LARRY NESS
Atlanta Braves @ Florida Marlins
PICK: Florida Marlins
The Braves returned from the All Star break only to lose two of three at home to the hapless Nationals. Atlanta now heads out on the road this week for three games in Miami with the Marlins and then three more over the weekend in Philadelphia. The Braves own one of MLB's worst road records (15-32) in '08 and have lost more money on the road (minus-$1,855) than any team in MLB. The Marlins (52-46) took two of three from the Phillies after the break and enter this series a half-game in back of both the Mets and Phillies (both 53-46) in the crowded NL East. The pitching matchup tonight is Campillo (Atl) and Volstad (Fla). Campillo's first 13 appearances of '08 came in relief but 11 of his last 12 outings have been as a starter. He's 4-4 on the season (3.06 ERA) with the Braves going 6-5 in his starts. He'll face a Florida team which has hit right-handed starters fairly well this year, averaging 5.1 RPG in 70 games (39-31). Volstad was a first-round pick for the Marlins back in 2005. After earning a win in relief in his first major league appearance on July 6 at Colorado, Volstad went 8.2 innings in his first career start on July 11 (allowed five hits and one ER), moving to 2-0 with a 3-1 win over the Dodgers in LA. As already pointed out, the Braves are a poor road team and it's also noteworthy to mention that they are 12-22 on the road vs righties, averaging a modest 3.9 RPG. I'll stick with the ever-surprising Marlins in this one.
STEPHEN NOVER
Milwaukee Brewers @ St. Louis
PICK: Over
Since the start of this month, the Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals have been two of the hottest hitting clubs in the Naitonal League. The Brewers rank first in the league in slugging percentage, second in on base percentage and third in homers and runs scored since July. The Cardinals rate second in slugging percentage and on base percentage and are tied with Milwaukee for third in homers this month.
Look for more offense between these two clubs today with a pair of mediocre, bottom-of-the-rotation starters going, Seth McClung and Joel Piniero. Both bullpens are weak in middle relief and with their setup relievers, too.
The Brewers have hit at least one home run in 16 straight games. Milwaukee is averaging 6.4 runs in its last seven games, while going 'over' the total in eight of its past nine contests.
The Cardinals have gone 'over' in five of their last six games, while averaging 8.2 runs in their past seven matchups.
Rocco Spacamuro
75*Diamondbacks +105
Mighty Quinn
Brewers
Braves
Jack Clayton
Tigers/Royals Over
lasvegassportsadvisors
Toronto
Online Sports Winners
Minnesota +1.5
DutchMaster
Chi Cubs
Templer's Sports Picks
LA Angels
ARTHUR RALPH
RED SOX
CAPPERS ACCESS
Cardinals
Royals
Insider Sports Report
Boston/Seattle UNDER 9
DONALD TRAN
Twins +120
PLATINUM PLAYS
CARDINALS - 120
NEVADA SHARPSHOOTER
BRAVES
SOUTHSIDE SPORTS
FLORIDA
COMPUTER SPORTS
CINCY REDS-125
RAZOR SHARP
OAKLAND/TAMPA BAY OVER 7
#1 SPORTS
KANSAS CITY - 115
TOTALS 4 U
DETROIT/KANSAS CITY OVER
MIKE WYNN
Cincinnati -130
TRACE ADAMS
NY Yankees
BIG TIME SPORTS
RANGERS / WHITE SOX OVER 9.5
VALLEY SPORTS
Tampa Bay
Joe Wiz
Cubs
Tigers
Glen Mcgrew
Marlins
Frank Patron
Orioles -110
floridabookybusters
Texas
Paul Leiner
10* Yankees -125
Jennifer Barry
Tigers -110
NATIONAL SPORTS ADVISORS
San Diego +120
SPORTS ACTION 365
Detroit/Baltimore UNDER 7.5
GAMEDAY SPORTS NETWORK
Dodgers/Colorado UNDER 10
Chad Jordan
Cubs -130
VEGASSI
Cubs/Arizona UNDER 8
The Sports Scholar
Toronto
Gamblersdata
Florida -120
Freesportsletter
TAMPA BAY KAZMIR -175
Goldkeygames
WHITE SOX -160
RedZone Sports
Oakland A's
CHRIS CHIRIMBES
Tampa Bay Rays ace Scott Kazmir is set to make his first start since earning a win in the All-Star game. The Oakland Athletics did not have a position player in that contest, and their lack of pop at the plate has been particularly evident over the past week. Kazmir looks to saddle the Athletics with their sixth straight loss when he takes the mound for the AL East-leading Rays in the opener of a three-game series Monday night. Two days after a 104-pitch outing for Tampa Bay (57-40), Kazmir (7-5, 3.04 ERA) was needed in a pinch for the American League as Tuesday's All-Star game lasted 15 innings. He pitched the final frame, striking out one before the AL won 4-3 in the longest All-Star game ever.
