Alex Smart
New York Yankees @ Toronto Blue Jays Under 9.0
Jesse Litsch (12-8, 3.72 ERA) the Blue Jays starter for this tilt against the Yankees, is in top form, as is evident by allowing just 10 runs in his last seven starts for a stingy 1.91 ERA. He seems to love pitching at home in the Rogers Center posting a 2.79 ERA on the season. Im betting his his red hot ways will continue tonight.
Meanwhile, veteran Mike Mussina(18-9, 3.57 ERA) will return fire for the Bronx Bombers . The Yankee right hander, is 7-2 on the road during his current campaign, along with a tight 3.53. With the former Stanford stand out, left with just two remaining starts on the season, including this outing, he will be primed to perform as he tries to reach the 20 point win plateau, for the first time his career.
Both these hurlers are supported by two of the better bullpens in the American League.
Despite of these teams possessing viable offenses, Im expecting the throwers to take center stage in what will be a low scoring pitchers duel.
Play Under
Scott Ferrall
SANTANA and the METS over the Cubs at Shea (no early line)--Johan will beat Harden because he's been lights out lately for NY
Philly and Hamels -300 over the Braves at Citzens--automatic !
Washington +115 over Florida in DC
Dodgers -240 with Billingsley over the padres at the Revine
Mussina -110 wins his 19th and Yanks take out the Jays at Rogers
Dave Cokin
CIN Reds @ HOU Astros
Take CIN Reds
Edinson Volquez has had a great season and while he hasn't been as dominant since the break as he was in the early portion of the campaign, he's still very tough. Wandy Rodriguez is less than 100% physically and doesn't figure to go more than five or six innings here. The 'Stros are still alive but I see them taking a crucial loss tonight. The Reds are the choice.
Jim Feist
NYY Yankees @ TOR Blue Jays
Take NYY Yankees
Toronto had a nice late season run, but it's all over, losing 7 of 12 games. The offense has really cooled off. They take on a Yankees team that, with the pressure off, is playing excekkebt baseball. NY just won 8 of 9 games to close out Yankee stadium. The pitching has been very good and now their top pitcher of the season goes, Mike Mussina (18-9) who has a shot at 20 wins. He's had little trouble with the Blue Jays this season (3.09 ERA), and liftime he's 24-12 against them. Toronto starter Jesse Litsch has faced the Bronx Bombers twice this season.....and got bombed, with an 0-2 record and a 7.88 ERA. They've pounded him for 17 hits in 8 innings. In fact, in 21 career innings he's allowed 40 NY base runners! Have to back the hot team with the far motivated starter. Play the Yankees
JEFFERSONSPORTS
MLB EARLY RELEASE FOR TUES
San Francisco-160 (Lincecum)
Los Angeles Angels-138 (Weaver)
Vernon Croy
New York Yankees vs. Toronto Blue Jays
Play: New York Yankees
The Yankees have the superior pitcher on the mound tonight and the Jays are just 2-7 in when Jesse Litsch's (12-8, 3.72 ERA) last 9 starts against an AL East team. The Yankees are 9-2 in Mike Mussina's (18-9, 3.57 ERA) last 11 road starts and they are also 13-3 in Mussina's last 16 starts against a team with a winning record. The Jays are hitting just .227 as a team over their last 7 games and the Yankees opponents are hitting just .226 against them over their last 7 games played while averaging just 2.3 rpg. Litsch has struggled against the Yankees in the past with a 1-3 record and an ERA of 6.75 over 5 starts against them and I look for the Yankees bats to come alive against Litsch tonight. Litsch has lasted an average of just 4 innings per start in his only two outings against the Yankees this season and Mussina dominated the Jays the last time he faced them allowing just 5 hits and 1 earned run over 6 innings while walking just 1 batter. Take the NY Yankees as my free play for Tuesday night and make sure you get on my 20-8 Football run which continues this week.
