Sunday's Streaking and Slumping Starting Pitchers
By Covers.com
STREAKING
Yu Darvish, Texas Rangers 4-0, 2.18 ERA
The 25-year-old Japanese sensation has fanned 19 batters in his last two starts covering 15 1/3 innings. He’s allowed one or zero runs in his last four starts. In fact, since a bad first inning in his major league debut, Darvish has allowed four runs over 32 innings. He gets the Indians in Cleveland on Sunday.
Brandon Beachy, Atlanta Braves 2-1, 1.38 ERA
Batters are hitting .193 against the 25-year-old right-hander, who has a fine strikeout-to-walk ratio of 22:7. He’s allowed two or fewer runs in all five of his starts entering Sunday’s visit to Coors Field. However, current Rockies are 7-for-15 against him with two homers and five RBIs.
SLUMPING
Phil Hughes, New York Yankees 1-4, 7.48 ERA
Hughes has served up seven homers in five starts, and the league is hitting .298 against him. He’s lasted five innings in only two starts. Still, Hughes is expected to keep getting the ball, at least until Andy Pettitte returns. He faces the Royals in K.C. on Sunday.
Hector Noesi, Seattle Mariners 1-3, 7.83 ERA
Like Hughes, Noesi can’t keep the ball in the park, allowing five homers in five starts. He barely has more strikeouts (13) than walks (10). While he pitched decently his last time out, giving up three runs in 5 2/3 innings vs. the Rays, Noesi must put it together soon or else he’ll be knocked out of the rotation. He gets the Twins at home Sunday.
Sunday Night Baseball: Phillies at Nationals
By Covers.com
Philadelphia Phillies at Washington Nationals (-115, 6)
Led by what has been easily the best pitching staff in baseball thus far, Washington has given itself an early lead in what was expected to be a tight National League East race. The Nationals have put defending division champ Philadelphia in an early hole, winning the first two games of this weekend’s series to leave the Phillies 5 1/2 games back in fourth place.
Washington still has one of the more sluggish lineups in the league, but it upgraded its pitching rotation in the offseason by acquiring Gio Gonzalez — who pitched seven solid innings for the win Saturday — and Edwin Jackson. The Phillies, who already boast one of the best pitching staffs in the game, have struggled almost as badly as the Nationals on offense, scoring one run or fewer nine times this season.
PITCHING MATCHUP: Phillies LH Cole Hamels (3-1, ERA 2.78) vs. Nationals RH Jordan Zimmermann (1-2, ERA 1.89)
Hamels was a hard-luck loser in his first outing of the year, but he has been solid ever since, turning in four straight quality starts, all of which Philadelphia won. The left-hander has shown excellent control, walking just five while striking out 36 in 32 1/3 innings. Hamels is 10-4 with a 2.71 ERA in 20 career starts against the Nationals.
Zimmermann hasn’t gotten much run support this season, earning just one win despite yielding one earned run in each of his first four starts. He faltered somewhat in his last trip to the mound, a May 1 loss to Arizona (6 1/3 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 6 K). Zimmermann will be looking for his first win against the Phillies, having gone 0-2 with a 6.60 ERA in three prior starts.
TRENDS:
* Phillies are 4-0 in Hamels' last four road starts vs. Nationals.
* Phillies are 9-1 in Hamels' last 10 starts vs. Nationals.
* Over is 25-8-1 in the last 34 meetings in Washington.
* Under is 10-4 in Hamels' last 14 starts vs. Nationals.
* Phillies are 1-6 in the last seven meetings in Washington.
* Phillies are 0-7 in the last seven meetings.
UMP TRENDS - Sam Holbrook
* Over is 20-8-1 in Holbrooks last 29 Sunday games behind home plate.
* Over is 5-2-1 in Holbrooks last eight games behind home plate vs. Philadelphia.
* Over is 45-22-5 in Holbrooks last 72 games behind home plate.
WALK-OFFS
1. The Nationals have allowed just nine homers, eight fewer than any other team in the majors.
2. Hamels has 136 strikeouts in 129 1/3 career innings against Washington. Excluding injured 3B Ryan Zimmerman, current Nationals are 23-for-111 (.207) against him.
3. Though the Phillies owned baseball’s best record (102-60) last season, the Nationals have been the better team lately, winning 32 of their last 45 compared with Philadelphia’s 19-26 mark over the same number of games.
Hot pitchers
-- Dickey is 1-0, 2.77 in his last couple starts.
-- Morton is 1-1, 2.25 in his two home starts.
-- Garza is 1-0, 1.29 in his last couple starts.
-- Beachy is 2-0, 1.63 in his last four starts. Nicasio is 2-0, 3.38 in his last three outings.
-- Cain has a 1.39 RA in his last four starts. Marcum has a 3.24 RA in his last four starts, but no wins.