TAMPA BAY DEVIL RAYS
WINNERS EDGE
2 Units ATLANTA BRAVES EV
2 Units NY YANKEES -130
2 Units DETROIT TIGERS -105
Dwayne Bryant
Milwaukee Brewers at St. Louis Cardinals
Pick: Milwaukee Brewers +107
The Brewers are a solid road dog here. They are coming off a three-game sweep of the Giants and they scored 24 runs in that sweep at San Francisco. Milwaukee has now won five of its last six on the road and they've won five of their last seven meetings with the Cards. Ryan Braun is batting .391 (18-for-46) with four home runs, five doubles and 13 RBIs in his last 11 games. He's fared even better against the Cardinals, as he has hit two home runs in each of his last two games against them and is batting .413 (31-for-75) with seven homers and 20 RBIs in 18 career games vs. St. Louis.
Milwaukee starter Seth McClung has pitched well lately, posting a 3.86 ERA in his three July starts, but he has only received three total runs of support in those games. This will be McClung's first career start against the Cardinals, but he made two relief appearances against them in April, allowing two hits in four scoreless innings.
St. Louis counters with Joel Pineiro, who has just one victory in his last 11 starts. Pineiro's home numbers (3.56 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, .323 OBP) are actually slightly worse than McClung's road numbers (3.28 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, .318 OBP). Pineiro has struggled a bit in his last three starts, sporting a 5.29 ERA, 1.94 WHIP and .425 OBP.
The Brewers are 26-9 in their last 35 games vs. a starter with a WHIP greater than 1.30 and they're 11-3 in their last 14 vs. a team with a winning record. The Cardinals are 1-5 in Pineiro's last 6 starts as a favorite of -110 to -150 and 1-5 in Pineiro's last 6 starts after scoring 5 runs or more in their previous game.
Take Milwaukee/McClung over St. Louis/Pineiro.
John Martin
1 Unit on Kansas City Royals -108
Get this, the Kansas City Royals are 6-0 against the Detroit Tigers this season. The Royals will kick the Tigers while they’re already down tonight in Game 1 of this 3-game series with Detroit. Zach Miner has been terrible against the Royals. The 26-year-old righthander is 0-2 in eight games - two starts - with an 8.36 ERA in his career against the Royals. Luke Hochevar is coming off one of his better starts of the season, allowing one run and five hits over seven innings in Kansas City's 3-1 victory over Seattle on July 11. Hochevar threw six scoreless innings in a win over Detroit on May 14 in his only career start against the Tigers. Cash in with Kansas City as a slight favorite.
Dustin Hawkins
Milwaukee Brewers vs. St Louis Cardinals
Play: Milwaukee Brewers
The Brew Crew have been on fire as of late!!! The bats are hot, and the pitching is even better. The Cards are not a bad team, just playing the wrong team at the wrong time.!!!
Info Plays
3* on L.A. Dodgers +115
Eric Stults has a 2.67 ERA in six starts this season for the Dodgers. He is an underdog here and really shouldn’t be, considering Rockies’ starter Kip Wells is making only his second start of the season tonight. The Dodgers are 6-3 against the Rockies in nine meetings with Colorado this season. Stults is 1-0 with a 2.57 ERA in his career against the Rockies, while Wells is 0-3 with a 6.17 ERA in his career against the Dodgers. Wells is 19-40 as a favorite of -110 or higher since 1997. There is no rhyme or reason as to why Wells is the favorite here. Bet the Dodgers on the road.
