Scott Delaney
Time for payback.
Seattle won yesterday; tonight it’ll be the Rangers in a blowout of the M’s.
Scott Feldman battled through his shortest outing in 43 career starts and the most runs allowed this season, so I’m thinking he’s going to put forth his absolute best effort tonight for the win. After all, he had thrown at least five innings in 17 starts and snapped a streak of six consecutive quality starts.
He should do much better than Ian Snell, who is making his Mariners debut after being acquired from the Pirates in a seven-player trade on Wednesday. He went 2-8 with a 5.36 ERA in 15 starts for the Pirates. This is someone who was supposed to be an integral part of the lineup, but was optioned to a Triple-A assignment and spend some time in Toledo.
The scenery won’t change much for Snell, he’ll still struggle; and besides, this is the wrong opponent to make your American League debut against, as the Rangers could rip him for double digits.
1♦ TEXAS RANGER
Matt Rivers
For Sunday take the home dog Giants.
I have been all about the Phillies of late and Charlie Manual's squad probably will win this game as they are extremely stout and Cole Hamels is great. But with that said there are some things going the G-Men's way and at this major home dog price I'll take my chances.
The Phillies lineup can rake the ball for sure but if I go against them I would prefer to do that with an experienced lefty on the hill because of Utley, Howard and Ibanez swinging the bat from that left side. Granted this is not the Barry Zito from 2005 but the Southpaw still every now and then shows glimpses and at that price I'll take my chances that we see one of those today.
Hamels is awesome and should have his way with San Francisco's rather weak lineup. There is a but here though as Bruce Bochy's club and it's similar but the exact opposite of what I just said with the Phillies. The Giants have a lot of guys that swing the bat from the right side and that is always a good thing when up against a lefthander. Guys like Sandoval, Garko, Renteria, Molina and a few others will have a shot here to plate some runs. I'm not saying I am counting on an explosion at all but San Fran is in the Pennant Race and at this inflated price at home makes them a small play in my mind.
1♦ Giants
Jake Timlin
Take the Rockies as the sweep the three game series against the Reds today.
Yet another easy win over the Reds last night it’s Colorado who thanks to winning 9 of the last 10 meetings has dominated Cincinnati over the past two years. Well thanks to the pitching of Marquis and the fact that Cincinnati is in a serious free fall I love for the Rockies to continue their dominance today.
Now helping the Rockies will be twelve game winner Jason Marquis who has been amazing this year going 12-7 with an ERA of 3.47 on the season and an even lower ERA of 2.70 over his last three games.
Well thanks to the Reds having now lost 11 of their last 12 games look for Marquis to get his 13th win of the season and do so in dominating fashion.
3♦ Colorado Rockies
Tony Weston
I delivered with the Tigers yesterday and I’m making it two in a row with the Blue Jays at the Athletics today.
So far this season the Toronto Blue Jays and Oakland Athletics have hooked up eight times, with the Jays winning 5 of their last seven meetings.
Over their last 14 meetings, going back to last season, the Blue Jays are 11-3 against the A’s. In fact, the Jays have won 5 of their last 7 in Oakland.
Also working the Blue Jays favor is that A’s scheduled starter Vin Mazzaro has been horrible this season. After winning each of his first two starts, Mazzaro hasn’t recorded a win in his last nine starts.
Opposite Mazzaro will be Jays’ scheduled starter Ricky Romero, who has had his share of success lately. The Blue Jays are 7-2 his last nine starts and have won 4 of his last 5 starts on the road.
Today, the Jays will win another as they get over once again on the A’s.
3♦ BLUE JAYS
DAVE COKIN
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LOS ANGELES ANGELS / MINNESOTA TWINS
Take LOS ANGELES ANGELS
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The Angels continue to crush every mediocre pitcher they're facing these days, which means likely trouble for Twins lefty Perkins. Minnesota may have a tougher time with Weaver, who's been a little off lately but is generally at his toughest in day games such as this one. I expect another powerhouse offensive day for the Halos, and I can't see the Twins keeping pace. Lay the reasonable spot on the road with the Angels.
