MLB Weekend Cheat Sheet
By Marc Lawrence
The hot summers days of August find the MLB pennant races warming up as well. The Boston Red Sox should have fire in their eyes at Fenway Park when they look to avenge a 4-game series sweep from suffered two weeks in the Big Apple.
Along with that series, let’s take a look into the top four series on tap on the basepaths this weekend. Remember, all results are within the series and all pitcher records are ‘team starts’ (the team’s record in games in which the pitcher starts) versus this opponent.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Florida Marlins at Atlanta Braves
Most Recent Series Result: Marlins 6-3 last 9 games (5-3 this season)
Most Recent Series Result at the Site: Marlins 3-0 away (3-0 this season)
Key Day/Month Stat: Marlins 4-0 Fridays; Braves 1-4 home Fridays
Best Arm in the Series: Braves’ Jurrjens 2-0 11.00 ERA home career team starts
Worst Arm in the Series: Braves’ Vazquez 0-4 5.62 ERA last 4 home team starts
Chicago Cubs at Los Angeles Dodgers
Most Recent Series Result: Dodgers 7-3 last 10 games (2-2 this season)
Most Recent Series Result at the Site: Dodgers 9-5 home
Key Day/Month Stat: Cubs 6-0 Saturdays; Dodgers 2-6 Saturdays
Best Arm in the Series: Cubs’ Dempster 6-1 3.03 ERA career team starts
Worst Arm in the Series: Dodgers’ Billingsley 1-3 3.33 ERA career team starts
AMERICAN LEAGUE
New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox
Most Recent Series Result: Yankees 4-0 last 4 games (4-7 this season)
Most Recent Series Result at the Site: Red Sox 7-0 last 7 home (6-0 this season)
Key Day/Month Stat: Yankees 16-4 Fridays; Red Sox 2-4 home Fridays
Best Arm in the Series: Red Sox’ Penny 4-0 2.28 ERA career team starts
Worst Arm in the Series: Yankees’ Sabathia 2-8 4.74 ERA last 10 team starts
Texas rangers at Tampa Bay Rays
Most Recent Series Result: Rays 3-0 last 3 games (3-0 this season)
Most Recent Series Result at the Site: Rays 12-4 last 16 home
Key Day/Month Stat: Rays 13-2 Saturdays; Rangers 2-9 Saturdays
Best Arm in the Series: Kazmir 4-0 1.89 home career teams starts; Garza 2-0 1.89 ERA home career team starts
Worst Arm in the Series: None
MLB Weekend Top 10
By Bodog.com
Striking out 10 batters in a game is pretty special. But Justin Verlander isn’t getting a lot of attention after fanning 10 Seattle Mariners on Wednesday. That’s because his Detroit Tigers lost 3-1, and also because new Philadelphia Phillies ace Cliff Lee struck out 11 batters in a complete-game 8-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks. That’s four wins in four NL starts for Lee – and four units of profit.
If Lee keeps this up, he might sneak into our Top 10 list of money pitchers. In which case we’ll just ignore the deficit of 9.69 units Lee racked up starting for the Cleveland Indians. All stats for this week’s preview are at press time; check Bodog Sports for the latest odds.
