Ben Burns
Tampa Bay Rays @ Los Angeles Angels
PICK: Los Angeles Angels
By nature, I'm always somewhat suspicious of things/games that look a little too "easy." That being said, sometimes the obvious option is, in fact, the "right" choice. The Angels certainly fall into the "obvious" category here. For starters, they send southpaw Joe Saunders to the mound and he's 9-2 (Angels are 10-2) with a 2.63 ERA in 12 starts. That should provide an advantage over Edwin Jackson. The Rays' right-hander started the season relatively well, after really struggling the previous few years. However, he's been roughed up again lately, recording a 6.19 ERA and 1.875 WHIP his last three starts. He's lost both his road starts vs. the Angels, as a member of Tampa Bay, giving up 13 runs (7 earned) and 22 hits in just 10 2/3 innings. The Rays lost those games by scores of 9-1 and 10-7. Overall, the Rays are just 2-8 his last 10 road starts and 6-14 his last 20. It should also be mentioned that the Rays, who are below .500 on the road, are hitting just .241 against left-handers, averaging a mere 3.4 runs per game. Lastly, note that the Angels have absolutely dominated the Rays here on the West Coast. Indeed, they're 8-0 the last eight series meetings here in California and 18-2 the last 20. Consider a play on the LA ANGELS
Rocketman Sports
Cleveland Indians vs. Detroit Tigers
Play: Cleveland Indians
FREE PLAY MONDAY (13-6 68% last 19) Cleveland @ Detroit 7:05 PM EST Play On: 1* Cleveland +100 (Lee/Willis) Listed Detroit is 9-22 this year when the total is 9 to 9 1/2. Detroit is 7-18 against division opponents this year. Lee is 9-1 with a 2.45 ERA overall this year, 6-1 with a 2.85 ERA on the road and 3-0 his last 3 starts. We'll recommend a small play on Cleveland tonight!
Nelly
Pittsburgh + over Arizona
Arizona is perceived as the far superior team in this match-up but in reality they are just a few games apart in terms of record. Arizona is just 6-13 in the last 19 games and the road games have been tough this year with a 13-17 record. Arizona is actually just 4-12 in the last 16 road games and the Diamondbacks are hitting .213 as a team in the last ten games. Pittsburgh is a solid winning team at home this season and the Pirates are hitting .303 in the last ten games against left-handed pitching. Zach Duke has allowed four or fewer earned runs in seven consecutive starts as he has his career back on the right track. Veteran Randy Johnson has posted strong numbers in recent games but Arizona is 0-3 in his last three starts. As solid underdogs the Pirates are worth a look today as Pittsburgh has been playing much better than most people realize.
Wunderdog
Kansas City at New York Yankees
Pick: Game Total UNDER 10
After a couple slugfests between these two teams, it is an early getaway day game, which often times allows for some impatient hitters in the box. Mike Mussina has pitched better than anyone expected and with that only four of his 13 starts have produced games scoring over 10 runs. Luke Hochevar has not pitched very well, but there is one big difference this year for the Royals and that is the pen has done much better. In Hochevar's nine starts their bullpen has allowed less than a run a game. This has meant that in those nine starts, not a single one has produced a game total that has surpassed 10. We will play the UNDER in this one.
Locksmith Sports
1 Unit on Giants/Nationals OVER 8.5 Runs
The Giants have been an OVERS machine, especially with Cain on the mound. The Over is 8-1 in the Giants last 9 vs. the National League East, the Over is 5-1 in the Giants last 6 overall, and 17-5 in the Giants last 22 games with the total set at 7.0-8.5. The Over is also 4-0 in Cain's last 4 starts overall and 4-0 in Cain's last 4 starts with the total set at 7.0-8.5. The Over is also 7-2-2 in the Nationals last 11 Monday games. Bet the OVER.
