NATIONAL LEAGUE
L.A. Dodgers (67-45) at San Francisco (61-50)
The Dodgers and Giants renew their rivalry at AT&T Park, where Jonathan Sanchez (5-9, 4.49 ERA) is slated to take the mound for the home team opposite L.A.’s Hiroki Kuroda (5-9, 4.44).
The Dodgers wrapped up a seven-game homestand with Sunday’s 8-2 loss to the Braves, losing the final three games of a four-game series against Atlanta. Los Angeles has dropped 10 of its last 16 games (3-4 on the road) and is looking to avoid just its second four-game losing skid of the season tonight. On the bright side, Joe Torre’s club is on positive runs of 46-19 in N.L. West action, 9-4 in series openers and 4-0 with Kuroda on the hill.
San Francisco capped a three-game series against the Reds on Sunday with a 5-2 loss. The Giants lost two of three to Cincinnati but they’ve still won nine of their last 13 games overall, going 7-3 at home during this stretch. San Francisco is on additional surges of 37-17 at home, 6-2 against right-handed starters and 20-7 against teams with a winning record.
These clubs haven’t met since early May, when San Francisco took two of three in Los Angeles. The Dodgers won the first three clashes this season, but the Giants have won four of the last six, including two of three at AT&T Park in April. L.A. is 2-6 in its last eight games in San Francisco.
Kuroda is coming off three straight quality starts, pitching six innings in all three games while posting a 3.50 ERA and a 21-2 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The right-hander, who beat Milwaukee 17-4 at home on Tuesday, has surrendered three runs or fewer in each of his last four trips to the mound. He’s 3-2 with a 4.66 ERA on the road, and he faced the Giants four times as a rookie in 2008, going 0-1 with a 4.79 ERA as the Dodgers dropped three of the four contests.
Sanchez dominated the Astros on Tuesday, yielding four hits and three walks in seven scoreless innings en route to an 8-1 road win. Sanchez has won consecutive starts (two runs and seven hits allowed with 15 strikeouts in 12 2/3 innings), but the Giants are still in slumps behind Sanchez of 8-22 overall, 1-5 on Monday and 1-5 versus the N.L. West.
Sanchez is 4-1 with a 3.26 ERA in nine home outings (eight starts), but he’s 0-2 with a 5.02 ERA in eight career appearances (five starts) against the Dodgers. Two of those starts have come this year, with the southpaw pitching five innings in each contest while giving up a total of seven runs (five earned) as San Francisco lost 5-3 at home and 8-0 at Dodger Stadium.
For the Dodgers, the “under” is on streaks of 4-1 on the road, 9-4 with Kuroda on the mound, 15-6-1 when Kuroda works on the road and 7-1 when Kuroda faces a winning team. Also, the under is 19-9-3 in the Giants’ last 31 N.L. West contests. However, with Sanchez on the hill, San Francisco is on “over” streaks of 4-0 overall, 10-2-2 at home and 5-0-1 versus winning opponents.
ATS ADVANTAGE: NONE
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Tampa Bay (61-50) at L.A. Angels (65-44)
The Rays’ West Coast road trip continues with a three-game set in Southern California as they send right-hander Matt Garza (7-8, 3.63 ERA) to the hill opposite Angels rookie Sean O’Sullivan (3-1, 4.24) in Anaheim.
Tampa Bay lost its series in Seattle with Sunday’s 11-2 setback. The Rays are just 2-7 in their last nine against A.L. West teams and just 56-146 in their last 202 games on the road against teams with a winning percentage of .600 or better.
The Angels dropped two of three to the second-place Rangers over the weekend, including Sunday’s 7-0 defeat. Los Angeles is still on positive runs of 36-16 overall, 9-4 at home, 65-33 at home against teams with a winning record, 14-4 in series openers and 5-0 against A.L. East squads. The Angels have also dominated Tampa lately, winning 50 of the last 74 meetings overall and going 26-5 in the last 31 matchups played in California.
