Cincinnati (28-24) at St. Louis (30-23)
The Cardinals send revitalized right-hander Chris Carpenter (3-0, 0.62 ERA) to the mound at Busch Stadium to wrap up a four-game series with the N.L. Central Division rival Reds, who are scheduled to start right-hander Aaron Harang (5-5, 4.19).
The teams have alternated wins in the first three games of this set, with Cincinnati pounding out a 9-3 victory on Wednesday. Despite taking two of the first three against St. Louis, the Reds are still mired in funks of 2-4 overall, 2-7 on the highway (all against righties) and 2-5 versus winning teams.
The Cardinals remain on streaks of 9-6 overall, 24-11 at home, 6-3 against divisional rivals, 10-1 on Thursday, 8-3 versus winning teams. Also, even though Cincinnati now leads the season series 4-2, the host has still won nine of the last 13 clashes dating to last summer. Additionally, the Reds are just 17-37 in their last 54 games in St. Louis.
Carpenter appears to be fully recovered from elbow surgery that disrupted the bulk of the past two seasons. In his last outing Saturday, he allowed his first two earned runs of the year, but the Cards still won 6-2 at San Francisco. Carpenter scattered six hits, struck out five and walked one in six innings, and he now has 28 strikeouts against just five walks in his five starts.
Carpenter is 2-0 with a perfect 0.00 ERA in two home starts, most recently coming out on top in a 2-1 win over the Cubs on May 20, when he allowed just three hits and two walks in five innings. The 34-year-old is 3-3 with a 2.47 ERA in nine career starts against the Reds. Also, St. Louis is -30 in Carpenter’s last 107 starts overall and 41-13 in his last 54 home outings.
Harang got tagged for eight runs (all earned) Saturday in a 9-5 loss at Milwaukee, giving up 12 hits (three home runs) in just 4 1/3 innings. He’s yielded five or more earned runs in four of his 11 starts. The Reds are 0-3 in Harang’s last three road efforts, with the 31-year old going 0-2 and allowing 15 runs (all earned) in 17 2/3 innings (7.64 ERA). For the season, Harang is 1-3 with a 5.87 ERA in five starts on the highway, and Cincy is 3-14 in his last 17 starts as a visitor.
Harang is 7-9 with a 4.62 ERA in 19 career starts against St. Louis, though he did get the win in an 8-3 home victory last month, allowing three runs on seven hits and a walk while striking out seven.
With Carpenter pitching, the Cardinals are on “under” streaks of 36-17-1 at Busch Stadium, 6-2 against divisional foes, 4-1 when facing the Reds and 5-0 when playing the Reds at home. Meanwhile, the under is 5-2-1 in Harang’s last eight road starts and 11-4-1 in his last 16 Thursday outings.
St. Louis carries “under” streaks of 11-4 overall, 8-1 at home, 7-2 versus divisional rivals and 8-2 against right-handed starters. Meanwhile, the under is 16-7-1 in the Reds’ last 24 road games and 5-2 in their last six against divisional foes. Conversely, with last night’s game topping the posted total, the over is now 8-2 in the last 10 clashes in this rivalry.
ATS ADVANTAGE: ST. LOUIS and UNDER
Philadelphia (31-20) at L.A. Dodgers (37-18)
The World Series champion Phillies trot out ace left-hander Cole Hamels (3-2, 5.21 ERA) to open a four-game series against fellow southpaw Clayton Kershaw (3-3, 4.34) and the Dodgers, who have the best record in baseball.
Philadelphia wrapped up a three-game sweep in San Diego with Wednesday’s 5-1 victory over the Padres. The Phillies have won six in a row and lead the major leagues with a 19-6 road record this year, and they are on additional upswings of 16-6 against the N.L. West, 50-22 in series openers and 39-19 against left-handers.
The Dodgers finished a three-game home series against Arizona last night, eking out a 1-0 victory to improve to 20-6 at Dodger Stadium this season. Although Los Angeles has split its last six contests, it is on positive runs 36-17 overall, 21-8 against lefties and 8-3 versus winning teams.
Los Angeles took two of three games at Philadelphia last month in the first meeting of the season between these two, which snapped an 8-1 Phillies run in this rivalry that included winning last year’s best-of-7 National League Championship Series in five games. Philly is still 9-3 in the last 12 clashes overall but is just 2-6 on its last eight trips to Hollywood.
The Phillies have won three in a row and five of six behind Hamels, after coming up empty in his first three starts of the season. However, Hamels got beat up a bit Saturday against visiting Washington, allowing six runs (all earned) on eight hits and a walk in six innings, but he still picked up a 9-6 victory.
