MLB Bettor's Box
By Bodog.com
Baseball may have the least amount of contact among the four major sports, but it’s still dangerous out there. On Saturday night, Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Hiroki Kuroda took a Rusty Ryal line drive off the right side of his head. CT scans were negative, so he could avoid a trip to the DL. David Wright, on the other hand, might be out the rest of the year for the New York Mets after getting plunked by a Matt Cain fastball the very same day.
Neither the Dodgers nor the Mets can afford to lose anyone right now. We’ll touch on their struggles in our latest betting preview; all stats are at press time, and the current odds are a tap away at Bodog Sports.
Series: New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox
The biggest rivalry in baseball continues this week with a lot more than just pride on the line. The Yankees (74-44, 7.18 units) will be almost unstoppable in the American League East race if they can take this series from the Red Sox (66-51, 0.75 units). New York is 12-3 in the month of August to surge 7.5 games ahead of Boston for the division lead. The Red Sox are 6-9 this month and teetering on the brink after getting swept by the Yankees in four straight. Kevin Youkilis (.988 OPS) will be back in action following his five-game suspension; Hideki Matsui (.871 OPS) had his knee drained Sunday and will be re-evaluated on Tuesday.
Series: Chicago Cubs at Los Angeles Dodgers
Things are getting a little hairy for the Dodgers (70-48, 12.96 units). They dropped two of three in Arizona to fall to 6-9 this month, and it won’t get any easier if they need to call someone up from Triple-A to fill Kuroda’s next turn in the rotation. That would be Thursday in Game 1 of this four-game series against the Cubs (60-55, -5.65 units), who are in an August funk of their own at 5-8. Carlos Zambrano (back) is still out for Chicago; however, Ted Lilly (shoulder) is projected for Saturday’s Game 3 in what would be his second start since coming off the DL.
Series: Philadelphia Phillies at New York Mets
The Mets (55-62, -6.68 units) are an absolute write-off at this point. They’re 12 games behind the Phillies (66-49, 7.45 units) in the National League East. Wright (.882 OPS) is their franchise player; he was replaced at third base on Sunday by veteran Fernando Tatis (.723 OPS). New York is already missing top hitters like Carlos Beltran (.952 OPS) and Carlos Delgado (.914 OPS). Philadelphia, very healthy by comparison, has won its last five in a row versus the Mets to improve to 6-4 on the season.
Boston Red Sox at Toronto Blue Jays (Wednesday, 7:07 p.m. Eastern, ESPN)
We’re double-dipping on the Red Sox this week because this game is too good to miss. Although Toronto (55-61, -11.08 units) was a seller at the trade deadline, Roy Halladay (2.65 ERA, 1.08 WHIP) wasn’t part of the deal. He’ll pitch Wednesday against Clay Buchholz (4.45 ERA, 1.79 WHIP), who has pulled himself back into Boston’s good graces with two straight quality starts. The Red Sox were shut out both times, 5-0 by the Yankees and 2-0 by the Detroit Tigers.
Seattle Mariners at Detroit Tigers (Thursday, 1:05 p.m. ET, MLBN)
Speaking of the Tigers (62-55, 0.93 units), they’ve been sputtering along atop the weak AL Central, going 14-16 since the All-Star break. So they went out and got Jarrod Washburn from the Mariners (61-57, 6.45 units), and sure enough, Washburn is back to his old tricks now that he doesn’t have a world-class defense surrounding him.
Washburn (Mariners): 2.64 ERA, 1.07 WHIP
Washburn (Tigers): 5.12 ERA, 1.24 WHIP
The MLB Network is on hand to see Washburn face his old team for the first time. Scrub starter Ryan Rowland-Smith (3.60 ERA, 1.11 WHIP) moves up to fourth in the remodeled Seattle rotation and brings 2.99 units in profit with four team wins in six appearances.
Texas Rangers at Tampa Bay Rays (Sunday, 1:38 p.m. ET, TBS)
Rangers 2B Ian Kinsler was also part of Saturday’s hit parade, taking a Fernando Cabrera fastball in the batting helmet after it ricocheted off his shoulder. Kinsler was angry, but otherwise unharmed and took his base. The Rangers (66-50, 19.43 units) beat Boston 7-2. Then Kinsler went deep in Sunday’s 4-3 win as Texas overtook the Red Sox for the lead in the AL Wild Card race. Tampa Bay (63-54, -1.29 units) is another three games behind Boston and counting on young southpaw David Price (5.13 ERA, 1.56 WHIP) to hold it together while the Rangers send the highly bankable Scott Feldman (3.90 ERA, 1.25 WHIP) to the mound. Feldman is fourth in the majors with 9.79 units in earnings; Price is 1.58 units above water.