National League
Giants @ Pirates
Suarez is 0-0, 5.06 in three starts this year (over 2-0-1).
Niese is 0-2, 10.12 in his last two starts; three of his last four starts stayed under. .
Giants are 20-7 in last 27 road games,under is 14-9 in last 23 Giant road games. Pirates lost 12 of last 14 games; over is 12-4 in their last 16 home games.
Cubs @ Marlins
Lester is 5-0, 1.73 in his last five starts; six of his last nine went over.
Chen is 1-0, 9.88 in his last three starts; five of his last six went over. .
Cubs lost their last three games; six of their last nine games stayed under. Cubs are 7-4 in road series openers. Miami won six of its last nine games; under is 9-3 in their last dozen home games. Marlins are 6-7 in home series openers.
Mets @ Braves
Harvey is 1-2, 2.08 in his last four starts, which all stayed under.
Wisler is 1-4, 6.83 in his last five starts; five of his last six went over.
Mets are 4-6 in last ten games but won the last two; they're 7-4 in road series openers. Under is 8-3-1 in their last 12 games. Braves won six of their last six games; they're 4-8 in home openers. Five of last six Atlanta home games went over total.
Diamondbacks @ Rockies
Greinke is 7-0, 1.90 in his last seven starts; his last four stayed under.
Butler is 0-2, 7.29 in his last four starts (over 3-3-1).
Diamondbacks won five of last six games, are 8-4 in road series openers; nine of their last 10 road games stayed under the total. Colorado won five of last six home games; they're 5-6 in home series openers. Three of last four Coors Field games went under.
American League
Mariners @ Tigers
Sampson allowed four runs in 4.2 IP (85 PT) in his first MLB start.
Norris is making his first MLB start this year; he is 3-2, 3.86 in 14 MLB starts, 4-6, 4.66 in 13 AAA starts this season. .
Mariners lost ten of last 12 road games; four of their last five games stayed under total. Tigers won eight of last nine home games; under is 3-1-1 in their last five home games.
White Sox @ Red Sox
Shields is 0-2, 22.85 in three starts for Chicago (over 3-0).
Porcello is 2-0, 4.82 in his last six starts; over is 5-2-1 in his last eight starts.
Boston is 4-9 in last 13 home games; seven of its last ten home games stayed under. Chicago lost 13 of last 19 road games; five of their last seven road games stayed under.
A's @ Angels
Graveman is 1-0, 3.80 in his last four starts (under 5-2 in last seven).
Lincecum allowed one run in six IP (98 PT) in his first start for the Angels.
Angels are 5-11 in their last 16 games; five of last six LA games stayed under the total. Halos are 5-7 in home series openers. Oakland is 6-20 in its last 26 road games, 6-5 in road series openers. Under is 5-0-1 in last six Oakland games.
Interleague
Phillies @ Twins
Eickhoff is 2-2, 2.13 in his last four starts; nine of his last ten starts stayed under. .
Nolasco is 1-0, 3.46 in his last two starts; 12 of his last 13 starts went over..
Phillies lost their last nine games; over is 11-3 in last 14 Philly road games. Minnesota won its last three games; over is 16-3 in Twins' last 19 home games.
Teams won-lost records when this pitcher starts:
SF-Pitt-- Suarez 1-2; Niese 8-6
SD-Cin-- Friedrich 4-3; Lamb 3-6
Chi-Mia-- Lester 11-3; Chen 8-6
NY-Atl-- Harvey 5-9; Wisler 3-10
Az-SD-- Greinke 11-4; Butler 2-5
Sea-Det-- Sampson 0-1; Norris 0-0
Chi-Bos-- Shields 2-9/1-2; Porcello 10-4
A's-LA-- Graveman 4-9; Lincecum 1-0
Phil-Minn-- Eickhoff 5-9; Nolasco 6-8
Starting pitchers allowing 1+ runs in first inning:
SF-Pitt-- Suarez 1-3; Niese 4-14
SD-Cin-- Friedrich 3-7; Lamb 4-9
Chi-Mia-- Lester 4-14; Chen 6-14
NY-Atl-- Harvey 3-14; Wisler 7-13
Az-SD-- Greinke 4-15; Butler 4-7
Sea-Det-- Sampson 0-1; Norris 0-0
Chi-Bos-- Shields 7-14; Porcello 4-14
A's-LA-- Graveman 3-13; Lincecum 0-1
Phil-Minn-- Eickhoff 4-14; Nolasco 7-14
Armadillosports.com
MLB: Streak, Tips, Notes
Sportspic.com
Chicago White Sox at Boston Red Sox
James Shields will start for White Sox which doesn't engender a lot of confidence. The righthander has been tagged for 21 earned runs over 8 2/3 innings in his three White Sox starts. Shields 2-9 on the year tossing for Padres/Pale Hose also carries a 3-6 Team Start skid vs Boston while with KC/TB and a 1-6 TSR his last seven June starts.
Chicago Cubs at Miami Marlins
A battle between portsiders is today's baseball betting focus as the Chicago Cubs open a four-game road series against the Miami Marlins. According to opening odds at Bovada.lv the Cubs are -$1.70 road favorites with the total set at 7.5 across all shops.
