Friday's Tip Sheet
By Brad Young
**Cubs (Wells) at White Sox (Contreras)**
-Las Vegas Sports Consultants opened the White Sox as a $1.15 home ‘chalk’ over the Cubs, with the total set at nine. WGN will provide coverage of this Windy City matchup at 4:05 p.m. ET.
-The Cubs’ Randy Wells (1-3, 2.57 ERA) is coming off of Sunday’s victory over Cleveland as a $1.53 home favorite, 6-2. The two-year veteran was reached for two runs on five hits with a walk and three strikeouts over 6 2/3 innings.
-The combined eight runs failed to eclipse the nine-run closing total, ending a string of three straight ‘over’ outings for the right-hander.
-Wells has never started against the White Sox in his brief major league career.
-The White Sox counter with Jose Contreras (2-6, 5.23 ERA), hoping the veteran right-hander can get back on the winning track. The Cuba native had won back-to-back games before last Friday’s setback to Cincinnati as a $1.00 road selection, 4-3. The seven-year veteran lasted six innings, surrendering three runs on nine hits (one home run) with no walks and two strikeouts.
-The combined seven runs failed to topple the nine-run closing total, enabling the ‘under’ to cash his fourth consecutive start.
-Contreras went 1-1 against the Cubs last season in two starts, going a combined 9 1/3 innings while allowing 12 runs on 17 hits (six home runs) with four walks and four strikeouts. The White Sox prevailed as a $1.15 home ‘chalk,’ 10-3, while losing as a $1.04 road underdog, 11-7. The ‘over’ prevailed in both of those matchups.
**Yankees (Sabathia) at Mets (Pelfrey)**
-LVSC lists the Yankees as a $1.55 road favorite over the Mets, with the total set at 8 ½. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET.
-The Yankees give southpaw CC Sabathia (6-4, 3.71 ERA) the starting assignment after he picked up a no-decision in Sunday’s rain-shortened effort against Florida. The portly 6-foot-7 hurler went just 1 1/3 innings, yielding one run on three hits with a walk and a strikeout.
-The Yankees eventually dropped that affair as a $1.65 road ‘chalk,’ 6-5, while the combined 11 runs eclipsed the 8 ½-run closing total. The ‘under’ had occurred his previous two outings.
-Sabathia, as a member of the Cleveland Indians and Milwaukee Bucks last season, has not started against the Mets the previous few years.
-The Mets’ Michael Pelfrey (5-2, 4.74 ERA) escaped with Sunday’s no-decision against Tampa Bay despite tossing a subpar five innings. The Wichita State product allowed four runs on eight hits with no walks and four strikeouts.
-The Mets eventually dropped that game as a home ‘pick,’ 10-6, while the combined 16 runs toppled the nine-run closing total. The ‘over’ has cashed in the right-hander’s last four starts.
-Pelfrey beat the Yankees last season as a $1.40 road underdog, 15-6. The four-year veteran tossed five innings, yielding four runs on eight hits with four walks and five strikeouts. The combined 21 runs soared ‘over’ the 10-run closing total.s
**Rockies (Hemmel) at Athletics (Braden)**
-LVSC installed Oakland as a $1.35 home ‘chalk’ over Colorado, with the total listed at 8 ½ ‘under’ (minus $1.20). This contest is scheduled to start at 10:05 p.m. ET.
-Colorado right-hander Jason Hammel (4-3, 4.60 ERA) finagled a no-decision against Pittsburgh Saturday despite struggling over a six-inning stint. The 26-year-old was reached for five runs on eight hits with two walks and four strikeouts over six innings.
-The Rockies eventually prevailed as a $1.65 home favorite, 9-7, while the combined 16 runs toppled the 10-run closing total. The ‘under’ has occurred his previous two outings.
-Hammel, a four-year veteran, has not started against the Athletics the past few years.
-Oakland left-hander Dallas Braden (5-6, 3.26 ERA) is coming off of Sunday’s setback to San Diego as a $1.20 road favorite, 4-1. The 26-year-old went seven innings, allowing two runs on six hits (one home run) with a walk and six strikeouts.
