Friday's MLB National League Betting Cheat Sheet
By Covers.com
Miami Marlins at Philadelphia Phillies (-105, 6.5)
Hot pitching stat: Marlins right-hander Jose Fernandez has allowed one run in 12 2/3 innings to start the year.
Cold batting stat: Members of the Philadelphia roster are 5-for-47 with 15 strikeouts against Fernandez.
Weather: Temperatures will be in the low-60s with a 34 percent chance of showers.
Key betting note: Marlins are 10-1 in Fernandez's last 11 starts against teams with losing records.
Washington Nationals at Atlanta Braves (-134, 7)
Hot pitching stat: Braves right-hander Julio Teheran went 2-1 with a 3.00 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 30 innings against the Nationals in 2013.
Hot batting stat: Washington outfielder Bryce Harper is 5-for-13 with a pair of home runs lifetime versus Teheran.
Weather: Temperatures will be in the low-70s with clear skies and wind blowing out to right-center field at 6 mph.
Key betting note: Under is 12-3 in Teheran's last 15 home starts.
Pittsburgh Pirates at Milwaukee Brewers (-105, 7.5)
Cold pitching stat: Pirates southpaw Francisco Liriano posted a 5.52 ERA in three starts versus Milwaukee last year.
Hot batting stat: Brewers outfielder Carlos Gomez is batting .500 with a pair of homers in 16 at-bats against Liriano.
Weather: Temperatures will be in the high-50s with partly cloudy skies and wind blowing from right to left field at 8 mph.
Key betting note: Milwaukee is 4-12 in its last 16 home games versus a left-handed starter.
Chicago Cubs at St. Louis Cardinals (-155, 7.5)
Hot pitching stat: Cubs starter Jeff Samardzija has surrendered two runs over 14 innings to open the campaign.
Hot batting stat: Members of the St. Louis roster are batting a combined .330 in 103 at-bats against Samardzija.
Weather: Temperatures will be in the high-60s with partly cloudy skies and wind blowing in from center field at 5 mph.
Key betting note: Chicago is 0-6 in Samardzija's previous six starts.
Los Angeles Dodgers at Arizona Diamondbacks (107, 9)
Cold pitching stat: Diamondbacks right-hander Brandon McCarthy has been tagged for 11 runs over 12 2/3 innings in his first two starts.
Hot/ batting stat: Arizona slugger Paul Goldschmidt is 8-for-16 with a homer and five RBIs against Dodgers starter Hyun-Jin Ryu.
Weather: Temperatures will be in the high-80s with partly cloudy skies and wind blowing from left to right field at 6 mph.
Key betting note: Los Angeles is 12-2 in Ryu's last 14 starts versus teams with losing records.
Colorado Rockies at San Francisco Giants (-173, 6.5)
Hot pitching stat: Giants left-hander Madison Bumgarner has allowed just three home runs over his last 15 starts.
Hot batting stat: Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez is 11-for-30 with four homers lifetime against Bumgarner.
Weather: Temperatures will be in the mid-50s with partly cloudy skies and wind blowing out to left field at 8 mph.
Key betting note: Colorado is 12-2 in left-hander Jorge De La Rosa's last 14 starts on five days rest.
Interleague
Tampa Bay Rays at Cincinnati Reds (-105, 6.5)
Cold pitching stat: Rays lefty David Price is 7-7 with a 3.91 ERA in 17 career interleague starts.
Hot batting stat: Reds shortstop Ramon Santiago has four hits in nine career at-bats against Price.
Weather: Temperatures will be in the low-60s with a 49 percent chance of rain.
Key betting note: Reds are 7-2 in their last nine interleague home games.
Detroit Tigers at San Diego Padres (-102, 6.5)
Hot pitching stat: Opposing hitters are batting just .200 against Padres righty Andrew Cashner over his first two starts.
Hot batting stat: San Diego outfielder Carlos Quentin is 5-for-16 in his career against Tigers right-hander Rick Porcello.
Weather: Temperatures will be in the mid-60s with partly cloudy skies and wind blowing from left to right field at 6 mph.
Key betting note: Under is 6-0 in Cashner's last six starts against teams with winning records.