Steve Merril
Atlanta Braves vs. Philadelphia Phillies
Play:Under
Despite scoring six runs last night, the Phillies still only had eight total hits and batted only .250 as a team. It appears the Phillies’ offense is finally cooling off as they are batting just .224 in their past five games with a 5-1 Under mark in their past six games overall. Philadelphia will now be facing veteran Mike Hampton who made his first start in July after a three year absence from the starting rotation. Hampton struggled in three of his first four starts, but he has now turned things around and has a solid 3.71 ERA and 1.41 WHIP in his past seven outings. Atlanta is also likely to struggle offensively as they are averaging just 3.9 runs versus LHP, compared to 5.0 runs versus RHP. Atlanta had just 2 runs last night and will now be facing one of the best left-handed pitchers in the league as Cole Hamels enters with a 3.10 ERA and 1.08 WHIP in 32 starts this season with 189 strikeouts.
Rocketman Sports
Florida @ Washington
Play:1* Florida -125
Hot team vs a Cold team here tonight. Florida is 54-35 this year when the total is 9 to 9 1/2. Florida is 21-12 this year on the road when the total is 9 to 9 1/2. Washington is scoring only 4.0 runs per game overall this year and 3.9 runs per game at home this season. Olsen is 2-1 with a 2.84 ERA his last 3 starts. Martis is 0-3 with a 6.23 ERA overall this year, 0-1 with an 18.00 ERA at home and 0-3 with a 6.23 ERA his last 3 starts. Florida is 13-2 overall vs Washington this year including 6-0 at Washington. Olsen is 6-3 overall vs Washington since 1997. We'll recommend a small play on Florida
Jimmy The Moose
New York Yankees at Toronto Blue Jays
Prediction: New York Yankees
The Yankees have won 8 of their last 9 games. New York has won their last 5 divisional games. In their last 10 games vs. a team with a winning home record the Yankees are 7-3. New York has won 9 of Mussina's last 11 starts. In his last 16 starts vs. a team with a winning record the Yankees are 13-3. New York is 20-8 in his last 28 starts. The Jays played pretty well down the stretch but over their last few games their lack of offense has cost them. The Jays are 1-4 in their last 5 vs. a team with a winning record. The Jays are 5-16 in Litsch's last 21 starts. The Jays are 1-4 in his last 5 starts vs. the Yankees while NY is 4-1 in Mussina's last 5 starts vs. Toronto. Play on the New York Yankees -.
Frank Jordan
Chicago White Sox vs. Minnesota Twins
Play: Minnesota Twins
Chicago has a 2.5 game lead over Minnesota 3 in the loss column. Chicago White Sox are 35-43 on the road and is sending 12-14 Javier Vazquez to the mound. Minnesota is great at home with a 49-26 and sending 9-4 Scott Baker to the hill. Look for Minnesota to get win number 50 at home and inch closer to Sox for top spot in the division. Play Minnesota
Bobby Maxwell
Arizona at ST. LOUIS
We're playing the D'Backs in this one as they continue to try to climb back into the N.L. West race, trailing the Dodgers by two games with six remaining. St. Louis has already packed its bags for vacation and it putting up little resistance lately.
Randy Johnson (10-9, 3.99 ERA) is on the hill for Arizona against the Cardinals' Kyle Lohse (14-6, 3.76). The D'Backs won Monday night and have taken three of four from the Cards this season and six of the last seven dating back to last year.
Arizona has won seven of its last eight overall while St. Louis has dropped 10 of 12 overall.
Johnson has allowed just two runs in his last two starts and has allowed more than three earned runs in an outing just once in his last 10 trips to the hill. Last time he pitched in St. Louis was in 2005 as a Yankee and he blanked the Cardinals for seven innings in a 5-0 win.
St. Louis has lost six of Lohse's last eight outings and last time he pitched at Busch Stadium he gave up three runs in 5.1 innings but his offense got the 4-3 win over the Cubs.
Arizona has something to fight for and we're going to back them tonight in St. Louis. Play the D'Backs with Johnson on the hill.
