Baseball Information
National League
Cubs @ Pirates
Arrieta is 4-1, 1.89 in his last six starts; under is 3-0-1 in his last four. .
Seattle was 1-10 in Happ's last 11 starts; this is his Pirate debut. He is 0-1, 9.56 in his last four starts; four of his last five went over.
Cubs won four of their last six games with Pittsburgh; Chicago won its last five games overall (under 4-0-1). Pirates won five of last seven (under 2-0-1 in last three games).
Dodgers @ Phillies
Wood is making LA debut; he is 1-0, 1.93 in his last two starts; under is 5-2-1 in his last eight.
Williams is 0-5, 7.88 in his last eight starts; six of his last nine went over.
Dodgers won four of last five games with the Phillies; five of last seven series games stayed under total. LA won its last four games; three of them went over total. Phillies are 12-3 since All-Star break; over is 3-1-1 in his last five
Diamondbacks @ Nationals
Corbin is 1-2, 2.00 in his last three starts; three of his last four went under.
Scherzer is 2-1, 2.70 in his last four starts; five of his last six stayed under.
Washington is 3-8 in last 11 games overall; six of last eight stayed under the total- they won seven of last nine games with Arizona- five of last eight in series went over. D'backs lost five of their last eight games (under 6-2).
Giants @ Braves
Peavy is 2-0, 3.44 in his last three starts; seven of his last ten went over.
Miller is 0-4, 4.81 in his last four starts; his last five stayed under.
Giants lost last three games with Atlanta; five of last six went over the total. SF won 14 of last 19 games; under is 5-2-2 in their last nine. Braves lost six of last eight games (over 3-0-1 in last four).
Mets @ Marlins
Niese is 2-2, 2.58 in his last six starts; three of his last four went over.
Hand is making first start since June 8; he is 1-2, 6.17 in three starts. .
Mets won seven of last nine games; four of their last six went over- they lost four of last six with Miami- four of last five went over. Marlins lost eight of last ten games (under 9-5 in last 14 games).
Cardinals @ Reds
Lackey is 5-2, 1.67 in his last nine starts; three of his last four road starts went over the total.
DeSclafani is 1-0, 1.93 in his last two starts; three of his last four home starts went over the total.
St Louis won five of last seven games with Cincinnati; last five series games stayed under. Cardinals won three of last four games; eight of their last ten stayed under. Reds won four of last six games; under is 5-1-1 in last seven.
Padres @ Brewers
Cashner is 0-2, 7.64 in his last six road starts; over is 7-2-1 in his last 10 starts overall.
Nelson is 2-0, 1.77 in his last three starts.
Brewers lost 11 of last 13 games; under is 8-1-2 in last 11. Milwaukee is 4-7 in its last 11 games with San Diego (under 8-3). Padres won five of their last six games (over 6-0).
American League
Royals @ Tigers
Duffy is 2-1, 2.51 in his last five starts; his last six starts stayed under.
Verlander is 1-1, 3.29 in his last four starts; seven of his last nine went over.
Royals are 5-3 in last eight games with Detroit; six of last nine series games stayed under. KC lost four of its last five games overall. Tigers are 3-5 in last eight games overall (over 4-2-2).
Twins @ Blue Jays
Hughes is 6-0, 3.06 in his last eight starts; three of his last four went over.
Estrada is 2-2, 3.33 in his last four starts; four of his last seven went under.
Minnesota won six of last nine games with Toronto; Twins lost seven of last nine games overall, with last four staying under. Blue Jays won five of last six games; six of their last ten went over.
Red Sox @ Bronx
Owens is making MLB debut; he was 3-8, 3.16 in 21 AAA starts this year. .
Tanaka is 3-1, 3.81 in his last four starts (under 3-1).
Boston lost six of its last seven games with Bronx; four of last six in series stayed under the total. Red Sox won three of last four games; seven of their last eight went over. Bronx won seven of its last eight home games.
Astros @ Rangers
Straily is back from AAA for this; he is 0-0, 5.40 in two starts this year (over 1-1). Overall in MLB, Straily is 13-12, 4.99 in 44 MLB starts. .
