Chris Jordan
I'm taking the St. Louis Cardinals as my free play for Sunday, over the Cincinnati Reds, and I'm listing JUST Homer Bailey in this one.
Here's the bottom line, for this game, as Bailey hasn't fared well at Great American Ball Park, going 0-3 with an 11.08 ERA in three starts.
He is also 1-2 with a 4.00 ERA in his last three trips to the hill. Though he had one of his better outings on Tuesday, holding the Pirates to just one run on four hits in six innings, the right-hander will struggle today against the team's arch-rival.
Play the Cardinals.
3* CARDINALS
Eric Schroeder
My free winner for Sunday is the ridiculously priced San Diego Padres, over the Pittsburgh Pirates. And in this one I will list the scheduled starting pitchers: Clayton Richard and Jameson Taillon.
How this line is so big is beyond me, when Taillon has struggled of late, with a brutal 12.18 ERA in four starts since the All-Star break. His ERA has gone from 2.73 to 4.74, after he's given up 18 runs on 20 hits in 6.2 innings over his last two starts.
I'd rather side with the veteran Richard, who has been Mr. Durable lately, an innings-eater for the Padres this season. He’s faced more batters (588) than anyone in the National League. He will pitch well today, much better than Taillon.
Take the road pup here.
2* PADRES
Jack Brayman
My free winner for tonight is on the Boston Red Sox on the Run Line, as they still owe me after falling asleep at the wheel Friday night with the same play. The Red Sox went into the weekend having won three straight with an extra day of rest tossed in, and they almost lost outright on Friday, when I had them for a 200 Dimer.
And I was not as upset about the loss as I was that my players had to suffer because of a brutal reason. The Red Sox enjoyed the extra day off, from Thursday's rainout, and likely were sluggish from celebrating a three-game win streak.
But with last night's freebie on Boston and tonight's freebie on the Red Sox, I'm hoping you'll continue to get back on track against a White Sox team that is mired in a 3-18 skid since July 14. Chicago, with the worst record in the American League, is last in the A.L. Central and trail the division-leading Cleveland Indians by 18 games.
While the Red Sox are teeing off, we're talking about a Chicago team that had the second-worst batting average (.229) in July, and hasn't shown me much over the first several days in August.
I like Boston.
4* RED SOX -1.5
Jeff Benton
Sunday freebie is the Red Sox on the Run Line over the White Sox.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the Sox of the Red variety are hands-down better than the Sox of the White variety.
Boston has won the first 3 of this long 4 game set, and they have done so with 2 of the 3 wins coming by 3 runs or better.
The Red Sox have now won 5 in a row, while the White Sox have lost their last 5.
Mike Pelfrey has not sniffed a win in a long, long time, and he did lose a May start to Boston earlier this season.
Doug Fister has worked some out of the bullpen of late, and while he may no longer be the guy you could count on to win every time he steps to the rubber, you have to admit that working against this rebuilding Chicago squad, Fister's chances of picking up the win today look A-OK.
Boston is not about to slip up against this bad Chicago team.
Play the Red Sox on the Run Line for Sunday.
3* BOSTON -1.5
Dennis Macklin
Dodgers vs. Mets
Play: Under 9
Over the past 90 days, betting home dogs to avert a sweep has been well worth a play in the blind but that said, not real interested in stepping in front of this 43-7 L50 Dodger juggernaut at the moment, especially with the Mets and Steven Matz. Hyun-Jin Ryu has been the waekestlink in the Dodger's staff for most of the year but he's been razor sharp his last three outings and is off seven shut out innings vs. the Giants in his last. Since his first start after being brought back to the big club, Matz has basically been awful but two of his last thee starts have been quality and he's faced the Dodgers three times in the last calendar year (2-1, 3.13) without much damage. Ryu (2-0, 2.16, 4 starts) has enjoyed similar success vs. Mets in is career. Sunday games are generally played like both teams are double parked and run could be tough to come by here.