With Garza pitching, the Rays are in funks of 5-11 on the highway and 1-4 against A.L. West teams. The right-hander faced the Red Sox in Tampa on Tuesday and allowed two runs on three hits over seven innings, getting a no-decision as the Rays eventually won 4-2 in 13 innings. With that victory, Tampa Bay improved to 3-1 in Garza’s four starts since the All-Star break, including 2-0 on the road.
Garza has made 10 starts as a visitor this season, going 3-4 with a 4.09 ERA, but his most recent road outing was a 4-2 complete-game win in Toronto on July 24. In his lone start against the Angels last season, Garza allowed four runs on seven hits in 6 2/3 innings of a 5-4 loss, making him 0-1 with a 5.25 ERA in his career against the Halos.
O’Sullivan has made two starts since the All-Star break, including Wednesday in Chicago when the White Sox got to him for four runs on six hits in five innings and handed him a 6-2 loss. It was the first time in six games this season that the Angels lost a game O’Sullivan started. O’Sullivan’s two home starts resulted in no-decisions, as he allowed a combined seven runs in 10 2/3 innings (5.91 ERA), but the Angels beat Colorado 4-3 and Baltimore 11-4.
With Garza on the hill, the Rays are on “under” runs of 36-16-2 overall, 20-6-1 on the road, 17-9 against winning teams and 7-2 in series openers. As a team, Tampa is on “under” streaks of 19-8 on the road, 14-7 against winning teams and 7-3-1 in series openers. It’s been all “overs” for the Angels lately, including 38-14-3 overall, 22-7-1 at home, 23-7-2 against right-handers, 6-1 on Mondays, 5-0-1 in series openers and 5-0 against the A.L. East. Finally, in this series, the under has been the play in four of the last five meetings in Anaheim.
ATS ADVANTAGE: L.A. ANGELS
Gametimepicks
Monday Madness
By Kevin Rogers
The craziness continues inside Major League Baseball, as we approach the second week of August. The AL East race is slowly getting away from Boston's grasp, while the Tigers are trying to sneak away with the Central title. The Monday card supplies bettors with plenty of entertaining matchups, including Detroit heading to Beantown.
Tigers at Red Sox (7:05 PM EST)
The Red Sox are coming off a humbling weekend, dropping a series to the Yankees in the Bronx, while losing valuable ground in the division. The Tigers, meanwhile, are fresh off taking two of three from the Twins.
Edwin Jackson (8-5, 2.62 ERA) has been an 'under' machine all season, hitting it in 15 of 20 starts. Jackson's road numbers are decent, owning an ERA of 2.47, despite Detroit going 4-8 in the righty's 12 road outings. The 'under' has been nailed in 10 of 12 away contests, mainly due to a lack of run support, as the Tigers average a shade over three runs a game in this span.
Jackson didn't face the Red Sox when Boston swept Detroit earlier this season at Comerica Park. As a member of the Rays last season, Tampa Bay lost three of Jackson's four starts against Boston, while Jackson is 0-5 his last five starts at Fenway.
Brad Penny (7-6, 5.20 ERA) has not been especially sharp of late, allowing 18 earned runs in his last four starts. The Red Sox have cashed for Penny in his home outings, winning seven of his 11 starts at Fenway. Penny has been listed as a huge favorite in his last few home outings, but the Sox are 4-0 this season as home 'chalk' when Penny is $1.30 favorite or less.
Las Vegas Sports Consultants has installed the Red Sox as a $1.15 home favorite, with the total listed at 9.
Blue Jays at Yankees (7:05 PM EST)
The Yankees look to continue their ownership of the Blue Jays this season, already taking seven of nine meetings. The last time these teams met up at Rogers Centre, the Yankees topped Toronto, 8-4, less than a week ago. The two starting pitchers in that contest take the mound tonight in the Bronx.
