Friday Night Lights
By Kevin Rogers
Forget about the so-called "dog days" of summer, because there is plenty to play for this weekend around Major League Baseball. Three series within the National League own playoff implications inside the tight Wild Card Race, while an AL East battle has plenty of intrigue.
Cardinals at Phillies (7:05 PM EST)
The pitching matchup may not raise eyebrows, as J.A. Happ opposes journeyman Joel Piniero. However, both of these hurlers have flown under the radar this season. Happ has been more than impressive, sporting a perfect 7-0 mark, with an ERA of 2.68. The Phillies southpaw has also gone deep into games, pitching past the seventh inning in five consecutive outings. Interestingly, Happ's numbers are better on the road (4-0, 1.57 ERA) than at home (3-0, 4.04 ERA), while the 'under' has hit for the lefty in four straight starts. The Cardinals are hitting a league-worst .225 against left-handed pitching.
Piniero owns a solid ERA of 3.09, despite an 8-9 mark. The right-hander has been nearly flawless as of late, with the Redbirds winning his last three starts. Piniero's ERA is 1.57 in this current stretch, while walking only one batter in his last six outings. The 'under' has been Piniero's strong suit this season, nailing it in 12 of 17 starts, including six of nine on the road.
The Phillies took the two earlier meetings at Busch Stadium, scoring 16 runs in the pair of victories. The Cards have finished 'under' the total in six of their past seven games. Las Vegas Sports Consultants has installed the Phillies as a $1.40 favorite, with the total set at 9.
Rays at Blue Jays (7:10 PM EST)
Every time Roy Halladay takes the mound for Toronto, we all wonder if it will be his last start in a Jays uniform, as the Rays head to the Rogers Centre. Halladay continues to be the main subject of trade rumors prior to the deadline at the end of July.
Halladay, considered the front-runner for the Cy Young Award winner in the AL, has won 11 of 14 decisions, coming off a complete-game victory over the Red Sox. The Toronto ace has lost twice to Tampa Bay this season, despite both outings being quality ones. The Jays are 1-4 in Halladay's last five starts against AL East opponents, but own a 7-3 mark in his ten home outings.
Matt Garza has slipped recently, compiling a 6.06 ERA in his last three starts. However, the 'under' has been hit in each of Garza's nine road starts this season, as the Rays have scored four runs or less each of these contests. Garza does have spectacular career numbers against the Jays, allowing three earned runs in six starts as a member of the Rays. The 'under' has been drilled in five of these six games, with the Rays going 4-2.
Tampa Bay is 5-1 in the six meetings this season, and will try to rebound after Mark Buehrle tossed a perfect game against the Rays on Thursday. The Jays are a $1.45 home favorite according to LVSC, with the total listed at 8.
Braves at Brewers (8:05 PM EST)
Two teams going in opposite directions meet up at Miller Park, as the Braves are rolling while the Brewers are scuffling. Atlanta has won 10 of its past 14 to close the gap in the NL Wild Card race. Milwaukee is 6-12 in the month of July, winning only one of six series.
Javier Vazquez had been a victim of bad luck in June, with the Braves dropping four of his five starts, as Atlanta tallied six runs. Vazquez's fortune has improved over the last three weeks, beating the Mets and Cubs, while picking up a no-decision in a victory over the Phillies. The Braves righty ranks ninth in the NL in ERA (2.86), and second in strikeouts (141). Vazquez was on the wrong side of a 3-0 loss at home to Milwaukee in early June, despite allowing four hits and two earned runs in six innings of work.
Manny Parra's run in the minors has paid off, as the Brewers southpaw has given up eight hits and one run his last two starts. Prior to this current stretch, Parra spent time at Triple-A Nashville to regain his control after five straight losses. The move has worked out as Milwaukee desperately needed a left-hander in its rotation surrounded by four righties. Parra was touched up by the Braves in an 8-7 loss back on June 7, allowing five runs and eight hits in less than six innings.