4♦ ARIZONA
Sports Advisors
Chicago Cubs (95-60) at N.Y. Mets (86-70)
A sensational pitching matchup is on tap at Shea Stadium, as the N.L. Central champion Cubs send Rich Harden to the mound (5-1, 1.66 ERA) opposite Johan Santana (14-7, 2.65), who takes the mound trying to keep the Mets in the playoff hunt.
New York opened a season-ending seven-game homestand at Shea Stadium with Monday’s 9-5 loss to the Cubs. Coupled with the Phillies’ 6-2 win over the Braves on Monday, the Mets trail Philadelphia by 2½ games in the N.L. East race, but they lead the Brewers by one game in the chase for the wild card. Jerry Manuel’s club has lost three in a row and six of its last nine, but is still on runs of 24-12 at home, 13-7 against right-handed starters, 6-2 on Tuesdays, 4-1 against the N.L. Central and 8-1 behind Santana.
Chicago, which locked up its second straight division title on Saturday, clinched home-field advantage throughout the National League playoffs with last night’s victory. Lou Pineilla’s squad is on streaks of 9-2 overall, 20-7 on the road, 11-4 against the N.L. East and 13-3 versus lefty starters.
The Cubs are now 3-0 against the Mets this season, winning all three games by the combined score of 24-7, but New York is 4-1 in the last fie meetings at Shea Stadium.
Harden has been rock solid since Chicago traded for him in July, allowing one or no earned runs in eight of his 10 starts, and he’s 3-0 with a 1.50 ERA in three road outings in a Cubs uniform. On Thursday against Milwaukee at home, Harden yielded a run on one hit and six walks over five innings, failing to get a decision as Chicago rallied for a 7-6 victory, its eighth straight win in games Harden has started.
Santana, who will be trying to record his 13th consecutive quality start tonight, has won six straight decisions going back to June, and he’s posted a 2.07 ERA in 10 starts since the beginning of August. On Thursday, the hard-throwing lefty dominated the Nationals, allowing a single run on eight hits in seven innings, cruising to a 7-2 victory.
Santana is 7-3 with a 2.26 ERA in 15 starts at home, and the Mets are 6-1 in his last seven outings at Shea. Also, he hasn’t faced the Cubs this season, but going back to his days with the Twins, he’s 1-0 versus Chicago with a 1.38 ERA in four appearances (one start) spanning 13 innings.
The over is 11-3-1 in the last 15 head-to-head clashes between the Cubs and Mets, including 7-1 in the last eight at Shea. The over is also 5-1 in the Mets’ last six overall and 13-5-1 in their last 19 at home, but Chicago sports under streaks of 8-4-1 overall, 6-1 on the road and 4-1 with Harden on the mound.
ATS ADVANTAGE: NONE
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Chicago White Sox (86-69) at Minnesota Twins (84-72)
The two teams atop the standings in the A.L. Central kick off their most important series of the season at the Metrodome, with the White Sox pitting veteran Javier Vazquez (12-15, 4.32) against Minnesota youngster Scott Baker (9-4, 3.69).
Chicago leads the Central by 2½ games and can lock up the division title with a sweep of this three-game series. The White Sox are in the midst of a 10-game road trip that has seen them go 3-4 so far, and they’ve lost nine of their last 14 games on the highway. On the bright side, the Pale Hose are on positive runs of 10-3 after an off day, 5-1 within the division and 10-4 on Tuesdays, but they’ve dropped 20 of their last 27 on artificial turf.
The Twins are limping to the finish line, having lost six of their last eight overall (all on the road) and four straight to A.L. Central rivals. However, they’re 45-20 in their last 65 games in the Metrodome, where they’ll spend the final week of the season, and 15-3 in their last 18 after a day off.
The home team has dominated this rivalry in 2008, winning 12 of the 15 meetings, with the Twins going 5-1 hosting Chicago. Also, the Twins have won four of Baker’s last five starts against the White Sox, but Chicago is 5-0 the last five times Vazquez has opposed Minnesota.
