BRETT ATKINS
I am 8-3 with my last 11 free selections and tonight I'm coming with a winner on the White Sox s they are in Oakland to take on the A's.
Most of my action comes when I see a pitcher I like and a good number on the board and I jump all over it. Today’s play on the White Sox is more of a play against a pitcher and taking advantage of a big underdog number on the board.
Chicago will get plenty of runs off Oakland’s Dallas Braden today and get the win. Braden is 4-7 on the season and is making just his second start since a stint on the DL. Oakland is 1-8 in his last nine starts and on Tuesday he allowed four runs on 10 hits in 4.2 innings to the Red Sox.
Young Daniel Hudson goes for the White Sox, making just his third start this season. He looked solid on Monday, allowing one run in 6.2 innings of a 6-1 win in Seattle.
Grab the plus-money with the White Sox as their offense will get the job done today.
4♦ CHICAGO WHITE SOX
JOEL TYSON
For Sunday afternoon, take the Twins to come through at Baltimore.
Minnesota took it 7-2 on Saturday, as they now have won 2 of 3 at Baltimore this season, and 10 of their last 14 at Camden Yards.
Kevin Slowey has pitched average baseball of late, but he is 8-5 for the season, and his team has 52 wins this year compared to Baltimore's 31 wins on the season.
The O's are just a bad team, and Jacob Arrieta is still learning how to pitch at this level.
With Minnesota in the thick of things in their division, I have to lay the road lumber and back the Twins.
4♦ MINNESOTA
JEFF BENTON
I’m still on a 106-75-2 roll with plays that I’m giving away! For Sunday, I’ll take a shot with the Padres on the run line (-1½ runs) at Pittsburgh.
San Diego’s got a big pitching edge here, with Wade LeBlanc (3.28 ERA) matching up against Pirates rookie Brad Lincoln (1-3, 6.29 ERA). How solid has LeBlanc been this season? He’s given up more than four runs in a game just once all season, and he’s held 13 of 17 opponents to three earned runs or less. Since June 1, he’s allowed just 18 runs in nine starts spanning 55 innings (2.95 ERA).
Meanwhile, Lincoln has gotten knocked around the yard in his last three outings, allowing 15 runs on 23 hits (five home runs) in 13 1/3 innings. And in three starts at home this year, he’s 0-1 with a 9.42 ERA, and opponents are reaching base at a .443 clip when Lincoln works at PNC Park.
The Padres (57-39, first place in the N.L. West) are obviously much better than Pittsburgh (34-63, last place in the weak N.L. Central). On top of that, San Diego has won six straight games as a favorite, seven of nine overall, nine of 11 as a road chalk and five straight on Sunday, while the Pirates have lost 41 of their last 57 games overall, 40 of 53 as an underdog, four of five against left-handed starters and 41 of 55 on Sunday.
Finally, San Diego has owned the Pirates, going 20-7 in the last 27 meetings, including five straight victories (all in Pittsburgh).
4♦ SAN DIEGO PADRES -1.5
Mr Vegas
FOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
Padres at Pirates
Play: Padres
FOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
The NL West leading Padres are playing great ball, having now won seven of their last nine games after Saturday's 9-2 drubbing of the Pirates. It's still baffles most people how the Padres have the NL's best record with a team with no power and a team .253 bating average. Good pitching must beat good hitting since the Padres are doing this with a top NL staff and bullpen. Sure, the Padres have scored 14 runs in the first two games of this series, but they did this by only getting two runs on one extra base hit. Meanwhile, the Pirates lost their third game in a row and for the 11th time in the last 15. San Diego will start Wade LeBlanc who is 4-8 this season with a 3.28 ERA. Despite having eight losses, LeBlanc has not given up more than four earned runs in any of his last 10 starts while holding opponents to one run or less in four of those starts. Brad Lincoln gets the start for the Bucs with a 1-3 record, 6.29 ERA and 1.53 WHIP. Lincoln was hit hard last time out, allowing seven earned runs and nine hits in just 2 1/3 innings to the Brewers. I don't like laying this heavy of a price on the road, but when you have such a difference in pitching, you know you will always be in this game with the Padres. I'm taking San Diego here as they continue their great play.
