Dave Cokin
Rockies @ Pirates
Play: Rockies -145
The Rockies were thought to be sellers with Brian Fuentes and perhaps even Matt Holliday on the trading block. Then the defending NL champs got hot and there was thought they might instead look to buy a player for the stretch drive. Needless to say, back to back losses against the shorthanded Pirates aren't doing much to ease the confusion. This is a very big game for the Rockies as they desperately need to avoid getting swept by the lowly Bucs. With their tough righty Aaron Cook on the hill, they're in good shape. That outlook gets even better with Zach Duke (34 hits, 24 ER in his last 19.1 IP) on the bump for the hosts. I'll spot the odds with the Rockies.
Marc Lawrence
Play On: Minnesota
Twins host the White Sox in the 3rd of this 4-game series in the Metrodome when they send Livan Hernandez to the hill against Gavin Floyd in a matchup of two pitchers with opposite home/road dichotomies. That's confirmed by Hernandez' 3.91 ERA at home this season as opposed to his 7.22 ERA on the road. Floyd, on the other hand, owns a 5.29 ERA on the road and a 2.49 ERA at home this year. With Floyd in rocky KW form with 13 walks and 12 strikeouts in his last three starting efforts, and 5-12 in his last 17 road starts, look for Hernandez to improve to 9-1 at home in July here tonight.
Jimmy The Moose
New York Mets at Florida Marlins
Prediction: New York Mets
The red hot Mets are 16-5 in their last 21 games. The Mets are 8-3 in their last 11 games vs. a team with a winning record. New York is 12-5 in their last 17 vs. a right-handed starter. Pelfrey's on the mound tonight and NY is 10-1 in his last 11 starts. The Mets have won his last 5 road starts. The Marlins have also been playing well but they have struggled with Johnson on the mound. Florida is 2-5 in his last 7 starts vs. a team with a winning record. The Marlins have lost 4 of his last 5 home starts. The Mets are 13-3 in their last 16 trips to Florida. Play on the New York Mets -.
ScottFerrall
BECKETT -170 over Saunders and the Angels--Boston doesn't mess around when their ace is on the hill
Oakland -120 and Gallagher over Bannister and the Royals--this guy is another bad outing from being toast with KC
JOBA -260 against the Orioles at the boogie down Bronx--the Yanks will light up Sarfate
TB -105 at Toronto--I'm feeling Edwin Jackson getting some run support. The Rays are going to bust out one of these nights--I say tonight
DODGERS -185 and Billingsley stop the Giants while getting the sticks working against Dirty Sanchez
Arizona -135 at SD--Dan Haren always comes through for the D'Backs when they need him most
Bobby Maxwell
Detroit +145 at CLEVELAND
The odds might be stacked against us, but I like the Tigers to get the best of the Indians tonight. Lefty Nate Robertson (6-8, 5.63 ERA) is on the hill for the Tigers tonight against Cleveland's Cliff Lee (3-0, 2.29).
Robertson has been Jeckyl and Hyde on the road, giving up one run in a complete-game victory in Seattle on July 6 and then in his last road start he gave up seven runs in 2.1 innings of work in Baltimore. We're banking on the good Roberston to show up tonight.
He hasn't seen the Indians this season but he's been consistent against them in his career, and in his last three he's allowed seven runs over his last 20.2 innings of work.
Lee has been remarkable this season but his body of work against the Tigers hasn't been great, as the Indians have lost six of his last seven outings. Last three times he's seen the Tigers he's allowed 12 runs in 15 innings of work.
Play the hard-hitting Tigers to get to Lee again
3♦ DETROIT
Las Vegas Sports Advisors
LA Angels at Boston
Boston/J. Beckett -164
Play of the Day 5*
10:05:00 PM Arizona at San Diego
Arizona/D. Haren -128 5*
Philadelphia at Washington
Philadelphia/J. Moyer -129
FREE PICK 5*
Jim Feist
CHW White Sox and MIN Twins
Take CHW White Sox
The first place White Sox and second place Twins playing in a important series here in Minneapolis. The White Sox send Gavin Floyd to the mound. Floyd is 10-6 on the season with a 3.57 era. He's 2-1 in three starts against the Twins this season, allowing just five earned runs in 21 1/3 total innings. Livan Hernandez goes for the Twins. Hernandez has been excellent at home and very poor on the road. Hernandez has allowed the most hits in the AL with 190 (32 more than the next starter) and also has allowed the most earned runs with 80. Hernandez is 2-1 in his last three starts, allowing 13 earned runs in 19 13/ innings. We'll take the White Sox here on Wednesday to increase their lead in the AL Central.
Carlo Campanella
Los Angeles Angels at Boston Red Sox
Prediction: Boston Red Sox
Reason: Boston hosts the Angels on Wednesday on a 1-3 losing streak. Expect that they'll turn things around here knowing that they're 26-7 at home against AL teams with a team batting average of 265% or lower this season. Toss in the fact that Boston is 4-2 against LA with Beckett starting on the mound and we'll lay the lumber.
