Sunday's Tip Sheet
By Brad Young
Most of Sunday’s focus will be on Game 2 of the NBA Finals, but there are still plenty of games concerning Major League Baseball throughout the day. Today’s Tip Sheet will take a closer look at four contests, two each in the American and National Leagues.
**Brewers (Parra) at Braves (Hanson)**
-Las Vegas Sports Consultants installed Atlanta as a $1.40 home ‘chalk’ over Milwaukee, with the total listed at nine ‘under’ (minus $1.20). This National League affair is slated to start at 1:35 p.m. ET.
-Milwaukee left-hander Manny Parra (3-7, 6.75 ERA) is currently mired in a three-game losing skid after Tuesday’s setback to Florida as a $1.10 road favorite, 10-3. The three-year veteran lasted just four innings, allowing 10 runs on 11 hits (two home runs) with two walks and five strikeouts.
-The combined 13 runs eclipsed the 9 ½-run closing total, helping the ‘over’ improve to 3-1 his past four performances.
-Parra has not started against the Braves the previous few years.
-Atlanta’s Tommy Hanson will be making his major-league debut with this contest after dominating down on the farm. The 6-foot-6 right-hander went 66 1/3 innings at Triple-A Gwinnett, posting a miniscule 1.49 ERA while striking out 90 batters.
-Various minor-league scouting reports list Hanson as baseball’s fourth-best minor-league pitching prospect.
**Phillies (Bastado) at Dodgers (Wolf)**
-LVSC lists Los Angeles as a $1.15 home favorite over Philadelphia, with the total set at 8 ½. This game is slated to start at 8:05 p.m. ET, with ESPN providing coverage.
-Philadelphia pitcher Antonio Bastardo (1-0, 1.50 ERA) upended San Diego Tuesday as a $1.50 road underdog, 10-5. The southpaw was reached for one run on four hits (one home run) with a walk and five strikeouts over six innings.
-The combined 15 runs soared past the 7 ½-run closing total in his only start.
-That marked the Dominican Republic native’s first major league start.
-Los Angeles counters with veteran left-hander Randy Wolf (3-1, 3.57 ERA), who finagled a no-decision in Tuesday’s effort against Arizona. The Pepperdine product lasted six innings, yielding five runs on seven hits (one home run) with two walks and a strikeout.
-The Dodgers eventually prevailed as a $1.18 home ‘chalk,’ 6-5. The combined 11 runs toppled the 7 ½-run closing total, enabling the ‘over’ to improve to 4-2 his past six starts.
-Wolf beat the Phillies May 13 as a $1.10 road underdog, 9-2, pitching six innings while surrendering one run on three hits (one home run) with three walks and eight strikeouts. The combined 11 runs eclipsed the 10-run closing total.
**Angels (Saunders) at Tigers (Porcello)**
-LVSC opened Detroit as a $1.25 home ‘chalk’ over Los Angeles, with the total listed at 9 ½ ‘under’ (minus $1.20). This American League matchup is scheduled to begin at 1:05 p.m. ET.
-Los Angeles lefty Joe Saunders (6-4, 3.77 ERA) heads to the hill mired in a personal two-game losing funk after Tuesday’s setback to Toronto as a $1.55 road underdog, 6-4. The five-year veteran was tagged for six runs on nine hits (one home run) with no walks and four strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings.
-The combined 10 runs went ‘over’ the eight-run closing total, ending back-to-back ‘under’ outings for the 27-year-old.
-Saunders escaped with a no-decision against the Tigers April 22, pitching five innings while allowing five runs on seven hits (one home run) with two walks and a strikeout. The Angels eventually dropped that contest as a home ‘pick,’ 12-10, while the combined 22 runs soared ‘over’ the 8 ½-run closing total.
