National League
Cubs @ Nationals
Hammel is 2-1, 2.45 in his last four starts; over is 5-2-1 in his last eight.
Strasburg is 5-0, 3.41 in his last six starts; Nationals are 7-0 in his home starts. His last ten starts went over the total.
Washington won six of last eight games; over is 7-4 in their last 11 home games. Cubs won 14 of last 19 games; under is 10-5 in their last 15 games.
Pirates @ Mets
Locke is 4-0, 2.76 in his last four non-Coors Field starts- he gave up 11 runs in 4.2 IP .
Syndergaard is 4-0, 1.93 in his last six starts; his last three starts went over.
Pirates lost 10 of last 14games; four of their last six games went over. New York lost 11 of its last 17 games; under is 7-2 in their last nine games.
Reds @ Braves
DeSclafani allowed one run in six IP (102 PT) in his first '16 start.
Norris is 1-1, 1.50 in his last two starts (over 4-3).
Atlanta lost nine of last 11 games; three of its last four games went over. Reds are 10-4 in their last 14 games, seven of their last nine road games went over the total.
Marlins @ Padres
Nicolino is 0-3, 5.97 in his last six starts; six of his last eight starts went over.
Perdomo is 0-1, 11.37 in his two starts, which both went over.
Padres lost five of their last six games; their last four home games stayed under total. Marlins won four of last six games; eight of last ten Miami road games went over.
Dodgers @ Diamondbacks
Kershaw is 7-0, 0.99 in his last eight starts; under is 5-0-1 in his last six.
Corbin is 1-2, 7.25 in his last four starts; four of his last five went over.
Arizona lost 17 of last 25 home games; nine of last 12 Arizona home games went over the total. Dodgers lost ten of last 16 road games; nine of last 14 LA games stayed under the total.
Brewers @ Giants
Nelson is 1-2, 5.40 in his last three starts; under is 4-1-1 in his last six.
Cueto is 5-0, 1.35 in his last seven starts; six of his last seven stayed under.
San Francisco won nine of last 11 home games; under is 6-3-1 in its last ten home games. Milwaukee lost four of last five road games; four of its last five road games went over the total.
American League
Orioles @ Red Sox
Gausman is 0-2, 5.02 in his last four starts; his last five stayed under. .
Wright is 4-0, 2.86 in his last four starts; over is 4-1 in his home starts. .
Orioles lost three of last four games; six of its last eight road games went over total. Boston is 4-7 in its last 11 games, over is 13-5 in last 18 games at Fenway Park.
Mariners @ Rays
Karns is 1-1, 5.85 in his last four starts; over is 4-1-1 in his last six.
Smyly is 0-3, 8.44 in his last four starts; his last seven starts went over.
Mariners lost eight of last 11 games; five of their last six road games went over. Tampa Bay won eight of last ten games; under is 20-8 in their last 28 home games.
Tigers @ White Sox
Pelfrey is 1-2, 4.88 in his last four starts; over is 5-2-1 in his last eight.
Sale is 1-2, 6.75 in his last four starts; eight of his last nine went over.
Tigers won seven of their last ten games; eight of its last 10 road games stayed under. Chicago is 9-22 in its last 31 games; over is 7-4 in their last eleven games.
Indians @ Royals
Kluber is 4-1, 2.97 in his last five starts; under is 7-4-1 in his last 12.
Kennedy is 0-3, 6.55 in his last six starts (over 3-1-2).
Indians won eight of last 13 games; under is 7-1-1 in their last nine road tilts. Royals won their last eight home games; under is 7-2-1 in KC's last ten games.
Twins @ Angels
Duffey is 0-2, 8.62 in his last three starts; four of his last five went over.
Santiago is 0-2, 13.24 in his last five starts, which all went over the total.
Angels lost six of their last eight games; six of their last nine home games stayed under. Minnesota lost ten of its last fourteen games; over is 18-5-2 in Twins' last 25 games on foreign soil.
Rangers @ A's
Holland is 2-3, 3.52 in his last five starts (over 5-5-2).
Gray is 0-1, 2.13 in two starts since coming off the DL; six of his last eight starts went over the total.
Rangers are 17-6 in their last 23 games; eight of their last nine road tilts went over. A's lost eight of last ten games but won six of last seven at home; under is 4-2-1 in their last seven games overall.