-- Nolasco is 2-0, 2.29 in his last three starts.
-- Hamels is 3-0, 2.33 in his last four starts. Zimmerman is 1-2, 2.43 in his five starts this season.
-- Darvish is 3-0, 0.83 in his last three starts.
-- Hunter is 1-0, 2.07 in his last couple starts.
-- Moore is 1-0, 3.71 in his last three starts.
-- JWilliams is 2-0, 1.99 in his last three starts.
Cold pitchers
-- Cahill is 1-2, 5.79 in his last three starts.
-- Latos is 1-2, 5.97 in five starts this season.
-- Harang is 1-2, 6.04 in his five starts this season.
-- Happ has a 4.60 RA in five starts this season. Wainwright is 1-3, 6.75 in his five starts this season.
-- Padres were outscored 23-6 in Weiland's (0-4, 5.73) four starts.
-- Porcello is 1-2, 9.77 in his last three starts.
-- Jimenez is 0-2, 9.28 in his last couple starts.
-- Buchholz allowed 29 runs in 29 IP in five starts this season.
-- Milone is 1-2, 8.04 on road (2-0, 0.00 at home).
-- Hochevar is 1-2, 8.85 in his last four starts. Hughes is 1-4, 9.14 in his five starts this season.
-- Noesi is 0-2, 9.75 in his last three starts. Minnesota is 0-4 when Blackburn starts (0-3, 6.64).
Hot teams
-- Cincinnati won four of its last six road games.
-- Houston won its last six home games.
-- Braves won seven of their last nine road games.
-- Marlins are 5-0 on this road trip, with four one-run wins.
-- Washington won three of its last four games.
-- Cleveland won four of its last six games.
-- Tampa Bay won 12 of their last 14 games. A's are 7-4 in their last 11 road games.
-- Orioles won six of their last seven games.
-- Royals won six of their last nine games, but are 2-11 at home.
-- Angels won six of their last nine home games. Toronto won six of their last eight games overall.
Cold teams
-- Diamondbacks lost three of their last four games. Mets lost four of their last five games.
-- Dodgers lost four of last six road games. Cubs are 6-9 at home.
-- Pirates lost six of their last nine games.
-- Cardinals lost four of their last five road games.
-- Colorado lost five of its last seven games.
-- Giants are 5-7 in their last dozen home games. Brewers are 3-6 in their last nine games overall.
-- Padres are 4-7 in their last eleven games.
-- Phillies lost three of their last four games.
-- Detroit lost six of its last eight home games. White Sox lost eight of their last eleven games.
-- Rangers lost four of their last six games.
-- Dating back to LY, Red Sox are 8-19 in their last 27 home games.
-- Bronx lost seven of its last eleven games.
-- Mariners lost seven of their last eight games. Minnesota lost ten of last twelve games.
Totals
-- Nine of Cubs' last eleven games stayed under the total.
-- Eight of Phillies' last ten road games went over the total.
-- Under is 7-3-1 in last eleven Pittsburgh home games.
-- Six of Mets' last eight games went over the total.
-- Nine of last eleven St Louis road games stayed under total.
-- Eight of last nine games at Coors Field went over total.
-- Ten of last eleven Miami road games stayed under the total.
-- Under is 5-1-1 in last seven San Francisco home games.
-- Seven of White Sox' last ten games went over the total.
-- Under is 8-3 in Cleveland's last eleven home games.
-- Under is 8-2-1 in last eleven Tampa Bay home games.
-- Under is 9-3 in last dozen Baltimore games.
-- Last seven Bronx games stayed under the total.
-- Under is 11-2 in Angels' last thirteen games.
-- Under is 3-1-1 in last five Minnesota games.
Umpires
-- Az-NY-- Over is 5-2 in Davidson games this season.
-- Cin-Pitt-- Four of five Wolf games went over the total.
-- StL-Hst-- Road teams won all five Meals games this year.
-- LA-Chi-- Five of six Kellogg games stayed under the total.
-- Atl-Col-- Home teams won four of six Runge games.
-- Mil-SF-- Under is 21-16 in last 37 Hernandez games.
-- Mia-SD-- Underdogs won three of five Barksdale games.
-- Phil-Wsh-- Last four Fletcher games went over the total.
-- Balt-Bos-- Underdogs won four of last five Hoye games.
-- Chi-Det-- Four of last five BWelke games went over total.
-- Tex-Clev-- Home side won four of five Campos games.
-- A's-TB-- Road teams won four of last five Demuth games.
-- NY-KC-- Home teams won three of four Gonzalez games.
-- Tor-LA-- Four of five Wegner games stayed under the total.
-- Min-Sea-- Road teams are 22-18 in last 40 Everitt games.