LVSC has listed the Braves as a $1.35 road 'chalk,' with the total set at 8 ½.
Giants at Rockies (9:10 PM EST)
Bruce Bochy's club led the NL Wild Card race at the All-Star Break, but have stumbled out of the gate in the second half by losing five of seven. Colorado, meanwhile, has played outstanding since the managerial change from Clint Hurdle to Jim Tracy, going 34-15. The Rockies and Giants will meet up 13 more times over the next two months, including seven matchups at Coors Field before September.
This game was supposed to feature a pair of 10-game winners, with Matt Cain and Jason Marquis on the mound. Cain is still scheduled to start, but Marquis was scratched due to a blister on his right hand.
Cain is in the midst of a career year, going 11-2, with an ERA of 2.32. The Giants right-hander owns a solid 5-1 road mark, while winning at Coors back in May. In that victory, Cain held the Rockies to only one hit in six scoreless innings. San Francisco is 4-5 in Cain's last nine starts against Colorado, dating back to 2007.
Jason Hammel gets the start in Marquis' place, as the former Rays righty is 5-4 on the season, while owning an ERA of 4.26. The Rockies have won eight of Hammel's last ten starts, as the 'over' has hit in six of his nine home outings.
San Francisco's offense has been absolutely anemic since the break, scoring a grand total of 16 runs in its last seven contests. The Rockies have been involved in eight one-run games in their last 11 at Coors Field. However, Colorado is 20-6 following a one-run contest, and 9-2 off a win by a single run (the Rockies beat Arizona, 4-3 on Wednesday).
The Rockies are a $1.20 home favorite, with the total listed at 9 ½, according to LVSC.
vegasinsider.com
Friday's Late-Night Action
By Brian Edwards
Gamblers have three late-night games to wager on Friday night in Major League Baseball. The Angels and Dodgers are the majors’ biggest money makers and both are at home against the Twins and Marlins, respectively. Also, the Mariners will play host to the Indians.
**Twins at Angels**
--Las Vegas Sports Consultants opened Los Angeles (55-38, +1775) as a minus-150 favorite with a total of 8 ½ ‘over’ (minus-120). Gamblers can back the Angels on the run line (minus 1 ½ runs) for a plus-145 return.
--Minnesota (48-47, -256) went into Thursday’s series opener in third place in the American League Central, two games back of the co-leaders, Detroit and Chicago.
--John Lackey (5-4, 4.39 ERA) will take the hill for the Angels in the second round of this four-game set. The eight-year veteran is just 2-3 with a 4.89 ERA in five home starts this season. Lackey is 5-5 with a 3.87 career ERA against the Twins.
--Minnesota slugger Joe Mauer is 7-for-17 (.412) against Lackey. Mauer took a .357 batting average into Thursday’s series opener. He is battling Ichiro Suzuki (.359) for the AL batting crown.
--Francisco Liriano (4-9, 5.33) is 3-4 with a 5.55 ERA in 11 road starts this year. Although his season numbers remain mediocre, bettors should note that the left-hander has been solid in his last seven outings, lowering his ERA by more than one run from 6.60. The Twins are 5-2 in Liriano’s last seven outings.
--The Angels are 19-10 against lefties. They took a 27-18 home ledger into Thursday’s series opener.
--Minnesota has struggled on the road with a 20-27 record. The ‘under’ has a 50-40 overall record for the Twins, cashing at an eye-opening 32-12 clip in their road games.
--The Angels have seen the ‘over’ go 51-37 overall, 24-18 in their home outings.
**Marlins at Dodgers**
--This game has pitcher’s duel written all over it with two of the National League’s best young arms set to toe the rubber. In turn, bettors are looking at a low total of either seven shaded to the ‘over’ or 7 ½ shaded to the ‘under.’ Most books have the Dodgers as minus-155 favorites.
