Brandon Lee
Brewers vs. Braves
Play: Braves -113
Atlanta is worth a look here at home against the Brewers on Tuesday. The Braves are coming off a series win at Philadelphia and will be motivated to play in front of the home crowd after a lengthy 10-game road trip. They take on a Brewers team that was just swept by the Mets and are really struggling at the plate. Milwaukee is scoring just 2.9 runs/game over their last 7 and have hit just .207 as a team during this stretch. Atlanta will send out Julio Teheran, who has a sensational 0.92 ERA and 0.966 WHIP over his last 3 starts. Milwaukee's Jimmy Nelson has pitched well, but has a 4.41 ERA and 1.408 WHIP over 3 road starts.
Jimmy Boyd
Cubs vs. Cardinals
Play: Cubs -103
Chicago suffered their first 3-game losing streak of the season with last night's 3-4 loss to the Cardinals. The Cubs let the series opener get away from them, as they took a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the 7th. Chicago is simply too good to continue to playing this poorly and I'll take my chances on them securing a win tonight.
The Cubs will send out Jason Hammel, who has been a huge bright spot in the backend of the rotation this year. Hammel is 5-1 with a 2.31 ERA and 1.200 WHIP in 8 starts, including a 2.48 ERA and 1.034 WHIP in 5 road starts. That includes a start against these Cardinals, where he allowed just 1 run on 5 hits with 6 strikeouts in 6 innings.
The Cardinals counter with Michael Wacha, who is trending in the wrong direction. Wacha has a 7.71 ERA and 2.00 WHIP in his last 3 starts, as he gave up 6 runs on 8 hits at home to the Rockies in his last outing. Wacha hasn't exactly enjoyed pitching in this rivalry, as he has a 5.26 ERA and 1.470 WHIP in 9 career starts against the Cubs.
St Louis is just 4-9 at home this season after a win and 2-9 in Wacha's last 11 starts against a team with a winning record. Cubs are 8-3 in Hammel's last 11 road starts against a team with a winning record and 7-1 in his last 8 against the NL Central.
Alex Smart
Brewers vs. Braves
Play: Under 7
Brewers starting hurler Nelson has made quality starts in each of his last two outings, allowing a combined two runs in 15 1/3 innings. Milwaukee’s bullpen has also bee hot posting a 1.61 ERA in the past 16 games Meanwhile, his pitching opponent from the Braves Teheran has recorded a stingy a 1.15 ERA over his past six starts, and has allowed two earned runs over 26 2/3 innings has registered a 0.68 ERA in four starts this month and looks to be in red hot form.Considering both sides pitching success of late, and both teams inconsistent offenses it won't be a difficult decision to take the under today.
Under is 6-1 in Brewers last 7 overall.Under is 5-1 in Brewers last 6 games vs. a right-handed starter.Under is 5-1-2 in Teherans last 8 home starts.Under is 13-5-2 in Braves last 20 home games vs. a right-handed starter.Under is 4-1 in the last 5 meetings.
Wunderdog
Philadelphia @ Detroit
Pick: Detroit -1.5 +100
Detroit is suddenly on a hot streak, winning seven of its last eight games, including a 5-4 win over the Phillies last night. Miguel Cabrera hit two of his team's four home runs in the game and the Tigers piled up 12 hits. Justin Verlander has recorded eight quality starts in 10 chances and has allowed only four earned runs in his last three starts covering 22 1/3 innings. Verlander also has 17 strikeouts his last three outings and the five Philly hitters who have faced him are 4-for-34 against the right-hander. Jeremy Hellickson is 4-2 with a 3.99 ERA and has pitched better than most expected this season, however, Detroit batters have a 1.025 OPS against him. Detroit has an amazing history at home against right-handed starters in interleague action, winning 54 of 78 games.