Chip Chirimbes
Vernon Wells needed less than a month to recover from a broken wrist. He's wasted no time making an impact at the plate. Wells looks to keep up his quick start off the disabled list when he and the Toronto Blue Jays begin a three-game home series against the Seattle Mariners on Monday. Toronto's center fielder was originally expected to miss six to eight weeks when he landed awkwardly on his left wrist while making a catch in Cleveland on May 9, but returned to the field Saturday after teammate Shannon Stewart sprained his ankle. Wells went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI in his first game back, then went 3-for-4 with a home run Sunday in Toronto's 5-4 win over Baltimore. The Blue Jays (33-32) snapped a four-game losing streak and avoided a three-game sweep against the Orioles. "It was a game we needed to win," Wells said. "You never like getting swept and you obviously never like getting swept at home. We've had some tough losses, they've been hard to watch from afar. It was a good win today." The Blue Jays will now look to continue their dominance of Seattle as they continue their nine-game homestand. Toronto has won five consecutive games against the Mariners overall, and is 19-6 at home against them since 2003. Wells did not enjoy similar success versus the Mariners last season, hitting just .171 (6-for-35) versus Seattle. Toronto hands the ball to Jesse Litsch (7-2, 3.45 ERA), who looks to bounce back after struggling in his last start. Litsch, who had won his previous three outings and compiled a 1.67 ERA over his previous six starts, lasted just 5 1-3 innings on Wednesday against the Yankees, giving up a season-high 10 hits and four runs in the 5-1 loss. The right-hander also struggled in his only career start against the Mariners, allowing four runs and five hits in 4 1-3 innings of a 4-2 loss last July 20. The Mariners (22-41) have dropped six of their last seven games, becoming further entrenched as the club with the worst record in the majors. They lost two of three at Boston over the weekend, including a 2-1 defeat on Sunday.
TORONTO BLUE JAYS
GINA
Tampa Bay Rays at Los Angeles Angels
Tampa Bay Rays are 2-4 in their last 6 games, just 2-5 in its last 7 on the road and have lost the last 5 meetings against the LA Angels at Angel Stadium. The Angels have won seven of their last 8 games.
Los Angeles sends Joe Saunders (9-2, 2.63 ERA) to the hill. The left-hander is 4-1 with a 3.48 ERA at home and the Angels have won five of his last 6 starts at home. Saunders allowed one run on four hits over six innings of a 2-0 defeat in his only start against Tampa Bay on May 10.
Tampa Bay counters with Edwin Jackson (3-5, 3.95). The right-hander is 1-2 with a 3.81 ERA in his last five appearances and 0-2 with a 6.00 ERA in six outings, including three starts against the Angels. The Rays are 2-8 in Jackson’s last 10 road starts.
Go with the Los Angeles Angels at home with Saunders on the mound. The Angels have dominated the Rays at home, winning 24 of the last 28 meetings.
Los Angeles Angels -140
GamblersWorld
TIP OF THE DAY
Cincinnati Reds vs. Florida Marlins
Prediction: Cincinnati Reds
Current Line: -150 Over/Under: 9 Reason: The Florida Marlins will be trying to extend a winning streak on Monday when they take on the Cincinnati Reds at Dolphin Stadium. Edison Volquez will be the starting pitcher for the Reds on this day. Righthander Volquez is 8-1 this season with a 1.35 ERA. Starting this game for the Marlins will be Mark Hendrickson. The lefthander has a 5.33 ERA to go along with a 7-3 record this season. Oddsmakers currently have the Reds listed as 150-moneyline favorites versus the Marlins, while the game's total is sitting at 9. The Marlins defeated Cincinnati 9-2 as a -125 favorite on Sunday. The 11 runs scored went OVER the posted over/under total (9). Hanley Ramirez homered twice and had four RBI for Florida, while Ryan Tucker earned the win after allowing only one run on two hits over five innings. Corey Patterson hit a solo home run for Cincinnati, while Aaron Harang was roughed up for seven earned runs on 11 hits in five 1-3 innings. Current streak: Cincinnati has lost 2 straight games. Florida has won 2 straight games. Team records: Cincinnati: 30-34 SU Florida: 34-28 SU Cincinnati most recently: When playing on Monday are 2-8 Before playing St. Louis are 6-4 After playing Florida are 6-4 After a loss are 5-5 Florida most recently: When playing on Monday are 5-5 Before playing Philadelphia are 3-7 After playing Cincinnati are 3-7 After a win are 5-5 A few trends to consider: The total has gone OVER in 5 of Cincinnati's last 5 games when playing on the road against Florida The total has gone OVER in 7 of Cincinnati's last 8 games when playing Florida Cincinnati is 7-2 SU in its last 9 games when playing Florida Cincinnati is 2-5 SU in its last 7 games The total has gone OVER in 5 of Florida's last 5 games The total has gone OVER in 5 of Florida's last 5 games when playing at home against Cincinnati The total has gone OVER in 7 of Florida's last 8 games when playing Cincinnati The total has gone OVER in 5 of Florida's last 6 games at home
Steam On-Line Guaranteed Selections
LA ANGELS with Saunders -145
Ben Burns
MLB 4* Twins/White Sox Under 9.5
The Experts Guaranteed Selections
ULTIMATE EXPERTS BASEBALL RUN LINE WINNER
Chicago White Sox w/Danks -1.5 +110
John Ryan
Seattle Mariners vs. Toronto Blue Jays
Play: Toronto Blue Jays
Ai Simulator 3* graded play on Toronto - Supporting this graded play is a system that has produced a record of Play against all dogs with a money line of +150 or more that is a very bad AL offensive team scoring <=4.2 runs/game and with a bad bullpen that blows 38% or more of their save opportunities and is now facing a team with a very good bullpen sporting an ERA<=3.33. Fine tuning this system we get even stronger results that support the AiS grading. Play against road dogs with a money line of +150 or more that is a very poor AL offensive team scoring <=4.2 runs/game and with a decent bullpen whose WHIP is 1.350 to 1.450 on the season and is now facing a team with a good bullpen sporting an ERA<=3.75. Seattle has played poor and there isn’t any concrete evidence to expect significantly better performances. Seattle is just 8-25 (-20.0 Units) against the money line versus AL teams scoring 4.7 or less runs/game on the season this season. Take Toronto.