--Los Angeles (61-34, +2130) has the best record in baseball and the No. 1 money tally. The Dodgers lead second-place Colorado by nine games in the NL West. They are coming off a three-game home sweep of the Reds, capped by a 6-2 win Wednesday in which Manny Ramirez belted a pinch-hit grand slam.
--Florida (49-47, +300) bounced back from getting swept at home by the Phillies and went to San Diego and won three in a row this week. The Marlins gave up just four runs in the three-game set against the Padres. They are in third place in the NL East, trailing division-leading Philadelphia by six games. They are 3 ½ back in the wild-card race.
--Florida will give the starting nod to its ace Josh Johnson (8-2, 2.74), who has a 4-1 record and 3.62 ERA in nine road starts this year. Johnson is well rested coming into this game after working just two innings in his last start Saturday that was eventually rained out. The right-hander, who is 27-13 with a 3.28 career ERA, is 1-1 with a 7.71 ERA in three lifetime starts against the Dodgers.
--L.A. LHP Clayton Kershaw (8-5, 2.95) has been absolutely untouchable lately, posting a 3-0 record and 0.47 ERA in his last three outings. In his last seven assignments, Kershaw is 5-0 with a 0.63 ERA. The southpaw is 3-2 with a 1.62 ERA in nine home outings this year.
--Kershaw has only faced the Marlins once, working seven strong innings in a win over Florida earlier this year. He allowed just one earned run and fanned nine batters.
--Joe Torre’s team has been outstanding at home with a 33-15 record. Meanwhile, the Fish are a respectable 24-23 on the road.
--The Marlins have thrived against lefties this season with a 21-14 record.
--The ‘under’ has cashed in four straight Florida games and is 26-18 in its road outings this year.
--The ‘over’ is 47-43 overall for the Dodgers, but the ‘under’ is 24-21 in their home games.
**Indians at Mariners**
--LVSC opened Seattle (51-44, +962) as a minus-145 favorite with a total of 8 ½ ‘over’ (minus-120). The Mariners are plus-145 on the run line (risk $100 to win $145).
--Cleveland (38-58, -2374) has the second-worst money total in the majors behind only Washington. Nevertheless, the Indians captured a 5-4 win Thursday afternoon at Toronto, hooking up their backers with a generous plus-155 payout.
--Seattle collected a 2-1 win Thursday at Detroit as a short underdog. Ichiro Suzuki had a pair of hits and scored a run, while Jarrod Washburn worked seven scoreless innings and scattered just two hits en route to his eighth win of the year. David Aardsma picked up his 24th save and lowered his ERA to 1.75 after working a perfect ninth inning.
--Cleveland LHP Aaron Laffey (3-2, 4.27) will get the call in this spot. Laffey is 1-2 with a 5.68 ERA in eight road appearances (three starts) in 2009.
--Ryan Rowland-Smith (0-0, 0.00) made one start this year back on April 10, working 3 1/3 scoreless innings. He was called up from Triple-A Tacoma to make this start. The lefty has a 6-3 record and 3.48 ERA in 74 career appearances (13 starts).
--The Mariners own a 25-18 home record at Safeco Field. Meanwhile, the Indians have limped to an 18-30 road record.
--Seattle owns a 16-12 record versus southpaws, while Cleveland is 10-14 against lefties.
--The ‘over’ is 48-45 overall for the Tribe, 29-17 in their road contests.
--The ‘under’ is a lucrative 58-36 overall for the M’s, 25-17 in their home games.
**B.E.’s Bonus Nuggets**
--Going into Thursday’s card, only six major-league teams were showing a profit for the ‘over’ this season. They were the Angels, Indians, Dodgers, Diamondbacks, Brewers and Yankees.
--Pittsburgh will send LHP Zach Duke to the mound at Arizona. The D-backs are horrible against lefties, going 9-17 so far this year.
--The ‘under’ has cashed in eight consecutive Texas games.
