Friday Night Lights
By Kevin Rogers
The Friday baseball card showcases solid pitching matchups that involve teams with playoff aspirations. Five teams are separated by four games in the NL Wild Card race, while the fourth place team in the AL Wild Card race is 5 ½ games out. Two of the top three teams in the NL Wild Card standings meet up in South Florida for a crucial series.
Rockies at Marlins (7:10 PM EST)
Florida sits three games behind Colorado for the final playoff spot in the National League, as the two teams hook up at Landshark Stadium. The money-leader among NL pitchers takes the mound for the Marlins, going for his 12th victory.
Josh Johnson (11-2, 2.92 ERA) has been one of the more reliable pitchers in all of baseball this season, as the Fish are 17-6 in his 23 starts. Out of Johnson's last six starts, five have come away from Miami, with the Marlins winning nine of his 11 outings at home. The Marlins ace shut down the Rockies in early May, 3-1, at Coors Field. Johnson allowed seven hits and one run in eight innings of work, while striking out five.
Jason Hammel (7-6, 4.66 ERA) has performed well on the road this season, compiling an ERA of 2.81 away from Coors Field. Hammel's biggest issue on the highway is lack of run support, with the Rockies averaging three runs a game in his eight road starts, resulting in six 'unders.' Hammel was touched up the last time he saw the Marlins three months ago, giving up eight hits and six earned runs in just 4.1 innings, as Colorado lost 8-3.
The Marlins took two of three against the Rockies earlier this season, and split a four-game set last August at Landshark Stadium with Colorado.
Las Vegas Sports Consultants has installed the Marlins as a $1.65 home favorite, with the total listed at 8 (Bet $1.20 to win $1.00 on the 'under').
Phillies at Braves (7:30 PM EST)
The Braves refuse to go away in both the NL East and NL Wild Card races, sitting 3 ½ games behind the Rockies and 4 ½ in back of the Phillies. Atlanta has been on fire of late, winning seven of its past eight. The Phillies continue to be road warriors, after capturing a sweep of the Cubs at Wrigley Field.
Jair Jurrjens (9-8, 3.01 ERA) has silenced the Phillies' bats in two starts this season, allowing one unearned run in 12.2 innings, both Atlanta victories. Jurrjens is coming off consecutive non-quality starts against the Dodgers, giving up eight earned runs in 9.1 innings. The home loss to Los Angeles ended a personal three-game winning streak at Turner Field which included wins over the Phillies and Giants. Jurrjens has not been a good play in series openers recently, with the Braves dropping 10 of his last 11 starts in this spot.
Joe Blanton (7-6, 4.02 ERA) has not fared very well against the Braves in '09, allowing 16 earned runs in three starts (1-2). Blanton is coming off consecutive losses following four straight wins, but the right-hander has turned in six straight quality outings. The 'under' has been a big winner in Blanton's night starts, hitting in nine of 11 outings.
Atlanta is 7-2 in nine meetings with Philadelphia this season, including a 3-0 mark at Turner Field.
The Braves are listed as a $1.30 home 'chalk,' with the total set at 8 ½, according to LVSC.
Red Sox at Rangers (8:05 PM EST)
The Rangers continue to stick around the AL Wild Card race, after it seemed that the final playoff spot will come from the AL East. Texas took two of three at the Angels, followed by a series victory at Cleveland. The Rangers sit a ½ game behind the Red Sox in the Wild Card after Boston lost to Detroit on Thursday, 2-0. Texas took care of Boston the last time these teams met up in the Lone Star State, as the Rangers swept a three-game series in late July.
A pair of pitchers going for their tenth win take the mound tonight, as Jon Lester and Kevin Millwood toe the rubber.
Lester (9-7, 3.67 ERA) is coming off a pair of solid starts in road losses at New York and Tampa Bay. In those two outings, the Sox lefty struck out 17, while allowing two earned runs, but was on the wrong end of each decision. Lester went the distance the last time he saw the Rangers, giving up just two hits and one run in an 8-1 victory at Fenway Park on June 6.
Millwood (9-7, 3.38 ERA) has been flat-out dominant at home, going 7-1 at Ameriquest Field (Rangers are 9-2 in his 11 home starts). Texas is 2-0 in Millwood's two starts against Boston this season, with the veteran righty allowing three runs in 13 innings of work. The Rangers are 4-6 in Millwood's ten outings as an underdog this season, but that does include a road victory at Boston. The 'under' has hit in 15 of Millwood's 20 starts in '09, including seven of ten in Arlington.
LVSC has installed the Red Sox as a $1.20 road favorites, with the total listed at 9 (Bet $1.20 to win $1.00 on the 'over').
