Ross Benjamin
Washington @ Colorado
Play: Washington -132
The Washington starter Gio Gonzalez has been magnificent on the road this season with a 6-1 team starts record while posting a stellar 2.70 ERA and 1.15 WHIP. Gonzalez is a terrific 35-12 in his team starts the last 2 seasons as a favorite of -110 or more.
The Colorado starter Friedrick is 0-3 in his last 3 team starts with a large 8.40 ERA, a 1.93 WHIP, and he allowed 6 home runs in just 15.0 innings. The Rockies are 8-15 this year versus southpaw starter, 12-27 the last 2 seasons versus a starting pitcher with an ERA of 3.00 or less, and 21-49 the last 2 seasons versus a starter with a WHIP of 1.25 or less. Play on the Washington Nationals.
Jack Jones
Philadelphia Phillies -138
The Philadelphia Phillies have a big edge on the mound tonight. Vance Worley is clearly a better starter than the washed up Erik Bedard in 2012. I'll side with the Phillies in Game 2 of this series with the Pittsburgh Pirates Tuesday because of it.
Worley has posted a 2.78 ERA and 1.250 WHIP in 11 starts this season, including a 1.35 ERA and 0.900 WHIP in his last three. Bedard is 4-7 with a 4.12 ERA and 1.417 WHIP in 14 starts this season, including 2-5 with a 6.27 ERA and 1.667 WHIP in seven road outings.
The Phillies also have the edge at the plate tonight. Philly is hitting .265 and scoring 4.3 runs/game this season, while Pittsburgh is batting .231 and putting up just 3.5 runs/game in 2012.
Worley is 13-2 against the money line vs. an NL team with an on base percentage .315 or worse over the last 2 seasons. The Pirates are 76-166 in their last 242 road games. The Phillies are 9-1 in their last 10 vs. National League Central. Philly is 36-16 in their last 52 games as a favorite of -110 to -150. The Pirates are 6-20 in the last 26 meetings in Philadelphia. Bet the Phillies Tuesday.
Ross King
Los Angeles Dodgers vs. San Francisco Giants
Play: San Francisco Giants
Dodgers Kershaw has won last 4 in San Francisco and has yet to give up an earned run in 34 innings there.Kershaw is facing Vogelsong who also has been steelar in San Francisco with a 3-0 1.26 e.r.a in his last 5 home starts.Vogelsong who is coming off his first loss in 9 starts looks to rebound here.Reality has set in and Kemp injury has put the Dodgers in a bad spot losing 6 of their last 7 on the road after getting drilled 8-0 last night and their lead in the National Leauge West has fallen to 2 games.Take the Giants as your freeplay winner who are 15-8 currently and 69-46 the last v3 seasons versus left handed starters and add the fact they are 2 games back of these Dodgers has to be motivating in itself.
Andy Iskoe
Angels / Orioles Under 8.5
This play qualifies as a "Stat of the Day" play in this matchup of a pair of lefty starters. The Angels' C J Wilson has made 15 starts this season, compiling an ERA of 2.44 and WHIP of 1.15. 12 of those 15 starts have stayed UNDER the Total with just 3 going OVER. Extreme results, to be sure, but supportable by the way Wilson has pitched. Baltimore's Brian Matusz has made 14 starts this season, 12 of which have stayed UNDER and just 2 have gone OVER. But Matusz' stats don't suggest low scoring games with his ERA of 4.99 and WHIP of 1.61. A lack of run support is the explanation and every season it seems a handful of pitchers receive either well above average run support or well below. Matusz has received just 3.2 runs per game of support. Combined, Wilson and Matusz have been involved in 24 UNDERs and just 5 OVERs this season. Let's ride this pattern at a very reasonable Total of UNDER 8 1/2 tonight.
Black Widow
Chicago White Sox -119
The Chicago White Sox are off to a great start this season as they lead the AL Central with a 38-35 record. After a 1-4 loss to the Twins last night, I'm backing the Sox to bounce back with a victory in Game 2 Tuesday. The reason is very simply: Minnesota's Liam Hendricks is one of the worst starters in baseball. Hendricks is 0-4 with a 7.39 ERA and 1.821 WHIP in six starts this season, and 0-3 with an 8.03 ERA and 2.109 WHIP in his last three. Chicago will certainly get its bats going against this guy tonight. Take the White Sox on the Money Line.
OC Dooley
Indians +140
It is easy to see why the sizzling hot Yankees riding a current 13-3 overall tear have been cast as a prohibitive home favorite, especially since they are facing an opponent whose offense has crossed the plate only THREE times in the past 3 games combined. The key to this selection is that the Yankees have NEVER homered off Cleveland's Justin Masterson who in four lifetime assignments against the Bronx Bombers (2-1, 2.08 ERA) has made bettors plenty of money. Since New York currently leads all of baseball in combined homeruns hit, the fact that they have never gone yard versys Masterson sets us up for an upset this evening. Justin Masterson is coming off a brilliant THREE-HIT shutout (9 strikeouts, 0 walks) where his ratio was off the charts. Cleveland's starting pitcher this evening has twirled 20 consecutive innings WITHOUT permitting a single earned run. As for the Indians offense keep an eye on leadoff hitter Shin-Soo Choo who in the past week is hitting a robust .379 at the plate. Former Yankees outfielder Johnny Damon is in town all week donning a Cleveland uniform