Pitching matchups for Monday’s MLB games

There is a seven-game baseball slate for Monday, August 25th. The action gets started with a big matchup between the San Francisco Giants and the Milwaukee Brewers playing in a rare one-game series. First pitch for their game will be at 6:10 p.m. from American Family Field in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Best Matchup: Max Scherzer vs. Miles Mikolas

The New York Mets will start a three-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals to round out their current road trip. They have won five out of their last seven games and look to take that momentum to St. Louis. The Cardinals lineup has had a hot start to their season, but they are coming off a loss to the Cincinnati Reds and now have to deal with Max Scherzer.

When deGrom went down with an injury, many wondered if the Mets rotation would take a hit. Answer: nope. Scherzer has been as dominant as ever and is making his fourth start of the season. He has won his first three against the Washington Nationals, Philadelphia Phillies and San Francisco Giants. His last outing was his best as he pitched seven innings and gave up one hit and one earned run, but struck out 10. He looks like the Scherzer that won back-to-back Cy Youngs in 2016 and 2017 and that is a problem for the league.

Miles Mikolas is going to look like a rookie pitching opposite Scherzer, but he has been solid this year. He is making the fourth start of his season and has a 1-0 record with a great 1.76 ERA. In his last start, Mikolas pitched five innings and gave up four hits while striking out five. He got rocked in his first start but has looked solid in his two outings since. It will be a big win for Mikolas and the Cardinals if he can go toe-to-toe with Scherzer and the Mets on Monday.

Sleeper Matchup: Walker Buehler vs. Merrill Kelly

The Los Angeles Dodgers taking on the Arizona Diamondbacks doesn’t seem like it would be a highlighted matchup of the day, but here we are. We know what Buehler is capable of even with his rocky start. Kelly has been a bright spot in the Diamondbacks rotation. The edge in this game clearly goes to the Dodgers with their lineup, but if Kelly keeps up his strong start, this one could get interesting.

Buehler is making his fourth start of the year and is coming off his first loss. Taking on the Atlanta Braves, he pitched five innings and gave up eight hits and three earned runs while walking one and striking out two. He didn’t get much run support which is a rarity for the Dodgers lineup. Buehler should be in line for a bounce-back game and will look to give up fewer than two earned runs in a start for the first time this season.

Kelly has faced off against the San Diego Padres, Houston Astros and the Washington Nationals so far this season. He has totaled 15.1 innings while giving up 13 hits, but only one earned run while striking out 18 batters. With run support, he could be 2-0 right now, but you can’t count on the Arizona bats going off. Don’t be shocked if Kelly pulls off another good outing in this game.

Here’s a look at the pitching matchups for Monday’s 7-game MLB slate on April 25th.

Giants vs. Brewers: Sam Long vs. Corbin Burnes
Rockies vs. Phillies: Kyle Freeland vs. Kyle Gibson
Red Sox vs. Blue Jays: Nathan Eovaldi vs. Jose Berrios
Mets vs. Cardinals: Max Scherzer vs. Miles Mikolas
Astros vs. Rangers: Framber Valdez vs. Dane Dunning
Guardians vs. Angels: Shane Bieber vs. Michael Lorenzen
Dodgers vs. Diamondbacks: Walker Buehler vs. Merrill Kelly