Gallardo is 0-3, 6.75 in his last five starts; last three went over.
Houston lost five of last seven games with Texas; four of last five went over the total. Astros won five of last seven games (over 5-2). Rangers won five of last six games; over is 6-3-1 in their last ten.
Rays @ White Sox
Archer is winless in his last six starts but has a 2.25 RA in his last three, all of which stayed under the total- Rays scored four runs in the three games.
Sale is 1-2, 6.38 in his last three starts; under is 6-2-2 in his last ten.
Rays won five of last six games with Chicago; four of last five went over the total. Tampa Bay lost three of last five games; four of their last five on road went over. White Sox lost four of last five games; nine of their last ten games went over.
Orioles @ A's
Gonzalez is 2-2, 6.00 in his last four starts; six of the seven went over.
Bassitt is 1-4, 3.00 in his five starts (under 4-1); A's scored one run in each of his last four losses.
Baltimore won eight of last ten games; under is 4-2-1 in their last seven road games. A's lost eight of last 11 games; eight of those eleven games stayed under. Orioles lost three of last five games with Oakland; nine of last 11 in series went over the total.
Indians @ Angels
Carrasco is 1-1, 3.46 in his last four starts; eight of his last ten went over.
Shoemaker is 1-2, 1.78 in his last five starts (under 4-0-1).
Angels lost nine of last 11 games after going 0-6 on Houston/LA trip last week; they're 6-2 in last eight games with Cleveland (under 6-5 in last 11). Indians lost nine of last 12 games, with four of last five staying under.
Interleague
Mariners @ Rockies
Nuno is making first '15 start; he is 4-3, 3.65 in nine AAA starts this year and has a 3-15, 3.93 mark in 31 major league starts. This year in majors, he's given up five runs in 21.1 IP spread out over 18 appearances in relief.
Highly touted prospect Gray is making MLB debut here; he was 6-6, 4.33 in 20 starts in AAA this season.
Rockies are 4-7 in last 11 games; over is 5-1-1 in their last seven. Colorado lost its last three games with Seattle; under is 3-1-1 in last five series games. Mariners lost five of last seven games, with last three staying under.
Win-loss records this year for team with this starting pitcher:
Chi-Pitt-- Arrieta 13-8; Happ (7-13 w/Sea-- 1-10 last 11)
LA-Phil-- Wood (8-13 w/Atl); Williams 5-11
Az-Wsh-- Corbin 2-3; Scherzer 12-9
SF-Atl-- Peavy 3-4; Miller 9-12
NY-Mia-- Niese 7-13; Hand 1-2
StL-Cin-- Lackey 12-8; DeSclafani 10-10
SD-Mil-- Cashner 8-12; Nelson 9-12
KC-Det-- Duffy 9-6; Verlander 1-7
Min-Tor-- Hughes 12-9; Estrada 8-8
Bos-NY-- Owens 0-0; Tanaka 10-4
Hst-Tex-- Straily 1-1; Gallardo 11-11
TB-Chi-- Archer 12-10; Sale 12-8
Balt-A's-- Gonzalez 11-8; Bassitt 1-4
Clev-LAA-- Carrasco 12-9; Shoemaker 9-9
Sea-Col-- Nuno 0-0; Gray 0-0
Times this starting pitcher allowed a run in first inning:
Chi-Pitt-- Arrieta 4-21; Happ 8-20
LA-Phil-- Wood 6-21; Williams 6-16
Az-Wsh-- Corbin 0-5; Scherzer 3-20
SF-Atl-- Peavy 0-7; Miller 3-21
NY-Mia-- Niese 7-20; Hand 1-3
StL-Cin-- Lackey 4-20; DeSclafani 4-20
SD-Mil-- Cashner 8-21; Nelson 7-21
KC-Det-- Duffy 3-15; Verlander 3-8
Min-Tor-- Hughes 5-21; Estrada 3-16
Bos-NY-- Owens 0-0; Tanaka 3-14
Hst-Tex-- Straily 1-2; Gallardo 8-22
TB-Chi-- Archer 5-22; Sale 7-20
Balt-A's-- Gonzalez 4-19; Bassitt 1-4
Clev-LAA-- Carrasco 11-21; Shoemaker 4-18
Sea-Col-- Nuno 0-0; Gray 0-0
Umpires
Az-Wash-- Four of last five Carlson games went over total.
