Wade LeBlanc v. James Shields, 7:10pm
Two extremely homer-prone starting pitchers face off in the much more hospitable climate of 2018-in-Seattle. James Shields, one of the originators of Tampa’s “pitch up in the zone” philosophy used a located fastball and a good change to become a reliable #3/occasional #2 for many years. As he lost a tick on his FB, the game changed around him, and thus not only did he allow more balls in play (as his strikeouts dropped), that contact turned more and more damaging. After signing a deal with the go-for-it Padres (this was a thing; it’s easy to forget, as it only last a few months), he collapsed thanks to a barrage of dingers.