Ben Burns
Colorado Rockies at New York Mets
Prediction: over
The first two games of this series have both been of the low-scoring variety. Friday's opener had a final score of 2-1 and yesterday's game finished at 3-0. However, tonight's game should see significantly more fireworks.
Redman goes for the Rockies and that should have the Mets' hitters licking their lips. Redman has made eight starts this season and has a terrible 7.36 ERA and 1.636 WHIP. Opposing hitters are batting .315 against him. Not surprisingly, the OVER was a profitable 6-2 in those games. That includes a perfect 3-0 mark in his three road starts - Redman has a 9.00 ERA in those games. Redman hasn't fared well vs. the Mets either. In seven starts, he's gone 1-4 (team was 1-6) with an ERA of 4.64 and a WHIP of 1.43. The OVER was 5-1-1.
With a 3.93 ERA on the season, Pelfrey has been much better than Redman. However, his 1.595 WHIP shows that he hasn't exactly dominated hitters. He also has an ugly 6.23 ERA and 1.961 WHIP in two career starts vs. the Rockies. That includes an 11-5 loss in his lone home start against colorado. Pelfrey would give up six runs in that game, lasting just three innings.
The Mets have seen the OVER go 12-6-1 their last 19 games against southpaw starters. Looking back further and we find the OVER at a profitable 71-47-7 against left-handers the past three seasons. If the line remains at nine, consider a play on the OVER.
Jimmy The Moose
Los Angeles Angels at Oakland Athletics
Prediction: under
The under is 24-10-2 in the Angels last 36 road games. The under is 15-6-2 in the Angels last 23 games as an underdog. The under is 16-5-1 in their last 22 games vs. a team with a winning home record. The Angels have played the under in 4 of Saunders last 5 starts overall and the under is 1-5 in his alst 6 road starts. The A's have played the under in 8 of their last 10 games overall. The under is 5-1 in their last 6 vs. a team with a winning record. The under is 9-3 in their last 12 home games. The under is 8-3-1 in Duchscherer's last 12 stats. The under is 6-2-2 in the Angels last 10 trips to Oakland. Play the under.
Tom Freese
Los Angeles Angels at Oakland Athletics
Prediction: under
Oakland is 37-18-3 UNDER their last 58 games vs. a team with a road win percentage of over.600 and they are 8-3-1 UNDER in the last 12 starts made by Justin Duchscherer. The A's are 15-6-2 UNDER their last 23 games vs. righty starters. Los Angeles is 24-10-2 UNDER their last 36 road games and they are 20-6-2 UNDER vs. an opponent who scored 2 or less runs in their last game. The Angels are 15-6-2 UNDER their last 23 games as underdogs and they are 5-1 UNDER in the last 6 starts made by Joe Saunders. PLAY ON 'UNDER'
Robert Ross
San Francisco Giants at Chicago Cubs
Prediction: San Francisco Giants
Giants throw their ace Lincecum at the Cubs as they look to avoid a three-game sweep. They've given the Cubs a battle the first two games, losing by two runs and then one with both coming in the late innings. Supporting angle says t0 Play Against - Home teams (CHICAGO CUBS) - top level team, outscoring opponents by 1 or more runs/game on the season, after 2 straight wins by 2 runs or less (41-32 over the last 5 seasons, 56.2%). Take San Francisco!
Larry Ness
San Francisco Giants @ Chicago Cubs
PICK: Chicago Cubs
Two All Star pitchers square off in Wrigley Field on Sunday, as Tim Lincecum takes on Ryan Dempster. Lincecum (10-2 with a 2.66 ERA) has developed into one of the NL's best hurlers in just his second season, while Dempster (10-3 with a 3.13 ERA) has revived his career as a starter (won 29 games for the Marlins in 2000 and 2001), after saving 85 games the last three seasons as Chicago's closer. Lincecum had been undefeated away from San Francisco this season but lost 7-0 loss at Shea to the Mets on Tuesday. He'll take a 7-1 mark with a 2.23 ERA in 11 road appearances this year (10 starts) into today's matchup against Dempster. However, getting the best of Dempster in Wrigley Field will not be easy. While Dempster is just 0-3 with a 4.03 ERA in eight road starts this year (team is 3-5), he's 10-0 with a 2.58 ERA in 11 home starts (Cubs are 11-0). However, there is a "fly in the ointment" for the Cubs in today's game, as Dempster is 0-6 with a 5.09 career ERA as a starter against the Giants. That being said, I'm NOT overlooking his home mark this year, or that of the Cubs, who are a ML-best 37-11 at home. The Cubs lead the NL in team batting average (.282) and are the senior circuit's highest scoring team as well (5.37 RPG), a figure that jumps to 6.38 RPG in home contests. Meanwhile, the Giants bat just .255 as a team and are one of the NL's lowest scoring teams, averaging 4.02 RPG. The Lincecum and Dempster matchup may be a 'push' but the Cubs over the Giants is a "no contest!" Cubs win, Cubs win!
