Chad Greene
Dodgers/Giants Under 7
BIG AL
5* TOY - Orioles Under
MTi Sports
4* Yankees
4* Indians
Bob Balfe
Philadelphia Phillies -1.5
The Phillies have the best pitcher in baseball on the mound going against Jose Sosa, who has not pitched for a few years. Look for the Phillies' bats to come alive tonight and for Halladay to shut down the Marlins' hitters. Take Philadelphia runline.
Tim Trushel
20* Seattle Under
Billy Coleman
3* Mets Over
Dave Cokin
Toronto Blue Jays
The Duke's Sports
Tampa Bay (-115) for 1.5 Units
This series has been competitive this season with the Rays holding a 7-6 advantage. We'll look for James Shields, who is coming off a rough stretch, to battle hard here. Shields mowed down the Yankees on August 1st with 11 strike outs in 7 1/3 scoreless innings. Shields is 4-0 at home in team starts when pitching against a team with a winning record. Tonight, we'll look for him to get the needed run support against Phillip Hughes who skipped Sunday's start to rest after continued struggles in the second half of the season. TB is hitting the ball pretty well and we'll look for them to deliver. Also, the Yankees have had a rough time on the road with umpire Barksdales manning the plate at 3-13. Rays the call.
Jeff Benton
10 DIME LOS ANGELES DODGERS
5 DIME HICACO CUBS
DODGERS
The Giants just cannot hit L.A. right-hander Chad Billingsley. Check out the numbers in four games this season:
6 innings, 2 runs, 5 hits, 2 walks
9 innings, 0 runs, 5 hits, 2 walks
6 2/3 innings, 0 runs, 2 hits, 2 walks
8 innings, 2 runs (0 earned), 2 hits, 2 walk
I’ll do the math for you: In 29 2/3 innings, Billingsley has given up just four runs (two earned), 14 hits and eight walks. That means his ERA in four starts against San Francisco this season is 0.61 ERA. The Dodgers won three of the four games, and if not for a Jonathan Broxton implosion on July 31 in San Francisco (he blew a 1-0 lead by giving up a two-run, eighth-inning homer), L.A. would’ve won all four contests.
Billingsley is now 6-2 with a 2.73 ERA in 19 career appearances (14 starts) against the Giants, and in his last 10 starts against San Francisco he’s allowed just 16 earned runs in 73 1/3 innings (1.96 ERA). And he’s served up just one home run in his last 12 starts against the Giants.
Now contrast Billingsley’s career numbers vs. the Giants with Matt Cain’s career stats against L.A. Cain has faced the Dodgers 16 times, and he’s just 1-8 with a 4.03 ERA, 1.56 WHIP and .289 batting average-against. Yes, his one victory occurred at home on Aug. 1 (he pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings in a 2-0 win), but just 10 days ago in Los Angeles – facing a Dodgers team that was in a serious offensive funk – Cain gave up four runs on seven hits in seven innings. It was the third time in his last four starts that Cain has given up exactly four runs and seven hits against the Dodgers.
Bottom line: I’ve been saying for a couple of weeks now how the Dodgers have quit on the season. But if there’s one series where they’re going to show up and fight, it’s a series against their hated rivals at AT&T Park when the Giants are battling for a playoff spot. They proved as much last night, gutting out a 1-0 win desepite getting just one hit.
Knowing that the Dodgers are motivated and knowing Billingsley’s history against the Giants (plus Cain’s struggles against the Dodgers), to get L.A. at this big of a plus price is too good to pass up.
CUBS
Not happy that the betting public has been hammering the Cubs today, pushing this number from +190 down to +160. Still, it’s a smart line move because even though the Cardinals have ace Chris Carpenter on the mound, it’s really the only thing they’ve got going for them. Consider:
St. Louis, despite being in the thick of a pennant race with the Reds, has dropped 20 of its last 29 games. That includes four straight losses to the Cubs – two the last two nights by scores of 5-1 and 7-2 – and Chicago cashed tickets of +225, +130, +205 and +200 in those four contests.