GoodFella
Red Sox TT Over 5
These Red Sox really excel vs LH pitching. They rank 1st in the A.L. in .OPS vs southpaws. They face a lefty in De La Rosa who has really been smacked around this season. He really can struggle with his command and this match-up vs these Red Sox who really like to work pitch counts and pound LH pitching is not a good one for De La rosa. We have a decent weather pattern for this game tonight at Fenway (an extreme hitters park of course). I fully expect this hot hitting Boston club to get to De La rosa eventually and then we get into that poor Colorado bullpen. I'm all over the RED SOX Team Total over in this spot on Tuesday Night.
Bruce Marshall
Braves -112
We aren't often going with Atlanta but we can consider such a move when Julio Teheran is on the mound as he is tonight at Turner Field vs. Milwaukee. Quietly, Teheran has pitched as well as any starter in the NL the past three weeks, allowing just 3 runs and 22 hits over 33 2/3 IP in his last five starts, with 30 Ks and only 9 walks in that stretch. Plus the Braves have shown spark since the managerial switch and Fredi Gonzalez being jettisoned last week. Brewers starter Jimmy Nelson has not been as effective on the road as at home, as his 4.41 ERA away from Miller Park suggests.
Bruce Marshall
Cubs -107
This is the first time in a while we have seen the Cubs undervalued, but the recent offensive slump makes it understandable. Regardless, expect Joe Maddon's club to get back on the right track tonight against the recent struggling Cards starter Michael Wacha, who has allowed 12 runs and 22 hits over 14 IP in his last three starts. Chicago starter Jason Hammel beat the Cards at Busch back on April 19.
Vegas Butcher
Cincinnati Reds +166
Both the Dodgers and Reds are calling up a pitcher from the minors to start tonight. LA will have Bolsinger on the mound, after he got sent back down after his start earlier this month. The Reds will roll with Daniel Wright, one of their young pitching prospects. One thing I know about Wright is that he has excellent control (walking less than 5% of the batters in the minors this year), and an ERA of less than 1 in the minors. Doesn’t sound like a guy that should be this big of an underdog against Bolsinger. At the number, it’s worth a shot.
Gabriel DuPont
Complimentary play for tonight, as I look to improve on my 60-48 run with free picks: Milwaukee at ATLANTA (-125)
The STORYLINE in this game today - The Milwaukee Brewers open a three-game series at Turner Field against the Atlanta Braves tonight, and I am siding with the home team in this lid-lifter, as I full believe we're going to see Atlanta outduel its guest from the mound. The Braves have gotten stellar performances on the mound lately, and since this series is in Georgia, you have to believe this team will be stoked to take on a team that has lost three in a row.
The X-FACTOR in making this choice on this game - Milwaukee's lack of offense has been the problem, as the Brewers were held to eight run in three games against the New York Mets. Add in the fact the Braves have won 10 of the last 13 meetings with the Brewers, and this makes for a tough trip to the A-T-L.
BOTTOM LINE is - Atlanta opened last week with a mere nine home runs on the season. But over seven games last week, the Braves stroked nine more. Look for them to continue their tear, while the Brewers struggle. Don't bother listing pitchers, as Atlanta wins no matter who is throwing.
3* ATLANTA
Brad Wilton
My comp play for Tuesday is the Angels to keep things rolling in the right direction.
Los Angeles has been putting together more "W's" than "L's" these days, as 4 of their last 6, and 7 of their last 10 games have resulted in wins.
The Halos have also won the last pair and 3 of the past 5 versus division-rival Texas.
The Rangers are on a 3-4 slide their past 7, and pitcher Martin Perez is just 1-4 on the hill for the year. One of those losses came this season to the Angels, as Perez is just 1-2 in 5 career starts versus L.A.
Jhoulys Chacin gets his third start for L.A. since being traded from Atlanta a while back.
Like what I am seeing right now from the Halos, and I like them to take another in Arlington tonight.
1* L.A. ANGELS
Scott Delaney
Heading to Interleague action tonight, as I like the Detroit Tigers on the Run Line, against the Philadelphia Phillies. I admit, the Phils have been a pleasant surprise this season, but this is a bad spot for them, and I have the Tigers winning big.