Friday's MLB American League Betting Cheat Sheet
By Covers.com
Toronto Blue Jays at Baltimore Orioles (-141, 9)
Cold pitching stat: Orioles right-hander Bud Norris was tagged for five runs on nine hits over five innings in his first start of the year.
Cold batting stat: Blue Jays outfielder Colby Rasmus is just 4-for-22 with six strikeouts lifetime versus Norris.
Weather: Temperatures will be in the low-60s with a 58 percent chance of rain.
Key betting note: Toronto is 6-21 in right-hander Dustin McGowan's last 27 starts on grass.
Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees (101, 8.5)
Cold pitching stat: Yankees left-hander CC Sabathia has coughed up 10 runs in 12 innings of work so far in 2014.
Cold batting stat: Red Sox DH David Ortiz is a .230 hitter with 15 strikeouts in 61 at-bats against Sabathia.
Weather: Temperatures will be in the high-50s with a 53 percent chance of showers.
Key betting note: Over is 5-1 in Sabathia's last six home starts.
Houston Astros at Texas Rangers (-229, 8)
Hot pitching stat: Rangers righty Yu Darvish is 4-1 with a 2.72 ERA and 63 strikeouts in 43 innings versus Houston.
Hot batting stat: Rangers outfielder Alex Rios is 11-for-35 with a pair of homers against Astros right-hander Scott Feldman.
Weather: Temperatures will be in the high-70s with partly cloudy skies and wind blowing in from right field at 10 mph.
Key betting note: Rangers are 4-0 in Darvish's last four starts.
Kansas City Royals at Minnesota Twins (117, 8)
Hot pitching stat: Royals southpaw Bruce Chen allowed one run with seven strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings in his first start of the year.
Hot batting stat: Twins infielder Brian Dozier has five hits - including a homer - in nine at-bats versus Chen.
Weather: Temperatures will be in the low-60s with partly cloudy skies.
Key betting note: Under is 8-2-1 in Chen's last 11 appearances following a quality start in his previous outing.
Cleveland Indians at Chicago White Sox (-151, 7.5)
Hot pitching stat: White Sox left-hander Chris Sale has limited opponents to a .173 average in his first two starts.
Cold batting stat: Indians outfielder Michael Brantley is 2-for-16 with eight strikeouts lifetime versus Sale.
Weather: Temperatures will be in the mid-50s with partly cloudy skies and wind blowing from right to left field at 6 mph.
Key betting note: Cleveland is 3-13 in right-hander Carlos Carrasco's last 16 starts.
Oakland Athletics at Seattle Mariners (-166, 6.5)
Hot pitching stat: Mariners ace Felix Hernandez has fanned 19 over 14 1/3 innings to open the season.
Cold batting stat: Seattle slugger Justin Smoak has just two hits in 15 career at-bats versus A's lefty Tommy Milone.
Weather: Temperatures will be in the high-50s with partly cloudy skies and wind blowing in from left field at 8 mph.
Key betting note: Mariners have won their last five games against left-handed starters.
Interleague
New York Mets at Los Angeles Angels (-142, 8.5)
Hot pitching stat: Mets right-hander Dillon Gee is holding the opposition to a .196 batting average through his first two outings.
Cold batting stat: Angels outfielder Raul Ibanez is 1-for-7 in his career against Gee.
Weather: Temperatures will be in the high-60s with partly cloudy skies and wind blowing out to left field at 6 mph.
Key betting note: Los Angeles is 21-6 in its last 27 games following an off day.
MLB: Streaks, Tips, Notes
Sportspic.com
Kansas City Royals at Minnesota Twins
Visiting Royals looking to win the first road game of the season will have lefty Bruce Chen (0-0, 1.42 ERA) starting bringing a 0-0 record with a 1.42 ERA to the hill. The southpaw is coming off a strong opener tagged with a ND in tossing 6.1 innings of 7 hit 1 run ball in KC's victory over White Sox. Minnesota looking to win it's first home game will send right-hander Kyle Gibson (1-0, 1.80 ERA) to the mound. The hurler is off 5 innings of 3 hit 1 run ball in a win over Cleveland. A few telling baseball betting stats leap out in this one. The Royals went 15-4 vs Twins in 2013 and hit the field having won 9 of the past 10 encounters, 8 of the last 10 in Minnesota's backyard. Another baseball betting nugget going against Minnesota, the Twins have struggled at home solving teams starting a southpaw as they're on a 1-9 skid. Taking a road favorite can be a perilous road in baseball betting, but today’s free MLB pick appears to have enough in its favor to counteract such concerns. Stick with Royals as they move to 7-1 opening a series, 8-2 as -$1.20 to -$1.40 road favorite while Twinkies fall to 9-16 as home dogs of +$1.10 to +$1.30 and 0-5 in game-one of a series.
