Bruce Marshall
Rays at Athletics
Pick: Under
This one has the look of a pitcher's duel this afternoon at the Coliseum. Oakland's Sonny Gray is definitely in the shopping window and has upped his value with recent work that includes only 4 ER allowed over 27 IP in his last four starts. At the same time, Tampa Bay rookie Jacob Faria continues to impress, with a 2.00 ERA in seven starts.
Andre Gonzalez
Cleveland vs. San Francisco
Play: Cleveland -1½ -125
The Tribe took game one of this series by a score of 5-3, which broke a four-game losing streak for them. The Giants have really struggled of late, especially on the mound and while Matt Cain has pitched well at home, he is struggling overall as he has gone 0-2 with an 8.27 ERA in his last three starts and he is 0-3 with a 7.04 ERA in six day starts. Carlos Carrasco has been the ace of the team this year and he has gone 7-2 with a 2.86 ERA on the road so far and he has and 0.97 WHIP in his 10 road starts. The Giants are a bad offensive team and just won’t be able to string together many hits in this one to get enough offense to win the game. Look for the Tribe to grab another nice win in this series.
Dave Price
St Louis at New York
Play: St. Louis +140
The St. Louis Cardinals are trending in the right direction in winning 5 of their last 7 games overall. They have outscored the Mets 11-3 in winning the first 2 games of this series. I like the price we are getting with the Cardinals here in what is essentially a very evenly-matched game on the mound. Mike Leake is 6-7 with a 3.14 ERA in 18 starts this season, and 4-2 with a 2.84 ERA in 8 road starts. Jacob DeGrom is 10-3 with a 3.48 ERA in 18 starts for the Mets. The head-to-head matchup favors Leake and the Cardinals. Leake sports a 2.74 ERA in 7 lifetime starts vs. New York, while DeGrom sports a 5.63 ERA in 4 lifetime starts vs. St. Louis. DeGrom has allowed 9 earned runs over 11 2/3 innings in his last 2 starts against the Cardinals.
Jack Jones
Nationals vs. Angels
Play: Nationals -108
The Washington Nationals (57-36) are far and away the superior team here over the Los Angeles Angels (46-50). And we're getting them at basically even money with this -108 price tonight. The Nationals have now won six straight while scoring double-digit runs three times.
Gio Gonzalez continues to get no respect from oddsmakers despite having a career year. The left-hander is 8-4 with a 2.66 ERA and 1.184 WHIP in 19 starts this season, including 1-2 with a 1.69 ERA and 0.891 WHIP in his last three. Gonzalez is 7-2 with a 2.62 ERA and 1.102 WHIP in 11 career starts against the Angels.
Alex Meyer is 3-5 with a 4.18 ERA and 1.459 WHIP in 12 starts this season. He got off to a good start this season but has struggled of late, going 0-2 with a 6.28 ERA and 1.605 WHIP in his last three starts.
Washington is 11-2 in road games after a win by 2 runs or less this season. Los Angeles is 2-18 vs. an NL starting pitcher whose WHIP is 1.250 or better over the last three seasons. The Nationals are 6-0 in their last six road games. Washington is 5-1 in Gonzalez's last six road starts. The Angels are 0-5 in their last five games vs. a left-handed starter.
John Martin
Cleveland vs. San Francisco
Play: Cleveland -1½ -127
The Cleveland Indians will bust out of their slump today against the San Francisco Giants. They should get after Matt Cain, who is 3-8 with a 5.48 ERA and 1.67 WHIP in 17 starts this season. Cain has lost seven straight decisions and has a 7.55 ERA since June. Carlos Carrasco is having a great season at 10-4 with a 3.65 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in 18 starts, including 7-2 with a 2.86 ERA and 0.97 WHIP in 10 road starts. Cleveland is 16-2 in its last 18 vs. teams who average 0.9 or fewer home runs per game in the second half of the season. It is winning by 3.2 runs per game against these teams. San Francisco is 2-12 vs. an AL starting pitcher whose ERA is 3.70 or better over the last two seasons, losing by 2.8 runs per game.
Ben Burns
Cleveland vs. San Francisco
Play: Cleveland
I like the hard-hitting visiting side to bounce back after yesterday’s defeat. The Indians turn to ace Carlos Carrasco (10-4, 3.65 ERA) who struck out ten over 6.1 innings, but who also allowed five runs in a loss to the A’s on Friday. Carrasco has now posted 21 K’s over his last two starts and he must be feeling very confident in this position as he’s 7-2 with a very respectable 2.86 ERA on the road this year. SF counters with Matt Cain (3-8, 5.56) who returns to the starting rotation out of necessity (injury to Madison Bumgarner.) Cain owns a poor 1.70 WHIP and is a horrible 0-3 with a 7.04 ERA in all “day” games this season. Yes this is a steep price, but well worth it in my estimation considering the massive talent discrepancy on the mound this afternoon. Indians roll.
Bob Balfe
Red Sox -135
The AL East is the tightest division from top to bottom and in a months time everything could be flipped upside down. Right now Boston is on top and the Blue Jays on the bottom. Boston is the better team and home and I really dislike how bad Toronto has been against left handed starters this year. You need to be able to score runs to win in this park.
OC Dooley
Ottawa -4
This is an unusual handicapping setup where Ottawa is laying a full four points even though they are 0-3-1 outright on the season and in the last 18 "regular" season games have won just 5 times straight-up. One of the reasons for tonight's high price tag is that in the 4 games this campaign they lost by only a "combined" SEVEN points as turnovers have repeatedly burnt them. In the past THREE YEARS Ottawa is UNDEFEATED where it counts (7-0 ATS) when facing an quality defensive opponent who on average allows less than 6.5 yards per play. For those who follow the CFL underdogs have dominated against-the-spread but we are now OUTSIDE of the four-week window where taking the points in this league normally is the way to go