-The combined five runs failed to topple the 7 ½-run closing total, ending a string of three straight ‘over’ outings for the Texas Tech product.
-Braden, a three-year veteran, has never started against the Rockies in his major league career.
vegasinsider.com
Game of the day: Yankees at Mets
By David Chan
Subway Series continues
The Yankees and Mets will kick off their second and final series in 2009 on Friday at Citi Field.
The Bronx Bombers took two of three at Yankee Stadium two weeks ago, outscoring the Mets by a count of 26-14. But both teams have struggled in the wake of that series, with the Yankees winning just three times in their past eight games and the Mets going 4-5 over their past nine.
The Mets, however, hold a slim 8-7 edge in the Subway Series since the start of 2007.
Pitching matchup
Game 1 will feature a mound matchup of C.C. Sabathia versus Mike Pelfrey.
The Yankee’s ace was forced to leave his last start after pitching only 1 1/3 innings due to tightness in his left bicep. All indications, however, are he's good to go for Friday's series opener.
“It wasn’t a sharp pain or anything,” Sabathia said. “It just felt a little tight. It’s something I felt before, between starts or something. It’s nothing major.”
But there has to be something more than tightness bothering the hurler.
Sabathia has been struggling, giving up 12 earned runs over his last 24 innings pitched. The Yankees are just 7-8 when he takes the mound this season.
Mike Pelfrey remains 2-0 at home this season, but was fortunate not to be on the hook in his last start here against the Rays. Pelfrey gave up eight hits and four earned runs in just five innings and the Mets lost 10-6. The right-hander has made it through the sixth inning only once in his last four starts
Pelfrey, however, was a winner in his lone previous start against the Yankees, a 15-6 Mets victory last season. And here's a bit of an odd trend: the Mets are 9-3 in Mike Pelfrey's last 12 starts in Game 1 of a series.
Safe at home
The Mets have settled in nicely to their new digs, posting a 21-14 record at Citi Field entering Thursday's action.
That record improves to 18-8 when you include only home games versus left-handed starting pitchers. Of course that mark dates back to their final season at Shea Stadium.
The team’s success at home can also be attributed to its ability to take the first game of a series. Getting off on the right foot has been one of the team’s strengths, as it is 17-7 in series openers.
Power outage
Prior to scoring eight runs in Wednesday's victory in Atlanta, the Yankees had scored only 18 runs in their past seven games.
“We have too many good hitters,” Manager Joe Girardi said, “to stay in a slump."
The underachievers have been led by Alex Rodriguez, who entered Thursday mired in a 2-for-25 slump. Robinson Cano, who was huge in this year's first installment of the Subway Series, is just three for his past 19.
San Francisco (39-32) at Milwaukee (38-34)
The top two teams in the National League wild-card chase begin a three-game weekend series at Miller Park, with the Giants’ Matt Cain (9-1, 2.28 ERA) slated to oppose Brewers ace Yovani Gallardo (7-4, 3.00).
San Francisco took Thursday off after scoring back-to-back wins at Oakland to wrap up the interleague portion of its schedule. The Giants have won five of their last six games and are on additional positive runs of 9-4 against winning teams, 6-2 after an off day and 4-0 on Friday. However, they’re just 11-26 in their last 37 games against the N.L. Central.
The Brewers continued their slump with Thursday’s 6-4 home loss to the Twins, as they’ve now dropped five of their last six and 11 of their last 16, going 2-7 at Miller Park during this stretch. They’re also in ruts of 1-5 against the N.L. West and 2-8 versus right-handed starters, but on the bright side Milwaukee has won 17 of 25 against opponents with a winning record and 14 of 19 series openers.
Milwaukee swept the six-game season series from the Giants last year by a combined tally of 49-18. However, when they went to San Francisco to open the 2009 season, the Brewers dropped two of three, getting outscored 19-11. Still, Milwaukee has won 14 of the last 17 meetings at Miller Park.
