Investment Playmakers
20* Detroit Tigers
Scott Delaney
We take the road team in this American League battle, as Gil Meche is currently working in his most successfully stretch of the campaign, as he's now 5-1 with a 2.81 ERA over his last eight starts. I am fully aware that he is 2-7 with a 4.03 ERA in 16 career starts versus the A's, but he has allowed just one run and seven hits over 13-1/3 innings over his last two starts.
He should get the run support he'll need, as the Royals take on Greg Smith, who has lost three straight decisions and comes in after allowing four runs and five hits over six frames against Tampa Bay. The loss put him at 0-3 with a 6.10 ERA in his last four starts. Oakland has lost 10 of 12 now, while the Royals have captured two in a row. Let's take the value price with the road team in this one.
3♦ ROYALS
MATT RIVERS
Tuesday take the coin back with the Cardinals in Atlanta.
(Possible pitching change but stay with play)
Tim Hudson is very good and certainly superior to Todd Wellemeyer but this Braves' squad cannot be laying such a price here like this. Atlanta is pretty much all done for the season and are about to be a seller. They were just drilled in Philadelphia in somehow losing two of those three games thanks to blowing huge huge leads. Brian McCann injured himself there and Chipper Jones is banged up as well. Mark Teixeira is as on the block as anybody could ever be and it's about that time for the Bravos to pretty much quit on the season.
The Cardinals on the other hand may not even be as talented as the Braves but Tony LaRussa has done a phenomenal job this season in keeping his Redbirds hanging around and with the great Albert Pujols can easily win this game today. Throw in Ryan Ludwick, Troy Glaus, Rick Ankiel and a few others and I will gladly take a competent price back.
St. Louis' bullpen is not good at all and can blow any lead any day but this takeback is sweet on what is still the better overall team against what has become mush and in the end plus money is perfect here.
TONY WESTON
Im going with the over on the Phillies and Nationals tonight.
Consider, first, the starting pitchers. The Phillies scheduled starting pitcher Brett Myers comes into this game having given up at least three earned runs in each of his last five starts. In that five-game stretch Myers has allowed 23 earned runs in 26 innings of work as the over is 2-2-1 in that stretch.
Washington's scheduled starter, Colin Balester, has given up 13 earned runs in 20 1/3 innings of work while the over is 4-0 in his four starts.
Also consider that the over is 3-0 in Phillies last three games and is 4-1-1 its last six, while the over is 5-4 in Washington's last nine games.
It'll be another high-scoring game and the Phillies and Nationals will breeze past the total, which is set at about 9. Go with the over easy tonight.
3♦ PHILLIES-NATIONALS OVER
Vernon Croy
New York Mets vs. Florida Marlins
Play: Florida Marlins
We are getting solid value here tonight with the Marlins who are 8-4 when Scott Olsen (6-5, 4.07) has started for them at home this season. Oliver Perez (6-6, 4.15 ERA) got rocked in his last outing against Florida giving up 3 homeruns while walking 4 batters over just 6 innings and I look for Florida to hit him hard tonight at home. Perez has struggled with his control this season walking 64 batters over 117 innings while Olsen has pitched solid at home with an ERA of just 3.12 over 75 innings. The Mets are just 5-13 this season on the road with a moneyline of -100 to -125 and the Mets are 23-14 at home when the posted total is 9 to 9.5. Take the Marlins as my Free MLB Play for Tuesday night and make sure you get on my 14-4 MLB Sides run which continues tonight.
