Monday’s Best MLB Bets
Philadelphia Phillies at Houston Astros (+160, 7.5)
Roy Oswalt can probably expect a warm welcome from Houston Astros fans Monday as he makes his first return to Houston since last summer’s deal that sent him to Philly. After all, it’s not like Astros supporters have much else to cheer about.
And maybe this is the kind of game that’ll finally get Oswalt going. He didn’t allow a hit through six innings last week in a 3-2 win over the Braves.
“Tonight I felt pretty strong the whole game,” Oswalt told reporters after the game. “Two days ago I felt like my arm strength is coming back a little more. We’ve worked on my mechanics a little bit, freed me up to get on top of the ball. It felt like I could place my fastball a little bit better.”
You have to think he’ll put on a good show Monday in Texas. We don’t normally play chalk this high, but it’s probably worth it in this spot.
Pick: Phillies
Detroit Tigers at Chicago White Sox (-135, 8.5)
The Detroit Tigers extended their winning streak to nine games by completing a three-game sweep of the Minnesota Twins on Sunday.
Doug Fister threw seven shutout innings and allowed just three hits as the Tigers slipped by the Twins 2-1 to extend the winning streak, which is the longest in franchise history since the club won nine straight on its way to the 1984 World Series title.
Now the Tigers have a chance to all but lock up their first division title since 1987 with three games against the White Sox. Detroit swept a three-game set with the White Sox last week by putting 35 combined runs on the board.
The Tigers send Rick Porcello to the mound and he has looked good over his last three outings while the club averaged 7.7 runs of support for him.
Pick: Tigers
Monday's Streaking and Slumping Starting Pitchers
Streaking
Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners (14-11, 3.15 ERA)
King Felix is on another one of his hot streaks, having won each of his last three starts while allowing just three runs over that span. He has struck out 26 batters during the streak and is coming off consecutive 2-1 wins. He went eight innings last week against the Angels before telling manager Eric Wedge he was done for the night.
"I can't lie, I was a little tired in the end,'' Hernandez told reporters. "He asked me. And I've got to be honest. I said 'I'm going to be honest, we've got to win this game.' ''
Rick Porcello, Detroit Tigers (13-8, 4.87 ERA)
The Tigers have won four straight with Porcello on the mound and he has allowed just one run in two of his last three outings. Right now he really has his sinker going, which induced 13 ground-ball outs in a 10-1 win at Cleveland last week.
"He kept the ball on the ground, and that’s a big thing for him,” manager Jim Leyland said of Porcello.” That usually tells you that he’s got the ball darting around a little bit with pretty late movement and they’re mis-hitting the ball a little bit."
Slumping
Dontrelle Willis, Cincinnati Reds (0-5, 4.21 ERA)
Willis heads into Monday’s tilt with the Cubs still searching for his first win of the season in his 12th start. Despite the winless drought, Willis hasn’t been terrible. His major issue lately is his control after walking five batters in each of his last three outings. Willis gave up all four runs in a 4-3 loss to the Cubs last week.
Chris Volstad, Florida Marlins (5-12, 5.37 ERA)
Volstad has dropped his last four decisions and the Marlins have lost each of his last trips to the hill, but he can’t take all the blame. The 6-foot-8 starter has allowed only two earned runs in each of his last two starts and hasn’t yielded more than four earned runs since a blowout loss to the Phillies in early July.
Chicago White Sox Host Streaking Detroit Tigers
By: Willie Bee
It's now or never for Ozzie Guillen and the Chicago White Sox who begin a 3-game home set Monday night against the Detroit Tigers.
Jim Leyland's Tigers are in full command of the AL Central with a 10.5-game lead over Chicago heading into the final two-plus weeks of the campaign. Detroit's magic number is down to seven to clinch the division title, meaning anything less than a White Sox sweep in this series will all but wrap up a playoff slot for the Tigers.
Considering the ChiSox will have to face Detroit ace and leading AL Cy Young candidate Justin Verlander on Tuesday, it's a daunting task for Chicago.
The Tigers are fresh off their ninth consecutive win on Sunday, a string that began a little more than a week ago by sweeping three from the White Sox in Detroit. They followed that by taking three in Cleveland before brooming the Twins this past weekend at Comerica Park.
Detroit leads the season series against Chicago 10-5, with the clubs even in the six games played in the Windy City. The 'over' holds a slight 3-2-1 advantage in the games at US Cellular Field.