Top 10 paying teams
1. Los Angeles Angels (73-45, 27.34 units)
2. Texas Rangers (67-52, 17.47 units)
3. Colorado Rockies (67-53, 12.16 units)
4. Los Angeles Dodgers (71-50, 11.71 units)
5. San Francisco Giants (66-54, 11.20 units)
6. Philadelphia Phillies (68-49, 9.45 units)
7. Florida Marlins (64-56, 8.96 units)
8. Seattle Mariners (62-58, 7.69 units)
9. New York Yankees (76-45, 7.10 units)
10. St. Louis Cardinals (69-53, 7.00 units)
Top 10 paying pitchers
1. Matt Palmer, L.A. Angels (10-2 team record, 11.64 units)
2. Josh Johnson, Florida (18-6, 11.22 units)
3. Josh Beckett, Boston (18-6, 9.72 units)
4. Jered Weaver, L.A. Angels (18-7, 9.45 units)
5. Tim Wakefield, Boston (13-4, 9.22 units)
6. Jason Marquis, Colorado (16-8, 9.10 units)
7. Felix Hernandez, Seattle (18-7, 8.84 units)
8. Jeff Niemann, Tampa Bay (15-7, 8.72 units)
9. Matt Cain, San Francisco (17-7, 8.62 units)
10. Scott Feldman, Texas (15-7, 8.13 units)
This weekend's top 10 storylines
1. John Smoltz joins Cardinals, will start Sunday
2. Dodgers place P Hiroki Kuroda (concussion) on 15-day DL, sign P Vicente Padilla
3. Catcher Ivan Rodriguez returns to Rangers in trade with Houston
4. Mariners acquire utility man Bill Hall from Brewers
5. Astros starter Mike Hampton (rotator cuff) out until September
6. Mets put SS Alex Cora (torn thumb ligaments) on 15-day DL
7. Indians recall OF Matt LaPorta from AAA-Columbus
8. Mets reliever Billy Wagner placed on waivers; due to come off DL by Friday
9. Reds 1B Joey Votto (blurred vision) leaves Wednesday’s game; to be re-evaluated Thursday
10. Braves IF Martin Prado (headaches) expected to rejoin team Friday
This weekend's top 10 games to bet on
1. Sunday: N.Y. Yankees at Boston (8:05 p.m. Eastern, ESPN)
The best rivalry in baseball is on Sunday Night Baseball with CC Sabathia (15-11 team record, -5.20 units) facing our No. 3 moneyman, Josh Beckett.
2. Saturday: Chicago Cubs at L.A. Dodgers (4:10 p.m., FOX)
The Dodgers are giving another start to knuckleballer Charlie Haeger, who gave up three runs to St. Louis on Monday in seven strong innings and still lost 3-2.
3. Sunday: Texas at Tampa Bay (1:38 p.m., TBS)
The Rangers are 21-6 in their last 27 games against a starter with a WHIP higher than 1.30. David Price (1.58 WHIP) starts for the Rays.
4. Friday: Philadelphia at N.Y. Mets (7:10 p.m.)
The Phillies have won five straight games against the Mets. The under cashed in the last four games.
5. Saturday: San Francisco at Colorado (8:10 p.m., MLBN)
Rookie Joe Martinez (4.76 ERA, 1.71 WHIP) makes his fourth start for the Giants since joining the rotation earlier this month. He has yet to go past five innings, but San Fran is 2-1 behind Martinez.
6. Friday: Florida at Atlanta (7:30 p.m.)
The under is 6-0-1 in the last seven home starts for Javier Vazquez (2.99 ERA, 1.04 WHIP). Anibal Sanchez (5.55 ERA, 1.77 WHIP) has been moved to this game instead of Saturday’s.
7. Sunday: St. Louis at San Diego (4:05 p.m.)
This is John Smoltz’ first start for the Cards. The Red Sox released him after going 2-6 in his eight starts and dropping 5.98 units along the way.
8. Saturday: Minnesota at Kansas City (7:10 p.m.)
The Twins send rookie southpaw Brian Duensing (5.09 ERA, 1.50 WHIP) to the mound for just his second career start. He gave up two solo homers to the White Sox in last month’s debut but still won 3-2.
9. Friday: L.A. Angels at Toronto (7:07 p.m.)
The Angels have won seven of their last 10 meetings with Toronto, and Jays rookie Marc Rzepczynski (3.98 ERA, 1.37 WHIP) is 4.31 units in the hole on a team record of 2-6. The under is 6-1-1 in his eight starts.
10. Saturday: Seattle at Cleveland (7:05 p.m.)
Rookie northpaw Doug Fister has allowed three earned runs in 14 innings since making his Mariners debut earlier this month. Seattle is 1-1 in his two starts.