GINA
San Francisco Giants at New York Mets
The struggling Giant have dropped four of their last six games and four of the last five against the NY Mets, but will send Jonathan Sanchez (8-4, 3.87) to the hill this evening. The lefty is 2-0 with a 2.29 ERA in his last three starts, 6-1 with a 3.31 ERA in his last eight. Sanchez is 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA in three career appearances against the Mets. New York counters with Johan Santana (7-7, 2.96 ERA). The Mets’ ace is pitching below par, 0-4 with a 2.48 ERA in his last six starts, but the southpaw is coming off a good performance, allowing two runs on six hits and six strikeouts over eight innings in a 3-2 win versus Philadelphia last Friday, but didn't factor in the decision.Good value with Santana at the wheel. Go with the Dog! San Francisco Giants have won seven of Sanchez's last 9 starts and his last 6 on the road. Meanwhile, New York has lost southpaw Johan Santana last 6 starts.
San Francisco Giants +185
Larry Ness
PIT / HOU Over 10.5
The Pirates average 4.88 RPG and allow 5.53 RPG (team ERA is a ML-high 5.15) and that combo quite naturally makes them one of MLB's best 'over' teams. The Pirates beat the Astros 4-3 last night but that 'under' still leaves them 53-31-5 to the over this year and in a neck-and-neck battle with the Marlins (53-30-7) for the best "over team" in MLB for '08. With Tom Gorzelanny having been sent down to the minors over the weekend, the Pirates will send John Van Benschoten to the mound. Here's a guy who went 0-7 with a 10.15 ERA in 11 appearances (nine starts) last year, with the Pirates going 1-8. He began this season in the minors and was called up on April 27. After three relief appearances, he was given a start on May 12 at home vs the Braves, allowing nine hits and seven runs (six earned) over just four innings. He was immediately returned to the minors but was re-called on June 28. He made his second start of '08 on July 2 at Cincy, lasting just 2.1 innings while allowing five hits and five ERs, although the Pirates won 9-5. That leaves him with a career mark (first season was in '04) of 1-10 with an 8.82 ERA in 16 starts (Pirates are 3-13). I read this morning in one of the many game previews, that Van Benschoten owns the worst career ERA in baseball history among pitchers with at least 75 innings of work at 9.04 (wow!). Brian Moehler (4-4 with a 4.13 ERA) gets the start for Houston and in his last start, allowed five ERs in six innings. More problems could arise because he's backed by a bullpen (ERA of 4.07 ranks 21st of 30 teams) that must be exhausted after pitching 19.2 innings the past three games (Astros were involved in a 17-inning game with Atlanta on Sunday). Take Hou/Pit Over
Nick "BookieKiller" Parsons
Cleveland / Detroit Over
Even though the Indians are mired in a horrific team slump this hasnt kept them from being involved in high scoring games. Thats part of the reason you saw the total on this game jump up from a 10 to a 10.5 this morning. Six of the last eight Cleveland games have seen at least eleven runs cross the plate and this tendency for playing higher scoring game is likely to continue tonight. Paul Byrd gets the ball for the Indians but hes mired in a horrible slump. Yes, Byrd has some great career numbers against the Tigers but right now hes a pitcher that cant be trusted and this is especially true on the road. One look at his numbers away from home and you can see what were speaking of there! He is 1-8 with a 7.21 ERA in his ten road starts! He is also 0-5 with an 8.53 ERA in his last five starts overall! Facing a red hot Tigers lineup is unlikely to help matters for Byrd. However, all is not bad news for Cleveland here because the Indians lineup should have no problem with the offerings of Tigers hurler Eddie Bonine. The young right-hander lasted less than three innings in his most recent start as he got crushed by the Twins. Now he faces another AL Central opponent and were expecting similar results. One final key that helps insure this one gets over the big total is that these two bullpens have been two of the worst in the majors so far this season!
JEFFERSONSPORTS
MLB WED
DETROIT-147
WILD BLL
Florida +100 (5 units)
St Louis +125 (5 units)
Arizona +100 (5 units)
Baltimore +165 (5 units)
White Sox -110 (5 units)
Seattle +150 (5 units)
Kiki sports
LA Angels/ Texas UNDER 10.5
KB WINS
Cubs -1.5
SOUTHSIDE SPORTS
DETROIT
SPORTS BOOK EDGE
Astros/Pirates Over
PRIORITY SPORTS
Cubs -175
LPW SPORTS FORECAST
KC Royals +110
PURE LOCK
Rockies +195
Sports Investors Network
Angels -140
MIKE NERI SPORTS
Reds +165
SPORTS ACTION 365
Colorado @ Milwaukee OVER 9
NATIONAL SPORTS ADVISORS
Arizona @ Washington UNDER 8.5
Winner Line
Braves
Frank Kennedy
Braves
Computer Boys
Tigers
OTM
Dodgers
Kevin Kennedy
Toronto
Winners Inc. Guaranteed Selections
5000* BASEBALL CRUSHER
Atlanta w/Hudson +100
Jeff Scott
3 Units Milw-1.5
2 Units Ariz/ Wash Under
1 Unit Marlins
Root
Chairman- Phillies
Millionaire- Astros
Money Maker- Braves
Billionaire- White Sox
The Consensus Group Guaranteed Selections
5000* BASEBALL DIAMOND DOMINATOR WINNER
Oakland w/Blanton -160
The Experts Guaranteed Selections
ULTIMATE EXPERTS BASEBALL DIAMOND WINNER
Detroit w/Bonine -148
Fairway Jay
3* Milwaukee Brewers -1.5
Procappersnetwork
PCN PRO
Cleveland +1.40 (3 Unit Play)
The Indians are a team that nobody wants any part of right now and that usually gives you some line value and that is what we have here tonight in my opinion. The Indians have Paul Byrd on the mound who has been like a stinky piece of dog poop that flys are attracted to lately but for some reason I feel like a fly today and will take a shot with him. Byrd has been very bad on the road this year but does have a win against Detroit at Detroit 4-2 on June 6th and in fact he has fared well in his career against the Tigers as he is 9-2 with a 3.52 ERA and a 1.122 WHIP against them. The Tigers meanwhile are throwing rookie Eddie Bonine who is making only his fifth career start and has never faced the Indians before. Bonine has a 4.72 ERA at home in 13 1/3 innings but does have a pretty good WHIP of 1.05. The HP umpire for tonight's game is Fieldin Culbreth who may help Byrd here as he has a wide strike zone and he tends to favor the road teams as 11 out of 17 times this year the away team has won. The Tigers have been very hot while the Indians have been very cold but I like the price and the Indians chances tonight.
Bob Balfe
Major League Baseball
Cardinals +130 over Phillies
Savannah Sports
2 units on Detroit
Vegas Runner
WAS / ARI Over 8 1* TOTAL
MIL -1.5 (-110) vs COL 1* RL WAGER
LOS / ATL Over 7 1* TOTAL