Squarepicks
4* Kansas City ML +126
4* NY Mets/Baltimore Under 10.5 +103
4* Philadelphia -1.5 +133
Rated Picks
Wash Nationals/NY Yankees UNDER 10.5
Cincinatti Reds -110
Tampa Bay Rays -105
Seattle Mariners -105
Toronto Blue Jays +150 *(1/2 of normal bet)
Ron Raymond
Blue Jays / Phillies Under 10.5
Maddux Sports
3 units on Tampa Bay -107
3 units on San Diego -104
3 units on Arizona -138
3 units on St. Louis -105
3 units on Oakland +133
WeCoverSpreads
White Sox+144
We are grabbing a ton of value with Gavin Floyd in this spot. If you overlook the 4-5 record and 4.94 ERA, he is a diamond in the rough here. He has five quality starts under his belt. He has given up just seven earned runs in those last five games. He has 36/8 strike out to walk ratio during these last five starts. Three of those starts were vs. some good offensive teams(Detroit, Cleveland, LA Angels).
Zambrano hasn't pitched in eight days and we expect that to throw him off this afternoon. Pitchers are used to pitching on a routine schedule and him missing his last start is tough and he should lose some value for that today.The last time Zambrano faced the White Sox at home he gave up seven earned runs in six innings on the hill. The Cubs have dropped four straight to their cross-town rival. We don't expect him to get much run support since the Cubs have scored just 10 runs in their last six games. That won't change today facing Gavin Floyd who has gotten things under control and is looking of his true form from last season of late. The Cubs have dropped seven of their last eight games vs. the American League.
Cardinals-108
St. Louis has already defeated aces Verlander and Jackson and we can expect the rookie Porcello to go down today. He will fall victim to lack of run support tonight. The Tigers are averaging just 2.7 runs per game in their last seven. Porcello will have his work cut out for him as the Cards are batting .273 at home vs. right handers in Busch Stadium this season
Joel Pinerio has pitched well at home with a 2.52 ERA; allowing just 10 earned runs in 35 innings. He has yet to give up a home run pitching at Busch Stadium this season. The Tigers are batting just .223 vs. right handed pitchers in their last 10 games and Joel Pinerio should do just fine tonight .The Tigers bullpen has been shaky with a ERA over 4.00 all season and a 6.75 ERA the past three games. We expect the Cards to snatch up win #3 in a row today vs. the rookie Porcello.
SportsOddsAndPicks
Detroit at St. Louis UNDER 8.5
LA DODGERS -140 (with Wolf) over Oakland
igz1 sports
3* NY Mets (Hernandez) -120
3* Under 7.5 (-110) Oakland (Mazzero) vs LA (Wolf)
Erin Rynning
Playmaker: Chicago White Sox
Brandon Lang
15 Dime Athletics - Not sure where it came from, but the Athletics went up huge on the MLB-leading Dodgers last night and held off the home team's late rally to nab the win.
I think we're going to see the momentum carry over to tonight, while the Dodgers' offensive doldrums continue against rookie hurler Vin Mazzaro, who makes his fourth career start while the A's send a rookie to the hill for the 14th time in 17 games.
Mazarro, who is 2-1 with a 1.37 ERA on the year, didn’t allow a run over his first 17-2/3 innings. He's been a bright spot in this rookie-laden rotation, and has lived up to the reputation that got him drafted out of high school in Rutherford, New Jersey in the third round in 2005.
I remember reading about this kid a couple of times the past couple of year, during the review of Spring Training, and the young hurlers for each team, and I can tell you it's abundantly clear he's made substantial improvements with his stuff, while refining his command. He's far ahead of where he was two years ago., and should remain a fixture in this rotation for quite some time.
What I like is his confidence and the continued improvement with his secondary stuff. He's steady and willing to throw his junk in precarious situations in the middle of the count, and that's essential against a team like this.
Count on the A's to get it done, as my top play scores again.