Sergio Mitre (1-0, 7.50 ERA) has been less than stellar in his four starts with the Yankees. The former Cubs and Marlins right-hander has not compiled a quality start yet in pinstripes, while allowing at least seven hits and three earned runs in each outing. Against Toronto, Mitre gave up eight hits and three earned runs in 4.1 innings of work, but the Yanks still came out on top.
Mark Rzepczynski (1-3, 3.74 ERA) has strung together several decent outings despite picking up only one victory. The Toronto lefty has seen the 'under' hit in four of six starts, with the lone 'over' getting nailed in the loss to New York. Rzepczynski's two best starts have come against the Red Sox and Rays, allowing two earned runs in 12 innings.
The Yankees are a healthy $1.80 home 'chalk,' with the total listed at 10 ½, according to LVSC.
Astros at Marlins (7:05 PM EST)
It's amazing how things turn around in the span of a couple of days. Take the Florida Marlins, for example. The Fish were swept at Washington in a three-game set, possibly sealing their fate in the NL Wild Card and NL East races. However, the Marlins rebounded with a three-game sweep of the East-leading Phillies, slicing a seven-game deficit to a four-game deficit in a matter of 72 hours.
The Astros, meanwhile, are coming off an important home series victory over the Brewers. Houston sends out former Marlin Brian Moehler (7-7, 5.31 ERA) to the mound. Moehler's road numbers are impressive this season, winning five of six decisions, while compiling an ERA of 3.91 away from Minute Maid Park. Moehler has struggled lately, allowing 13 earned runs in his last three starts, all Houston losses. This will be Moehler's first career start against his old team.
Rick VandenHurk (1-1, 4.29 ERA) is coming off his worst start of the season, a 5-4 setback at Washington. The Marlins righty allowed seven hits and five earned runs in only four innings of work. It didn't help that the Nats tagged VandenHurk for three home runs. Prior to that loss, VandenHurk put together three nice starts in a row, allowing five earned runs in 17 innings.
This is the first meeting between these two teams this season, as the Marlins went 4-2 against the Astros in 2008, including a three-game September sweep in South Florida.
LVSC has installed the Marlins as a $1.60 home favorite, while the total is set 9.
vegasinsider.com
Baseball Today
SCOREBOARD
Monday, Aug. 10
L.A. Dodgers at San Francisco (10:15 p.m. EDT). The Giants send Jonathan Sanchez (5-9) to the mound as they try to gain ground on the NL West rival Dodgers. Hiroki Kuroda (4-5) starts for Los Angeles on an extra days' rest.
STARS
Sunday
-Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira, Yankees, hit consecutive homers in the eighth inning to lead New York to a 5-2 victory and a four-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox.
-Skip Schumaker, Cardinals, hit his first career pinch-hit home run to start a five-run eighth-inning rally for St. Louis in a 7-3 win over Pittsburgh.
-Wandy Rodriguez and Geoff Blum, Astros. Rodriguez pitched seven shutout innings and Blum hit a two-run homer in Houston's 2-0 win over Milwaukee.
-Bobby Crosby, Athletics, homered twice, lifting Oakland to a 6-3 win over Kansas City.
-Russell Branyan, Mariners, broke out of a slump with his first grand slam in six years and Seattle rolled over Tampa Bay 11-2.
-Derek Holland, Rangers, threw a three-hitter against the majors' highest-scoring offense for his first career shutout, and Texas beat the Los Angeles Angels 7-0.
-Johan Santana, Mets, pitched eight strong innings and tied his career high with two hits and an RBI as New York avoided a four-game sweep with a 5-1 win over San Diego.
-Javier Vazquez, Braves, won his fifth straight decision with eight solid innings and Atlanta beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-2.
SAGGING SOX
The Boston Red Sox finished a disastrous four-game series against the Yankees 3 for 38 with runners in scoring position, scoring two runs total in the final three games of a New York sweep. The Red Sox did manage to snap a 31-inning scoreless streak when Victor Martinez homered in the eighth inning of a 5-2 loss in the series finale.
