Wednesday's Best MLB Bets
Arizona Diamondbacks at Chicago Cubs (-180, 9)
In typical Cubs fashion, their 6-5 win over the Diamondbacks on Tuesday had more than a few twists and turns.
Andrew Cashner allowed one run on two hits of 5 1/3 innings in his big league debut, but then had to leave with shoulder stiffness. He didn’t factor in the decision.
Meanwhile Tyler Colin, who was filling in for Carlos Pena at first base, hit a two-run dinger in the bottom of the third to give Chicago a 4-1 lead.
Arizona tied the game in the seventh before the Cubs regained the lead and then hung on as Sean Marshall pitched an adventurous ninth inning with Carlos Marmol sitting out after pitching in the first three games of the season.
“The crowd energy was great and it was fun getting a save," Marshall said. "Marmol gave me a high five after the game. I told him 'You better watch out.'"
Ryan Dempster looks to bounce back from a bad start to kick off the season, but the Cubs have too many issues to lay this much chalk, even against Armando Galarraga.
Pick: Under
Los Angeles Angels at Tampa Bay Rays (+100, 7.5)
Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon has his work cut out for himself early this season.
With All-Star third baseman Evan Longoria on the DL, the Rays put up just three runs while getting swept by Baltimore in their first series of the year and then dropped a 5-3 decision to the Angels on Tuesday.
“One hundred and sixty-two-game schedule, a lot of things happen,” Maddon told reporters. “I am not discouraged. I know it's going to be more difficult—I'm not delusional—but we can do this."
Tampa Bay’s offense is counting on big things from guys like Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon which would have been fine five years ago, but not so much in 2011.
It doesn’t look like it’s going to get any easier Wednesday against Dan Haren’s nasty stuff.
Pick: Angels
NY Mets, Phillies continue MLB odds series
By: Adam Markowitz
You won't find many division rivals in MLB betting action that hate each other more than the New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies. These two will square off for the first time this week in the City of Brotherly Love, and the second game of this three-game set takes place on Wednesday night.
The first pitch from Citizens Bank Ballpark will be thrown at 4:05 p.m. (PT).
This pitching matchup is one between a No. 1 starter and a No. 5 starter, but to no one's surprise, it is clear that the edge is going to the No. 5 man in this duel.
The ace is New York's Mike Pelfrey who would be an excellent addition for another team as a No. 4 starter. Pelfrey clearly does not have the stuff to be a stopper at the top of a rotation. He conceded five runs in 4-1/3 innings of work in his first start of the season at the Florida Marlins, and he suffered the loss in the duel.
For his career, Pelfrey is only just barely a .500 pitcher at 43-42, and his best career ERA came last year at 3.66.
Joe Blanton, on the other hand, would be a No. 2 or a No. 3 pitcher on many teams but is answering the bell after Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt in the Phillies rotation. This will be the first outing of the year for Blanton after last season when he went 9-6 with a 4.82 ERA.
Blanton does have a heck of a career against the Mets, as he is 3-1 with a 2.64 ERA. He is holding New York batters to just a .228 batting average.
Coming into play Tuesday, it's really hard to argue with anything that the Phils have done offensively this year. They scored at least five runs in a three-game sweep against the Houston Astros to start the season, and they are batting .349 as a team. There are already 10 extra base hits to speak of on the campaign, and Ryan Howard is leading the way with six runs driven in and four scored.
The bullpen remains a major bone of contention for those betting on the Phils on the MLB lines on a regular basis. This unit has allowed five runs in eight innings of work. The rest of the starting rotation only allowed six runs in 19 innings.
New York has called upon its bullpen a bit more often than Philly has. The Mets have already used eight different arms in relief, and four of the eight have given up a run.
The Mets did play well in Philadelphia last season, winning four of the nine games. Though that might not sound like that impressive of a record, in actuality, they ended up almost a full unit on the MLB odds when push came to shove.
New York and Philadelphia split their 18 meetings in 2010, the 9-9 result giving the advantage in the MLB betting proceedings to Mets backers.
Those interested in betting on the total should know the 'under' has provided 22 winners in the last 30 meetings in this series.
A strong chance of rain in Philadelphia on Tuesday might lead to a postponement of that game, the effect of which could be a shift in Wednesday's starting pitchers. The forecast for Wednesday is mostly clear skies with an afternoon high climbing to the upper-50s before cooling back into the 40s overnight.
MLB Betting Preview: Mariners, Texas Rangers close series
By: David Schwab
The Seattle Mariners wrap up a three-game series with Texas on Wednesday in an 11:05 a.m. (PT) start at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. The game will be broadcast locally on Roots Sports in Seattle and Fox Sports-Southwest in Texas.
Weather could be a factor in this game as the forecast calls for partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the mid-70s, but with windy conditions that could have gusts approaching 30 miles an hour.
Alfonzo Marquez will be behind home plate, which could slightly favor the hitters in this one as 60 percent of his games last season went ‘over’ the total.
Seattle lost the first game of this series 6-4 as a 150 road underdog on Monday. The Rangers jumped out to three-run lead after two innings and added three more runs in the middle innings to secure the win.
Milton Bradley went 3-for-4 and Justin Smoak added two more hits and a RBI for the Mariners in the losing effort. The loss dropped them to 2-2 on the year, with three of the games going ‘over’ the total.
Right-hander Felix Hernandez will be making his second start of the season for the Mariners after hurling a complete game against Oakland in last Friday’s season opener. He scattered five hits and gave up two earned runs in a 6-2 win as a 101 road underdog. The 2010 AL Cy Young winner went just 13-12 last season in 34 starts but had an ERA of just 2.27 and a WHIP of 1.06. He has struggled in the past against Texas with a 10-12 record and a 3.89 ERA.
The Rangers’ bats have produced an incredible 32 runs in their first four games led by Adrian Beltre, Nelson Cruz, Mike Napoli and Elvis Andrus who each have four RBI. Ian Kinsler has belted three home runs and Cruz is hitting .429 with six hits in his 14 at-bats to help lead Texas to a 4-0 start. Three of these games have gone ‘over’ the total.
C.J. Wilson will be on the mound for the Rangers in this one. He gave up four runs (two earned) on six hits in an opening day no-decision against Boston. Last season, the left-hander went 15-8 with an ERA of 3.35 and a WHIP of 1.25 in 33 starts. He has made six starts and 37 relief appearances against Seattle and is 6-4 with a 5.18 ERA.
Head-to-head, the Rangers had won five of the last eight games in the series heading into Tuesday's second game of the set which found Texas a minus 155 favorite. The Rangers' win on Monday gave them a 2-2 home mark versus the Mariners in the last four games.
The Mariners are 7-3 against Texas in Hernandez’s last 10 starts, but just 2-3 in his last five. Texas is 4-1 in Wilson’s last five starts against Seattle. These two pitchers last faced one another on Sept. 17 of 2010 with Seattle coming away with a 2-1 win as a 104 home favorite.
While this game should not turn into a slugfest with two quality pitchers on the mound, it could be a tall task for Hernandez to completely quiet the Rangers bats as this lineup has shown power from top to bottom so far. Stick with Texas to pound out enough runs to get the win in this one.