National League
Cubs @ Nationals
Hendricks is 2-1, 2.05 in his last three starts; six of his last eight stayed under.
Scherzer is 4-2, 2.56 in his last six starts; his last four all went over.
Washington won five of last six games; over is 7-2 in their last nine home games. Cubs won 13 of last 17 games; five of their last seven road games went over.
Reds @ Braves
Wright allowed four runs in 5.1 IP (87 PT) in his first MLB start.
Blair is 0-1, 6.43 in his last three starts; four of his last six went over.
Atlanta lost seven of last nine games; six of their last nine games stayed under. Reds are 8-4 in their last 12 games, five of their last seven home games went over the total.
Marlins @ Padres
Chen is 0-0, 5.32 in his last four starts, three of which went over.
Rea is 0-1, 6.26 in his last five starts; six of his last nine went over.
Padres lost nine of last 11 road games; seven of last nine San Diego road games went over. Marlins lost five of last eight games; six of last seven Miami road games went over.
Dodgers @ Diamondbacks
Bolsinger is 1-3, 5.76 in his four starts (over 2-2). .
Former Dodger Greinke is 5-0, 1.95 in his last five starts; under is 7-4-1 in his last 12.
Arizona lost 16 of last 23 home games; eight of last ten Arizona home games went over the total. Dodgers lost nine of last 14 road games; nine of last 12 LA games stayed under total.
Brewers @ Giants
Anderson is 2-0, 1.04 in his last three starts; five of his last six stayed under.
Cain is 1-1, 1.59 in his last four starts, three of which stayed under.
San Francisco won seven of last nine home games; under is 5-2-1 in its last eight home games. This game is 5:30 local time first pitch; are shadows an issue? Milwaukee is 6-4 in its last ten games; under is 6-3 in its last nine.
American League
Tigers @ White Sox
Boyd is 0-2, 4.24 in his three starts (over 1-1-1).
Shields allowed seven runs in two IP (84 PT) in his White Sox debut.
Tigers won six of their last eight games; seven of its last eight road games stayed under. Chicago is 8-21 in its last 29 games; under is 9-5 in White Sox' last 14 home games.
Indians @ Royals
Carrasco is 0-1, 5.11 in his last three starts (over 3-3).
Volquez is 0-2, 6.35 in his last three starts (under 8-4-1).
Indians won eight of last 11 games; under is 5-1-1 in their last seven road tilts. Royals lost nine of last ten road games; under is 5-2-1 in KC's last eight games.
Twins @ Angels
Nolasco is 1-3, 6.67 in his last five starts (over 10-1 in his last 11 starts).
Weaver is 2-3, 5.17 in his last five starts; three of his last four went over.
Angels lost five of their last six games; six of their last seven home games stayed under. Minnesota lost nine of last twelve games; ten of Twins' last 12 home games went over the total.
Rangers @ A's
Ramos 1-1, 3.00 in his two starts (under 2-0); his last start was May 21.
Manaea is 1-3, 4.91 in his last four starts (under 4-0-1 in his last five).
Rangers are 16-5 in their last 21 games; five of their last seven road tilts stayed under. A's lost their last nine road games; under is 4-0-1 in their last five.
Interleague
Phillies @ Blue Jays
Eickhoff is 2-2, 2.36 in his last four starts (under is 7-1 in his last eight).
Dickey is 2-0, 2.25 in his last two starts (under 3-0-1 in his last four).
Phillies lost 16 of last 21 games; over is 7-2 in their last nine road games. Toronto won seven of last nine home games; under is 8-4-1 in their last 13.
