FRIDAY SERVICE PLAYS

Robert Ross

Cincinnati Reds at Florida Marlins
Prediction: Florida Marlins

Reason: Bit of a contrarian play here on the surface though a closer look shows Cueto with a 7.98 road ERA and Miller a 3.24 ERA his last three starts. A 68% winning angle says to Play Against - Road teams when the money line is +125 to -125 (CINCINNATI) - with a starting pitcher with good control (less than 1.75 BB's/start) against opponent with a starting pitcher whose WHIP is 1.650 or worse on the season-NL (41-19 over the last 5 seasons.) Take Florida!

BRAD DIAMOND

Play on: Toronto over Baltimore

Lefty Brian Burres of Baltimore is 1-2 life time with a 5+ ERA versus Toronto. To his dismay the lefty catches the Jays off a beating by the Yankees down in New York. So, it appears with the O's traveling and off a satisfying win over Minnesota, Toronto should be in a positive frame of mind to handle the efforts of the visitor. Statistically, the Jays have won the last 11 of 15 here, while the O's with Burres on four days of rest are 1-11 L12.

James Patrick

Royals vs. Yankees

The Yankees pulled one out of the hat yesterday and it looks as if their line-up is healthy and productive at the present. Tonight’s starter Rasner is 4-0 at home and the Royals have won just 3 of 30 at the Stadium. KC takes Friday Nights off as they 2-11 on this day. Our Friday Night Major League Baseball selection is New York Yankees.

Marc Lawrence

Play On: L.A. Angels w/Lackey vs. Blanton

The Angles open a weekend series with the Athletics in a matchup of American League West division leaders when John Lackey takes on Joe Blanton. SInce his return to the starting lineup, Lackey has been a model of consistency, lasting 7 or more innings in all four starts with a 1.80 ERA. And according to our MLB Weekend Cheat Sheet, he's also 7-1 with a 1.81 ERA in his last eight team starts against Oakland while Blanton is 4-7 with a 3.32 ERA his his MLB career team starts against the Halos. By the book, we'll back Lackey and the Angels against Blanton and the A's here tonight.

SPORTS ADVISORS

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Philadelphia (36-26) at Atlanta (32-29)

The streaking Phillies head south to Atlanta to open a three-game weekend series, with ageless Jamie Moyer (8-4, 4.65 ERA) set to oppose Braves ace Tim Hudson (7-4, 3.01).

Philadelphia capped an 8-2 homestand by blanking the Reds 5-0 on Thursday. The Phillies are 9-2 in their last 11, and they’ve given up two runs or fewer in three straight contests. Also, Charlie Manuel’s club has won four of its last six away from Philly and 16 of its last 21 on Fridays.

Atlanta wrapped up a four-game home series against Florida with Thursday’s come-from-behind 7-5 victory, taking three of four against the Marlins. The Braves are now 25-8 at Turner Field this season, the third best home mark in the majors. Also, they’re 7-1 in their last eight against the N.L. East and 20-8 in their last 28 against southpaw starters.

The Phillies have won four of the last five series meetings, including taking two of three at home in mid-May in the first series between the clubs this season. The host is 7-3 in the last 10 clashes.

Moyer is 4-0 with a 4.05 ERA in his last four starts, with the Phillies scoring a whopping 49 runs in those four contests. Their lowest run output during this stretch was in Sunday’s 7-5 win over the Marlins, as Moyer won despite allowing five runs on seven hits in seven innings.

The 45-year-old southpaw is 3-1 with a 3.41 ERA in five road starts this season, with the Phillies also winning his one no-decision. On the downside, Moyer is 3-8 with a 5.42 ERA in 12 appearances (11 starts) against Atlanta in his career. Last year, he faced the Braves four times, going 2-2 with a 5.55 ERA.

Hudson has logged three straight quality starts, allowing seven earned runs in 22 innings (2.86 ERA), but Atlanta lost the last two – both on the road at Milwaukee (3-2 on May 27) and Cincinnati (6-2 on Sunday). However, at home this year, the right-hander is 5-1 with a 2.81 ERA in six starts. Going back to 2007, the Braves are 20-8 in Hudson’s last 28 starts at Turner Field.

