National League
Rockies @ Pirates
Butler is 2-0, 3.27 in his last two starts (over 1-1-1).
Cole is 2-0, 1.29 in his last two starts; five of his last six starts went over.
Pirates won four of their last five games (over 11-4-1 in last 16). Rockies won five of last seven games; eight of their last 11 games stayed under.
Braves @ Phillies
Wisler is 1-1, 1.93 in his last three starts; five of his last six stayed under.
Nola is 3-0, 1.59 in his last five starts (under 6-2).
Atlanta lost 11 of its last 14 games; three of its last four games went over. Phillies won eight of their last 10 home games (under 7-2 in last nine).
Nationals @ Marlins
Roark is 0-1, 5.89 in his last three starts; under is 5-2 in his last seven.
Nicolino is 1-1, 5.94 in his last three starts, which all went over.
Washington is 5-3 in its last eight games; five of its last sic road games went over the total. Marlins are 5-7 in last 12 games; under is 3-1-1 in their last five home games.
Brewers @ Mets
Peralta is 2-4, 7.75 in eight starts this year; four of his last five starts went over.
Matz is 5-0, 1.09 in his last five starts; three of his last four went over.
Milwaukee is 7-5 in its last 12 games; under is 6-1-1 in their last eight games. Mets lost seven of their last nine games; eight of their last 11 stayed under.
Diamondbacks @ Cardinals
Corbin is 0-0, 2.89 in his last three starts; over is 4-1-1 in his last six starts.
Martinez is 0-3, 5.28 in his last three starts (over 5-1-1). .
St Louis won six of last nine games; three of their last four games stayed under total. Arizona lost six of last eight games; under is 5-1-1 in their last seven.
Cubs @ Giants
Arrieta is 7-0, 1.44 in his eight starts, all of which went over the total.
Peavy is 0-3, 8.05 in his last four starts (over 6-2).
Giants won last eight games, allowing 14 runs; under is 11-1 in their last 12. Cubs are 12-5 in their last 17 games (under 3-0-1 last four).
Dodgers @ Padres
Kazmir is 2-3, 6.08 in his last seven starts (over 5-1-1).
Friedrich allowed one run in six IP (116 PT) in his first '16 start.
Padres lost five of last six games; seven of their last eight games stayed under total. Dodgers lost four of their last five games; five of their last seven games went over.
American League
Rays @ Tigers
Andriese is 2-0, 0.56 in his two starts this year (under 2-0).
Sanchez is 0-2, 5.68 in his last three starts; four of his last five went over.
Tampa Bay won seven of its last ten road games; seven of its last eight games went over total. Detroit won its last four games; over is 9-2-1 in their last 12 home games.
Indians @ Red Sox
Kluber is 0-2, 8.68 in his last two starts (under 4-2-1 in last seven).
Buchholz is 2-0, 5.50 in his last three starts (over 5-3).
Indians won their last four games; over is 10-3-1 in their last 14 games. Boston won nine of last ten home games; their last eight home games went over.
Rangers @ Astros
Lewis is 1-0, 2.89 in his last four starts (over 5-3).
McCullers allowed five runs in 4.2 IP (89 PT) in his first '16 start.
Rangers lost six of last nine road games; over is 5-2 in their last seven road games. Houston lost five of last seven games, five of which went over.
Royals @ White Sox
Gee allowed three runs in 5.1 IP (78 PT) in his first '16 start.
Quintana is 4-1, 1.03 in his last five starts; his last seven starts stayed under.
Royals are 3-12 in their last 15 road games- six of their last seven road games went over. White Sox lost six of last seven games; nine of their last twelve games went over.
Blue Jays @ Twins
Sanchez is 2-0, 3.25 in his last four starts (under 6-2).
Duffey is 1-2, 2.96 in four starts, last three of which stayed under.
Blue Jays lost six of last eight games, six of which went over the total. Minnesota lost its last seven home games; over is 10-4-1 in their last 15 games overall.
Bronx @ A's
Sabathia was 3-2, 3.81 in five starts before going on DL; three of his last four starts stayed under the total.
Gray is 0-3, 11.78 in his last four starts; his last six starts all went over.
A's won five of last seven games; eight of their last 11 games went over. Bronx lost nine of last 12 road games; over is 7-3-1 in their last 11 games.
Orioles @ Angels
Wright is 2-3, 4.99 in his last five starts; his last three starts went over.