Nats, Braves meet again
By Sportsbook.ag
Washington (7-2) at Atlanta (6-4)
Sportsbook.ag Line Atlanta -125, Washington +115, Total: 7
A great National League East battle continues on Friday night as the top two teams from the division last season meet up for the second time in 2014.
Many picked the Nationals as not only the team to win the NL East this season, but also go to the World Series for the first time since the team moved to Washington in 2005. The Nats have run off four straight wins by a combined score of 24 to 9, wrapping up a three-game sweep of the Marlins on Thursday with a 7-1 rout. Strong starts from Gio Gonzalez (6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 5 K’s) and Stephen Strasburg (6.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 12 K’s) earned two of the wins, while the team’s offense backed a poor start by Jordan Zimmermann with 10 runs in Wednesday's win.
Atlanta has set the bar high after taking the division in 2013 but has faltered of late and cannot be happy after losing 2-of-3 games at home against the Mets. The Braves lost the rubber match of the series on Thursday night by a score of 6-4 as they were shut down by the Mets bullpen. Looking to extend the Nationals winning streak to five games will be RHP Tanner Roark (1-0, 3.00 ERA) who will be starting only his seventh career game and will be matched up against one of the most promising young pitchers in the game, RHP Julio Teheran (1-1, 2.77 ERA).
These two clubs already played a series this season, as Atlanta took 2-of-3 games on the road and held the potent Nationals offense to just four total runs in the three contests. Going back to the beginning of 2012, Atlanta holds a 23-17 record in this matchup, but is surprisingly only 10-9 when playing at home.
Some trends to keep an eye on include the fact that Washington is 72-49 (.595) in road games versus teams whose hitters strike out seven or more times per game since the start of the 2012 season. Also, the Braves have gone 21-5 (.808) in home games when playing against a team with a winning record since the start of last year.
Tanner Roark was never a top prospect, so his strong numbers since starting for the Nationals last year has been a pleasant surprise. He will not blow anyone away with his fastball -- averaging just over 91 MPH in his season debut -- and depends on the defense behind him to be on their toes. Roark had a successful start to 2014 when he took on the Mets, going six frames while allowing six hits, two runs and striking out five (3 walks). Roark did have one start against the Braves last season and they had no answer for him as he went seven scoreless innings while giving up just two hits and fanning six batters (1 walk).
The only starters on Atlanta who have a hit against the 27-year-old are 2B Dan Uggla (1-for-3) and OF B.J. Upton (1-for-2), and those two have combined to go 11-for-67 (.164) with 24 strikeouts to start the 2014 campaign. Roark will need to be careful when facing 1B Freddie Freeman (.419 BA) though, as he leads the Braves in hits (13) with two of them leaving the yard, and has walked six times compared to whiffing in just four at-bats.
One of the reasons many pundits like Washington so much this season is because of its strong bullpen, which has allowed just six runs in 34 innings (1.59 ERA) and has an incredible 48 strikeouts in that time (12.7 K/9). The Nats continued their success on Thursday night, backing Strasburg’s great start with 2.1 frames of scoreless pitching while mowing down five. Closer Rafael Soriano (0.00 ERA, 2 saves) already has six strikeouts in just three innings of work, and has been perfect in his two save opportunities.
Julio Teheran has been one of the Braves top prospects for years now and will look to improve in his sophomore season after going 14-8 with a 3.20 ERA (1.17 WHIP) and striking out 170 batters last year. He pitched well in each of his first two outings of the year (13 IP, 10 H, 4 ER, 8 K’s), but is only 1-1 as his offense gave him no run support in the season opener. He’s already faced Washington six times in his young career, compiling a 3-1 record (5-1 team record) with a 2.92 ERA (1.32 WHIP). His three victories came over his past three starts against them, where he lasted an average of 6.1 innings while giving up just three runs (2 HR) and getting five strikeouts per contest.
