National League
Phillies @ Marlins
Eickhoff is 3-1, 4.41 in his last six starts; under is 6-3-1 in his last 10 starts. Phils are 5-2 in his last seven road starts. Esch allowed two runs in 4.1 IP (71 PT) in his only ’16 start. Phillies lost 10 of last 12 games, are 9-13 in road series openers. Over is 8-2-1 in their last 11 road games. Miami lost eight of last nine games, is 1-6 in last seven home series openers. Under is 8-3 in their last 11 home games.
Mets @ Reds
Colon is 2-0, 3.54 in his last three starts; three of his last four went over. New York is 7-4 in his road starts this year. Stephenson was 2-0, 3.75 in two starts back in April (over 1-1). Mets are 11-4 in last 15 games, 3-7 in last 10 road series openers. Under is 6-2 in their last eight games. Cincinnati lost seven of last 10 games, is 6-1 in last seven home series openers. Four of Reds’ last five games stayed under. Mets played at home last night, have 1:10 game here; tough turnaround.
Cubs @ Brewers
Hendricks is 4-0, 1.29 in his last six starts; three of his last four went over. Cubs are 5-7 in his road starts. Davies is 1-2, 6.04 in his last five starts; three of his last four went over. Brewers lost three of his last four home starts. Cubs won five of last six games, are 12-9 in road series openers. Last three Chicago games stayed under. Milwaukee won its last four games, is 10-13 in home series openers. Under is 6-2 in last eight games at Miller Park.
Cardinals @ Pirates
Wainwright is 0-3, 8.31 in his last five starts; over is 6-2 in his last eight starts. St Louis is 9-2 in his last 11 road starts. Kuhl is 0-2, 4.15 in his last three starts (under 3-0). Cardinals lost three of last four games, are 10-12 in road series openers. Four of last five St Louis games stayed under. Pittsburgh lost its last six games, is 2-5 in last seven home series openers. Three of last four Pirate home games went over.
Braves @ Nationals
Weber is making his first ’16 start; he was 0-3, 4.76 in five MLB starts LY, is 1-0, 5.24 in 12 relief stints this year. Scherzer is 3-0, 2.42 in his last three starts; under is 10-2 in his last 12 starts. Washington is 6-5 in his home starts. Braves won their last six games, are 8-6 in last 14 road series openers. Over is 10-4 in their last 14 road games. Washington won four of last six games, is 3-6 in laat nine home series openers. Last seven National games stayed under.
Giants @ Rockies
Moore is 2-0, 0.64 in his last two starts (under 4-2). Bettis is 1-1, 5.85 in his last four starts; his last three stayed under. Colorado won his last seven home starts. Giants lost five of last seven road games, are 4-11 in last 15 road series openers. Under is 7-2 in their last nine road games. Colorado lost three of last four games, is 12-7 in last 19 home series openers. Last four Rockies games went over the total.
Diamondbacks @ Dodgers
Forner Dodger Greinke is 1-0, 3.79 in his last three starts; his last five starts went over. Arizona is 8-2 in his road starts. Maeda is 5-1, 3.72 in his last seven starts; over is 6-2 in his last eight. Dodgers won his last four home starts. Arizona is 8-6 in its last 14 games, 2-7 in last nine road series openers. Over is 11-5 in their last 16 road games. Dodgers won four of last five home games, are 11-12 in home series openers. Under is 8-3 in their last 11 games.
American League
Blue Jays @ New York
Dickey is 1-1, 4.91 in his last four starts; over is 5-3 in his last eight. Toronto is 5-6 in his road starts. Tanaka is 4-0, 1.93 in his last five starts; under is 6-3 in his last nine. New York is 11-2 in his home starts. Blue Jays won six of last nine games, are 3-7 in last 10 road series openers. Last three Toronto games went over total. New York is 7-4 in its last 11 games, 7-0 in last seven home series openers. Over is 7-2 in last nine games in the Bronx.
