Tony Weston
You’re damn right I came through with the Rangers last night. That was almost too easy. Well, we’re doing it again tonight as we’re sticking to some American League action but going out East where the Red Sox and Yankees get set to throw down one more time in Yankee Stadium.
Consider that not only is this the very last series between these two teams in old Yankee Stadium, but it’s also the first series in a very long time that the Red Sox have played without a physically (and mentally) ready Manny Ramirez.
ManRam aside, you’re going to want to go with Boston on the road tonight. The teams have played each other 12 times this year and have split the season series 6-6. The teams are also 4-4 their last eight meetings, but Boston is 3-2 their last five games in New York.
Consider that the Red Sox are 8-4 their last 12 games overall and are 11-5 their last 16 games on the road.
The Yanks, on the other hand, despite coming into tonight on a three-game winning streak, are only 12-15 their last 27 games and are only 7-8 their last 15.
Also, Yankees’ scheduled starting pitcher Andy Pettitte is only 1-4 his last five starts and has allowed 21 earned runs his last 31 1/3 innings of work. Also, Pettitte is only 5-5 with a 4.72 ERA at home this season, while the team is only 6-7 in his 13 starts at Yankee Stadium.
Go against Pettitte at home and take the Red Sox on the road tonight.
3♦ RED SOX
Steve Janus
Milwaukee Brewers vs. St Louis Cardinals
Play: St Louis Cardinals
This two-game series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Milwaukee Brewers will have serious impact on the NL Wildcard race.
Milwaukee is currently the front-runner in the Wildcard standings, with St. Louis trailing them by 3.5 games. The Brewers have the tougher schedule ahead, so they really need to extend their lead if they would like a little more security.
The Cardinals have had a very up and down season, and while they have exceeded any expectations that anyone has for them, Tony La Russa and company are not going to be satisfied with anything less than a playoff birth.
St. Louis comes into tonight's game on a good run overall and at home. They've taken 7 of their last 10 overall and they've won 11 of their last 15 games at Busch Stadium. Trends like this will need to continue if they are serious about making the playoffs in 2008.
Milwaukee has been playing well lately overall, but a few trends should have them worried. For instance, they've lost 7 of their last 10 games against teams with a winning record. That doesn't bode well for their final month, where they will be facing some of the better teams in the National League. There should also be a concern about Ben Sheets, who seems to be suffering from the same problems as the club is. When Sheets starts for the Brewers, they are just 2-5 in his last 7 starts against teams with a winning record. There's a pattern starting to emerge, and it is beginning to look like Milwaukee is having problems finishing out the season against quality opponents.
The NL Central race has been a tight one this season. It looks like the Chicago Cubs will end up with the pennant baring any significant collapse. The interesting thing, however, is that we've got two teams in the Brewers and Cardinals that each have a very good chance to grab that NL Wildcard spot. Making the playoffs is the hard part, just about anyone can get hot at the right time and end up as World Series Champions. You better believe that this series match up will have the feel of the playoffs.
Steve Merril
Chicago White Sox vs. Baltimore Orioles
Play: Baltimore Orioles +1½
The Orioles have been playing a brutal schedule over the past week with three straight home series versus the Red Sox, Yankees, and White Sox. While not winning straight-up, the Orioles have been playing competitive baseball with each of their past three losses coming by just 2, 1, and 1 run apiece, therefore the +1½ run line provides extra value tonight. The Orioles fit a subset of my Underdog System and my pitcher performance ratings predict a solid outing for Brian Burres who is returning from the minor leagues. Burres struggled at the end of July, but it appears the trip to AAA Norfolk was beneficial as Burres posted an excellent 0.82 ERA and 0.91 WHIP in four games there this month. Meanwhile, my pitcher performance ratings predict a below average outing for Chicago’s Gavin Floyd who has a weak 6.00 ERA and 1.65 WHIP in his past four starts. Floyd has been particularly bad on the road this year with a 1.51 WHIP in 11 starts with a weak 33-27 strikeout/walk ratio.
Play ORIOLES +1½
Andre Gomes
Chi. Cubs at Pittsburgh
The Cubs showed yesterday to Kartens that his great debut for the Pirates against them a couple of weeks ago was just an accident, as Kartens in just 3 innings allowed 5 runs for an easy win for the Cubs by 12-3. Today the scenario isn't much different, as the Cubs will send their ace pitcher Carlos Zambrano, who bounced back on his last outing after two consecutive non-quality starts against the Cardinals and the Marlins. In his last outing, not only he was solid with his pitching, allowing just one run in 7 innings, but also he was decisive with an homerun to give the Cubs a 3-0 lead, which ended up being decisive, as the game ended with a Cubs win by 3-2. Zambrano just like his team has been dominating the Pirates. He is 10-5 with 3.47 ERA this season and in the PNC Park, he has just allowed 2 runs in 7 innings in another easy win for the Cubs in Pittsburgh.