WINNING POINTS
NY METS -125 over FLORIDA
We scored a nice win with the Marlins last night,but it's time to reverse course and jump on the Mets. The lefty vs. lefty matchup is favorable to the visitor, a team that checks in with a 20-11(+$510) record vs. southpaws, averaging 5.2 runs per game in those contests. Florida has not fared as well in that situation (7-12, -$345 in night games, averaging 4.2 runs per game overall), and Oliver Perez has posted a 1.98 ERA in his two most recent outings. The Mets are playing well and they have the edge tonight
TRIPLE THREAT SPORTS
5* Tampa Bay/Toronto OVER
Halladay was tremendous in his last start, but he always seems to pitch extremely well in day games (now 49-18 in his career in day starts), so that one start is not going to keep us off the Over here. He has made two starts against the Rays this year that and has gone 14 innings in those games, allowing 17 hits, ten earned runs (6.42 ERA) with an unspectacular (for him) 10-4 K/W ratio. As for Garza, he pitched very well against Toronto two weeks ago, but that was at home, where he is much more comfortable. He has a 6.04 Away ERA this season and in his only start here in Toronto allowed six hits while walking three batters in 6.2 innings of work. Teamwise, note that the Rays are scoring 4.91 runs per game on the road vs right handed starters this year and that Toronto is scoring 4.75 rpg at home vs right handers. Finally, trend study shows that Rays fit an 8-2 team trend to the Over that is accounting for a combined 9.6 rpg this season, with the Rays getting 6.8 rpg in the last four times in this particular scheduling spot.
Winners Edge
PHILLIES/NATIONALS OVER 9 - 120 , 6 UNIT (TOTAL OF THE YEAR )
ARIZONA D-BACKS + 110 , 2 UNITS
BOSTON REDSOX - 110 , 2 UNITS
K.C ROYALS - 105 , 1 UNIT
FLORIDA MARLINS + 110 , 1 UNIT
Ben Burns
St. Louis Cardinals @ Atlanta Braves
PICK: Atlanta Braves
Injuries have taken a big toll on the Braves and it's true that their chances of making the playoffs are now getting quite bleak. That doesn't mean they can't win tonight though, particularly as they should enjoy a significant advantage on the mound. Wellemeyer started the season well. However, he's gone just 1-3 with a terrible 7.00 ERA in his last seven starts. For the season, the Cardinals are just 3-6 (-3.2) in his nine road starts.
On the other hand, Campillo is 2-0 with a stellar 1.23 ERA and 0.818 WHIP his last three starts. Campillo was beating the Phillies in his last start but only got to pitch 1 2/3 innings due to a rain delay. He was excellent in his previous start though, tossing seven shutout innings at Florida, while allowing just four hits. He had six K's to just one walk in that game and the Braves won by a score of 4-0.
The Braves, who lost their third straight yesterday, have been an excellent bet over the years, after suffering three or more consecutive defeats. In fact, they're a highly profitable 78-39 (+31.6) over the past decade, after losing their previous three games. Consider backing the Braves to bounce back and even up the series.
Michael Cannon
Take the Cubs tonight when they travel to Milwaukee to take on the Brewers.
Fantastic pitching matchup as Carlos Zambrano goes against Ben Sheets.
Zambrano is 11-4 on the year with a 2.96 ERA. The right-hander is 2-1 with a 2.95 ERA in his last three starts and has faced the Brewers twice this season without recording a decision despite allowing just one earned run in 13 innings.For his career Zambrano is 9-8 with a 3.87 ERA in 21 games.
Sheets is 10-3 on the year with a 2.87 ERA. He?s 1-0 with a 2.38 ERA in two games against the Cubs this season.The right-hander is 0-1 with a 3.50 ERA in his last three starts.
In what is obviously going to be a tight game, I like the Cubs to come out on top.
Take the Cubs for the road win.