Santiago is 3-2, 2.74 in his last six starts (under 4-2).
Baltimore won eight of its last 11 games; six of its last eight road games stayed under total. Angels won five of last six games; six of their last eight games went over.
Interleague
Mariners @ Reds
Iwakuma is 1-2, 5.02 in his last four starts (over 3-1).
Straily is 2-1, 2.70 in his last four starts (over 3-3).
Reds lost nine of their last 11 games; their last five games went over. Seattle lost four of last six games; over is 5-2-1 in their last eight games.
Teams won-lost records when this pitcher starts:
Col-Pitt-- Butler 2-1; Cole 4-3
Atl-Phil-- Wisler 1-6; Nola 5-3
Wsh-Mia-- Roark 2-6; Nicolino 2-2
Mil-NY-- Peralta 3-5; Matz 5-1
Az-StL-- Corbin 3-5; Martinez 4-3
Chi-SF-- Arrieta 8-0; Peavy 3-5
LA-SD-- Kazmir 3-5; Friedrich 0-1
TB-Det-- Andriese 2-0; Sanchez 3-5
Cle-Bos-- Kluber 2-6; Buchholz 3-5
Tex-Hst-- Lewis 4-4; McCullers 1-0
KC-Chi-- Gee 0-1; Quintana 6-2
Tor-Min-- Sanchez 4-4; Duffey 1-3
NY-A's-- Sabathia 3-2; Gray 4-4
Balt-LAA-- Wright 3-3; Santiago 6-2
Sea-Cin-- Iwakuma 3-5; Straily 4-2
Starting pitchers allowing 1+ runs in first inning:
Col-Pitt-- Butler 0-3; Cole 1-7
Atl-Phil-- Wisler 3-7; Nola 4-8
Wsh-Mia-- Roark 1-8; Nicolino 1-4
Mil-NY-- Peralta 3-8; Matz 0-6
Az-StL-- Corbin 5-8; Martinez 0-7
Chi-SF-- Arrieta 0-8; Peavy 3-8
LA-SD-- Kazmir 5-8; Friedrich 1-1
TB-Det-- Andriese 1-2; Sanchez 2-6
Cle-Bos-- Kluber 1-7; Buchholz 4-8
Tex-Hst-- Lewis 5-8; McCullers 0-1
KC-Chi-- Gee 0-1; Quintana 1-8
Tor-Min-- Sanchez 2-8; Duffey 2-4
NY-A's-- Sabathia 0-5; Gray 2-8
Balt-LAA-- Wright 1-6; Santiago 3-8
Sea-Cin-- Iwakuma 1-8; Straily 0-6
Armadillosports.com
MLB: Streaks, Tips, Notes
Sportspic.com
Chicago at San Francisco
The Chicago Cubs and San Francisco Giants open a three-game set at AT&T park with two pitchers coming at it from opposite ends of the spectrum. Cubbies Jake Arrieta is undefeated on the campaign at 7-0 with a sparkling 1.29 ERA and has allowed two or fewer runs in six of eight starts. As a team, the Cubs have won twenty-three of Arrieta's last twenty-four starts and are on a sparkling 10-1 streak in road openers with the right-hander.
On the other mound, San Francisco's Jake Peavy heads to the hill with a 1-4 record, 7.42 ERA and has surrendered at least four runs in five of his eight starts. On a possitive note, Giants are 10-2 in Peavy's last ten home starts and the hurler does have a career 6-2 team start record vs Cubs.
Oddsmakers giving San Francisco little respect have open Giants +$1.75 to +$1.80 home underdogs.
Friday's Diamond Notes
By Kevin Rogers
VegasInsider.com
Hottest team: Giants (8-0 last eight)
San Francisco is coming off one of its most successful road trips ever by winning all seven games at Arizona and San Diego. Even more incredible than pulling off a 7-0 road swing inside the NL West is San Francisco’s pitching, which allowed one run in five of those victories. The Giants cashed the ‘under’ in all seven wins, as Bruce Bochy’s team returns home for a major test with the Cubs this weekend at AT&T Park. Jake Peavy takes the mound for the Giants in the opener, as the former Cy Young winner is coming off a solid start at Arizona in a no-decision by allowing three hits and one earned run in six innings of a 5-3 win.