--Manny Ramirez is now second in MLB history with 21 grand slams. Lou Gehrig hit 23 homers with the bases loaded.
vegasinsider.com
Friday's streaking and slumping starting pitchers
By Covers.com
Streaking
J. A. Happ (Philadelphia Phillies)
Philadelphia’s 26-year-old lefty suddenly is the hottest thing to come around the ballpark since the concession stand’s last cheese steak. He’s also a big reason why the Phillies have taken control of the National League East.
Happ (7-0, 2.68 ERA) is 5-0 with five no decisions in his past 10 starts, and he has given three earned runs or fewer in eight of those performances. The 6-foot-6 pitcher also has proved durable, throwing six or more innings seven times in this span.
Happ’s rising star is becoming the subject of some debate among Phillies fans and local media; it appears they would have to deal him in order to make a trade-deadline move but, predictably, the club seems reluctant to do so.
Josh Johnson (Florida Marlins)
Johnson (8-2, 2.74 ERA) has emerged as the staff ace and rock-solid workhorse for the Marlins, who have needed every one of his quality starts to remain competitive.
The 6-foot-7 right-hander has been dominant of late, posting a record of 5-1 with three no decisions in his past nine starts for Florida. He has been a savior for the bullpen as well, eating up seven or more innings seven times in his last 10 trips to the hill.
Johnson is coming off another stellar outing in which he threw six-plus innings and gave up just one run in a 5-1 win July 12 over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Slumping
Aaron Harang (Cincinnati Reds)
Harang (5-10, 4.17 ERA) is notorious for starting seasons strong but fading in the late going; this season, it appears he’s trying to outdo himself.
The erratic 31-year-old righty has gone 0-6 with four no decisions in his past 10 starts. He has yielded at least three earned runs in seven of those outings, twice giving up five or more. Harang has been tagged for 10 home runs and walked 14 batters during this span.
Harang has lost his last two starts, including a 5-1 loss to the Brewers on July 18.
Mike Hampton (Houston Astros)
The 36-year-old veteran lefty found a place in Houston for some relief appearances and occasional spot starting duty. The fact that Hampton has become part of the rotation speaks more to Astros’ pitching woes than Hampton’s prowess on the mound.
In other words, Houston, we have a problem.
Hampton (5-7, 4.63 ERA) has given up nine earned runs over his past two starts, including an embarrassing outing July 11 against the Washington Nationals in which he was bombed for five earned runs in three-plus innings.
He also put the Astros in an early hole from which they could not recover in his last start against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Overall, Hampton is 1-3 with one no decision in his last five starts.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
San Francisco (51-44) at Colorado (52-43)
The torrid Rockies, now leading the National League wild-card race, send right-hander Jason Hammel (5-4, 4.26 ERA) to the Coors Field mound to open a three-game weekend set against the Giants and All-Star righty Matt Cain (11-2, 2.32).
Colorado, which had Thursday off, took two of three at home against Arizona earlier this week, including Wednesday’s 4-3 victory. The Rockies sport runs of 32-11 overall, 16-6 at home and 5-1 after a day off, and they’ve won five straight series openers.
The Giants, who led Colorado in the wild-card chase 12 days ago, have tailed off since then, going 2-6 despite having one of the best pitching staffs in baseball. San Francisco dropped three in a row at Atlanta before finally breaking through with a 5-1 victory Thursday, with Barry Zito throwing seven innings of one-run ball and the Giants putting the game away with four runs in the eighth inning. Still, San Francisco is 20-29 on the road this year and is on addtional skids of 2-7 on the highway, 1-6 against righties on the road and 29-61 in roadies against winning teams.
San Francisco has taken three of the five meetings this season in this rivalry, after Colorado won 10 of the 15 clashes last year.
