Andrew Bucciarelli
3* Giants -110 over Colorado
Lincecum has allowed 11 runs in his last 9 2/3 innings after giving up 11 in his first 56 innings. He's losing command of the strike zone too, walking five in each of his past three starts. A blister problem that crept up during Spring Training may be affecting him more than he's willing to let on. The Washington Nationals took advantage of his wildness in scoring three runs on one hit in one inning during his last start. Two walks, a hit batter and three stolen bases in the fifth resulted in Lincecum's worst start since Sept. 23, 2008, against the Rockies, when he allowed six runs on six hits and five walks over 4 1/3 innings. He's 5-3 in 11 starts with a 3.52 ERA against the Rockies.
1* Cardinals -155 over Cinci
Monday brings an interesting challenge for Garcia: it will mark the first time this season that a team has seen him twice. That may not matter for the rookie lefty, who has an impressive array of pitches and confidence in all of them. But typically, the more that hitters see a pitcher, the more they benefit. It will be interesting to watch whether Garcia or the Reds adjust more successfully. Garcia held them to two runs in 6 1/3 innings at Great American Ball Park earlier this month.
1* Mets +110 over Padres
Takahashi hasn't allowed a run in his two starts since moving into the rotation. He posted back-to-back six-inning shutout performances against the Yankees and Phillies during the last homestand. The 35-year-old rookie from Japan doesn't throw hard, but his array of offspeed pitches has been very effective during his brief time in the Majors. The lefty has struck out 44 batters in 38 innings so far this season. He's also done a good job of keeping hitters in the park, allowing only one home run.
Craig Davis
20* Seattle Mariners
10* Colorado Rockies
Vince Akins
NY Mets at SD Padres
Pick: Padres -105
It’s no secret we like Kevin Correia this season and while Hisanori Takahashi has been great in both starts this year, it’s a sample size and both came against teams in the mist of huge offensive slumps when they occurred. Grab the home value here. San Diego has succeed in the last year at home in these close call type games to open series. The Padres are 6-0 since July 31, 2009 at home within 20 cents of pickem and it is the first game of the series for a net profit of $640.
New York on the other hand is coming off a win against Milwaukee and that hasn’t boded well for the first games of series. The Mets are 1-9 since July 03, 2009 on the road after a win and it is the first game of the series for a net profit of $760 when playing against.
While New York scored 10 runs in the game it could have been even worse as they had 16 hits and left 25 men on base individually. The Mets are 1-14 since June 06, 2009 after a win in which they left 18+ men on base for a net profit of $1370 when playing against.
Eight New York walks also led to the unusually high number of base runners. The Mets are 1-8 since June 10, 2009 as a dog after a win in which they drew 5+ walks for a net profit of $670 when playing against.
Milwaukee jumped out to a 2-1 lead in that game and New York didn’t take control until the sixth inning. The Mets are 0-7 since May 24, 2009 on the road when they are off a win in which they came back from a deficit for a net profit of $700 when playing against.
SPORTSBOOK BREAKERS PREDICTION: SAN DIEGO 4, NY Mets 2
Bob Balfe
Minnesota Twins -120
Francisco Liriano has struggled in his past few games, but he still is one of the top pitchers in baseball and should pitch well against a Mariners offense that fails to score a lot of runs. Doug Fister has overachieved this season and is not as good as his record and ERA indicates to date this season. The Twins are the better team with the better pitcher. Take Minnesota.
Marc Lawrence
3 Units Colorado Rockies
Teddy Covers
Royals
AZ/LAD Over 8.5
BIG AL
MLB ROADKILL WINNER
At 1:10 pm, our selection is on the Florida Marlins over the Milwaukee Brewers. Nate Robertson came over to the Marlins from the Tigers when the latter decided right before the start of the season that they apparently had enough lefties in their rotation and could spare the 32-year-old southpaw. So far it's been Detroit's loss and Florida's gain. It's not like Robertson is going to challenge Josh Johnson or Ricky Nolasco at the top of the rotation, but as a #4 or 5 guy, he's more than adequate. After his first 10 starts, Robertson has a solid 4.05 ERA, his best such mark since he won 13 games with the Tigers in 2006. Robertson is having a strong month of May, having held his opponents to two or fewer runs in all of his starts except for one, and his last start at home against Atlanta might have been his best of the season so far. Milwaukee will start lefthander Chris Narveson and Narveson has not been performing well lately, going 1-2 with a 6.32 ERA and 1.85 WHIP in his last three starts. The Marlins have won six of the last seven games between these two played in south Florida. MLB Roadkill on the Marlins.
RED-HOT MLB TOTAL OF THE MONTH
Los Angeles Angels and Kansas City Royals Under
The Duke's Sports
San Francisco (-105) for 1.5 Units
Rockies/Giants 4:05: For Ubaldo Jimenez to have a 0.88 ERA this last in the season is amazing however, he is human and this should be a trouble spot for him after all, the Rockes are just 1-4 with Jimenez at SF. Furthermore, Colorado is 7-19 with Jimenez as a road dog, and they're 2-12 in game 1 of a series. The Giants are showing strength in their lineup, which powered them to a current 4-0 run. We'll look for the SF lineup to give the needed run support to Tim Lincecum, who we expect to get back on track after 2 shaky outings.The Giants are 19-7 in game 1 of a series with Lincecum.
Trace Adams
1500* Padres
Al DeMarco
10 Dime Run Line Release on the Los Angeles Dodgers and Billingley - 1 1/2 Runs over Arizona and Lopez. You must specify both startnng pitchers or else this play is null and void. As I release this selecticon at 1 AM Pacific, the Dodgers are around a +120 to +125 home underdog on the run line.
5 Dime play on San Francisco and Lincecum over Colorado and Jimenez. Again, specify both pitchnrs. I see this game anywhere from pick-em to the Giants being a -110 favorite here in Vegas and offshore.
5 Dime play on Minnesota and Liriano over Seattle and Fister with both pitchers specified. At this time I see the Twins as a -120 road chalk
STEPHEN NOVER
10 DIME Toronto Blue Jays
MICHAEL CANNON
20 DIME CINCINNATI REDS
KARL GARRETT
20 DIME SF Giants
DEREK MANCINI
15 DIME Colorado Rockies
CHRIS JORDAN
200♦ TORONTO BLUE JAYS