The Giants have won nine consecutive games behind Cain, including four straight on the road. The veteran right-hander is 7-0 during this nine-game stretch, giving up one earned run or fewer in seven of those games. Cain yielded a single run in each of his last two starts – both at home – covering 17 innings, with San Francisco beating Oakland 7-1 and Texas 2-1.
Cain is 4-0 with a 2.06 ERA in six road starts this year and 1-2 with a 4.05 ERA in three career starts against the Brewers. That one victory over Milwaukee came in his season debut April 9, as he gave up just one run on four hits in seven innings, rolling to a 7-1 home triumph.
Gallardo was a tough-luck 3-2 loser at Detroit on Sunday, yielding all three runs on six hits while striking out eight in seven innings. The right-hander has allowed three earned runs or fewer in six straight starts and 12 of his 14 outings this season. With Gallardo on the hill, the Brewers are on upticks of 8-3 overall, 4-1 at home, 4-1 on Friday and 4-0 in series openers.
Since giving up seven runs in his first home start of the season – a 7-6 loss to the Reds – Gallardo is 3-1 with a 1.44 ERA in his last five at Miller Park, allowing a total of five earned runs in 31 1/3 innings. Also, he opened his 2009 season at San Francisco on April 8, giving up just two runs in 6 2/3 innings of a 4-2 victory, improving to 2-1 with a 5.63 ERA in three starts against the Giants.
The under is 5-2 in Cain’s last seven trips to the mound and 5-1 in his last six against winning teams. Also, Gallardo is on “under” rolls of 16-7 overall, 8-3-1 in series openers, 8-1 versus winning teams and 5-0 on Friday.
For San Francisco, the “under” is on streaks of 4-1 overall, 8-3-1 on the road, 8-2 on Friday, 4-1 against right-handed starters and 5-2 after a day off. Meanwhile, Milwaukee has topped the total in eight of its last 10 overall, but the under is 8-2-1 in its last 11 Friday contests and 6-1 in its last seven against the N.L. West. Conversely, the over is 21-7-2 in the last 30 Brewers-Giants battles overall and 10-2-2 in the last 14 clashes at Miller Park.
ATS ADVANTAGE: NONE
N.Y. Yankees (40-32) at N.Y. Mets (37-34)
Five days after getting pulled from a start because of an arm problem, Yankees ace CC Sabathia (6-4, 3.71) returns to the mound as he opposes Mike Pelfrey (5-2, 4.74) as the final Subway Series of the season begins at Citi Field.
The Yankees are coming off consecutive blowout wins in Atlanta by scores of 8-4 on Wednesday and 11-7 on Friday. Still, the Bronx Bombers are just 6-9 in their last 15 games overall, including dropping six of nine on the highway. Their current 3-5 funk has all come against teams from the N.L. East, and they’re 2-7 in their last nine games on the road against right-handed starters. However, Joe Girardi’s team has won six of its last seven on Friday.
The Mets and Johan Santana held off the Cardinals and Chris Carpenter 3-2 on Thursday afternoon for their second straight win. Although they took three of four from St. Louis, like their rivals from the Bronx, the Mets have been lacking consistency, going 9-13 in June, including 5-5 at home and 2-4 in their last six interleague games (all against the A.L. East). On the bright side, Jerry Manuel’s squad is on hot streaks of 9-1 on Friday, 16-5 in series openers and 18-8 at home versus southpaw starters.
The Yankees took two of three from the Mets two weekends ago at Yankee Stadium, including a 15-0 series-ending whitewash on June 14. The Yanks are 4-2 in the last six head-to-head clashes.
Sabathia was pulled with one out in the bottom of the second inning Sunday at Florida because of a biceps injury, and he gave up one run on three hits with the Yankees eventually falling 6-5. Prior to Sunday, the hefty lefty had pitched at least seven innings in eight consecutive starts, but with the loss in Florida, the Yankees are now just 2-4 in their ace’s last six outings.