Armadillosports.com
MLB: Streaks, Tips, Notes
Sportspic.com
St. Louis Cardinals vs. Houston Astros
The young and hungry Houston Astros on a 5-0 stretch after knocking off red-birds 8-2 yesterday look for their second series sweep of the season when they hand the ball to lefty J.A. Happ (2-1, 4.60 ERA, 3-2 TSR) in the finale vs Cardinals. Happ who has had four quality starts in his five outings this year has not had success vs Cardinals posting a 1-6 mark with a 6.44 ERA in eight life-time starts vs St. Louis (2-6 TSR). Opposing Happ will be Adam Wainwright (1-3, 6.75 ERA, 1-4 TSR). The hurler picking up his first win of the season last time out heads to the bump knowing he is 9-1 with a 1.56 ERA in eleven career starts vs Houston (10-1 TSR). Cardinals on a smart 6-1 stretch after losing the first two of a series, 11-4 road stretch swinging away at a left-handed starter have been pegged anywhere from -$1.54 to -$1.65 favorite depending on locale.
Philadelphia Phillies at Washington Nationals
With every game and every series, the reality appears to be setting in. Nationals leading the National League East with a strong 18-9 (+$754) record including a sparkling 12-3 (+$812) mark in the nation's capital are for real. Going back to last September, Washington has posted a smart 35-18 mark stuffing +$1780 into betting accounts. Still not convinced, how about this, with Saturday's 7-1 victory the Nationals have won seven straight (+$1106) and eleven of thirteen (+$1551) against Philadelphia a club that has won the N.L. East five straight seasons. Sunday night, Nationals get to strut their stuff in front of a national audience as they go for the sweep. Plenty of reason to back Nats in prime-time. However, if there is a pitcher who can get Philly in the win column it's Hamels (3-1, 2.78 ERA,4-1 TSR). The southpaw hasn't allowed more than 2 runs in each of his last four on the mound and has a 6-2 team start stretch going following a Philly loss the previous day. Hamels also owns a 10-4 life-time record vs Nationals with Philly 15-5 over the twenty starts split between 8-3 in Philly, 7-2 in Washington. If that were not enough, Philly is on an 8-1 road streak when looking to avoid a three game sweep.
TEXAS vs. CLEVELAND
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Texas's last 9 games when playing on the road against Cleveland
Texas is 17-8 SU in its last 25 games
The total has gone UNDER in 11 of Cleveland's last 16 games
Cleveland is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games
CHI WHITE SOX vs. DETROIT
Chi White Sox are 3-8 SU in their last 11 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Chi White Sox's last 5 games when playing Detroit
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Detroit's last 5 games when playing Chi White Sox
Detroit is 5-1 SU in their last 6 games when playing at home against Chi White Sox
ARIZONA vs. NY METS
Arizona is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing NY Mets
Arizona is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against NY Mets
NY Mets are 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Arizona
The total has gone OVER in 7 of NY Mets's last 9 games when playing at home against Arizona
BALTIMORE vs. BOSTON
Baltimore is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games when playing Boston
Baltimore is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games
Boston is 1-6 SU in its last 7 games when playing Baltimore
The total has gone OVER in 13 of Boston's last 18 games at home
CINCINNATI vs. PITTSBURGH
Cincinnati is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Cincinnati's last 6 games
The total has gone UNDER in 17 of Pittsburgh's last 24 games
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Pittsburgh's last 6 games
OAKLAND vs. TAMPA BAY
The total has gone UNDER in 15 of Oakland's last 22 games on the road
Oakland is 6-3 SU in its last 9 games when playing Tampa Bay
The total has gone UNDER in 10 of Tampa Bay's last 14 games
Tampa Bay is 10-1 SU in its last 11 games at home
ST. LOUIS vs. HOUSTON
St. Louis is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 5 of St. Louis's last 6 games when playing Houston
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Houston's last 6 games when playing at home against St. Louis
The total has gone OVER in 13 of Houston's last 18 games at home
NY YANKEES vs. KANSAS CITY
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of NY Yankees's last 5 games on the road
NY Yankees are 1-4 SU in their last 5 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Kansas City's last 5 games when playing NY Yankees
Kansas City is 2-12 SU in its last 14 games at home
LA DODGERS vs. CHI CUBS
LA Dodgers are 2-4 SU in their last 6 games on the road
LA Dodgers are 15-8 SU in their last 23 games
The total has gone UNDER in 9 of Chi Cubs's last 11 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Chi Cubs's last 5 games when playing LA Dodgers
ATLANTA vs. COLORADO