What else to watch for:
The Rays and Blue Jays meet for the tenth time in the last six weeks, as Tampa Bay is still within striking distance to make the postseason. The Jays are 0-3 in Roy Halladay's three starts against Tampa Bay this season, with all three games going 'under' the total. The Rays have dropped four of James Shields' last five outings against Toronto dating back to last season.
The Tigers avoided a sweep in Boston on Thursday, as Jarrod Washburn makes his third start as a member of the Detroit rotation. In Washburn's final five starts with Seattle, the southpaw allowed a total of three runs. In the lefty's first two outings in the Motor City, Washburn has given up 11 runs. Zack Greinke had a personal four-game losing skid snapped with a victory in his last start against Oakland, his 11th win of the season.
The best home team in the National League travels to the Big Apple, as the Giants and Mets hook up at Citi Field. The Mets are obviously a huge mess with all the injuries, but San Francisco is 1-8 in its last nine meetings in Flushing. The Giants have scored only nine runs the last four games, however Barry Zito is 3-0 his last four starts. Since the start of July, the Giants have finished 'under' the total in six of Zito's eight starts.
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Friday's Streaking and Slumping Starting Pitchers
Streaking
Adam Wainwright (St. Louis Cardinals)
Wainwright (13-7, 2.73 ERA) has a streak of nine straight quality starts dating back to June 21. During that streak, he has lasted at least six innings each time out and never allowed more than two earned runs.
The key for the 27-year-old hurler? He’s allowed only one home run during the streak and has a 62:17 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
His most recent start was rock solid, as he gave up only one run over 6 2-3 innings against the Pirates. He also struck out six and issued no free passes.
Andy Pettitte (New York Yankees)
As fall approaches, that can mean only one thing – Andy Pettitte is getting into postseason form.
Pettitte (9-6, 4.14 ERA) had a first half to forget, but has failed to notch a quality start only once since the All-Star break. The left-hander has a 1.87 ERA since the mid-summer classic, leading the team to wins against AL East foes Toronto, Boston and Baltimore.
In his most recent start, a 5-2 win over Boston, Pettitte just five hits over seven innings as he didn’t allow a runner to cross home plate.
"Andy has pitched in so many big games for us," Yankees manager Joe Girardi told the Associated Press. "He was great.”
Slumping
Dan Haren (Arizona Diamondbacks)
It appears like the right-hander is human after all.
Haren (11-7, 2.57 ERA) looked like a Cy Young candidate in early July. But it’s been all downhill since then. The right-hander has been tagged for five runs in each of his past two starts and hasn’t had a quality start since July 18. Over the past 23 innings he has allowed 17 runs.
His most recent outing, a 5-2 loss to the Nationals, saw him allow a pair of home runs in a game for the first time since May 23.
Bobby Parnell (New York Mets)
Manager Jerry Manuel apparently really has it in for this kid. Parnell (2-4, 3.94 ERA) appeared to finally find a groove in the team’s suspect bullpen, but due to other player’s repeated failure and various injuries, he had a shot to make his first start of the year last week.
That was, until Manuel showed zero faith in him by yanking him as soon as he got into trouble. Parnell lasted just 2 1-3 innings against the Padres, as he yielded two earned runs on four hits and three walks.
The real wager for his start on Friday against the Giants, is: will he last seven innings or give up seven runs before he’s pulled this time?
Boston (65-49) at Texas (64-49)
The top two clubs in the hunt for the A.L. wild-card open up a three-game series at Rangers Ballpark, with Kevin Millwood (9-7, 3.38) taking the ball for the home team against Red Sox lefty Jon Lester (9-7, 3.67).
The Red Sox failed to complete a four-game home sweep of Detroit on Thursday, getting blanked 2-0 by Justin Verlander. Boston has dropped six straight road games and also sports additional negative trends of 4-13 against winning teams, 1-10 on the road against winning squads and 2-5 versus the A.L. West.
Texas capped a 10-game road trip with Thursday’s 4-1 win at Cleveland. The Rangers started the trip with three straight losses in Oakland before winning five of the final seven games. They’re on positive runs of 7-0 against the A.L. East, 14-3 on Friday and 11-3 against teams with a winning record. Additionally, Texas has won 14 of its last 18 at home, including a three-game sweep of Boston from July 20-22, winning those three contests by a combined score of 13-6.
After losing nine of 10 to Boston last year, the Rangers have won five of six in this rivalry this season, with all five wins coming by multiple runs. In fact, the last 13 head-to-head battles have been multiple-run affairs.