Interleague
Blue Jays @ Phillies
Estrada is 3-0, 2.48 in his last four starts (under 10-2).
Hellickson is 0-3, 5.04 in his last four starts; five of his last seven stayed under.
Phillies lost 17 of last 23 games; over is 5-1 in their last six games. Toronto won four of its last five games; under is 7-3-1 in their last 11 road games.
Astros @ Cardinals
McHugh is 1-2, 5.00 in his last six starts (over 7-5-1).
Wainwright is 2-1, 3.03 in his last five starts, four of which stayed under.
Astros lost five of last eight games, with last seven staying under total. St Louis won seven of last nine games; six of last nine Cardinal games went over the total.
Bronx @ Colorado
Nova is 2-2, 5.76 in his last four starts (over 3-3-1).
Bettis is 0-3, 12.12 in his last four starts; five of his last seven went over.
New York lost six of last eight road games; under is 5-3-1 in last nine Bronx games. Rockies won seven of last nine games; under is 7-3-1 in their last eleven games.
Teams won-lost records when this pitcher starts:
Chi-Wsh-- Hammel 9-3; Strasburg 12-1
Pitt-NY-- Locke 5-7; Syndergaard 8-4
Cin-Atl-- DeSclafani 1-0; Norris 2-5
LA-Az-- Kershaw 12-1; Corbin 5-8
Mia-SD-- Nicolino 4-5; Perdomo 1-1
Mil-SF-- Nelson 7-6; Cueto 11-2
Balt-Bos-- Gausman 4-6; Wright 7-5
Sea-TB-- Karns 8-4; Smyly 5-7
Det-Chi-- Pelfrey 4-8; Sale 10-3
Cle-KC-- Kluber 6-7; Kennedy 7-5
Min-LA-- Duffey 2-7; Santiago 8-5
Tex-A's-- Holland 6-6; Gray 4-7
Tor-Phil-- Estrada 7-5; Hellickson 6-7
Hst-StL-- McHugh 7-6; Wainwright 9-4
NYY-Col-- Nova 4-3; Bettis 6-7
Starting pitchers allowing 1+ runs in first inning:
Chi-Wsh-- Hammel 2-12; Strasburg 3-13
Pitt-NY-- Locke 3-12; Syndergaard 3-12
Cin-Atl-- DeSclafani 0-1; Norris 2-7
LA-Az-- Kershaw 2-13; Corbin 7-13
Mia-SD-- Nicolino 2-9; Perdomo 2-2
Mil-SF-- Nelson 4-13; Cueto 4-13
Balt-Bos-- Gausman 4-10; Wright 5-12
Sea-TB-- Karns 3-12; Smyly 3-12
Det-Chi-- Pelfrey 7-12; Sale 4-13 (3 of last 3)
Cle-KC-- Kluber 3-13; Kennedy 3-12
Min-LA-- Duffey 2-9; Santiago 8-13 (5 of last 5)
Tex-A's-- Holland 2-12; Gray 2-11
Tor-Phil-- Estrada 3-12; Hellickson 5-13
Hst-StL-- McHugh 7-13; Wainwright 4-13
NYY-Col-- Nova 1-7; Bettis 5-13
Umpires
Chi-Wsh-- Over is 6-3-2 in last eight Davidson games.
Pitt-NY-- Seven of last ten May games went over.
Cin-Atl-- Favorites won six of last eight Hudson games.
LA-Az-- Over is 5-2-1 in last eight Holbrook games.
Mia-SD-- Eight of eleven Blaser games stayed under.
Mil-SF-- Three of last four West games went over.
Balt-Bos-- Last eight Wegner games went over total.
Sea-TB-- Underdogs won five of last seven Barber games.
Det-Chi-- Last five Emmel games stayed under.
Cle-KC-- Three of last four DeJesus games stayed under.
Min-LAA-- Four of last five Timmons games went over.
Tex-A's-- Over is 8-1-2 in BWelke games this season.
Tor-Phil-- Road teams won three of last four Woodring games.
Hst-StL-- Last three Kellogg games stayed under.
NYY-Col-- Three of last four Morales games went over.