-Detroit hurler Rick Porcello (6-4, 3.70 ERA) was riding a personal five-game winning streak before suffering Tuesday’s loss to Boston as a $1.27 home ‘chalk,’ 5-1. The rookie right-hander went 4 1/3 innings, yielding three runs on seven hits (one home run) with a walk and two strikeouts.
-The combined six runs failed to eclipse the 9 ½-run closing total, enabling the ‘under’ to improve to 4-2 his past six outings.
-Porcello has never started against the Angels in his brief major-league career.
**Rangers (Padilla) at Red Sox (Matsuzaka)**
-LVSC installed Boston as a $1.75 home favorite over Texas, with the total listed at 10 ½. TBS will provide coverage of this contest beginning at 1:35 p.m. ET.
-Texas right-hander Vicente Padilla (3-3, 5.57 ERA) is coming off Tuesday’s subpar performance against New York as a $1.80 road underdog, 12-3. The Nicaragua native lasted just 3 2/3 innings, surrendering seven runs on seven hits with four walks and a strikeout.
-The combined 15 runs toppled the 10 ½-run closing total, ending consecutive ‘under’ outings for the 31-year-old.
-Padilla, pitching in the league since 1999, has not started against the Red Sox the previous few years.
-Boston’s Daisuke Matsuzaka (1-3, 7.17 ERA) got back on the winning track by beating Detroit Tuesday as a $1.17 road underdog, 5-1. The Japanese native went five innings, yielding the lone run on six hits with three walks and six strikeouts.
-The combined six runs failed to eclipse the 9 ½-run closing total, helping the ‘under’ improve to 4-1 his five starts.
-Matsuzaka went 2-0 against the Rangers last year in two starts, going a combined 12 1/3 innings while allowing three runs on 11 hits (one home run) with seven walks and nine strikeouts. The Red Sox prevailed as a $2.20 home favorite, 11-3, and as a $2.80 home ‘chalk,’ 10-0.
vegasinsider.com
Sunday Night Baseball: Philadelphia at Los Angeles
By Marc Lawrence
Philadelphia Phillies at Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers conclude their four-game series with the Phillies at Chavez Ravine on ESPN Sunday night in a battle of National League pennant contenders.
Los Angeles sends veteran Randy Wolf (3-1 3.21 ERA) to the hill against young phenom Antonio Bastardo (1-0 1.50 ERA) in tonight’s showdown of southpaws.
Something’s gotta give
Entering this series, the Phils owned the best road record in the majors at 19-6. On the flip side, the Dodgers 20-6 mark at the Ravine was the best home record in MLB this season.
It’s why both clubs come into this series as the only two teams in the Senior circuit 10-plus games over .500.
Bud light
As reported here last week, there is a major push in La-La Land to put Manny Ramirez in a starting spot on this year’s All-Star roster.
Word out of Los Angeles has him sitting in fourth place among National League outfielders in All-Star votes.
Isn’t it time MLB commissioner Bud Selig imposes a ban on drug-users from the All-Star game? This corner thinks so.
C’mon, Bud. It’s time you step out the opposite direction of your steroid-using cast and grow a set on stones. Help dispel the notion that MLB empowers cheaters by not allowing this travesty to occur.
Dichotomizing lefties
From the opposite coasts of which their teams reside, to the ‘stuff’’ they serve, to the generation that separates them, L.A.’s Wolf and Philadelphia’s Bastardo as opposite as a pair of lefthanders can possibly be.
Wolf, a 32-year-old former Philly, tosses in the mid-80’s and relies on savvy and experience. His counterpart, 23-year-old Bastardo, puts his faith and trust in his fastball, one that arrives at the plate between 90 and 95 mph.
In his most recent start Tuesday, Wolf allowed a grand slam and left the game trailing 5-1 against the Diamondbacks in Arizona. He got off the hook for the loss when Los Angeles rallied for a 6-5 win.
It should be noted that Brad Ausmus started behind the plate for Wolf, one night after regular catcher Russell Martin was besieged with a franchise record-tying five wild pitches thrown by relievers Cory Wade and Brent Leach.
