St. Louis (67-52) at L.A. Dodgers (70-48)
The red-hot Cardinals open a seven-game road trip by sending ace Chris Carpenter (12-3, 2.27 ERA) to the hill in Los Angeles against the Dodgers’ Charlie Haeger (0-0, 0.00 ERA), who will be making just the second start of his career.
St. Louis, currently atop the N.L. Central by 4½ games, has won eight of its last nine and wrapped up a 5-1 homestand with Sunday’s 7-5, walk-off win over the Padres. The Cardinals have won 12 of their last 13 series openers, seven of eight against the N.L. West, four of five on the road and six of seven when a right-handed starter is on the mound.
The struggling Dodgers have seen their lead in the N.L. West close to five games over the Rockies as they have dropped six of nine overall. They did beat the Diamondbacks 9-3 on Sunday to finish a six-game road trip at 3-3. Los Angeles is also on slides of 2-5 against the N.L. Central and 1-4 at home.
The Redbirds are on a 37-17 roll against Los Angeles, including taking eight of the last 11 meetings at Dodger Stadium.
Carpenter has been outstanding lately for the Cardinals, winning seven straight decisions and going seven or more innings in six straight starts. On Wednesday at home, he held the Reds to two runs in seven innings of a 5-2 victory. Carpenter has won three of his last four road starts where he’s 5-2 with a 2.69 ERA for the season. He is also 4-0 with a 2.18 ERA in five career starts against the Dodgers, including a seven-inning effort on July 27 when he allowed just one run in seven innings of a 6-1 victory.
Haeger started 22 games for Triple-A Albuquerque earlier this season, but this is just his second in the major leagues, with his first coming in 2006 as a member of the White Sox. The last time he pitched in the majors was in 2008 with the Padres when he appeared in four games and allowed 10 runs on eight hits in 4 1/3 innings of relief work.
St. Louis is on several “under” runs, including 7-3 in series openers, 9-3 on Mondays, 8-4 against the N.L. West and 5-3-2 against right-handed starters. Los Angeles has topped the total in nine of its last 13 at home and four of five at home against winning teams. Finally, the “under” is on a 4-1 run in this series.
ATS ADVANTAGE: ST. LOUIS
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Baseball Today
SCOREBOARD
Monday, August 17
St. Louis at Los Angeles Dodgers (10:10 p.m. EDT). Albert Pujols and the NL Central-leading Cardinals open a three-game series against Manny Ramirez and the West-leading Dodgers.
STARS
Sunday
-Ryan Howard, Phillies, hit two homers and drove in all of Philadelphia's runs in a 4-1 victory against Atlanta.
-Gregg Zaun, Rays, had a pinch-hit grand slam in the eighth inning, leading Tampa Bay past Toronto 5-2.
-Daniel Murphy, Mets, hit a game-ending RBI single in the ninth inning and New York beat San Francisco 3-2.
-Ian Kinsler, Rangers, homered and drove in two runs, and Texas beat Boston 4-3.
-Torii Hunter, Angels, celebrated his return from the disabled list by driving in the go-ahead run in a nine-run 13th inning, and Los Angeles outlasted Baltimore 17-8.
-Mark Ellis, Athletics, lined a home run just over the left-field wall with two outs in the ninth inning and Oakland avoided a three-game sweep with a 3-2 win over the Chicago White Sox.
-Geoff Blum, Astros, hit a three-run homer and drove in four runs as Houston rallied to beat Milwaukee 8-5.
-Randy Wolf, Dodgers, finished a triple short of the cycle and pitched neatly into the eighth inning, leading Los Angeles to a 9-3 victory over Arizona.
-Colby Rasmus, Cardinals, hit a two-run homer to cap a three-run ninth inning, giving St. Louis a 7-5 victory over San Diego.
HEAD INJURIES
Mets slugger David Wright was released from the hospital and put on the disabled list, one day after he was hit square on the helmet by a 94 mph fastball. Team spokesman Jay Horwitz said the All-Star third baseman was examined by a neurologist Saturday night and again Sunday morning before being sent home. Wright still had a headache and was experiencing "post-concussion symptoms.'' ... Dodgers right-hander Hiroki Kuroda was released from the hospital and cleared to fly home with the team after taking a liner off his head in the sixth inning of Saturday night's game against the Diamondbacks. Kuroda's CT scan was negative and he was scheduled for more tests by Los Angeles neurologist Dr. Vernon Williams on Monday.