After posting a 1.83 ERA in his first three September starts, Vazquez imploded in his last trip to the mound Thursday at Yankee Stadium, giving up seven runs (six earned) on six hits and four walks over just 3 2/3 innings, losing 9-2. Chicago is just 2-4 in the right-hander’s last six starts. On the road this year, Vazquez is 5-8 with a 4.85 ERA.
Like Vazquez, Baker is coming off a rough outing, as he lasted just 4 2/3 innings at Cleveland on Wednesday, surrendering four runs and six hits and getting a no-decision in his team’s 6-4 loss. Minnesota is just 4-5 in the right-hander’s last nines starts, but seven of those came on the road. At home this season, Baker is 3-1 with a 3.28 ERA in 10 tries, seven of which the Twins have won.
Vazquez is 6-5 with a 4.86 ERA in 15 career starts against the Twins, including 2-0 despite a 5.11 ERA in two outings this year. Meanwhile, Baker has faced Chicago seven times, going 2-2 despite a beefy 7.99 ERA (1-0 with a 5.73 ERA in two outings vs. the Sox in 2008).
The over is 7-1 in the last eight meetings between these rivals (3-1 in Minnesota), 6-0 in Baker’s last six starts against the White Sox (4-0 at home) and 5-0-1 in Vazquez’s last six outings versus Minnesota (4-1 in the dome). Also, the over for the Twins is on runs of 5-1 overall, 8-0-2 on Tuesdays, 8-1-1 against winning teams, 7-3-1 in divisional battles, 9-3-1 on turf, 4-0 with Baker on the mound overall and 5-1 with Baker starting at home.
ATS ADVANTAGE: OVER
The Gold Medal Club
Cleveland @ Boston
PLAY CLEVELAND
The Tribe send there ace Cliff Lee to the mound tonight, knowing he is 12-2 on the road this season, with an era of 2.58 Winners of 7 straight, the Tribe are on the warpath.Boston counters with the wily veteran Tim Wakefield, who it seems has hit the wall. While he still is better at home at 6-4 on the season his last 3 starts have been suspect. He is 1-2 with an era of 9.75, sorry Bosox fans this won't get it done tonight.
DUNKEL
Chicago White Sox at Minnesota
The Twins look to cut into Chicago's 2 1/2-game lead and take advantage of the White Sox 11-21 record as a road underdog between +100 and +125. Minnesota is the pick (-135) according to Dunkel, which has the Twins favored by 1. Dunkel Pick: Minnesota (-135). Here are all of today's games
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23
Game 951-952: Atlanta at Philadelphia
Dunkel Ratings: Atlanta (Hampton) 15.277; Philadelphia (Hamels) 18.262
Dunkel Line: Philadelphia by 3; 8
Vegas Line: No Line
Dunkel Pick: N/A
Game 953-954: Florida at Washington
Dunkel Ratings: Florida (Olsen) 14.798; Washington (Martis) 15.209
Dunkel Line: Washington by 1/2; 8
Vegas Line: Florida (-130); 9
Dunkel Pick: Washington (+120); Under
Game 955-956: Chicago Cubs at NY Mets
Dunkel Ratings: Cubs (Marshall) 14.250; NY Mets (Santana) 15.715
Dunkel Line: NY Mets by 1 1/2; 8 1/2
Vegas Line: No Line
Dunkel Pick: N/A
Game 957-958: Pittsburgh at Milwaukee
Dunkel Ratings: Pittsburgh (Karstens) 14.342; Milwaukee (Bush) 15.772
