Baseball Today
SCOREBOARD
Wednesday, June 24
Colorado at Los Angeles (10:05 p.m. EDT). Jason Marquis will look for his 10th win of the season as the sizzling Rockies close out a three-game set with the Angels. He will face Joe Saunders, who already has seven wins this season.
STARS
Tuesday
-Chase Utley, Phillies, homered and drove in four runs to help Philadelphia rout Tampa Bay 10-1 in the first regular-season meeting between the teams since last year's World Series.
-Tommy Hanson, Braves, won his third straight start as Atlanta beat the New York Yankees 4-0.
-Jason Bay, Red Sox, had four hits, including his 19th homer and a two-run single that broke open the game in the eighth inning of Boston's 11-3 rout of Washington.
-Zack Greinke, Royals, pitched eight sharp innings for his first win in almost a month as Kansas City beat Houston 2-1.
-Joel Pineiro, Cardinals, pitched a career-best two-hitter to end a five-start losing streak for St. Louis in a 3-0 win over the New York Mets.
-Ryan Raburn, Tigers, hit a pinch-hit two-run homer in the ninth inning to lift Detroit to a 5-4 win over the Chicago Cubs.
-Tim Lincecum, Giants, pitched a seven-hitter, striking out 12 as San Francisco beat Oakland 4-1.
-Justin Upton, Diamondbacks, homered, doubled and drove in three runs as Arizona topped Texas 8-2.
SIDELINED
Athletics third baseman Eric Chavez had back surgery Tuesday, a season-ending procedure he hopes will salvage his career. The six-time Gold Glover, on the 60-day disabled list with a herniated disk and strained right forearm, had the operation performed by Dr. Robert Watkins in Los Angeles. It was the second back surgery for Chavez - the same microdiscectomy surgery in a different spot - and his fifth operation overall since Sept. 5, 2007. He has also had three shoulder operations.
MANNY RETURNS
Manny Ramirez began a minor league stint to ease his way back into playing shape after a 50-game drug suspension. He went hitless in two at-bats for the Albuquerque Isotopes. He wore No. 99 for the Dodgers' top farm club and played four innings. Fans lined the walkway from the clubhouse as Ramirez entered the field. They gathered near the dugout, clustering for autographs, and they seemed ready to forgive Ramirez for violating baseball's drug rules.
SLUGGER'S RETURN
Philadelphia's Ryan Howard returned to the starting lineup as the designated hitter after being hospitalized over the weekend with acute sinusitis. He missed Sunday's 2-1 loss to Baltimore, ending his consecutive games streak at 343. It was the longest active streak in the majors. "Am I 100 percent? No,'' Howard said before Tuesday's game. "But I'm a lot better. 75-80 percent. Right now it's mostly congestion.''
PRESIDENTIAL PITCH
President Barack Obama plans to throw out the ceremonial first pitch before the All-Star game at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on July 14. The White House says Major League Baseball's focus on community service matches with Obama's service initiative this summer, known as United We Serve. Obama, a White Sox fan, will be the fourth president to throw out the first pitch at an All-Star game, following John F. Kennedy (1962 in Washington), Richard Nixon (1970 in Washington) and Gerald Ford (1978 in San Diego).
WELCOME BACK
The A's hosted a reunion to honor their 1989 World Series champion team that swept the Giants in an earthquake-interrupted Series. Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson, Series MVP Dave Stewart, Dave Henderson and current A's pitching coach Curt Young were among the 12 in attendance. Giants hitting coach Carney Lansford was a captain on that team. Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire were no-shows. A greeting from then-A's skipper Tony La Russa showed on the main scoreboard.
DENIED
Major League Baseball president Bob DuPuy has denied the formal protest filed by the New York Yankees after a disputed loss to the Florida Marlins. New York manager Joe Girardi protested Sunday's 6-5 defeat at Florida because of a Marlins substitution mix-up.
HOLDING ON
The Indians, who blew a pair of five-run leads and a seven-run lead during their losing streak, led 5-0 going into the ninth before nearly giving up another big lead. The Pirates scored four times and loaded the bases before Adam LaRoche, who homered to start the comeback, flew out to right field on a 3-2 pitch by Kerry Wood to end the game.