Coldest team: Mets (1-6 last seven)
It’s been a disastrous run of late for the defending National League champions, while getting embarrassed by the rival Nationals at home on Thursday, 9-1. Matt Harvey’s struggles continued last night, allowing nine runs (six earned) in 2.2 innings of work, as the Mets own a 3-6 record with the right-hander on the mound. The New York offense has disappeared during this cold stretch, scoring two runs or less five times, while plating a total of five runs in the Washington series. The Brewers invade Citi Field tonight as Steven Matz goes for his sixth straight win after missing his last turn with a sore elbow.
Hottest pitcher: Jake Arrieta, Cubs (7-0, 1.29 ERA)
The reigning Cy Young award winner looks to snap San Francisco’s eight-game winning streak as the Cubs have won 23 consecutive regular season starts made by Arrieta. The Cubs’ right-hander beat the Giants twice in 2015, including an 8-5 victory at AT&T Park last August in which he scattered four hits in six innings of work. Arrieta is making his fifth road start of the season as he has put together three scoreless performances in his first four outings away from Wrigley Field.
Coldest pitcher: Hisashi Iwakuma, Mariners (1-4, 4.38 ERA)
Seattle improved to 15-7 on the road with a blowout victory at Baltimore on Thursday. One of its more reliable pitchers over the years has struggled of late as the Mariners own a 2-5 record in Iwakuma’s last seven starts. Iwakuma has allowed seven earned runs in his past two outings, but Seattle is 2-1 in the right-hander’s last three road starts. Last season, Iwakuma lost both starts against National League opponents as Seattle travels to Cincinnati to face a Reds’ squad that has lost four straight games.
Biggest UNDER run: Rockies (8-3 last 11)
Colorado lost a slugfest at St. Louis on Thursday, 13-7, snapping a five-game streak to the ‘under.’ The Rockies have cashed the ‘under’ in four of the past five contests away from Coors Field, as Colorado has scored three runs or less three times in this stretch. Colorado heads to Pittsburgh for a weekend set as the Rockies looking to avenge a three-game sweep from late April. In those three games, the Rockies allowed 24 runs as two of those contests sailed ‘over’ the total.
Biggest OVER run: Blue Jays (6-2 last eight)
Toronto’s five-game ‘over’ streak came to an end in Thursday’s 3-2 victory in extra-innings at Minnesota, as the Jays allowed less than six runs in a game for the first time in six tries. The explosive Blue Jays’ offense hasn’t shown much pop of late by scoring at least five runs in three of the past 12 games. Aaron Sanchez takes the mound for Toronto tonight as the right-hander cashed his first ‘over’ in five road starts his last time out, allowing six earned runs in 6.2 innings of a 7-6 defeat at Texas.
Matchup to watch: Royals vs. White Sox
Chicago snapped a four-game losing streak behind Chris Sale winning his ninth start in Thursday’s 2-1 victory over Houston. The AL Central-leading White Sox welcome in the defending World Series champion Royals for their first matchup of the season as Kansas City heads to the South Side of Chicago with a 20-20 record. Jose Quintana isn’t too far behind Sale in ERA as the Chicago southpaw owns an ERA of 1.54 to go along with a 5-2 record. Quintana has allowed only two earned run in three home victories this season, while finished ‘under’ the total in seven straight starts. The Royals are fresh off a 4-2 homestand, but have lost five of six road series openers this season.
Betcha didn’t know: The Cardinals have won 14 of the last 17 meetings with the Diamondbacks since 2014, including a 6-0 record at Busch Stadium. Carlos Martinez takes the mound for St. Louis in the series opener, as the right-hander has dominated the D-backs in his last two starts, including tossing eight scoreless innings in an 8-2 rout at Chase Field last month.
Biggest public favorite: Pirates (-225) vs. Rockies
Biggest public underdog: Yankees (+115) at Athletics
Biggest line move: Orioles (+120 to +115) at Angels
Cubs look to cool off Giants
By Sportsbook.ag
CHICAGO CUBS (28-11) at SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS (25-18.)
Sportsbook.ag Line: Chicago -174, San Francisco +164, Total: 7.0
Jake Arrieta and the Cubs kick off a three-game series against the Giants in a battle of first-place teams.
The Giants (25-18) will welcome the Cubs (28-11) to AT&T Park on Friday night for the first of three in a battle of first-place clubs.
Chicago, with the most wins in the majors and the best winning percentage, leads the second-place Pirates by 6 ½ games.
