Doc’s
Take Over 9½ in New York @ Houston
The Mets will have an off day before this three games series opens up against the Astros @ Minute Maid Park in Houston, TX. Pedro Martinez will take the ball for the Mets who are in a battle with the Phillies and Marlins for the NL East Division. Pete has struggled this season currently with a 6.25 E.R.A. setting up a perfect situation for the over since both teams have powerful line-ups. Much of the Mets resurgence has been because of Carlos Delgado and with him starting to hit he ball hard, the Mets have really increased their scoring productivity. Houston has some big bats as well led by Delgado and Berkman and thus we will not worry about who wins this game and just collect with the over.
Bobby Maxwell
Arizona at L.A. DODGERS
Today we're going with Dodgers as they host the D'Backs in an N.L. West showdown.
The two fought it out Thursday night with the D'Backs getting the 2-1 win behind the pitching of Brandon Webb and the couple timely hits they strung together in one inning. But tonight the Dodgers have a huge weapon joining their team and that stadium will be buzzing.
It'll be like a playoff game as the stands are packed and Manny Ramirez makes his debut in Dodger Blue. And he is very familiar with Arizona starter Randy Johnson (8-7, 4.58 ERA) after the Big Unit spent time with the Yankees.
The Dodgers are going with lefty Clayton Kershaw (1-3, 4.53 ERA) who was brilliant last time out, blanking the Nationals for six innings as Los Angeles got a 2-0 win.
Johnson hasn't seen the Dodgers since June 2007 and Los Angeles got him for four runs in three innings of that outing and scored a 9-5 win. Arizona is 0-3 in his last three starts against the Dodgers.
Expect the Dodgers to get some timely hits and Manny's appearance to ignite a few of the players in their lineup tonight. Play Los Angeles.
4♦ L.A. DODGERS
Jimmy The Moose
Toronto Blue Jays at Texas Rangers
Prediction: Texas Rangers
The Jays have lost 3 of their last 4 while the Rangers have won 2 of their last 3 games. The Jays are 4-9 in their last 13 games as a road dog. In their last 11 road games vs. a team with a winning record the Jays are 2-9. Texas has won 5 of their last 7 games vs. AL East team's. In their last 34 games as a home favorite of -110 to -150 the Rangers are 23-11. The Jays are 8-22 in their last 30 trips to Texas. Play on the Texas Rangers -.
Marc Lawrence
Arizona Diamondbacks at Los Angeles Dodgers
Prediction: Arizona Diamondbacks
Randy Johnson and the Diamondbacks take on the Dodgers in Los Angeles Friday night with the City of Angels agog over the acquisition of Manny Ramirez. The fact of the matter here, though, is Johnson is back in commanding KW form with 2 walks and 19 strikeouts in his last four starts. He's also 5-1with a 2.77 ERA in his last six starts in this park and 7-1 in his last eight road starts in August. With the Big Unit sporting a 3.54 ERA on the road as opposed to a 5.63 ERA at home this season, look for Johnson and the Diamondbacks to provide a major buzz kill in La La Land tonight.
