over the last week among the two teams, Yankees ace Gerrit Cole of Newport Beach, California has had the most productive season. He leads the American League with a 2.64 earned run average, is third in the American League with 157 strikeouts, and leads the Major Leagues with 17 quality starts.

Seattle Mariners @ Los Angeles Angels

Both the Mariners and Angels are on the outside looking in when it comes to the American League Wildcard hunt. The Mariners are at 56 wins and 52 losses, and the Angels are at 56 wins and 53 losses. Seattle is three and a half games back of the Toronto Blue Jays for the final American League wildcard spot, while the Angels are four games back.

Mariners starting pitcher Luis Castillo of Bani, Dominican Republic has the third best earned run average in the American League at 2.88. He gets the start on Friday night.

Let’s not kid ourselves. The best player on the field is Angels’s multi-positional phenom Shohei Ohtani of Oshu, Japan. Ohtani leads the Majors with 39 home runs, is second in the American League with 81 runs batted in, and is fourth in the American League with 156 strikeouts as a pitcher.

Ohtani, who was the American League Player of the Month for July, will be the starting pitcher for the Angels on Thursday. He batted .282 with nine home runs and 14 runs batted in, and won two games on the mound for the Angels in the last month. Chicago Cubs outfielder Cody Bellinger of Scottsdale, Arizona was the National League Player of the Month for July after batting .400 with eight home runs and 24 runs batted in.