Chip Chirimbes
Texas at Oakland
Play: Oakland
The Texas Rangers are starting to put some pressure ion the division as they have won their last four and they are 6-4 against the A's this season. Texas who are starting a ten-game road trip tonight were able to win at home but now face Oakland who is 34-18 when playing as hosts. The A's will start Tommy Milone (9-8, 4.10 ERA) who is 0-3 with a career 4.24 ERA against the Rangers but is 5-3 with a 2.97 ERA at home.
Teddy Covers
Texas vs. Oakland
Pick: Oakland
The Rangers rotation has been a mess for a good portion of the season, with Neftali Feliz, Colby Lewis, Matt Harrison, Nicholas Tepesch and tonight’s starter, Alexi Ogando, all spending extended stints on the DL. In the midst of a pennant race, the Rangers are desperate to guy these guys back in the rotation.
Ogando has made two starts since his seven week stint on the DL ended. Neither start was good – high pitch counts, mediocre velocity, and an inability to notch strikeouts – as Texas went 0-2 in those outings. I’m not convinced he’s fully healthy; rushed back too soon based on need more than anything else.
The A’s have hit Ogando fairly well even when he was at his best, scoring 14 runs in 25 career innings against him. And Oakland’s bats are in good form right now, pounding out six runs or more three times while winning four of their last six on this homestand. With a 34-18 record at home this year, the A’s have an ‘elite’ level homefield like Cleveland, Boston, Tampa Bay, Detroit, Atlanta, St Louis, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh (the eight other teams at least 15 games over .500 at home in 2013).
Oakland is 5-1 in Tommy Milone’s last six starts. Milone is coming off an absolute gem against the Angels; throwing seven full innings of four hit, one run ball. While his career track record against Texas does not look good on paper (hence the short line on this ballgame), let’s not forget that all four of Milone’s previous starts against the Rangers came in Arlington. For a guy with a career ERA splits of 3.03 home/ 4.67 road, we can and should expect a solid showing from the A’s emerging young ace this evening.
Jeffrey Brandes
Miami Marlins -111
Pitchers:
Cleveland Indians: Ubaldo Jimenez, RHP 8-5, 4.17 ERA
Miami Marlins: Jose Fernandez, RHP 7-5, 2.71 ERA
Ubaldo Jimenez has an ERA more than 1.5 runs higher than his opposite number in this match.
Jose Fernandez is coming off a stellar outing in which he struck out a Marlins franchise rookie record 13 batters in his seventh win. He leads Miami with 13 quality starts. He has a 2.71 ERA for the year.
Key Trends:
Miami is 8-4 SU in its last 12 games when playing Cleveland
Miami is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games when playing at home against Cleveland
Cleveland is 2-6 SU in its last 8 games on the road
Alex Smart
New York Yankees -107
CC Sabathia has not pitched all that well of late, but a change of scenery via interleague play and a light hitting Padres team might be the answer for the struggling veteran hurler. In four career starts against the Friars, he has given up just two earned runs or fewer three times.Only five Padres have faced Sabathia. None of them have recorded more than four hits against him.
It must be noted that the Yankees are 5-0 in the last 5 meetings in this series. The Yankees are also a bankroll building 8-2 in their last 10 games as a road favorite.Yankees are aslo 4-0 in Sabathias last 4 starts vs. National League West and are 13-3 in Sabathias last 16 interleague starts. Meanwhile, the Padres are 19-39 in their last 58 interleague games vs. a left-handed starter and money burning 8-21 in their last 29 interleague home games vs. a team with a winning record.
Justin Bay
Rockies vs Pirates
Play: Over 7
Jhoulys Chacin
- Career vs. PIT: 6.97 ERA, 1.55 WHIP, .272 OBA
- Away: 1.90 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, .232 OBA
- Coming off quality start vs. MIL: 7.0 IP, 8 H, 3 ER
- Pirates hitters vs. Chacin in his career: .316 BA
Gerrit Cole
- Home: 4.08 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, .301 OBA
- Coming off good start @ MIA: 7.0 IP, 4 H, 3 ER
The Pirates are coming off a shutout loss against the Cardinals so look for them to come back strong against Chacin who they have had very good success against. The Rockies are 10th in Runs Scored and 5th in Slugging percentage and with Cole on the mound, who has struggled at home, the Rockies should be able to put runs on the board.
Jeff Alexander
Washington Nationals -134
The Nats are a pretty nice value here considering the advantage they have on the hill with Jordan Zimmerman. Washington has won 15 of his 21 starts this season, during which he's posted a 3.19 ERA. He's also 3-0 lifetime against the Brewers with a 2.89 ERA. The Nationals are 28-9 in his starts as a favorite of -110 or higher since the beginning of last season. Milwaukee's Gorzelanny has been hit hard in his last two trips to the circle. Plus, he's been a dead fade when going on five or six days rest as his clubs are 13-31 lifetime in his starts in these spots.
Dave Price
Miami Marlins -108
The Fish have the edge on the mound with Jose Fernandez. The right-hander is 2-0 with an ERA of 2.14 over his last 3 starts - all Miami wins. He's been lights out all season at home where he's 4-0 with a 1.57 ERA in 10 starts. The Marlins have won eight of these starts. Ubaldo Jimenez's clubs have lost his last two starts in Miami. Also, his teams are 0-11 in his last 11 road starts in the second half of the season, losing these by an average score of 6.5 to 3.3. Take Miami.
Jack Jones
Texas Rangers +121
This is a huge series for the Texas Rangers as they trail the Oakland A's by 3.5 games for first place in the AL West Division. It's very important to get Game 1 tonight, and I look for them to do so behind Alexi Ogando.
The underrated Ogando is having a tremendous season as a starter this year. He has gone 4-3 with a 3.05 ERA and 1.262 WHIP in 12 starts, including 0-1 with a 2.93 ERA in his last three outings.
Tom Milone is clearly getting too much respect from the books tonight. The left-hander has gone 9-8 with a 4.03 ERA in 21 starts this season. Milone has never beaten Texas, going 0-3 with a 4.24 ERA and 1.329 WHIP in four career starts against the Rangers.
Texas is hitting .281 and scoring 4.8 runs/game against left-handed starters in 2013. The Rangers have scored a combined 27 runs while winning each of their last four games coming in. Bet Texas Friday.