Colorado has won nine of its last 11 behind Hammel, including his last five home starts, dating to May 30. He had a good effort in his last outing, on Saturday at San Diego, allowing one run on five hits and three walks in 5 2/3 innings, but he got a no-decision in a 3-1 loss. The 26-year-old is 1-2 with an inflated 7.62 ERA in nine appearances (eight starts) at home this season. Earlier this year, in his lone career start against San Fran, he threw six shutout innings before getting a no-decision in a 1-0 road loss.
With Hammel on the bump, Colorado is on streaks of 9-2 overall, 5-0 at home and 5-1 as a favorite.
The Giants are 12-2 in Cain’s last 14 outings, winning the last three in a row. On Sunday at Pittsburgh, the 24-year-old yielded one run on five hits and two walks, with eight strikeouts, in seven innings of a 4-3 victory. Cain is 5-1 with a 2.39 ERA in nine road starts this year, and he’s 7-5 with a 3.11 ERA in 15 career starts against Colorado. He split two meetings with the Rockies this year, allowing all five runs in a 5-1 home loss May 2, then coming back five days later to throw six shutout innings in an 8-3 road victory.
The Giants are on runs behind Cain of 7-1 with the righty going on four days’ rest and 5-2 on the road, but they are on a 12-26 plunge with Cain facing N.L. West opponents.
The under for Colorado is on streaks of 4-1 against winning teams and 4-1 behind Hammel, and the under for San Francisco is on rolls of 6-2 on the road, 17-8-3 inside the division, 5-1 with Cain hurling and 5-1 behind Cain on the highway. However, in this rivalry, the total has cleared the posted price in the last four clashes at Coors and is 4-1 in Cain’s last five road starts against the Rockies.
ATS ADVANTAGE: COLORADO
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Minnesota (48-48) at L.A. Angels (56-38)
The streaking Angels trot out right-hander John Lackey (5-4, 4.39 ERA) for the second game of a four-game home series against the Twins, who will counter with struggling left-hander Francisco Liriano (4-9, 5.33).
In Thursday’s opener, Los Angeles rallied from a 5-3 deficit in the bottom of the ninth inning, scoring twice to send the game into extra innings. Then in the bottom of the 10th, Mike Napoli’s two-out RBI single resulted in a 6-5 victory.. The Halos have won six in a row and 10 of their last 11, and they are on further hot streaks of 27-9 overall, 10-3 at home and 21-7 as a chalk.
Minnesota is still 10-6 in its last 16 as an underdog, and the Twins are on a 7-3 run as a road pup. Minnesota is also 5-3 in the last eight clashes in this rivalry, but the Angels are on a 21-8 spree in the last 29 meetings in Anaheim.
Los Angeles has won two in a row and four of five backing Lackey, with the 30-year-old earning the decision in his last two starts. In a pitchers duel Sunday at Oakland, Lackey threw a complete-game shutout in a 1-0 victory, allowing just three hits and one walk while striking out six. Lackey is 2-3 with a 4.89 ERA in five home starts this year, and he’s 5-5 with a 3.87 ERA in 13 career starts against the Twins, whom he hasn’t faced this season.
Despite their recent success behind Lackey, the Halos are still on slides of 2-6 at home behind the righty and 3-8 with Lackey facing a winning team.
Minnesota has lost in Liriano’s last two starts, following a three-game win streak behind the 25-year-old. On Sunday at Texas, he allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits and three walks in six innings of a 5-3 loss. Liriano is 3-4 with a 5.55 ERA in 11 road starts this season, and in his two career appearances (one start) against L.A., he’s 1-0 with a 1.29 ERA, though he hasn’t faced the Angels since 2006.
The Twins are 4-1 in Liriano’s last five road starts, but they are on a 4-10 slide with the southpaw going on four days’ rest.
The under is 7-3 in Lackey’s last 10 home starts, 4-1 with the righty a home chalk and 6-2 with Lackey facing the A.L. Central, and the under for Minnesota is on runs of 11-4 against righty starters, 30-11-2 on the road and 17-8-2 behind Liriano on the highway. However, the over for Los Angeles is on stretches of 26-10-2 overall, 8-1 at home and 5-1 with Lackey facing winning squads.