DOC DOES IT AGAIN
Roy Halladay won his 10th straight decision over Baltimore with Toronto's 7-3 victory. Halladay (12-5) allowed three runs and nine hits in eight innings, walked one and struck out four. The right-hander is 20-4 with a 2.89 ERA in 31 career games against the Orioles and has not lost to Baltimore since May 4, 2005. He is 2-0 in three starts against them this season.
WINING IN WASHINGTON
The Nationals won their eighth straight with a 9-2 victory over the Diamondbacks. Washington's eight-game run is the second longest in five seasons in the nation's capital. They won 10 straight from June 2-12, 2005.
GUILLEN'S GUYS
White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen put the rest of the league on notice: Hit our players and our pitchers will retaliate. Guillen was upset after Paul Konerko, Scott Podsednik and Gordon Beckham got hit by pitches by the Cleveland staff a night earlier in Chicago's 8-5 win. Guillen acknowledged he didn't think the Indians were throwing at them, but he's had enough of watching his players get hit. White Sox players have been hit 45 times this season, fifth in the majors.
LONG-DISTANCE EJECTION
Phillies center fielder Shane Victorino was ejected by plate umpire Ed Rapuano in the top of the seventh of a 12-3 loss to Florida after Rodrigo Lopez's 0-2 pitch to Wes Helms was called a ball. It wasn't clear what Victorino did to prompt the ejection. He charged in from the outfield after getting tossed, but was stopped by catcher Paul Bako and first baseman Ryan Howard.
UMP OUT
Home plate umpire Randy Marsh left the game between the Mets and Padres after getting hit in the face mask with a foul ball in the fifth. The tip off the bat of pinch-hitter Luis Rodriguez knocked off Marsh's mask. The shot appeared to jar Marsh, who staggered to the side. Mets catcher Omir Santos reached back and held him by the arm. There was a 13-minute delay before play resumed again with three umpires. Second base umpire Marvin Hudson moved behind the plate.
HITTING MACHINE
Ichiro Suzuki had two hits in the Mariners' 11-2 win, a day after going 0 for 4. Suzuki has not gone hitless in consecutive games since Aug. 13-15, 2008. That span of 144 games is the longest such streak in the majors since 1954. The longest AL streak of not going hitless in consecutive games is 164 by Earl Sheely of the 1923-24 Chicago White Sox.
STATS
St. Louis swept the Pirates for the first time since Sept. 28-30, 2007. ... The Indians have won 12 of 18 and three straight series against division rivals but still trail Detroit in the AL Central by 11 1/2 games. ... Luke Hochevar picked off two batters in the Royals' 6-3 loss to Oakland. ... Colorado's Todd Helton had three hits to extended his hitting streak to 14 games.
SKID SNAPPER
The Reds' Aaron Harang ended the worst winless stretch of his career with his first victory - 5-2 over the Giants - since May 25 against Houston, a span of 13 starts in which he was 0-9 and had lost his last five starts.
NO RELIEF
The Pittsburgh bullpen gave up 30 runs in 30 2-3 innings as the Pirates went 3-7 during a homestand against the Nationals, Diamondbacks and Cardinals. They were outscored 33-6 from the seventh inning on.
SWINGING
Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira have hit consecutive homers six times this season, the most ever for a pair of Yankees in one season.
SPEAKING
"Yesterday I get upset, they hit one guy and they throw in into another guy. I got upset. I know for a fact they're not throwing at nobody, but enough is enough. I have (Paul) Konerko bruised all over the place. Around the league, be careful because we're going to hit people. I don't care if I get suspended because I need to protect my players.'' - White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen as he warned the league his pitchers would retaliate, a day after three of his players were hit by Cleveland pitches.