JIM FEIST
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MILWAUKEE BREWERS / SAN DIEGO PADRES
Take OVER
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The Brewers are closer to the NL Central leading Cardinals right now then they are to the NL Wildcard. But the Brewers will have to improve on their 4-6 record the last 10 games if they hope to close ground. The Padres have not only given up on the season, but they have been dumping their high priced talent too. Jake Peavy has left for greener pastures in the South side of Chicago. The Padres are dead last in hitting in the NL (.235 BA) and runs per game (3.76). The pitching hasn't been much better, ranked third from the last in the NL in ERA (5.04). Despite their anemic offense, the Padres should have little trouble with Brewers starter Carlos Villenueva who is 2-8 on the season with a 6.61 ERA. Villanueva is 0-1 his last three starts with a 11.25 ERA. Kevin Correia hasn't been terrible for the Padres at 7-8 on the season with a 4.75 ERA, though his ERA has climbed his last three starts to 6.46 ERA. Don't look for much pitching in this one as both starters shouldn't make it much past the 5th inning. Take the OVER.
Hentai Sports
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Houston Astros at St Louis Cardinals
Prediction : St Louis Cardinals -1.5
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Houston Astros has really struggled lately losing 7 of last eight games and the first two games to St Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals acquisitions of DeRosa and Holiday have really helped a lineup that had trouble scoring runs. This is not even a question today as Holiday, Pujols, and company will score early and often verse the young starter Norris. On the other side St Louis Cardinals turns to Wainright on the mound. He has been stellar in his last two starts only allowing 1 run in 14 innings. This Houston Astros are struggling at the plate without there best hitter Lance Berkman.
Tom Freese
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Boston Red Sox at Baltimore Orioles
Prediction: Boston Red Sox
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Boston is 26-10 vs. AL East teams and they are 63-27 their last 90 games in Baltimore. The Red Sox are 5-2 their last 7 games vs. righty starters and they are 4-1 as road favorites of -151 to -200. Baltimore is 34-70 their last 104 games as underdogs. Baltimore is 1-10 in 11 starts made by Jason Berken. The Orioles are 16-48 on Sunday and they are 3-9 their last 12 games overall. PLAY ON BOSTON -
Matt Fargo
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Los Angeles Dodgers at Atlanta Braves
Prediction: Los Angeles Dodgers
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Chad Billingsley has had a rough stretch of late as he has allowed five runs or more in three of his last four starts. While those numbers are not good, this is the time that we want to ride him. I consider him a top class pitcher in baseball and this group rarely puts together bad stretches for a long time. His line in his last game against the Cardinals does not look good at all but that can be attributed to one bad inning. He had a one-hitter going through five innings before the sixth inning got to him. While he has not been pitching well, Jair Jurrjens has been pitching fantastic and this is a reason to go against him. He has yet to reach that top class status and tossing four straight quality starts make this the time to go the other way. His numbers solid all around with the exception of one and that is the most important in our stance as Atlanta is just 11-11 in his 22 starts on the season.
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3* Los Angeles Dodgers
Free Selection from Arthur Ralph Sports
303 - 198 run 60 % 51-27 run here
Sun LA Angels
8)
Jr Tips
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MARINERS vs. RANGERS
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Snell will make his debut for the Mariners tonight when they try for a second straight victory of a four-game road series with the Texas Rangers. Snell was acquired by Seattle (54-50) along with shortstop Jack Wilson from Pittsburgh in a seven-player deal Wednesday.Snell went 2-8 with a 5.36 ERA in 15 starts for the Pirates this season before they sent him to the minors June 25th. The Mariners (54-40) wil try to win a second straight game in Arlington after they snapped a seven-game losing streak there with a 7-2 victory Saturday.Seattle is 4-8 this year versus the Rangers (58-44), who lost for the third time in 13 games. Texas will start Scott Feldman (9-4, 3.99), who will pitch on three days' rest after ace Kevin Millwood's scheduled start was pushed back because of a strained gluteus muscle.Feldman is 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA in two starts against the Mariners this season but he is coming off his worst outing of the year after allowing six runs and 10 hits in 2 1/3 innings of a 13-5 loss to Detroit on Wednesday. Sunday night baseball should be a long night as the bullpens will be put to work early with two unexpected starting pitchers who will struggle.
