Stevie Y
Chicago Cubs vs. Chicago White Sox
Play: Chicago White Sox
Last outing the Chi Sox Javier Vazquez was hammered against the Cubbies last weekend and has had nearly a week off to improve on that start. Saturday he gives it another shot as the road weary Cubs try to avoid loss 3 in a row.
Vazquez has been solid at home at 5-1 with a 4.14 in 7 starts this season, winning his last 3. Gallagher comes up and is 0-2 with a 2.81 ERA in his last three starts, all on the road, where he is 0-3 with a 4.38 ERA in his last 4 games.
Seabass
5 Cleveland (Comp)
50 Mets Under
50 San Diego
50 LA Angels
50 Oakland
50 Red Sox
ATS Arena Football Lock Club
4 units on Utah (-6 1/2) over Colorado
WINNERS EDGE
Braves/Blue Jays under 9 , 5 units ( Total of the Year )
Detroit Tigers -1.5 +115 , 2 units
KC Royals - 130 , 2 units
Houston Astros + 130 , 1 unit
Frank Rosenthal
951 DBACKS-130
958 NYM-120
959 REDS+110
962 TIGERS-165
967 CARDS+115
974 RANGERS UNDER 10
976 A'S-140
980 DODGERS-125
UNDER 7.5
MR A
Arizona Diamondbacks at Florida Marlins
The struggling Diamondbacks have lost six of their last 7 games, just 1-6 on the road and have lost all four meetings against the Marlins this season at Dolphin Stadium.
Arizona's Brandon Webb is 2-4 with a 4.22 ERA in his last seven starts and is 3-4 with a 4.85 ERA in seven career starts against the Marlins.
Florida's Andrew Miller is 1-3 with a 4.65 ERA in his last six starts, but won his first meeting against the Diamondbacks on May 22, a 4-0 victory
Take the Florida Marlins to continue whipping the Arizona Diamondbacks at home. The Diamondbacks have lost five of the Webb's last 7 starts, four of the right-hander's last five on the road.
Florida Marlins +125
JB's COMPUTER PLAYS
Detroit Tigers -170
Boston Red Sox -140
Minnesota Twins -110
Texas Rangers +120
David Malinsky
Cincinnati Reds @ Cleveland Indians
PICK: Cincinnati Reds 4*
While Edinson Volquez has exploded on the scene for Cincinnati, Johnny Cueto actually came with more hype, and has seemingly been a disappointment at 5-8/5.01. But we like Cueto’s stuff, and as is the case with many young pitchers he needed some seasoning before being able to fully show his stuff from a Major League mound. Now he is doing it, but it is happening in a way in which few are noticing. That is why we are offered an underdog price here, and we will not hesitate to take it.
Three starts back we believe that Cueto may have bottomed out - in an ugly 10-0 home loss to the Cardinals he walked eight batters in only five innings. Instead of going into a funk he showed the kind of stuff that he has, bouncing right back to hold the Dodgers and Yankees to three runs on nine hits over 12 innings, while striking out nine. But the Reds only scored a single run behind him each time, which meant a pair of losses. Put a couple of W’s behind those performances, and tonight’s line is far different. Now our timing is ideal to back an emerging talent that has turned in seven quality starts in his last eight outings, but under the radar screens.
Tonight Cueto will also get some offensive support. At this stage in his career Paul Byrd simply can not get left-handers out - over the last three seasons they have tattooed him to a .340 count over 921 at-bats, compared to .266 in 963 vs. right-handers. And they are not just hitting him, they are hitting him hard - lefties have already hit 12 home runs in 167 at-bats this season. Cincinnati has the roster to load up from that side, and with the wind blowing out to right at Jacobs Field it makes his issues even worse. At 3-8/5.21, and at 0-3/9.00 over his last three starts, he absolutely does not have the resume to be the favorite over Cueto in this game. And behind Byrd there is an inconsistent bullpen that Cincinnati rocked in that earlier home series sweep, and can attack well again.
Scott Rickenbach
Colorado Rockies @ Detroit Tigers
PICK: Detroit Tigers
The Tigers are too pricey to qualify as a star rated pick for me but I do see value here even at this price and that is why this pick is being released right here. The Tigers are simply red hot right now and they are a very solid home team. Conversely, the Rockies are struggling mightily even though their batting lineup has gotten healthier and Colorado has also been miserable on the road this season.
Detroit is 15-4 in their last 19 games and they are a respectable 23-17 at home. This includes a stretch where the Tigers are now 11-2 in their last 13 home games. Keep in mind that even though the Tigers scored “just” seven runs in yesterday’s win over the Rockies, they could have won the game by much more as they left nine men on base and wasted some bases loaded, big opportunities. Against Jeff Francis of Colorado, more big opportunities should be there today! Francis is coming off of another ugly road start and this has been a common theme for him this season as he has a 6.07 ERA away from home this season. Francis has been getting hit hard recently and he also has more walks than strikeouts over his last four starts! He will be no match for a red hot Tigers team this afternoon.
The Tigers will be doing more than just pounding the ball today as they should also get another rock solid start from Justin Verlander. The Detroit right-hander has been pitching much better than his full season numbers show. Verlander has allowed just 16 earned runs in his last eight starts and he’s also thrived in inter-league action throughout his career. Verlander is 8-0 with a 2.21 ERA in his nine career inter-league starts and this is his first career start against the Rockies. In other words, Colorado is likely to have trouble getting a good ‘read’ on Verlander in their first ever look at him. Verlander is tough enough to hit for teams that are use to him. Note that he’s only getting hit at a .239 clip this season and his career BAA is .248 and he will dominate in this start. Couple that with plenty of run support and the Tigers are worth the price! They should stay red hot on Saturday. Play Detroit.