Martin caught Wolf in all of his 11 previous starts, and the change apparently affected the veteran southpaw when he retired only five of his first 12 batters and allowed five runs.
As a result Wolf got his eighth no-decision in 12 outings this season. He had allowed no more than two earned runs in five of his previous six starts. The lefty always seems to start the season strong, only to eventually succumb to injuries and fatigue usually later in the campaign.
Bastardo was 3-2 with a 1.89 ERA in 11 games at Double-A Reading and Triple-A Lehigh Valley this season. He replaced Brett Myers, who underwent surgery to repair bone spurs and a torn labrum in his right hip. Myers is likely done for the season.
"He did a super job,'' manager Charlie Manuel told reporters, "but he did it with one pitch.''
That was his fastball.
"He's got such a good arm," Sal Agostinelli, Phillies’ international scouting supervisor, said. "His arm is electric. He just needs to get the breaking ball going and use the changeup a little more."
Glancing in the past
Prior to the start of this series, despite dropping 2-of-3 games at home in Philadelphia earlier this season, the defending World Series champs had won nine of the previous 12 games between these two teams,
The Dodgers, on the other hand, owned wins in six of the previous eight gatherings with the Phils in Los Angeles.
Philadelphia loves performing on Sundays where it is 19-4 the past twenty-three games, including 10-2 on the road.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Philadelphia (32-22) at L.A. Dodgers (39-19)
The Phillies will try to salvage a split of their four-game set in Hollywood with southpaw Antonio Bastardo (1-0, 1.50 ERA) making his second career start, going up against Dodgers’ lefty Randy Wolf (3-1, 3.21) at Dodger Stadium.
Andre Ethier hit a 12-inning homer on Saturday to give Los Angeles a 3-2 victory, the second straight walk-off hit for Ethier and the Dodgers who rallied with two runs in the ninth inning on Friday to beat the Phillies 4-3. Los Angeles is now 11-1 in one-run games inside Dodger Stadium.
Despite blowing the last two games, Philadelphia has still won seven of nine overall and five of seven on the road. The Phillies also continue to lead the major leagues with a 20-8 road record (12-4 in the last 16), and they’re on additional upswings of 56-28 overall, 36-18 on the highway, 17-8 against the N.L. West and 37-16 versus winning teams.
The Dodgers are on upticks of 37-17 overall, 42-15 at Dodger Stadium, 6-1 against the N.L. East and 10-4 versus winning teams. Also, the Dodgers’ 22-7 home record is the best in the majors, as is their 39-19 overall mark.
Los Angeles has a 4-2 series advantage this season, but the Phillies are 10-5 in the last 15 head-to-head battles (playoffs included). However, Philadelphia is now just 3-8 in its last 11 games in Hollywood. The home team is 14-5 in this rivalry (playoffs included) since the start of last season.
Bastardo shut down the Padres in San Diego in his major-league debut on Tuesday, allowing just one run on four hits in six innings, striking out five and walking just one in a 10-5 Philadelphia victory.
The Dodgers have won five straight with Wolf on the mound, including Tuesday’s 6-5 come-from-behind victory over the Diamondbacks, even though Wolf gave up all five runs on seven hits in six innings and left trailing 5-1. Wolf shut down the Phillies back on May 13 when he allowed just one run on three hits in six innings of a 9-2 road victory.
Los Angeles is 9-1 in Wolf’s last 10 starts as a home favorite, 6-1 in his last seven at home overall and 4-1 in his last five against N.L. East teams.
The under for is on surges of 14-3-1 overall, 7-1- on the road, 7-1 as an underdog, 8-0 against southpaws and 6-0 against teams with winning records. For the Dodgers, the under is on streaks of 5-1 overall (all at home), 5-0-1 against N.L. East teams and 9-3-1 as a home chalk. Finally, the under is 5-1-1 in the last seven head-to-head meetings between these clubs, but the over is still 10-5-2 in the last 17 clashes in Los Angeles.
