National League
Brewers @ Cubs
Nelson is 0-5, 10.96 in his last five starts; his last three went over. Brewers lost six of his last seven road starts.
Lester is 3-0, 2.64 in his last five starts; six of his last eight went over. Cubs won his last six home starts.
Milwaukee is 8-22 in its last 30 road games; four of last six Brewer games went over total. Cubs won 13 of last 15 games; under is 7-4 in last 11 games at Wrigley Field.
Marlins @ Reds
Cashner is 0-2, 7.31 in three starts for Miami (over 2-1).
Bailey is 2-1, 4.30 in three starts this season (under 2-1).
Marlins are 5-9 in last 14 games; six of last seven Miami road games went over. Cincinnati is 16-11 in its last 27 games; over is 7-1-1 in their last nine games.
Dodgers @ Phillies
Kazmir is 0-3, 5.00 in his last three starts; over is 4-1-1 in his last six.
Thompson is 1-1, 8.68 in his first two MLB starts (over 2-0).
Dodgers are 5-7 in last 12 road games; over is 6-1-1 in last seven Dodger games. Phillies won four of last five games; seven of last eight Philly home games went over.
Nationals @ Rockies
Strasburg is 2-3, 5.28 in his last five starts (over 3-1-1). Washington is 8-1 in his home starts.
Gray is 0-2, 16.88 in his last two starts; six of his last eight stayed under. Colorado is 5-4 in his home starts.
Nationals are 9-4 in last 13 games; four of last six Washington games went over the total. Colorado lost 10 of last 13 games; over is 6-4-1 in last 11 Colorado games.
Mets @ Diamondbacks
Niese was 1-4, 8.49 in his last six starts for Pittsburgh- this is his first start this year for his original team, the Mets. Four of his last five starts stayed under.
Godley is 1-2, 6.35 in his last four starts; five of his six starts went over.
New York lost 13 of last 20 games; under is 22-9 in their last 31 road games. Arizona lost seven of last ten home games; over is 16-3-1 in their last 20 home games.
Pirates @ Giants
Nova is 2-0, 2.92 in two starts for Pirates (under 2-0).
Cain is 3-1, 4.19 in his last four starts; under is 2-0-1 in his last three. Giants are 4-5 in his home starts.
Pirates are 6-9 in last 15 road games; under is 10-5 in their last 15 road games. Giants are 9-20 since All-Star break; under is 7-3 in their last ten home games.
American League
Red Sox @ Orioles
Price is 1-2, 4.81 in his last six starts; four of his last five went over. Boston lost his last five road starts.
Tillman is 1-2, 4.94 in his last four starts; under is 6-1-2 in his last nine. Baltimore is 12-1 when he starts at home.
Red Sox won their last five games, scoring 39 runs; under is 14-3 in last 17 Boston road games. Baltimore is 5-7 in its last 12 games; under is 11-0-1 in their last 12 home games.
Blue Jays @ New York
Happ is 10-0, 2.41 in his last 11 starts; under is 4-1-1 in his last six. Toronto is 7-4 in his road starts.
Sabathia is 2-3, 5.50 in his last six starts; three of his last four starts went over. New York lost four of his last five home starts.
Blue Jays are 9-5 in last 14 games; eight of last nine Toronto road games stayed under. New York won five of last seven games; five of last seven New York games went over the total.
Royals @ Tigers
Ventura is 2-0, 2.89 in his last three starts; under is 5-2 in his last seven. Royals are 5-8 in his road starts.
Sanchez is 1-1, 5.25 in his last four starts; under is 4-2-1 in his last seven. Detroit lost five of his last six home starts.
Royals won eight of last ten games; under is 14-4 in their last 18. Detroit lost last three home games; seven of last nine Detroit games stayed under.
White Sox @ Indians
Ranaudo allowed three runs in 6.2 IP (107 PT) at Wrigley in his first ’16 start.