Orioles @ Rays
Jimenez is 0-1, 2.55 in his last three starts (under 3-0). Baltimore is 1-7 in his road starts. Andriese is 0-5, 6.95 in his last seven starts; four of his last five went over. Rays are 3-4 in his home starts. Orioles lost three of last four games; they’re 11-11 in road series openers. Last seven Baltimore games stayed under. Tampa Bay won four of last five home games; they’re 9-14 in home series openers. Over is 12-4 in their last 16 home games.
Royals @ Twins
Kennedy is 3-0, 1.77 in his last seven starts; over is 2-0-1 in his last three. Royals are 6-10 in his road starts, but won last two. Berrios is 0-3, 11.25 in his last four starts; over is 5-0-1 in his last six. Twins are 0-4 in his home starts. Royals lost four of last five games, but won last five road series openers. Seven of KC’s last eight games went over. Minnesota is 2-15 in its last 17 games, 6-12 in last 18 home series openers. Over is 14-2 in last 16 games at Target Field.
Angels @ A’s
Weaver is 2-0, 3.00 in his last two starts; four of his last five stayed under. angels are 5-7 in his road starts. Alcantara is making his first MLB start; he was 4-0, 1.18 in eight AAA starts this year. Angels are 9-2 in last 11 games, 2-12 in last 14 road series openers. Under is 8-3 in their last 11 road games. Oakland lost five of its last six games, is 10-7 in last 17 home series openers. Under is 14-4 in their last 18 games.
Tigers @ White Sox
Verlander is 2-0, 2.18 in his last three starts; under is 11-1 in his last 12 starts. Detroit is 6-5 in his road starts. Sale is 1-1, 1.80 in his last three starts; under is 6-2 in his last eight. Chicago is 8-4 in his home starts. Tigers won seven of last eight road games, are 9-13 in road series openers. Oer is 5-1 in their last six road games. Chicago lost five of last seven games; they’re 11-10 in home series openers. Five of last six White Sox games went over.
Rangers @ Mariners
Hamels is 2-0, 3.20 in his last three starts (over 2-0-1). Texas is 9-4 in his road starts. Hernandez is 0-2, 8.10 vs Texas this year, 2-0, 2.74 in his last three home starts. Over is 6-2 in his last eight starts. Mariners are 5-3 in his home starts. Rangers won seven of last eight games, are 2-7 in last nine road series openers. Last six Texas games went over the total. Seattle lost 10 of last 12 games, but won last five home series openers. Over is 12-5 in their last 17 games.
Astros @ Indians
Fiers is 1-0, 3.44 in his last three starts; four of his last five went over. Astros are 4-7 in his road starts. Clevinger is 1-1, 6.29 in five starts this year (over 4-1). Astros are 11-4 in last 15 games, 2-5 in last seven road series openers. Astros’ last four road games all went over. Cleveland won its last seven home games, is 16-7 in home series openers. Three of their last four games went over.
Interleague
Red Sox @ Padres
Former Padre Pomeranz is 2-1, 2.84 in his last four starts; under is 7-1 in his last eight starts. Jackson is 0-3, 13.89 in his last three starts (over 4-4). Red Sox won four of last six games, are 11-3 in last 14 road series openers. Over is 6-2 in their last eight games. San Diego lost nine of last 12 games, is 12-9 in home series openers. Over is 9-2 in last 11 games at Petco Park.
