Baseball Today
SCOREBOARD
Monday, June 29
Tampa Bay at Toronto (7:07 p.m. EDT). The Blue Jays' Roy Halladay (10-1) is scheduled to make his first start off the disabled list and go for his league-leading 11th victory. He's been out since June 12 with a mild groin strain.
STARS
Sunday
- Brandon Phillips, Reds, had three hits, three RBIs and scored three runs in an 8-1 victory at Cleveland.
- Mark Teixeira, Yankees, had a two-run double in the first inning of a 4-2 victory over the Mets.
- Brandon Inge, Tigers, hit a two-run homer off Jose Valverde with two outs in the ninth inning of a 4-3 win over Houston.
- Jose Lopez, Mariners, had three hits, including a two-run double, in a 4-2 victory against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
- Chipper Jones and Garret Anderson, Braves, homered to lift Atlanta to a 2-1 victory over Boston.
- Justin Morneau, Twins, hit a three-run home run in a 6-2 victory at St. Louis.
- Gary Matthews Jr., Angels, hit a three-run double and stole home in a 12-8 victory over Arizona.
- Chad Gaudin and Scott Hairston, Padres. Gaudin gave up one hit in eight scoreless innings and Hairston homered to end an 0 for 17 slump in San Diego's 2-0 win at Texas.
ROLLING ROCKIES
Aaron Cook took a shutout into the ninth inning and won his fifth consecutive start and Colorado defeated the Oakland Athletics 3-1 on Sunday. Chris Iannetta, Carlos Gonzalez and Seth Smith each drove in a run as the Rockies completed their first sweep of the A's and their fourth sweep in June. Colorado is 20-3 since June 4, and also improved to 22-7 since Jim Tracy replaced Clint Hurdle as manager.
MILESTONE
Mariano Rivera earned his 500th save, becoming the second reliever to reach the milestone, as he got the last four outs of the New York Yankees' 4-2 win over the Mets on Sunday night. He trails only Milwaukee's Trevor Hoffman, who has 571 saves. Rivera also got his first career RBI when he drew a bases-loaded walk against Francisco Rodriguez in the top of the ninth.
STEALING HOME
Chris Getz stole home on a squeeze play in the sixth inning when the pitch from the Cubs' Carlos Zambrano's was outside and wild in the White Sox's 6-0 win on Sunday. ... Gary Matthews Jr. stole home in the fifth inning, helping the Angels build a 9-2 lead and they hung on for a 12-8 victory over Arizona.
STRONG PITCHING
Chad Gaudin gave up one hit in eight innings and Heath Bell got the last three outs for his NL-best 21st save in San Diego's 2-0 victory over Texas. ... John Danks gave up four hits in seven innings and reliever Scott Linebrink completed the shutout in the Chicago White Sox's 6-0 win against the Cubs. ... Aaron Cook took a shutout into the ninth inning and won his fifth consecutive start and the Rockies defeated the Oakland Athletics 3-1 on Sunday. Cook gave up nine hits while walking one and striking out four. ... Rookie Tommy Hanson threw six scoreless innings despite a bout with the flu, helping the Braves beat the Red Sox 2-1. ... Ryan Sadowski allowed four hits over six scoreless innings in his major league debut, and the Giants beat the Brewers 7-0.
SWEEPS
The New York Yankees' 4-2 win over the Mets on Sunday night gave them a sweep in the Subway Series and their fifth straight victory - all on the road. The Mets were swept for the first time in 13 series at their new home, Citi Field. ... Colorado's 3-1 win over Oakland gave the Rockies their first sweep of the A's and their fourth sweep in June. ... Tampa Bay beat Florida 5-2 to complete a three-game sweep and win its fifth straight overall. ... The Angels' 12-8 win over Arizona gave them a sweep of the three-game series and they wrapped up interleague play with a major league-leading 14-4 record, including 8-1 on the road.