Sabathia is 4-3 with a 3.44 ERA in eight road starts this season and 6-2 with a 2.49 ERA in eight nighttime contests. Also, in his only career start against the Mets back in 2004 when he was with Cleveland, Sabathia gave up just a run on six hits in eight innings, winning 9-1.
Pelfrey surrendered four runs on eight hits in five innings on Sunday, failing to get a decision in his team’s 10-6 home loss to Tampa Bay. Despite that subpar outing, the right-hander has still given up two earned runs or fewer in six of his last eight outings. Also, with Pelfrey pitching, the Mets remain on positive runs of 13-6 at home, 5-2 on Friday, 4-1 in interleague action, 9-3 in series openers and 7-2 in night starts this year.
Pelfrey is 2-0 with a 3.95 ERA in seven home starts this year, and in his lone career meeting against the Yankees exactly a year ago, he earned a 15-6 road win despite giving up four runs, eight hits and four walks in five innings.
With Pelfrey on the hill, the “over” is on stretches of 4-0 overall, 4-1 in interleague play, 9-4-1 at home and 4-0-1 on Friday.
The Yankees are riding a bunch of “under” streaks, including 6-3 overall, 7-3-1 on the highway, 14-5 in interleague play, 13-5 against the N.L. East, 5-1 on Friday and 5-2 when Sabathia pitches on the road. Also, the under is 6-1 in the Mets’ last six at home, 7-2 in the Mets’ last nine against left-handed starters and 36-16-2 in their last 58 Friday contests. Finally, the last four Subway Series meetings at old Shea Stadium stayed under the total.
ATS ADVANTAGE: N.Y. YANKEES and UNDER
Gametimepicks.com
Friday's streaking and slumping starting pitchers
By Covers.com
Streaking
Jose Contreras (Chicago White Sox)
The Cubs will look to continue their success against Jose Contreras (2-6, 5.23), who takes the mound for the White Sox.
After pitching 16 scoreless innings in his return from the minors, Contreras gave up three runs and nine hits over six innings of a 4-3 loss to the Reds last Friday.
Contreras is 2-3 with a 6.08 ERA in six starts against the Cubs. Alfonso Soriano is 5 for 8 with three home runs against him.
Josh Johnson (Florida Marlins)
Johnson (7-1, 2.66 ERA) has lasted seven innings or more in six consecutive starts, with the Marlins winning all of those contests.
"That's huge for me,'' Johnson said of extended outings. "That means I'm doing what I'm supposed to do.''
The right-hander yielded one run and three hits over seven innings in Saturday's 2-1 victory over the New York Yankees.
"He didn't throw this hard when I was here,'' said Yankees manager Joe Girardi, Florida's manager in 2006 when Johnson went 12-7 with a 3.10 ERA.
Johnson, who has allowed two or fewer runs in 10 of 15 starts, faces Tampa Bay for the second time this season. On May 24, he struck out seven and gave up three runs over seven innings as the Marlins won 5-4 in 11 to snap a five-game skid against Tampa Bay.
Kevin Millwood (Texas Rangers)
Texas had three hits in Kevin Millwood's last start - Sunday's 3-2 loss at San Francisco in which he allowed three runs in seven innings.
"It seems like we're in a little funk right now," said Millwood, who was 3-0 with a 0.42 ERA in his previous three starts.
Millwood (7-5, 2.62), who struck out a season-high 10 on Sunday for his first double-digit strikeout performance since 2007, is going for his 150th career win. He is 5-1 with a 2.95 ERA in 13 starts versus San Diego.
Slumping
Jeremy Sowers (Cleveland Indians)
The bullpen has often had to work extra when Jeremy Sowers (1-5, 5.95 ERA) has been on the mound. The left-hander has lasted six innings just once in seven starts, and he gave up six runs and seven hits over 4 1-3 innings Sunday in a 6-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs.
Sowers is 0-2 with an 8.55 ERA in four starts against the Reds. Cincinnati second baseman Brandon Phillips is 4 for 10 with two homers and six RBIs versus Sowers.