Finally, in this rivalry, the over is 5-1-1 in the last seven meetings.
ATS ADVANTAGE: L.A. ANGELS
Gametimepicks.com
Baseball Today
SCOREBOARD
Friday, July 24
St. Louis at Philadelphia (7:05 p.m. EDT). The Phillies host the Cardinals in the opener of a three-game series between NL division leaders. Philadelphia left-hander J.A. Happ (7-0, 2.68 ERA) is scheduled to face Joel Pineiro (8-9, 3.09).
STARS
Thursday
-Mark Buehrle, White Sox, pitched the first perfect game in the major leagues in five years and Chicago beat Tampa Bay 5-0.
-Mark Teixeira, Yankees, homered and drove in three runs and New York extended its winning streak to seven with a rain-delayed 6-3 victory over Oakland.
-Barry Zito, Giants, gave up only three hits in seven innings and San Francisco beat Atlanta 5-1 on Thursday to avoid a four-game sweep.
-Jarrod Washburn, Mariners, pitched seven scoreless innings and Seattle beat Detroit 2-1.
-Mike Napoli, Angels, hit a run-scoring double in the 10th inning to give Los Angeles a 6-5 win over Minnesota.
-Miguel Montero and Chad Tracy, Diamondbacks. Montero doubled in the go-ahead run in a five-run seventh and pinch-hitter Tracy capped the inning with a three-run home run, leading Arizona to an 11-4 victory over Pittsburgh.
PERFECT
Mark Buehrle pitched the 18th perfect game in major league history, a 5-0 win over Tampa Bay. It was the first since Randy Johnson's on May 18, 2004. Buehrle threw 76 of 116 pitches for strikes and fanned six in his second no-hitter - the first coming on April 18, 2007, against Texas. The 30-year-old left-hander became only the second pitcher to throw two no-hitters for the White Sox: Frank Smith did it against Detroit in 1905 and the Philadelphia Athletics in 1908. The only previous perfect game for the White Sox was by Charles Robertson at Detroit on April 30, 1922.
CATCH OF THE DAY
Chicago's DeWayne Wise, just into the game as a defensive replacement, robbed Gabe Kapler of a leadoff home run in the ninth inning to preserve Mark Buehrle's perfect game. With the count 2-2, Kapler hit a drive to deep left-center. Wise sprinted, jumped and got his glove above the fence to make the catch. The ball almost came out when Wise caromed off the fence, stumbled, fell to the ground and rolled. But he bounced right up, displaying the ball in his bare left hand.
FIRST FAN
President Barack Obama gave Mark Buehrle a call after the White Sox pitcher tossed a no-hitter against Tampa Bay. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Obama told Buehrle: "It was an unbelievable achievement, something that everyone will always remember.''
CAN YOU TOP THIS
The Yankees beat Oakland 6-3 for their 30th comeback victory this season. Not to be outdone, the Angels beat Minnesota 6-5 in 10 innings for their 31st come-from-behind win.
SLAM POSTERIZED
The Dodgers are producing a poster with artwork depicting Manny Ramirez's pinch-hit grand slam that moved him within two of tying Lou Gehrig's career record. The individually numbered posters will be given away to the first 20,000 fans attending the game against Milwaukee on Aug. 5. Ramirez's slam propelled the Dodgers to a 6-2 victory over Cincinnati on Wednesday night.
SLUGGER SLOWED
Astros slugger Lance Berkman was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left calf. Berkman has missed five starts with the injury, but the Astros had hoped he would heal quickly and could avoid a stint on the DL. ... Phillies relievers J.C. Romero and Chad Durbin were placed on the 15-day disabled list, a big blow to the Philadelphia bullpen. Romero has a strained left forearm and Durbin strained a muscle in his back.