MANNY WATCH
Manny Ramirez's minor league rehab tour continued Sunday without a word from the suspended slugger. Ramirez didn't produce any hits, either, a day after hitting a leadoff homer for the Dodgers' Class A Inland Empire 66ers. It was the fourth minor league rehab game for Ramirez, who is scheduled to return from his 50-game ban for violation of baseball's drug policy and rejoin the Dodgers on Friday.
CLOSING IN ON A RETURN
Texas Rangers slugger Josh Hamilton will begin his comeback from abdominal surgery as the designated hitter for Double-A Frisco. Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said Hamilton, who last played May 31, will lead off and get as many at-bats as possible for the RoughRiders on Monday night in their last game before the Double-A All-Star break. Hamilton, who had surgery June 9, will then work out with the Rangers on Tuesday. If all goes well, he will join Triple-A Oklahoma City on Wednesday in Iowa and play multiple games there.
SPEAKING
"How many opportunities do you get to steal home and the manager doesn't mind it? So I figured I could give it a shot. ... They're definitely not expecting that with two strikes. The key is obviously getting out there far enough, but also kind of surprising someone.'' - The Angels' Gary Matthews Jr., after he stole home in the fifth inning of Los Angeles' 12-8 win over Arizona on Sunday.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
San Francisco (40-34) at St. Louis (41-36)
After salvaging one game in a weekend set in Milwaukee, the Giants move on to St. Louis’ Busch Stadium where they will send ace Tim Lincecum (7-2, 2.57 ERA) to the mound opposite the Cardinals’ Brad Thompson (2-3, 4.50).
San Francisco got a 7-0 win on Sunday over the Brewers after dropping the first two games of the series. Young hurler Ryan Sadowski led the way, throwing six inning of shutout baseball in his first major league start. St. Louis fell to the Twins on Sunday, 6-2, dropping the Cards to 1-5 in their last six overall. In this series, the Giants have won four of the last five.
The Giants are on slides of 12-28 against teams from the N.L. Central and 9-20 on the road against teams with winning records. Meanwhile, the Cardinals are 9-4 in their last 13 against right-handed starters, but just 17-35 on Mondays, 0-5 against the N.L. West and 2-8 in series openers.
Lincecum is 4-1 on the road with a 2.57 ERA and he’s 2-1 in his last three outings with a 1.38 ERA. Tuesday he gave up one run in a complete-game, 4-1, win in Oakland. He’s lasted at least six innings in each of his last 10 starts and held the opposition to three runs or less in nine of those 10, including seven straight. Last time he was in St. Louis was April 2008 when he held the Cardinals scoreless for seven innings in a 3-0 San Francisco victory. With Lincecum on the mound, the Giants are on runs of 5-2 on the road, 9-3 in series openers and 7-3 against N.L. Central squads.
Thompson has made three straight road starts, including Wednesday in New York when the Mets got him for five runs in five innings and beat the Cardinals 11-0. He’s allowed three runs or more in five of his last seven outings and has a 5.12 ERA at home this season. In his lone start against the Giants, he allowed two runs in two innings back in 2006. With Thompson starting, the Cardinals are on streaks of 10-3 at home, 9-4 overall and 6-2 against the N.L. West.
The under has been the play for the Giants in Lincecum’s last four starts and it is 4-1 in his last five outings after five days of rest. The under has also been the play in eight of Thompson’s last 11 starts overall, including four of his last five at Busch.
As a team, the Giants are on “under” streaks of 15-6-1 on the road, 6-2 overall, 5-1 against right-handed starters and 7-2 on the road against teams with winning home records. For the Cardinals, the “over” is 5-1 in their last six against the N.L. West, but the “under” is on runs of 14-6 at home, 5-1 overall and 21-8-1 at home against a team with a winning record. In this series, the “over” has been the play in seven of the last nine.
ATS ADVANTAGE: UNDER
AMERICAN LEAGUE
L.A. Angels (41-32) at Texas (40-34)
With interleague play now out of the way, the top two teams in the American League West open a three-game set at the Ballpark in Arlington when the Angels send Sean O’Sullivan (1-0, 3.00 ERA) to the mound to face Rangers’ veteran Vicente Padilla (6-3, 4.48).