San Francisco, meanwhile, has opened up a 3 ½-game game lead over the Dodgers and Rockies in the National League West.
On the mound for Joe Maddon will be Cubs RHP Jake Arrieta (7-0, 1.29 ERA, 55 SO, 18 BB, 2 HR in 56 IP) who has arguably been the best pitcher in baseball in 2016. In eight starts this season, Arrieta has allowed more than two runs just once, and he hasn’t allowed the opposing team to score four times.
He’ll be opposed by Giants RHP Jake Peavy (1-4, 7.43 ERA, 36 SO, 15 BB, 7 HR in 40 IP), who has been awful but is coming off his best outing of the season (1 ER on 3 H in 6 IP) against the Diamondbacks.
The Giants are red hot, having won eight in a row (seven of which were on the road). This will be the first meeting of the season between these teams.
The Cubs have posted an incredible 14-5 road record, while the Giants have gone just 11-10 at AT&T Park.
The Cubs have an incredibly dangerous lineup. They’re second in the National League in runs (221) and first in on-base percentage (.360). 2B Ben Zobrist (.328, 5 HR, 28 RBI, .448 OBP), in his first season in Chicago, has been raking of late.
CF Dexter Fowler (.314, 4 HR, 20 RBI, .436 OBP) gets on base at an incredible clip, while 1B Anthony Rizzo (.255, 11 HR, 34 RBI, .398 OBP) and 3B Kris Bryant (.273, 7 HR, 26 RBI, .356 OBP) supply a good portion of the power.
Zobrist has gone 5-for-19 with with two homers and two doubles against Peavy, and RF Jason Heyward (.225, 1 HR, 14 RBI, .325 OBP) has homered off him in four at-bats.
C Miguel Montero (.207, 1 HR, 7 RBI, .347 OBP) is 6-for-28 with a homer and two doubles against the former Cy Young Award winner, and Rizzo is 3-for-14 against him with a triple. In 18 career starts against the Cubs, Peavy is 9-6 with a 2.81 ERA.
Bruce Bochy’s two best hitters this season have been RF Hunter Pence (.297, 7 HR, 32 RBI, .385 OBP) and 1B Brandon Belt (.295, 4 HR, 22 RBI, .425 OBP), and LF Angel Pagan (.279, 2 HR, 13 RBI, .341 OBP) is having a nice year. C Buster Posey (.275, 4 HR, 15 RBI, .331 OBP) hasn’t exactly played like a superstar this season, but he’s still a top catcher in the league.
CF Denard Span (.272, 1 HR, 16 RBI, .373 OBP) has seen the most of Arrieta of any Giant, and he’s gone 4-for-14 against him with a double and walk. Pence is 3-for-7 lifetime against the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner, though Posey is just 1-for-9 against him.
3B Matt Duffy (.233, 2 HR, 11 RBI, .292 OBP) is 3-for-7 against the 30-year-old with a triple, though SS Brandon Crawford (.257, 6 HR, 22 RBI, .325 OBP) and Belt have combined to go 0-for-13 against him with seven strikeouts. In four career starts against the Giants, Arrieta is 3-1 with a 1.69 ERA.
MLB Betting Cheat Sheet
By Covers.com
A Different Shade of Red
One team that has had a nice week thus far is Cleveland, who saw their YTD run differential go from +8 to +35 thanks to a four-game sweep of lowly Cincinnati. This weekend’s opponent may have the same color in their nickname, but that’s all the Red Sox and Reds have in common right now. Boston leads the American League with a +57 run differential and like the Indians, they’ve been able to put 13 or more runs on the board in multiple games recently. The Cleveland-Boston series takes place at Fenway Park and despite a 2-6 team start record, Corey Kluber has his team favored in Friday’s series opener. These teams split a pair of games in Cleveland earlier this year with both Friday starters – Kluber and Clay Buchholz losing their respective starts.
Chalking ‘Em Up
I can’t stop talking about the Phillies and this highly irregular start of theirs. While they are currently seven games above .500, they have been outscored by 28 runs this year. As I’ve been through before, this discrepancy is owed to a 14-3 record in one-run games (4-0 in extra innings). Those expecting regression will likely have to wait until after this weekend as the Phils next play the lowly Braves. Note that these NL East rivals are the two lowest scoring teams in all of baseball. But what’s really fascinating here is that a Philly club that found itself favored on the money line only 16 times all of last season has already been favored 10 times in 2016 and that number figures to jump to 13 after this weekend! Also note that Atlanta has actually been better on the road (8-13) than at home (2-17).
