Weekend Three Pack of Amazing Baseball Series

New York Mets

The Florida Marlins and the New York Mets are both trying to catch the Philadelphia Phillies for first in the National League East and they battle each other in a three-game series to gain some ground.

The two teams met early last week in Florida when the Marlins took two of three and the Mets will now try to return the favor at home.

They will send Oliver Perez, Brian Stokes and Mike Pelfrey to the mound versus Ricky Nolasco, Scott Olsen and Josh Johnson.

Stokes will be making his first career start for the Mets on Saturday. As a reliever, he has an ERA of 7.07 with a WHIP of 1.84. The Mets other two starters, Perez and Pelfrey, have been their two best of late. Perez has given up only nine earned runs in his last 38.2 innings pitched (2.12 ERA) and the Mets have won four of those six starts. Pelfrey is 5-1 since the start of July. His ERA sits at 2.72 in that time.

Free Pick: Florida Marlins

Chicago White Sox

Both the Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox are embroiled in first-place battles with teams they didn't expect to be competing with. The Red Sox are trailing the Minnesota Twins in the Central.

The White Sox figure to have a big advantage in this three-game series playing at home. At U.S. Cellular Field, the White Sox are 37-17 while the Red Sox are 26-33 away from home.

The pitching matchups should be fairly even for the series as lefties Jon Lester and Mark Buehrle battle on Friday, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Jose Contreras battle on Saturday while Taylor Buccholz and Gavin Floyd finish things up on Sunday.

Contreras will be making his first start since coming off the disabled list on Saturday. He was terrible after the month of May, then experienced some elbow tendinitis and finally finished up his rehab stint. The Red Sox have a clear pitching edge in that matchup as Matsuzaka performs better away from home.

Free Pick: Boston Red Sox

Los Angeles Angels

The Los Angeles Angels don't just look like the best team in baseball, they are. At 71-43, they hold the best record in the Majors and appear to be peaking at just the right time.

The Angels have lost just five times in their last 21 games but two of those losses were to the New York Yankees, who come to visit this weekend.

The pitching matchusp favor the Angels to win the series as they throw Jered Weaver against Ian Kennedy on Friday, Dan Giese versus John Lackey on Saturday and Andy Pettitte versus Joe Saunders on Sunday.

The Yankees have been sluggish of late, though, and are just 6-7 in their last 13 games.

Free Pick: Los Angeles Angels

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