Carrasco is 1-3, 6.46 in his last four starts; over is 5-3 in his last eight. Indians are 6-3 in his home starts.
White Sox are 6-12 in last 18 games; over is 9-6 in their last 15 games. Cleveland won six of last seven home games; Indians’ last four games stayed under the total.
A’s @ Rangers
Manaea is 1-2, 5.09 in his last three starts; three of his last four went over. Oakland is 1-5 in his road starts.
Darvish is 1-1, 3.12 in his last four starts (under 5-3-1).
A’s lost five of last six games; eight of last ten A’s games stayed under. Texas is 8-3 in its last 11 home games; under is 13-2-2 in their last seventeen games.
Mariners @ Angels
Martin started two games for Oakland LY; he is 1-2, 2.70 in five relief stints this year (10 IP), and is 9-7, 3.93 in 18 AAA starts this season.
Skaggs is 0-1, 9.58 in his last two starts; three of his four starts went over.
Mariners are 11-3 in last 14 games; seven of last ten Seattle road games went over. Angels lost 11 of last 12 games; six of last nine Angel games stayed under total.
Interleague
Twins @ Braves
Gibson is 1-1, 8.59 in his last three starts (over 3-0); Minnesota won four of his last five road starts.
Foltynewicz is 3-2, 6.43 in his last five starts; his last four went over. Atlanta is 2-4 in his home starts.
Twins lost five of last seven games; nine of last ten Minnesota road games went over. Atlanta lost five of last six games; four of last five Brave games went over the total.
Padres @ Rays
Friedrich is 0-6, 6.80 in his last eight starts (over 10-5). San Diego lost four of his last five road starts.
Archer is 1-3, 4.10 in his last four starts; under is 9-2 in his home starts. Tampa Bay lost seven of his last eight home starts.
Padres lost seven of last nine games; over is 8-4 in last 12 San Diego games. Tampa Bay won five of last seven home games; ten of Rays’ last 11 games went over total.
Cardinals @ Astros
Martinez is 0-1, 7.00 in his last three starts; under is 8-2-1 in his last 11. St Louis won five of his last seven road starts.
Fister is 1-0, 2.84 in his last three starts; three of his last four home starts stayed under.
Cardinals are 7-9 in last 16 games; over is 7-2-1 in last ten Cardinal games. Houston lost six of last seven home games; under is 7-1-1 in last nine games at Minute Maid Park.
Teams’ record when this pitcher starts
Mil-Chi– Nelson 9-15 (0-5 last 5); Lester 17-6
LA-Phil– Kazmir 12-11 (0-3 last 3); Thompson 1-1
Mia-Cin– Cashner 1-2/7-9; Bailey 2-1
Wsh-Colo– Strasburg 18-4; Gray 9-12
NY-Az– Niese 0-0/9-9; Godley 3-3
Pitt-SF– Nova 2-0/7-8; Cain 7-9
Bos-Balt– Price 12-13 (1-5 last 6); Tillman 20-5
Tor-NY– Happ 18-5; Sabathia 11-10
KC-Det– Ventura 12-11 (3-0 last 3); Sanchez 4-14
Chi-Clev– Ranaudo 0-1; Carrasco 12-6
A’s-Tex– Manaea 8-9; Darvish 4-5
Sea-LA– Martin 0-0; Skaggs 1-3
Min-Atl– Gibson 8-8; Foltynewicz 7-8
SD-TB– Friedrich 7-9; Archer 7-18
StL-Hst– Martinez 10-12; Fister 15-8
Starting pitchers allowing 1+ runs in first inning
Mil-Chi– Nelson 7-24; Lester 7-23
LA-Phil– Kazmir 12-23; Thompson 1-2
Mia-Cin– Cashner 7-18; Bailey 2-3
Wsh-Colo– Strasburg 8-22; Gray 8-21
NY-Az– Niese 4-18; Godley 2-6
Pitt-SF– Nova 4-17; Cain 2-16
Bos-Balt– Price 9-25; Tillman 8-25
Tor-NY– Happ 5-23; Sabathia 5-21
KC-Det– Ventura 5-23; Sanchez 7-18
Chi-Clev– Ranaudo 0-1; Carrasco 5-18
A’s-Tex– Manaea 1-17; Darvish 3-9
Sea-LA– Martin 0-0; Skaggs 3-4
Min-Atl– Gibson 9-16; Foltynewicz 3-15
SD-TB– Friedrich 6-16; Archer 11-25
StL-Hst– Martinez 3-22; Fister 3-23
Umpires
Mil-Chi– Five of last six Davis games stayed under.