Teams’ record when this pitcher starts
Phil-Mia– Eickhoff 13-12; Esch 0-1
NY-Cin– Colon 17-10; Stephenson 2-0
Chi-Mil– Hendricks 15-10; Davies 12-12
StL-Pitt– Wainwright 17-10; Kuhl 7-2
Atl-Wsh– Weber 0-0; Scherzer 18-10
SF-Col– Moore 3-3/9-12; Bettis 17-10
Az-LA– Greinke 15-7; Maeda 17-10
Tor-NY– Dickey 13-14; Tanaka 20-7
Balt-TB– Jimenez 9-11; Andriese 6-8
KC-Min– Kennedy 13-14; Berrios 2-7
LA-A’s– Weaver 11-15; Alcantara 0-0
Det-Chi– Verlander 17-11; Sale 16-10
Tex-Sea– Hamels 20-7; Hernandez 12-7
Hst-Clev– Fiers 15-10; Clevinger 3-2
Bos-SD– Pomeranz 4-5/9-8; Jackson 3-5
Starting pitchers allowing 1+ runs in first inning
Phil-Mia– Eickhoff 8-25; Esch 0-1
NY-Cin– Colon 8-27; Stephenson 0-2
Chi-Mil– Hendricks 6-25; Davies 7-24
StL-Pitt– Wainwright 10-27; Kuhl 4-9
Atl-Wsh– Weber 0-0; Scherzer 9-28
SF-Col– Moore 6-27; Bettis 11-27
Az-LA– Greinke 7-22; Maeda 5-27
Tor-NY– Dickey 7-27; Tanaka 3-27
Balt-TB– Jimenez 9-20; Andriese 4-14
KC-Min– Kennedy 9-27; Berrios 4-9
LA-A’s– Weaver 9-26; Alcantara 0-0
Det-Chi– Verlander 10-28; Sale 8-26
Tex-Sea– Hamels 5-27; Hernandez 3-19
Hst-Clev– Fiers 5-25; Clevinger 2-5
Bos-SD– Pomeranz 5-26; Jackson 1-8
Armadillosports.com
Monday's Diamond Notes
By Kevin Rogers
VegasInsider.com
Hottest team: Rangers (9-2 last 11)
Even though Texas finished up its 10-game homestand with a one-run loss to Houston, the Rangers finished with an 8-2 record. The offense produced six runs or more eight times, while the AL West leaders own a spectacular 11-2 mark in their last 13 home contests. The Rangers travel to Seattle on Monday, less than one week after pulling off a three-game sweep of the Mariners at Globe Life Park. Cole Hamels takes the mound in the series opener at Safeco Field, as the Texas southpaw allowed six earned runs in less than five innings against Seattle last week in an 8-7 victory.
Coldest team: Marlins (2-9 last 11)
Two weeks ago, Miami was right in playoff contention in the National League. Eleven games later, the Marlins are sitting below .500 after getting swept by the Indians and finishing their seven-game road trip with a dreadful 1-6 mark. The Marlins lost twice with ace Jose Fernandez on the hill, while Miami pitching allowed 20 runs in the three defeats at Cleveland. Playing at home hasn’t been much of an advantage recently, posting a 4-8 mark at Marlins Park the last 12 games as Miami hosts Philadelphia on Monday. The good news for Miami is it owns a 5-2 record the past seven contests against Philadelphia, while the Phillies are coming off an 0-6 homestand.
Hottest pitcher: Kyle Hendricks, Cubs (13-7, 2.09 ERA)
Chicago swept Milwaukee last month at Wrigley Field in a four-game series, while the Cubs are fresh off a 6-1 homestand. The Cubs head to Miller Park on Monday as Hendricks looks to lower his league-leading ERA with another solid performance. Hendricks is coming off a pair of victories in his last two starts, while allowing one earned run or less in six outings since the All-Star break. The right-hander has split a pair of starts against Milwaukee this season, while losing at Miller Park in mid-May as a nearly -200 favorite.
Coldest pitcher: Jose Berrios, Twins (2-4, 9.24 ERA)
One day after Minnesota allowed 13 runs in an extra-innings loss to Chicago, Berrios will try to clean up the Twins’ pitching woes against the Royals. Berrios has yielded at least four earned runs in four straight starts, as Minnesota has lost each of those games. The last time Berrios faced Kansas City on August 19, the right-hander lasted four innings and gave up five hits and four earned runs in a 5-4 defeat. To make matters worse, the Twins have put together a dreadful 2-11 record against the Royals this season.
