Mike Rose
Florida Marlins -120
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Grizzled veteran Jamie Moyer will be in search of his 9th win of the season when he gets the starting nod for the 18th time Thursday night. The southpaw has gotten some tremendous run support his L/3 times out (6.0 RPG), and because of it, sports a 3-0 mark with a 6.06 ERA & 1.35 WHIP during that stretch. He suffered a setback his last time out before the break where he coughed up eight hits (2 HR) and six ERs through five innings against the Cincinnati Reds. Hes been at his worst under the bright lights at night (3-6 with a 7.09 ERA), but hes 12-2 with a 3.06 ERA in 14 career starts vs. the Florida Marlins (1-1 in 09).
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Christopher Volstad enters his 19th start of the 09 MLB betting season off his best start of the year where he notched his first career shutout against San Francisco. He limited the Giants to just five hits while striking out six and walking none through his nine innings of work. Consistency has been his problem thus far as he has a couple three inning outings to his name this year. He'll be looking to improve upon his 3-5 home mark in this start. He outdueled Moyer in his May 25th start against the Phillies, and is 1-0 having allowed just 10 hits and five ERs in 13.2 innings against them this year.
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The road team dominated the first six meetings between these teams in the first half of the season (5-1), so Im looking for the home teams to balance that ledger out starting tonight. Moyers been the beneficiary of major run support of late, but I dont foresee that happening again tonight against Volstad who went into the break on top of his game. Hes had relative success vs. Philly in his career, and I look for him to inch his team even closer to the champs tonight with another solid outing. The Fish take G1!!!
Dennis Macklin
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Philadelphia Phillies at Florida Marlins
Prediction: Philadelphia Phillies
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Jamie Moyer will be facing kids that weren't born yet when he broke in but still seems to be able to scratch and claw through five or six innings. The Phils have won his last four starts behing 28 runs of support and should have no trouble getting seven tonight against Fish' Chris Volstadt who is 1-2 and 7.98 in his L3 at the Land Shark. Key series for both teams and Phils rate a flyer as a small dog. Take Philadelphia.
Jimmy The Moose
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Seattle Mariners at Cleveland Indians
Prediction: Seattle Mariners
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The Mariners have won 3 of their last 4 games while the Indians have lost 6 of their last 10. Seattle is 9-2 in their last 11 road games where the total is set between 7-8.5. Seattle has won 4 of Olson's last 5 starts overall. In his last 4 road starts the Mariners are 4-0. The Indians are 7-19 in their last 26 overall. In their last 10 as a home favorite they are 2-8. Cleveland has lost their last 6 games vs. a left-handed starter. Cleveland has lost Lee's last 5 starts. In his last 9 starts vs. a team with a winning record the Indians are 1-8. Play on the Seattle Mariners +.
Jr Tips
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ASTROS vs. DODGERS
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Los Angeles (56-32) leads the NL West, seven games ahead of second-place San Francisco although the Dodgers lost two of three road games against the Astros from April 21-23. The Astros (44-44) are .500 entering the All-Star break. Wandy Rodriguez (8-6, 2.96 ERA) has been a huge part of Houston's success as the left-hander went 3-0 with a 1.86 ERA over his last four starts of the first half, all Astros wins. He pitched a shutout holding Pittsburgh to five hits and 11 strikeouts in a 5-0 victory last Wednesday. Rodriguez is 2-2 with a 3.23 ERA in six career games and five starts against the Dodgers. He held them to one run and five hits in six innings April 23, but lost 2-0. Dodgers starter Randy Wolf (4-3, 3.45) finished the first half strong. The left-hander posted a 2.45 ERA over his last three starts before the All-Star game, including an 11-2 road win over the New York Mets last Thursday in which he gave up two runs in 6 1-3 innings. Wolf is 4-4 with a 3.89 ERA lifetime against Houston, which ranks third in the majors with a .293 batting average against lefties. After the all-star break, it will take the batters a couple of games to get their swing back and both tonight's starting pitchers have been stellar of late and have had nothing but success against their opponents. Runs will be hard to come by tonight.
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TAKE UNDER 7 1/2
Jimmy Boyd
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1 Unit on Washington Nationals +115
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I'll take the Nationals tonight against the struggling Cubs. John Lannan has done a good job at home this year with a 3-0 record and a 2.20 ERA in 9 starts. If you look at Chicago's starter for today, Rich Harden, he has struggled in his past three outings, going 1-2 with a 7.71 ERA and 2.14 WHIP. I know it's hard to beleive but the Nationals are also scoring more runs that the Cubs this year, so even though Washington is the worst team in the league, I have to take them here today to get the 2nd half started out with a win on their home field.