His biggest challenge in the Nationals’ lineup has been OF Bryce Harper (5-for-13, 2 doubles, 2 HR, 3 RBI), while SS Ian Desmond (6-for-17) and OF Denard Span (7-for-18) have also had their way against Teheran. One of Washington’s hottest hitters this season, OF Jayson Werth, is only 2-for-13 (.154) with six strikeouts against the 23-year old ace.
Unlike the Nationals, the Braves relievers have not been effective, pitching to a 4.09 ERA while getting a save in four of their five chances. Craig Kimbrel (2.45 ERA, 4 saves) is arguably the best closer in baseball and has gone 4-for-4 in save chances while striking out eight batters in 3.2 innings on the mound this season.
MLB Odds and Picks
By: Micah Roberts
Sportingnews.com
Check out those Milwaukee Brewers sitting in first in the NL Central at 7-2, one game ahead of the Pittsburgh Pirates -- the team they’ll face tonight at Miller Park. The Brewers come off their best opening road trip in in 27 years when the 1987 club opened the season 13-0. After sweeping the Red Sox at Fenway, they took the broom to Philadelphia as well while outscoring them a combined 25-10.
Up until last year, the Brewers had owned the Pirates, especially in Milwaukee, where they went on a 44-7 run against Pittsburgh at Miller Park from 2007-12. When including games at PNC Park over that span, the Brewers went 24-69 against the Pirates, until the Bucs finally made the playoffs last year, which was aided by finally getting over the Milwaukee roadblock with a 12-7 mark.
Wily Peralta takes the mound tonight for Milwaukee and is a -107 favorite against lefthander Francisco Liriano. The Pirates took two of three at Miller Park the last time they met in September. In the last meeting, today’s starters hooked up and Peralta had the upper hand, winning 9-3, as the Brew Crew's bats jumped all over Liriano for seven runs in three innings. It was the second-most runs Liriano gave up on the season after allowing only one run each in two previous starts against them, both in Pittsburgh.
Liriano was roughed up in his last start for three runs in the first inning at home Saturday against the Cardinals, but would settle down to allow only one run in the next five innings. The 6-1 loss was the Pirates' only loss of the three-game set with the Cardinals. The Bucs just took two of three at Wrigley Field with an explosive power burst, and have now won the first three series to start a season for only the fourth time in the past 50 years (1992, 1976, 1966).
Peralta made his only start of the season Saturday at Boston, where he lasted five innings, giving up five runs -- two earned -- in a game the Brewers eventually won, 7-6. The righthander got into a groove to close out 2013 by allowing three runs or less in nine of his final 10 starts, getting winning decisions in three of his final four starts.
Perhaps the scariest part about the Brewers right now is their bats have come alive during their six-game win streak, including Ryan Braun. He has taken an .063 average from the first four games and upped it to .281 in his last four, one of which was a three-home run day at Philadelphia on Tuesday. Braun was given Saturday off in Boston after struggling and he’s hit in all four games since, going 8-for-16 with 10 RBIs.
Milwaukee also has Carlos Gomez going 11-for-26 with two homers in his past six games, while catcher Jonathan Lucroy went 9-for-25, hitting safely in all six games during the win streak. Gomez has also had Liriano’s number with eight hits -- two homers -- in 16 career at-bats and is hitting .369 in his last 21 games against Pittsburgh.
The Pirates will be a big test for the Brewers, but because of the current win streak, possible first-inning issues for Liriano, Peralta being steady and the Pirates seeming to make all their wins difficult -- five of their six wins by one-run -- let’s side with Milwaukee to boost their home record over Pittsburgh to 49-12 since 2007.
The series price at William Hill sports books has the Brewers listed as a -140 favorite. Expect the Pirates series win streak this season to be halted.
Friday's selections:
Brewers (Peralta) -107 vs. Pirates
Marlins (Jose Fernandez) -123 at Phillies
Reds (Johnny Cueto) +104 vs. Rays