Hudson has made 13 career starts against the Phillies, going 4-5 with a 4.02 ERA, including 0-2 with a 4.13 ERA in five contests last year.

The under is 6-1-1 in Hudson’s last eight starts overall, 4-0 in his last four Friday outings and 4-2 in his last six against the Phillies. On the flip side, the over is 6-0 in Moyer’s last six starts (3-0 on the road).

The under is on streaks of 36-17-3 for the Braves overall, 13-3-1 for the Braves on Fridays and 4-1 for the Phillies against right-handed starters. However, the over is 5-0-1 in the Braves’ last six home games, 4-0 in Philly’s last four against the N.L. East, 6-1 in Philly’s last seven on Fridays and 12-3 in Philly’s last 15 series-openers.

ATS ADVANTAGE: NONE

AMERICAN LEAGUE

L.A. Angels (37-24) at Oakland (33-27)

The top two teams in the A.L. West kick off a weekend series at McAfee Coliseum, with John Lackey (1-1, 1.80) set to toe the rubber for the Angels against Joe Blanton (3-7, 4.27) in a battle of aces.

Both teams were idle on Thursday, and both come in riding winning streaks, with Los Angeles having won five in a row and Oakland taking four straight. The Angels are an impressive 19-11 on the road this season, while the A’s are 20-13 at McAfee, including 8-2 in the last 10.

The clubs split a four-game series in Los Angeles in the first clashes of 2008 between the clubs. However, the Angels have been very successful against Oakland with Lackey on the mound recently, going 7-1 in his last eight starts against the A’s overall, including 4-1 in his last five in Oakland. Additionally, the Halos are 4-0 in the last four Lackey vs. Blanton matchups.

Lackey, who missed the first six weeks of the season while recovering from an arm injury, has been outstanding in his first four starts, pitching seven innings in the first two contests and eight innings in the last two, yielding a total of six earned runs in those 30 innings. However, the Angels are just 2-2 with Lackey pitching, including 1-1 on the road, where the big right-hander sports a 2.40 ERA.

Not only is L.A. 7-1 in Lackey’s last eight starts against the A’s, but the veteran hurler has recorded a quality start in all eight of those games, going at least six innings and giving up three earned runs or fewer in each contest. For his career, Lackey is 12-3 with a 2.84 ERA versus the A’s, including 6-2 with a 3.07 ERA in Oakland.

Blanton is just 2-5 in his last nine starts, and he’s surrendered at least four runs in five of his last 10 outings. In fact, he’s coming off his worst start of the season, as he gave up six runs on 10 hits over six innings of an 8-4 loss at Texas on Saturday. Also, in nine starts at home this year, the burly right-hander is 1-5 with a 3.99 ERA, with the A’s losing seven of the nine contests.

Blanton has a decent 3.56 ERA in 14 career games (11 starts) versus Los Angeles, but he only has a 3-6 record to show for it. However, the A’s are 3-1 in Blanton’s last four efforts against the Angels.

With Lackey on the hill, the under is on streaks of 6-0 overall, 4-0 in series openers, 19-7-3 on the road and 6-1 against the A’s. Meanwhile, the over is 4-1 in Blanton’s last five starts overall and 4-1 in his last five at home, but the under is 11-5 in his last 16 Friday outings and 5-1 in his last six against L.A.

The under is 21-7 in L.A.’s last 28 games overall, 7-2 in its last nine on the road, 5-1 in its last six on Fridays and 16-5 in its last 21 against righty starters. For Oakland, the under streaks include 5-1 on Fridays, 7-2 as an underdog and 11-5 following a victory, though the A’s have hurdled the total in four of their last five overall.

Finally, the under is 38-16-2 in the past 56 series meetings between these rivals, including 4-0-1 in the last five battle sin Oakland.

ATS ADVANTAGE: L.A. ANGELS and UNDER

Doc's Sports

New York Mets vs. San Diego Padres
Play: Under

This is game two of this series between the Mets and the Padres and takes place Friday night @ Petco Park in San Diego, CA. Both teams south paws on the mound in Johan Santana going for the Mets and Randy Wolf going for San Diego. Santana has been plagued this season by the home run ball and pitching in Petco big dimension should offset that. The Padres have had trouble scoring runs all season long and thus this sets up for a big play with the under.