2♦ CHICAGO CUBS
Jorge Gonzalez
Baltimore Orioles vs. New York Yankees
Play:Yankees -1.5
The Bronx Bombers passed up a great opportunity to gain ground on the D-rays when they were clubbed 13-4 by the Orioles and the Rays of Tampa Bay fell to the Toronto Blue Jays 3-1. The Yankees were never in the game as they trailed 11-0 before they even got any runs up on the board. The Yankees have lost two straight games after winning eight straight games since the All-Star break. The Orioles will be sending the struggling Daniel Cabrera (6-6, 4.86 ERA) to the mound while the Yankees will counter with Darrell Rasner. (5-7, 4.83) Both pitchers have been less than impressive over their last three starts. After an impressive start to the season Cabrera has struggled as of late with a record of 1-5 with a 6.15 ERA in 12 starts. During the 12 starts Cabrera has walked 40 batters. Control has always been a problem with Cabrera. Cabrera led the major leagues in walks last season with 108 walks. Putting the Yankees on base will be a sure recipe for disaster. Despite the two loses the Yankees have been hitting the ball well over their 10 games batting .299 as a team and scoring 5.5 runs per contest. On their home field, the Yankees have won 10 of their last 11 games. Not to take anything away from the Orioles who scored a season high 13 runs yesterday, but the chances of them repeating on their best game of the season against the Yankees here in this spot will not be likely. Darrell Rasner has already faced the Orioles twice this season limiting them to one run on 10 hits over 13 innings. With days numbered on Yankee Stadium, I expect to see a lot of emotion and fireworks out of the Yankee line-up down the stretch of the regular season.
Gold Medal Club
Cincinnati vs Houston
PLAY OVER 9.5
Simply a case of two starters in poor current form. Arroyo carries a lofty 7.35 road era into tonights game, and was shelled back in April by the Astros getting tagged for 8 earned runs. Same story for Moehler who has 5.87 era in his last 3 starts, 0-4 vs the Reds with a whopping 8.10 era in those contests.
Nelly
Baltimore + over New York
The Yankees are playing well right now but last night the Orioles proved they are not intimidated and still fighting this season. The Yankees are 3-7 in Darrell Rasner?s last ten starts and his overall ERA is 4.83 on the season. In four of his last seven starts he has allowed four or more runs and the Yankees bullpen has seen a lot of work the last two nights. Daniel Cabrera has been a much better pitcher on the road this season and he has beat New York twice already this season with impressive efforts. Baltimore has actually won six of ten meetings so far this season and New York could fall for the third straight game tonight.
JB's Computer Picks
Florida Marlins +115
Chicago Cubs +115
Houston Astros -110
LT Profits
Florida Marlins +110
Oliver Perez has certainly been lights out for the New York Mets lately, but he has been inconsistent his whole career and imploded when you least expect it, and he has his difficulties with the Florida Marlins recently.
In fact, Perez has had two bad outings in his last three starts against the Marlins. The last time he faced them, he was touched up for five earned runs and needed 100 pitches just to get through six innings. Also, as great as Perez has been since that start, he has run up some big pitch counts so it is just a matter of time until he wears down as he has routinely done in the past.
Now Scott Olsen of the Fish has been erratic as well, but he has still shown marked improvement from previous seasons. He has done his best pitching here at home where he has a nice 3.12 ERA and 1.23 WHIP in 75 innings. In fact, Olsen has allowed three earned runs or less in each of his last five home starts.
The Marlins scored five runs in the eighth to win 7-3 here last night, and we look for them to make it two straight wins over the Mets tonight.
Pick: Marlins +110
Chicago White Sox +110
Clayton Richard was not that great in his major league debut for the Chicago White Sox, but we look for the highly touted prospect to improve with one start under his belt and handle the Minnesota Twins here tonight.
Sure, Richard allowed four earned runs and seven hits in four innings, but it is not as if there were no highlights as Richard did have seven strikeouts vs. just one walk. The young southpaw also had a great strikeout to walk ratio in the minors, so he will only get better as he gains more experience in the majors.
Glenn Perkins has also shown some nice flashes for the Twins, but he is coming off of possibly his worst start of the season vs. the New York Yankees, as he was reached for five earned runs and nine baserunners in six innings. He was not that effective in his only other start against the White Sox either, as he allowed eight baserunners in 5.1 innings of a 7-5 Minnesota loss.
Finally, the White Sox have pummeled southpaws to the tune of a .311 average the last10 games, which also does not bode well for Perkins here.
Pick: White Sox +110