Michael Alexander
Atlanta Braves vs. Florida Marlins
Play: Atlanta Braves
FOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
After a comeback win yesterday versus the Marlins, the Atlanta Braves look to take the rubber game of this weekend series. The surprising Braves come into this one leading the NL East by 3 1/2 games over the Phillies. Today they send right-hander, Jair Jurrjens, to the hill. Jurrjens has been tough his L2 starts posting s stellar 1.32 ERA.
FOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
The Marlins at 48-49 and sit 6 1/2 games in back of Atlant after yesterday's loss. The Marlins have struggled versus Right-handed starters posting only a 31-18 mark. Today they will counter with Right-hander, Chris Volstad, who has really struggled in his L3 outings going 0-2 with a sky high 7.07 ERA. He'll be facing an Atlanta team who has thrived versus Right-handers posting a 39-24 mark.
FOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
Supporting Angles: VOLSTAD is 1-10 (-8.2 Units) against the money line as an underdog of +100 or higher this season. ATLANTA is 23-10 (+13.8 Units) against the money line in road games vs. teams averaging 2.75 or less extra base hits per game in the second half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
FOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
Here you have a superior team, Atlanta, with a superior pitcher. Easy pickings with this one. I'm taking Atlanta
Larry NessTHESPREAD.COM
FOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
Boston Red Sox at Seattle Mariners
Prediction: Boston Red Sox
FOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
Despite Jon Lester taking a no-hitter into the sixth inning last night, the Mariners beat the Red Sox 5-1. Saunders' two-run HR ended Lester's no-hit bid in the sixth and the Mariners then added three eighth-inning runs off the Boston lefty. It was just Seattle's fifth win in the month of July (against 16 losses). Expect the Mariners to return to their losing ways here, as the team hasn't won back-to-back games since June 29-30. Matsuzaka is 7-3 with a 4.29 ERA on the season but that hardly tells the whole story. After opening with a 7.89 ERA in his first four starts, he is 5-2 with a 2.89 ERA in his last nine outings (team is 6-3 ). Opponents are batting .206 against him during this nine-game stretch. despite a stint on the DL. Matsuzaka is 4-0 with a 2.09 ERA in his last six road starts (team is 5-1) and will face a Mariners team which is batting a major league-worst .234, not to mention one which has scored the fewest runs (326 or 3.31 per) and hit the fewest HRs (62). Doug Fister goes for Seattle but he's winless in eight starts since his last win (May 14), a stretch in which he's gone 0-5 with a 5.33 ERA (team is 2-6) plus spent almost a month on the DL with arm fatigue. Lay it with Boston.
Craig TrappTHESPREAD.COM
FOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
St Louis Cardinals vs. Chicago Cubs
Play: St Louis Cardinals
FOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
STL will try to avoid sweep as they turn to Carpenter to get them this win. Also they hope the offense will be more consistent and get to Dempster for CHC. Carpenter has been great in his last two starts going 2-0 with a 1.13 ERA. Dempster has won 3 in a row but basically won those due to huge outputs on offense as they scored 17 runs in those games. Look for STL to hit and pitch their way to a big blowout as STL can't afford to lose with their ace on the mound.
JR O'DonnellTHESPREAD.COM
FOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
FLA (+135) vs ATL
FOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
BOOOOOOOM goes the Florida Marlins a nasty Dangerous dog today as the world "66%" so far will line up on the Atlanta Bravos. The #'s a powerful on Chris Volstad 4-8 over all and a 4.78 ERA today at home & the Marlins got pounded last night 10-5 by the "Hotlanta" Braves. The public will ride J Jurrjenns today and his #'s are pretty nice as of late, 3-0 and a 2.20 ERA the last 4 battles, Not us as this is a huge GUT and feel play for Jr's Camp. We will be riding the 48-49 Fla Marlins + 135 as this club wants to get to .500. Jr O has been red hot 10-3 the last 13 paid winners and we will go against the public and ROLL WITH FISH!!