Dave Cokin

Angels @ A's
Play: Angels -130

The Angels and A's open a key weekend set in Oakland tonight with John Lackey slated to throw against Joe Blanton. Both teams come into the series in excellent form off series sweeps to start the week. The key here should be the starting pitching. Lackey has basically owned the A's forever and he's been superb following a stint on the DL to start the season. Joe Blanton is doing his usual adequate job eating innings and keeping his team in the game. But he's been unable to do much winning at home, where he's just 1-5 for the year. I'm banking on those numbers to play true here and I'll back the Angels as moderately priced road chalk.

Scott Spreitzer

Arizona Diamondbacks at Pittsburgh Pirates
Prediction: Pittsburgh Pirates

Reason: I'm playing the underdog Pirates with Snell on Friday night. Arizona has been an absolute mess away from the desert and should not be laying this high of a price to anybody, even if Brandon Webb is the starter. The D'backs can't be stopped when matched-up against fellow NL West opponents. But they're an anemic 12-20 against the rest of the league. And, to show just how "fake" their status as "division leader" is, Arizona has gone 2-11 in their last 13 road games. In fact, they have lost 12 of their last 16, overall, no matter where they've played. Making matters worse (or better for us) the D'backs are 1-4 in road night games against righthanders where they score an average of just 3.6 runs per game. Meanwhile, the Pirates have won back-to-back contests and they're a healthy 17-12 at home this season. Ian Snell takes the bump tonight. While his overall stats look bad, he's actually pitched quite well at PNC. The Bucs are 3-1 in his four home starts where the righty sports a 3.55 ERA in 25 1/3 IP! Snell is 2-0 in four starts against Arizona in his career, allowing only seven earned runs in 24 2/3 innings of work...a 2.55 ERA! There's no denying Webb's successes again this season. But Arizona has lost each of his last two road starts, where he's allowed seven earned runs and 19 base runners in just 11 1/3 IP. That's an un-Webb-like, 5.76 ERA & 1.68 WHIP. So, you can see why I believe this price has been heavily inflated due to faulty public perception. I'll take the value and back the home team Pirates on Friday.

Big Al McMordie

Game: Milwaukee v Colorado
Pick: Brewers

At 9:05pm our complimentary selection is on the Milwaukee Brewers over the Colorado Rockies. This is the first meeting between these two teams in 2008, and although the Rockies pretty much owned the Brewers last seaon, taking four of six games and outscoring Milwaukee 50-22 in the process, this is a much different Rockies team than in 2007. For one thing, Colorado currently has three of its biggest offensive weapons (if not their BEST offensive weapons), outfielders Matt Holliday and Brad Hawpe, and shortstop Troy Tulowitzki on the DL right now. Secondly, one of the Rockies' best young starters down the stretch (and tonight's pitcher), righthander Ubaldo Jimenez (a nice surprise for them in the 2007 playoffs) has been simply horrific this season with a 1-6 record and a 5.37 ERA. And Colorado is an even worse 1-11 in games which Jimenez has started. The Brewers have a few injuries as well, but they all involve their pitching staff and their potent offense is perfectly healthy at this point. Tonight's starter, righthanded veteran Ben Sheets has been brilliant lately and the Brewers have to be thrilled that he finally seems to be healthy. The Milwaukee bullpen has been solid with a 2.31 ERA in its last three games, while the Rockies pen has been quite the opposite (10.43 ERA in their last three). Take the Brewers.

