Baseball Information
National League
Braves @ Cubs
Perez is 0-4, 7.66 in his last four starts.
Haren is 1-3, 4.67 in his last five starts; over is 3-1 in his last four home starts.
Braves lost nine of last 11 games overall. Cubs lost three of their last five games-- six of their last eight games went over. Atlanta lost last four games with the Cubs, with four of last five going under- they scored five runs total in last four series games.
Giants @ Pirates
Leake is 4-1, 0.99 in his last five starts; five of his last six stayed under; he is making first start since August 2 (hamstring).
Cole is 0-3, 5.48 in his last four starts; five of his last six stayed under.
Pittsburgh won eight of last 11 games with the Giants; over is 4-1-2 in last seven series games. Pirates won 11 of last 14 games (over 9-4-2 in last 15). SF lost three of last five games; under is 8-3-1 in its last twelve.
Brewers @ Nationals
Jungmann is 2-1, 3.38 in his last three starts; under is 6-3-1 in his last ten.
Ross is 1-2, 5.14 in his last four starts; four of his last five stayed under.
Milwaukee lost four of last seven games with Washington (over 6-1); Brewers won five of last seven games overall; over is 3-0-1 in last four. Nationals lost eight of last ten games (under 6-4).
Diamondbacks @ Reds
Delgado has made 47 MLB starts, 36 in 2012-13 (9-16, 4.61), four LY. He has thrown 50 innings in 43 relief appearances this year (no starts).
DeSclafani is 2-1, 2.52 in his last four starts (under 4-0).
Arizona won five of last six games with Cincinnati; eight of last ten games in series stayed under the total. D'backs are 4-3 in last seven games; four of last six stayed under. Reds lost ten of last twelve games; four of their last five stayed under the total.
Phillies @ Marlins
Harang is 0-3, 10.80 in his last three starts; three of his last four went under.
Nicolino is 2-1, 4.24 in his four starts (over 2-1-1).
Philly won four of last six games with Miami (over 4-1-1); Phils lost seven of last ten games (over 7-3-1 in last 11). Marlins scored 38 runs in winning four of last six games; over is 7-1-2 in their last ten.
Mets @ Rockies
Niese is 2-0, 2.42 in his last four starts; his last four on road stayed under.
Rusin is 1-1, 1.80 in his last three starts.
Mets won their last nine games with Colorado; home side won nine of last 11 in series; seven of last nine stayed under- they lost four of last six games overall; their last five games went over. Rockies lost nine of last 11 games; three of their last five games stayed under the total.
Cardinals @ Padres
Martinez is 1-1, 6.26 in his last four starts; under is 6-2-1 in his last nine.
Kennedy is 3-0, 2.12 in his last three home starts; under is 8-2 in his last ten starts overall.
St Louis won six of last ten games with San Diego; three of last four series games stayed under total. Cardinals won six of last ten games. Padres won eight of last ten games; seven of last nine went over.
American League
Indians @ Bronx
Salazar is 3-0, 1.27 in his last four starts; four of his last five stayed under.
Severino is 0-2, 3.71 in his three starts (under 2-1); Bronx scored total of six runs in those three games.
Bronx lost six of last seven games with Cleveland (over 7-4 in last 11), but they won six of last nine games overall; six of their last ten stayed under total. Indians lost four of last seven games (four of last five went over).
Rangers @ Tigers
Gallardo is 2-0, 3.38 in his last three starts, but has finished 6th inning only once in last eight starts- his last three starts stayed under.
Veteran hurler Wolf is making first '15 start; he has started 372 MLB games, only four the last 2+ years (1-3, 5.26 with Miami LY). He was 9-2, 2.58 in 23 AAA starts this season.
Texas lost four of last five games with Detroit; last three series games stayed under the total. Rangers won seven of last nine games overall; under is 6-1-1 in their last eight. Tigers won four of last six games; three of their last five games went over the total.
Twins @ Orioles
Gibson is 0-3, 8.18 in his last six starts (over 2-0-1 in last three on road).
Tillman is 3-0, 2.18 in his last five starts; seven of his last eight went under.
Minnesota won its last six games with Baltimore; over is 4-2-1 in last seven in series. Twins lost five of last nine games; five of last eight stayed under. Orioles won five of last eight games; four of their last six went over the total.
Royals @ Red Sox
Ventura is 3-0, 3.94 in his last five starts; under is 6-4 in his last ten.
