KELSO
50 Units Athletics -1.5
15 Units Rockies/Angels OVER 9.5
10 Units Nationals -115
3 Units Twins +125
ATS LOCK CLUB
5 Units NY Mets -130
4 Units LA Dodgers -110
4 Units SD Padres/Marlins UNDER 7
Street Rosenthal
*300 Milwaukee Brewers -150
*200 Chicago White Sox -119
*200 LA Dodgers -117
Lenny Del Genio
IL Game of the Year
Atlanta -130
Philadelphia -140
They're playing this series in Philly due to the summit being held in Toronto and the Jays didn't have very good success in the opener last night losing 9-0.The Phillies are starting to hit the ball and are scoring 7 runs per game and hitting .355 over their past seven games. Hamels gets the ball today for Philly and he's been tough in his last three starts with a 2.45 ERA and very sharp 0.864 WHIP. He should have no trouble against this Toronto lineup who has struggled big time this season against lefties hitting a dismal .200 and scoring only 3.0 runs per game. Marcum gets the start for the Jays and unfortunately for him this game is not at home as he has been very tough in his home park. He's struggled on the road this season and in his last three starts has posted an awful 5.62 ERA. We're backing the hot pitcher in Hamels and the hot bats of the Phillies. Play on Philadelphia.
Executive
600% Atlanta Braves
BIG AL
United States
Analysis: At 2:30 pm, our selection is on the United States to defeat Ghana (the preferred bet is at -120 odds, with a "draw no option" wager; alternatively, if a draw is offered as an option, then the odds on USA to win would be +155). USA came in 1st in Group C above England (W:1, D:2, L:0, F:4, A:3) and now plays Ghana who came 2nd in Group D (W:1, D:1, L:1, F:2, A:2). With only one minute to go in their final group game, the Americans were not going through to the last 16. However, the United States team kept fighting until the brilliant Landon Donovan scored an injury time winner against Algeria on Wednesday that sent them into the last 16. Battling, spirited and having high team morale has epitomized the American team and without these qualities they would not still be in the tournament. This last victory was just the latest in a series of admirable displays from the Americans, which I fully expect to continue into this next match. Ghana also has done quite well so far, admittedly not scoring many goals, but not conceding many either. They were unlucky not to score against Germany in their final match but is a team with a lot of power and good passing ability. I still maintain that if Ghana had its star captain Michael Essien fit for the tournament, then they would have been an even more dangerous prospect. As the last remaining African nation left in the World Cup, there will be a lot of support for Ghana but I just doubt whether they are better than a more experienced USA team. Look for the USA to win a tightly fought match.
Detroit Tigers
Analysis: At 4:05 pm, our selection is on the Detroit Tigers over the Atlanta Braves. There are players that can't wait for inter-league play to end and then there are players that wish it could go on for the rest of the season and Tigers righthander Max Scherzer is definitely part of the latter group. Scherzer's last two starts have been against the National League in what are his only two inter-league appearances of the season, and he is 2-0 and has allowed just four earned runs in 13 innings for a 2.77 ERA with 17 strikeouts and four walks and the Tigers have won the two games by a combined score of 10-5. He gets an extra day of rest coming into what will be his final inter-league start of the season (unless the Tigers get to the World Series) and that's a good thing going up against a tough Braves squad. The team might be tough, but their starter Kenshin Kawakami has been anything but heading into the half-way point of the season. The 35-year-old righthander is inexplicably 0-9 after his first 14 starts this season (and 0-11 dating back to last year). And although he didn't set the world on fire in 2009 - his first season in the Majors after coming over from Japan - Kawakami at least was able to win seven games in 35 appearances (25 starts). His 4.78 ERA in 2010 is almost a full run higher than 2009 and his WHIP has also ballooned to 1.46. Heading into Saturday's game Detroit had won five of six meetings against the Braves. Interleague Underdog of the Year on the Tigers.
