BOB BALFE
Spain -1.5
Spain has a ton of offense and a decent defense which will hold down an average, at best, Swiss squad. Look for Spain to turn on the offense early and get an easy win. A lot of the better teams in the tournament whom have yet to play know they can not mess around and take a game ligtly after some of the upsets and unlikely draws occurring early on. Take Spain -1.5.
South Africa
Uraguay got a nice draw against France, but they will not be able to handle the raw speed and conditioning of South Africa. This game is also being played in high altitude which might throw off Uraguay, since their last game was at sea level. Let's go with the more fit and home team. Take South Africa pk (+120).
JR O'Donnell
Baltimore + 250
Let's play on the on the + 250 dog today as no one bu~t JR O. will be backing a dog "yes that's right" a +250 live dog vs the Cy Young winner T. Lincecum. We will play on Baltimore O's Jeremy Guthrie 3-7, 3.83 who will look to avoid a 4 start loss streak here Wednesday afternoon. Let's look at the O's who have some talent and A Jones is hitting + 340 the last 10 games and the O's did scratch out a win last night. We note that J. Guthrie is 4-3 with a 2.48 ERA in the last 12 inter-league games. The O's are a sharp dog today and we will back them at + 250 today!
Tony George
Kansas City +105
This line shocked me, I figured KC at least -115 to -125 in this one with Chen on the hill who is pitching well for KC and 3-0 on the year, while Oswalt, Houston's once almost hittable stud, sporting over a 6 ERA his last 3 starts. KC off a huge 15-7 win last night, a game I was at in person in KC. Houston has owned KC recently, but KC on a roll in this series after last night and are playing a team who has managed only 19 wins in their last 68 road games. Houston's bullpen is deplorable as well with almost a 10 ERA headed into last night in their last 3 and KC's bullpen has really stepped up as of late. Play 1 Unit on KC.
KIKI SPORTS
2 Units White Sox -140
1 Unit Cincy +105
1 Unit Texas +115
Scott Rickenbach
10* Minnesota / Colorado Over
The Twins absolutely pounded the ball yesterday. In last night’s game, Minnesota ended up going 14 for 35 and hitting .400 at the plate. They continue to prove that their lineup has absolutely taken a liking to Target Field and we certainly look for more of the same tonight. The difference in this evening’s game is that we expect the Rockies (just 6 hits last night) to enjoy the “hit parade party” in this one. Colorado should pound Scott Baker who is having a subpar season with the Twins. Also, with yesterday’s over, the Rockies are now 5-2 to the over in interleague games this season. Additionally, Colorado is 6-3 to the over in Wednesday games this season. When on the road and the total is 9 or 9.5 runs, the Rockies are 6-4 to the over this season. The Twins have mostly been an under team this season, just as Colorado has. However, with yesterday’s over, Minnesota is 4-3 to the over in interleague action this season and the biggest key of all is that the Twins are simply pounding the ball at home. Minnesota is hitting .287 at home this season and they’ve average 5.2 runs per game at Target Field this season.
Look for the Rockies Jhoulys Chacin to struggle in trying to slow down the torrid home field hitting of the Twins. Chacin is a right-hander and he’s been hit 70 points higher by left-handed batters in comparison with right-handed bats. Overall, Chacin has impressive numbers in his young MLB career but it’s evident that a team stacked with left-handed lumber (like the Twins with five left-handed bats and two switch-hitters on their roster of position players) absolutely holds an edge over other teams in terms of matching up with the right-hander. Also, Chacin’s last two road starts have seen him allow 7 runs (6 earned) on 11 hits and 8 walks in just 11.1 innings of work. As you can see, Chacin is having issues with his command in recent road starts. As for his counterpart tonight, Baker of the Twins is also likely to struggle. He’s allowed four earned runs or more in 6 of his 13 starts this season including each of his last two. In his last two outings Baker has been rocked for four homers. The Twins right-hander has allowed at least three earned runs in eight of his last ten starts. Baker got off to a decent start very early this season but, since late April, he just hasn’t resemble the pitcher he’s been in prior seasons. He’s allowed 35 earned runs on 72 hits in 60 innings. That’s equivalent to a 5.25 ERA over a period of ten starts and, allowing an average of 1.2 hits per inning also leads to trouble eventually and Baker has been pitching out of the stretch far too often this season as the hits keep piling up against him. The Rockies had won three straight and scored 16 runs in the process before they fell well short against the Twins yesterday. Look for them to bounce right back here. Yes, we know that both bullpens are solid this season but, just as we noted in yesterday’s write-up, this one comes down to the starting pitching match-up, and the way the ball has been flying at Target Field as the weather has been hitting up and the Twins sticks have been heating up in home games! Play OVER the total in Minnesota as a *10* Top Play selection.