Armadillosports.com
MLB: Streak, Tips, Notes
Sportspic.com
Chicago Cubs at Washington Nationals
Washington and Chicago conclude their three-game set with both teams having notched one victory. Nationals count on Stephen Strasburg in rubber match while Cubs counter with Jason Hammel. Washington has opened -$1.40 home favorite at Bovada.lv with a 7.5 total at most shops.
To say Stephen Strasburg (10-0, 3.03 ERA) has been dominant this season would be an understatement. That dominance is reflected by the fact he's allowed two or fewer runs in eight of his thirteen starts with a 110-23 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Such success has not been limited to this season, the Nationals have emerged triumphant in sixteen of seventeen Strasburg starts with the hurler giving up two or fewer runs in twelve of the seventeen allowing an average 2.2 runs/game with a 154-27 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Matching those staggering numbers, Nationals are on a 13-1 stretch in front of the home audience with their righthander. Strasburg last faced Cubs in 2013 a team he hasn't been able to solve in three tries going 0-1 with Nats 2-1 in those games.
Jason Hammel carries a solid 7-2 mark, 2.36 ERA to the hill along with a 9-3 team starts record over twelve starts. If Hammel could face the Washington Nationals every time out, he'd be in the conversation for the National League Cy Young award along with Arrieta, Kershaw, Cueto, Strasburg. The veteran hurler is 9-0 life-time vs Washington with his teams 11-1 over twelve starts.
Cleveland Indians at Kansas City Royals
Corey Kluber is coming off his second complete game of the season. He gave up two runs off three hits in a win over Angels in the last outing and blanked these same Royals over six innings in a win on home field the previous effort. Kluber saddled with 0-3 record, 0-4 TSR at Kauffman Stadium takes the bump opposite Ian Kennedy off back-2-back losses spanked for 6 yard-ball, 12 runs in 11 2/3 innings. Cleveland has opened -$1.35 road favorites
Wednesday's Diamond Notes
By Kevin Rogers
VegasInsider.com
Hottest team: Rays (8-2 last 10)
Tampa Bay is still sitting in last place of the AL East, but the Rays are heating up at the right time. The Rays rallied from a 5-2 deficit to stun the Mariners on Tuesday, 8-7 to win for the fourth time in the last five games. During their current 8-2 run, Tampa Bay’s offense has picked things up by scoring at least five runs in six of those victories. Drew Smyly takes the mound tonight for the Rays as they continue their series with Seattle, as the southpaw has struggled of late by allowing 17 earned runs in his last three starts and owning a 2-7 record.
Coldest team: Phillies (4-14 last 18.)
Philadelphia pulled out an impressive 7-0 shutout of Toronto on Monday night as a heavy underdog, but were knocked out early in Tuesday’s 11-3 drubbing by the Blue Jays. The Phillies started the season with a slither of hope after sitting with a 22-15 mark on May 14. Since then, Philadelphia has gone backwards by losing 20 of its past 28 games, including 11 defeats to the Cubs and Nationals in this span. The Phillies return home for six games, as they continue their series with the Blue Jays tonight. Jeremy Hellickson is winless in his past four trips to the mound for Philadelphia, while allowing three home runs in his last outing at Washington.
Hottest pitcher: Stephen Strasburg, Nationals (10-0, 3.03 ERA)
The NL Cy Young race continues to remain tight with a handful of names lobbying for the award. Only one of these aces is undefeated so far as Strasburg is up to double-digit victories for the fourth time in his career. The Cubs and Nationals have split the first two games of their series in D.C., as Washington owns a perfect 7-0 record in Strasburg’s seven home starts. Strasburg has struck out at least 10 batters in four of his past five trips to the mound, but has given up seven earned runs in his last two starts against the Phillies and Reds.
Coldest pitcher: Sonny Gray, Athletics (3-6, 5.34 ERA)
Oakland won the first four meetings against Texas before falling to the Rangers last night, 10-6. In none of those matchups has Gray taken the mound against the defending AL West champions, as the Oakland right-hander is coming off a pair of solid performances in losses. The Athletics own a 1-6 record in Gray’s last seven starts, in spite of allowing three earned runs in 12.2 innings of work in setbacks to the Astros and Reds. Gray beat the Rangers in three of four meetings last season, while allowing two earned runs in two home victories against Texas.