Lester is coming off back-to-back brilliant starts in which he allowed one run each time out over a total of 13 innings (1.38 ERA), but he has nothing to show for it as the Red Sox lost road games to Tampa Bay (4-2) and the Yankees (5-2). Prior to that, Boston had been on a 6-1 roll behind Lester, and it is still 49-24 in his last 73 starts. The lefty has registered a quality start eight times in his last nine trips to the hill.
The Red Sox have split Lester’s 12 road starts in 2009, with the Washington native going 4-4 with a 3.99 ERA. He’s 2-0 with a 3.33 ERA in four starts against the Rangers (all at home), including an 8-1 rout on June 6 when he twirled a complete-game two-hitter, striking out 11, for Boston’s only win against Texas this season.
Millwood returned to the rotation on Saturday for the first time since July 26 and pitched well against the hot-hitting Angels, giving up two runs on nine hits in six innings, but it wasn’t enough as Texas lost 3-2 on the road. Not including the July 26 outing at Kansas City when he was pulled because of injury after two scoreless innings, Millwood has given up two earned runs or fewer in eight of his last 11 starts.
With Millwood pitching, the Rangers are on runs of 21-7 at home, 8-1 in series openers and 4-0 against the A.L. East. This year, he’s 7-1 with a 2.53 ERA at Rangers Ballpark and 2-0 with a 1.38 ERA in two games (one home, one road) against the Red Sox. For his career, Millwood is 4-1 with a 6-4 with a 3.99 ERA in 14 starts versus Boston.
The under is 4-1-1 in Lester’s last six starts overall, 4-0 in his last four road outings, 4-0-1 in his last five on Friday and 10-1-3 in his last 14 when opening a series. Likewise, with Millwood pitching, the “under” is on runs of 23-6-2 overall, 12-3-1 at home, 7-0 against the A.L. East, 6-2 on Friday and 5-2 when he faces Boston.
The Red Sox have topped the total in 11 of 17 overall and four straight against A.L. West competition, but otherwise they’re on “under” streaks of 11-4 on the road, 23-8-6 on Friday and 11-4 when facing right-handed starters on the road. Texas also is on a bevy of “under” surges, including 43-15-2 overall, 37-14-2 at home, 17-5-1 against the A.L. East, 8-1 in series openers, 37-15-2 against southpaw starters and 37-14-2 when facing teams with a winning record.
Finally, the last seven Red Sox-Rangers clashes – including the last four in Texas – have stayed under the total.
ATS ADVANTAGE: TEXAS and UNDER
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Baseball Today
SCOREBOARD
Friday, Aug. 14
Los Angeles Angels at Baltimore (7:05 p.m. EDT). Jered Weaver (12-3, 3.73 ERA) is set to start for the AL West-leading Angels.
STARS
Thursday
-Jonny Gomes, Reds, homered in his first three at-bats in Cincinnati's 7-0 victory over Washington. Gomes hit two-run homers in the second and fourth innings and added a solo shot in the sixth before striking out in the eighth. It was the second three-homer game of his career.
-Bronson Arroyo, Reds, tossed a two-hitter with three strikeouts in a 7-0 victory over the Nationals. Arroyo allowed only one runner as far as second base to win for the first time since beating Milwaukee on July 17.
-Cliff Lee, Phillies, allowed one run and six hits over eight innings, striking out eight in Philadelphia's 6-1 win over the Cubs. Lee won his third straight start since joining the Phillies, who wrapped up their first sweep at Wrigley Field in 25 years.
-Josh Hamilton, Rangers, went 4 for 4 with a pair of doubles and two RBIs in Texas' 4-1 victory over Cleveland. Hamilton is batting .522 with six RBIs against Cleveland this season.
-Justin Verlander, Tigers, scattered four hits over eight innings with eight strikeouts to lead Detroit to a 2-0 victory over the Red Sox. It was his 15th game with eight or more strikeouts.
-Joakim Soria, Royals, got the final six outs for his 19th save of the season as Kansas City took two of three games from Minnesota with a 5-4 victory.
-CC Sabathia, Yankees, struck out 10 and allowed one run in eight innings as New York routed Seattle 11-1.
TRIPLE THE FUN
The Reds' Jonny Gomes homered in his first three at-bats and drove in five runs in a 7-0 victory over the Nationals. Gomes hit two-run homers in the second and fourth innings and added a solo shot in the sixth before striking out in the eighth. It was the second three-homer game in his career, the first coming against Kansas City on July 30, 2005.