Larry Ness
Cincinnati Reds at Florida Marlins
Prediction: Florida Marlins
Two intriguing "storylines" collide tonight in Florida, when the Marlins host the Reds. Florida's overall play has to be considered a major surprise in '08. After finishing with a 71-91 mark in '07, the Marlins enter this game 34-28 and more impressively for our purposes, plus-$1,189 vs the moneyline, making them MLB's most profitable team. The Reds have played well at home (19-10) but own one of MLB's worst road records at 11-24, with the team's moneyline mark on the road sitting at minus-$1,288, which is worse than any team other than the Braves. The good news for Cincy tonight is that Edinson Volquez will get the start. Volquez was part of the Josh Hamilton trade and came to the Reds before the start of the season with a three-year mark of 3-11 with a 7.20 ERA in 20 appearances (17 starts) for the Rangers (2005-07). How could anyone have predicted his start in '08? Volquez enters tonight's game 8-2 with a 1.32 ERA in 13 appearances, including 12 starts (team is 10-2). He's NEVER allowed more than two ERs in ANY game, allowing one ER or less 10 of 12 times. In 75 innings of work, he's allowed just 49 hits. His pitching has been truly ASTOUNDING but it's hard for me to justify him being a favorite here, considering Cincy's horrific play on the road. The Marlins are a solid 20-13 at home this year, including 15-7 in home night games vs right-handed starters. Going for Florida is lefty Mark Hendrickson, who hardly has dominating numbers but is 7-3 with the team going 9-4 in his 13 starts this year, despite his 5.33 ERA. He's made six home starts, with the team going 6-1. He does own a home ERA of 4.62 but that's mostly because of two poor starts, Mar 31 vs the Mets and May 25 vs the Giants. In his other five home starts, he's got a 2.67 ERA, as the Marlins are 5-0. It's tough going against Volquez but it's not difficult going against the Reds in a road game, especially when you get to "take a price." I'll take the Marlins.
Brian Hansen
Seattle Mariners at Toronto Blue Jays
Prediction: Toronto Blue Jays
This favorite is a little pricier than I like to release as a guaranteed pick to my clients but there is still some value here and I use this as my member pick today with full confidence in that value! The Jays send Jesse Litsch to the mound and he's been rock solid this season, especially at home. The Blue Jays have also been one of the hottest teams in the league in recent weeks while the Mariners continue to struggle. Seattle is easily one of the worst road teams in baseball and they send a struggling Jerrod Washburn to the mound tonight. He should get clobbered while Litsch continues to dominate as his season is off to a fantastic start. The Blue Jays have scored 33 runs in their last six games and the Mariners struggling road ways continue to limit their offensive productivity. This one is all Jays as a result.
Scott Rickenbach
San Francisco Giants @ Washington Nationals
PICK: San Francisco Giants
The Giants continue to roll right past the Nationals. They’ve won the first three games of this series by a combined score of 22-4. The Nats lineup has been devastated by injuries and inconsistency this season and that situation has certainly not improved of late. Conversely, the Giants offense continues to improve as they continue to look like a totally different lineup than the one we saw in April. They certainly should have no trouble with the offerings of Tyler Clippard. The former Yankees prospect is still a raw talent but his numbers in the majors with the Yanks shows that he still needs more seasoning. Also, the Nationals right-hander hasn’t been overly impressive with his numbers produced in the minors so far this season.
The Giants send Matt Cain to the mound and we don’t expect much success for the Nationals against him. Amazingly, the Nats have scored one run or less in six of their last eight games! This has included a number of shutouts and the Nats weren’t able to hit Cain well the last time they saw him either. The only game the Nationals have won this month came in extra innings and the Nationals slumping offense simply won’t be able to keep up with the Giants here. San Francisco has a number of hot batters in their lineup and they will stay hot just like the D.C. weather tonight. Play San Francisco on the money line as a regular selection.