KELSO
25 Units Texas Rangers -160
15 Units Twins/White Sox OVER 9
10 Units Arizona Diamondbacks +120
Rocketman
4* NY Mets
3* Philadelphia
PHIL MAXWELL
WASHINGTON OVER 9
DODGERS +123
Bob Balfe
Cleveland Indians -135
Who is the hottest team in baseball in the month of August? Incorrect...in fact, it is the Baltimore Orioles! Could that be a fluke? Of course it is. This team is horrible on the road and horrible against right-handed pitching. Josh Hamlin has pitched well in his limited innings this season and I expect the Indians to get a little payback from last night's loss. Take Cleveland.
Mike Neri Sports
1 Unit Philadelphia -130
1 Unit Milwaukee -128
1 Unit Chicago White -170
The Duke's Sports
Colorado (+107) for 2 Units
The Rockies have had trouble in NY but should fare well there tonight. Colorado, which has alternated wins and losses in 8 games, is 13-7 in game 2 of a series following a loss. The Rockies have also fared well vs lefties in which they are 24-17 against, including a 5-1 run; consequently, we'll look for them to tee off on Jonathon Niese who is sports a bloated 7.15 ERA in 2 starts vs Colorado. The Rockies' lineup should give starter --Jeff Francis the needed run support; after all, they're batting a sizzling .333 vs lefties over the last few weeks; at the same time, the Mets' lineup is struggling vs lefties (.200 BA); moreover, they're bullpen sports a lofty 6.43 ERA over that span. With the Rockies at 10-3 with Francis on Wednesdays and 15-7 with him vs the NLE, we'll grab Colorado here.
Fantasy Sports Gametime
100* Play San Diego (-190) over Pittsburgh
San Diego has won 10 of the last 11 games as a home favorite of -150 to -200 and they have also won 16 of the last 21 games vs. NL Central Division Opponents. Kevin Correia has won 21 of the last 26 games as a favorite of -110 or higher and he has also won 4 consecutive games vs. NL Central Division Opponents.
Scott Rickenbach
10* Washington / Florida Over
The Marlins confidence at the plate will be sky high here after yesterday’s 8-2 win which featured them hammering Stephen Strasburg of the Nationals. Now Florida gets to take their cuts against a former teammate who has not looked good since coming off of the disabled list. Scott Olsen gets this start for Washington and the southpaw is having a rough season. He’s allowed three homers in 11.2 innings since coming off of the disabled list and Olsen got rocked for five earned runs in 5.2 innings of work in his start last Tuesday. Now he’s had extra time off since that start (it was on August 3rd) which has allowed for even more rust to develop as Olsen makes just his third start since May 21st. He was on the disabled list for 2+ months and simply hasn’t looked right since his return. Olsen has a 4.70 ERA in his career against the Marlins. Also, he’s given up 11 earned runs and had more walks than strikeouts over his last three starts and those outings have spanned just 14.2 innings of work. Olsen has a 5.52 ERA in night games this season and, in his career, he has been hit at a .280 clip and compiled a 1.52 WHIP against right-handed batters. That’s a concern for the southpaw here as the Marlins lineup will be loaded with right-handed lumber.
The concern for Florida today will be their own pitching situation. The Marlins send Chris Volstad to the mound and he’s allowed just two earned runs in each of his last two starts but he gave up 15 hits in 10.2 innings of work spanning those two outings. Also, this was preceded by a 7 game stretch where Volstad gave up 24 earned runs in 35.2 innings of work. Simply put, Volstad just hasn’t been able to put it together this season and he has not been the same pitcher he was when he burst onto the scene two seasons ago and, as a rookie, compiled a 2.88 ERA in 15 games (14 starts). Since then, Volstad has gone 14-21 combined the last two seasons with a 5.21 ERA last year and a 4.63 ERA so far this season. Also, Volstad has an ugly 6.08 ERA in his road games this season and, though he’s 3-1 in his career against the Nationals, he’s compiled an unimpressive 4.13 ERA against Washington. The Marlins are 7-1 to the over this month. The Nationals are 7-3-1 to the over in their last 11 games. Also, in Wednesday games the last three seasons Florida is 43-23 to the over. That includes a solid 11-6 mark this season! Interestingly enough, the Nationals are 10-6 to the over in Wednesday games this season. Also, the Marlins are 7-3 to the over in Volstad’s last ten starts. With both teams trending toward the over and with both starting pitchers likely to struggle, we love the over in this match-up! One final note here, the Marlins bullpen ranks 20th in the majors based on team ERA. Play OVER the total in Washington as a *10* Top Play selection Wednesday night!