Home Cookin
By SportsPic
The top two in the N.L. West square off Monday at AT&T Park when the San Francisco Giants host the Los Angeles Dodgers. Giants 38-18 (+$1642) in the comfort of it's home park will aim to close the gap in the division with Jonathan Sanchez (5-9, 4.49) toeing the rubber in the opener. The southpaw 3-1 with a 2.75 ERA over his last five starts is one tough hombre in front of the home crowd going 4-1 in eight starts (5-3 TSR). Sporting a 2.26 SWR, 1.30 WHIP, 11.75 ABRA/9, 14.46 BOR/9 at home along with a supporting bullpen staff that has a 2.1 SWR, 1.29 WHIP, 11.67 ABRA/9 this pitching staff always has a chance to win. Keep in mind starters with a high Batter-Out-Rating naturally leads to less men on base (Avg-Base-Runners-Allowed) thus making it harder for the opposition to score runs. Home dogs with a starter producing a high BOR (>14), low ABRA (<12) and a relief staff that also records a low ABRA (<12) win at a sparkling 81.4 % clip (57-13) outscoring the visitors 4.2 to 1.7.
Streaking and Slumping Pitchers
Streaking
Gavin Floyd (Chicago White Sox)
Floyd has been in an excellent rhythm recently, giving the White Sox huge chunks of innings and strikeouts.
In his last four starts, the righty is 2-0 with two no-decisions and the White Sox won three of the four games. He has faced some of the AL's best teams, working against the Los Angeles Angels, New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers and Tampa Bay Rays and impressing them with his toughness.
"He never gives in, even when he's behind in the count," Angels catcher Mike Napoli told the team's web site.
In his hot stretch, Floyd has pitched at least 6 2-3 innings each time out, compiling a 1.84 ERA. His WHIP (walks + hits per inning) is an outstanding 0.89 and he has 30 strikeouts in 29 1-3 innings. The under has also paid each time.
Doug Davis (Arizona Diamondbacks)
Since his worst start of the season, the left-hander has been at his best.
Davis gave up a season-high eight runs while getting a season-low seven outs at Colorado on July 20. But Arizona has won each of his last three starts with Davis going 2-0 with a 1.89 ERA in the process.
Davis may also be getting a grip on the control problems that have been an issue all season. He walked just two in seven innings last time out, the first time in a dozen starts he has walked less than three. As a result, his 11.67 pitches per inning was his best of the season.
Under bettors have cashed in Davis' last three outings.
Hideki Kuroda (Los Angeles Dodgers)
Just what the Dodgers need – another hot pitcher. They have not lost in four starts since the All-Star break with Kuroda on the mound.
Kuroda's fortunes haven't been as good; he endured three straight no-decisions before claiming a 17-4 laugher against Milwaukee in his last outing. But his numbers have been very strong.
The right-hander has a 3.91 ERA since the break, collecting 22 strikeouts against just four walks in 23 innings. He has not pitched more than six innings in any of those outings, so he likely will need some help from the bullpen.
Slumping
Johnny Cueto (Cincinnati Reds)
Cueto isn't entirely to blame for Cincinnati's troubles over the last six weeks, but he is a big reason.
The righty allowed one hit in six scoreless innings of a 1-0 win over Arizona on July 1 that allowed Cincinnati to improve to 38-38. Since then, the Reds are 9-24, and Cueto has been awful.
Among the National League ERA leaders through the first three months of the season, Cueto is 0-5 with a 9.85 ERA in his last six starts and has worked five innings or less three times. His WHIP is an astronomical 2.15 and he has given up seven homers.
As a rookie last year, Cueto had a longer slump starting in July that saw the Reds lose eight of his 10 starts.
Kyle Lohse (St. Louis Cardinals)
The big hurler hasn't pitched terribly since returning from a forearm injury last month. But he hasn't won, either.
Lohse is 0-3 with a 5.84 ERA in five starts, lasting five innings or less three times. He has just 12 strikeouts and 11 walks in that span.
Overall, the Cardinals have lost 10 of his last 11 starts, with the only win over punchless interleague rival Kansas City.