HISTORIC VISIT
The Red Sox visited the Smithsonian's American history museum before the game and donated two World Series items: a third base bag used in 2004 and a jersey worn by Jon Lester in 2007.
MILESTONES
Ken Griffey Jr's home run in the sixth inning was the 5,000th home run in Seattle Mariners franchise history. Griffey is the franchise leader in home runs with 406. Edgar Martinez (309) and Jay Buhner (307) follow.
SPEAKING
"It's hard to win when you get only four hits. We're just not swinging the bats.'' - New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi after a 4-0 loss to Atlanta.
Wednesday Winners
By Judd Hall
Perhaps it’s just me, but it seems like Interleague play is just dragging on in baseball. Maybe it’s because the novelty of the games has worn off or some of the matchups don’t exactly make for appointment television (Royals at Astros comes to mind for this one).
Regardless of your take on these contests, it’s something to bet on and that’s always a good thing. We’ve got a full slate of 15 tilts on the board for Wednesday. Let’s take a look at a couple of them.
Cubs at Tigers – 7:05 p.m. EDT
The Cubbies haven’t had the greatest start to their season, but they’re still within reach of the lead in the National League Central. Chicago got back into the discussion thanks to a four-game win streak. That streak was snapped by a 2-0 decision on Monday by the Braves.
One of the problems that Chicago has had this year is its offense. The bats haven’t been all that lively with a .247 batting average, but they’ve popped 72 homers as a club in 2009. During the past week, the Cubs have hit a little better (.257, 8 HR, 25 RBI). And things will no doubt improve in the near future with third baseman Aramis Ramirez set to return to the lineup sometime next week.
Something that is apparent for Cubs fans and bettors alike is that their bats need to work for Rich Harden (4-3, 5.27 ERA) to have a chance at winning. Harden won his “right back” spot on June 19 against the Tribe, 8-7, as a $1.15 home “chalk.”
That win is a little misleading as the North Siders needed Cleveland’s bullpen to implode for that victory. Harden gave up seven earned runs on seven hits in five innings of work. Harden is 0-1 with a 7.36 earned run average this month.
Nothing is guaranteed for Chicago’s batters with the Tigers putting Rick Porcello (8-4, 3.54 ERA) on the mound. Porcello has had a fantastic rookie effort in Detroit’s starting rotation as the team is 8-1 in his last nine starts. He’s been successful in interleague play as evidenced by a 3-0 record and an ERA of 1.48 in three starts against the NL...the last two appearances coming against teams from the NL Central.
Detroit’s right-handed hurler also has a potent lineup giving him some run support. The Motor City Kitties have outscored their opponents 54-25 in his last eight starts. It certainly doesn’t look like Porcello will hurt for offense as the Tigers have hit .302 with 13 home runs and 33 runs batted in over the last seven days.
Gamblers have no doubt noticed that the Cubs have won four straight games against AL Central squads. So does that make it worth while to back Harden in this spot? VegasInsider.com expert handicapper Brian Edwards isn’t so sure. “To me, Harden is a pitcher to ‘pass’ on right now. I’m just not sure what we’re going to get out of him in Detroit.”
Edwards might have something there when you look at the numbers, at least from a fade standpoint with the Cubbies. The Tigers have won four straight against Chicago dating back to 2006 and are 6-2 in the last eight head-to-head meetings.
This contest looks like a solid ‘over’ play as well with Harden’s problem with locating his pitches and the Tigers’ hot bats. It certainly lends credence to the fact that the ‘over’ is on a 5-1 run between these clubs.
Las Vegas Sports Consultants have installed the Tigers as $1.15 home favorites (risk $115 to win $100) for this contest with a total of 8 ½.
Rockies at Angels – 10:05 p.m. EDT
On May 29, the Rockies decided to relieve Clint Hurdle of his managerial duties after starting the season 18-28. It appeared that Colorado was ready to just play out the string at that point by promoting bench coach Jim Tracy to fill in for Hurdle. All the Rox have done since the switch is post a 19-5 mark in 24 games.