ATS ADVANTAGE: UNDER
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Texas (32-23) at Boston (33-23)
The Rangers conclude a six-game East Coast road trip today in Boston with veteran Vicente Padilla (3-3, 5.57 ERA) going up against Red Sox righty Daisuke Matsuzaka (1-3, 7.17) at Fenway Park.
Red Sox lefty Jon Lester took a perfect game into the seventh inning last night and cruised to a complete-game 8-1 victory over the Rangers, allowing just two hits and two walks as Boston avenged a 5-1 loss to Texas in Friday’s series opener.
The Sox are on hot streaks of 82-36 at home, 28-12 when playing on grass and 20-8 against teams with a winning record. Meanwhile, Texas is still on runs of 22-12 overall and 4-1 on Sunday, but it is just 3-8 in its last 11 games against teams with winning records.
The Red Sox dominated Texas last year, winning nine of 10 head-to-head meetings, and they’ve now won nine of the last 10 meetings inside Fenway Park. Going back further, Boston is 26-10 in the last 36 overall against Texas and 35-10 in the last 45 clashes at Fenway.
Padilla is 2-1 in his last three starts but he got drilled on Tuesday in New York as the Yankees got to him for seven runs on seven hits in 3 2/3 innings and beat the Rangers 12-3. The veteran right-hander hadn’t allowed more than three earned runs in any of his previous four outings, including road wins in Chicago and Seattle.
The Rangers have lost three straight with Padilla on the mound against the Red Sox, including two outings back in 2007 when he gave up a combined nine runs (eight earned) in 12 1/3 innings. On the bright side, Texas is 5-2 in Padilla’s last seven starts overall, 16-5 in his last 21 road outings, 10-2 in his last 12 road starts against teams with a winning record and 5-1 in Padilla’s last six when he starts as an underdog.
Matsuzaka looked sharp on Tuesday as he held the Tigers to one run on six hits in five innings of a 5-1 victory, his first of the season. Boston had lost each of his first four outings of 2009 as the right-hander gave up 16 runs in 16 1/3 innings. The Red Sox are 3-0 in Dice-K’s three career starts versus the Rangers, including a 10-0 win in 2008 when he blanked Texas for seven innings. Boston is 32-11 in Matsuzaka’s last 43 starts overall, 25-8 in his last 33 as a favorite and 9-3 in his last 12 when facing A.L. West teams.
With Padilla on the mound, the Rangers are on “over” streaks of 27-11-2 on the road, 36-16-2 as an underdog, 10-3-1 against the A.L. East and 5-2 as a road ‘dog. With Matsuzaka pitching, the Red Sox have stayed under the total in four of five overall, seven of nine at home, 13 of 19 as a favorite and four of five on Sunday.
For Texas as a team, the “under” is on runs of 14-5-1 overall, 11-3 on the road, 8-2 as a road ‘dog, 12-3-1 as a ‘dog overall and 5-0 on Sundays. Boston is also on a plethora of “under” stretches that include 9-2 overall, 12-3-1 on Sundays, 5-1 at home, 5-0-1 against the A.L. West, 11-4 as a favorite and 9-3 against teams with winning records. Finally, the under has been the play in five of the last six between these two, including the first two games this weekend.
ATS ADVANTAGE: BOSTON and UNDER
Gametimepicks.com
Streaking and Slumping Pitchers
By Covers
Streaking
Roy Halladay, Toronto Blue Jays
After witnessing his main competition for the AL Cy Young Award falter in the opener of this series, Toronto Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay will try to avoid the same fate Sunday against the visiting Kansas City Royals.
Halladay will also look to become the major league's first 10-game winner when the Blue Jays wrap up a three-game set with the Royals.