BELOW THE BELTRE
Mariners third baseman Adrian Beltre was put on the 15-day disabled list with a bleeding testicle, one day after taking a hard one-hopper off the bat of Chicago's Alexei Ramirez to his groin area. Seattle manager Don Wakamatsu said the Gold Glove infielder is out indefinitely, and could need surgery. Beltre does not wear a protective cup because he says it's uncomfortable.
CALLING ALL UNITS
Phillies center fielder Shane Victorino filed a police report Thursday, a day after getting doused with beer while making a catch at Wrigley Field. John Macchione of Bartlett, Ill., was charged with one count of battery and one count of illegal conduct within a sports facility. Victorino was hit with a cup of beer thrown from the bleachers in the Phillies' 12-5 win over the Cubs. The All-Star outfielder received an apology from Cubs management.
TWINS TROUBLES
Gil Meche pitched Kansas City to a 5-4 victory over the Twins and their first series win since a trip to Houston on June 23-25. The Royals won two of three from Minnesota, their first win in a series of at least three game since taking two of three in the Metrodome on May 1-3.
THROWING SOME HEAT
Rangers starter Scott Feldman improved to 8-1 with a 3.33 ERA in 10 road starts this season. ... The Reds' Bronson Arroyo tossed a two-hitter in a 7-0 victory over Washington, his first win since July 17. ... Cliff Lee won his third straight start since joining the Phillies, 6-1 over the Cubs. The AL Cy Young Award winner has won six straight overall.
BRINGING SOME WOOD
The Cubs' Ryan Theriot reached a career-high 46 RBIs with his single in a 6-1 loss to Philadelphia. He drove in 45 in 2007. ... Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman extended his hitting streak to 16 games during a 7-0 loss to Cincinnati. He had a 30-game streak earlier this season. ... Florida has at least 10 hits in a club-record 10 straight games, after pounding Mike Hampton in a 9-2 win over the Astros.
MINOR MENTIONS
Cleveland traded infielder Andy Cannizaro to the White Sox for cash considerations, and he'll be assigned to Triple-A Charlotte. ... Cubs pitcher Ericdervid Martinez and outfielder Gregorio Robles were suspended 50 games after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. They were both playing in the Dominican Summer League.
SPEAKING
"That's a horse. That's a brilliant performance. The eighth inning was textbook, No. 1-type pitching. To do what he did in that inning, at that point in the ballgame, there's not many guys who can do that.'' - Detroit manager Jim Leyland after starter Justin Verlander struck out Jason Bay with two 100 mph fastballs in the eighth inning of a 2-0 victory over the Red Sox.
Red Sox head to Texas
By Brobury Sports
The Boston Red Sox are surprisingly big -150 favorites as they play at the Texas Rangers tonight.
First pitch for this game is 8:05 pm ET and the Over/Under is 8.5 runs. Check out BroburySports.com and see our full array of MLB lines.
These are the top two teams in the AL Wild Card race. Boston currently leads Texas by half a game, with Tampa Bay four back and Seattle 5.5 back. The Yankees and Angels look like the class of the AL East and West respectively, so a Wild Card may be all that’s left for the Sox and Rangers.
It’s hasn’t been too hard to handicap Boston (65-49) lately. They are a great home team at 38-18 and just took three of four from the Detroit Tigers at Fenway Park, losing yesterday afternoon to ace Justin Verlander.
The road has been a different story for the BoSox at 27-31 overall. Before the Detroit series, they lost six in a row at Tampa and the NY Yankees. Boston is also just 1-10 in their last 11 road games against teams with winning records. That includes getting swept at Texas last month.
Texas (64-49) is coming off a 10 game road trip where they finished 5-5 after winning at Cleveland yesterday. That was a good recovery after dropping the first three games of the trip in Oakland.
The Rangers are 9-2 in their last 11 home games and 37-18 in their last 55 home games against a left-handed starter.
Jon Lester (Boston) vs. Kevin Millwood (Texas)
Lester (9-7, 3.67 ERA) is pitching much better than his overall numbers suggest. His last outing was Sunday in New York as the Sox looked to avoid a dreadful four-game sweep. Lester did his part by giving up just one run in seven innings, but the bullpen blew a 2-1 eighth inning lead.
Lester’s has a 2.05 ERA since May 31st, offsetting a horrible start. Lester has a win over Texas at Fenway this year, throwing a one run, two hit gem in early June.
He’s the only reason why Boston is such a heavy favorite on the road tonight.
Millwood (9-7, 3.38 ERA) is a worthy adversary for Lester and he’s 2-0 with a 1.39 ERA against Boston this year. Overall, Millwood has had a great year after having an ERA in the 5.10 range the last two seasons.
Note that the Rangers are 21-7 in Millwood’s last 28 home starts and this would be another great win to have.