When you have a team that is running that hot, you start to wonder if you should back off of betting them at the window. “I think you keep playing on Colorado until you see signs of them slowing down, and there certainly haven’t been any recently,” says Edwards, who is up $14,120 for “dime players” since May 1.
“There is absolutely nothing fluky about this run. It started with sweeps of the Cards and Brewers on the road. Then they beat up on the Rays and Mariners at home, who are both over .500. And they just took the Halos to the woodshed in an 11-1 clubbing on Monday.”
What is most surprising about this run is that the Rockies are beating these clubs with their bats or on the mound. Over the last 30 days, Colorado is hitting .281, has a .464 slugging percentage, 33 four-baggers and big league best 146 RBI. The Rox have seen their starters go 13-1 with a 3.16 ERA in their last 15 starts; they only had 15 wins combined in the first 52 games of the 2009 campaign.
It’s going to be hard to go against Colorado on Wednesday with Jason Marquis (9-4, 3.71 ERA) getting the starting nod. Marquis is coming off of a gem of an outing vs. Pittsburgh. He gave up three earned runs on eight hits in 8.2 innings of work to win 7-3 as a $1.65 home favorite on June 19. This is nothing new for the right-hander from Manhasset, New York as he’s 5-1 with a 2.25 ERA in his last seven starts. If there is any knock on Marquis right now it’s that his strikeout-to-walk ratio for those games is 24:19.
The Rox are also getting solid setup work out of Joel Peralta. Since taking over for the injured Manny Corpas, Peralta has logged nine consecutive scoreless appearances to go along with five holds. His 1.54 ERA is tops amongst his bullpen mates. And that helps Huston Street in slamming the door shut. Colorado’s closer has saved 16 of his 17 opportunities…Street had 18 total saves last season in Oakland.
While Colorado is on a Rocky Mountain High (sorry, couldn’t resist it), the Angels are trying to find some consistency. It looked like Los Angeles was on its way after winning seven straight games from June 13 to June 19. Since then, the Halos have dropped three in a row.
A lot of what ails LA is the amount of injuries they’ve had to deal with over the season. They’ve had John Lackey, Vladimir Guerrero, Torrii Hunter, Kelvim Escobar and Ervin Santana on the disabled list for some stretch of the season. It hasn’t affected the Angels’ offense for the year, hitting .278 with 63 homers and 316 RBI. In the last seven days, however, they’re batting .248 with six four-baggers and 24 RBI. Their pitching is 26th in the big leagues with a 4.75 ERA and teams are hitting a MLB best .261 against them.
The Halos are hoping that Joe Saunders (7-4, 3.80 ERA) will be able to get them back on track. Saunders’ chances are pretty good here as LA is 2-0 in his last starts…both of which were against teams from the Senior Circuit (Dodgers, Padres). Plus, he’s 3-2 with a 3.12 ERA at home this season.
LVSC is giving the edge to the Angels here by making them $1.25 home favorites with a total of nine. You can back Colorado to push through for a return of plus-115 (risk $100 to win $115).
The Rockies have won their last five games against AL West clubs, while Los Angeles is 8-3 in its past 11 tilts against NL West foes. The ‘over’ is 4-0-1 in the last five head-to-head meetings.
You should take a look at the Rox in this game a little closer as well because the road club has gone 6-1 in the last seven meetings.
vegasinsider.com
Chicago Cubs (34-33) at Detroit (39-31)
The first-place Tigers hand the ball to rising rookie right-hander Rick Porcello (8-4, 3.54 ERA) for the middle game of a three-game set at Comerica Park against the Cubs, who will counter with righty Rich Harden (4-3, 5.27).
In Tuesday night’s opener, Detroit got a two-run, walk-off home run from Ryan Rayburn, turning a 4-3 deficit into a 5-4 victory. The Tigers have won five in row and are on additional streaks of 6-0 at home, 50-21 in interleague contests and a solid 41-12 when hosting National League clubs..
Chicago has now lost seven straight games in American League parks and is just 4-12 in its last 16 road games overall, but the Cubs are 4-1 in their last five interleague contests – all against the A.L. Central.
In this occasional rivalry, Detroit has won five straight meetings overall and seven of nine since 2000, but the visitor is 7-2 in that same timeframe.
