SPORTS ADVISORS
Milwaukee (37-31) at Detroit (37-31)
The leaders of the A.L. and N.L. Central Divisions wrap up their three-game series with a pair of aces on the mound, as the Tigers’ Justin Verlander (7-3, 3.39 ERA) opposes Yovani Gallardo (7-3, 2.93) at Comerica Park.
Detroit followed up Friday’s 10-4, rain-shortened victory with Saturday’s 9-5 rout, winning for the third straight game while scoring 25 runs in the process. Jim Leyland’s club carries positive streaks of 48-21 in interleague action, 39-13 in home interleague contests and 8-2 on Sunday, but it is still just 4-6 in its last 10 at home and 3-6 in its last nine at Comerica against right-handers.
Milwaukee has followed up a three-game sweep in Cleveland with the consecutive losses to the Tigers and is now 4-8 in its last 12 contests. Also, in interleague play, the Brew Crew is mired in slumps of 4-11 on the highway and 1-7 against right-handed starters.
These teams split six total meetings in 2006 and 2007, with the visitor going 4-2.
Detroit is 1-2 in Verlander’s last three starts, following a 7-1 run behind the 26-year-old. On Tuesday at St. Louis, the right-hander allowed five runs on eight hits and two walks in just four innings of an 11-2 loss. Prior to that, Verlander had thrown nine straight quality starts, going 7-0 with a 1.10 ERA.
Verlander is 3-0 with a 0.82 ERA in three home starts this year. And in his lone start against Milwaukee, he threw a complete-game shutout in a 4-0 home win two years ago. Detroit is 8-3 in Verlander’s last 11 starts overall and 5-1 in his last six home starts.
Milwaukee is 8-2 in Gallardo’s last 10 starts, including Tuesday’s 7-5 victory at Cleveland in which the right-hander allowed two runs on five hits with six walks and eight strikeouts. Gallardo has given up two earned runs or less in each of his last five starts, going 3-1 with a stifling 1.43 ERA. Gallardo is 4-1 with a 2.89 ERA in seven road starts this year, and this is his first meeting against Detroit.
With Gallardo starting, the Brewers are on runs of 5-0 against winning teams and 4-1 on the highway.
Although Saturday’s game easily went over the total, the Tigers sport nothing but “under” trends, including 21-11 overall, 10-4 at home, 8-4 against right-handed starters, 7-4 in interleague play and 5-0 in Verlander’s last five home starts. On the flip side, the over for Milwaukee is on runs of 6-0 overall (all against the A.L. Central and all on the road. However, with Gallardo pitching, the under is on streaks of 15-7 overall, 11-3 and 7-1 against winning teams.
ATS ADVANTAGE: UNDER
L.A. Dodgers (45-24) at L.A. Angels (36-30)
The Dodgers, with the best record in the majors, wrap up their three-game weekend set against the Angels by pitting left-hander Clayton Kershaw (3-5, 4.13 ERA) against veteran right-hander John Lackey (2-2, 6.10) in Anaheim.
The Dodgers halted their rivals seven-game winning streak with last night’s 6-2 victory, as veteran right-hander Jeff Weaver outdueled younger brother Jered Weaver. The Dodgers are now 12-5 in their last 17 road games, but they remain on interleague slides of 21-44 overall (6-5 this year) and 14-38 on the road (3-2 this year).
Although their winning streak ended Saturday, the Angels continue to sport positive streaks of 5-1 at home, 8-2 in interleague play this season (all against the N.L. West), 39-18 overall in interleague action and 19-8 versus the N.L. West.
The Angels have owned this rivalry lately, with runs of 13-6 overall (3-2 this season), 21-8 in Anaheim, 5-1 with Lackey starting against the Dodgers and 4-0 in Lackey’s last five against the Dodgers at home.
Lackey beat San Francisco 9-7 victory on Monday, allowing three runs on 10 hits with no walks and 10 strikeouts in seven innings. In his lone home start this season, Lackey lost 5-2 to Seattle on May 29. However, he’s 5-1 with a solid 1.50 ERA in nine career appearances (eight starts) against the Dodgers. On May 23, he got a no-decision at Dodger Stadium, allowing three runs in seven innings, with the Angels falling 5-4.
With Lackey taking the ball, the Angels are on runs of 17-5 in interleague play and 18-7 on Sunday, but they are also on skids of 4-10 overall and 0-4 at home.
Kershaw rebounded from two straight losses by leading the Dodgers to a 5-4 home win over Oakland on Tuesday, throwing 5 2/3 shutout innings as he worked four hits and three walks around 10 strikeouts, but he got a no-decision. The 21-year-old is 2-3 with an inflated 6.75 ERA in six road starts this season, and in his only career start against the Angels, he got a no-decision in a 3-1 defeat, giving up a run on four hits and four walks in five innings.