Biggest UNDER run: Astros (7-0 last seven)
Although Houston is 3-5 on its current road trip, the Astros have seen the ‘under’ cash in each of the past seven contests. For the exception of getting shut out on Sunday at Tampa Bay, the Astros have scored at least three runs in six of the past seven contests with three games finished with 4-3 scores. In Tuesday’s victory at St. Louis, the Astros allowed a pair of solo home runs in a 5-2 triumph to end the Cardinals’ five-game winning streak. Collin McHugh takes the ball for the Astros tonight, hitting the ‘over’ in four of six road starts, while giving up eight earned runs in previous two outings.
Biggest OVER run: Twins (9-0-1 last 10)
Minnesota may own the worst record in the American League, but the Twins have been involved in plenty of exciting games recently. The Twins dropped a 5-4 decision to the Angels on Tuesday to hit the ‘over’ for the ninth time in 10 games, while allowing at least four runs in 14 consecutive games. Tyler Duffey has been rocked recently for Minnesota, giving up at least five earned runs in four of his past five trips to the mound, resulting in a 4-0-1 mark to the ‘over.’
Matchup to watch: Indians vs. Royals
Last week, Kansas City was mired in an eight-game losing streak, but that has disappeared as the Royals have suddenly won four consecutive contests. The Royals rallied past the Indians last night, 3-2 with a late two-run homer by Salvador Perez to win their eighth straight home game. Both games in this series have finished ‘under’ the total as the Indians have scored three runs or less in five games on their current road trip. Former Cy Young winner Corey Kluber has pitched well recently by winning four of his last five starts for Cleveland, including tossing six shutout innings in a 7-0 victory over Kansas City on June 5.
Betcha didn’t know: The Tigers and White Sox have combined for 38 runs in the first two games of their series as Detroit held off Chicago on Tuesday, 11-8. Chris Sale owns a 2.87 ERA for Chicago, but the White Sox have finished ‘over’ the total in eight of his last nine starts, including a 7-4 loss at Detroit on June 4.
Biggest public favorite: Giants (-210) vs. Brewers
Biggest public underdog: Twins (+110) at Angels
Biggest line move: Astros (+130 to +110) at Cardinals
Wednesday's Top Action
By Sportsbook.ag
BALTIMORE ORIOLES (37-26) at BOSTON RED SOX (36-27)
Sportsbook.ag Line: Baltimore +134, Boston -144 Total: 9.5
The Red Sox will be trying to avoid a three-game losing streak when they host the Orioles on Wednesday.
Baltimore snapped a three-game losing streak by defeating Boston 3-2 on Tuesday. Poor pitching in recent games has plagued the team, as it allowed 30 runs in its series against Toronto this past weekend. It was a great sign for the Orioles that they were able to allow just two in the opening game of this three-game set against the Red Sox.
Boston has also struggled recently, losing two straight games. The Red Sox have one of the most explosive offenses in baseball, but they have managed to score only six runs over the past two contests. They’ll likely need to score a lot more than that in order to beat these Orioles on Wednesday.
This will be the ninth meeting between the two teams this season and Baltimore has gotten the best of this series, going 5-3 against Boston. One thing that favors the Orioles coming into this one is that they are 8-4 against the money line after having lost three of their past four games this season. The Red Sox, meanwhile, are 19-8 after one or more consecutive UNDERS this season.
The battle on the hill in this game will feature RHP Kevin Gausman (0-3, 3.45 ERA, 54 K) for Baltimore and RHP knuckleballer Steven Wright (7-4, 2.09 ERA, 70 K) for Boston.
The Orioles were able to pick up a win on Tuesday and now Kevin Gausman will be hoping to win his first game of the year on Wednesday. Gausman may not have a victory, but he has pitched well on numerous occasions this season and he is certainly capable of doing so in this game. He did, however, allow five earned runs in six innings against this same Boston team on May 31. Gausman allowed three homers in that game and he needs to make sure he avoids the long-ball in this game. He has allowed seven homers in his past four starts, so that is something that he needs to correct moving forward.