LT Profits
Baltimore Orioles -105
John Lannan of the Washington Nationals has been pitching out of his mind over his last seven starts, but we look for him to return to earth tonight as the Baltimore Orioles look to even up the Beltway Series.
Lannan has very modest stuff and relies solely on the location of his pitches, and he has certainly been great the last month and a half or so allowing three runs or less in each of his last seven starts. However, rather incredibly, the Nationals have lost each of his last six outings, which should give you an idea of just how pathetic the Washington offense has been!
The Nats are batting a dismal .233 as a team at home, averaging a pathetic 3.45 runs per game here in their own stadium. Worst of all, we simply do not believe that Lannan is as good as he has looked, so if he regresses a bit and allows a few more runs tonight, Washington will really be up against it.
While Lannan has over-performed lately, we also feel that Orioles starter Garrett Olson has underachieved in recent starts. Olson is highly regarded and he allowed three earned runs or less in seven of his first eight starts this season before suddenly going three straight outings without a Quality Start, However, facing this Nationals lineup should be the perfect remedy to get Olson back on track.
Besides, Washington is still just 6-18 in their last 24 home games even with their win in the series opener last night, so look for Baltimore to even the series here.
Pick: Orioles -105
Arizona Diamondbacks @ Florida Marlins Over 8.0
There may be something physically wrong with Brandon Webb of the Arizona Diamondbacks that nobody is disclosing, and with the mediocre Andrew Miller pitching for the Florida Marlins, look for a relatively high scoring game.
In his last three starts, Webb was taken out after just five innings while allowing three runs and nine baserunners vs. the New York Mets, and he was then much worse than that over his last two outings, surrendering 11 earned runs and 23 baserunners in just 10.1 innings. The worst part is that his velocity appears to be noticeably down.
As for Miller, he is 5-6 with a 5.03 ERA and a poor 1.60 WHIP in 82.1 innings, and those key numbers are not any better at home (5.05 ERA, 1.56 WHIP). Granted, he had a couple of good outings recently, but he then returned to form in his last start at Oakland allowing five runs and nine baserunners in only four innings.
Unless Webb suddenly overcomes what looks like a dead arm period, we see this game landing on double-digits.
Pick: Diamondbacks, Marlins Over 8
Dr Baseball Guaranteed Selections
GRAND SLAM BASEBALL WINNER
San Diego w/Baek -130
Big Al
At 8:05pm our selection is on the Philadelphia Phillies over the Texas Rangers. There is a renewed sense of optimism in the heart of the Lone Star State as the Rangers have cracked the .500 mark with the close-fought win over the Phillies on Friday and this team is hoping to ride the success of one of the most surprising starters in the league to make it two in a row over one of the NL's best squads. But tonight's assignment will be considerably more difficult as instead of facing the very inconsistent Brett Myers, tonight the Rangers will have to face one of the best lefty starters in baseball in Cole Hamels. After back-to-back poor outings on May 25th and 31st, Hamels has now thrown four quality starts in a row and although the Rangers' righthander Vicente Padilla is 3-0 in his last three starts, those efforts came against the Nationals, Royals, and Braves, and that's hardly the cream of the Major League crop. As a team, Texas is batting 36 points lower against southpaws than it is against righthanders (.252 vs. .288). The Rangers' closer, CJ Wilson, has been very shaky lately as despite getting his 17th save on Friday, he gave up another earned run in the process bringing his ERA on the season close to five runs (4.86). Take the Phils.
Chris James Sports
Chicago Cubs at Chicago White Sox
Play: Chicago White Sox
The Chicago Cubs meet the Chicago White Sox in Game 2 of their second series in as many weeks. The Cubs have the NL best record at about the halfway point in the season. I don't know how many people would have expected that. The majority of their wins have come at home where they have the best record in the majors going 33-10. However, on the road is a different story as they are only 16-21! And today they face a pitcher who is red hot at home for the White Sox in Javier Vazquez. He is 13-3 in his last 16 Home Starts and 7-1 in his last 8 as a home favorite. Look for the Vazquez to continue his dominance at home today as the Cubs continue to struggle on the road!
Carlo Campanella
Game: Philadelphia Phillies at Texas Rangers
Prediction: Texas Rangers
Reason: Philadelphia is just 3-9 during InterLeague play this season and just 1-7 during their last 7 games. Not good numbers for a Road Favorite that faces a starting pitcher, Padilla, that's 8-2 as a Dog of +100 or higher this season.
Scott Spreitzer
Philadelphia Phillies at Texas Rangers
Prediction: Texas Rangers
I'm taking the price with the Rangers and Padilla over Hamels. We took the OVER on this page in last night's matchup between these two teams, citing the hitter-friendly venue along with the current poor pitching form of Myers and Gabbard. Today, we have better hurlers on the bump, but the park is still a great team-equalizer. As far as the pitchers are concerned, Hamels owns a decent 4.05 road ERA. But it must be noted that those numbers have come agains the NL, where pitchers hit for themselves. Meanwhile, Padilla has been outstanding in this tough-to-pitch stadium, holding a sparkling 3.00 ERA against AL squads, obviously with a designated hitter. Considering the park, Padilla is actually much better than Hamels in tonight's situation.The wrong team opened the favorite and I'm playing Texas.