7* Play On Boston
Alex Smart
Texas Rangers -1.5 +116
The Texas Rangers(55-52) and Seattle Mariners(40-66) prepare to play their 3rd tilt in a 4 games series this Wednesday night in Arlington. Last night the Rangers took out the Mariners, with a bottom of ninth, come from behind 11-10 win. The loss for the Mariners was their 14th in their L/19 overall. With the ace of the Texas pitching staff, Vicente Padilla (12-5, 4.56 ERA) going to the hill, the positive momentum of last nights victory should carry on into this battle. The hard throwing Nicaraguan right hander, has not looked particularly strong of late, but has been dominant against Seattle this season , going is 1-0 along with a stingy 2.00 ERA in 3 starts. All three games ended in a Rangers win. Meanwhile, his pitching opponent from the Mariners Miguel Batista (4-11, 6.67 ERA) has been very inconsistent this season, and has suffered through numerous bouts of fatigue, as was the case in his last outing, when he left the game , after throwing just 82 pitches. The veter an righty did not look bad in that effort, and put his team in a position for a win, but as has been the case all season, the Mariners bullpen , found a way to blow a lead. Batista is 0-2 in his career at Rangers Ball park, along with a ugly looking 7.64 ERA.
The Rangers have the superior pitcher on the mound tonight, and the superior offense , and home field advantage. In this spot, against a downtrodden team, with absolutely no confidence, they very much look like the right side .
Final notes & Key Trends:The Rangers are 6-0 when Padilla starts against AL teams like Seattle with a on base % of .320 or less this season, with the average margin of victory clicking in at 4.7 RPG. Mariners are 17-40 L/57 meetings in Texas. Play on the Texas Rangers runline
BRAD DIAMOND SPORTS
RHP Pelfrey (9-6, 3.67 ERA)of the Mets gets the call on Wednesday as the youngster has won 7 of the his last 8 decisions. Since the Mets are red hot and picked up a slick 4-1 decision last night over the Fish, we fully expect the New Yorkers to continue their first place surge.Play on: NY METS over Florida
Frank Jordan
St Louis Cardinals vs. Atlanta Braves
Play: St Louis Cardinals
St. Louis is pleased to welcome back Chris Carpenter and it comes right before the trading deadline. St. Louis hopes that he will be a big pitcher for them down the stretch to counter the moves of Milwaukee (CC Sabathia) and Chicago Cubs (Rich Harden). Look for Carpenter and St. Louis to beat up on a weaker Atlanta team. Play St. Louis
Steve Janus
Arizona D-Backs vs. San Diego Padres
Play: Arizona D-Backs
The Diamondbacks are 4-1 in their last 5 road games and they've been very impressive this season when Dan Haren takes the mound, no matter where they play. Arizona has a 5-1 record in Haren's last 6 road starts and they've won Haren's last 4 starts overall against any team with a losing record. The Padres have lost 13 of their last 16 home games and are just 14-40 at home against teams with a winning record.
Black Widow Sports
1* on Minnesota Twins +104
The Twins smell blood after drawing within a ½ game of the White Sox by beating Chicago in two straight heading into tonight’s Game 3. Livan Hernandez isn’t the best starter on this staff, but he’s been damn good at home. Hernandez is 8-1 at home with a sufficient 3.91 ERA this year. The Twins are 10-2 in his 12 home starts of 2008. After a hot start to the season, Gavin Floyd has clearly fizzled. Floyd is 0-2 with a 6.13 ERA in his last three starts. The Twins are 28-8 (+16.7 Units) against the money line in home games in July games over the last 3 seasons. With Hernandez on the mound and the Twins playing at home, this is a great combination for a Minnesota victory as a nice underdog. Take the Twins on the Money Line.
Info Plays
3* on Kansas City Royals +121
Kansas City has gotten great pitching during their current 3-game winning streak. The Royals have allowed just 5 runs in those three wins and we look for Brian Bannister to continue this success for Kansas City tonight. Bannister has allowed just 2 earned runs in two of his last three starts against the A’s, one coming as a complete game in a 9-2 victory. He owns a career 1.150 WHIP against the A’s and that bodes well heading into tonight’s match-up. Bannister is 13-4 vs. teams averaging 2.75 or less extra base hits per game over the last 2 seasons. Oakland has lost 9 of its last 11 ball games overall. This is a team that basically decided to give up when they traded away Joe Blanton and Rich Harden just a few weeks ago. Bet Kansas City on the road.
Bob Harvey
LAA Angels vs. Boston Red Sox
Play: LAA Angels
A gift. This is an absolute gift. The public infatuation with Josh Beckett and the Red Sox makes this one of the great plays of the year. The Angels will be gunning for a sweep of the Red Sox and at the same time looking for their eighth straight win over Boston. They’ll send 13-game winner Joe Saunders to the mound as a HUGE underdog. What am I missing? The Angels are the best team in baseball, they just added Mark Texiara and they’re +160? I’m all over this.
The Angels are 66-40 and lead the AL West by 11 1/2 games over Texas. Los Halos have outscored Boston 52-31 overall and won its last four at Fenway Park, where it hasn’t swept a three-game series since July 31-Aug. 2, 2001. Anaheim has also won 11 of its last 13 overall. Saunders won at Fenway on April 24, when he gave up three runs in six innings. He didn’t get a decision against the Red Sox on July 19 at home after yielding two runs in 6 2-3 innings. However he is 3-0 with a 2.87 ERA in five lifetime starts against Boston. Beckett matched up with Saunders and lost to the Angels on July 19 after giving up four runs in eight innings. The Angels have the best road record in the majors at 34-19. Look for them to make it 35 victories away from the “Big A” as they record a historic sweep at Fenway.