Milwaukee Brewers
Analysis: At 4:10 pm, our selection is on the Milwaukee Brewers over the Seattle Mariners. It's been a rough first half so far for Brewers lefthander Randy Wolf, who after his first 13 starts was 4-6 with a 5.31 ERA. The word was that Wolf's problems were purely mental and mechanically there has been nothing wrong with the veteran southpaw. He's talked to some people about his approach on the mound and apparently it's worked as in his 14th and 15th starts, Wolf seems to have turned a corner as he has two quality outings in a row on the road, allowing just three earned runs in 14 innings, while the Brewers went 2-0 in those games and outscored their opponents by a combined 18-3. Wolf should have won both of those starts (he only won the first one) but nevertheless he's almost evened his record on the season and lowered his ERA to 4.79. The Brewers are certainly hoping that this is a sign of things to come because they will need Wolf to return to the form he had in 2009 (or close to it) if they are to compete in the very tough NL Central the rest of the way. Seattle will go with righthander Doug Fister who is 3-3 with a very surprising 2.45 ERA, however Fister has been on the DL with shoulder fatigue since his last start at the end of May and it's no telling how fit he will be in his first start back and as a result, Fister will be on a strict pitch count. After going 2-1 in Fister's first three starts, the Mariners are 2-5 in his next seven, leading up to his DL stint. MLB Roadkill on the Brewers.
JIMMY BOYD
3* Angels -130
We missed with the Angels in extras last night as they blew a 3-2 lead in the 8th, but I'll come right back with them tonight. The Rockies are 0-4 in Cook's last 4 starts, and he is 0-4 with an ERA of 7.39 on the road this season. Saunders hasn't been much better at home, but I strongly feel that is just an aberration. Saunders have proven to be the guy the Angels want on the mound following a loss as they are 30-13 in his last 43 starts following a team loss in their previous game. They are also are 29-11 in his last 40 starts with 5 days of rest and 16-6 in his last 22 starts as a favorite of -110 to -150. The Angels have still won 9 of the last 13 in this matchup, and I really like their chances at home tonight.
Jeff Benton
30 DIME Florida Marlins-San Diego Padres UNDER 7
10 DIME CHICAGO WHITE SOX
Padres-Marlins UNDER
What can you say about Florida ace Josh Johnson? He’s been as impressive as any pitcher in baseball this season. He’s 8-2 with a 1.80 ERA on the season, including 5-1 with a ridiculous 0.79 ERA in his last eight trips to the bump. How good has Johnson been the last six weeks? He’s given up a total of four earned runs, 38 hits and 10 walks in 57 innings while notching 51 strikeoats. The final scores of his last five games: 1-0, 3-2, 2-0, 3-2 and 4-1.
Not included in Johnson’s recent eight-start tear was his only complete game of the season. That came back on April 26 at home against these Padres, who mustered just one run and three hits while whiffeing nine times against Johnson in a 10-1 loss. The next night, San Diego got revenge with Jon Garland on the mound, rolling to a 4-1 victory with Garland giving up just the one run on three hits and three walks in six innings with 10 strikeouts.
Garland has faced Florida five times in his career, going 3-1 with a 2.14 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 33 2/3 innings. All five have been quality starts, and Garland has held the Fish to a .218 batting average. Although Garland has slipped a bit in June, he’s still 7-5 with a 3.26 ERA on the season. And even though he doesn’t figure to go as long as Johnson tonight, that’s perfectly fine because the Padres have the best bullpen in all of baseball (2.63 ERA).
Finally, after last night’s 3-0 win over the Marlins, San Diego enters this one on “under” streaks of 22-8-3 in road games, 5-0 against N.L. East opponoents, 10-2 on Saturday, 14-6-3 on the road against right-handed starters, 5-1 when Garland starts on the road and 4-0 when Garland faced the N.L. East. And as noted above, runs have been hard to come by lately for either team with Johnson starting, as the under has cashed in each of his last five starts.
Bottom line: If the Marlins and Padres could only muster three runs in Friday’s matchup when the starters were Chris Volstad and Clayton Richard, how do they do better than that in a Garland vs. Johnson showdown?
Easy money on the UNDER here!
White Sox
Hell yes, I’ll ride the hot hand here and back the ChiSox, who go for victory #11 in a row tonight against the freefalling Cubs, who are showing more fight amongst themselves than they are against their opponents (you catch Carlos Zambrano’s dugout act after his first-inning implosion yesterday?).
