ATS Lock Club
5 Units Florida
4 Units Toronto
4 Units TB Rays
Billy Coleman
Phillies -1.5
Arz/SD Over 7
Cinn/SF Under 7
KELSO
25 Units Pittsburgh Pirates -1.5
15 Units Tampa Bay Rays -110
10 Units Oakland A's -110
3 Units LA Dodgers -125
KELSO
25 Units Pittsburgh Pirates -1.5
Should be
25 Units SL Cardinals -1.5
Bob Balfe
New York Mets +110
Both teams are as evenly matched as you can get and are fighting to stay in the wildcard race. The Mets pitch the ball well at home which should be the difference in this game. Look for New York to get a smooth win at home against their NL East foe. Take the Mets.
Mike Lineback
4'* A's / Indians Under 7.5
KIKI SPORTS
1 Unit Cubs +123
1 Unit St Louis -1.5 -150
1 Unit Cincy +100
Jeff Benton
20 DIME SD PADRES -1½
10 DIME OAKLAND A’S
SD Padres -1½
This play shouldn’t surprise you, as I’ve riding the Padres a lot this season – but clearly not as often as I should have been, as San Diego is far and away the most profatable team in baseball at +29.5 units (meaning a $100 bettor would be up $2,950 if he just bet on all of the Padres’ games this season). By comparison, the DBacks rank 27th out of 30 MLB teams on the money list at -22.9 units (meaning a $100 bettor who wagered on every Arizona game would be down $2,290).
Since losing two of three to open the 2010 season in Phoenix, the Padres have ripped off seven of nine wins against the DBacks, with all seven victories being by multiple runs. This includes six conseceutive home wins by scores of 6-3, 5-0, 5-3, 12-1, 8-5 and 6-4. And if you go back to the final week of the 2009 season, 13 of the last 15 meetings between these rivals – including all nine of San Diego’s wins – have been by more than one run. One more note about this rivalry: The host is on a 13-3 roll, with the Padres going 7-0 at Petco Park.
As for this pitching matchup, there’s not much to say. Padres lefty Clayton Richard is 11-5 with 3.69 ERA, including 5-3 with a 3.24 ERA at home. Arizona’s Rodrigo Lopez is 5-11 with a 4.94 ERA, including 2-5 with a 5.09 ERA on the road. In fact, the DBacks are just 3-8 in Lopez’s 11 road starts this year, including an 8-5 loss in San Diego five weeks ago, with Lopez getting touched up for six runs – including four home runs – in six innings.
Also, while Lopez has given up 13 runs in his last three starts (pitching exactly five innings in each game), Richard is coming off consecutive domirating outings on the road against the Giants (two runs in six innings) and Cubs (one run in 6 2/3 innings). San Diego won both those game, and they’re 8-3 in his last 11 starts (3-0 at home), while the DBacks have lost six of Lopez’s last seven starts – all multi-run losses – dating back to his 8-5 defeat in San Diego on July 17.
Finally, the Padres have won 11 of 14 overall (including nine multi-run wins) and they’re 13-6 in Richard’s last 19 starts. Arizona has dropped seven of 10 (six multi-run losses) and the Snakes are just 19-40 on the highway this year.
Oakland A’s
Gio Gonzalez is cruising right now. The unheralded Oakland southpaw has allowed just three earned runs in his last three starts over 20 innings (1.35 ERA). And going back to June 21, he’s made 11 starts and allowed the following earned run totals: 0, 1, 0, 5, 1, 4, 1, 4, 0, 2 and 1 – that’s eight of 11 outstanding starts, and he’s gone six innings or more in 10 of those 11 contests.
The A’s are a perfect 4-0 in Gio Gonzalez’s four career starts against the Indians, outscoring the Tribe 27-6, including 14-0 in two games this year. In those two particular contests, Gonzalez has pitched 13 2/3 shutout innings, and he’s given up just 18 hits (one home run) in his four starts against Cleveland (23 1/3 innings). He’s also quite comfortable on the Progressive Field mound (two runs allowed in 12 2/3 innings).