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TAKE OVER 10
Tony George
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Tampa Bay / Kansas City OVER 8.5
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I had Tampa HUGE yesterday as well as straight up on Friday as a bonus selection on my preium card. Their offense is clicking, of course whose is not against KC right now. Brian Bannister has been lit up lately for KC, and the Royals bullpen is not faring well in this series. Jamie Shields for Tampa has been in bad form to the trune of a 7.27 ERA his last 3 starts. I think KC will get some runners in scoring postion today as his WHIP is appraoching 2 and we all know no matter what kind of day Bannister has, Tampa will get runs. I smell a small shootout here as KC will pull out all the stops to avoid the sweep.
John Ryan
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Detroit Tigers vs. Cleveland Indians
Play: Cleveland Indians
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Ai Simulator 3* graded play on Cleveland as they face Detroit set to start at 1:10 EST. Supporting this graded play is a system that has gone 30-17 making 13.7 units since 2003. Play on home teams that are below average hitting teams batting <=.265 facing an average starting AL pitcher posting an ERA=4.70 to 5.70 and with a mediocre bullpen whose WHIP is 1.450 to 1.550 on the season. Indians are also a strong 13-5 (+10.0 Units) against the money line in home games versus AL teams allowing 4.7 or less runs/game in the second half of the season over the last 2 seasons. Indians starter Pavano is 21-12 (+12.3 Units) against the money line after a game where he did not walk a batter since 1997. Granted, a concern has to be that he gave up 4 home runs during that start and has allowed 8 over his last 2 starts. The reason is quite simple, he is trying to hard to get ahead in the count and throwing many pitches that are right down the middle. He does have an excellent slider that batters are hitting just 205. Evidence to this point are the fact that batters are hitting 415 on the first pitch he delivers. Look for him to mix up his approach – possibly pitching backward meaning he will thrown slider more often on the first pitch or chose a 2-seamer and go after low and away corners. Detroit offense has struggled all season and they have had to rely on strong defense to win games. They are batting just 246 with just 144 extra base hits in 54 road games this season. Cleveland is suddenly playing extremely well and batting 335 with an OBP of 401 over their last 7 games (5-2 record). Take the Indians
Scott Rickenbach
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Cincinnati Reds +1.5 vs Colorado
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Even though we have to lay some juice to get the Reds on the run line, we feel this is offering us big line value with Bronson Arroyo on the mound for the Reds. In what we anticipate being a tight, low-scoring affair, we feel there is excellent line value in forcing the Rockies to win this one by more than a run. Arroyo has produced a quality start in three of his last four outings including each of his last two starts at home! Even though the Rockies Jason Marquis is 6-3 in his career against Cincinnati, note his unimpressive 4.82 ERA against the Reds. Consider a small play on Cincinnati on the RUN line +1.5 runs on Sunday afternoon.
Ben Burns
Washington Nationals at Pittsburgh Pirates
Prediction: Under
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While he had some trouble in his last start here, Maholm has been very tough at home all season. In nine starts here, he's gone 3-1 with a 3.39 ERA and 1.217 WHIP. Maholm was outstanding in his lone start vs. the Nationals this season. That 5/20 game finished with a score of just 2-1. Maholm allowed only four hits and one run through six complete innings.
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Making his second start of the season and first on the road, Balestar was very solid last (3.00 ERA, 0.833 WHIP) time out. He allowed just five hits and two runs through six complete innings, without walking a batter. He'll have the advantage of starting against the Pirates for the first time.
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Pittsburgh is hitting only .245 and averaging just 3.8 runs per game, when playing during the afternoon. Not surprisingly, the 'under' has gone 19-13-2 in Pirate day games. Consider the Under