Barnes allowed six runs in five IP (102 PT) in his first MLB start.
Royals lost ten of last 12 games with Boston; six of last seven series games went over the total. KC won five of its last seven games (under 5-2). Red Sox won six of last eight games; 11 of their last 12 games went over.
Rays @ A's
Ramirez is 2-0, 1.42 in his last two starts; three of his last four went over.
Gray is 2-1, 1.91 in his last five starts; under is 7-0-1 in his last eight.
Tampa Bay lost five of last eight games; under is 5-1 in last six games; Rays are 5-6 in last 11 games with Oakland (under 7-2-2). A's won five of last six home games.
Blue Jays @ Angels
Estrada is 3-1, 1.82 in his last four starts; six of his last seven stayed under.
Heaney is 0-1, 3.57 in his last four starts (under 3-1).
Blue Jays are 14-3 in their last 17 games; their last three went over the total. Angels are 6-5 in last 11 games with Toronto. Halos won three of last five games overall; three of their last four went over.
White Sox @ Mariners
Rodon is 1-1, 1.20 in his last two starts; his last three road starts stayed under.
Nuno is 0-1, 6.23 in his three starts (over 2-1) this season.
White Sox lost five of last seven games, but scored 19 runs in winning last two; three of last four went over. ChiSox lost three of last five games with Seattle; five of last seven series games went under the total. Mariners lost five of last seven games (over 4-2-1 in last seven).
Interleague
Dodgers @ Astros
Greinke is 9-0, 1.70 in his last 10 starts; five of his last seven stayed under.
Kazmir is 0-3, 7.02 in his last three starts; five of his last six stayed under.
Dodgers won eight of last 11 games with Houston (under 7-3-1). LA lost nine of its last 11 road games- four of its last seven games overall went over. Astros won six of last nine games; their last four games stayed under total. Dodgers got no-hit Friday by a journeyman righthanded pitcher
Win-loss records this year for team with this starting pitcher:
SF-Pitt-- Leake 11-11/0-1; Cole 16-8
Atl-Chi-- Perez 5-7 (0-5 last 5); Haren 11-13/1-2
Mil-Wsh-- Jungmann 8-5; Ross 3-6
Az-Cin-- Delgado 0-0; DeSclafani 11-12
Phil-Mia-- Harang 6-15 (1-12 last 13); Nicolino 3-1
NY-Col-- Niese 9-14; Rusin 4-9
StL-SD-- Martinez 18-4; Kennedy 10-12
Cle-NY-- Salazar 14-8; Severino 0-3
Tex-Det-- Gallardo 13-12; Wolf 0-0
Min-Balt-- Gibson 12-12; Tillman 12-10
KC-Bos-- Ventura 9-10; Barnes 0-1
TB-A's-- Ramirez 13-6; Gray 15-9
Tor-LA-- Estrada 10-9; Heaney 8-2
Chi-Sea-- Rodon 10-7; Nuno 2-1
LA-Hst-- Greinke 17-7 (8-1 last 9); Kazmir 10-13/2-3
Times this starting pitcher allowed a run in first inning:
SF-Pitt-- Leake 4-22; Cole 8-24
Atl-Chi-- Perez 4-12; Haren 3-24
Mil-Wsh-- Jungmann 3-13; Ross 0-9
Az-Cin-- Delgado 0-0; DeSclafani 5-23
Phil-Mia-- Harang 8-21; Nicolino 0-4
NY-Col-- Niese 8-23; Rusin 4-13
StL-SD-- Martinez 5-22 (3 of last 4); Kennedy 8-22
Cle-NY-- Salazar 6-22; Severino 1-3
Tex-Det-- Gallardo 9-25; Wolf 0-0
Min-Balt-- Gibson 6-24; Tillman 4-22
KC-Bos-- Ventura 4-19; Barnes 0-1
TB-A's-- Ramirez 5-19; Gray 4-24
Tor-LA-- Estrada 4-19; Heaney 0-10
Chi-Sea-- Rodon 5-17; Nuno 2-3
LA-Hst-- Greinke 6-24; Kazmir 4-23
Umpires
SF-Pitt-- Underdogs won five of last seven Davis games.
Atl-Chi-- Underdogs won six of last eight Miller games.
Mil-Wsh-- Five of last seven Fagan games stayed under.
Az-Cin-- Under is 9-4 in last thirteen Muchlinski games.
Phil-Mia-- Over is 7-1-1 in last nine Hoberg games.