The Tigers have won three in a row and eight of their last nine backing Porcello, with the 20-year-old going 7-1 with a 2.42 ERA in that stretch, allowing 14 runs in 52 innings. Last Thursday, he yielded three runs (one earned) on eight hits and two walks in 5 2/3 innings of a 6-3 road win over St. Louis. Detroit is 4-1 in Porcello’s last five home starts, where the youngster is 3-2 with a 4.22 ERA. This will be his first career start against Chicago.
The Cubs are 1-2 in Harden’s last three starts, following a five-game win streak behind the 27-year-old. Harden had his worst outing of the season last Friday at Wrigley Field, getting roughed up for seven runs on seven hits and five walks against Cleveland, but Chicago rallied from a 7-0 hole to post an 8-7 win in 10 innings. Chicago is 6-2 in Harden’s last eight outings overall and 7-2 in his last nine against winning teams.
Harden is 2-0 with a solid 2.84 ERA in three road starts this year, and he’s 3-1 with a 3.48 ERA in five career starts against Detroit.
The Cubs carry “under” trends of 21-10 overall, 7-2 on the highway, 10-3 against winning teams and 14-7 versus right-handed starters. Similarly, the Tigers are on “under” runs of 11-5 at home and 19-8 versus right-handed starters. However, six of the last seven Cubs-Tigers clashes have topped the posted total.
ATS ADVANTAGE: DETROIT
Philadelphia (37-31) at Tampa Bay (37-35)
Last year’s World Series participants meet for Game 2 of a three-game series, with the Rays sending right-hander Matt Garza (4-5, 3.83 ERA) to the hill opposite the Phillies’ Joe Blanton (4-3, 5.28) at Tropicana Field.
Philadelphia picked up where it left off in the World Series on Tuesday, pounding Tampa Bay and young lefty David Price 10-1. The Phillies, who entered this series coming off a dismal 1-8 homestand, have baseball’s best road mark at 24-9, and they’re 38-16 in their last 54 roadies dating to last season. However, they’re still on a 10-19 nosedive in interleague road contests.
Despite last night’s defeat, Tampa Bay has won eight of its last 12 overall and is on further rolls of 79-33 at the Trop, 44-17 when hosting teams with a winning record, 4-1 in interleague home games and 5-2 against the N.L. East.
Philadelphia took out Tampa Bay in five games in last year’s Fall Classic, with the home team going 4-1. These squads have met 13 times since 2000, and the host has gone 9-4, with the Rays winning five of their last seven clashes at the Trop.
The Rays have lost four of five behind Garza, totaling just nine runs in those four setbacks. On Friday at Colorado, the right-hander allowed four runs on five hits (three homers) and two walks in a 4-3 loss. The 25-year-old is 3-2 with a 3.52 ERA in eight home starts this season, and in his lone career start against the Phillies, Garza got a no-decision in Game 3 of the World Series, allowing four runs on six hits (three homers) and two walks in six innings, with the Rays losing 5-4 in Philadelphia.
The Phillies have lost three in row with Blanton taking the ball, though he’s gotten no-decisions in all three contests. On Friday against Toronto, the beefy right-hander gave up four runs on nine hits (two homers) and two walks in 5 1/3 innings of an 8-7 home loss. In four starts prior to that, Blanton had allowed just six total earned runs over 27 innings (2.00 ERA).
Blanton is 3-1 with a 4.37 ERA in six road outings this year, and he’s 2-3 with a 6.05 ERA in eight career regular-season starts against Tampa Bay, all when he was with Oakland. Additionally, he got the win in a 10-2 home blowout of the Rays in Game 4 of the World Series. With Blanton throwing, the Phils are on runs of 14-6 overall, 9-3 against winning teams and 4-1 on the highway.
The under for Tampa Bay is on streaks of 4-2 overall (all in interleague play), 8-4-1 at home, 24-10-1 in interleague home games, 5-0 behind Garza and 5-0-1 in Garza’s last six interleague starts. Likewise, Philadelphia is riding “under” streaks of 17-9-1 in interleague play, 6-1 in A.L. ballparks and 5-2-1 on artificial turf.