Teams won-lost records when this pitcher starts:
Chi-Wsh-- Hendricks 5-6; Scherzer 8-5
Cin-Atl-- Wright 0-1; Blair 1-7
LA-Az-- Bolsinger 1-3; Greinke 9-4
Mia-SD-- Chen 6-6; Rea 6-5
Mil-SF-- Anderson 5-7; Cain 3-7
Det-Chi-- Boyd 1-2; Shields 0-1/2-9
Cle-KC-- Carrasco 5-1; Volquez 7-6
Min-LA-- Nolasco 5-7; Weaver 5-7
Tex-A's-- Ramos 1-1; Manaea 3-5
Phil-Tor-- Eickhoff 4-8; Dickey 4-9
Starting pitchers allowing 1+ runs in first inning:
Chi-Wsh-- Hendricks 3-11; Scherzer 5-13
Cin-Atl-- Wright 1-1; Blair 4-8
LA-Az-- Bolsinger 1-4; Greinke 2-13
Mia-SD-- Chen 5-12; Rea 6-11
Mil-SF-- Anderson 4-12; Cain 2-10
Det-Chi-- Boyd 0-3; Shields 5-12
Cle-KC-- Carrasco 0-6; Volquez 2-13
Min-LA-- Nolasco 7-12; Weaver 4-12
Tex-A's-- Ramos 0-2; Manaea 1-8
Phil-Tor-- Eickhoff 4-12; Dickey 5-13
Armadillosports.com
MLB: Streak, Tips, Notes
Sportspic.com
Philadelphia Phillies at Toronto Blue Jays
Totonto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies open a four-game home-home interleague series with the first two north of the border. Blue Jays have enjoyed home cooking of late, compiling an 8-2 record before the home audience and have also won thirteen of their last seventeen overall. As for Philadelphia, the Phillies have hit a rough patch going 4-15 the past nineteen on the diamond, including 1-8 in an opposing park.
In the opener, R.A. Dickey toes the rubber for John Gibbons' troops, bringing a 4-6 record to the hill with a 4.15 ERA. Dickey beat Detroit in his last outing, winning back-to-back starts for the first time this season with the knuckler giving up just 2 runs over those 12.0 innings of work. Jays have won each of Dickey's three starts vs Philadelphia and have won five of his last seven interleague starts.
Jerad Eickhoff gets the call for Philadelphia. In his last start, Eickhoff tossed a seven inning gem of one run ball in home victory over Cubs bringing his record to 3-8 with a 3.68 ERA. Looking at the home and away splits for the hurler is illuminating, since it shows Eickhoff 3-3 at home with a 2.12 ERA, 0-5 away from Citizens Bank Park with a whopping 6.41 ERA.
Those team/pitcher numbers, it's no surprise to see the Toronto pegged a hefty -$2.40 moneyline favorite at Sports Interaction. Might be a good one to walk away from. Jays haven't exactly been good bets at home with Dickey. They're 0-7 in his last seven in front of the home audience.
Dave's Monday MLB
By Dave Essler
Cubs/Nationals: I don't even like to bet on Hendricks - just because it's "the Cubs" he's usually very expensive. It does seem like that is exactly what the early bettors are doing/did. Max has been giving up an awful lot of flyball outs - so with both bullpen being suspect over the last week, I am looking at the Cubs and the over.
Braves/Reds: It's really pretty disrespectful of the bettors to be throwing down money on Wright, on the road, when he's allowed 19 hits in 10 innings in his brief career. I would grant you that Blair is not much further behind, but then there is the Reds bullpen to contend with - and Atlanta's - the only bet here is the over. Clearly asleep and missing 8.5 is not cool, but even at 9 it's a push regardless so that may still be an option.
Dodgers/D-Backs: Grienke's stock couldn't be much higher after shutting out the Rays and the Astros in his last two starts - now going against his former team, who played late last night and traveled. Tough spot for the Dodgers here. Although the Dodgers' pen has been great of late - IMO the D-Backs F5 is the best bet, since Bolsinger just doesn't tend to pitch deep at all.
Miami/San Diego: I guess I can understand why people are liking the Fish and Chen - but that's still making Miami a relatively prohibitive road favorite. Not sure about that, against someone (Rea) they've never seen. The Padres are a .500 team against LHP and their bullpen has been steady lately. Although I don't love their situation (flying back from Colorado) they weren't gone long and didn't let Colorado tee off on them, so I would have to look at the Fathers.
Milwaukee/Giants: It's always tough for me to back Matt Cain, and now he's coming off the DL which is another situation we don't love. He had been pitching much better prior to the hamstring thing. Braun, Lucroy, and Aaron Hill all hit him well, but MIlwaukee on the road just doesn't seem to make sense at any price, even the RL. Hard to figure where the Giants' heads are at after the Dodgers' series - but they're still the Giants and don't beat themselves. Maybe the over - but I was dead wrong thinking that last night.
Detroit/Chicago: No love here for the newly acquired James Shields from a betting standpoint. The Tigers have clearly been winning, but this looks like the first time Boyd will be a favorite (this season), and on the road at that. It seems like they're fading the White Sox more than betting ON Detroit - Chicago has had a tough time with LHP this season and scored exactly one run in each of their last two games. Everyone loves the over here, even betting it to 10 in places. I hope they've expecting Detroit to get most of them. Probably better games here, at least as far as a side is concerned - for me.
