Locksmith Sports
1 Unit on Braves -107
The Phillies are just 2-9 in their last 11 overall. Their struggles will continue tonight against a very good home Braves club. The Braves are 35-16 in their last 51 games following an off day, 18-8 in their last 26 games as a home favorite, and 37-16 in their last 53 home games. It also plays right into Atlanta 's hands that they will be facing a righty as the Braves are 21-8 in their last 29 home games vs. a right-handed starter. Take Atlanta tonight at home in this divisional showdown.
John Ryan
Cleveland Indians vs. Chicago White Sox
Play: OVER
Ai Simulator 3* graded play OVER Cleveland/CWS – AiS shows a 79% probability that 9 or more runs will be scored in this game. Both starters are pitching well, but this fact many times becomes an accurate contra-indicator of how the game will be played. This system has produced a record of 43-14 OVER for 75% since 2002. Play over with home teams where the total is 8.5 to 10 starting a pitcher who gave up no earned runs last outing and is now facing an opponent with a hot starting pitcher sporting a WHIP <= 1.000 over his last 3 starts. Here is a second system and is essentially a variation of the first one. It has produced a record of 41-16 for 72% since 1997. Play over with road teams where the total is 8 to 8.5 and are poor hitting teams batting <=.260 and with a hot starting pitcher posting an ERA less than 2.50 over his last 3 starts and now facing a good AL starting pitcher sporting an ERA <=4.20. Both starters have had their best when facing each other’s respective teams. Note that Lee is 4-5 when starting against the CWS with an ERA of 6.44 and a WHIP of 1.519. Danks is 1-2 when starting against Cleveland with an ERA of 4.44 and a WHIP of 1.253. CWS are also 55-32 OVER (+20.6 Units) versus a starting pitcher whose winning percentage is better than 70% since 1997. The month of July will now become important as well with total plays as the heat rises and so does the fatigue levels of all players. Lee is 9-1 OVER last 3 seasons and 15-5 OVER since 1997 in July starts. He is also 14-4 OVER in the 2nd half of the season over the past 3 seasons.
Alex Smart
Game: San Diego Padres vs. Colorado Rockies
Prediction: Colorado Rockies
I do not know where came from, but an inept San Diego Padres offense that has scored the second-fewest runs in the majors this season with 317, exploded yesterday smacking out 22 hits in a 15-8 win vs their hosts Colorado. With that said, I can see them entering into this the 2nd game of the series, in a let down situation, making the Padres good fade material against a motivated hurler Aaron Cook (10-5, 3.64 ERA)that is is primed to bounce back ,off two consecutive lackluster efforts. The Rockies southpaw hurler has a very good chance of doing just that against a team that he has dominated in the past,as is evident, by going 7-1 in 10 starts along with a 1.72 ERA, since 2004, allowing them two runs or less in every start. He is also a perfect 5-0 along with a 2.01 ERA in seven starts in Coors vs the Fathers. Play on Colorado
LT Profits
Texas Rangers @ New York Yankees Under 9.0
Joba Chamberlain of the New York Yankees was stretched out to a career high 114 pitches in his last start, and he is capable of almost single-handedly keeping this game vs. the Texas Rangers Under this total.
Chamberlain pitched 6.2 scoreless innings while allowing just six hits and recording seven strikeouts in that last start at Pittsburgh, and he has now allowed a grand total of two runs in 18.1 innings over his last three starts. In fact, he has allowed one earned run or less in four of his five starts, and two earned runs in the other! As if that is not enough to keep the Rangers in check, consider that most of the Texas batters have never faced him before.
Sure, there is some risk taking an Under with Kevin Millwood starting for the Rangers, but he did have back-to-back Quality Starts before getting shellacked by Houston last Thursday, so it is not as if he is not capable of turning in a solid outing. The best part is that if Joba pitches true the form and the Rangers end up scoring three runs or less, Millwood does not even need to be dominating for this contest to stay Under.
Finally, somewhat surprisingly, the Under is 50-30-2 in all Yankees games this season, so while this may not be a replay of the 2-1 Texas win last night, we so expect another low scoring affair.
Pick: Rangers, Yankees Under 9
Cleveland Indians @ Chicago White Sox Under 7.5
The Chicago White Sox defeated the Cleveland Indians 9-7 in a wild series opener here last night, but look for a completely different type of game this time around.