With Kershaw on the hill, the Dodgers are on slides of 1-4 against winning teams and 1-4 in interleague play, though they have won four of his last five Sunday starts.
The Dodgers are on “under” runs of 6-2 on the highway, 12-5 in interleague action, 38-16-3 in American League parks and 13-7 versus the N.L. West. Also, the under for the Angels is on stretches of 11-6 at home, 5-1 in Lackey’s last six home starts, 16-5-3 behind Lackey in interleague play and 7-1 with Lackey facing the Dodgers.
Finally, although the first two games of this weekend set have gone over the total, the under is still 9-6 in the last 15 meetings overall and 14-7-1 in the last 22 battles in Anaheim.
ATS ADVANTAGE: L.A. ANGELS and UNDER
Frank Jordan
Milwaukee Brewers vs. Detroit Tigers
Play: Detroit Tigers
This is the game of the day as this pits two of the best young starting pitchers as Gallardo and Verlander each 7-3 go head to head in Detroit. Look for Verlander who started slow out of the gate to continue his red hot streak and bring home the win on Sunday for the Tigers. Play Detroit
Cajun Sports
Chicago White Sox vs. Cincinnati Reds
Play: Cincinnati Reds
The White Sox and Reds take to the diamond for the third and deciding game in their three-game interleague weekend set on Sunday afternoon at Great American Ballpark. The Reds opened the series by winning game one on Friday night 4 to 3 and the boys from the south side of Chicago took game two on Saturday winning a high scoring affair 10 to 8. The Sox will send left-hander Mark Buehrle to the bump with his record of 2-1 W/L and ERA of 4.64 on the road this season. Buehrle has struggled in his last three outings posting a record of 0-1 W/L and an ERA of 5.76. Chicago is 1-2 W/L over that three-game span behind Buehrle. More bad news for the Sox as the Reds are 4-1 W/L their last five when facing a left-handed starter during interleague action. Cincinnati will send Aaron Harang to the hill for Sunday’s game he has an ERA of 2.70 and a WHIP of 1.200 when he takes the mound at Great American this season. Harang is 4-2 W/L and the Reds are 5-2 W/L when he starts at home and they are counting on another solid performance from the right-hander today. Over his last three outings Harangs record is only 0-1 W/L but he has an ERA of 1.53 and the Reds are 2-1 W/L in those three starts. Cincinnati is a perfect 6-0 W/L in Harang’s last six starts in interleague action and 4-0 W/L in his last four home starts overall. Chicago is active in a MLB System that tells us to Play AGAINST MLB AL road teams with a batting average of .265 or worse facing a NL starter who’s ERA is 3.70 or better on the season with a team batting .240 or worse over their last fifteen games. Since 1997 this system has posted a record of 41-8 W/L for 83 percent winners and a profit of +28.7 units. We are going to lay the short price with the Reds on Sunday as they get the win and take the series from the White Sox at Great American Ballpark.
Graded Selection: 2* Cincinnati Reds 3 Chicago White Sox 1
Craig Trapp
St Louis Cardinals vs. Kansas City Royals
Play: Under 8.5
Betting Trends
-Under is 5-0 in Cardinals last 5 interleague games as a favorite.
-Under is 7-3-2 in Cardinals last 12 road games vs. a team with a losing record.
-Under is 7-3 in the last 10 meetings.
-Under is 11-5 in Royals last 16 vs. a team with a winning record.
-Under is 9-4 in Meches last 13 starts as a home underdog.
Two hot pitchers face off today in KC. Wainright will go for STL and only one time in last 10 starts has he given up more than 4 runs, the last three have been great only allowing 7 runs in three games. KC goes to Meche who has been great lately and in his last start he had a complete game shut out and two games ago he was a 7 inning shut out.
Even better for the under is that these two teams have played 5 times this year and only one time have they scored over 8 runs. This one is going to be a pitchers duel and easily be under. SCORE KC 2 - STL 1
Red Dog Sports
St. Louis at Kansas City
Play Kansas City
The Royals start Gil Meche and he has an ERA of 0.41 in his last 3 starts. Wainwright starts for the Cards and his ERA is a decent 3.15 in his last 3 starts. Play the Royals at -105.
