BIG AL'S AFTERNOON BASEBALL WINNER; 10-4 L14 PLAYS
At 3:35pm our selection is on the Seattle Mariners over the Oakland Athletics. With the Yankees having caught fire, the Mariners are on the brink of elimination from the AL Wild Card race and will soon have nothing more than next season to look forward to. And there may be a lot to look forward to in 2008. First and foremost, 21 year-old starter Felix Hernandez may well have worked his way back to being one of the American League's premier starters and could be set up to have a monster year next season. Hernandez has been a win machine for the Mariners lately as Seattle is 9-1 in King Felix's last ten starts. With those kind of numbers, the Mariners certainly cannot blame their demise on Hernandez. Oakland's young lefthanded starter, Dan Meyer may be in for a rough time this afternoon. In his two starts this season, Meyer is 0-1 with a 12.15 ERA. And as if that weren't bad enough, the Mariners are killing lefthanders this season, batting .297 against southpaws in 2007. Hernandez has had his way with the Athletics in 2007, having faced Oakland three times this season and going 3-0, giving up only one earned run in 23 innings. With Seattle still clinging to a faint chance at the postseason, look for Hernandez to have another dominating performance and for the Mariners to dominate their division rivals. Take Seattle. As always, good luck...Al McMordie.
Larry Ness' 20* MLB Getaway Day Game of the Month (17-7 in MLB the last 10 days!)
My 20* play is on the Sea Mariners at 3:35 ET. I don't usually play on teams going for "road sweeps" but as I said in taking these two teams 'over' last night (8-7 Sea win!), "there will NOT be a playoff atmosphere at McAfee Coliseum" when these teams meet. Seattle (80-70) is likely out of the playoff picture, as while the Mariners have won five of their last seven games, they are 6 1/2 games behind the Yankees for the AL wild-card lead with 11 games remaining. The problem being, before their seven-game run, the Mariners lost 15 of 17 games to fall out of contention! Today, the Mariners are trying for their first three-game road sweep of the A's since April 10-12, 2001. Why won't they get it? After all, they have won a franchise-record seven of eight games in Oakland this season after going 0-9 there in 2006. Felix Hernandez (12-7, 4.03 ERA) gets the start and in three outings vs the A's in '07, he's allowed just 12 hits and one ER in 23 innings (0.39 ERA!). He's 4-2 with a 1.96 ERA in seven career starts against Oakland, for his lowest ERA against any AL team he has faced. Over his last 10 starts this year, he's gone six-plus innings in all but one, posting a 6-1 mark with a 4.05 ERA (team is 9-1). The A's will be handing the ball to Dan Meyer (0-1, 8.18 ERA), who is making his third start and fifth appearance of the season. The rookie left-hander has allowed 12 runs (nine ERs) and 10 hits in 6.2 innings in his two starts, for an ERA of 12.15! He'll face a Seattle team that's 24-12 (plus-$1,430) vs lefties this year! Meanwhile, the right-handed Hernandez will face an Oakland team that's minus-$1,515 when facing a right-hander in '07, with $1,340 of those losses coming in home games, where the A's have averaged just 3.7 RPG. Want more? The A's will be without one of their biggest offensive threats as they try to figure out Hernandez. Outfielder Nick Swisher, who is batting .264 with 22 homers, was suspended for three games on Tuesday and began serving the penalty that night
Getaway Day Game of the Month 20* Sea Mariners.
Larry Ness' 15* Pitching Mismatch of the Week (33-13 since Aug 7 / 116-43 this season!)
My 15* play is on the LA Dodgers at 8:35 ET. LA's NL West hopes and wild card chances took a severe blow Tuesday, losing a doubleheader at Coors to the Rockies. Losing the nightcap on a two-run HR in the 9th, can't possibly help the team's morale. However, I've called this game my pitching mismatch of the week and that's JUST what I'm counting on! Josh Fogg (9-9, 4.98 ERA) saw a nice three-start stretch (2.12 ERA) come abruptly to an end last Friday, as he allowed five hits, four walks and four ERs over five innings to the pathetic Marlins, in Colorado's 7-6 loss. In 11 home starts this year, he's allowed 79 hits and 40 ERs over 61.1 innings, for a 5.87 ERA. Meanwhile, Brad Penny has allowed more than three ERs in just FOUR of his 31 starts in '07. His road ERA (2.61) is lower than is home ERA (3.09) and the Dodgers are 23-8 (plus-$1,303) in his starts this year, making MLB's 2nd-biggest moneymaker! On top of that, he's 'OWNED' the Rockies in his career! Penny is 12-2 with a 2.65 ERA in 19 starts career starts vs Colorado, including a 7-0 record and a 2.47 ERA in his last nine outings against them. This season, the right-hander is 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA in three starts against Colorado (Dodgers have won all three)
Pitching Mismatch of the Week 15* LA Dodgers.
ACCUPIX= 4*YANKS -1.5 runs 4*SEA 3*Indians PAID~CONFIRMED
Pure Lock Premium Play:
La Dodgers
Burns
AL GOM Kansas City
Slugfest of the Month Boston over
Personal Favorite New York Mets
Sebastian:
7* NYM
7* NYY-1.5
10* LAA -1.5
10* Seattle
20* Boston