5 Dime Reds - Two young hurlers take the mound today, and I'm going to side with Reds southpaw Matt Maloney. He's pitched six innings and allowed six hits in each of his first two starts with the Reds. He didn't factor in the decision in his debut against the Cubs and took the loss against the Royals. Other than being prone to giving up the lone ball, he's looked composed on the hill, and shown a strong sense of maturity. I'm thinking his teammates will get him some runs in this matinee clash in front of the home crowd at Great American Ballpark. The Braves have lost four straight and six of seven, while Cincinnati has won two straight now. The Reds make it three in a row, while Maloney gets his first-ever win.
5 Dime Mariners - Won with the M's yesterday, we take them again in this matinee against one of the worst teams in baseball. San Diego has lost a major league-record 13-games in Interleague play and 10 straight to the Mariners at PETCO Park. The Friars have lost five in a row overall, and 24 of their last 28 games against American League teams. It doesn't matter who takes the hill for either team, but it appears it will be Josh Geer for the Pads, and he's been worthless, at 1-2 with a 6.14 ERA. He's taking Jake Peavy's spot, and comes in after allowing a career-worst seven runs and nine hits over 5-2/3 innings in a 9-1 loss to the Halos this past Saturday, when he also surrendered a career-high four home runs. Geer ranks among the National League leaders (which is actually among the worst) with 14 home runs allowed, while San Diego has lost his last four appearances. Take the M's in this one.
5 Dime Rays - Two of the hottest team in the majors finish their series today in a matinee soiree, and I'll take last year's World Series runner-up over the previous year's runner-up. Colorado had won 11 straight before getting shelled 12-4 on Tuesday, which was the Rays' sixth straight win for the longest run in the majors at the time. Last night Colorado ended that streak, winning 5-3. In deciding this series, I have to side with my boy Matt Garza, one of the best junkballers in the game, as he's going to look to avenge what he has to be thinking was an unsatisfactory outing against the lowly Nationals. He threw 116 pitches over 5-2/3 innings last Friday and walked four while allowing three runs and seven hits. He didn't get the decision, though the Rays won the game. And since he hasn’t been able to last through the sixth inning in his last two starts, and hasn’t won since May 16, look for his best stuff tonight for the road win.
FREE - Royals
Michael Cannon
10 Dime – TWINS
Take the Twins for the home win this afternoon over the Pirates.
Nick Blackburn gets the nod for Minnesota and he’s going to shut the Buccos down today. The right-hander is 5-2 on the year with a 3.31 ERA. He’s posted seven straight quality starts, going 3-0 with four no decisions during that span.
Blackburn shouldn’t have any problems getting run support this afternoon.
That’s because the Pirates will start Zach Duke, and he pitches to contact which will do him in on the artificial turf. Duke is having a solid season no doubt, but groundball pitchers have problems on the fast carpet and you saw that in the opening game of this series when Paul Maholm was roughed up for the Bucs.
Take the Twins as they grab the home win.
5 Dime – CARDINALS
Take the Cardinals for the home win tonight over the Tigers.
Joel Pineiro will start for St. Louis and I expect him to get back on track tonight. The right-hander has struggled recently, going 0-3 with a 5.87 ERA in his last three starts. But Pineiro has had good success against the Tigers in his career, going 6-1 with a 2.82 ERA in eight games.
The Tigers will counter with rookie Rick Porcello, who is having a fine season. But this game is being played in St. Louis, which means the youngster has to deal with the NL rules. That means having to hit and the absence of the DH in his lineup.
The Cardinals always have the advantage in that situation with Albert Pujols in the lineup.
Take St. Louis as they grab the home win.
Scott Delaney
20 DIME TEXAS RANGERS -1.5
Forget the Angels, the Rangers are proving everyone wrong about their projections for the American League West, and they’re doing it with a prolific offense that ranks seventh in the American League in runs scored and second in the bigs in home runs. I’m looking for the long ball tonight, and I’m banking on plenty of runs, as I think the Rangers smoke Houston for an easy run line victory tonight.