Billy Buckner (Arizona Diamondbacks)
The Diamondbacks haven't had injured ace Brandon Webb since opening day, but their rotation has been outstanding over the past two weeks, posting a 3.12 ERA since June 11.
Billy Buckner (2-4, 7.15) has been a negative exception. He's 0-3 with a 9.72 ERA over his last three starts, though his best effort in that stretch came Saturday at Seattle, where he gave up four runs in six innings - striking out seven - in a 7-3 loss.
Buckner has never faced Los Angeles.
Debuting
Virgil Vasquez (Pittsburgh Pirates)
Pittsburgh sent down struggling starter Ian Snell on Thursday after his poor start two days earlier, and his replacement will make his Pirates debut in the opener. Virgil Vazquez (0-0, 0.00) has five games - three starts - of major-league experience with Detroit from 2007, and Pittsburgh claimed him off waivers from San Diego in January.
Vazquez was 5-2 with a 4.18 ERA in 14 starts with Triple-A Indianapolis, and he'll start Friday in place of Charlie Morton, who will be pushed to Sunday in Snell's spot.
Baseball Today
SCOREBOARD
Friday, June 26
Chicago Cubs at Chicago White Sox (4:05 p.m. EDT). The Windy City rivals begin a three-game interleague set. The two team split their series at Wrigley Field last week with one game also getting rained out.
STARS
Thursday
-Chris Davis, Rangers, matched a career high with four hits, including the winning two-run homer in the 12th, as Texas defeated Arizona 9-8.
-Scott Podsednik, White Sox, lined a two-out RBI single in front of diving center fielder Matt Kemp in the 13th inning to give Chicago a 6-5 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
-Lance Berkman, Astros, homered twice and drove in four runs to help Houston overcome an error-filled day and beat Kansas City 5-4.
-Denard Span, Twins, tripled, walked three times and scored three runs in his first game back from the disabled list, and Minnesota topped Milwaukee 6-4.
-Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners, lined the 29th leadoff homer of his career into the right-field seats and finished a triple short of the cycle as Seattle beat San Diego 9-3.
-Hanley Ramirez, Marlins, hit a grand slam as Florida cruised past Baltimore 11-3.
-Joey Votto, Reds, had a tiebreaking home run among his four hits and Cincinnati avoided a sweep by beating Toronto 7-5.
STATS
San Diego's Adrian Gonzalez walked in the seventh inning of the Padres' 9-3 loss at Seattle on Thursday, breaking the franchise record for walks in June. He has been given 28 free passes this month. ... Detroit beat the Chicago Cubs to improve to 23-11 at Comerica Park for its best 34-game mark at home since the 1984 world championship team had the same start. ... Tampa Bay's Jason Bartlett extended his career-best hitting streak to a franchise-record 19 games in the Rays' 10-4 victory over Philadelphia.
SILENT MANNY
Manny Ramirez made himself scarce in the clubhouse and didn't talk to reporters as he came out for warmups for his final game with the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes on Thursday night. Later, with the start of the contest delayed by rain, Ramirez wore street clothes when he walked through a back door of the clubhouse, stepped into a sedan with an associate and a Dodgers' security official and drove away.
MILESTONES
Alex Rodriguez tied Reggie Jackson with his 563rd home run, and Mariano Rivera earned his 499th career save in the New York Yankees' 11-7 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Thursday night. Rodriguez's 10th homer in the first, a solo shot, tied Jackson for 11th place on baseball's career list. ... Texas shortstop Omar Vizquel singled in the first inning of the Rangers' 9-8 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks in 12 innings for his 2,678th career hit, the most by a native of Venezuela. The 42-year-old Vizquel moved ahead of Hall of Fame shortstop Luis Aparicio, who played in 107 fewer games.
SMOLTZ STRUGGLES
Boston's John Smoltz (0-1), who spent his previous 20 seasons with the Atlanta Braves, needed 34 pitches to get through the first inning of Washington's 9-3 win Thursday night. He settled down after that, giving up a run in the third but retiring the side in order in the second, fourth and fifth. His final line: five innings, seven hits, five runs, one walk, one hit batter and five strikeouts in 92 pitches.