Monday's mound matchup will have Rick Porcello (18-9, 4.87) hurling for the Tigers against Chicago left-hander John Danks (10-14, 4.09). Porcello will be facing the Pale Hose for the first time this season while Danks is making his fourth start of 2011 against Detroit, and second in 10 days.
The MLB odds opened with Chicago -125 and nine runs for the total.
One look at Porcello's 4.87 ERA and you wouldn't think the Tigers could have won 18 of his 27 starts, but they have. The 22-year-old out of Morristown, NJ endured five real stinkers mixed in to bloat this ERA, two of those against Cleveland during August.
Porcello's game is coaxing ground balls, but White Sox lineups have somehow been able to get his pitches up and out in the past. Detroit has won just two of his six career outings vs. Chicago with Porcello serving up seven homers in 35 innings to account for a lot the damage in his 7.46 ERA.
Danks is coming off two losing efforts on the road, one a whipping he suffered in Detroit on Sept. 2 when he matched up against Verlander. The Tigers chased Danks with nine hits and eight runs before he could get out of the fifth, and Verlander coasted into the winner's circle as heavy 200 chalk.
That was Danks' second loss to the Tigers in Detroit this season, but he won the lone outing against them at home on July 27, allowing just a run and striking out 10 over the course of six innings. That could be the key to this one as the southpaw has been much better at The Cell where his ERA his 3.08 in 12 assignments and the White Sox have won six of his last eight trips to the bump.
Monday's action gets underway at 8:10 p.m. (ET) under what should be clear skies and a first-pitch temp in the mid-70s. A 10-15 mph SW wind is in the forecast (RF corner across to LF).
Arizona Diamondbacks Visit Los Angeles Dodgers
By: Adam Markowitz
The NL West leaders look to move one step closer to clinching a spot in the postseason in MLB betting action on Monday night when the Arizona Diamondbacks take on the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium.
This clash at Chavez Ravine will get started at 10:10 p.m. (ET) with live television coverage available on FOX Sports Arizona and FOX Sports Prime Ticket.
Going into play Sunday, Arizona had won 16 of its past 18 games to not just take control of the NL West, but to stretch its lead out to 9 ½-games. In this run of good fortune, the Diamondbacks are outscoring foes by 2.39 runs per game.
Manager Kirk Gibson and company are going to be scoreboard watching in addition to trying to take care of business on the diamond. The Diamondbacks are in a tremendous race with the Milwaukee Brewers to determine which team will get home field advantage and avoid having to play the Philadelphia Phillies in the first round of the playoffs.
As of Sunday, Arizona held a slender half-game edge over the Brewers.
With its magic number at just eight with Sunday's clash pending, Arizona will head into battle on Monday with Joe Saunders on the mound. Saunders is 10-12 on the season, making him the only Diamondback to have double digits in losses.
Part of his struggles have come due to a lack of control. The southpaw has already issued 64 walks this year, and he only has 98 strikeouts to offset the free passes.
Still, batters are only hitting .266 against Saunders this year, a respectable number considering how questionable the rest of his splits have been.
After a rough stretch in the middle of August, Saunders has recovered going 2-1 with a 3.93 ERA in his last three starts.
Historically, Saunders has pitched well here at Chavez Ravine, posting a 3.08 ERA in four starts, but he is only 1-3 to show for his work. He did pick up the win here on July 31 though, allowing just eight hits and two runs in 7 2/3-innings.
The Dodgers have quietly been one of the better second half teams in baseball this season, and manager Don Mattingly has them right at the .500 mark coming into Sunday. There is still a realistic chance to finish second in the NL West, something that would be quite an accomplishment for a team that was 12-games under .500 and in last place on August 20.
Part of the good fortune that Los Angeles has had over the past three weeks can be attributed to the pitching of Ted Lilly, the man on the mound Monday night. The journeyman has allowed just five earned runs in his last three starts combined in 17 2/3-innings of work. He is 2-0 in that stretch.
Lilly has faced Arizona a dozen times in his career, including 10 times as a starter. He has had a varying degree of success against the D-Backs, going 4-6 with a 4.52 ERA. However, Arizona is only hitting .224 against him in his career. The bugaboo has come with 14 home runs allowed, four of which came in his two starts against them this year.
Los Angeles has won eight of its last nine games at Dodger Stadium, but has lost both series here against Arizona this year. The Diamondbacks took two out of three in the series played in August and in May.
The road team has gone 7-5 in the 12 meetings this year, and the visitors have won three of the four series.
Expect a typical night in Tinseltown on Monday. Temperatures should drop into the low-60s with light winds out of the west.