Though neither team has swept the season series since they began playing one another back in 2001, this is the right spot for the Rangers to buck that trend. They’ve won five straight over Houston, they swept the first three-game set back in May and they’re 6-2 in Interleague play this season.
I’ll get to Vicente Padilla in a minute, but let’s start with Houston’s Brandon Backe, who is making his first start of the season, as he replaces Mike Hampton in the rotation after he was placed on the DL due to a strained left groin. Backe, who was 9-14 with a 6.05 ERA in 31 starts for the Astros last season, has had his problems with the Rangers, specifically Michael Young, who went 2 for 5 in last night’s win.
Young is batting .471 (8-for-17) in four games against Houston this season and is a stellar 10-for-13 with two home runs lifetime against Backe, who is 1-2 with a 6.52 ERA in three career starts against Texas
Now, as for Padilla, he’s looking for his fifth win in six starts after last Friday’s impressive 6-0 victory over the Major League-frontrunning Dodgers. He looked good in striking out two and yielding four hits over five innings. The veteran right-hander is 2-0 with a 1.80 in his last two starts against the Astros.
Lay the run line boys, as the Rangers roll to a huge win.
Trace Adams
PAY-AFTER-YOU-WIN - 500* - White Sox-Cubs UNDER
Don't expect to see too many crooked digits on the Wrigley Field scoreboard this afternoon, as both Gavin Floyd and Carlos Zambrano have been dealing nasty to the hitters.
Floyd comes into this start with just 4 earned runs allowed his last 22 innings of work, while Zambrano has yielded just 2 earned runs in his last 21 innings on the mound.
Throw in the fact the White Sox are on a 6-2-1 UNDER run their last 9, while the Cubs have been UNDER in 3 straight, and 8 of their last 10, and you have the makings of a 3-2 final in the works.
Pitchers rule the roost today at the Friendly Confines, as the White Sox and Cubs hold UNDER the total.
PAY-AFTER-YOU-WIN
500♦ - White Sox-Cubs UNDER
Robert Ferringo
Take Atlanta (-115) over Cincinnati
Take Minnesota (-155) over Pittsburgh
Take LA Dodgers (-140) over Oakland
Take Philadelphia (-160) over Toronto
Today’s Totals
Take ‘Under’ 8.0 Arizona at Kansas City
Take ‘Over’ 8.0 Seattle at San Diego
THE PREZ
D'Backs at Royals
Pick: Under 8
After throwing a complete game three-hitter against the Reds in his last start, Luke Hochevar is gaining the confidence and the mound savvy that was expected of the former No. 1 draftee. Against the Reds, 43 of Hochevar's 52 fastballs found the plate, a huge improvement from his 48 percent fastball strike-zone rate since being called up from the farm. With Arizona having the third-lowest contact rate of pitches in the zone, Hochevar has a favorable matchup today.
Dan Haren continues to do his part for the D'backs with strong performance after strong performance. The right-hander has a 2-0 record and 1.71 ERA at Kauffman Stadium and will face a Royals getaway day lineup that ranks at the bottom of the American League in slugging percentage and runs scored.
Veteran umpire Dale Scott has a pitcher-friendly K-zone. Scott's 2.47 K/BB ratio this year is in the top five percent of all umpires, save the vacation crew, and his 63.7 strike percentage is in the top 10 percent. Scott has graded Haren six times in his career, and in half of those starts Haren has allowed zero earned runs.
The UNDER is 4-1 in Diamondbacks last five Thursday getaway games and 7-2-1 in their last 10 interleague road games. The UNDER is 5-0 in Royals last five interleague games as an underdog and 48-21-1 in their last 70 games as a HOME underdog.
Master Sports
4* DBacks/Royals Under 8