The question for this game has to go with the value, as the Cubs are an heavy chalk today. They are listed as -220 in a road games against the lowly Pirates, who will send today Ian Snell, who hasn't been doing a good season and his numbers say it all: 5.60 ERA and 5-10, but somehow he has improved a lot lately in his pitching performances. He is just 2.37 ERA on his last 3 outings and he comes from the best performance of the series in St. Louis, where he went scoreless in 7 innings, striking out 8 batters, in a game where he was a +195 dog! Already in the previous games he had good performances, so it won't be a surprise if Snell has another quality outing today. Ok, the Cubs are a much better team, but against Ian Snell on his best moment of the season, -220 seems too short, especially having in account there will be much better options today.
Brad Diamond Sports
Play on: Philadelphia/New York ‘Under’ the total
The Mets visit Philadelphia this evening in a series opener to determine who will enter September as the first place favorite in the East. With aging, but stellar veteran, Jamie Moyer hurling, the Phillies have taken New York UNDER in 7 of the last 8. Hopefully, RHP Martinez can keep his pitches down in the band box to afford a low scoring game.
Matt Fargo
Texas Rangers at Kansas City Royals
Prediction: Kansas City Royals
The Royals dropped the first game of this series last night but they are in a good spot to get it back tonight. They are just 1-8 over their last nine games although that one victory did come on Sunday. The pitching has been the problem as they have a 6.02 ERA over the last 10 games. Most of that damage has come from the bullpen which has actually been pitching well for most of the season. The thinking here is that the pen won't even come into play tonight.
Texas is not playing much better as it has dropped six of its last eight games and going back even further, it is only 4-14 over its last 18 games. The Rangers have not won back-to-back games since August 4th and 5th so getting two in a row here will be a challenge. The pitching has been the problem here as well as Texas has allowed a whopping 6.9 rpg over those 18 games. The Rangers are Rangers are 0-7 in their last seven games after scoring five runs or more in their previous game.
I'm not sold on Kevin Millwood's last performance as he held the Tigers to just one run in a complete game. Prior to that, he had gone seven straight starts without a quality outing and posted a 7.91 ERA over that span with the opposition averaging 7.3 rpg over those seven games. Kansas City has been one tough foe for Millwood as he has allowed five runs or more in four of his last six starts against the Royals, posting a 7.52 ERA over that stretch including an 11.42 ERA in Kansas City.
Zack Greinke is coming off a decent effort against the Indians last time out as he allowed one earned run in five innings. Four unearned runs did him in. He has allowed two runs or fewer in four of his last five starts as he has a 2.97 ERA in those five games. He has a 1.50 in his last two outings against Texas and both of those came in hitter friendly Rangers Ballpark. He has been solid at home this season with a 3.39 ERA and eight of his 10 starts have been quality performances with the Royals going 7-3. Play Kansas City Royals 1.5 Units
DUNKEL
Chicago White Sox at Baltimore
After splitting two with the White Sox yesterday, the Orioles look to even up the season series at 4-apiece today. Baltimore is the underdog pick (+150) according to Dunkel, which has Baltimore favored straight up by 1. Dunkel Pick: Baltimore (+150). Here are all of today's games.
