Sunday Night Baseball: Yankees at Orioles
By Steve Merril
Covers.com
It’s an AL East battle on Sunday Night Baseball as the Orioles host the Yankees.
New York Yankees at Baltimore Orioles (-121, 8.5)
TILLMAN ON FIRE
Chris Tillman is 9-2 with a 3.72 ERA for the Orioles. He has won six of his last seven starts and he is 5-0 in the month of June. The righty has given up just 10 runs in those five starts this month with wins coming over the hard-hitting Tigers and Red Sox. Tillman has had a bit of a control issue in his last three starts; he has a negative 10/11 strikeout/walk ratio. He has not faced the Bronx Bombers since September 2nd when he allowed 2 runs and two hits in three innings in an 8-3 Baltimore win. Tillman hasn’t seen the Yankees at home since September 19th, 2010 when he gave up six walks in just over three innings.
KURODA KEEPS ON GOING
Hiroki Kuroda is 7-5 with a 2.77 ERA. He has held opposing hitters to a .200 batting average over his last three starts which came against the Dodgers, Rangers, and Athletics. He has not won a road start in his last four chances picking up two losses and two no-decisions. He pitched in Baltimore back on May 22nd and gave up 5 runs and eight hits in two innings. Kuroda has been able to pitch into the sixth inning in six straight starts.
INJURY REPORT
The Yankees continue to have numerous big names on their injury list. Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, Curtis Granderson, Derek Jeter and Kevin Youkilis are all out as well as Michael Pineda and Francisco Cervelli. Pineda is on a rehab assignment and he could be back after the All-Star break. A-Rod is ready to start a rehab assignment with Jeter aiming to return in July as well. Granderson could be back next week after fracturing his pinkie finger.
Baltimore's injury list is short and about to get shorter with Brian Roberts most likely being activated on Sunday. Wei-Yin Chen is dealing with an oblique injury, while Wilson Betemit has a knee injury that may keep him out until the end of July.
TRENDS
Yankees are 0-4 in Kuroda’s last 4 road starts
Yankees are 34-15-2 Under in Kuroda’s last 51 starts
Orioles are 21-8 in Tillman’s last 29 starts
Orioles are 3-1-1 Over in their last 5 Sunday games
HITTERS TO WATCH
Robinson Cano 8-for-16 vs. Tillman
Ichiro Suzuki 1-for-10 vs. Tillman
Nate McLouth 3-for-22 vs. Kuroda
J.J. Hardy 2-for-14 vs. Kuroda
MLB: Streaks, Tips, Notes
Sportspic.com
Milwaukee Brewers at Pittsburgh Pirates
Pittsburgh Pirates close a three game set at PNC Park looking to sweep division rival Milwaukee Brewers. Pirates on an eight game win streak and a major league best 50-30 stuffing $2,630 into betting accounts send Charlie Morton (1-1, 2.81 ERA) to the mound. The right hander making his fourth start of the season is off 5 2/3 innings of six run-ball earning a ND in Pirates' 10-9 victory in an Inter-League tussle vs Halos. Morton will need to snap to attention as he is 0-4 life-time vs Brewers with his teams (Pit/ATL) 1-5 over six starts. On the other mound, Kyle Lohse (3-6, 3.69 ERA) gets the call for Brew Crew. Lohse working on five straight quality starts heads to the hill with a 4-1 team start record this month, 7-3 TSR last ten in June. Quality starters tend to win in bunches so were suggesting Brewers w/Lohse who's usually a dagger in the heart of Pirates posting a 9-2, 3.41 ERA life-time mark
Arizona at Atlanta: Preview & Pick
Sportspic.com
Baseball betting ends for the month of June with the Atlanta Braves attempting to sweep the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks this afternoon in the conclusion of the two teams’ three-game weekend series.
Since the brooms are out in anticipation of a sweep, the baseball handicapping world has taken notice, installing the Braves as a -145 MLB pick, with a run total of 7.5, according to the current betting odds at Bovada
The Braves have lefthander Paul Maholm headed to the bump, bringing an 8-6 record with a 3.75 ERA to this game. However, his 4-2 record at Turner Field is notable for the 1.80 ERA in 40 innings of work.
Baseball betting involves looking at all angles of a game, and one that stands out in Maholm’s favor this afternoon is the fact that the Braves are 16-9 during the day when the southpaw starts, and 13-5 since last year.
Also, the team as a whole has thrived since last July when closing out a home series with a day game. Under those circumstances, the team is 13-2. The cherry on top of this baseball handicapping sundae is that the team has gone 17-5 since the start of the 2011 season when such circumstances also put the number under 8.
Maholm’s rival on the mound will be Arizona’s Trevor Cahill, who has been in a severe slump all season long, sporting a 3-9 mark with a 4.29 ERA. Cahill has not won in his last seven starts, going 0-5 with a 7.34 ERA.
The betting odds this afternoon also work against the righthander, since the Diamondbacks are just 2-5 away from Chase Field in games Cahill has started this season, and is 0-5 when the team is an underdog.
That status as a dog, especially on the road, has been a struggle for Kirk Gibson’s team over the past five weeks. During that stretch, the team has won just six of 18 away clashes, a flashing alert when it comes to baseball betting. As we close out the month of June, Arizona will be happy to see it go after compiling just a 4-8 record this month when the total is under eight in an enemy park.
Arizona and lefthanders haven’t mixed well of late either, with three consecutive losses staring back at the team. In addition, the team has dropped five of its last six when it has faced a portsider on the road after going over the number in the previous game.
Atlanta has won four of its last five, and while that might not yet make them “Hotlanta,” it certainly gives the momentum to get the sweep today. Therefore, the MLB pick should be
Play Atlanta -145