Biggest UNDER run: Orioles (7-0 last seven)
Baltimore has been one of the top UNDER teams at home this season, as the Orioles posted UNDERS in all seven games on its recent homestand against the Blue Jays and Yankees. The explosive Orioles’ offense put up three runs or less four times in the last seven games, while recording UNDERS in all three games at Tampa Bay in mid-July. Baltimore heads to Tropicana Field on Monday to face a Rays’ squad that cashed the OVER in all three games this past weekend against Toronto.
Biggest OVER run: Mariners (5-1 last six)
Although Seattle cashed the UNDER in Sunday’s setback to Los Angeles, the Mariners have been a nice OVER run. The M’s finished OVER the total in all three losses at Texas last week as the two AL West rivals hook up at Safeco Field on Monday. Six of the last nine home games for Seattle have gone OVER the total, including three straight home series openers. Felix Hernandez heads to the hill on Monday, as Seattle is 4-1 to the OVER in his past five starts at Safeco Field, while the Mariners’ ace was racked in his last outing against Texas by giving up six earned runs in a 14-1 defeat.
Matchup to watch: Astros vs. Indians
Houston avoided a sweep at Texas on Sunday with a 7-6 victory to cut its Wild Card deficit to two games behind Baltimore and Detroit. The Astros head to Cleveland for a pivotal four-game series at Progressive Field. The Indians swept the Marlins in a three-game home series this past weekend, capped off by an impressive three-run rally in Sunday’s 7-6 walk-off triumph. Cleveland looks to avenge a series loss at Minute Maid Park in May as the Indians dropped two of three, including a 16-inning defeat in the series finale.
Mike Fiers takes the mound for Houston in Monday’s opener, as the right-hander is coming off a pair of no-decisions in Astros’ victories over the Rays and Athletics. Fiers has struggled on the road this season by compiling a 5.57 ERA, while allowing at least four earned runs in three away starts since the All-Star break. Mike Clevinger counters for Cleveland, making his first start since a 5-1 victory over the Angels on August 13. The Indians own a 3-2 record in Clevinger’s five starts this season, but not one of those outings has been a quality one.
Betcha didn’t know: Since a 14-2 start to the season, Chris Sale has picked up only one victory since July 2. In this span, the White Sox are 2-7 in his past nine outings, including a pair of losses to the Tigers. Sale faces Justin Verlander on the South Side to start a three-game set on Monday against Detroit, as the Tigers swept the White Sox last week at Comerica Park.
Biggest public favorite: Nationals (-350) vs. Braves
Biggest public underdog: Orioles (+105) at Rays
Biggest line move: Dodgers (-145 to -155) vs. Diamondbacks
MLB: Streak, Tips, Notes
Sportspic.com
New York at Cincinnati
Sometimes in sports a team just has another team's number and that's the case for New York Mets when it comes to Cincinnati Reds. Winning three earlier meetings the Metropolitans have now won eleven consecutive games vs Cincinnati and have come out on the winning side in sixteen of the past eighteen encounters including 8-1 at Great American Ball Park.
Bartolo Colon doing Mets bidding bodes well for the team. Mets have won Colon's last three starts and the hurler carries a solid 5-1 career team start record vs Cincinnati including 2-0 since putting on a Met uniform. Additionally, this being the opening game of a road series is yet another nod towards Mets, since the team has compiled an 8-2 record last 10 series road openers handing the ball to the righthander. According to current odds at bet365 the Mets are -$1.30 road favorites.
Toronto at New York
Toronto has been an 'Under' bettor’s dream in an opposing park cashing at a 60.2% clip posting 41 'Under', 24, 'Over', 3 'Push'. Blue Jays look to keep 'Under' gambler's happy when they visit Yankees Monday afternoon. Blue Jays have Dickey handling starting duties and will carry an 11-1 'Under' record over twelve starts vs Yankees since arriving in Toronto, including 7-1 'Under' tossing in the Bronx. Matching that, Dickey has a 10-3-1 'Under' stretch following a team win the previous day, a 8-2 'Under' mark when tasked with opening a road series.