TUESDAY, AUGUST 26
Game 951-952: NY Mets at Philadelphia
Dunkel Ratings: NY Mets (Martinez) 15.278; Philadelphia (Moyer) 16.833
Dunkel Line: Philadelphia by 1 1/2; 7 1/2
Vegas Line: Philadelphia (-120); 9
Dunkel Pick: Philadelphia (-120); Under
Game 953-954: Chicago Cubs at Pittsburgh
Dunkel Ratings: Cubs (Zambrano) 15.118; Pittsburgh (Snell) 15.331
Dunkel Line: Pittsburgh by 1/2; 9
Vegas Line: Chicago Cubs (-215); 8
Dunkel Pick: Pittsburgh (+195); Over
Game 955-956: LA Dodgers at Washington
Dunkel Ratings: LA Dodgers (Lowe) 14.818; Washington (Balester) 13.533
Dunkel Line: LA Dodgers by 1 1/2; 9
Vegas Line: LA Dodgers (-200); 8
Dunkel Pick: LA Dodgers (-200); Over
Game 957-958: Florida at Atlanta
Dunkel Ratings: Florida (Olsen) 14.664; Atlanta (Jurrjens) 13.630
Dunkel Line: Florida by 1; 7 1/2
Vegas Line: Atlanta (-150); 9
Dunkel Pick: Florida (+140); Under
Game 959-960: Cincinnati at Houston
Dunkel Ratings: Cincinnati (Arroyo) 14.099; Houston (Rodriguez) 14.947
Dunkel Line: Houston by 1; 10
Vegas Line: Houston (-135); 9
Dunkel Pick: Houston (-135); Over
Game 961-962: Milwaukee at St. Louis
Dunkel Ratings: Milwaukee (Sheets) 15.136; St. Louis (Wellemeyer) 15.697
Dunkel Line: St. Louis by 1/2; 9
Vegas Line: Milwaukee (-120); 8
Dunkel Pick: St. Louis (+110); Over
Game 963-964: Arizona at San Diego
Dunkel Ratings: Arizona (Webb) 16.084; San Diego (Reinke) 14.440
Dunkel Line: Arizona by 1 1/2; 6
Vegas Line: Arizona (-240); 7
Dunkel Pick: Arizona (-240); Under
Game 965-966: Colorado at San Francisco
Dunkel Ratings: Colorado (De La Rosa) 14.480; San Francisco (Palmer) 16.054
Dunkel Line: San Francisco by 1 1/2; 7 1/2
Vegas Line: Colorado (-115); 8 1/2
Dunkel Pick: San Francisco (+105); Under
Game 967-968: Chicago White Sox at Baltimore
Dunkel Ratings: White Sox (Floyd) 15.051; Baltimore (Burres) 16.112
Dunkel Line: Baltimore by 1; 10 1/2
Vegas Line: Chicago White Sox (-160); 11
Dunkel Pick: Baltimore (+150); Under
Game 969-970: Cleveland at Detroit
Dunkel Ratings: Cleveland (Lee) 15.003; Detroit (Lambert) 15.153
Dunkel Line: Detroit by 1/2; 10
Vegas Line: Cleveland (-165); 8 1/2
Dunkel Pick: Detroit (+155); Over
Game 971-972: Boston at NY Yankees
Dunkel Ratings: Boston (Wakefield) 15.981; NY Yankees (Pettitte) 17.470
Dunkel Line: NY Yankees by 1 1/2; 11
Vegas Line: NY Yankees (-160); 9 1/2
Dunkel Pick: NY Yankees (-160); Over
Game 973-974: Toronto at Tampa Bay
Dunkel Ratings: Toronto (Halladay) 16.025; Tampa Bay (Shields) 16.825
Dunkel Line: Tampa Bay by 1; 8 1/2
Vegas Line: Tampa Bay (-125); 7
Dunkel Pick: Tampa Bay (-125); Over
Game 975-976: Texas at Kansas City
Dunkel Ratings: Texas (Millwood) 14.145; Kansas City (Greinke) 13.178
Dunkel Line: Texas by 1; 10
Vegas Line: Kansas City (-120); 9
Dunkel Pick: Texas (+110); Over
Game 977-978: Oakland at LA Angels
Dunkel Ratings: Oakland (Smith) 14.589; LA Angels (Lackey) 16.778
Dunkel Line: LA Angels by 2; 7 1/2
Vegas Line: LA Angels (-250); 8
Dunkel Pick: LA Angels (-250); Under
Game 979-980: Minnesota at Seattle
Dunkel Ratings: Minnesota (Baker) 15.817; Seattle (Rowland-Smith) 14.464
Dunkel Line: Minnesota by 1 1/2; 8
Vegas Line: Minnesota (-170); 8 1/2
Dunkel Pick: Minnesota (-170); Under
Mr A
Milwaukee Brewers at St. Louis Cardinals
The Brewers have won the last six meetings versus St. Louis and five of the last seven at Busch Stadium.
Milwaukee's Ben Sheets (11-7, 3.75 ERA), is 1-2 with 3.32 ERA in his last three starts. The right-hander is 5-14 with a 4.20 ERA in 25 career starts versus Milwaukee.
St. Louis' Todd Wellemeyer (11-4, 3.79), is 3-0 with 2.33 ERA in his last three starts. The right-hander is unbeaten in his last eight starts.
Take the Cardinals' with Todd Wellemeyer on the hill to quiet the Brewers bats. Milwaukee's ace Ben Sheets is currently struggling and the Brewers have lost eight of Sheets’ last 10 starts versus the Cardinals.