KOSMO

Pittsburgh +150 1 unit
Florida -125 1 unit
Giants -115 1 unit
NY Yankees/Under 9.5 -125 1 unit
Boston -145 1 unit
Toronto -170 1 unit
Toronto/Under 8 Even 1 unit
Texas +120 1 unit
Oakland/Under 7.5 -125 1 unit

Lucky Leprechaun Sports

BOSTON -143 over Seattle

The Mariners are 0-8 in their last 8 during game 1 of a series and 5-16 in the last 21 meetings in Boston, while Boston is 14-2 at home with the O/U line at 9 to 10.5, 24-7 vs a team with a losing record and 24-5 in home games overall. Bartolo Colon has been very good for Sox this year, going 3-0 with a nice 3.50 ERA, included in there is a victory over Seattle a week ago. In his career Colon is 14-11 with a 4.03 ERA vs the M's, plus in his last 9 starts vs them he has given up just 3 ER runs or less in 8 of those starts. He will be facing a Seattle team that just doesn't hit well or score many runs. Seatlle is hitting just .250 for the year and scoring just 4 rpg, including hitting just .246 on the road with that same 4.0 rpg production. Felix has a solid ERA overall at 3.29 but his record is just 3-5 due to the fact that Seattle scores just 3.2 rpg for him, including scoring just 2.3 rpg for him on the road. That won't get it done here vs this offense , especially at home. Boston has been dominant at home, going 24-5 overall, scoring 6 rpg and allowing just 3.7 rpg. They also hit .303 in their home park, while allowing opponents to hit for just .239. Boston is just too tough at home right now and they are looking for a little payback here after dropping 2 of 3 in Seattle a week ago. Bartolo should notch his 4th win of they year here, as seattle doesn't give Hernandez enough run support once again.

Bobby Maxwell

San Francisco -120 at WASHINGTON

Tim Lincecum (7-1, 2.23 ERA) is quickly establishing himself as a star pitcher in the National League. He's helped the Giants rebound from losses eight times this seaosn and will do it again tonight when he leads them to a series-opening win over the Nationals in Washington.

So far this season when Lincecum has taken the hill after a loss, the Giants are 8-1 and he is 6-0 with a 2.51 ERA. On Sunday he gave up one run on four hits in seven innings but got a no-decision in a 4-3, 10-inning win.

On the highway this season, Lincecum is 5-0 with a 1.72 ERA in 36.3 innings.

Washington had lost four straight games until winning the finale of Thursday's doubleheader against St. Louis on a two-run, 10th-inning walk off homer. Jason Bergmann (1-2, 4.50) is on the hill for the Nationals.

The Nationals are 4-9 in their last 13 home games and just 4-11 in their last 15 against teams from the N.L. West. They are also just 1-4 in Bergmann's last five starts as a home 'dog.

The Giants are 6-2 in their last eight on the road and 4-1 against right-handed pitching. Look, it's siimple in this one. Lincecum is a stud and he's starting to realize it and pitch like it. We'll play him to continue his success on the road in this one.

3* SAN FRANCISCO

Steve Janus

LAA Angels vs. Oakland Athletics
Play LAA Angels -110

The Angels are having yet another solid season on the diamond. Pitcher John Lackey, after being injured at the beginning of the season, has come on strong. He's just 1-1 so far this year, but his 1.80 ERA and 1.03 WHIP will start turning into wins in no time. Oakland is only 2-7 as an underdog in their last 9 games. The smart play here is on LA.

Professional Gambler Newsletter

MARLINS -119 over Reds (Miller-Cueto)
The Marlins' bats performed about average during their 10-game road trip. This is their first game at home since May 25th. According to that, their bats should be at least as good as "average" here at home. (That might not be so in their first day at home.) Their starting pitcher, Miller's, current stats are significantly better than average. Miller's recent stats are better than Cueto's stats (according to us). Cueto's numbers are not bad, but merely about average. As we see it, the big difference in these teams involves their batting stats. The Reds managed only 49 hits in their last 8 games. That's only slightly more than 6 hits per game. (The average National League team gets 8.9 hits per game.) The bottom line is, we think the Marlins are going into this game with somewhat better pitching, better bats, and they have Friday night home field advantage. We'd lay as much as -140 with the Marlins.

PADRES +132 over Mets (Wolf-Santana)
The Mets and Padres are both recently at the bottom end of "average" so far as their bat power (according to us). It's the difference in current pitching stats between Wolf and Santana that puts us onto the Padres, plus the fact that the moneyline is offering us odds of +132 even here at home. Santana may have better numbers than Wolf year-to-date, but he hasn't been as good lately. We'd probably take the Padres at even money or better.