Cliff Lee is an amazing 11-1 with a 2.34 ERA and 1.04 WHIP for the Indians, and he is showing absolutely no signs of slowing down. Lee has allowed two runs or less in four consecutive starts, he has a 1.66 ERA and a fantastic 0.92 WHIP in his last three outings and he posted a season high 11 strikeouts vs. the Giants in his last start.
Not to be outdone, White Sox starter John Danks has allowed only one run in 18 innings (0.50 ERA) over his last three starts, and he too has an excellent 2.62 ERA for the entire season in 16 starts. He has already tossed one gem at the Indians this year, allowing just one run and two hits in 6.2 innings way back on April 3. The southpaw is now facing a Cleveland lineup that is batting a pathetic .184 vs. left-handed pitching over the last 10 games.
Finally, the Under is 12-4 in all games started by Danks this season, as well as 8-6 in all Lee starts.
Pick: Indians, White Sox Under 7.5
BIG AL's TUESDAY NIGHT BASEBALL TOTALS WINNER
Los Angeles/Houston Under
At 8:05pm our selection is on the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros 'under' the total. Two talented lefties go at it in this game as LA's 20-year-old Clayton Kershaw faces off against Houston's 29-year-old Wandy Rodriguez. Although Kershaw is talented and everyone agrees that he has great stuff, he is still very raw and needs to cut down on his walks, a common problem for such young Major League hurlers. After several years of flirting with all-star caliber numbers, Rodriguez looks like his time has finally arrived. If you excuse his poor performance against the Yankees on June 14, Rodriguez has given up only three earned runs in the other 4 starts sandwiched around that one, including back-to-back 6+ inning shutouts on June 3 and June 8. His last start was perhaps his best, as he went deep into the game against a very tough Texas offense (the highest-scoring team in the Majors), giving up only one earned run in eight innings while striking out nine Rangers. The Dodgers have failed to score more than 1 run in four of their last six games. And yet they are actually talking about platooning 5-tool outfielder Matt Kemp when Andruw Jones comes off the Disabled List. With moves like that, is it any wonder this team is toiling at 38-44? Houston has gone 'under' in 49 of its 80 games, and the Dodgers have gone 'under' in eight straight. Look for another low-scoring game tonight.
MICHAEL CANNON
Cleveland at CHICAGO WHITE SOX -125
A nice win on the Royals last night as they pull it off in extra frames
Take the White Sox for the home win tonight over the Indians.
This should be a great matchup, with Cliff Lee taking the mound for Cleveland and the White Sox playing so well.
Lee, of course, is having a Cy Young season so far. The left-hander is 11-1 with a 2.34 ERA in 15 starts. He?s walked only 16 batters and surrendered just five home runs in his 103 2-3 innings.
But if there?s one thing Lee doesn?t have going for him, it?s a less than stellar career mark against the ChiSox. Lee is 4-5 with a 6.61 ERA in 15 lifetime appearances against the White Sox.
Chicago will counter with John Danks, who is 5-4 with a 2.62 ERA on the year. The left-hander is 1-0 with a 0.50 ERA in his last three starts.
Take the White Sox as they grab the home win.
2♦ CHICAGO WHITE SOX
MATT RIVERS
Tuesday take the White Sox.
Cliff Lee has been phenomenal this season and going against him can definitely be dicey but the Indians have become half a joke and I will therefore take my chances with the first place White Sox at home,.
John Danks is a lefty that has not done all that much before this season. In fact the guy did not win a game for something like 15 consecutive starts but ever since the lefty broke threw he has been great.
Danks has really come into his own and has been very very very good this season. I'm talking like almost ace good, maybe not Cliff Lee good, but I will still take Ozzie Guillen's club knowing that the Tribe have a bit of a pitching edge here. Cleveland is in the midle of a flat out terrible season. These guys just lost a series at home to the road challenged Reds as Aaron Laffeyand Paul Byrd were just belted at home and besides Grady Sizemore this high flying offense has become terrible. Victor Martinez and Travis Hafner are both out injured and the season has been a borderline disaster thus far.
US Cellular Field is the biggest home run hitting stadium in the bigs and with little pop right now on the Indians these visitors are in a ton of trouble against the powerful Sox.
Thome, Dye, Crede and the Sox may not be the greatest value here as they are up against a top flight hurler but in the end the better team should pull this thing out behind another solid Danks' effort and a few more long balls.