SF-Atl-- Over is 8-2-1 in last eleven LBarrett games.
NY-Mia-- Seven of last eight Hernandez games went over.
SD-Mil-- Six of last eight Vanover games stayed under.
Min-Tor-- Underdogs are 11-6 in last 17 TWelke games.
Hst-Tex-- Last three Culbreth games went over the total.
TB-Chi-- Under is 4-1-1 in last six Wendelstedt games.
Balt-A's-- Over is 6-4 in last ten Marquez games.
Cle-LA-- Over is 8-4-2 in last fourteen Nelson games.
Sea-Col-- Under is 7-3-1 in last eleven Little games.
Armadillosports.com
Tuesday Scouting Edge
ByCoach Fletcher
Chicago Cubs at Pittsburgh Pirates
J.A. Happ makes his first start for the Pirates after spending the first part of the season with the Mariners. He’s filling the shoes of A.J. Burnett who went on the disabled list. Happ started the season in good shape with a 3.31 era in his first 11 starts. Things have gone down-hill from there. In his last 15 games Happ has gone 1-5 with a 5.37 era. It’s been even worse in his last 7 starts where he is 1-2 with a 6.90 era. That’s not what the Pirates are hoping for from Happ. In his last start July 30 against the Twins he allowed 9 hits and 6 runs in 3 1/3 innings. He draws Jake Arrieta of the Cubs who is 11-6 with a 2.62 era.
Arizona Diamondbacks at Washington Nationals
It doesn’t look like there is much chance of an avalanche of runs in this one. Pat Corbin goes for the D-backs and Max Scherzer hits the hill for the Nats. We know quite a bit about Scherzer and it’s all good. He’s 11-8 with a 2.22 era. Scherzer is actually more vulnerable at home where he is 4-5 with a 2.70 era. He was brought up in the D-back organization and has a 1.29 era against them in 14 innings. Corbin was out of baseball for nearly a season and a half but has come on strong lately. This will be his 6th start since his Tommy John surgery. In his last 2 games Corbin has gone 13 innings allowing just 2 runs and fanning an impressive 16. He’s 2-3 with a 3.21 era on the season. He’s gone 1-2 with a 2.00 era since the All-Star break.
Kansas City Royals at Detroit Tigers
No one has bashed Verlander more than me in the last few months. But I may have to eat my words now because Verlander may well be back. Verlander is 1-3 with a 4.86 era and that is surely nothing special nor Verlander-like. In his last 2 starts after being mauled by the Orioles, Verlander has been sharp. He’s gone 16 innings and allowed 11 hits and 2 runs while fanning 13. Boston and Tampa Bay were the victims. He’s struggled at home where he is 0-2 with an 8.24 era. His last 2 starts were on the road. As I pointed out in previous posts, Verlander’s era has gone up steadily every year for the past 5 years. He was 24-5 with a 2.40 era in 2011. In 2014 he went 15-12 with his era up to 4.54. He lost 24 games combined in 2013-14. Tomorrow should give us some idea where Justin is headed from here.
San Francisco Giants at Atlanta Braves
Poor Shelby Miller is right. He has been toiling all season for the Atlanta Braves and has very little to show for it. And now it appears he’s on a downward dive. Miller is 5-8 with a very strong era of 2.44. But the Braves lack of scoring has made an otherwise bright season one of darkness. His era of 3.13 over his last 13 starts is starting to show some wear and tear which in Miller’s case may be mental as well as physical. He’s allowed a season high 11 hits in half of his last 4 games. In his last 15 games Miller has gone 1-7 with a 2.75 era which is nothing to sneeze at. But in his last 7 games he is 0-5 with an era of 3.38. You can see the direction he is headed. In his last start he went 6 innings against the Phillies and gave up 4 runs and 11 hits. Miller faces the Giants’ Jake Peavey who doesn’t have the numbers Miller does, but he is trending upward.
