Evan Altemus
3 Units Braves / Phils Under 8.5
There is good value in this selection because of a few reasons. First, both of these teams are traditionally known as better hitting teams, especially Philadelphia. However, the Phillies hitters haven’t been doing as well this season, and they are dealing with injuries to Chase Utley and Placido Polanco right now. The Phillies have scored 3 runs or less in 6 of their last 10 games, but Atlanta is really playing to the under right now with their best hitter, Jason Heyward, out with an injury right now. Atlanta has also really struggled on the road, especially to left handers. Another reason for this selection is because starters Cole Hamels and Jair Jurrens have struggled some this season, but they seem to be in good form now and have pitched well against their opposing line-ups tonight. Look for both line-ups to struggle hitting and both starters to dominate.
Larry Ness
10* Bailout Blowout of the Month - LA Dodgers
The Dodgers 'limped' through the recent IL series of games 2-10 (went 4-11 for the year in all IL games) but celebrated a return to intralegue play last week by winning FIVE of six games in series at San Francisco and Arizona. The Dodgers returned to LA for seven games this week in Dodger Stadium but got off on a losing note last night, falling 6-5 to the Marlins. However, look for LA to get back on the winning track tonight. Chris Volstad is just 1-5 with a 4.69 ERA over his last 10 starts with the Marlins going 1-9! In comparison, Vincente Padilla is off two strong outings. The Rangers were happy to get rid of Padilla last season but he was a pleasant surprise for the Dodgers down the stretch. He was 4-0 with a 3.20 ERA in seven starts (team was 6-1) and then was terrific in his first three postseason starts, going 2-0 with an 0.93 ERA (20-2 KW ratio) in three LA wins. However, he did get bombed in his fourth start, allowing six ERs in just four innings of a 10-4 loss. That being said, Padilla was LA's Opening Day starter in 2010 but in four April starts was just 1-1 with a 6.65 ERA (team was 1-3). He was placed on the 15-day DL on April 25 with a sore right forearm and spent almost two months "on the shelf." He returned and was ineffective at Boston on June 19, allowing five hits and four ERs in just 5.1 innings of a 5-4 loss (got a no decision). He's since pitched two strong games, allowing six hits and two ERs in a 2-1 loss to the Yankees and winning 8-2 at San Francisco last Wednesday, allowing three hits and one ER over seven innings. Florida's win last night vs the right-handed Ely makes the Marlins just 23-33 (.411) vs righties in 2010. Meanwhile, the Dodgers are an impressive 20-9 vs right-handers at home in 2010, including 14-6 (.700) in night games. Note that not only are the Marlins 1-9 in Volstad's last 10 starts, Volstad is only 1-9 (that's a 90% "go-against") this year as an underdog. 9-1 plus 14-6 equals 23-7 or 77%.
Lenny Del Genio
25* LA Angels
We had the White Sox last night in their easy 9-2 win over the Angels. However, tonight we’re going against the Sox and on the Angels. LA came off a long home stand and had to go all the way to Chicago to play that game last night, and we knew they would be flat. After losing and get acclimated they’ll play much better tonight, especially behind Weaver. The LA righty has been very solid all season posting a 2.82 ERA in his 17 starts. He’s been even sharper in his last three starts with an 0.86 ERA and an outstanding 0.571 WHIP. The Sox send out Peavy and he has good numbers in his last three starts with a 1.23 ERA. However, his overall ERA is still up there at 4.70 and two of those last three starts were against the weaklings in Washington and KC. Weaver loves pitching against these Sox. In his five starts he has a perfect 5-0 team start record and 0.52 ERA. On the other side Peavy pitched against these Angels once earlier this season and it wasn’t pretty going six innings and allowing six earned runs. The Angles get revenge tonight behind Weaver. Play on LA Angels.
Rocketman
4* Colorado -140
Two fairly evenly matched teams here with St Louis with a 45-37 overall record this year and Colorado with a 44-38 overall record on the season. St Louis is 1-5 this year as a road underdog of +125 to +150. Colorado has won 5 of their last 7 games overall. St Louis is scoring only 3.9 runs per game on the road this year. Colorado is 26-15 at home this season. Colorado is scoring 5.5 runs per game at home this year. Blake Hawksworth is 2-5 with a 5.02 ERA in all games this year and has a 7.00 ERA on the road this season. Jeff Francis has a 3.58 ERA at home this year. Francis is 4-1 with a 2.61 ERA overall vs St Louis since 1997. We'll play Colorado for 4 units tonight!
4* LA Angels +100
LA Angels are 46-39 overall this year while Chicago White Sox come in with a 43-38 overall record on the season. LA Angels are 40-16 the past 3 years in July. Jered Weaver is 8-3 with a 2.82 ERA overall this year, 5-2 with a 3.88 ERA on the road and 2-0 with a 0.86 ERA his last 3 starts. Weaver is 4-0 with a 0.52 ERA overall vs Chicago White Sox since 1997. Peavy is 0-2 with a 5.79 ERA overall vs LA Angels since 1997. We'll play the LA Angels for 4 units tonight!
C-STAR SPORTS
5000 Units Detroit over Baltimore
1000 Units San Francisco/Milwaukee over the total
1000 Units Houston Over Pittsburgh