SPORTS WAGERS
Kansas City +2.60 over NY YANKEES
It’s just a baseball game. It’s not a playoff game or it doesn’t have any special significance other than A-Rod pressing for #600. It’s not a pitching mismatch and it’s not like the Royals aren’t dangerous. Yeah, KC loses a lot of games but this is a team that unlike Baltimore and Seattle can score runs. When you have a team that can score and the take-back is this high, they’re worth a wager, especially when you consider the recent fate of Phil Hughes. Hughes is a misleading 11-3. Hughes is 1-2 with a 6.85 ERA in his last four starts and he’s 0-1 with a 10.57 ERA in two career starts against the Royals. What’s even more disturbing than that is the quality or lack thereof of his last 10 opponents. In fact, over his last 10 starts, Hughes has faced Baltimore twice, Seattle twice, the Mets twice, Cleveland, Houston, Toronto and the Angels. Five of those seven teams (Houston, Toronto, Seattle, the Mets and Cleveland) are at or near the bottom of every offensive category including team BA and runs scored. The other two, Baltimore and the Angels aren’t far off. Prior to this year, Hughes has never pitched more than 86 innings in a single major-league season and now he’s in unchartered territory with 106+ innings and counting. He’s been getting torched recently and it could happen again today. Meanwhile, Sean O’Sullivan just pitched against the Yanks last week as a member of the Angels. He went six full and allowed just two hits and two runs and the Angels won easy, 10-2. Oh, BTW, that was against Hughes. The second time around is a different deal and while you can’t expect the same success out of O’Sullivan, this isn’t about wagering on him. This is all about talking back 2.60 against a guy that is blowing up. Play: Kansas City +2.60 (Risking 2 units).
Washington +1.30 over MILWAUKEE
Ross Detwiler makes his season debut here and replaces Luis Atliano in the rotation. Detwiler is a former first-round pick and last February he had right hip surgery. He’s been very sharp in the minors with a 2.27 ERA over eight starts. The Nats were very cautious with Detwiler in his first four rehab starts, as he was lifted after four innings in each one. However, he subsequently got stronger and threw a combined 17 innings in his last three starts, topped off by a seven-inning, five-hit shutout in his last start on July 21. Covering 32 innings over his minor-league rehab assignment, Detwiler struck out 31 and walked just seven and he’ll face a Brewer team minus Corey Hart again. The Brewers have won just six times in 19 games that Dave Bush has started. That alone makes the Brewers an unnecessary risk laying 38¢. Bush was ripped apart in his last start in Pittsburgh when he allowed 10 hits and nine runs in four frames before being lifted. Bush is an average pitcher at best with a BAA of .287 and while he’s capable of keeping his team in games, he’s also capable of getting rocked, as he has already done so in numerous games this year. Play: Washington +1.28 (Risking 2 units).
Toronto –1 +1.09 over DETROIT Game 1
The Jays will play two in Detroit and the first game features Brett Cecil vs Armando Gallaraga. Cecil is a guy the Tigers have never seen and that’s a huge advantage for the Jays because Cecil is a rock-solid starter with nothing but upside. Cecil has a high groundball rate (44%) to go along with a low flyball rate (38%) and at this park against players that have yet to face him, his chances of success are great. Also note that the Tigers are banged up badly with Brandon Inge, Magglio Ordonez and Carlos Gullien all on the rack. In three July starts against the Yanks, KC and the Twins, Cecil has a BAA of .206 and an ERA of 2.33. Galarraga returned to the rotation last week and allowed four earned runs in 7.1 innings but allowed nine hits. Over his last two starts over a two-week span he’s allowed 19 hits in 13 frames. His near-perfect game has been well-documented, but his skills leave a lot to be desired. He has just 28 K’s all year in 62 frames and if you can’t strikeout these Jays hitters, they’ll kill you. Tigers were laboring badly before that aforementioned trio went down and now they’re really in some serious trouble. Play: Toronto –1 +1.09 (Risking 2 units).
LEE KOSTROSKI
Milwaukee Brewers -140 over Washington Nationals
Dave Bush has mainly made positive starts this season for the Brewers but for whatever reason he is a pitcher that is prone to the occasional disaster outing. Three times this season Bush has allowed seven or more runs to push his ERA to 4.34 even though Bush has produced twelve quality starts on the season. Only four times in 19 starts has Bush allowed more than three runs and he has pitched well in the start following each of the previous three ugly outings. Bush had a terrible outing on Tuesday allowing ten runs in four innings but a rebound should be in order as Bush had made six straight quality starts prior to that game, not allowing more than two earned runs in any of those games.