Before getting to the mess that is the Cubs, let’s focus on the South Siders. Not only have they won a season-best 10 in a row, they’ve outscored the opposition 48-22, posting three shutouts in the last five games, including back-to-back goose eggs the last 48 hours (2-0 over the Braves on Thursday; 6-0 over the Cubs yesterday). Even before Jake Peavy’s gem on Friday, the White Sox had a 2.18 team ERA over their previous 10 games (including a 1-0 loss at Wrigley Field on June 13 that preceded the current 10-game winning streak).
Going back to June 9, Ozzie Guillen’s crew is 14-1 – again, the only defeat being that 1-0 loss to the Cubs – including 12-1 against the National League. Throw in a winning series against Florida a month ago, and the White Sox are a major-league best 14-2 in interleague play this season (6-1 at home).
Conversely, the Cubs just can’t get out of their own way. They’ve lost three of four and five of seven, and going back to May 30, they’re in an 8-15 funk. Take away a fluke 12-1 win over the Angels on Sunday, and the Cubs have scored a grand total of four runs in their last five games, and Friday marked the third time they’ve been shutout since last Saturday.
Also, this Windy City rivalry has been anything but the last few years. The Pale Hose have taken three of four meetings this year, six of the last seven and 10 of the last 13 (and all three of the Cubs’ wins during this 13-meeting stretch were one-run nail-biters).
What about the starting pitchers in this contest? Well, no question the Cubs’ Carlos Silva (8-2, 3.01 ERA) is having a career year. And his team is 10-3 when he pitches. However, one of the losses was a 2-1 setback to the White Sox at Wrigley Field two weeks ago. Meanwhile, Freddy Garcia’s 4.85 ERA certainly doesn’t measure up to Silva’s, but he’s been terrific lately, giving up three earned runs or fewer in seven of his last nine starts, and the Sox are 8-1 in those nine games.
If all that’s not enough, take a look at the history these pitchers have against their respective opponents today: Garcia is 4-0 with a 1.25 ERA in five career starts against the Cubs (who lost all five games), while Silva is 4-11 with a 5.33 ERA in 20 games (18 starts) against the White Sox. And with their 2-1 victory on June 12 at Wrigley, the Sox are now 6-0 the last six times they’ve faced Silva.
TEDDY COVERS
Cleveland/Cincinnati Over 9.5
Jacksonville Sharks
SEABASS
200* Philadelphia
100* LA Angels
100* Florida
50* Detroit
50* Milwaukee
Dave Cokin
Matchup: Philadelphia at Toronto
Time: 4:05 PM EDT (Sat)
Listed pitchers must go: (L) HAMELS, C vs. (R) MARCUM, S
Play: Philadelphia (ML -135)
Good battle on the mound today as Marcum and Hamels hook up. The Blue Jays are the home team, but the game is being played at Philly, and that's bad news for Toronto as the two-time defending NL Champs are suddenly back to crushing the baseball. Marcum has had a great comeback year for the Jays, but he's been a little spotty lately and his control has been very shaky in recent starts. Hamels has been very good lately for the Phillies, and while he's facing a potent Blue Jays lineup, it's also a big swing and miss collection of talent, which plays into the strength of Hamels. If the lefty has his good control, I can see him shutting this team down for the most part, even if he gets touched up for a long ball or two. Not sure any righty can contain the Phillies when they're hitting like this, and 28 runs in the last three games is a big buy signal. I'll go ahead and spot the price with the Phillies.
MIKE LINEBACK
4* Texas Rangers -1,5
4* POD San Diego-Florida under 7
RAS
Minnesota/San Antonio Under 159.5
The Duke's Sports
LA Dodgers (-115) for 1.5 Units
Dodgers have a chance to get back in the win column here vs a struggling A.J. Burnett. Burnett, who started the season on flame, has fizzled in June with a disastrous 10.50 ERA. The Dodgers are 16-7 vs starters with a WHIP higher than 1.30. Burnett, not efficient with his pitches sporting a WHIP of 2.14 this month. On the other hand, the Dodgers' Hiroki Kuroda is in great form (0.95 ERA last 3 starts). The Dodgers are 21-7 with Kuroda as a favorite in this range. Dodgers the call.
Joe Wiz Big Information Game - Angels
..confirmed..