Scott Ferrall
Pirates +190 over Cubs--Chciago gets upset after kicking the Brewers ass all week in Milwaukee. Karstens wins his first start for Bucs--nice pay out if it hits
Florida (even odds) over Colorado--Take Volstad over Jimenez
Washington -115 over Cincy--Griffey gone and the Reds start tanking
Milwaukee -125 in Atlanta--Brewers get back on track after beating from Cubs
Astros +110 over Mets and Pedro--He's been out a while and Backe pulls one off for Houston
LOHSE and CARDS +115 over Phillies--They'll do em in Busch 2
SF -130 at SD--Lincecum will shut the Padres down
BIG UNIT -115 at Dodgers--welcome to LA Manny--now sit your ass down as Randy Johnson dominates
Angels -115 and Ervin Santana over Yanks at Bronx--he's just better than Sid Ponson
BALT-SEATT UNDER 9 RUNS
CLEVE-MINN UNDER 9.5 RUNS
CHISOX-KC OVER 9.5 RUNS
TOR-TEX UNDER 11 RUNS
DET-TB UNDER 8.5 RUNS
OAK-BOS OVER 8.5 RUNS
YANKS-ANGELS UNDER 10 RUNS
ARIZ-LA OVER 7.5 RUNS
SF-SD UNDER 7 RUNS
PHIL-ST.LOU UNDER 8 RUNS
METS-ASTROS OVER 9.5 RUNS
MILW-ATL OVER 9.5 RUNS
CINCY-WASH UNDER 9.5 RUNS
COLO-FLA OVER 9 RUNS
Comp Picks
Boston -140 over Oakland--Wakefield easily here. I like Duchscherer but not in Beantown
Tampa -185 over Detroit--Kazmir does his thing at the Trop against the never consistent Tigers
Toronto (even odds) at Texas--Marcum with the nice little upset special at Arlington
Kansas City +110 at home vs ChiSox--Hochevar stuns Vazquez. Chicago's been on the road and won't take it seriously
Minney -160 over Cleveland--Twins are just better and the Tribe blow. Take Blackburn
Seattle -125 and Washburn over Baltimore--Long trip for the Orioles and Washburn's been hot. They've been saying for a month that he was going to the Yankees-WRONG !
Frank Jordan
San Francisco Giants vs. San Diego Padres
Play: San Francisco Giants
Tim Lincecum is the only bright spot on the woeful Giants as he is 11-3 with an under 2.80. Look for San Francisco to win their 45th game of the year as Lincecum throws another gem. Play San Francisco
JEFFERSONSPORTS
MLB EARLY RELEASE
PHILADELPHIA-128
DETROIT+171
SEATTLE-120
LAS VEGAS SPORTS ADVISORS
Tampa Bay/S. Kazmir -181 POD
Minnesota/N. Blackburn -160
Arizona/C. Kershaw -105
Toronto/S. Marcum +102 FREE PICK
Bob Harvey
Take Detroit Tigers and Tampa Bay Devil Rays UNDER 8½
Sure Scott Kazmir has been lights out at home. Overall he’s 8-5, with a 2.84 ERA and frankly has had very little trouble with opposing teams at Tropiana Field. Kazmir has treated the visiting teams rudely posting a 5-1 record with a 1.68 ERA and a .169 opponent batting average.
However his numbers aren’t nearly as impressive against the Tigers. He's faced the Tigers twice at Tropicana Field and lost both times, allowing nine runs, nine hits and 10 walks in eight innings. He's 2-3 with a 4.40 ERA in six career games overall versus Detroit. Zach Minor gets the start for the Tigers. He’s 5-3 with an ERA of 3.65 and has pitched well against the D-Rays. Minor is 2-0 with a 2.60 ERA in six overall matchups - two starts - versus Tampa Bay.
Finally both teams have shown a strong UNDER tendency this season. Detroit is 31-21-2 to the low side while Tampa Bay is 34-21-1 to under. Look for another strong Kazmir effort at home as the Tigers still adjust to life without Pudge. Stay low tonight as the Tigers and Devil Rays square off in Tampa.
Steve Janus
Philadelphia Phillies vs. St Louis Cardinals
Play:St Louis Cardinals
The Phillies have been hot as of late, but not so much on the road. They are just 1-4 in their last 5 road games against a team with a winning record and Cole Hammels is just 2-5 in his last 7 starts against any team with a winning record. The Cards boast a 10-2 record in their last 12 home games against a team with a winning road record and they've won 5 in a row with Lohse on the mound as a home underdog. Overall, the Cards have won 11 of Lohses last 14 starts, including 8 of 10 as an underdog.