NY-Col-- Underdogs are 13-9 in Schrieber games this year.
StL-SD-- Under is 6-1-1 in last eight Segal games.
Cle-NY-- Over is 9-2-1 in last twelve LBarrett games.
Tex-Det-- Eight of last eleven Carapazza games went over.
Min-Balt-- Seven of last nine Carlson games went over.
KC-Bos-- Underdogs won last four Wendelstedt games.
TB-A's-- Home side won seven of last ten Nauert games.
Tor-LA-- Over is 10-4-1 in last fifteen Diaz games.
Chi-Sea-- Under is 5-2-1 in last eight Cederstrom games.
LA-Hst-- Favorites are 12-4 in last sixteen BWelke games.
Armadillosports.com
MLB: Streaks, Tips, Notes
Sportspic.com
San Francisco at Pittsburgh
The Pittsburgh Pirates will start Gerrit Cole when they host San Francisco Saturday afternoon which does not spell good things for the Giants. In three career appearances against the Giants (one this year) the Pirates have won each contest. Adding to those numbers, Pirates are 10-1 in Cole's last 11 starts at home vs a team with a winning record. The fact this is a day game is another nod towards Pirates w/Cole. The righthander has a sparkling 7-1 record, 1.84 ERA in daylight hours.
Los Angeles at Houston
The second matchup of a three game series is today’s baseball betting focus as the Houston Astros host the Los Angeles Dodgers Saturday evening at Minute Maid Park. Scott Kazmir (6-8, 2.43 ERA) gets the nod for Astros looking to halt a season-high three game skid that has seen the lefthander tagged for 13 runs (9 earned) on 22 hits, 4 long-ball. Kazmir matches pitches with Dodgers' Zack Greinke (13-2, 1.58 ERA) who is undefeated in eleven starts with Dodgers 9-2 over the span. According to opening betting odds the Dodgers enter the contest as -$1.25 road favorites with the total set at 7 runs.
Going against Greinke might be considered sacrilege by some in MLB handicapping. But, the Dodgers haven't been a peg to hang your hat on when away from Chavez Ravine as the result has been 9 losses, 2 wins the past 11 in enemy territory. Additionally, the Dodgers have been poor bets on the road when chalk of -$1.20 to -$1.50. In 16 occurrences this season they've posted a 5-11 record costing backers -$933 at the betting window. On the flip side, Stros have won 6 straight and 9 of 11 at Minute Maid Park vs a team with a winning record and have won 12 of 15 against the Senior league this season including 6 of 8 in front of the friendly crowd.
Saturday Scouting Edge
By Coach Fletcher
Cleveland Indians at New York Yankees
Danny Salazar is on quite a streak for the Indians. He is 11-6 with a 3.16 era for a team that is almost 10 games under .500. He’s currently on a string of 7 straight quality starts and has a 1.33 era in his last 3 starts. He sits at 6-4 with a 3.17 era in his road starts. Going back to his last 7 starts, Salazar has gone 6-5 with a tiny 1.45 era. In his last 3 starts he has held the Red Sox, Yankees and Angels to just 1 run each. And yes, in his single start versus the Bronx Bombers this year he went 7 1/3 innings allowing 4 hits and 1 run. He walked 5 and fanned 8. The Yankees opened at -134.
Atlanta Braves at Chicago Cubs
The 69-51 Cubs have been expert on capitalizing on the weakness of their foes this year. After running off a bunch of wins they lost 3 straight. The loss to Chris Sale can easily be explained. But giving up 10 runs and 15 runs in back to back losses to the Tigers didn’t sit well. They’ve come back to take two straight and hope to make that 3 straight today against Williams Perez. After coming off the DL for a month Perez has been way off. He had only 1 start in July where he gave up 9 runs on 9 hits against the Phillies. He came back and gave up 10 hits and6 runs to the Giants. He’s improved in his last 2 going 14 1/3 innings total against Tampa Bay and San Diego allowing 6 runs, 11 hits, walking 8 and fanning 3. The Braves have lost his last 5 starts. The Cubs opened at -215.