HIT MAN
Derek Jeter passed Luis Aparicio for most hits by a shortstop when he fought off a pitch on his hands from Seattle rookie Doug Fister and sent it down the right-field line for an RBI double in the third inning of New York's 10-3 loss to the Mariners. His 2,674th hit as a shortstop came two innings after he had singled leading off the game. Jeter also has 13 hits as a designated hitter in his career. His 2,688 hits are second in Yankees history, 33 behind Lou Gehrig.
FADING FAST
The Twins, who lost the rubber-match to Cleveland 7-4, have dropped five series in a row, the last four coming against AL Central opponents. Minnesota now trails Detroit by six games in the division and Texas by 10 1/2 in the wild-card race.
PRINCE RULES
Prince Fielder became the first Brewers player to record three consecutive seasons with at least 30 homers and 100 RBIs when he hit a long two-run shot in the sixth inning of an 8-5 loss to Houston.
LONG-TIME COMING
Colby Rasmus is the first St. Louis rookie to hit two game-winning homers since Bill Virdon in 1955. He hit a two-run shot in the ninth to give the Cardinals a 7-5 win over San Diego.
299 TO GO
Seattle's Doug Fister, making his second career start, held one of baseball's best lineups to three runs in seven innings for his first major league win. The Mariners beat the Yankees 10-3.
STATS
Aaron Laffey is 4-1 with a 2.03 ERA over his last five starts. He went 5 1-3 innings on Sunday, allowing three runs on five hits in a 7-4 win over the Twins. Minnesota's Nick Blackburn is 0-4 with a 10.17 ERA in six starts. ... Chone Figgins had four hits for the Angels, including the 1,000th of his career. ... The Mets' Luis Castillo connected for his first homer since May 30, 2008, at Shea Stadium. ... Cody Ross went a combined 6 for 9 in a doubleheader split with Colorado, setting a Florida record for hits in a doubleheader. Josh Willingham held the previous record with five July 30, 2006.
SPEAKING
"My legs are tired and I'm pretty exhausted. It's like 'Welcome back!' But I have a few games to make up. It was almost like a doubleheader out there.'' - The Angels' Torii Hunter on getting the go-ahead hit in the 13th inning of a 17-8 win over Baltimore in his return from the disabled list.
Streaking and Slumping Pitchers
Streaking
Tommy Hunter (Texas Rangers)
The Rangers have a stable of good young pitchers, and the burly right-hander may be the best of the bunch.
Hunter has worked season-high innings in each of his last two starts - both on the road - bouncing back nicely from a rough outing Aug. 1 versus Seattle. He's allowed one earned run or less in five of his last six starts, going at least six innings in each.
Coming off 7 2-3 scoreless innings at Cleveland, Hunter caught the eye of Indians manager Eric Wedge.
"He worked both sides, he was down," Wedge told the Rangers' web site. "He really worked his breaking ball early and mixed in his changeup as it wore on. We had a lot of quick outs and that was because of his command. Another thing that stuck out to me was his poise out there. He seemed very relaxed."
Tommy Hanson (Atlanta Braves)
The rookie righty was hot before the All-Star break, then cooled off a bit. He is back in rhythm again.
Hanson is 3-2 in five starts since the break and the Braves did not score in both losses. He has 30 strikeouts and just six walks in that stretch.
He has won his last two outings, fanning 14 in 12 2-3 innings while giving up just three earned runs.
Kevin Correia (San Diego Padres)
The right-hander has been highly inconsistent but is in one of his better stretches of the season. The Padres have won three of his last four starts.
Correia is 2-1 with a 2.96 ERA in that span, working at least six innings in every outing. It is his second-longest run of quality starts this year.
Correia also has not allowed a homer in his last six starts.
Slumping
Brian Bannister (Kansas City Royals)
Bannister has been bombarded by light-hitting teams in his last two outings.
Facing Oakland and Minnesota, the right-hander has given up 14 runs and 16 hits in just 10 innings. He surrendered a five-run frame in each game.
"The last two starts, I haven't been the same guy," Bannister told the team's web site. "The pitches haven't been crisp and my command hasn't been quality."
Livan Hernandez (New York Mets)
The veteran junk tosser is in the same boat as Bannister, roughed up by bad teams in his last two starts.
In consecutive road losses against San Diego and Arizona, Hernandez has been pummeled for 12 runs and 14 hits in just nine innings.
Throw in seven walks and his WHIP (walks + hits per inning) is an awful 2.33.
Hottest trends in the majors
By Covers.com
Damn Yankees
Even with Sunday's 10-3 loss at Seattle, the New York Yankees have been worth the high price for the last month.