8* LA Angels / Milwaukee Over
Last night’s game got off to a great start for over players but then it died and ended up coming just short. Even with yesterday’s under, the Brewers are still 27-15 to the over this season when facing a right-handed starter. Also, Milwaukee is 10-5 to the over this season when they are on the road and the posted total is 9 or 9.5 runs. On Wednesdays the Brewers are 7-2 to the over this season. Additionally, in day games (this one starts at 4 PM Pacific Time) Milwaukee is 16-7 to the over this season. As for the Angels, even with yesterday’s under, they are still 6-2 to the over in interleague action this season. The Angels pitching has been pounded for 12 hits in each of the first two games in this series and the Brewers have plated 19 runs against them so far. It could be another great game for Milwaukee at the plate as Joel Pineiro gets the start for the Angels.
Even though Pineiro has had success against the Brewers in his career, he loses the usual interleague edge of facing a team that is not familiar with him. Instead, since Pineiro was with the Cardinals the last 2 and ½ seasons, the Angels right-hander is facing a lineup that has a number of hitters with plenty of experience against him. Also, Pineiro is coming off of a great start against the Dodgers in his last outing but, in his prior two starts he had given up 10 earned runs on 19 hits in 14 innings of work. In fact, prior to his solid start at Dodger Stadium, Pineiro’s ERA had risen from 1.77 heading into an April 24th start to 5.23 after a June 6th start. Left-handed batters have hit .290 against Pineiro this season and he will see plenty of dangerous left-hand bats in the Brewers lineup plus some right-handed power as well. Behind Pineiro is an Angels bullpen whose cumulative ERA so far this season ranks 26th among the 30 MLB teams. The Brewers bullpen has been even worse as their cumulative ERA ranks 29th among the 30 MLB teams. Milwaukee’s starter today is southpaw Chris Narveson. Though the left-hander is coming off of a solid start against Texas, he was struggling prior to that start. Narveson had given up four earned runs or more in four of his last five starts even though he hadn’t lasted more than six innings in any of those outings. Other concerns here for Narveson are that right-handed sticks are hitting .320 against him this season and he will see just one or, at most, two left-handed bats in the Angels lineup today. Those would be dangerous ones too: Bobby Abreu and Hideki Matsui. The Angels were rolling on their recent, very lengthy road trip. Now, after struggling in the first two games of this series, look for the Angels to take advantage of facing a starting pitcher who they match up very well with. Play OVER the total in the Los Angeles Angels game as an *8* Regular Play selection.
Joe Wiz pay after you win - White Sox
Spyglass Sports Consensus - Tigers
Sports Investment Group
Boston -1.5 -125
NSA
20* TWINS -150
20* GIANTS -1.5 -130
20* WASH/DETROIT UNDER 8
Executive
250% KC Royals
Tim Trushel
Pirates Under
Angels Under
MIKE LINEBACK
Dodgers
Dodgers/Reds Over 8.5
Mets
Power Play Wins
White Sox
KEN JONES
Mets at Indians
Pick: Mets -107
The New York Mets will rely on their left hand pitcher Jon Niese to keep their winning going. In his last sixteen innings he has allow only one run on seven base hits. Cleveland’s starter Mitch Talbot has been steady all season with a ERA of 3.59. Play: New York Mets
Bob Balfe
Cleveland Indians -105
The Indians blew the game last night and are looking for some revenge tonight. The Mets are not much of a road team and I expect the Tribe to have a good outing behind Talbot who is pitching well this season. Take the Indians.
Ben Burns
10* CUBS -130
8* TOR / SDP UNDER 6.5
8* ATLANTA -130
8* FLORIDA -120