Finally, despite last night’s slugfest, the under is 4-2-1 in the last seven head-to-head meetings in Tampa Bay, including 2-0 in last year’s Fall Classic.
ATS ADVANTAGE: UNDER
Gametimepicks.com
Streaking and Slumping Pitchers
By Covers.com
Streaking
Jon Lester, Boston Red Sox
Lester had been 2-0 with a 1.23 ERA in his previous three starts, striking out 34 in 22 innings while limiting opponents to a .099 average, but he wasn't as sharp Thursday against Florida. The left-hander gave up two runs and eight hits over five innings - throwing 110 pitches - in a rain-shortened 2-1 loss that was called in the sixth.
"I think it was a difficult night," Francona said. "Things were rushed. He was even a few minutes late getting ready, just because it was difficult for him. I didn't think he commanded very well. ... (But) he still found a way to give us a chance to win. I think that says a lot."
Lester's lone start against the Nationals (20-48) came June 21, 2006, when he gave up a run and three hits over six innings - striking out 10 - in a 9-3 win.
Gavin Floyd, Chicago White Sox
Chicago gives the ball to Gavin Floyd (4-5, 4.65 ERA), who is 2-1 with a 1.61 ERA in his last six starts. The right-hander was denied victories in his last two outings as the bullpen failed to hold the lead.
Bobby Jenks gave up a game-tying homer in the ninth to Detroit on June 11 after Floyd yielded one run in eight innings. In Thursday's 6-5 loss to the Chicago Cubs, Floyd allowed one run in seven innings before the White Sox bullpen gave up five in the final two.
Floyd is 1-0 with a 0.60 ERA in two interleague starts this season, but he is 0-3 with a 10.50 ERA lifetime against the Dodgers.
Nick Blackburn, Minnesota Twins
Nick Blackburn continues to make his case for becoming the new ace of the Minnesota Twins' rotation.
Coming off his first complete game, the right-hander looks for a fifth consecutive winning decision while trying to help the Twins record a sixth straight victory over the struggling Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night at Miller Park.
Blackburn (6-2, 3.09 ERA) allowed one run and six hits in a 5-1 victory over Pittsburgh on Thursday for Minnesota's first complete game since Kevin Slowey did it July 28.
Though Slowey has won 10 games for the Twins (36-36) this season, his ERA is almost a run higher than that of Blackburn, who's 4-0 with a 1.84 ERA in his last eight starts.
"(Blackburn's) basically been the stabilizer," pitching coach Rick Anderson told the Twins' official Web site. "It's always nice with a sinkerball guy, because they've got a chance to get you deep in the game."
Blackburn's also fared well in interleague action, going 3-0 with a 3.25 ERA in four starts. His only rough outing came against the Brewers last season when he gave up six runs and nine hits - including four homers - in 4 2-3 innings of a 7-6 win over Milwaukee.
Wednesday is chalk full of quality arms. We searched high and low for jobbers tossing today, but even old reliables like vincent Padilla and Jason Marquis have been performing half decent lately.
We still found one hurler to avoid today, though:
Slumping
Carl Pavano, Cleveland Indians
Carl Pavano has been giving up hits early and often recently.
After being hit hard in his past few starts, Pavano looks to bounce back Wednesday night when the Pirates and Indians continue their three-game set at PNC Park.
Pavano (6-5, 5.73 ERA) had a rough April after signing a one-year deal with the Indians (30-42) in the offseason, going 0-3 with a 9.50 ERA.
The veteran right-hander then went 6-1 with a 3.00 ERA over his next eight starts, but has since reverted back to his early-season struggles. He gave up nine runs over 4 2-3 innings in a loss to Kansas City on June 10, then allowed six runs and nine hits over five innings without getting a decision on June 15 in a wild 14-12 loss to Milwaukee.
"I was inconsistent," Pavano told the Indians' official Web site. "They put up runs for me, and my job is to put up zeros, but I didn't do it."
Right shoulder soreness pushed back Pavano's turn in the rotation to Wednesday, and he'll be looking to help the Indians string together consecutive wins for the first time since June 11-12.