JIM FEIST
TORONTO BLUE JAYS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Take: WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Break up the Nationals!!! This club made a big coaching change and now they have rattled off three straight winners as they headed into Saturday evening. Don't get too excited though, the Nats are still dead last in the NL East, a mere 17 games back of Philly. However, there is some optimism in the nation's capital as the Nationals look a bit better now. The Blue Jays are in that tough AL East with Boston and New York. Toss in last year's champ, Tampa Bay, and it's a tough division. In these NL park games the Blue Jays are hampered by the loss of the DH as well, which does change the way a team is coached. Rookie pitcher Ricky Romero starts for the Jays and he's 3-3 on the year with a 3.73 era. Really there isn't much to look at with this young lefty since he has only eight games in the majors. Nats starter Shairon Martis isn't much more experience with just 18 major league games. Martis is 5-1 however, with a higher 4.76 era. But on this Nationals club, that's a good era!! The Nats can get their pitchers runs and if Martis can keep the Jays somewhat in check here, this is another winner for Washington.
Marc Lawrence
Play On: Seattle w/Hernandez vs. Davis
The Mariners wrap up their three-game series with the Diamondbacks in Seattle this afternoon knowing they are 4-1 behind Felix Hernandez in his last five team starts. On the flip side his opponent, Doug Davis, has dropped 9 of his last 11 team starts, including 4 of his last 5 on the road. With that, look for Hernandez to improve to 15-3 in his career team starts in June here today.
John Fisher
Milwaukee Brewers vs. Detroit Tigers
Play: Detroit Tigers
I have Verlander at -155. Seems like Vegas is giving Verlander no respect for pitching great over last couple of weeks. Look for the "V" man to keep Brewers fast ball hitters off balanced with some nasty sliders! 3 STAR Detroit
New York Yankees vs. Florida Marlins
Play: New York Yankees
CC TRAIN has looked good of late only to ahve bullpen collapse in a few of his outings. CC handles Florida pretty well. I will go with history here. Take the CC TRain. Yanks 9 Marlins 4 4 STAR
Sports Gambling Hotline
Pittsburgh at COLORADO -145
We are on an 11-6 free play run the last 17 days!
The Pirates and the Rockies pushed the closing total on Friday night, sailed OVER on Saturday night, and we feel they will also head OVER the total this Sunday afternoon in the series finale.
Consider Paul Maholm is 2-1 with a 1.83 ERA at PNC Park this season, but on the road the southpaw is just 2-2 with a whopping 5.77 ERA!
His counterpart Jorge De La Rosa is coming off a home start in which he allowed 7 runs in just 2 innings of work, as De La Rosa dropped to 0-5 in his home starts this season with an over 8 ERA.
With Sunday's starting pitchers sporting such glaring numbers, we feel the hitters will be dictating the action in this one, and the runs will be adding up.
Play on the OVER in the Pittsburgh-Colorado contest.
2♦ OVER
Karl Garrett
Milwaukee at DETROIT -130
G-Man now 4-1 the last 5 days, and 125-99-4 long-term with my free plays.
How about a good old-fashioned pitcher's duel Sunday at Comerica Park.
Milwaukee's been playing them HIGH the last week, but not today, as they face Justin Verlander who has been as tough as they come in his home park this year.
Verlander has gone 3-0 at home this season, and his ERA is a microscopic 0.82. All 5 of his home starts have stayed UNDER the posted total, and this one will as well.
Milwaukee will counter with the steady Yovani Gallardo who is now 7-3 for the year, and sports a 2.93 season ERA.
G-Man just gets the feeling that after the recent slugfests, Sunday's game shapes up to be a game in which the hurlers dominate.
Go with the UNDER in the series finale.
3♦ UNDER
Dominic Fazzini
Milwaukee at DETROIT
Justin Verlander has rebounded from a poor 2008 season, and has re-established himself as one of the top young right-handers in the American League. The Tigers right-hander leads the AL in strikeouts (110) and has allowed more than three earned runs in a game just once in his last 10 starts.
That lone poor outing came in his last start, when he allowed five runs on eight hits in four innings Tuesday against the Cardinals, in part because the St. Louis heat and humidity took its toll on Verlander (7-3, 3.39 ERA). But now the Tigers ace is back in Detroit, where he has been nearly untouchable.
Verlander is 3-0 with a 0.82 ERA at Comerica Park, and he has been nearly as good in day games at 2-0, 1.42. And it was facing the Brewers at Comerica where Verlander had his finest moment as a big-leaguer, throwing a no-hitter and striking out 12 on June 12, 2007.
Milwaukee’s Yovani Gallardo (7-3, 2.93) also has been solid this year, and has been sharp in day games (2-1, 0.84). The 23-year-old right-hander has not allowed more than two runs in any of his last five starts.
With both pitchers on top of their game, runs will be hard to come by today at Comerica. Go with the under.
4♦ UNDER
Jeff Benton
Milwaukee at DETROIT -130
For Sunday’s free play, we’ll take the Tigers and Justin Verlander over Milwaukee in the finale of an interleague series in Motown.