Los Angeles comes in having won five in a row, including a three-game sweep in Arizona that concluded with Sunday’s 12-8 victory. Texas has won four of six overall but lost two straight at home to the Padres over the weekend, finishing the series with a 2-0 loss Sunday.
The Rangers swept a May three-game home series over the Angels and they’ve won five of the last six series clashes dating back to last season. Otherwise, Los Angeles is on several positive runs, including 6-0 on the road, 6-1 in series openers and 6-2 on the road against teams with winning records. Texas has dropped five in a row against teams with winning records, but it is on runs of 17-4 against A.L. West rivals, 5-2 overall and 5-2 against right-handed starters.
O’Sullivan is making just his third career start, looking sharp in his first two big-league outings. He gave up three runs on six hits in five innings of a 4-3 win over the Rockies on Tuesday and held the Giants to one run on five hits in seven innings of an 8-1 win in his debut on June 16.
Padilla has looked great in his last three starts, going 2-0 with a 2.00 ERA. On Wednesday, he allowed one run through seven innings of a 2-1 Texas win at Arizona and the Rangers have won six of his last eight starts. With Padilla starting, they are also on runs of 35-17 overall, 6-2 in series openers and 12-3 when Padilla starts against the A.L. West. He faced the Angels back on May 16 and gave up just three runs in eight innings of a 5-3 Texas victory. The Rangers have won three of his last four starts against Los Angeles and is 6-3 with a 4.72 ERA in his career against the Angels.
With Padilla on the hill, the Rangers are on “over” runs of 22-5-2 in series openers, 4-0 on Mondays and 20-9-1 against teams with winning records. As a team, Texas is on a plethora of “under” streaks that include 43-17-1 overall, 23-6-1 at home, 5-1 against the A.L. West and 7-0-1 at home against teams with winning records. The Angels have topped the total in four straight Monday games, five straight series openers and six of seven against right-handed starters. In this rivalry, the over is 7-3-1 in Padilla’s last 11 against the Angels, but the under is 4-1 in the last five overall in Texas.
ATS ADVANTAGE: NONE
Gametimepicks.com
Monday's News and Notes
By Josh Jacobs
Major League Baseball returns to business as usual on Monday. While interleague play was hot and heavy in the first go-around at the end of May, it almost feels like an exercise in futility rather then a short burst of enjoyment. But this is wholly an individual opinion on my part.
Whatever your personal feeling is on the yearly AL-NL mix-up the schedule will now return to status quo. That leads us to the first day of a new week and the card it carries over inside the pockets of fellow gamblers.
Sour Slinging
It hasn’t been fun pitching in Washington’s (21-51, -2561) rotation. Just take it from Scott Olsen (1-4, 7.24 ERA). Slated to return to the mound after a one-month layoff on the DL (shoulder tendinitis), Olsen would love to press the reset button on the season. In three straight starts before his stint on the DL began, the lefty was credited for allowing 15 earned runs (five per start) in a total of 14.1 innings. Whether facing fellow southpaw batters or going up against the orthodox right-handed swinger, Olsen has been battered for a combined .335 BAA. His lone victory came in Philadelphia (for which he’s expressed hatred against them club when part of the Marlins pitching staff) for which six hits and an earned run was the end result. But that Apr. 29 victory feels like many moons ago.
Gearing to face Florida (38-38, +202) at 7:10 p.m. EDT, Olsen will at least look to take advantage of a Marlins’ club batting .256 versus lefties and bringing in a middle of the road, 349 runs. However, in the last week, Florida has seen a spike in offensive production. The ‘Fish swung for a .304 BA, manufacturing 32 RBIs (against both lefty and righty pitchers). Ending this matchup on a betting note, Olsen has been a ‘dog in every one of his eight starts in ’09. Prices have ranged from a low, plus-113 (bet $100 to make $113) against the Phillies at home to a high, plus-263 (bet $100 to make $263) against the Mets in Citi Field. The financial statement has Olsen tallying up a minus-234 money line deficit for those few backers out there.
