Brad Wilton
My comp play winner for Tuesday night is the Braves to win a rare one against the Reds.
Cincy won a 9-8 slugfest last night, but tonight Julio Teheran will keep the Reds' bats in check, as Atlanta notches a rare home win.
Teheran may be just 2-6 on the year, but he is coming off an 8 inning, 8 strikeout win at San Diego his last time to the mound, and his season ERA is a stingy 2.85.
Teheran owns an even stingier 1.78 ERA in 4 career starts against Cincinnati!
Brandon Finnegan will go for the visitors, and he has pitched well over his last pair of starts, but they were both at home. Finnegan's last road start saw 4 runs cross on 6 hits in a loss at Milwaukee to drop him to 1-3 away from home for the year.
They don't win often at home, but tonight the Braves do just that.
Take Atlanta.
1* ATLANTA
Chris Jordan
My free play for tonight is on the Arizona Diamondbacks, over the Los Angeles Dodgers, as the Snakes look for their fourth straight victory. This is the middle contest of their three-game set, and Arizona comes in after improving to 4-3 on its nine-game homestand with a 3-2 win over Los Angeles in the series opener.
The Dodgers have lost three in a row after beginning their six-game road trip with a one-run victory at San Francisco. Things haven't gone well since, and with Arizona looking to make a little charge at third-place Colorado, I like the Diamondbacks to continue their winning ways.
The Dodgers are also 16-18 on the road, and though they have the better pitcher on the hill tonight, I like Arizona.
3* DIAMONDBACKS
Scott Delaney
The Giants are going to take full advantage of the Brewers' Matt Garza, who is making his season debut tonight.
The veteran right-hander has been sidelined all season due to a right lat strain, and now jumps into a rotation with the 10th worst ERA in baseball, at 4.72. The Brewers need some help, but this is not the best spot for Garza to debut.
San Francisco has won three in a row, and will be looking to pad its lead in the N.L. West by picking up crucial wins.
Take the Giants on the Run Line.
3* GIANTS -1.5
Jeff Benton
Your Tuesday freebie is the Over in the Yankees-Rockies game.
A stop in hitter-friendly Coors Field should do wonders for the bats of New York, as the Yankees were held to just 2 runs in their last 2 games over the weekend at home against Detroit.
Tonight they face the struggling Jorge De La Rosa who has not started is close to a month, and has been working out of the bullpen of late for the Rockies.
De La Rosa owns a season ERA of 8.81, and in his starts this season, has seen 5 of the 6 land Over the total!
The Yankees will go with Nathan Eovaldi who does own a 6-2 mark, but he also has seen his ERA start to creep upwards, as his last 3 starts show a 5.94 ERA, and 2 of the 3 have played Over the total.
You get the feeling that this game could very well see plenty of crooked numbers being hung on the scoreboard, and both starters hitting the showers early.
Yankees-Rockies with some fireworks tonight. Play it Over.
3* N.Y. YANKEES-COLORADO OVER
DWAYNE BRYANT
Indians at Royals
Play: Under 8.5
Not a fan of KC's Chris Young, but he has pitched well at home. Cleveland's Josh Tomlin has been very impressive on the road, producing a 2.91 ERA. 0.97 WHIP, and .250 OBP. Both teams have solid bullpens, and both teams have been playing lower-scoring games recently. The Under is 9-0-1 in Young's last 10 starts versus division rivals. The Under is also 42-14-3 in the Indians' last 59 road games vs. a team with a home winning percentage of greater than .600.
Bruce Marshall
Cincinnati +116
Even if Julio Teheran is Atlanta's ace, the Braves are still just 18-45 this season, so laying a price with them is an unnecessary risk. The Reds have been scoring runs the past two weeks and starter Brandon Finnegan appears to be emerging as a force, as the ex-Royal (acquired in the Johnny Cueto trade last July) has shut down the Cards and Nats in his last two starts, allowing just 3 runs over 13 1/3 IP in the process.
Bruce Marshall
Texas +116
We know the Rangers got blasted on Monday, but this plus price, slight as it is, is too good to pass up in Oakland. Especially since Texas has won four straight starts made by Martin Perez, whose last loss was ironically on May 18 at the Coliseum vs. the A's. Since then he's only allowed 7 runs in 24 IP (2.63 ERA). Oakland has recalled Eric Surkamp to start this game despite his subpar 6.41 ERA in six starts earlier this season.
Goodfella
Oakland TT Over 4
A very nice weather pattern for us this evening in Oakland with strong wind (20mph) blowing straight out. These A's smacked the ball around last night & Texas did have to go to their bullpen early. I expect these A's to get to Perez eventually and then get into the Texas bullpen. I f
Goodfella
Oakland TT Over 4
A very nice weather pattern for us this evening in Oakland with strong wind (20mph) blowing straight out. These A's smacked the ball around last night & Texas did have to go to their bullpen early. I expect these A's to get to Perez eventually and then get into the Texas bullpen. I feel confident that these A's plate at least 4 runs in this spot on Tuesday Night & I'm on their Team Total going OVER 4 runs.