Another positive for 'Under' gamblers. Tanaka goes for New York. Yankees are 8-0 'Under' in his last eight starts vs Toronto, 10-3 'Under' in Tanaka's last thirteen vs a division rival.
MLB Betting Cheat Sheet
By Monty Andrews
Covers.com
Routing the Rivals
The Toronto Blue Jays look to hold on to the American League East lead this week as they kick off a pivotal three-game series Monday night in the Bronx. Toronto barely avoided a sweep at the hands of the lowly Tampa Bay Rays over the weekend, and find themselves in a three-way battle for the East lead with the Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles. Toronto has reversed a recent trend that had seen it struggle against the Yankees, coming into this series with a 22-9 edge since the beginning of 2015.
Home of the (Red-Hot) Braves
The hottest team in the National League? That designation belongs to the Atlanta Braves. No, that is not a mistype - and no, this isn’t 2005. The Braves have won six in a row as they open a three-game set Monday in Washington against the NL East-leading Nationals. Oddsmakers aren’t that shocked at Atlanta’s recent fortunes; the Braves were favorites in four of those six games, including all three against visiting San Diego. They’ve done it with offence, averaging seven runs over their winning streak.
Cincinnati is So Not Over
The Cincinnati Reds are well-known in betting circles as having been the strongest Over play of the season to date - but things may finally be evening out a little. The Reds relied on solid pitching to take two of three from the St. Louis Cardinals over the weekend, putting the brakes on a four-game losing skid. That pitching improvement, coupled with struggles at the plate, have conspired to make the Reds 1-4 O/U in their last five games. We’ll see if that trend continues as they host the New York Mets for a three-game set.
Injury Updates
No Cameron Maybin? No problem for the Detroit Tigers - at least this time around. The Tigers have gone 4-1 SU for +325 units in the five games Maybin has missed with a thumb injury; however, that only improves the Tigers to 28-35 SU for the season in games Maybin has been out.
Things have gone south for the Pittsburgh Pirates since losing infielder Jung Ho Kang to a shoulder injury earlier this month. The Pirates fell to 5-10 SU for a whopping -$867 in his absence in Sunday’s 10-0 drubbing at the hands of the Milwaukee Brewers; they’re 6-8-1 O/U in that span.
Hitting Notes
Justin Upton didn’t look like he was destined for a 20-homer season earlier in 2015, but a hot second half helped him reach that plateau Sunday. The Detroit Tigers have been big benefactors of his power this season, having gone 8-0 in games in which Upton has homered since July 29.
Milwaukee outfielder Domingo Santana went deep twice Sunday in the Brewers’ one-sided win over Pittsburgh for his first home runs since June 4. Milwaukee is a sizzling 11-3 SU and 10-4 O/U in games in which Santana drives in at least one run.
Pitching Notes
Get your parlay ready. Washington ace Stephen Strasburg is expected to return to the starting rotation Wednesday against the visiting Braves after missing three weeks with an elbow injury. Strasburg is 17-5-1 O/U in his 23 starts, and has hit the Win-Over combination 13 times to date.
Drew Pomeranz will look to climb back to his pre-trade form as he leads the Red Sox into San Diego for a date with the team that dealt him to Boston at the trade deadline. Pomeranz earned $193 in 17 starts with San Diego this season, but is sitting at -$327 in nine starts with the Botox.
Totals Trend
Congratulations to those who pegged the Tampa Bay Rays as a strong Over option. The Rays have played to the Over in eight of their last nine games, improving them to 66-62-7 O/U for the season.
Monday's Weather Watch
The weather report looks perfect for this holiday Monday. There is a threat of some thunderstorms in a couple of cities, but they are in Florida at stadiums with roofs. Every other baseball city is forecasting sunny conditions and plenty of afternoon action.