King Creole
1* TEXAS RANGERS
We'll be on the Rangers again tonight as they go for the SWEEP in this short 2-game series. What has us licking our chops is New York's stats vs Lefties (like Lee) in their last ten games: .171 team batting average. And the Yanks aren't playing with a full deck either (Texeira OUT / Posada and Cano questionable). The home team is already 4-0 this season in this series... TEXAS is 20-7 in Game Two of a series and 8-2 on Wednesdays. The Yankees have struggled as of late against very good pitchers. They are 1-5 in their last 6 games versus starters with a WHIP of 1.15 or less...
Yes, Cliff Lee is a BEAST. But he's also a Yankee-KILLER. He's gone 5-1 vs New York in the last three seasons with an ERA of only 2.25. As of late, he's also been on a roll with a K/BB ratio of 37 to 3 in his time with Texas. Last three starts ERA for Lee is only 1.80. His counterpart (Javier Vazquez) has appeared to 'hit a wall'. His ERA is 5.40 in his last 2 starts with 18 hits and walks in 11 innings (WHIP of 1.63). His numbers 'in this park': 6.75 ERA in the last 5 seasons.
1* COLORADO ROCKIES
A couple of southpaws battle it out in the Big Apple on Wednesday night. And in a Lefty vs Lefty matchup.... the ADVANTAGE goes to the Rockies. Whom would you rather be on? The team that's hitting .333 on offense versus LEFTIES in their last ten games (Colorado)? Or the team that's hitting only .200 on offense versus LEFTIES in their last ten games (New York)? I think we can agree that it's the team that's hitting 133 points HIGHER! Colorado is a team that does very well in Game Two of a series this year (25-12 overall).
JEFF FRANCIS is 10-3 in Wednesday starts, while his counterpart (Jonathan Niese) is only 1-4 in his last 4 starts on this Day of the Week. Niese is on a 1-5 run in his last 6 starts... 0-4 off a Quality Start... and 0-4 when pitching on only 4 days of rest.
ROCKIES: 5-0 in their last 5 off a loss.... 9-3 in Game Two of a series... and 5-1 in their last 6 games vs southpaws.
METS: 5-16 when playing of a win... 4-12 vs the NL West... 6-19 on Wednesdays... and 3-8 after scoring 2 < runs.
2* RED SOX/BLUE JAYS UNDER
A very L-O-W Over / Under line in this game and with good reason(s). First off, a couple of starting pitchers in very good current form. Second (and MOST important), we'll be riding Major League Baseball's NUMBER ONE Home Plate Umpire in terms of 'Unders' this season.
GREG GIBSON gets the call behind the dish. His #1 ranking has him with a YTD record of 4-16-4 O/U... with an average of only 6.9 total runs per game. And we're catching him at a great time as well. That's because he's gone a PERFECT 0-8-1 O/U in his last 9 games dating back to late June. Average total runs in those games is only 6.3. He has a great strikeout to walk ratio of 135 to 49 in that same time span. That's a ratio of 2.75 KJ's for every walk... and that's what we look for in an 'Under' Umpire. He's also gone 0-4-2 O/U on WEDNESDAY this year.... and 1-4 O/U in Toronto Blue Jay games in his career.
Clay Buchholtz of the Red Sox has thrown three Quality Starts in a row... with an ERA of only 2.01. He's a better ROAD pitcher (2.52 ERA) than at home... and he's a better NIGHT pitcher (2.08 ERA) than in day games (5.09). So where catching him in his BEST situations for a low-scoring outcome. He's already faced the Jays once this year in Canada, and was lights out in a 2-1 win (and easy UNDER). In fact, his ERA 'in this park' is only 1.37 in the last two seasons (3 starts). His counterpart (Shaun Marcum) is also in good form. ERA is 3.42 in his last 4 starts... with a GREAT K/BB ratio of only 24 to 2! His ERA at home this year is only 2.30. And he's already made two starts vs the Sox thus far in 2010 with great results: 14 innings pitched... only ONE earned run. Final scores in those two starts were 2 to1... and 3 to 2.
Freddy Wills
4-Dime POD - Mets -115
Executive
250% Milwaukee
OC DOOLEY
4* Pittsburgh Pirates +175
2* Dodgers +120
Mike Lineback
4* Twins/W.Sox Under 9.5
4* Pirates/Padres Over 7
Marc Lawrence
Texas -160
When the Rangers host the Yankees in Game Two of this three-game series between division leaders in Arlington tonight they will send ace left-hander Cliff Lee to the mound knowing Lee is amazing KW form this season, having issued nine walks against 126 strikeouts in his 19 starts. He is also 11-4 in his last 15 team starts, including 6-1 the last seven home, and 10-2 with 2.06 ERA in his last 12 August team starts. With that, look for the Yankees to drop to 1-5 in their last six meetings against Lee here this evening. We recommend a 3-unit play on Texas.
ATS LOCK CLUB
4 Units Oakland A's
3 Units Philadelphia Phillies