Stephen Nover
Florida Marlins @ Los Angeles Dodgers
PICK: Florida Marlins
Two promising pitchers go in this matchup - Andrew Miller for Florida and Chad Billingsley for Los Angeles.
Billingsley is the strong favorite on the betting line. He's certainly capable of coming in with a big performance. But at this price, the underdog Marlins have too much going for them to be faded or ignored.
Florida is the hotter club, having won five of its past six. This includes taking the first three games of this series.
The Marlins are the much better hitting team, ranking first in homers and sixth in runs compared to the Dodgers rating 29th in homers and 26th in runs. Florida is averaging 5.9 runs in its past 12 games, while the Dodgers are averaging 2.8 runs during their last seven contests.
Marlins all-star shortstop Hanley Ramirez said he expects to play today after going out early during Saturday night's game because of a sore right shoulder. Look for the line to climb right near post if Ramirez isn't able to start.
Miller has allowed three or fewer runs in seven of his last 10 starts as he begins to show signs of fulfilling his great talent. He has yet to yield more than four earned runs during any of his last 10 starts.
Billingsley is very talented, too, but has struggled somewhat at home. He had a horrible outing on Tuesday at home versus the Braves, giving up five earned runs on six hits and four walks in 5 1/3 innings while throwing 103 pitches. Billingsley's ERA at Dodger Stadium is 4.18 compared to 2.65 on the road.
The Dodgers aren't expected to have star closer Takashi Saito. He left last night's game because of pain in his pitching elbow.
Scott Ferrall
CHICAGO WS -108 over Texas--The White Sox just aren't losing series these days. They've won four of last five series gogin in to the break. Contreras goes Sunday and beats Matt Harrison (1-0). OVER 10.5 RUNS
A's -130 over Angels--Oakland's ace, Duchscherer is going today and he threw a two hit, complete game shutout his last start. This guy's got 10 wins and doesn't allow any runs. Count on it ! UNDER 7 RUNS
Cubs -143 over Giants--Dempster doesn't lose at Wrigley--Cubs are 11-0 when he pitches at home. I saw the Mets beat 10 win Lincecum at Shea this week, so he's beatable. Cubs finish sweep.
Braves +102 over Padres---Randy Wolf never beats Atlanta (4-10) in his career. He even recently called himself the "worst pitcher in baseball." Great confidence there chief ! Campillo beats him at Petco. OVER 7.5 RUNS
Dodgers -161 over Marlins--Andrew Miller is 1-5 in his last 9 starts and LA avoids the sweep with Billingsley on the mound at the Revine. He's 3-0 in five starts vs the marlins in his brief career. UNDER 8 RUNS--LA isn't scoring runs this week.
NEW YORK METS -160 over Rockies--Sunday night baseball at Shea on ESPN has the Mets going for their 9th straight win and longest streak in 8 yrs. Pelfrey has been on FIRE lately. He's been NY's best pitcher lately. The Mets have won 17 of last 19 meetings with Colorado in Queens. JUMP ON NY TONIGHT AND RIDE THE GRAVY TRAIN. UNDER 9 RUNS--Pelfrey's ERA over his last 5 wins in a row is 3.23
JB's Computer Picks
Boston Red Sox -210 * * *
Chicago Cubs -150
New York Mets -170
Best Bet ***
Sports Gambling Hotline
St. Louis -110 at PITTSBURGH
Today we like the hits to keep on coming in the St. Louis-Pittsburgh contest.
Yesterday, the teams combined for a whopping 23 run, and while we don't expect that many runs to be scored this afternoon, we are expecting another high-scoring game that will head OVER the posted price.
7 of the 11 meetings this year between the teams have gone OVER, and pitchers Joel Pineiro, and Ian Snell have been known to give them up in bunches at times.
Pineiro does sport a 4.53 road ERA, while Snell's ERA for the season is quite close to 6.
The hitters rule the day once again today.
Play on the OVER in the Cards-Pirates game.
4♦ OVER
Michael Cannon
St. Louis -115 at PITTSBURGH
The Cardinals cost me last night with my paying clients, basically because their bullpen imploded, but that’s not preventing me from jumping onboard with them today as my free play.
St. Louis will start Joel Piniero, who is 3-4 on the season with a 4.17 ERA but has had good success against the Pirates in his career.
The right-hander is 3-0 with a 2.81 ERA in four lifetime games against Pittsburgh.
The Bucs will counter with Ian Snell, who has struggled all season long and is just back from a stint on the DL. The right-hander is 0-1 with a 9.26 ERA in his last three games, issuing an alarming 13 walks in just 11 2-3 innings.
Snell has also been battered by the Cardinals this season, going 0-1 with a 9.64 ERA in three games.