Steve Merril
Chicago Cubs vs. Washington Nationals
Play: Under 9
Washington begins their 2nd half with a new manager in Jim Riggleman and will host the Cubs for four games beginning Thursday night. Going for the Nats is John Lannan who is 6-6 with a 3.70 ERA and 13 Unders in 18 outings. At home Lannan is 3-0 with a 2.20 ERA and six Unders in nine starts. Lannan's had good success against the Cubs, going 2-0 with a 3.38 beating them 2-0 at home and 13-5 at Wrigley Field. The Cubs hit just .171 against the lefty with Aramis Ramirez (0-6), Ryan Theriot (0-5), Alfonso Soriano (0-2) and Aaron Miles (0-2) all going hitless against him in limited at-bats. The Cubs are 8-10 against lefties with 11 of their 18 games going Under the total. Six of the last seven in this series have gone Under the total as well. Going for Chicago is Rich Harden who is 5-6 with a 5.47 ERA this season. On the road Harden is 3-1 with a 2.59 ERA and three Unders in five starts. Harden has seen the Nats just once, winning 6-1 at home and going seven innings, while giving up two hits and one run striking out 11 in that game. Washington hits just .209 against Harden with four Nats getting hits off of him. Those who have yet to touch Harden include Willie Harris (0-8), Cristian Guzman (0-6), Ryan Zimmerman (0-3), Adam Dunn (0-2) and Anderson Hernandez (0-2). Washington has gone Under in 22 of their 42 home games this season.
Larry Ness
Los Angeles Angels @ Oakland Athletics
PICK: Los Angeles Angels
Ervin Santana had solid seasons for the Angels in 2005 and 2006 (12 and 16 wins), developing a reputation for good pitching at home while struggling on the road. He had a terrible 2007 season, going 7-14 with a 5.76 ERA overall, posting an 8.87 ERA in 14 road starts (team went 3-11). However, he was an All-Star in 2008 when he won a career-high tying 16 games (seven losses) and began pitching as well (if not better) on the road as he did at home. He has not been able to carry that success over into 2009. Two stints on the DL this season have not helped and he'll open the second half 1-5 with a 7.81 ERA (9.88 ERA in losing his last three starts). He's allowed a whopping 60 hits in just 40.1 innings but the Angels are hopeful that he will be able to get things turned around against an opponent he has dominated over the years (the A's). Santana is 9-1 with a 1.38 ERA in 13 career starts (team is 10-3) against the A's, including 4-0 with a 1.54 ERA in six starts at the Oakland Coliseum. He'll be opposed by Dallas Braden who is 7-7 witha 3.12 ERA in 18 starts (team is 8-10). Braden has pitched well all season with little run support. Oakland ranks last in the league in batting (.246) and has scored only 361 runs (the third-fewest in the AL). Braden has felt the brunt of the team's lack of scoring, as the A's have given Braden an average of 3.61 RPG of support this season, the second-lowest mark in the AL. Take Santana and the Angels.
Rob Homyak
5 Units on Los Angeles Dodgers
Play ON LA ANGELS using the money line in Road games in games played on a grass field
The record is 64 Wins and 38 Losses for the last two seasons (+31.60 units)
WOLF: LAD 19-3 at home with a money line of -100 to -150
The Dodgers are 48-21 at Dodger Stadium dating to last season (28-13 this year) and are 21-8 at home against lefty starters, 7-3 on Thursday, 4-0 after a day off and they?ve won 6 consecutive series openers. The Dodgers are 13-3 in Wolf's last 16 home starts, 11-2 in his last 13 home starts when he is the favorite, 7-1 in his last 8 against the N.L. Central and 4-1 in his last 5 on Thursday.
The Houston Astros are 7-19 in the last 26 road starts vs. a winning team with Wandy on the mound. The Dodgers own a .284 career average vs. Wandy and they are hitting .300 on the season at home vs. LHP.
Baseball plays are based on both probable starting pitchers going. If there is a pitching change the game becomes a no play. Always specify both pitchers.
Karl Garrett
Philadelphia +115 at FLORIDA
G-Man toting in a 10-4 comp play mark the last 2 weeks of action.
For Thursday night in your write-in game, take the Phillies to continue their roll against the Marlins.
Philly went to the break in style, winning 5 in a row, and 9 of their last 10 to open up some space in what was a tight NL East race.
Florida didn't help themselves prior to the break, as the Marlins dropped 4 of their last 7 prior to the All-Star break.
The Phillies have "Malins-Killer" Jamie Moyer on the mound for this one, and all Philadelphia has done is go 12-2 the last 14 times Moyer has made the start against the fish.
Philly is also 6-2 the last 8 meetings with the Marlins,.