Carpenter got rocked in his last start at Atlanta on Friday, losing 8-6 while surrendering all eight runs (six earned) in five innings. He was also on the losing end of one of St. Louis’ four straight defeats to the Cubs, falling 3-2 at home on Aug. 14. Pitching opposite Carpenter that day was Cubs hothead Carlos Zambrano, who allowed two runs in 5 2/3 innings.
That outing by Zambrano – his first after returning from a team exile because of his behavior – began a six-start stretch in which the former All-Star has gone 5-0 with a 1.37 ERA in six contests, including 4-0 with a 0.95 ERA in his last four trips to the mound.
The Cubs have been a consistent winner when Zambrano faces the Cardinals, going 16-5 in his last 21 starts against them, including 4-0 the last four times Big Z has matched up against Carpenter. Furthrrmore, Zambrano has felt right at home on the Busch Stadium mound, going 6-1 with a 1.27 ERA in all starts. And here’s potentially the best part: Zambrano might not have to face his nemesis Albert Pujols, who sat out Tuesday’s game with a sore elbow and is questionable tonight (Pujols has a .281 average and five HRs in his career against Zambrano). Even if Pujols does play, can we expect him to be anywhere near 100 percent?
Finally, while the Cardinals have been floundering, Chicago has actually been playing solid baseball, winning four of five on its current road trip and going 14-8 in its last 22 (8-3 on the road).
JOHN RYAN
25* AL GOM - Tampa Bay Rays
Marc Lawrence
Minnesota Twins -110
When the Twins send Brian Deunsing to the hill against the White Sox in huge divisional showdown in the Windy City tonight they will do so knowing Deunsing enters tonight's game in top KW form with two walks and 20 strikeouts in his last three starts. He is also 5-1 with a 1.80 ERA in his last six team starts and unbeaten in his career at Comiskey Park. With Chicago's Gavin Floyd just 4-8 in his career team starts in this series, including 0-4 the last four, and just 2-4 with a 5.45 ERA in his last six starts, look for the Twins to come up big here tonight. We recommend a 3-unit play on Minnesota.
Lenny Del Genio
Toronto +110
The Blue Jays came into this series a perfect 12-0 this season vs. the division rival Orioles, so they were bound to lose to Baltimore eventually. They look to avoid a three-game sweep at Camden Yards tonight. They will turn to a hurler making his first career start, but this is no normal debut as Kyle Drabek, son of Doug, takes the hill. Drabek, arguably, the club's top prospect was acquired in the Roy Halladay trade last December. Not only is he the Jays' top prospect, but he is probably one of the best prospects in all of baseball. Remember that the Phillies originally refused to part ways with him in the deal that brought over Cliff Lee from Cleveland at last year's trade deadline. Drabek won Eastern League Player of the Year honors after posting a 2.98 ERA in 27 starts for Double-A New Hampshire that included a no-hitter on the Fourth of July. Making his first start in Baltimore is special as it is the same town where his father closed his career back in 1998. He'll be opposed by Brad Bergesen, who has been hot of late, but has had no luck vs. Toronto this year. Baltimore has lost all three of his starts vs. the Jays this year with Bergesen posting a 9.77 ERA in those games. That includes a pair of starts here at Camden Yards where he's allowed nine runs over 10 and two-thirds innings. He shouldn't expect too much support from his offense as the O's have lost money vs. righties this year + they are averaging less than four runs in those games. Toronto, meanwhile, has destroyed righties this year (+$1460) and their offense has homered in 16 straight games, the longest such streak for the franchise in over ten seasons. The team is also 19-11 this year when off a run by four runs or more. Look for the suddenly slumping Jays to turn it around here. Toronto is our 25* AL Game of the Year.
ASA
Cubs
Scott Reckenbach
Indians Over
Nelly
Indians