Tom Stryker
Road Warrior Blowout of the Week
CHICAGO WHITE SOX
The Vegas Beard
2* Toronto Blue Jays
2* Detroit Tigers
BEN BURNS
BIG GAME ALERT
I'm laying the price with the NEW YORK YANKEES. This matchup was originally supposed to be between Andy Pettite and Josh Beckett. However, Beckett will miss the series, the last of the year between these teams here at Yankee Stadium, due to continued numbness and tingling in his pitching arm. That means that Tim Wakefield will come off the disabled list, to make his first start since August 6th. I expect the Wakefield/Pettitte matchup to give the Yankees a significant advantage. For starters, we can't expect Wakefield to be 100% when making his first start in nearly three weeks. Even when healthy, Wakefield has had trouble earning victories on the road. At home, he's 5-3. On the road, he's just 2-5. In fact, if we look back as far as last September, we find that Boston is just 4-12 the last 16 times that Wakefield started on the road. Despite a couple recent losses, the Yankees are still a solid 6-3 the last nine times that Pettitte started here at Yankee Stadium. Pettitte allowed 0 runs in three of those nine starts and three earned runs or less in six of the games. Pettitte won his last start, allowing one run through seven innings at KC. That marked the third straight time he has allowed three earned runs or less, while lasting a minimum of seven complete innings in each of those starts. Pettitte defeated Boston back on 7/26. That was also against Wakefield and the Yankees won by a score of 10-3. Including that game, the Yankees are 5-1 his last six starts against the Red Sox and 14-6 his last 20 starts against them. Conversely, the Red Sox are 0-6 the last six times that Wakefield started against the Yankees and 2-10 the last 12 times he started against them. Overall, Wakefield is 9-17 with a 5.14 ERA vs. the Yankees while Pettitte is 16-7 with a 3.54 ERA against Boston. While the Red Sox still have the better overall record, that's been due to their exceptional play at Fenway. On the road, they're just 32-37. The Yankees, on the other hand, are 38-27 at home. The Yankees bullpen has a combined 3.65 ERA (1.167 WHIP) at home. The Red Sox bullpen has a combined mark of 4.20 (1.298 WHIP) on the road. Note that the Yankees have owned the Red Sox here over the past 80+ years. In addition to the advantages, the Yankees are really getting into 'must win' territory. That doesn't generally mean much for most teams but these are still the Yankees. Note that New York just scored 22 runs in sweeping three games vs. Baltimore. Pettitte was quoted as saying: "I feel like it's a must-win series. I don't necessarily feel like we need to sweep them, but I feel like we need to win the series." Look for him to lead the way, as the Yankees grab the opener. *AL GOM
ANNIHILATOR
I'm playing on the Cubs and Pirates to finish UNDER the total. Yesterday's series opener resulted in a high-scoring contest but I expect to see a well-pitched affair this evening. Chicago starter Carlos Zambrano had suffered rare back to back rough starts. However, he's still an excellent pitcher and he showed that last time out, shaking off the two bad outings by going seven complete innings and allowing only a single run. Zambrano earned the victory as the Cubs knocked off the Reds by a score of 3-2. Now, he'll have the luxury of pitching in a park where he has enjoyed plenty of success. In 11 starts here at PNC Park, Zambrano is 6-1 with a 3.47 ERA. He'll also face a lineup which isn't nearly as potent as it was earlier in the season. The Pirates have seen the UNDER go 13-5-1 their last 19 games. During that 19-game stretch they've averaged a mere 2.79 runs per game, scoring just 53 combined runs. Note that they haven't scored more than five runs in any of their past 13 games. Snell goes for the Pirates. While he's had some trouble on the road, he's been solid at home all season. In 11 starts here, Snell has a respectable 3.92 ERA while seeing the UNDER go 7-4. He's also been extremely sharp lately. Last time out, he held the Cardinals to just four hits through seven scoreless innings. That gave him a 2.37 ERA his last three starts, all of which fell below the total. Snell and Zambrano have faced each other once previously here in Pittsburgh. That came last September. The over/under line was eight and the Cubs won by a score of 5-1. Look for tonight's final score to also be lower-scoring than expected with the UNDER improving to 10-5 in Snell's last 15 starts here. *Annihilator
Seabass
50 Clev under
50 Yanks over
300 Tor
Ben Burns
4* Cubs/Pirates under 8.5
Beat Your Bookie
100 Clevland
50 Ariz
50 Minn
Seabass
50 Clev under
50 Yanks over
300 Tor
Insider....100* Reds
KELSO
Hgh Rollers Club
10 units - Indians -1.5
P r e z
6* Phillies
7* Indians
6* Rangers
BIG AL
Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers Under
NSA
PHIL 20*
TOR
MIL
Bos Over
AZ Udner
MINN Under