Black Widow Sports
1* on Florida Marlins -107
The Florida Marlins feel they have found their next brilliant young starter in Clint Volstad. Through 10 2/3 innings this season, Volstad has allowed just 1 earned run for a tiny 0.84 ERA. The Marlins are 14-5 (+14.1 Units) against the money line vs. NL teams allowing 4.3 or less runs/game in the second half of the season over the last 2 seasons. Florida is 10-3 (+11.1 Units) against the money line vs. an NL starting pitcher whose WHIP is 1.150 or better this season. The Atlanta Braves are 4-11 (-10.3 Units) against the money line off a loss to a division rival as a favorite this season. The Braves are lacking confidence after getting crushed by the Washington Nationals in back-to-back games. Take Florida on the Money Line.
NICK PARSONS
Royals/Tigers UNDER
The Tigers just cant solve the Royals this season. Theyre 0-6 against them and have averaged less than two runs per game! Overall, the games between Detroit and Kansas City have averaged about six runs per game and indeed there is some value here with going under the big number. Both teams are coming into this series off of some impressive offensive performances in their first series after the All Star Break. Detroit scored 25 runs in splitting their four game set with the Orioles. The Royals scored 22 runs in taking two of three from the White Sox. However, good pitching shuts down good hitting and tonights pitching match-up has the makings of a pitchers duel even though the starters involved tonight are not where youd normally think to look for a pitchers duel. Zach Miner is getting a chance to earn the #5 spot in the Tigers rotation and hes certainly earned it. Miner has been coming out of the bullpen and hes definitely been getting the job done! Hes 2-1 in his last 19 appearances with a stellar 0.68 ERA. In starting 17 games over the past three seasons Miner compiled a 7-7 record. However, sometimes a long stint in the bullpen is what rejuvenates a pitcher who wants badly to be in the starting role. This is precisely what we see with this situation with Miner and we expect him to stay hot, just like he was out of the bullpen, and mow down the Royals on Monday. As for the Kansas City pitching situation, the Royals are pretty well set with Luke Hochevar. His overall numbers this season may not appear that impressive but the right-hander has great stuff and hes grown as the season has gone on. Hochevar is finally learning to trust his stuff and he showed this once again in bouncing back from a couple of rough outings by totally dominating Seattle in his most recent start on July 11th. Hochevar is 1-0 with a 0.96 ERA against the Tigers and he already beat them at Kauffman Stadium back in May. Look for more of the same here. Hochevar has been much tougher at home than on the road and his 4-2 record at Kauffman Stadium with a 3.48 ERA is a sign of things to come. Though most wont think of a pitchers duel with these two hurlers on the mound, you can see from the above why one is quite likely! With the extra line value being offered with this big total the UNDER is the total of the month!
Matty O'Shea
CWS / TEX Over 9.5
The Rangers and White Sox saw their previous two meetings average nearly 20 runs last weekend, and there's no reason to believe that high-scoring trend won't continue here in this series opener at Chicago. The Sox saw their next three games at home average 13 runs against the Royals after that series at Arlington, with each one going OVER the total. Chicago will send Javier Vazquez to the mound, and he is 2-3 with a 6.80 ERA in his last seven starts. Vazquez has seen the OVER cash in seven of his last eight home starts. Meanwhile, Texas starter Eric Hurley will be making his first start since June 29th due to a hamstring injury and has not gone more than six innings yet in his young career. Both teams hit righties hard, and I simply expect this to be another explosive affair. Bet the OVER as my Double Dime AL Total Play O' the Week.
THE KING MAKER PLAY OF THE DAY
2 - Units Florida Marlins -120
RON RAYMOND MLB BEST BET WINNER
5* San Diego/Cincinnati - Over 10
Larry Ness
15* Situational Game of the Week (32-15 MLB run since June 30)
Larry went 25-12 with his MLB plays the L2 weeks before the All Star break. When play resumed on Thursday, he continued his winning ways by going 7-3 the L4 days (now 32-15 s/June 30), including a perfect 3-0 with GOW plays (two-year regular season run with GOW plays is now 172-86!). The winning continues tonight. Any takers?
15* Boston Red Sox