Hot to Trot
We’ll wait to see what Tampa Bay (41-35, +98) does on Sunday but all indications show that this team is beginning to turn up the heat. The Rays will faceoff against division rival, Toronto (41-35, +372) at 7:07 p.m. EDT. But as hot as Tampa has been by taking six of its last eight, the Blue Jays will counter when it places shutdown starter, Roy Halladay (10-1, 2.53) on the hill. Three of the Rays last six victories have come against pitchers with a winning record. But as well as the offense has been playing (batting .292 in the last 10), credit goes to Tampa Bay’s bullpen for producing a 1.57 ERA in the last 10. The two busiest bullpen slingers, Lance Cormier and J.P. Howell, have combined for a 2.08 ERA 1.10 WHIP in a total of 40.5 innings. So if Rays’ starting pitcher, Jeff Niemann (6-4, 4.23) wants to help his club then he must eat up some innings before making way for the pen. It’s just that Tampa must combat Toronto’s 9-3 record in Halladay’s last 12 home starts versus the Rays.
Traveling Touch
It’s no secret why the Angels possess one of the best road records in the Majors. At 20-17 when making road reservations, Los Angeles (40-32, +897) finds itself ranking second best in the hitting department. Between Torii Hunter, Juan Rivera and Bobby Abreu bringing in a combined, 71 RBIs, the Angels as a team are making contact for a .280 BA. That’s resulted in five straight road wins (seven runs per game) and an ‘over record at 9-5 in the last 14. Scoring 4.9 runs per game on offense and having the pitching staff log in a steep, 4.59 ERA (on the road) has books surprisingly installing totals at an average, 8.7 runs per game.
We’re hard pressed to find much stock for total wagering in this 8:05 p.m. EDT contest against the Rangers (. However with L.A. fielding Sean O’Sullivan on the slab (1-0, 3.00) and Texas preparing to etch its veteran slinger, Vincent Padilla (6-3, 4.48) in the starting rotation books have decided to open the contest at a hefty, 10 ½-runs.
Even though the stats indicate that L.A.’s pitching staff is logging in a 5.12 ERA on the year, the defense has actually been able to hold down the opposition to four runs per game in the same 10.
The ‘under’ is 22-6-1 in Texas’ last 29 home games, the ‘under’ is 42-17-1 in the Rangers last 60, but the ‘over’ has gone 7-3-1 in Padilla’s last 11 starts versus the Angels. In-fact Texas was murdering books just a week and a half ago, hitting the ‘under’ in 12 straight games (from Jun. 5 to Jun. 18). Since then the ‘under’ is a split, 4-4 in the last eight Rangers’ games.
Sportsbetting.com has placed Texas as a $1.35 home favorite.
vegasinsider.com
Streaking and Slumping Pitchers
By Covers.com
Streaking
Roy Halladay (Toronto Blue Jays)
Halladay might have the most popular groin in all of Canada.
The Blue Jay’s ace lasted just three innings, in which he yielded only one run, in his last start on June 12 before being lifted because of tightness in his groin. But after an extended bullpen session Friday, the right-hander appears ready to step back into his role as the team’s ace.
Halladay (10-1, 2.52 ERA) has been great this month, 2-0 with a 2.14 ERA and went the distance in his two starts prior to his early exit against the Marlins. He will look to regain his form Monday against the Rays.
"Day in and day out, everybody that gets on first base says he's the best," Toronto first baseman Lyle Overbay told the Associated Press. "The Yankees, the Red Sox, they're like 'It's not fair.' I'm glad I'm on his side, not the other side."
Nick Blackburn (Minnesota Twins)
Let us introduce you to the best pitcher you don’t know about.
Blackburn (6-3, 3.11 ERA) isn’t spectacular or flashy, but he has been the model of consistency for the Twins this month. The right-hander has lasted at least seven innings in every start in June, including at least eight innings in each of the past three trips to the hill.
This month, he has just a 1-1 record because of poor run support, but has allowed a meager eight earned runs in 32 innings, including giving up just one home run during that span. He should be a huge challenge for the Kansas City lineup.