EARLY PROBLEMS
Johan Santana went to 3-0 counts on four of his first 11 batters - something he hadn't done in an entire game in six years, not counting intentional walks - in the New York Mets' 3-2 win over St. Louis on Thursday. Santana (9-5) bounced back and gave up two runs - one earned - and seven hits in seven innings to win for the first time in three starts and lower his ERA to 3.08.
GRAND, GRAND SLAM
Hanley Ramirez hit his third grand slam of the season in the Florida Marlins' 11-3 win over Baltimore on Thursday night, tying him for the single-season franchise record with Cody Ross (2009), Jeff Conine (2004) and Bobby Bonilla (1997).
TURNING IT AROUND
Victor Martinez went 2 for 3 with a home run and scored twice in Cleveland's 3-2 loss at Pittsburgh on Thursday night. He entered the game hitless in his past 18 at-bats, but reached base three times. He was 3 for 42 against the National League this season, but singled, walked and led off the sixth with his 13th home run.
MAGS TAGS ONE
Magglio Ordonez ended a career-worst 40-game drought without a home run by connecting for the go-ahead shot, leading Detroit over the Cubs 6-5 on Thursday for its seventh straight victory. Ordonez connected for a two-run homer in the fourth inning.
FILLING IN
Willy Aybar, starting because Evan Longoria was resting a sore left hamstring, had a solo homer in the second and a two-run single in the sixth to lead Tampa Bay past Philadelphia 10-4. Rays, who dropped the World Series to the Phillies in five games, won two straight after dropping the opener of this week's rematch 10-1.
FIRSTS
The Cubs' Jake Fox hit his first homer in the majors, a three-run shot in the first inning of Chicago's 6-5 loss to Detroit on Thursday. ... Milwaukee's Mike Burns made his first career start, giving up four runs and six hits over 5 2-3 innings of a 6-4 loss to Minnesota. Burns was called up from Triple-A Nashville to replace Dave Bush, who went on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday with a micro tear of the right triceps.
B-BOY MILESTONE
Houston's Lance Berkman homered twice and drove in four runs in the Astros' 5-4 win over Kansas City on Thursday to pass 1,000 RBIs. Berkman entered needing to drive in one run to become the third player in franchise history to reach 1,000. He did it on his first at-bat, a two-run shot that gave Houston a 2-1 lead and put him with fellow "Killer Bs'' Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio as the only Astros to reach the mark.
DRUG INVESTIGATION
Major League Baseball is cooperating with a federal investigation into where Manny Ramirez got the performance-enhancing drug that resulted in his 50-game suspension. The Drug Enforcement Administration is checking whether a doctor in Miami and his son were the source of the drug, ESPN reported Thursday. MLB president Bob DuPuy confirmed that baseball's department of investigations was working with the DEA. Ramirez was suspended in May for violating baseball's drug rules and can rejoin the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 3.
SORRY SOTO
Chicago Cubs catcher Geovany Soto will not be suspended by Major League Baseball or his team after testing positive for marijuana at this year's World Baseball Classic. Soto, last season's NL Rookie of the Year, drew a two-year ban from international competition by the International Baseball Federation.
SIDELINED
Arizona's Eric Byrnes will require surgery after breaking his left hand and could miss four to eight weeks. Byrnes fractured the fifth metacarpal in his left hand when he was hit by a pitch in the second inning of the Diamondbacks' 9-8 loss to Texas in 12 innings. ... Seattle placed shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt on the 15-day DL with a strained hamstring. He could be out until after the All-Star break.
SPEAKING
"On the triple, I almost died because I hadn't played in 2 1/2 weeks, so I'm a little out of shape.'' - Minnesota's Denard Span who had been on the disabled list with an inner ear infection. Span tripled, walked three times and scored three runs in his first game back Thursday.
"If I had hair like that, I'd still be single.'' - Detroit manager Jim Leyland on outfielder Magglio Ordonez, who cut his flowing locks - which are being auctioned off on eBay for charity.