Tonight, Gonzalez is matched up against Fausto Carmona, who is really struggling (1-4, 7.07 ERA in his last five starts, including 0-3 with a 7.88 ERA in three home games). True, Carmona has pitched well against the A’s in two games this year (four runs in 14 1/3 innings), but Cleveland is just 3-5 in his eight career starts against the A’s (including 1-3 at home).
The Indians are also in slumps of 17-36 against A.L. West teams, 17-38 in series openers, 5-15 after an off day, 9-20 at home against southpaw starters and 3-13 when Carmona faces the A.L. West, while Oakland is on a 13-5 roll versus losing teams. Also, if the A’s go off as a favorite, note that they’ve won 39 of 58 as a favorite, including four of five as a road chalk, and they’re 11-1 the last dozen times Gonzalez has strolled to the mound as a favorite.
Freddy Wills
4* Rockies -106 (4-Dime POD)
Tommy Gun
3* Yankees/Jays Over 10
2* White Sox -1½
Adam Nichols
5* Yankees
4* Phillies -1½
O.C. Dooley
2 Units Cubs +125
Following the sudden resignation of a veteran manager, the disappointing Cubs last night exploded in a 9-1 rout inside the nations capital. One of the hitting heroes last night was Alfonso Soriano who won an MVP award during his one campaign with the Nationals. In eight games played as a visitor in Washington, Soriano has gone 12-for-33 at the dish while driving in 8 runs. Xavier Nady had 3 hits on Monday and is batting .323 during what has been 9 consecutive starts for the veteran who missed most of last campaign with major elbow surgery. Nady is getting increased playing time now that the Cubs have traded Derrek Lee who weighed down the organization with the most expensive contract. Lee’s departure also is giving potential major league slugger Micah Hoffpauir a chance as he was just called up from the Triple-A level. Ever since coming to Chicago in a trade, infielder Blake Dewitt has taken advantage of playing time hitting .338 at the dish. On the mound for the Cubs this evening is the same Carlos Zambrano who was the club’s opening day starter. Zambrano has not pitched all that bad since returning from a team imposed suspension and has WON each of his last 3 visits to Washington compiling 19 STRIKEOUT victims in 18 innings pitched. Last night marked only the 6th time in the past 26 games that the Cubs walked away with a victory which makes this squad with the National League’s most expensive roster “undervalued”. To make a long story short the young players on the roster are COMFORTABLE with interim skipper Mike Quade who worked with most of the personnel at the minor league level. I am fully aware that veteran John Lannan has won 3 consecutive decisions for the Nationals, but the fact of the matter is that this team has lost 11 of the most recent 15 outings. Washington also has just lost phenom starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg to the disabled list. My database research indicates that Washington in the past three years is a disastrous 2-14 after scoring “one or less” runs in consecutive contests. On the other hand Carlos Zambrano of the Cubs is a stirling “13-3” on the ROAD the past three years after the All-Star break, so traditionally he has shined during the “dog days” of August
2-Minute Warning
Chicago Cubs
Tony George
Diamondbacks / Padres Over 7
The offense of both these teams alone is good enough for the Over, not to mention Lopez for D Backs has an ERA his past 3 games is 7.80 and he is in poor form, and also knowing the Padres are scoring lights out on offense. I see the Padres getting close to their recent average of almost 6 runs on offense, D Backs will be good for 3 or 4 runs themselves as they have sparked some offense themselves as of late. Play 1 Unit on the Over.
Marc Lawrence
LA Angels -110
When the Angels host the Rays in Game Two of this three game series in Anaheim this evening they will send Ervin Santana to the mound knowing he is 3-0 with a 1.21 ERA in his career team starts against Tampa Bay. He is also 5-1 his last six team starts, including 3-0 his last three at home. With the Halos 15-5 in Santana's last 20 team starts, including 8-1 the last nine, look for the Rays to dip to 3-15 in their last 18 games in this park here tonight. We recommend a 3-unit play on the Angels.