Feeling Blue
The Blue Jays have basically had the opposite luck of the Phillies when it comes to one-run games this season (just 4-10). But they picked up a much needed win on Thursday, taking the series opener in Minnesota by a score of 3-2 in 11 innings. It might be a good time to “buy low” on last year’s AL East champs as it looks like the juice isn’t going to be that high on a per game basis this weekend in the Twin Cities. Since the start of last season, Toronto is 6-2 against the Twins.
Hitting Notes
Speaking of Toronto, Jose Bautista hit leadoff yesterday for the first time since 2010. The Blue Jays offense, which was other-worldly in 2015, has not been the same this season. But Bautista-Josh Donaldson-Edwin Encarnacion at the top of the order just might jumpstart things. Bautista, who is batting just .223 right now, went only 1-for-4 Thursday vs. Minnesota. So it will be interesting to see if manager John Gibbons continues to have him in that leadoff spot. A .374 OBP would be justification for doing so.
One team that has had no problems hitting or scoring runs this season is St. Louis. It seems to be a different hitter stepping up every night for the Cardinals, but the one to pay particular attention to is Aledmys Diaz. He’s mostly been hitting towards the bottom of the order – typically seventh or eighth – but clearly it was time to move him up as his average is .376 with 1.051 OPS in his first 37 big league games. He hit second on Thursday and while it was only a 1-for-4 night at the plate, he did score twice. Unlike previous editions, it looks as if this year’s Cards will have to be carried by their hitting as the pitching has fallen off rather dramatically from last season’s record setting campaign. This weekend, they host an Arizona club that has been a real “road warrior” so far, holding hosts to just 3.5 runs per game.
Pitching Notes
Tampa Bay’s Matt Andriese couldn’t have asked for his first two starts of the year to go any better. He’s allowed just 1 ER in 16 innings of work and went the distance his last time out in a masterful two-hit shutout of Oakland. Start number three comes Friday in Detroit. Andriese’s strikeout numbers may not be that impressive (just eight), but he did throw a first pitch strike to 21 of 29 Oakland hitters and induced 11 swinging strikes. The Tigers – easily – have the strongest offense that Andriese will have faced to date.
Padres starter Colin Rea by no means has great numbers this year (4.26 ERA and 1.399 WHIP), yet he finds himself at No. 8 in terms of net units (+5.7) among all starting pitchers. He hasn’t been favored in a single start and won’t be on Sunday either when his team wraps up a three-game set with the division rival Dodgers. Note that earlier this year, Rea did cash at +180 against LA. In fact, he has a 3-0 team start record at +180 or higher on the money line!
Totals Trend
When Washington visited Miami earlier this year, the Under cashed in all four games. The Nats make their return visit to South Beach this weekend.
Injury Notes
Victor Martinez of the Tigers missed Wednesday's game with a head cold but is fully expect to return to the lineup Friday night against the Rays.
CC Sabathia will be activated from the 15-day DL in time for his Friday night start in Oakland. He's been out nursing a groin injury.
The Rangers are expected to activate right fielder Shin-Soo Choo from the 15-day DL in time for Friday's meeting with the Astros in Houston. Choo has missed the last 36 games with an injured calf.
Shortstop Erick Aybar of the Braves is listed as questionable for Friday's game against the Phillies. Aybar missed Thursday's game after being sent to the hospital to have a chicken bone removed from his throat. True story.
Adrian Gonzalez of the Dodgers is officially listed as doubtful for Friday's game against the Padres. Those old men and their bad backs - he's missed the Dodgers' last three games.
And again. Ryan Braun of the Brewers is doubtful to be in Friday's lineup against the Mets. Braun has missed the last two games with lower-back stiffness.
Friday's Weather Report:
There is a slight chance of rain this evening (15 percent) in Pittsburgh where the Colorado Rockies will be taking on the Pirates. There will also be a light breeze blowing in from right-center field. The total for this one is set at 7.5.
There is an 80 percent chance of rain in Cincinnati tonight where the Reds will welcome the Seattle Mariners. The rain is expected to taper off to showers later in the evening and they should be able to get this one in. The total tonight is set at 8.5.