NATIONAL SPORTS ADVISORS
Houston -140
SPORTS ACTION 365
Boston/Tampa Bay OVER 8.5
GAMEDAY SPORTS NETWORK
Mets/St Louis OVER 9
Jennifer Barry
Arizona DBacks -120
Chad Jordan
Orioles -130
DONALD TRAN
Twins -130
SCOTT DELANEY
We're going to take the Angels with Ervin Santana tonight, as he'll shut the A's down and lead the Halos to an easy win. I know he has a tough chore in front of him, if in fact Rich Harden opposes him, but I want Santana listed for us tonight.
The right-hander is a stellar 8-1 with a stifling 1.38 ERA in 12 appearances - 11 starts - against Oakland, including 1-0 in two starts this season. He's given up just two earned runs in 13 innings this season against the rival-A's, and has gone 21 consecutive innings without giving up an earned run to the A's in Anaheim.
That's good enough for me at this price.
2♦ ANGELS
WUNDERDOG
MLB
Washington at Florida
Pick: Florida -137
The Nats have never been a good road team and this season is no different. Washington have posted an 8-18 mark on the road against .500+ teams, and are just 11-22 overall in their last 33 games. Collin Balester will make his Major League debut tonight for the Nats, but his numbers at AAA Columbus aren't outstanding. He has pitched to a 4 ERA and allowed 14 HR'S in just 78 innings. Like the Marlins at home here.
WNBA
New York at Los Angeles
Pick: New York +9
The Los Angeles Sparks now own the best record in the WNBA at 10-4 and have played well for the entire season. They have dropped two of their last four however, including an inexcusable loss to Washington at home their last time out. This is a good team, but we question the lofty pointspread issued for this game and we find value on the visiting Liberty. The Spark has had five double-digit wins on the entire season in their 14 games to date, and just one of those has been to a team with a .500 record or higher, so this line comes into question here. The Liberty has struggled within their own conference, but has been more than competitive against the West, where they own a 4-1 mark on the season. We look for the Liberty to hang around in this one.
PRICELESS PICKS
1 Unit on Chicago Cubs +103
The Cubs busted out for 9 runs and held the Giants to just 2 last night. The Cubs have the edge again here and they surprisingly have the value. The Cubs have won 5 of the last 6 meetings against the Giants. The Cubs are 4-0 in their last 4 vs. a team with a losing record, 19-7 in their last 26 vs. the National League West, and 5-1 in Marquis' last 6 starts. The Giants are 1-9 in their last 10 vs. the National League Central, 5-23 in Cain's last 28 starts vs. a team with a winning record, and 0-4 in Cain's last 4 home starts. Bet the Cubbies tonight.
John Fina
Selection: Oakland Athletics -105
Today the Oakland Athletics will be on the road as they take on the Los Angeles Angels. We will side with the Oakland Athletics! One reason why we will side with the Oakland Athletics is because they will be sending to the mound the much better pitcher. This says it all... The Oakland Athletics Starting Pitcher (Rich Harden) has a 0.46 ERA in his last 3 starts, while Los Angeles Angels Starting Pitcher (Ervin Santana) has a 4.82 ERA in his last 3 starts. As you can see, the Oakland Athletics will be sending to the mound the much better starting pitcher. We see the Oakland Athletics beating the Los Angeles Angels tonight! Take the Oakland Athletics!
Tony Weston
Tonight we’re going with the Houston Astros in an easy winner of the Los Angeles Dodgers in Houston.
To say the Astros have dominated the Dodgers would be a great understatement. With yesterday’s 4-1 win over Los Angeles, Houston is now 4-0 against the Dodgers this season and has outscored them 24-7 in that stretch.
And now the Astros come into this game on a three-game winning streak and won seven of their last 10 games, including five of their last seven at home.
The Dodgers, on the other hand, come into this game 5-12 their last 17 road games and are 4-6 their last 10 games overall. And for the season the Dodgers are only 16-24 away from home.
It’ll be another loss for Los Angeles tonight in Houston.
Take the Astros in an easy winner at home.
4♦ ASTROS
Bob Balfe
Major League Baseball
Pirates +150 over Reds
Duke/Volquez
Jeff Alexander Sports
1 Unit on Phillies/Braves OVER 9 Runs
Right off the bat I like the OVER here as the Braves are averaging 5.2 runs per game at home and Philly is averaging 5.1 runs per game on the road. ATLANTA is 17-8 OVER in July games over the last 2 seasons and PHILLY is 17-7 OVER in July games over the last 2 seasons. ATLANTA is also 22-7 OVER in home games after a game with a combined score of 2 runs or less since 1997 and 15-4 OVER with a rested bullpen that pitched one inning or less last game over the last 2 seasons. In all these instances, the average score for both teams totaled over 10 runs. Bet the OVER.