St. Louis Cardinals -105
Gina
Toronto Blue Jays at Tampa Bay Rays
Both Roy Halladay and James Shields has been successful against today’ opponents, but the Blue Jays have had problems with the Rays. Tampa Bay has won ten of the last 13 meetings against Toronto and seven of the last 8 in Tampa Bay. Go with the Rays at Tropicana Field. Tampa Bay is 43-11 in their last 54 games at home, 47-18 this season.
Tampa Bay Rays -125
Sean Higgs
Cleveland Indians vs. Detroit Tigers
Play: Detroit Tigers
We will take the Tigers here. Cliff Lee just 1-7 in his last 8 starts vs the Detroit. Let's enjoy the +150 and cash in!
Scott Spreitzer
Milwaukee Brewers at St. Louis Cardinals
I'm playing the Brewers on Tuesday. Ben Sheets has been excellent in this role all season. He's led the Brewers to a 5-1 mark in six road night starts this season, producing a strong 1.76 ERA along the way. So, while he hasn't been getting the best press as of late, they haven't quite broken down his numbers like we have. Tonight, Sheets faces a Cardinal lineup that hasn't fared all that well in home night games against righthanders. I believe that will be the Redbird's downfall. Let's also not forget that the Brew-Crew have cashed 14 of their last 18 tickets overall, and they've won six in a row over their division rival. Look for the Brewers to make it seven straight with a big road win on Tuesday.
Play on: Milwaukee
VEGAS EXPERTS
Toronto Blue Jays at Tampa Bay Rays
As scary as it is to go against Roy Halladay in the underdog role (4-0 TSR L4 in that situation), we're going to pull the trigger as Rays starter James Shields has the resume to match with a 16-3 TSR as a favorite and a 13-1 TSR at home this season. As a team, Tampa is excellent in the home fave role, owning a 35-14 record. Halladay is 0-3 this year vs. the Rays with all three outings ranking amongst his worst starts of the year.
Play on: Tampa Bay
Tom Stryker
NY METS +113 over Philadelphia
Off its emotional revenge sweep over Los Angeles, Philadelphia will find things a little bit tougher against New York on Tuesday night. The Mets are currently in the top spot in the NL East standings and they know a few wins here will give them some much needed breathing room in the standings.
To get this series started out on the right foot, New York will turn to veteran Pedro Martinez. In the month of August, Martinez has been in a zone. With 31.1 innings completed, Pedro has been touched for only 11 earned runs and 27 hits. That breaks down to a decent 3.16 ERA. Martinez has been effective when throwing with more rest too. In fact, the Mets have cashed 13 of their last 19 when Pedro has pitched with four or more days in between starts.
Knocking off Philadelphia southpaw Jamie Moyer won't be easy. Moyer owns a blistering 1.83 ERA in his last three starts. Fortunately for us, Jamie hasn't had his best stuff at home this year. With 77.0 frames in the bank, Moyer has been clocked for 37 earned runs and 90 hits. That adds up to a soft 4-4 record and an average 4.32 ERA.
On a technical note, the Mets have posted victories win 16 of their last 21 in division action and cashed 11 of their last 15 versus left-handed pitching. Take New York with listed pitcher Martinez.
Jeff Alexander Sports
1 unit on LA Dodgers -191
The Dodgers know they need to take advantage of playing the lowly Nats here to gain some ground in the NL West race. The Dodgers are 11-1 in the last 12 meetings in this series and 5-0 in Lowe's last 5 starts vs. the Nationals. The Dodgers are 4-0 in Lowe's last 4 starts vs. the National League East and 37-16 in Lowe's last 53 starts vs. a team with a losing record. The Nationals are a terrible 5-16 in their last 21 games following an off day and just 17-43 in their last 60 overall. Bet the Dodgers behind Lowe tonight.
Rocco Spacamuro
100* Twins -170
Totals4u
Tex/Kc Over
Jack Clayton
Royals
Armvin Sports
Orioles +142
#1 Sports
Phillies
Tony Mathews
Reds
Brian Marshall
Royals
John Fina
Marlins
Lance's Lock
Giants -105
JerseySteveWins
Houston
lasvegassportsadvisors
Arizona
Joe Wiz
Phillies
Royals
DimePlayersClub
Mets +113
CappersAccess
Brewers
Royals
JH-SPORTSLINE
Marlins/Braves Over 8.5
Glen Mcgrew
SF Giants
ARTHUR RALPH
KC Royals
VEGAS STEAMLINE
CHICAGO/PITTSBURGH UNDER
Donald Tran
Reds +120
Chad Jordan
Diamondbacks -110
Global Sports Picks
ATHLETICS +225