Atlanta is 8-2 SU in its last 10 games when playing Colorado
Atlanta is 9-2 SU in its last 11 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Colorado's last 7 games when playing at home against Atlanta
The total has gone OVER in 8 of Colorado's last 9 games when playing Atlanta
TORONTO vs. LA ANGELS
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Toronto's last 7 games when playing on the road against LA Angels
Toronto is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 11 of LA Angels's last 13 games
LA Angels are 3-6 SU in their last 9 games when playing Toronto
MIAMI vs. SAN DIEGO
The total has gone UNDER in 10 of Miami's last 11 games on the road
Miami is 2-8 SU in its last 10 games when playing San Diego
San Diego is 2-5 SU in its last 7 games
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of San Diego's last 7 games
MILWAUKEE vs. SAN FRANCISCO
Milwaukee is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games when playing on the road against San Francisco
Milwaukee is 3-6 SU in its last 9 games
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of San Francisco's last 7 games when playing Milwaukee
San Francisco is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games
MINNESOTA vs. SEATTLE
Minnesota is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games when playing Seattle
Minnesota is 2-10 SU in its last 12 games
Seattle is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 13 of Seattle's last 19 games at home
PHILADELPHIA vs. WASHINGTON
The total has gone OVER in 8 of Philadelphia's last 10 games on the road
Philadelphia is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games when playing Washington
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Washington's last 5 games when playing at home against Philadelphia
Washington is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games at home
National League
Arizona at NY Mets
Cahill: Arizona 25-12 SU after losing 3 of their last 4 games
Dickey: 4-11 TSR as a favorite of -150 or less
Cincinnati at Pittsburgh
Latos: Cincinnati 60-38 SU off a loss by 2 runs or less
Morton: Pittsburgh 16-3 Under as an underdog of +150 or less
St. Louis at Houston
Wainwright: 24-8 TSR away vs. division opponents
Happ: Houston 17-40 SU in day games
LA Dodgers at Chicago Cubs
Harang: 8-2 TSR vs. NL Central opponents
Wood: 2-9 TSR vs. NL West opponents
Atlanta at Colorado
Beachy: Atlanta 8-0 SU off BB Overs
Nicasio: Colorado 0-9 SU after committing 3+ errors
Miami at San Diego
Nolasco: Miami 16-6 SU away in May
Wieland: San Diego 11-28 SU as a home underdog of +125 or less
Milwaukee at San Francisco
Marcum: Milwaukee 0-8 SU after the bullpen allowed 0 runs
Cain: 9-1 Under at home in the first half of the season
Philadelphia at Washington
Hamels: 25-6 TSR in May
Zimmermann: Washington 30-11 Under vs. left-handed starters
American League
Chicago White Sox at Detroit
Axelrod: White Sox 15-7 SU away after losing 3 of their last 4 games
Porcello: Detroit 2-8 SU off 3+ home games
Texas at Cleveland
Darvish: Texas 10-0 SU as a road favorite of -150 to -175
Jimenez: 6-14 TSR in the first half of the season
Baltimore at Boston
Hunter: 7-1 TSR pitching off a team win
Buchholz: Boston 0-7 SU at home off 3+ home games
Oakland at Tampa Bay
Milone: Oakland 12-29 SU after winning 3 of their last 4 games
Moore: Tampa Bay 13-2 SU in home games
NY Yankees at Kansas City
Hughes: Yankees 25-11 Under as a road favorite of -150 or less
Hochevar: Kansas City 0-8 SU off 3+ home games
Toronto at LA Angels
Hutchison: Toronto 30-14 Under away off 3+ road games
Wiliams: Angels 8-15 SU with a total of 7 to 8.5 runs
Minnesota at Seattle
Blackburn: Minnesota 14-5 SU away off 5+ games scoring 3 runs or less
Noesi: Seattle 7-20 SU at home vs. AL Central opponents
Diamond Trends - Sunday
By Vince Akins
VegasInsider.com
SU TREND OF THE DAY:
The Brewers are 0-10 since May 01, 2011 on the road and it is the last game of a three game series when they split the first two for a net profit of $1072 when playing against.
OU TREND OF THE DAY:
The Diamondbacks are 0-10 OU since May 12, 2011 on the road when they are off a loss in which they held the lead and it is the last game of a series for a net profit of $1000 when playing the under.
STARTER TREND OF THE DAY:
The Pirates are 0-7 OU since July 18, 2011 when Charlie Morton starts at home for a net profit of $700 when playing the under.
MLB BIBLE TREND OF THE DAY:
The Indians are 0-25 OU (-2.7 rpg) in database history when the total is at least 8 when closing a series in a home day game starting at 1:00 p.m. or later vs a non-divisional American League team which they played at night the game prior.
TODAY’S TRENDS:
The Mariners are 0-10 since May 07, 2011 at home after a win in which their opponent left fewer than 10 men on base for a net profit of $1110 when playing against.
The Rockies are 7-0 since June 14, 2011 when Juan Nicasio starts when he is off a start in which he needed more than 4 pitches per batter for a net profit of $700