Hamels is 1-1 with an inflated 6.89 ERA in three road starts this season, though the high ERA is mostly because of a poor effort in his season debut, when he allowed seven earned runs in a 10-7 loss at Colorado. In fact, Philadelphia is 5-1 in his last six on the road. Hamels is 1-0 with a 2.14 ERA in three career regular-season starts against Los Angeles, getting a no-decision in last month’s 5-3 home loss. He also beat the Dodgers twice in last year’s NLCS, giving up a combined three runs in 14 innings (1.93 ERA) en route to winning the series MVP honor.
The Dodgers have won in four of Kershaw’s last six starts, including an 8-6 victory at Colorado on May 27 in which the 21-year-old lefty allowed three runs on four hits and four walks in six innings. In those six starts, Kershaw has allowed 10 earned runs in 35 innings, for a 2.57 ERA.
Kershaw is 1-0 with a 1.13 ERA in four home starts this year, yielding just two earned runs in 24 innings, and the Dodgers are 8-1 in his last nine home outings. However, Kershaw is 0-2 with a bloated 7.80 ERA in three career starts against Philadelphia, including allowing four runs in five innings of a 5-3 road loss last month.
With Hamels starting, the under is on rolls of 11-4-1 overall, 6-0 with the lefty going on four days’ rest and 5-1 on the road, and the under is 7-2-1 in Kershaw’s last 10 starts against winning teams and 5-1-1 in his last seven when facing winning teams. Furthermore, the under for Philly is on streaks of 9-2-1 overall and 5-0 against left-handers, and the under has hit in five of L.A.’s last seven games overall and four of its last five series openers.
ATS ADVANTAGE: UNDER
Gametimepicks.com
The Red Dog Report For Thursday
by: Red Dog Sports
Los Angeles Angels at Toronto
Toronto is 46-22 in their last 68 home games and are a good value at -110. Tallet starts for Toronto and his ERA is 3.32 in his last 3 with 0 overs and 3 unders. John Lackey starts for the Angels and the team has produced 21 unders, 9 unders and 3 pushes in his last 33 road starts. The under has profited 40-15-5 in the last 59 meetings. Toronto and Under the total look good.
Cincinnati at St. Louis
Harang faces Chris Carpenter in this matchup. Carpenter has an ERA of 0.62 this year and the Reds have played 36 unders, 17 unders and 4 pushes on the road this year. The Cardinals have played 8 unders in a row at home. Under 7.5 looks good in this National League game!
New York Mets at Pittsburgh
Tim Redding has pitched poorly as his ERA is 9.20 and the team is 0-3 in his last 3 starts while Karstens of Pittsburgh has an ERA of 4.42 and the team is 3-0. The Mets have lost the first two games of the series and have plenty of injuries to deal with. Play the Pirates at home at -130.
Milwaukee at Florida
Johnson starts for the Marlins and the team is 8-3 in his starts and his ERA is 2.66 while David Bush has an ERA of 4.38 and there have been 8 unders and 2 overs in the last 10 meetings in Florida. Look for under 8.5 in this game.
Oakland at Chicago White Sox
Mark Buehrle has an ERA of 2.11 in his last 3 starts and has 2 overs and 8 unders this season. The two teams have combined for 46 overs and 55 unders and 9 of the last 11 meetings have gone under the total. Oakland has 9 overs and 1 under in their last 10 games and the White Sox have played under in 20 of their last 27 at home. Look for the under to prevail on Thursday afternoon.
Thursday's streaking and slumping starting pitchers
By Covers.com
Streaking
Michael Pelfrey (New York Mets)
Injuries and illnesses appear to be taking a toll on the New York Mets' lineup. Mike Pelfrey, though, hasn't received much help from it recently.
He'll try to help the Mets overcome those key absences on Thursday when they wrap up a rain-shortened road series against the Pittsburgh Pirates, who will play their first game after trading center fielder Nate McLouth.
The Mets have lost three of their last five while hitting .224 and getting outscored 21-14. Overall, though, their .279 average ranks among the best in the majors.
But Pelfrey (4-1, 3.88 ERA) has become accustomed to getting little help of late. Over his last four starts, the right-hander has gone 0-1 with a 2.28 ERA and has received only four runs to work with.
On Friday, he yielded one run and five hits with struck out six in 7 2-3 innings of a 2-1, 11-inning win over the Marlins.
"My command was good but it wasn't as down as I'd like," Pelfrey said. "I know if I can pound the strike zone I can go deep into games and not walk guys."
Pelfrey, who hasn't won since beating Philadelphia 7-5 on May 7, has put together a stretch of five quality starts. He's also given up three runs or less in his last seven, going 3-1 with a 2.96 ERA.
He won his only career start against the Pirates on Aug. 15, scattering seven hits in seven scoreless innings of a 2-1 win at PNC Park.
Chris Carpenter (St. Louis Cardinals)
Injuries have plagued Chris Carpenter over the last two years, and he landed on the disabled list for a month already this season. The ace, though, appears to be doing just fine now.