Offensively, the Orioles are going to need to find a way to score some runs for Gausman on Wednesday. 1B Chris Davis (.224, 16 HR, 39 RBI), OF Mark Trumbo (.285, 20 HR, 49 RBI), OF Adam Jones (.238, 11 HR, 35 RBI) and SS Manny Machado (.307, 17 HR, 41 RBI) are some of the best hitters Baltimore has to offer and they are a combined 0-for-18 against Steven Wright in their careers. The Orioles will need them to start getting some hits on Wednesday.
Steven Wright has been a revelation for the Red Sox this season and he has now gone 12.1 innings without allowing an earned run. Wright has struck out nine batters over the past two games and he has also allowed just four earned runs over his past four starts. He’ll be coming into this game with a ton of momentum and he’s also facing a team that he has been very good against in his short career. Wright pitched nine innings of two-run ball against the Orioles on May 30 and he’ll be looking forward to facing them again.
Some guys to keep an eye on for Boston coming into this game are OF Mookie Betts (.289, 14 HR, 47 RBI) and DH David Ortiz (.336, 16 HR, 55 RBI). Betts is 4-for-12 with two homers and four RBI against Gausman in his career and Ortiz has been even better, going 7-for-16 with two homers and four RBI against him. If they can come into this game and provide some power then Boston should be able to come away with a victory.
CLEVELAND INDIANS (35-29) at KANSAS CITY ROYALS (34-30)
Kansas City looks to complete the sweep against Cleveland at Kauffman Stadium tonight.
With a win tonight, the Royals will have made up their three-game deficit to tie Cleveland for first place in the division in just one series. Kansas City was able to win the first two games of the series by getting timely hitting. Rookie 2B Whit Merrifield (.326, 2 HR, 7 RBI) has been the catalyst of the Royals offense this series, hitting a home run in both games. With the two wins in the series, Kansas City is now on a four-game win streak.
On the other hand, Cleveland has now lost three of its last four. The Indians desperately need the win tonight to hold on to their lead in the division. They will also try to get back to the good baseball they were playing before the series started, winning nine of the last 12 before Monday’s game.
Cleveland will be happy with the pitching matchup because they have the hot RHP Corey Kluber (6-6, 3.65 ERA, 87 K) going against the struggling RHP Ian Kennedy (4-5, 4.06 ERA, 66 K). Kansas City has got themselves back in the season-series against Cleveland with the back-to-back wins, but Cleveland still leads the series 6-3. The Royals, however, have a dominant home record of 21-7, which includes a 2-0 home record against the Indians.
Cleveland’s starter tonight, Corey Kluber, has had two dominant starts in his last two games. He has two wins with a 1.20 ERA and 14 Ks over the stretch. Those two starts include his one game this season when he started against Kansas City and held them to two hits and no runs over six innings while earning the win. Kluber has pitched well in his career against Kansas City, going 6-5 with a 3.17 ERA. Kluber has also been pitching very well on the road this year, going 4-2 with a 2.96 ERA.
The Indians will need to get more production out of their lineup, which has only accumulated three runs all series. The only player producing for Cleveland is 2B Jason Kipnis (.271, 8 HR, 33 RBI), who has two of the Indians’ three RBIs in the series. In order for Cleveland to win tonight they will need to get someone to step up on the roster, especially 1B Mike Napoli (.237, 14 HR, 45 RBI), who doesn’t have a hit all series.
Look for SS Francisco Lindor (.308, 7 HR, 33 RBI) to build off of his 3-for-4-night last night because he has been the only Indian hitting over .300 in June.
The story for Kansas City this series and the past month has been the emergence of Whit Merrifield as a capable starting second-baseman. He has been a hitting machine, averaging .326 in his first 23 major league at-bats. After getting his first major league home run on Monday, he hit another one last night. The Royals received also some clutch hitting from C Salvador Perez (.294, 10 HR, 29 RBI) last night when he hit the go-ahead two-run home run in the eighth inning to win the game for Kansas City.
Look for the Royals’ best hitter, 1B Eric Hosmer (.317, 12 HR, 38 RBI), to have a big night tonight because he has hit .262 against Kluber with three home runs and 12 RBIs in his career.
Kansas City’s starter tonight, Ian Kennedy, has not been pitching well of late. He is 0-2 in his last two starts with a 6.11 ERA. One of those two starts was at Cleveland, where he gave up five runs over six innings in a loss. He will be looking to get back on track tonight and earn his first win since May 7.