Cubs mired in a three-game skid have southpaw Jon Lester toeing the rubber, bringing a 9-3 record, 2.06 ERA to the hill. Lester in great form having allowing just 5 earned runs along with a 40-5 strike-walk-ratio has won five consecutive starts. Getting the call for Miami is lefty Wei-Yin Chen carrying a 4-2 record, 5.22 ERA. Chen, has put up horrible numbers the past three starts shelled for 23 Hits, 7 yard-ball, 15 earned runs.
Cubs should do what they typically do with Jon Lester on the mound in road games, and that's win! The Cubbies lefthander is 5-1 with a miniscule 1.69 ERA in an opposing park. Matching that, when the Cubs have started a new series with Lester they're a perfect 5-0. Additionally, Cubs enter 6-2 in enemy territory swinging away at a southpaw starter.
Thursday's Diamond Notes
By Kevin Rogers
VegasInsider.com
Hottest team: Braves (6-1 last seven)
Atlanta still owns the worst record in the National League at 24-47, but the Braves have caught fire of late. In spite of getting shut out at Miami on Wednesday, the Braves have won six of their last seven games, which includes a three-game road sweep of the Mets last weekend. Atlanta has another shot at New York with the Mets invading Turner Field for four games starting tonight. In last weekend’s sweep, the Braves’ pitching staff limiting the Mets to four runs, while each victory came as an underdog of +165 or higher. Matt Harvey takes the mound for New York in the opener, as the Braves have beaten the right-hander in two of three matchups this season.
Coldest team: Pirates (2-9 last 11)
The wheels have fallen off the wagon for Pittsburgh, who blew a 6-1 lead in Wednesday’s 7-6 setback to San Francisco. The Pirates have won only twice since June 7, but the Bucs have faced the Mets, Cubs, Cardinals, and Giants in this span, which doesn’t add up to automatic victories. Pittsburgh’s pitching is to blame, allowing at least six runs in 10 of the past 12 defeats, while the Pirates have dropped six of their last seven games at PNC Park. Pittsburgh and San Francisco finish off their series today as Jon Niese looks to rebound off a pair of ugly starts in which he allowed 17 hits and 12 earned runs.
Hottest pitcher: Zack Greinke, Diamondbacks (10-3, 3.54 ERA)
Arizona continues its road trip at Colorado as the D-backs have won five of the first six games. Greinke heads to the mound in the opener at Coors Field going for his eighth consecutive victory. The former Cy Young winner owns an amazing 5-0 record on the road in six starts with an ERA of 1.47 away from Chase Field. However, Greinke is winless in two starts against the Rockies this season, giving up nine earned runs in 11 innings of work.
Coldest pitcher: James Shields, White Sox (2-9, 6.28 ERA)
Shields has turned into the ultimate fade recently, as the right-hander has been knocked around all season. In his final start with San Diego, Shields was tagged for 10 earned runs in 2.2 innings of a 16-4 loss at Seattle. Shields was dealt to the White Sox, but changing leagues hasn’t fixed matters as he has given up 21 earned runs in three starts with Chicago while tossing only 8.2 innings. The White Sox go for the four-game sweep of the Red Sox at Fenway Park this afternoon as Shields looks for his first win in Boston since 2012.
Biggest UNDER run: Angels (5-1 last six)
Los Angeles returns home following a 2-4 road swing, as the Angels’ offense plated two runs or less four times. The Angels start a four-game series with the Athletics at home tonight, as two of their three games last weekend in Oakland finished ‘under’ the total. Four of the first six matchups between these AL West rivals this season have gone ‘under,’ as the teams are meeting in Anaheim for the first time in 2016. Tim Lincecum makes his second start as a member of the Angels, as the former Cy Young winner scattered four hits and allowed one earned run in six innings of a 7-1 victory over the A’s last Saturday.
Biggest OVER run: Twins (5-0 last five)
Minnesota and Philadelphia played another exciting game at Target Field last night as the Twins edged the Phillies, 6-5. More importantly, the Twins cashed another ‘over’ at home, extending their streak to five at Target Field. The Twins also allowed at least four runs for the 21st straight game as the ‘over’ is an amazing 17-3-1 in this stretch. Since May 1, Ricky Nolasco has been nearly an automatic ‘over’ pitcher, going 8-1-1 in his last 10 starts as he heads to the mound in the series finale with the Phillies today.
Matchup to watch: Cubs vs. Marlins
Chicago travels to South Florida for a four-game series with the surging Marlins, as the Cubs try to rebound after getting swept at home by the Cardinals. Miami is currently one game out of top spot in the NL Wild Card standings at 38-34 after winning six of its past eight contests. Chicago’s offense struggled in its home sweep to St. Louis, scoring only seven runs as the Cubs were swept for the first time this season. Jon Lester tries to get the Cubs back on track in tonight’s opener, as the southpaw is 5-0 in his past five starts, all as a favorite of at least -200. Chicago opened as a -175 road favorite tonight, as the Cubs own a 5-1 mark in Lester’s six away outings.
Betcha didn’t know: The Reds may be sitting in last place of the NL Central, but Cincinnati has excelled recently in an odd situation. Cincinnati is riding a seven-game winning streak in series openers, while scoring at least seven runs in five of those victories. The Padres invade Great American Ballpark for a four-game series tonight as San Diego has compiled a 6-4 record in road series openers with three losses coming by one run.
Biggest public favorite: Red Sox (-230) vs. White Sox
Biggest public underdog: Phillies (+130) at Twins
Biggest line move: Rockies (+145 to +140) vs. Diamondbacks