LA-Phil– Four of last five Conroy games stayed under.
Mia-Cin– Last three Vanover games went over the total.
Wsh-Colo– Under is 5-3 in last eight Fagan games.
NY-Az– Underdogs won four of last five Fairchild games.
Pitt-SF– Over is 8-5-1 in last fourteen Eddings games.
Bos-Balt– Over is 9-5 in last fourteen Hamari games.
Tor-NY– Under is 6-1-1 in last eight TGibson games.
KC-Det– Underdogs won nine of last 11 LBarrett games.
Chi-Clev– Five of last seven Wolf games went over.
A’s-Tex– Nine of last ten Danley games stayed under.
Sea-LA– Over is 4-0-1 in last five O’Nora games.
Min-Atl– Three of last four Demuth games stayed under.
SD-TB– Underdogs won four of last five Culbreth games.
StL-Hst– Road team won six of last eight Miller games.
Armadillosports.com
Wednesday's Diamond Notes
By Tony Mejia
VegasInsider.com
Hottest team: Cubs (13-2 last 15)
The Cubs held the Brewers scoreless over the first 17 innings of Tuesday’s day-night doubleheader scoring before a sloppy Travis Wood came in and surrendered a Hernan Perez home run and Milwaukee brought the go-ahead run to the plate. Aroldis Chapman closed out both wins in the twinbill, so we’ll see if he’s available here, but considering how great the team’s starting pitching has been since the All-Star break, not having their closer on call may not matter. Even spot starter Trevor Cahill pitched five scoreless frames in Game 1 yesterday, while the typical rotation of Jake Arrieta, Jason Hammel, Kyle Hendricks, John Lackey and Jon Lester is a combined 9-0 in August with a 1.08 ERA, giving up 12 runs in 91.2 innings. The Cubs haven’t lost any of the five games Lester (12-4, 2.93 ERA) has taken the ball in since the All-Star break, but his worst start came against these Brewers, who chased him out after four innings on July 24, scoring four runs and making him throw 100 pitches while issuing a season-high five walks. Chicago bailed him out by rallying to win that game with a five-run seventh inning and is 7-3 against Milwaukee this season. The teams will play eight more games against one another after this one. Jimmy Nelson (6-12, 4.07) has pitched great against the Cubs this season but is 0-2 despite a 1.53 ERA over three starts in which his offense got him a total of six runs. He’s 0-5 in his career against Chicago (-260), which is Wednesday's biggest 'chalk' and has opened up a five-game lead on Washington for baseball's best record.
Coldest team: Padres (0-4 last four, 2-7 last nine)
Since the Angels rallied past Seattle to snap their 11-game losing streak late Tuesday, we'll give them a break from this spot where they have deservingly taken up residence over the past week. The Padres are wrapping up a taxing nine-game road trip that has seen them go 2-6 against the Pirates, Mets and Rays. San Diego looks weary and ready to head back West, but will look to avoid being swept by a sizzling Tampa Bay offense that has scored 35 runs over its last three games, its highest total within that stretch in franchise history. Christian Friedrich (4-8, 4.84) will look to cool off the Rays, but hasn't won a decision since June 23 and has allowed at least three runs in nine of his last 10 starts. Despite its awful record, San Diego has only been swept twice since June began, and one of those was a two-game series. Tampa is heavily favored (-200) despite riding MLB loss leader Chris Archer (6-16, 4.39), who has won just two of his last 11 decisions.