Houston Astros at Texas Rangers
Yovani Gallardo is 7-9 with a 3.39 era but things appear to be headed in the wrong direction. After going 4 starts without giving up a run, Gallardo has been tagged for 5 runs in each of 3 brief appearances since then. In fact on 7/19, the Astros got to Gallardo for 7 hits and 5 runs in just 4 innings. That was unusual because Gallardo has had overall success versus Houston going 14-4 with a 2.99 era. After July 19, the Astros are now looking forward to seeing Gallardo again. After the Houston disaster Gallardo was racked for 5 runs and 8 hits by the Angels in only 4 innings. In his last start he was pounded by the Yankees for 5 runs in 6 innings on 8 hits. Gallardo has walked 8 and fanned 5 in the 3 contests. In his last 7 games Gallardo is 1-3 with a 4.31 era. He’s given up 15 runs in his last 14 innings.
Streaks, Tips, Notes
Sportspic.com
Minnesota at Toronto
Toronto and Minnesota get ready to duel again after the Blue Jays walked off with a 5-1 victory Monday in David Price's debut. With the win Toronto has now won 5-of-7 on this current 10 game home stand. Marco Estrada (8-6, 3.53 ERA) will toe the rubber for John Gibbons' crew. The righthander off a solid 3 hit 2 run victory vs Royals last time out has won 4 of his last 5 in front of the friendly crowd at Rogers Center. Estrada matches pitches with Phil Hughes (10-6, 4.11 ERA). The Twins' righty picked up the win last outing at home, but did get crushed for 2 long-ball, 10 hits, 5 runs over 5 innings of work and has surrendered 25 homers in 21 starts. Tough matchup for Hughes against one of the leagues top homerun bashers. Adding to the problem, Hughes has struggled on the road this campaign posting a 2-4 record (3-6 TSR) and Minnesota as a team has followed in that same vein recently losing 15 of their last 22 in enemy territory. Evidence is the key in making any case and the numbers above illustrate that Toronto is the right choice.
Tampa Bay at Chicago
'Under' has been the right choice in Chicago home games this season as Pale Hose have posted 33 'Under' 16 'Over', 1 'Push'. 'Under' gamblers should rejoiced in another cashed ticket Tuesday as Chris Sale heads to the mound. The 'Under' is 10-3-2 in Sale's last 15 starts and has paid dividends in 8 of his last 10 home starts vs a team with a losing record.
Red Sox, Yankees hook up
By Sportsbook.ag
BOSTON RED SOX (47-59) at NEW YORK YANKEES (59-45)
Sportsbook.ag Line: New York -200, Boston +185, Total: 8.5
The Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees renew their once prestigious rivalry when they begin a three-game set in the Bronx on Tuesday night.
Despite a wealth of big moves in the offseason, the Red Sox have not been able to get things done and are currently the bottom dwellers of the AL East while sitting 13 games behind New York. After the All-Star break, Boston failed to get a win on a seven-game road trip, and since that time has gone an even 5-5 with all of those games being played at Fenway. The Sox did win their last series when Tampa Bay came to town, but failed to get a sweep on Sunday when they took a 4-3 loss as the bullpen blew a lead late in the contest. SS Xander Bogaerts (.319) continued to hit the ball all over the place and in the last 10 games has gone 18-for-43 (.419) with 10 runs scored.
The Yankees have surprised most with their impressive play this year as they lead the East by 5.5 games over both Baltimore and Toronto behind the second-best scoring offense in baseball. Things have not slowed down since the break and they are they are 11-5 since the mid-summer classic. They are coming home off of a 10-game road trip in which they were 6-4 and capped it off with a series win over the White Sox; taking the final game by a score of 12-3 as they went 6-for-11 with RISP.