UNDER THE KNIFE
Nationals left-hander Scott Olsen had surgery to repair a small labrum tear in his left shoulder. The surgery showed no further damage, but Olsen will be out six to eight weeks to begin a throwing program and should be ready for spring training.
STAT
Arizona catcher Miguel Montero is hitting .359 with six doubles, five home runs and 13 RBIs in July, leading major league catchers in batting average, homers and slugging percentage in that span.
SPEAKING
"Never thought I'd throw a no-hitter, never thought I'd throw a perfect game, never thought I'd hit a home run. Never say never in this game because crazy stuff can happen.'' - White Sox ace Mark Buehrle after pitching a perfect game 5-0 against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Rocky Road!!
By SportsPic
The Colorado Rockies aim to extend their National League Wild Card lead over San Francisco Giants when the two clubs meet for a three game set at Coors Field. On June 3rd Colorado sat at the bottom of the N.L. West and owned the league's second-worst record at 20-32. Jump forward to July 23rd the Rockies thanks to an impressive 32-11 run stuffing +$2243 into betting accounts split between 16-6 (+766) at Coors Field, 16-5 (+1477) on the highway will start the night a game ahead of Giants in the Wild Card race. Meanwhile, Giants off a 5-1 win at Atlanta but a poor 2-5 (-$272) since the break are in dangerous territory. Giants don't respond well away from AT&T Park, they're 2-7 (-$472) on the road in July, 20-29 (-$581) away for the season. Friday's matchup featuring Matt Cain (11-2, 2.32), Jason Hammel (5-4, 4.26) on respective mounds has the appearance of a mis-match. However, despite Cain's 5-1 (5-4 TSR) record on the road, Hammel's 1-2 personal record at home keep in mind Rockies are 6-2 in front of the home crowd with their righty touching toe to rubber, 9-2 last eleven handing the ball to Hammel. It is well to note Giants are 6-12 L18 as underdogs of +$1.05 to +$1.15, 5-11 this season opening a series on the road.
Reeling Sox face O’s
By Brobury Sports
Boston vs. Baltimore
The Boston Red Sox try to turnaround their nightmare second half when they host the Baltimore Orioles tonight.
First pitch is at 7:10 pm ET and Boston has been installed as -160 favorites with the Orioles at +140. The Over/Under is 9.5 runs.
Boston (55-39) won their first game of the second half, but the bats have gone into hiding since and they’ve lost five straight games, all on the road.
To make matters worse, the hated New York Yankees are 7-0 since the break, meaning Boston’s three game cushion in the AL East has turned into a 2.5 game deficit.
But before Red Sox fans start to relive their pre-2004 nightmare when they went 86 years between World Series, they need to remember this is a new regime.
General Manager Theo Epstein is one of the brightest and boldest in the game, and he showed that by acquiring two hitters on Wednesday, Pittsburgh’s Adam LaRoche and St. Louis’ Chris Duncan.
Both players are being added for depth but the Sox still need their core hitters to break out of their July-long slump as they’re just 9th in the AL in runs scored this month.
Baltimore (41-53) is 2-4 in the second half with series losses to the White Sox and Yankees. For the year, they are 15-32 on the road compared to Boston’s 31-14 at home.
Baltimore is 0-4 at Fenway and 1-6 versus Boston this season. They have a nine-game losing streak at Fenway overall.
Brad Penny (6-4, 5.02 ERA) vs. Brad Bergesen (6-4, 3.51 ERA)
The pitching matchup tonight gives the O’s some hope. Boston’s Penny gave up six earned runs last time out at Toronto, and while he’s pitched better at home overall (4-1, 4.53 ERA), this Baltimore offense can score on him.
Oriole’s rookie, Brad Bergesen has a 2.41 ERA in his last 10 starts including giving up just one earned run over eight innings in a home game versus Boston.
He doesn’t overpower you with a strikeout rate of just 4.41 per nine innings and it will be interesting to see how Boston’s hitters respond after seeing him a second time.