Kansas City/Cleveland: So the Royals are an underdog at home to Cleveland. Clearly in part because the Indians have been playing well and it's Carlos Carrasco, not to mention it's their first game back from a fairly lengthy road trip. And the fact that Cleveland has beaten Volquez twice this season. With that in mind I can't take the Royals, inasmuch as I'd like to.
Angels/Twins: When I saw that line last night I thought that the Twins would get some love - simply because people like to fade Weaver. Over the years I've been one of those people. Trout has been upgraded to probable, which was also likely some reason for the move. These two teams/pitchers met back in April, a 6-4 Twins win in Minnesota. Although Nolasco has been much better on the road - and Weaver IS a flyball pitcher - I have to like the Angels here simply because I cannot trust the Twins pen lately. It could be a higher scoring game than people might assume.
Texas/Oakland: They are all aligned against the Rangers, which is not new. I guess because Beltre is likely out, but that didn't stop them last week. Ramos is not as bad as advertised, and in this bigger park might be fine, but clearly won't pitch past the fifth inning or so. Oakland comes back home after a 1-7 road trip - so I just don't grasp the A's love here, aside from a bullpen advantage of late. Manaea beat Texas here earlier this season - so for me, I'm not buying Oakland.
Phillies/Toronto: I like Eickhoff and I don't like Dickey, especially at home. Phillies RL or nothing, and at 9 lean towards the under.
Cubs, Nats clash in D.C.
By Sportsbook.ag
CHICAGO CUBS (43-18.) at WASHINGTON NATIONALS (39-24)
Sportsbook.ag Line: Chicago +115, Washington -125, Total: 7.0
The Nationals will be looking to win their fourth straight game when they host the Cubs on Monday.
The Cubs are coming off a 13-2 victory over the Braves in the final game of a three-game set on Sunday. The Chicago offense is firing on all cylinders, as it has now scored eight or more runs in three of the past four games.
The Cubs have racked up at least 13 runs in those three contests and will be hoping to find a way to defeat this Nationals team on Monday.
Washington, meanwhile, has been extremely hot as well. The Nationals have won six of their past seven games and recently swept the Phillies. They have also been clicking on offense scoring eight or more runs in five of their past seven contests.
These teams have already met four times this season and Chicago won all of those games. The Cubs also happen to be 4-3 against the Nationals in Washington over the past three seasons.
One trend that favors Chicago in this game is that the team is 27-13 against the money line on the road when the total is seven or less over the past two seasons.
The Cubs are, however, a miserable 4-12 against the money line after two straight wins by four runs or more over the past three seasons.
The starters in this game are set to be RHP Kyle Hendricks (4-5, 2.90 ERA, 57 K) for Chicago and RHP Max Scherzer (7-4, 3.57 ERA, 107 K) for Washington. Outside of OF Kyle Schwarber (Knee), no big name players will be missing in either lineup in this one.
The Cubs will be looking to slow down the red-hot Nationals on Monday and Kyle Hendricks will be the guy hoping to do so. He has been very good for Chicago this season and has allowed just six earned runs over his past four starts. Hendricks pitched 27.1 innings in those games and it’d be big for Chicago if he can work deep into this one.
The last time he faced the Nationals, Hendricks allowed no earned runs in six innings of work. He struck out four batters in that game and allowed just two hits. With the way this team is hitting, another performance like that would likely mean the Cubs emerge victorious on Monday.
One guy that will be looking forward to this matchup with Scherzer is 2B Ben Zobrist (.324, 8 HR, 38 RBI). Zobrist has had some success against the Nationals’ ace in his career, going 5-for-22 with three homers and six RBI.
OF Jason Heyward (.240, 4 HR, 22 RBI) could also be in for a good game. He is 4-for-8 with a double against Scherzer in his career and also happens to be hitting well coming into this one. He is 6-for-9 with a homer over the past two contests and should carry his momentum into this one.
The Nationals will be hoping to keep up their impressive play on Monday and they’ll be happy to have Max Scherzer on the mound for this one. The righty has been very impressive his past two times out, allowing just two earned runs in his last 15.0 innings of work. Scherzer struck out 17 batters in those games and walked just three.