Dunkel Line: Milwaukee by 1 1/2; 8 1/2
Vegas Line: Milwaukee (-185); 9 1/2
Dunkel Pick: Milwaukee (-185); Under
Game 959-960: Cincinnati at Houston
Dunkel Ratings: Cincinnati (Volquez) 15.426; Houston (Rodriguez) 14.279
Dunkel Line: Cincinnati by 1; 7
Vegas Line: Houston (-110); 8 1/2
Dunkel Pick: Cincinnati (+100); Under
Game 961-962: Arizona at St. Louis
Dunkel Ratings: Arizona (Johnson) 14.207; St. Louis (Lohse) 14.547
Dunkel Line: St. Louis by 1/2; 7 1/2
Vegas Line: St. Louis (-115); 8 1/2
Dunkel Pick: St. Louis (-115); Under
Game 963-964: San Diego at LA Dodgers
Dunkel Ratings: San Diego (Leblanc) 14.044; LA Dodgers (Billingsley) 16.022
Dunkel Line: LA Dodgers by 2; 9
Vegas Line: LA Dodgers (-240); 7 1/2
Dunkel Pick: LA Dodgers (-240); Over
Game 965-966: Colorado at San Francisco
Dunkel Ratings: Colorado (Jimenez) 13.730; San Francisco (Lincecum) 16.152
Dunkel Line: San Francisco by 2 1/2; 6
Vegas Line: San Francisco (-170); 7
Dunkel Pick: San Francisco (-170); Under
Game 967-968: Tampa Bay at Baltimore
Dunkel Ratings: Tampa Bay (Shields) 16.755; Baltimore (Olson) 14.765
Dunkel Line: Tampa Bay by 2; 10
Vegas Line: Tampa Bay (-170); 9 1/2
Dunkel Pick: Tampa Bay (-170); Over
Game 969-970: Tampa Bay at Baltimore
Dunkel Ratings: Tampa Bay (Talbot) 14.764; Baltimore (Simon) 15.639
Dunkel Line: Baltimore by 1; 10
Vegas Line: Tampa Bay (-135); 11
Dunkel Pick: Baltimore (+125); Under
Game 971-972: Cleveland at Boston
Dunkel Ratings: Cleveland (Lee) 16.793; Boston (Wakefield) 15.082
Dunkel Line: Cleveland by 1 1/2; 8
Vegas Line: Boston (-115); 9
Dunkel Pick: Cleveland (+105); Under
Game 973-974: Kansas City at Detroit
Dunkel Ratings: Kansas City (Greinke) 14.683; Detroit (Garcia) 14.886
Dunkel Line: Detroit by 1/2; 10 1/2
Vegas Line: Kansas City (-125); 9 1/2
Dunkel Pick: Detroit (+115); Over
Game 975-976: NY Yankees at Toronto
Dunkel Ratings: NY Yankees (Mussina) 15.969; Toronto (Litsch) 16.760
Dunkel Line: Toronto by 1; 7 1/2
Vegas Line: Toronto (-110); 9
Dunkel Pick: Toronto (-110); Under
Game 977-978: Oakland at Texas
Dunkel Ratings: Oakland (Outman) 16.792; Texas (Nippert) 14.027
Dunkel Line: Oakland by 2 1/2; 10
Vegas Line: Texas (-135); 11
Dunkel Pick: Oakland (+125); Under
Game 979-980: Chicago White Sox at Minnesota
Dunkel Ratings: White Sox (Vazquez) 15.384; Minnesota (Baker) 16.118
Dunkel Line: Minnesota by 1; 8
Vegas Line: Minnesota (-135); 8 1/2
Dunkel Pick: Minnesota (-135); Under
Game 981-982: LA Angels at Seattle
Dunkel Ratings: LA Angels (Weaver) 15.320; Seattle (Feierabend) 15.436
Dunkel Line: Seattle by 1/2; 9 1/2
Vegas Line: LA Angels (-140); 8 1/2
Dunkel Pick: Seattle (+130); Over
Dennis Macklin.
Washington Nationals at Florida Marlins
Olsen hasn't been much for the Fish but the Marlins are 9-3 in L12 and playing hard. The Nats are 2-9 in L11 with both wins coming against Mets pen and counter with Martis who is 0-3 and 6.23 in his first three MLB starts. Florida gets the money here against the Nasty Nats.
Play on: Florida