Hottest pitcher: J.A. Happ (16-3, 2.96 ERA)
There are a few other deserving candidates, but no one has a better case for the AL’s Cy Young Award than the 33-year-old Happ, who came into the season with a 62-61 career record that obviously looks a lot better now. Toronto has lost only one of his last 14 starts, a span in which he’s gone 11-1. He’s allowed two or fewer runs in 10 of those outings, allowing a total of six earned runs over his last 43.1 innings. Happ is 2-0 with a 1.42 ERA against the Yankees, so after erasing a 6-1 deficit with an impressive comeback, you can understand why the Blue Jays (-155) are a sizeable road favorite in the Bronx as they aim to win a series outright for the sixth time in seven tries. The UNDER is 12-4 in Toronto’s last 16 games and 4-1-1 over Happ’s last six outings. New York counters with fellow lefty CC Sabathia (7-9, 4.20), who is 0-2 against the Jays despite a 1.38 ERA over 13 innings. He got a single run of support in each of his May starts against Toronto.
Coldest pitcher: Anibal Sanchez (6-12, 6.31 ERA)
Detroit’s veteran Venezuelan starter opened August by surrendering a single run in his first two starts, but slipped up again last time out at Texas in statistically his worst outing of the season, surrendering eight runs on eight hits, four of them homers, over four innings of an 8-5 loss in Arlington. Sanchez has already lost his spot in the rotation once, so he might be pitching for the right to stay here. The Tigers have won in only one of his 12 starts this season. It doesn’t help matters that Kansas City has limited Detroit to a single run in each of the first two games of this series, which means the Tigers have now scored two or fewer runs in six of their last nine, going 2-7 in those contests and falling 3.5 games off the AL wild card pace. Royals starter Yordano Ventura (8-9, 4.60) is 2-0 with a 2.89 ERA this month and 2-0 with a 1.96 ERA over 18.1 innings against the Tigers this season, improving to 6-0 lifetime against his team’s division rival. Despite those numbers, Detroit (-120) is slightly favored to avoid a series sweep.
Biggest UNDER run: Orioles (28-7 last 35)
After breaking through for seven runs in the final three innings of Sunday's riveting 8-7 comeback win at San Francisco, Baltimore was back home for its first home game since Aug. 4 looking to continue to build positive momentum after a lengthy rough road stretch. Instead of enjoying the comforts of home, the Orioles had to watch as Mookie Betts became first visiting player in MLB history to hit as many as seven home runs in Baltimore in a single season, a streak that dates back to 1954. Betts hit two homers, driving in all five runs in a 5-3 win that drew the Red Sox even with the Orioles for the two AL wild card spots, one game behind Toronto in the AL East. Despite Betts' fireworks, the Birds still haven't seen an OVER come in at Camden Yards since July 8, a run that includes the weekend prior to the All-Star break and spans 12 games following Tuesday's result. Dylan Bundy (6-3, 2.93) has seen the UNDER prevail in five of his last six starts, but David Price (10-8, 4.29) may snap that run since the OVER is 4-1 in his last five. Boston's key offseason acquisition is looking for wins in consecutive starts for the first time since May 24. Tonight's total is expected to hover around 9.
Biggest OVER run: Phillies (10-0 last 10, 12-1 last 13)
The Phillies had their four-game winning streak snapped, but fans still got their cheers in as they gave Chase Utley standing ovations following his two home runs, the second a grand slam, in the Dodgers’ 15-5 win on Tuesday. The Phillies have still seen only one UNDER come in this entire month. Only one of Philadelphia’s last eight games at Citizens Bank Park has gone UNDER the posted total, a run that dates back to July 21. The OVER also went 6-for-6 on their West Coast stops in San Diego and L.A., with games against the Dodgers producing an average of 13.3 combined runs through the first four meetings. The Dodgers have seen the OVER hit in seven of their last eight games. Lefty Scott Kazmir (9-6, 4.44) has lost his last three starts after having won seven straight decisions, a run that existed since mid-May until it was snapped on July 30. The OVER is 5-1 in his last six starts and 2-0 in rookie Jake Thompson’s (1-1, 8.68) outings. Oddsmakers have set tonight’s total at 9.