Ross Detwiler went 1-6 in 14 starts for the Nationals last season with a 5.00 ERA and he has been brought back up to the big leagues for the first time this year to make today’s start. Milwaukee has never faced Detwiler but the Brewers are batting .280 against left-handed pitching in the last ten games. Washington was forced to use six pitchers last night in a 4-3 loss and the struggling bullpen could be in a tough position today with Detwiler unlikely to be held deep into the game. While the Brewers have worse season numbers than Washington in the bullpen, Milwaukee has impressively shored up that unit in the last month including a 2.70 bullpen ERA in the past ten games.
Washington is 2-7 in the nine games since the all star break while batting just .235 against right-handed pitching. This is the final game on a long ten game road trip and this is a team that appears to be out of gas, scoring just four runs per game on the road trip with four games of three or fewer runs produced. The Brewers have won three consecutive games against the Nationals and eight of the last eleven meetings between these teams. Surprisingly the Nationals have not had to face Bush in the last three years so the edge should be with the veteran pitcher in this game.
The Brewers are 7-2 in the last nine games as a favorite and while the Brewers still own a losing home record for the season, Milwaukee is on a five-game home winning streak. Washington is 17-35 in road games for the season and Washington could be without its best offensive and defensive player, Ryan Zimmerman, for Sunday’s match-up. Milwaukee is 18-11 in game 3 of a series this season and a solid bounce back performance should be expected from Bush, who has been pitching extremely well in the past two months despite the hiccup earlier this week.
RocketmanTHESPREAD.COM
FOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
Chicago White Sox vs. Oakland Athletics
Play: Oakland Athletics
FOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
Oakland is 23-10 this year in day games. Oakland has won 7 of their last 9 games overall. Oakland bullpen has a 2.81 ERA at home this year. Dallas Braden has a 3.74 ERA overall this year, 3.06 ERA at home this season and a 2.70 ERA his last 3 starts. Braden has a 3.86 ERA overall vs Chicago White Sox since 1997. We'll recommend a small play on Oakland today!
Jeff AlexanderTHESPREAD.COM
FOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
1 Unit on Cincinnati Reds -119
FOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
The Reds get the call this afternoon, showing good value at this price considering they have won 20 of their last 27 meetings with the Astros, including their last 5 in Houston. Leake has been sensational for Cincy, going 7-1 with an ERA of 3.45 this season. He has been at his best on the road, where he is 3-0 with an ERA of 2.66. For Houston, Rodriguez is carrying an ERA of 5.11 on the season, and the Astros are just 1-7 in his last 8 starts vs. a team with a winning record. The Reds are 27-9 in their last 36 road games vs. a team with a losing record, and I'll take them in this spot today.
Sac LawsonTHESPREAD.COM
FOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
ATL (-136) vs FLA
FOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
Volstad pitched in the Minors on Wednesday, as a result is on very short rest and will be limited to 5 innings today. The Marlins pen has had to piece together 11 innings of work in the last 3 games, and with Volstad only going 5, that's a ton of pressure on a tired pen. I expect Atlanta to plate some runs late in this game, and take advantage of their bullpens consistent success.
Michael Cannon
Take the A’s for the home win over the White Sox.
Chicago has been struggling since the All-Star break, losing five of eight and batting just .245 as a team.
Rookie Daniel Hudson makes his second start since taking the spot of the injured Jake Peavy in the White Sox rotation.
Oakland has won eight of 10 and will start Dallas Braden, he of the perfect game back on May 9 against the Rays. Braden hasn’t won a game since, but I feel like today is the day he gets back in the win column.
The A’s are a major league-best 23-10 during the day.
Take Oakland for the home win.
3♦ OAKLAND
DAVID CHAN
FOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
San Diego Padres @ Pittsburgh Pirates
PICK: San Diego Padres
FOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
The Padres, who won Friday's opener 5-3, are now looking to win all 10 series they've played at PNC Park since its opening in 2001, and have a chance to record their first sweep there. LeBlanc has been solid this season with a 3.28 ERA. During LeBlanc's most recent start he only allowed two runs over six innings against the Braves.