Slumping
Carl Pavano (Cleveland Indians)
The evil Carl Pavano is starting to reappear.
After going 5-1 with a 3.60 ERA last month, Pavano has gone 1-2 with a 7.20 ERA in June, including lasting a combined 13 1-3 innings in his past three starts in which he has yielded 18 earned runs.
"I thought my ball was a little flat, and when it flattens out like that, those are the kind of games I get -- a lot of contact and a lot of balls down the lines and in the holes," Pavano told the Associated Press.
The 33-year-old hurler must get more movement on his pitches if he is to improve on his record of 6-6 with a 5.80 ERA and have a chance against the White Sox.
Scott Olsen (Washington Nationals)
The left-hander might actually want to go back on the disabled list.
Olsen (1-4, 7.24 ERA) was put on the DL last month following three straight losses in which he failed to last past the fifth inning and yielded 16 runs in just 14 1-3 innings.
But his return Monday won’t be easy.
Olsen will have to beat the Marlins, a team he faced twice this year. His first start lasted just three innings as he allowed eight runs and a pair of home runs. Olsen’s other start against the fish was better in which he allowed three runs in seven innings, but the Nats ultimately lost the game.
Red Hot Rockies take on Dodgers
By SportsPic
Colorado Rockies a sparkling 20-3 the past twenty-three on the diamond stuffing +$2034 into betting accounts including a near perfect 12-2 (+$1340) on the highway outscoring host teams by 3 runs/game will be tested at one of Majors Leagues toughest venues. Rockies not enjoying much success vs. Dodgers this season losing 8-of-9 encounters have lost 8-of-12 at Dodger Stadium where the Boys-In-Blue command a league best 26-12 (+$839) mark. It'll be Ubaldo Jimenez (6-7, 3.83 ERA) toeing the rubber in the opener for Rockies. The righty off his first loss in the month of June (1-3, 3-2 TSR) is 4-3 with a 6.84 ERA in nine career starts against the Dodgers. However, it is well to note Jimenez hasn't faired well vs Dodgers this season going 0-3 surrendering 24 hits, 18 runs over 15 innings of work. Meanwhile, Dodgers counter with Randy Wolf (3-3, 3.64) who was roughed up by the White Sox last time out allowing three yard-ball, five runs in only 3.1 innings. Still, Dodgers remain a profitable 7-2 (+$517) the past nine with the southpaw. Wolf enters 4-2 with 4.50 ERA in 10 career starts vs Rockies with his teams (LA, SD, PHI) 6-4 over the span. Trends of interest: Dodgers are 12-3 in Wolf's last 15 home starts, Colorado is 7-20 the past two years on the highway with Jimenez. The 'Over' has prevailed in six of the past eight meetings (6-1-1) with the 'Over' a perfect 9-0 when Jimenez takes to the bump vs L.A.
Los Angeles Angels - Texas Rangers Preview
By SportsPic
Los Angeles is back in first place and riding a five-game winning streak heading into Arlington for a three game set against Rangers.
Halos a Major-League best 14-4 in interleague play winning their last six road games look to keep the momentum going behind rookie right-hander Sean O'Sullivan who has replaced injured Ervin Santana in the rotation. O'Sullivan 1-0 over two starts (2-0 TSR) allowing 4 runs in 12 innings of work has yet to face Rangers.
Texas off 1-2 series against basement dwelling Padres over the weekend and now 1.5 games back in the A.L. West counter with Padilla (6-3, 4.48). The hurler 2-0 the last three trips to the mound surrendering 4 runs over 18 innings enters 6-3 in twelve career starts vs Halos with Texas 6-6 over the span.
Texas swept the earlier series here in Arlington but Rangers remain 5-7 the past twelve as host in the series. Sportsbooks knowing Texas is 12-3 with Padilla last 15 vs. American League West foes and 6-2 with the righty in game-one of a series have opened Rangers -$1.30 to -$1.35 favorites depending on locale.