Chris Volstad will counter, and while he does own a May win over Philadelphia, the righty is just 2-5 over his last 8 starts since winning against the Phils.
Volstad's last start was a complete game, 5-hit shutout of San Francisco, but I doubt he will duplicate that feat against this loaded Philadelphia lineup.
Take the Phils, as they run the winning streak to 6 in a row.
3♦ PHILADELPHIA
Drew Gordon
Philadelphia +105 at FLORIDA
Now on a 24-16 roll with the plays I'm giving away! For today's complimentary play, we're looking at the Philadelphia/Florida match-up.
Sorry Florida-backers, but there's simply too much value to be had with the defending champs in this match up. Not only is the pitching match up closer than it appears, but a now healthy Phillies offense is FAR more potent than the Fish, and it'll show.
Speaking of the pitching match up, although veteran Jamie Moyer's numbers are down this season, that won't matter tonight, as he has always excelled against the Marlins. Moyer is 12-2 with a 3.06 ERA in 14 career starts versus Florida, and he's been even better in South Florida, posting a ridiculous 1.58 ERA at Land Shark Stadium! No question a match up against this Marlins offense is just what the doctor ordered after his last start was a disaster vs the Reds... Look for the bounce back tonight!
On the flip side, I know full well Chris Volstad's numbers against the Phillies are solid, going 2-1 with a 2.60 ERA in 5 career starts. However, Volstad has not been the same pitcher at home, going just 3-5 with an ugly 5.15 ERA. Also, while his 5-hit shutout win over the Giants was impressive in his last start, let's not get carried away, as the Phillies offense is head and shoulders better than San Fran's.
Finally, its important to note that the Phillies are crushing righties of late, batting a red-hot .335 against them over their last 10 games! Furthermore, when you factor in Moyer's uncanny success against this Marlins offense, you've got all the makings of a solid road win here by the Phillies.
Take Philadelphia behind Moyer over Florida and Volstad in this MLB match up.
2♦ PHILADELPHIA
Chris Jordan
Philadelphia +110 at FLORIDA
I like the way the defending World Series champs entered the All-Star break, winning five straight and a lead in the National League East.
And with them opening their series where they feel at home - that being on the road - and their first series being against second-place Florida, I love the idea we're getting money with veteran Jamie Moyer on the hill.
He won his last four starts of the first half, he's 12-2 with a 3.06 ERA against the Marlins and he's never lost (7-0) at Land Shark Stadium, while compiling a 1.58 ERA. Moyer's also in revenge here, as his loss to the Marlins on May 25 was the second in 14 career starts.
On the flipside, Florida's Chris Volstad is 2-5 in his last eight starts, with a 5.44 ERA.
Volstad was on the winning side of that May 25 game, so that will be added motivation for Moyer in this one.
1♦ PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES (
Jake Timlin
Take the Dodgers tonight as they won’t lose at home.
Sure Houston rolls into the second half on a nice little run having won 6 of their last 8 games and pitching Wandy Rodriguez who is 2-0 with a 2.05 ERA the last 3 starts, but with Los Angeles playing at home I don’t see the Dodgers losing tonight.
Not when Los Angeles is still an MLB best 56-32 and a very solid 28-13 at Chaves Ravine. Even better pitching for the Dodgers tonight will be Wolf who is 1-0 in his last three starts where Los Angeles has won 2 of those 3 outings.
Flat out, even though Houston is starting to put things together I don’t see them beating the league best team on the road tonight.
All Los Angeles!
1♦ Los Angeles Dodgers
Craig Davis
Tonight we're going to start the second half of the season the same way we ended the first half... with winners. Well, one winner, because tonight we have just one play... the best play on the board... and it's going to be an easy winner to start the second half of the season in style. Jump on board now.
Tonight's free play winner is on the Atlanta Braves on the run line over the NY Mets. Honestly, it comes down to one thing... I don't trust Oliver Perez. Where do I begin? His 8.98 ERA? His 2.25 WHIP. His 13 walks over his last two starts? Pick one, I don't care. They will all play a factor in tonight's Atlanta win. Perez will be lucky to make it past the 5th inning if his walk total continues to sky-rocket as his pitch count is being closely watched by Mets' coaches. The team has fallen below .500 and several columnists are calling them the biggest bust of the first half of the 2009 season. Atlanta, meanwhile, sends Derek Lowe to the hill and although his season ERA is 4.39, I was definitely impressed by his last outing in Colorado. He went six strong innings, allowing just one earned run, one walk and just four hits in his 8th win of the season. His last outing vs. the Mets was a win, going nearly 7 innings, allowing just two earned runs, five hits, and two walks. Braves roll the Mets tonight for another easy free play winner.
2♦ BRAVES -1 1/2