MLB Bettor's Box
By Bodog.com
Friday is a red-letter day on the MLB betting calendar: It’s the trade deadline, specifically the deadline for trading players without putting them on waivers first. Handicappers are going to have to be on their toes while people are changing teams left and right.
The big fish everyone was still waiting for as we went to press was Toronto Blue Jays ace and 2003 American League Cy Young winner Roy Halladay. Will he have a new employer by Friday? If so, Toronto’s performance during Saturday’s matchup with the Oakland A’s could be lacking in enthusiasm. Our weekly betting preview will touch on this game in further detail; all stats are at press time, and the latest lines are always available at sports.bodog.com.
Series: L.A. Dodgers at St. Louis Cardinals
The Dodgers continue to own the best record in baseball at 62-36 and 19.67 units to the good. The Cardinals (53-48, –1,45 units) have lost five of their last seven contests and find themselves a half-game behind the Chicago Cubs in the National League Central. Monday’s opener starts at 7:10 p.m. Eastern on ESPN, so we’ve got live betting up and running as lefty Randy Wolf (5-4, 3.45 ERA) takes the mound for Los Angeles against Cards ace Chris Carpenter (8-3, 2.26 ERA). St. Louis is a –170 chalk.
Series: New York Yankees at Tampa Bay Rays
The Yankees are coming up fast on L.A.’s heels at 60-38 (+1.34 units). They’ve won nine of their last 10 games and 22 of their last 28 to grab top spot in the AL East, 2.5 games up on the Boston Red Sox and 6.5 ahead of the Rays (54-45, +1.56 units). Tampa Bay is coming off a relatively successful 6-4 roadstand with the under checking in at 8-2, but none of those 10 games was against a lineup as potent as New York’s. The Yankees are fifth overall in team OPS since the All-Star break at .810; Tampa Bay is No. 21 at .703.
Series: Seattle Mariners at Texas Rangers
Texas (54-42, +15.00 units) is still winning ball games – six of the last seven, including a sweep of the visiting Red Sox. But now it’s the pitching (2.92 ERA since the break) that’s paying off for the Rangers while the hitters (.665 OPS) struggle at the plate. It looks like Kevin Millwood (9-7, 3.44 ERA) is going to be out of the Texas rotation for this series after he left Sunday’s 7-2 win over the Kansas City Royals (+140) with a tight left glute. The Mariners (51-47, +5.61 units) were just swept at home by Cleveland by a combined score of 31-6, and Erik Bedard (5-3, 2.82 ERA) is back on the DL with his ongoing shoulder problems.
Colorado Rockies at New York Mets (Wednesday, 7:10 p.m. Eastern)
The Mets (46-51, –5.88 units) salvaged a pair of wins against the Houston Astros to wrap up their 10-game road trip, after dropping three of four to the Atlanta Braves and two of three to the last-place Washington Nationals. Colorado, meanwhile, has become one of the best teams in baseball at 54-44 (+10.12 units). That includes starting the season at 18-28 before replacing manager Clint Hurdle with Jim Tracy. This will be Game 3 of a four-game set; Johan Santana (11-8, 3.12 ERA) is matched up against the less accomplished Jason Hammel (5-5, 4.28 ERA), but Santana’s gotten only 3.15 runs of support per game, so he’s down 0.81 of a unit while Hammel (4.50 runs for) is up 4.10 units.
Toronto Blue Jays at Oakland Athletics (Saturday, 9:20 p.m. ET)
The Blue Jays (48-51, –7.23 units) have been in a month-long funk at 7-17 since June 27. That they’re even near .500 is testament to the depth of a pitching staff that has been ravaged by injuries. But Toronto’s bats have gone quiet with a .720 OPS in July, down from .752 OPS over May and June. The under is 10-2-1 in Toronto’s last 13 games. Brett Cecil (4-1, 4.27 ERA) has had three consecutive excellent starts for the Jays; his opposite number for Oakland will be fellow rookie Trevor Cahill (6-8, 4.50 ERA).
Philadelphia Phillies at San Francisco Giants (Sunday, 4:05 p.m. ET, TBS)
The defending World Champions keep on winning at 8-2 since the break and 56-40 (+9.43 units) on the season. If the rotations hold, they Phillies will send Cole Hamels (6-5, 4.66 ERA) to the hill after winning his last four consecutive starts. San Francisco (52-46, +7.18 units) responds with Barry Zito (6-10, 4.68 ERA), who is having a much better season this year but is still prone to the yips, like giving up nine runs to the Padres on July 12 and another seven to the L.A. Angels back on June 15.