Matchup to watch: A's at Rangers
Rougned Odor had a brutal game last night before delivering the game-winning RBI by getting hit by a pitch in the Rangers’ 5-4 win. Odor contributed to Sam Dyson’s blown save with poor defense as the A’s rallied in the ninth, then went ahead 4-2 against Keone Kela in the 10th. It was the type of meltdown that can haunt a team, especially one that had just been blanked twice at home this past weekend and got four of its five runs on Monday in a single inning. Texas managed just two runs entering the ninth, but was going to escape with a win before things went downhill for the second baseman. Odor wound up laughing last after getting plunked, and the Rangers found a way out of a loss that could’ve festered. Carlos Beltran went 4-for-5 and delivered the game-tying hit in extras. Yu Darvish (3-3, 2.77) has pitched great of late and will look to secure a winning homestand with a sweep of Oakland before hitting the road for series against last-place Tampa Bay and Cincinnati. Darvish, who turned 30 on Tuesday, has struggled throughout his career against the A's, coming in 1-8 with a 4.76 ERA. Texas is the only team in the AL atop the 70-win mark. Only the Cubs are a heavier favorite on Wednesday than the Rangers (-210), who run up against A’s rookie lefty Sean Manaea (4-7, 4.57). The under has prevailed in Texas’ last four games and is 13-3-1 over the last 17.
Betcha didn’t know: James Paxton landing on the disabled list will lead to Seattle riding with another arm set to make their first start for its team on Wednesday. Cody Martin (1-2, 2.70), a 26-year-old who was a First Team All-American at Gonzaga, will become the 13th pitcher to start a game for the Mariners and is part of a team-record 29-man contingent to throw for Seattle already this season. Martin made two starts with the A's last year, giving up 11 earned runs over six innings in taking two losses and being demoted to bullpen duty. Martin has made five relief appearances for the M's but has made 18 starts at Triple-A Tacoma, where he’s gone 9-7 with a 3.93 ERA. Arquimedes Caminero blew a one-run lead in the bottom of the eighth in Anaheim Tuesday to end a three-game winning streak, but the Mariners have survived all the attrition in their rotation enough to have won 11 of 14. Seattle has lost consecutive games only twice since the All-Star break, a run that dates back to July 7. The Angels have only won back-to-back games once since July 26 but will be favored behind lefty Tyler Skaggs (1-1, 4.37).
Biggest public favorite: Dodgers (-165) at Phillies
Biggest public underdog: Royals (+110) at Tigers
Biggest line move: Astros (-110 to -120) vs. Cardinals
MLB: Streak, Tips, Notes
Sportspic.com
Toronto at New York
A series finale at Yankee Stadium Wednesday afternoon between New York and Toronto features a battle of southpaws on respective mounds. According to opening odds sportsbooks have have visiting Blue Jays -$1.65 road favorites with the total set at 9 runs.
Southpaw C.C. Sabathia gets the call for the Yankees, bringing a 7-9 record, 4.20 ERA to the hill. Sabathia is certainly looking for a better results against Toronto. The lefty lost both games vs Toronto this season hooked up against Happ and has been on the wrong end of four straight decisions facing Toronto.
Toronto's lefty J.A. Happ carrying a 16-3 record, 2.96 ERA to the mound spun six shutout innings against the Rays his last time out has won ten of his last eleven starts with Jays a perfect 11-0 over the span.
Bet against J.A. Happ at your peril. The Jays have won five straight and eight of his last eleven vs a division rival, seven consecutive and thirteen of his last sixteen day games and have won five of his last six vs New York dating back to his first stint with Toronto.