Charlies Sports
San Francisco @ San Diego Under 7 (500*)
Seattle-120 (30*)
Boston-150 (20*)
Texas-115 (20*)
Mets-120 (10*)
Dodgers-105 (10*) free play
Matt Fargo
Baltimore Orioles vs. Seattle Mariners
Play: Seattle Mariners
How bad has the Baltimore pitching been? The Orioles have only three quality starts since July 11th and even though all three came in the last three games, I do not see this streak going on much longer. Baltimore has a 6.62 ERA from the starters over the last 10 games and the entire staff has allowed an average of 6.7 rpg over that span. Since that July 11th games, the Orioles have allowed 6.6 rpg. Baltimore is 22-33 on the road this season and it is 4-11 in its last 15 games as an underdog.
The Mariners are coming off a series split in Texas as the offense came alive to average 7.0 rpg in the four-game set. This is a huge step up after having averaged only 3.3 rpg in their previous seven games. The pitching was decent with the exception of one game and they now head home where the ERA is 4.21 on the season including a solid 2.86 from the bullpen. The Mariners have dropped six of the first seven meetings this season but those came in April and Seattle is still 31-15 in the last 46 home meetings.
Jarrod Washburn has flipped a switch and completely turned his season around. His ERA was sitting at 6.56 at the start of June and he has dropped that by more than two runs. Over his last nine starts, he has posted an ERA of 2.44 with seven of those nine games resulting in quality outings and one of those fell short by just a third of an inning. He has said his changeup has come around and has made the difference. The Orioles are 11-29 in their last 40 games against a left-handed starter.
Garrett Olson was the first to put up a quality outing during this stretch but I do not see him putting up another. He has been horrendous after a very good start to the season. Through his first eight starts, Olsen posted a 3.86 ERA which included four quality outings. In his nine starts since then, he posted a 7.88 ERA with only that one quality start in the mix. He has a 6.81 ERA on the road with just two of eight starts being quality including none in his last four. The Orioles are 3-7 in his last 10 road starts. Play Seattle Mariners 1.5 Units
Great Lakes Sports
Chicago Whit Sox at Kansas City
Play on: Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox has a solid 60-47 record this year including a 6-3 record when playing the Kansas City Royals this year. The Chicago White Sox is also 30-18 vs division opponents this year, and the White Sox starting pitcher Vazquez has a very nice 6-2 record with a solid 3.25 era vs the Kansas City Royals since 1997. We look for the Chicago White Sox to roll over the Kansas City Royals in this American League divisional showdown for the road win tonight.
Tony Karpinski
San Francisco Giants vs. San Diego Padres
Play: San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres were dominant at home against the San Francisco Giants last season, but that hasn't been the case so far in 2008. The Padres will be looking to re-establish their home-field advantage over the Giants on Friday night when the bottom two teams in the NL West open a three-game series at Petco Park. San Diego (42-67) went 8-1 at home against San Francisco last season, winning the last seven matchups at Petco while outscoring the Giants 32-14. However, the Giants (44-63) won the only two meetings of 2008 in San Diego, holding the Padres to two runs from April 23-24. San Francisco has won five of the eight overall meetings this season despite being outscored 27-20. Look for the Padres to get the best of the lowly Giants. Play on the SD PADRES
Craig Trapp
Cleveland Indians vs. Minnesota Twins
Play: Minnesota Twins
Craig is super hot this week. He has not missed a game since monday (7-2 for the week). Really like free play for today. Would make a nice parlay with 3 star blowout of the day. Take MIN twins today over CLE indians. MIN is one of the best teams at home and are coming off a sweep of CHI Whitesox. The Twins took two of three games at Cleveland last weekend, and Friday's game reprises the pitching matchup from Sunday's finale from that series -- won 4-2 by the Twins. Nick Blackburn (7-6, 3.69 ERA) limited the Indians to one run and four hits over seven innings in Sunday's game, while Cleveland's Jeremy Sowers (1-5, 5.86) allowed two runs and three hits over a season-high eight innings. Look for more of the same today go twins in a romp.