He’ll be hoping to continue to miss bats in this one, but he did struggle the last time he faced the Cubs. That start was on May 6 and he allowed seven earned runs in just five innings of work that game. The big issue was that he gave up four homers and he will need to make sure he keeps the ball down on Monday.
The guys that will be counted on to provide at the plate will be OF Bryce Harper (.258, 13 HR, 38 RBI) and 2B Daniel Murphy (.369, 11 HR, 42 RBI). Harper has seen his average go from .242 to .258 over the past 10 games, but he has not shown his power lately. He hasn’t homered since May 18 and the Nationals could use his power. It’d only help the team continue to win games.
Murphy, meanwhile, has seen his average fall from .394 to .369 over the past 10 games. He was, however, hitting almost too well at the beginning of the year and it makes it hard to sustain. He should be able to produce on Monday, as it’s unlikely the Cubs will be able to keep him off the bases too often.
MLB Betting Cheat Sheet: June 13th
By Power Sports
Covers.com
Who’s Hot?
My bi-weekly focus on the hottest teams in baseball now turns to the St. Louis Cardinals, who just got done finishing off a very impressive three-game sweep of the Pirates (in Pittsburgh) on Sunday. The Cards have won five in a row overall and their +74 run differential is fourth best in all of baseball. We won’t be seeing them until Tuesday when they welcome the Houston Astros to Busch Stadium for an interleague series. Remember that these teams used to be division rivals. Those last few seasons in the N.L. Central saw the Astros near their nadir and things never seemed to go well against the Redbirds. In fact, Houston lost 13 of the last 15 head to head meetings.
Looking for Revenge
Two different series that get underway on Monday will see one of the teams looking to avenge a prior four-game sweep. One of them is a matchup of the National League’s marquee teams, the Cubs and Nationals. Last month at Wrigley Field, Chicago took all four games and is now 7-1 its last eight games vs. Washington. It will be interesting to see how things shape up in the Beltway where the Nats have actually been slightly less effective in terms of runs scored vs. allowed even after this weekend’s sweep of the sorry Phillies. The Cubs, meanwhile, are outscoring opponents by a full 3.0 rpg as the road team this year. But the good news for Washington is they won’t have to face either Jake Arrieta or Jon Lester in this series.
The other team seeking revenge starting Monday is the Royals, who were beaten four straight times in Cleveland last weekend. KC is just 1-6 vs. the Tribe in 2016. Their run differential continues to be poor (-21), indicating they probably don’t “deserve” to be over .500.
All Tied Up
Boston and Baltimore enter the week tied for first place in the American League East with the same 36-26 records. The Red Sox have the vastly superior run differential (+86 to +25), however, the Orioles have taken four of the seven overall head to head meetings this year. One thing is for certain and that’s the tie will be no more after Thursday because the teams play three games at Fenway Park, starting Tuesday.
Pitching Notes
I’ve got to go back to Kyle Hendricks this week as despite pitching for the Cubs and possessing the third best WHIP in all of baseball (0.94), his team start record is only 5-6, resulting in a loss of 5.6 units for bettors. Lately, he’s been even better with a 0.682 WHIP his last three starts, but still came out on the losing end against the Phillies on Tuesday. Hendricks will start the opener of the aforementioned series with Washington on Monday.
Two pitchers that you’ve hopefully stayed away from this year will be toeing the rubber Monday. One is Atlanta’s Aaron Blair, who has a 1-7 TSR, 7.13 ERA and 1.840 WHIP. He’ll likely go off as a favorite, mind you, as he faces the Reds at home. The second is James Shields, who was booed off the mound in his White Sox debut last week. Giving up seven runs in just two innings leaves Shields with a 2-10 TSR.
Hitting Notes
It’s been a terrible season so far for the Twins, but Joe Mauer has proven himself to be as reliable as ever. The former MVP has now reached base safely in 24 straight games.
Jose Bautista is expected back in the lineup for Toronto on Monday vs. Philadelphia, most likely in the role of designated hitter. He has missed the last three games due to a sore thigh. In his place Ezequiel Carrera did well, hitting leadoff and going 4-12 at the plate with a hit in every game.
Totals Trend
The Dodgers and Diamondbacks hook up this week for a three-game series. The only previous series between the two teams this year saw all three games stay Under. Clayton Kershaw is scheduled to pitch on Wednesday.