Carpenter looks to continue his career-best start Thursday to help the St. Louis Cardinals earn a split of a four-game series against the Cincinnati Reds.
Carpenter (3-0, 0.62 ERA) was limited to five games over the last two seasons due to a pair of elbow surgeries and a shoulder injury. That came after he helped the Cardinals (30-23) to the 2006 World Series title and winning the 2005 NL Cy Young Award.
The right-hander started this season in strong fashion, allowing one run and one hit in seven innings of a 2-1 win over Pittsburgh on April 9. However, his next outing was cut short after three innings of a loss at Arizona due to a rib muscle injury that sidelined him until May 20.
Since returning, Carpenter has been outstanding, going 2-0 in three starts with a 0.95 ERA while striking out 19 in 19 innings.
The two-time All-Star was impressive again Saturday, yielding two runs and six hits in six innings of a 6-2 win at San Francisco. Carpenter has had to be that good since the Cardinals have given him only nine runs of support in his five starts.
"When you have a guy like Carp going out there every fifth start, always giving us a chance to win, our job is to score runs for him," Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols said. "When we're driving the ball, we can score runs from every part of the lineup."
Carpenter is making his first start against the Reds (28-24) since throwing a four-hit shutout in 2006. Overall, he's 2-2 with a 1.96 ERA in five home meetings versus the Reds and 3-3 with a 2.47 ERA in nine lifetime starts.
Slumping
John Lackey (Los Angeles Angels)
John Lackey's season hasn't gotten much better since the Los Angeles Angels right-hander made his 2009 debut and was ejected after two pitches.
After his worst start of the year, Lackey takes the mound Thursday when the Angels try to clinch a series victory in their three-game set with the Toronto Blue Jays.
Coming off a 12-5 record in 2008 with Los Angeles (26-25), Lackey (1-1, 6.05 ERA) missed the first month of this season with a strained right forearm. It was the second straight year he would miss the opening month after a right triceps strain sidelined him in 2008.
Lackey had just one win in his first four starts last year, but much of that was due to a lack of run support, as he had a 1.80 ERA during that stretch. Control problems seem to be Lackey's biggest issue thus far. He gave up five runs and a season-high 10 hits in 7 1-3 innings of a 5-2 loss to the Mariners on Friday.
It was Lackey's longest start of the season after going just five innings his previous two outings following his shortened debut May 16.
The veteran right-hander, though, doesn't see any issue with his mechanics.
"My stuff tonight felt as good as it's been in a couple of years, honestly," he said. "I had a really good two-seamer. I'm still not really sure how I gave up three in that one inning, but that's baseball. You've just got to keep making pitches and try to give your team a chance to win."
Lackey is 3-3 with a 3.39 ERA in 10 starts against the Blue Jays (30-25). He was 1-1 in three starts last season, with the Angels winning two.
Tim Wakefield (Boston Red Sox)
Pitchers on the Boston Red Sox have enjoyed their time at Comerica Park this week. Given his struggles on the road recently, Tim Wakefield hopes his start there goes just as well.
On Thursday, Wakefield looks to help the Red Sox look to complete a three-game sweep of the Tigers in Detroit for the first time in almost 13 years.
Boston has won five of six in Detroit. It's outscored the Tigers 31-10 and the starting rotation has a 0.83 ERA in those victories.
Now, Wakefield (6-3, 4.55 ERA) will try to help the Red Sox cap their first three-game sweep at Detroit since Sept 17-19, 1996. The knuckleballer, though, is 1-2 with an 11.30 ERA in his last three road starts.
Wakefield went 4-2 in May, but posted a 6.82 ERA. He gave up six runs and nine hits in 4 2-3 innings of a 6-3 loss to the Blue Jays on Friday, matching his shortest start of the season.
Wakefield is 15-10 with a 4.20 ERA in his career against the Tigers. He won both starts against them last season, allowing one earned run over 13 innings.
Returning
Chien-Ming Wang (New York Yankees)
Chien-Ming Wang put up some astonishing numbers during his first stint in the New York Yankees' starting rotation this season. Not the kind to be proud of, though.
After spending time on the disabled list and in the bullpen, Wang tries to put a disastrous early portion of the season behind him as he makes his first start in nearly seven weeks Thursday when the Yankees' conclude their three-game series against the Texas Rangers
Yankees staff ace CC Sabathia was originally scheduled to start Thursday, but he's been given an extra day off, which allows Wang (0-3, 16.07 ERA) to get back in the rotation.
To say Wang got off to a slow start would be an understatement.
The right-hander was knocked around for 23 runs in just six innings in losing his first three starts, yielding at least seven runs in each outing. After being tagged for eight runs in 1 1-3 innings in a 22-4 loss to Cleveland on April 18, Wang was placed on the DL with weakness in the adductor muscles in his hips.