One of the biggest driving forces to their success on the year has been 1B Mark Teixeira (.266) who over the past four contests is 7-for-15 (.467) with five homers and nine RBIs. Making his MLB debut in this game will be top prospect LHP Henry Owens (0-0, 0.00 ERA) for the visiting Sox as RHP Masahiro Tanaka (7-4, 3.80 ERA) takes the ball for New York. The road has been unwelcome for this Boston group in 2015 as they are 20-31 (.392) away from the confines of Fenway and will be facing the Yanks who have posted a record of 30-17 (.638) when they play in front of their fans.
This rivalry has lost some of its luster over the years, but the teams have still played tough and since the start of the 2013 season, New York holds a slight 24-23 edge in the series; going just 10-13 at home during that time though. This year, the Yankees have been able to take 6-of-9 games against the Red Sox and the last time they met, New York won 2-of-3 in Boston while outscoring them 16-12. Trends show that the Yankees are a mere 14-24 (.368) when playing on a Tuesday in the past two seasons as they’ve also managed to go 29-14 (.674) after having won two of their last three games this year.
Some big bats could be missing from the lineup for the Red Sox as 3B Pablo Sandoval (Wrist) is questionable while 2B Dustin Pedroia (Hamstring) and OF Mookie Betts (Concussion) ride the DL. New York will be missing just OF Mason Williams (Shoulder) as OF Carlos Beltran (Foot) is listed as probable.
Owens is a tall (6’6”) lefty that came out of the 2011 amateur draft as the 36th player selected overall and he immediately made an impact in his professional career. At each of his first three stops in the minor leagues between 2012 and 2013, Owens was able to mow down 299 batters in 236.2 innings (11.39 K/9), but did struggle with control as he posted more than 4.1 BB/9 at each stop.
In 2014, he was able to harness much of that control between visits to both double-A and triple-A and opened the 2015 season with the Pawtucket Red Sox as the team expected him to make the trip to the big league club at some point this year. The call has been made after posting a 3.16 ERA over 21 starts which was aided by batters hitting a meager .230 BABIP while he struck out a career-low 7.6 batters per nine and saw a lapse in control (4.1 BB/9).
He will need to be careful when facing both the aforementioned Teixeira and also 3B Alex Rodriguez (.277) who since the break has put up six homers, 10 RBIs and 14 runs in 55 at-bats. One player that has not been playing well is former Red Sox OF Jacoby Ellsbury (.283) who is hitting .190 without a stolen base over his last 16 games played. Boston’s bullpen has gone 13-16 with a 3.88 ERA (1.33 WHIP) and is 25-for-38 (66%) in save chances. Koji Uehara (2.33 ERA, 23 saves) has blown two of his 25 save opportunities this season and over his last 10 appearances has allowed one run on five hits with a 16:2 K/BB ratio in 10.2 innings of work.
Since coming back from surgery, Tanaka has not exactly been the pitcher that the Yankees signed for $155 million a year ago. He still has been effective most of the time and does show flashes of his “Ace” potential, but has allowed too many balls to hover over the plate and as a result gets pounded every few outings. Tanaka is giving up far too many homers (1.54 HR/9) for a guy whose key pitch is a splitter, but he still has managed to keep the walks in check (1.9 BB/9) and strikeout a healthy number of the opposition (8.6 K/9).
The righty has earned a quality start in four of his last five outings, but struggled in his last visit to the bump against the Rangers; giving up four runs on nine hits with three strikeouts (3 walks) in six innings. He hasn’t been all too successful when taking on the Red Sox in his career, going 2-2 with a 4.70 ERA (1.35 WHIP), but did get a victory after going five innings and allowing four runs (3 ER) on four hits against them earlier this year.
Although he has struggled this year, 1B Mike Napoli could get on track against Tanaka as he has gone 3-for-6 with two solo homers against him in his career. On the other hand, both SS Xander Bogaerts and OF Jackie Bradley Jr. have had issues in the matchup and are a combined 3-for-16 (.188). The relievers for the Yanks have been solid, going 18-10 with a 3.39 ERA (1.16 WHIP) and have saved 33-of-41 (80%) games. Andrew Miller (1.75 ERA, 23 saves) has yet to blow a save on the year and owns an astounding 54:12 K/BB ratio with 14 hits allowed over 36 innings.