Take the Cardinals as they grab the road win.
4♦ ST. LOUIS
Drew Gordon
Houston at WASHINGTON -105
You'll hear a lot about how Odalis Perez has struggled against the Astros in his career, which is true, going 0-4 with a ugly 11.57 ERA. However, you have to take into account one glaring problem with those numbers - All 6 of those career starts came in Houston, and if you know Perez, you know he's much, much better in the friendly confines of Nationals Park. In fact, despite being 0-3 at home, he's posted a rock-solid 2.11 ERA there this season, and if not for a lack of run support would have a much better record.
Speaking of run support, you can expect the Nats to get their oppurtunities against Brandon Backe, who's been garbage on the road, going 2-6 with a 5.15 ERA away this season. He's 0-1 with an ugly 6.60 ERA over his last 3 starts, and is 1-2 with a 4.50 ERA in 3 career starts against the Nats. Also note, he'll be facing a Washington offense that's picked it up over their last 4 games, averaging a hearty 6.0 runs per game over that span!
Finally, let's look over some trends, like for example, the fact the Astros are just 2-6 over their last 8 meetings in Washington. Or we could consider the Astros road futility, going 6-16 over their last 22 road games. Look guys, in the end, this is a road-weary Astros team, starting a road-weary Backe, against a surging Perez looking for redemption. With the Nationals swinging the bats well, look for Perez to get a much-deserved home win in this one.
Take Washington behind Perez over Houston and Backe in afternoon MLB action.
2♦ WASHINGTON
Chris Jordan
San Francisco at CHICAGO -145
Folks at Wrigley Field are in for a treat today, as they’ll get a glimpse at two of the hottest pitchers of the first half – Ryan Dempster and Tim Lincecum. Unfortunately for the Giants and their one star player this season, Dempster has been unbeatable in every start he’s made in front of the ivy. The fiery right-hander is 10-0 in as many starts in Wrigley Field, with a 2.58 ERA, and comes into this one off a solid showing against Cincinnati.
Dempster held the Reds to one earned run in seven innings, and catches a Giants team that has been hit or miss all season. And after what the Frisco lineup pulled yesterday, then was eventually deflated by the Cubs’ extra-inning win, I doubt the Giants will have enough emotion to hit Dempster and put any runs on the board. Lay the value money with the Cubs and Dempster today.
2♦ CUBS
Karl Garrett
Florida +145 at LOS ANGELES
The G-Man is on an 8-2 comp play run the last 10 days.
I don't see any reason why I shouldn't take a chance on the underdog Marlins today at Chavez Ravine.
Florida has won the first 3 meetings of this weekend set against Los Angeles, and the Marlins have now won 4 in a row, and 6 of their last 7 overall.
Marlins starter Andrew Miller hasn't picked up a win in some time, but the southpaw does have the talent to go out there today, and give the Marlins some quality innings.
Chad Billingsley just was roughed up by Atlanta, surrendering 5 runs in 5 innings while taking the home loss his last time out.
Florida is 5-1 since last year at Dodger Stadium, and I will back them today to complete the 4 game sweep.
1♦ FLORIDA
Bobby Maxwell
L.A. Angels +120 at OAKLAND
Hit a nice plus-money FREE play on Saturday when the Marlins got the extra-inning win over the Dodgers. We've now hit three straight comp plays and have gone 25-19 over the last 44 days with freebies. Today we are in Oakland for a comp play on the Angels as they take on the A's.
Pretty good pitching matchup in this one as two hurlers with double-digit wins go at it in the final game before the All-Star break. We're playing the Angels and their lefty Joe Saunders (12-5, 3.07 ERA).
Saunders is 6-3 on the road with a 2.23 ERA and this guy has been unstoppable in day games this season, going 5-0 this season. He was good in his last outing on Tuesday when he gave up three runs on six hits in eight innings but lost 3-2 to the Rangers.
He's dominated the A's in two starts this season, giving up two earned runs in 14.1 innings as the Angels have won 2-0 and 7-4. The Angels are 5-2 in Saunders' seven starts against the A's dating back to 2006.
Oakland is going with Justin Duchscherer (10-5, 1.78) and he is coming off a complete-game two-hitter as he blanked the Mariners 2-0. He faced the Angels in a slugfest back on May 1 when he gave up six runs on six hits in five innings but his offense pulled out a 15-8 victory.
The Angels have won their last four Sunday games and they are 5-1 with Saunders as a road 'dog and 5-1 when he pitches on Sundays. They've also won 13 of his last 18 starts and gone 13-6 when he pitches on the road.
We like the effort Saunders gives and we're backing him tonight as the Angels get a win heading into the break. Play Los Angeles.
4♦ L.A. ANGELS
KELSO
High Rollers Club
15 unit - Mets
5 unit- Mets over
5 unit - parlay Mets and over