Kansas City's Zack Greinke, who has a major league-best 1.55 ERA, was tagged for a season-high seven runs - five earned - in Toronto's 9-3 win Friday, but the Royals bounced back with Saturday's 6-2 victory to snap a season-worst eight-game slide.
To finish with a winning record on their nine-game homestand, the Blue Jays (31-27) will look to Halladay (9-1, 2.77 ERA) to give them yet another strong performance. In his second complete game of the season Tuesday night, the 2003 Cy Young winner recorded a career-high 14 strikeouts in a 6-4 home victory against the Los Angeles Angels and moved ahead of Greinke for the major league lead in victories.
While winning his sixth straight decision and throwing a career-high 133 pitches, Halladay allowed four runs - all in the seventh inning - and seven singles.
"What he's able to do with that baseball, it's like playing a video game for me," catcher Rob Barajas told the Blue Jays' official Web site. "You know the man is going to go out there and execute his pitches. He's some kind of special."
Halladay, 8-3 in 13 starts against Kansas City, has three complete-game victories and a 1.32 ERA in his last four matchups with the Royals. The Blue Jays gave him zero runs of support during the only loss in that span, but Halladay didn't need much support last season against Kansas City at Rogers Centre as he allowed one run and four singles over nine innings.
Erik Bedard, Seattle Mariners
Over the past month, Seattle Mariners left-hander Erik Bedard has been one of the toughest pitchers in the majors. He hasn't, however, had the same success against the Minnesota Twins in his career.
Bedard looks to win three consecutive starts for the first time in nearly two years with his first career victory over the Twins in Sunday's finale at Safeco Field.
After making 15 starts during an injury-plagued 2008 season that ended in July because of shoulder problems, Bedard (4-2, 2.37 ERA) is finally pitching the way the Mariners (27-29) envisioned when they acquired him from Baltimore in a six-player deal in February 2008.
The left-hander has yielded two runs or less in each of his last five starts and has the majors' sixth-best ERA. He's trying to win three consecutive starts for the first time since reeling off six straight from June 21-Aug. 5, 2007, with the Orioles.
On Tuesday, Bedard allowed one run and four hits with seven strikeouts in 6 1-3 innings of an 8-2 win over Baltimore, his first appearance against his former team.
Slumping
Manny Parra, Milwaukee Brewers
The Braves seem to have a good chance at ending their problems at the plate as they face struggling Brewers starter Manny Parra (3-7, 6.75 ERA). The left-hander has lost three straight outings, allowing 22 runs and 26 hits in 14 innings.
Parra gave up a career-high 10 runs and 11 hits in four innings during Milwaukee's 10-3 loss to Florida on Tuesday night.This will be his first appearance against Atlanta.
Debuting
Tommy Hanson, Atlanta Braves
If Tommy Hanson becomes the next great Atlanta Braves pitcher, he may want to be wary of club management during the twilight of his career.
In a game Tom Glavine had been expected to start, Hanson makes his much-anticipated major league debut as the Braves try to salvage the finale of a three-game series with the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday.
Hanson, considered Atlanta's top pitching prospect of the decade, will get a chance in the majors after dominating at every level in the minor leagues.
"I just want to get out there and get going," the 22-year-old Hanson said. "I want to get that first batter out of the way and get the first inning out of the way and then go from there."
In 11 starts at Triple-A Gwinnett this year, Hanson had a 1.49 ERA while striking out 90 in 66 1-3 innings and allowing 40 hits. The 6-foot-6 right-hander posted a 0.90 ERA in seven starts at Class A Myrtle Beach in 2008 to earn a promotion to Double-A Mississippi, where he threw a no-hitter in his ninth start and went 8-4 with a 3.03 ERA in 18 outings.
The hype only grew after he became the first pitcher to be named MVP of the hitter-friendly Arizona Fall League, going 5-0 with a 0.63 ERA and 49 strikeouts in 28 2-3 innings.