Since being activated May 22, Wang has pitched well out of the bullpen. In three relief appearances, he's allowed two runs and nine hits in eight innings to lower his ERA by more than 18 runs.
Wang threw two scoreless innings at Texas on May 27 and followed that with three shutout innings against Cleveland on Sunday, convincing the Yankees he was back to the form that helped him win 19 games each in 2006 and 2007.
"We weren't just going to move him to move him,'' manager Joe Girardi said. "We had to feel that his stuff was back and watching him these last two times has made us feel that his stuff is back.''
In his last start against the Rangers on May 10, 2007, Wang permitted seven runs and 11 hits in 6 1-3 innings of a 14-2 loss.
Carlos Zambrano (Chicago Cubs)
Chicago Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano had an eventful week - and he didn't even pitch.
After serving a suspension and missing a team flight, Zambrano is slated to make his first start in eight days for the Cubs, who try to build off an extra-inning victory and take two of three from the new-look Atlanta Braves on Thursday night.
Zambrano (3-2, 4.22 ERA) was suspended for six games by Major League Baseball last Thursday, a day after his meltdown in a 5-2 home win over Pittsburgh.
The excitable Zambrano, who allowed two runs and seven hits with six strikeouts in 6 1-3 innings, was ejected after arguing a call at the plate. The right-hander then threw a baseball into left field, slammed his glove against the dugout fence and took a bat to a dugout drink dispenser before heading to the clubhouse.
Bob Watson, baseball's vice president in charge of discipline, cited Zambrano for "inappropriate and violent actions on the field and in the dugout.''
In addition, Zambrano missed the team flight to Atlanta. Manager Lou Piniella has not said if Zambrano was disciplined and the three-time All-Star refused to talk about the incident.
"I don't have anything to say," he told the team's official Web site. "What do you want me to say?"
Zambrano, who was on the disabled list in mid-May due to a left hamstring strain, hasn't earned a victory since May 3. He's one win away from reaching 100 in his career, but hasn't defeated the Braves (26-26) since July 15, 2002 - a span of nine starts.
He pitched well enough to get a victory in his only appearance against Atlanta last season, yielding two runs and eight hits in seven innings of a 3-2, 11-inning victory on June 12.
Baseball Today
SCOREBOARD
Thursday, June 4
San Francisco at Washington (4:35 p.m. EDT). Randy Johnson goes for career victory No. 300 in the opener of a doubleheader after Wednesday night's game was rained out.
STARS
Wednesday
-Ryan Howard, Phillies, hit a two-run homer to lead Philadelphia to a 5-1 win over San Diego.
-Hunter Pence, Astros, had four hits, including a homer and a triple, in Houston's 6-4 win over Colorado.
-Jhonny Peralta, Indians, hit a three-run homer to back Cliff Lee as Cleveland topped Minnesota 10-1.
-Jered Weaver, Angels, had a career-high 10 strikeouts and Los Angeles beat Toronto 8-1.
-Josh Beckett, Red Sox, did not allow a hit until there were two outs in the seventh inning and helped Boston beat Detroit 10-5.
-Jeff Niemann, Rays, took a perfect game into the fifth inning and wound up with a two-hitter as Tampa Bay beat Kansas City 9-0.
SAYING GOODBYE
The Atlanta Braves released longtime pitcher Tom Glavine just when it seemed he was ready to return to the big leagues. The 43-year-old Glavine, who was coming back from shoulder and elbow surgery, threw six scoreless innings in a rehab start for Class-A Rome on Tuesday night and proclaimed himself ready to pitch in the majors again.
SENT PACKING
The Braves acquired All-Star center fielder Nate McLouth from the Pittsburgh Pirates for three minor leaguers on Wednesday, a move to beef up Atlanta's offense in hopes of contending in the NL East. The 27-year-old McLouth set career highs last season with a .276 batting average, 26 homers and 94 RBIs. The Braves desperately needed more offense from an outfield that produced only 10 homers through the first 51 games.
RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY
Randy Johnson's bid to become the 24th pitcher to win 300 games was postponed Wednesday night after a series of thunderstorms left the field at Nationals Park unplayable for Johnson's San Francisco Giants and the Washington Nationals. Because of the significance of the game, officials waited until 10:47 p.m. EDT - more than 3 1/2 hours after the scheduled 7:05 p.m. first pitch - before calling it a night.
MINIMUM SCORE
Chad Billingsley scattered four hits over six innings in his matchup with Jon Garland and Casey Blake hit a sacrifice fly, leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 1-0 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday night.
SPEAKING
"It would have been a storybook ending if he got it here. Emotionally, we all wanted to see Glav come in here and finish up. He's not going to be allowed to do that.'' - Atlanta third baseman Chipper Jones on the Braves releasing 305-game winner Tom Glavine.