Sunday's loss as a -174 favorite ended a five-game winning streak for the Yankees, who have baseball's best straight-up record since the All-Star break.
The Yankees are 23-7 since the break with winning streaks of eight, seven and five games. They have been favored in all but three games and carried a price of at least 2-1 eight times.
On Monday, the Yankees are -184 at Oakland with A.J. Burnett on the mound. That is the highest price Burnett has had on the road since his first start of the season at Baltimore, where he was -196.
Under the radar
It's been a season-long trend, but the Texas Rangers continue to play under the total. Oddsmakers are lowering the number, but Texas has still played below the total in seven of its last eight contests.
The tendency is even more pronounced at the Ballpark in Arlington. The under is 26-7-1 in Texas home games since the beginning of June.
The Rangers host the Minnesota Twins on Monday with the total set at 9.5.
Working overtime
Sharp bettors weren’t shocked by the Marlins’ 10-run explosion yesterday against the Rockies’ Aaron Cook.
Florida has soared over the total in eight straight games and 11 of its last 12.
The club leads the majors in runs (86) and batting average (.317) in the month of August. Of course over bettors will also tell you that Florida’s 5.00 August ERA has helped produce winning tickets.
The Marlins don’t play again until Tuesday when they visit the Houston Astros.
St Louis Cardinals at Los Angeles Dodgers
By SportsPic
The National League West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers haven't played very well lately going 8-13 the past three weeks costing backers -$794 at the betting window.
Just 2-6 (-$726) the last eight at home thanks in large part to a rotation that can't get batters out (BOR/9 12.2) and a relief staff coughing up an average 5.8 runs/game the Dodgers appear to be in dangerous territory opening their three game set against National League Central-leading Cardinals who've ripped off a 14-4 (+$728) streak including taking 3-of-4 against Dodgers at the end of July.
Chris Carpenter (12-3, 2.27) toes the rubber for Cardinals looking to extend an eight game (7-1 TSR) undefeated streak along with improving a 4-0 record vs Dodgers over five life-time starts (5-0 TSR). Knuckleballer Charlie Haeger (0-0) makes his Dodgers debut in the opener.
Cardinals 22-8 in head-head play L5Y's including 8-4 as visitors, 12-1 in their last thirteen opening of a series, 6-1 last seven vs. National League West opponents have been pegged -$1.60 favorites with the total set at 7.5.
St. Louis heads West
By Brobury Sports
The Los Angeles Dodgers may be the NL’s best team, so it’s only fitting they face arguably the league’s best pitcher tonight.
The St. Louis Cardinals and ace Chris Carpenter are the Dodgers foe for Monday Night Baseball, while L.A is using an emergency starter in Charlie Haeger.
The Dodgers are +140 home dogs due to the pitching matchup. The Over/Under is 7.5 runs and ESPN2 has the telecast at 10:10 pm EST.
One of the reasons this three-game series is so intriguing is it could easily be a playoff preview.
Los Angeles (70-48) has seen its lead in the NL West shrink to five games over the Colorado Rockies. The ‘Boys in Blue’ had lost three games in a row before winning at Arizona on Sunday 9-3.
Returning home is theoretically good for Los Angeles but they’re just 3-7 in their last 10 home contests. There’s a theory they’ve lost some of their mental edge after it looked like a playoff berth was wrapped up by the All-Star break.
St. Louis (67-52) has built a five-game lead over the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central after sweeping San Diego over the weekend. The Cards have won eight of nine overall and while it’s come against poor competition, all wins count the same.
Bettors will want to note that St. Louis is 12-1 in their last 13 Game 1’s of a series. The Cards went 3-1 at home versus L.A. a few weeks ago, and are 8-3 in their last 11 meetings in Los Angeles, although this is the first trip to Socal this season.
Chris Carpenter (St. Louis) vs. Charlie Haeger (L.A. Dodgers)
Carpenter (12-3, 2.27 ERA) may have been limited to just five starts the last two years due to injury but that is ancient history. The 6’6” righthander is back to his Cy Young form with a 7-0 record in July and August.
One of those wins was a seven inning, nine-hit performance against the Dodgers. L.A. can feel good that they scratched all those hits off Carpenter but great pitchers can get out of jams.
Haeger (0-0, 0.00 ERA) is a 25 year-old knuckleballer who is making his season and Dodgers’ debut after Chad Billingsley got pushed back. He has made 19 appearances in his career, including one start in 2006 with the White Sox.
Haeger was 11-6 with a 3.55 ERA in 22 starts with AAA Albuquerque, but facing a team like St. Louis and a pitcher like Carpenter is another stratosphere of competition.