Simply put, I’m banking on a big time bounce-back effort from Verlander, whose string of nine straight magnificent starts came to a crashing halt in Tuesday’s 11-2 loss at St. Louis. Verlander gave up four runs before getting out of the first inning and finished allowing five runs in just four innings of work. Considering the hard-throwing right-hander had allowed a total of eight runs in his previous nine starts covering 65 1/3 innings, nobody could’ve seen Tuesday’s implosion coming (least of all myself, as I backed Verlander in the contest).
Today, though, Verlander is back at home, where in five starts this season, he’s allowed a grand total of five runs (only three earned) in 33 innings, which equates to a 0.82 ERA. In those 33 innings, he’s yielded just 18 hits and 13 walks while striking out 43. For the season now, Verlander has an astounding 110-27 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Compare that with the ratio for Brewers starter Yovani Gallardo. I love Gallardo – have said so on numerous occasions this year – and his 85 Ks against 38 walks in 83 innings is hardly awful … but it’s not 110-27 like Verlander! Also, while Verlander had pitched at least six innings in nine straight starts prior to Tuesday in St. Louis, Gallardo has gone past 5 1/3 innings just twice in his last seven contests. The reason is that he’s walking too many hitters and driving up his pitch count. In fact, Gallardo threw 105 and 116 pitches in his last two outings, and lasted just five innings in each.
Bottom line: With these two pitchers on the mound, this figures to be a very low-scoring contest … at least for the first five innings. But when Gallardo inevitably departs early, I see the Tigers – who have won three straight while exploding for 25 runs – scratching out a few runs against the Brewers’ pen, and a few should be all they need with Verlander back on his game. Detroit’s the play.
5♦ DETROIT
Bobby Maxwell
Atlanta +115 at BOSTON
Delivered second straight FREE winner Saturday night with the Cardinals getting the runline winner against the Royals for some nice plus-money. Today we've got another comp winner for you with the Braves on the road in Boston.
Good spot to score some plus-money here today as we go with the Braves and young starter Jair Jurrjens (5-5, 2.89 ERA) against the Red Sox.
Jurrjens is the kind of pitcher that can keep the Boston lineup off-balance. He has been solid all season, allowing two runs or less in eight of his last 10 starts. The problem is sometimes the Braves' offense doesn't show up for him.
In Jurrjens' lone start against an American League team this season he held the Blue Jays to two runs in six innings and the Braves got a 10-2 victory. He's got a 2.38 ERA on the road this season and you'll see him come out pumped up today and deliver a gem against the Red Sox.
These two teams have split the first two games in this series, with Boston getting Saturday’s win 3-0 behind the pitching of Josh Beckett. Even with the loss, the Braves are 11-5 in their last 16 games against teams with winning records, and they are also on runs of 4-1 on Sundays and 4-1 in interleague play against teams with winning records. They are also 4-0 in the last four outings for Jurrjens against American League teams.
On the mound for the Red Sox is veteran knuckleballer Tim Wakefield (9-3, 4.39 ERA). Wakefield seems to always have post a decent record but his ERA is always high. He gives up runs but his offense always seems to help him out. He's allowed three runs or more in six of his last nine outings.
Wakefield is 3-4 in his career against the Braves with a 5.06 ERA. They know what he's coming with and they will hit it today.
Play Atlanta today as the Braves win this one on the road with Jurrjens on the hill.
2♦ ATLANTA
Jake Timlin
Bouncing back from last night’s loss I like the Twins at home today.
Winners of 15 of their last 21 games at home and 8 of 11 against the NL this year Minnesota is the easy call here even with Perkins struggling on the year as it’s not like Houston will have any sort of advantage on the mound.
Wally Rodriguez will counter with his 7.88 ERA in his last three games and with the Astros still struggling with only two wins over their last five games.
So, even with last night’s loss the Twins are a solid choice thanks to being at home and still dominating Interleague play.
1♦ Minnesota Twins
Tony Weston
Today's Selection:
Tough loss yesterday as the Mets can’t get it done. That’s fine as we’re coming through with a solid win as we’re taking the Dodgers in Game 3 of this freeway series over the Angels.
The Dodgers come into this game having won 5 of their last 7 games and are 4-2 their last 6 games on the road. Over their last 17 games away form Chavez Revine, the Dodgers are 12-5.
Consider, too, the Angels have had their share of struggles with John Lackey on the mound. In Lackey’s 7 starts this season he’s only 2-2, but the team is only 3-4 as he has a 6.10 ERA in that stretch. Also, he’s only had one home start this season and gave up 5 earned runs in 7 1/3 innings of work as the Halos lost 5-2 to the Mariners on May 29.
Tonight, Lackey will struggle again as the Dodgers get over.
3♦ DODGERS