Arizona Diamondbacks at Cincinnati Reds
Randall Delgado will make his first start of the season filling in for the D-backs Jeremy Hellickson who went on the DL. Delgado is not a newbie to MLB action. He is 11-19 with a 4.23 era in 47 career starts. Delgado has made 43 appearances from the D-back bullpen this year and done quite well. He is 4-3 with a 2.70 era. He appeared in 47 games last season but only started 4 games. He was 4-4 with a 4.87 era in 2014. Prior to the 43 if his 46 appearances were as a starter. He’s only thrown 50 innings this year in relief. In his career against the Reds Delgado is 0-3 with a 4.70 era. Those starts were in 2012-13 when Delgado was starting. The Reds opened as -119 favorites.
Kansas City Royals and Boston Red Sox
Two pitchers with much room for improvement could keep Fenway rockin’ with runs Saturday night. Yordano Ventura goes for the Royals. He’s 7-7 this year with a 4.82 era. He’s made 2 starts against the Bosox (2014) and is 0-2 with a 7.15 era. The Red Sox go with Matt Barnes. Barnes was rocked for 6 runs in 5 innings in his first major league start. Barnes walked 3 and fanned 7 and reportedly had a live fastball. Barnes did send some time in the bullpen this season. He made 22 appearances for the Bosox and went 3-3 with a lofty 6.59 era. KC opened as -141 favorites with a total of 9.
Los Angeles Dodgers at Houston Astros
Two excellent pitchers face off in Houston tonight. The total was widespread at 7 considering the stature of the hurlers. Greinke won the AL Cy Young award in 2009 and he is doing much better this year in the NL. Greinke is 13-2 with a 1.58 era. He’s fanned 150 in 165 1/3 innings and has a whip of 0.86. He’s 6-0 in his last 7 starts. Scott Kazmir will go to the bump for the Astros. Kazmir, acquired by trade from Oakland, is 6-8 with a 2.43 era. His last start was his worst of the year. He was knocked around for 9 hits and 6 runs in 5 2/3 innings. Prior to that Kazmir gave up 3 runs in 11 1/3 innings to the Giants and Rangers. He hasn’t made it past 5 2/3 in any of his last 3 starts. Prior to that he had 6 straight starts of at least 7 innings. Considering the Astro bullpen has an era of 2.60, it may not be an indication of his fitness, but simply a managerial decision.
Steve's Screen Shot
By Steve Merril
White Sox @ Mariners -- Carlos Rodon is going to be a fantastic Major League pitcher once he figures out how to harness his control. He has been a bit better as of late with just six walks in his last three starts. Rodon has allowed just 2 earned runs in his last three road stats against the Angels, Indians, and Cubs. He’ll be opposed by Vidal Nuno who has a 6.23 ERA in three starts for the Mariners this season. I agree with the money move on the White Sox in this game.
Blue Jays @ Angels -- Andrew Heaney has not lost in six home starts for the Angels. However, the southpaw has struggled to go deep in ballgames. Los Angeles has been careful with his pitch count, allowing Heaney to get to 100 pitches in a game just once this season. Toronto has an excellent offense, and they are averaging 5.5 runs per game versus left-handed starters. I also agree with the money move on the Blue Jays in this game.
Rangers @ Tigers -- Randy Wolf is back in the Majors. He will start for the Tigers on Saturday night when they host the Rangers. Wolf went 9-2 with a 2.58 ERA in 23 starts for Triple-A Buffalo before getting called-up for this game. The southpaw’s issue has been giving up hits as he has allowed 139 in 139.2 innings of work. Wolf’s last start Major League start was back in June of 2014 when he was shelled for 5 runs and nine hits in four innings pitched against the Pirates. I’d only look at Texas (-120) or Over 9 (-115) in this game.
Indians @ Yankees -- New York’s Luis Severino will finally face a team for the second time. Severino held the Indians to just 2 runs and seven hits in six innings pitched back on August 11th. He is still looking for his first win of the season despite not having allowed more than 3 runs in a single start. Cleveland’s Danny Salazar faced the Yankees at home back on August 12th, holding them to just 1 run and four hits in 7.1 innings of work. I lean Under 7.5 (-110) in this game.
Diamondbacks @ Reds -- There’s a good chance for the Reds to snap their current 7-game losing streak on Saturday night. Randall Delgado makes the move to the rotation from the Arizona bullpen. He went 4-3 with a 2.70 ERA out of the bullpen for Arizona, but he is only expected to throw 70 pitches in this game. That means a Diamondbacks’ bullpen that has 21 losses and 16 blown saves on the season will throw more innings in this game. Cincinnati’s Anthony DeSclafani has five straight quality starts, so the pitching edge certainly favors the Reds. I lean to Cincinnati (-120) in this game.