Miguel Cabrera has been slugging the hell out of the ball, leading the Tigers to three consecutive wins. Detroit, which has also won eight of nine games, is averaging 6.6 runs and batted .335 with 20 home runs while winning seven of its last eight.
Cabrera just went 3 for 3, including his 36th multi-homer game of his career in Monday's 5-4 series-opening victory over the Phils. The 10-time All-Star is 17 for 33 with seven homers and 12 RBIs in his last nine contests.
Adding fuel to my fire, Cabrera is also hitting .340 with 21 home runs in 90 meetings with Philadelphia.
That's right, it's all about the teams in this one. So lay the Run Line.
3* TIGERS -1.5
Ray Monohan
New York / Toronto Over 8.5
The Yankees and Blue Jays both come in off successful series' and their offenses are flourishing right now. The Blue Jays are finally getting things going and it comes from a lineup change. Jose Bautista was put atop the lineup to try and spark some fire within the Blue Jays.
Bautista has homered in 3 consecutive games as a result and the rest of the Blue Jays offense is feeding off of him. The Yankees have awoken after their slow start too. New York has won 5 in a row and are hitting with RISP.
Toronto throws RA Dickey, who got knocked around in his last start against Tampa Bay. For the Yankees, Nathan Eovaldi has a 4.88 ERA inside Yankee Stadium.
Some trends to consider. Over is 9-4-1 in Yankees last 14 overall. Over is 7-2-1 in Dickeys last 10 Tuesday starts.
Expect a lot of run scoring opportunities here, as both offenses are coming to life and really starting to get clutch hits.
Jack Jones
Detroit Tigers -1.5 +108
The Detroit Tigers come in playing their best baseball of the season. They have won seven of their last eight games overall to get back to .500 on the season. Their offense is really clicking as they've scored at least 5 runs in eight straight games.
Look for their dominance to continue tonight with ace Justin Verlander on the mound. The right-hander is 1-1 with a 1.61 ERA and 0.896 WHIP in his last three starts. He has struck out 27 batters in 22 1/3 innings while giving up only four earned runs during this stretch.
Jeremy Hellickson is 4-2 with a 3.99 ERA and 1.248 WHIP in nine starts this season for Philadelphia. While decent, this guy just hasn't been a good major league pitcher his entire career. He's unlikely to get much run support tonight considering the Phillies are hitting .237 and scoring 3.2 runs per game this season.
Detroit is 9-1 against the run line (+9.8 Units) vs. teams outscored by opponents by 0.5 or more runs/game on the season this season. Hellickson is 7-28 against the run line (-24.9 Units) after giving up 2 earned runs or less in his last two outings in his career. Detroit is 14-3 against the run line (+13.9 Units) after two or more consecutive overs this season. Verlander is 14-5 against the run line (+10.8 Units) in interleague home games in his career.
Brandon Lee
Braves -113
Atlanta is worth a look here at home against the Brewers on Tuesday. The Braves are coming off a series win at Philadelphia and will be motivated to play in front of the home crowd after a lengthy 10-game road trip. They take on a Brewers team that was just swept by the Mets and are really struggling at the plate. Milwaukee is scoring just 2.9 runs/game over their last 7 and have hit just .207 as a team during this stretch. Atlanta will send out Julio Teheran, who has a sensational 0.92 ERA and 0.966 WHIP over his last 3 starts. Milwaukee's Jimmy Nelson has pitched well, but has a 4.41 ERA and 1.408 WHIP over 3 road starts.
Joseph D'Amico
Orioles -108
Baltimore owns the best record in the AL at 26-16 while Houston has the second worst at 17-28. A large part of the Orioles' success is Chris Tillman. The RH is has won 5 consecutive turns, possesses a 6-1, 2.61 mark on the season, and has a 2.45 career ERA vs. Houston. Doug Fister gets the nod for the Astro's. The RH is 4-3 with an ERA of 4.22 on the campaign. The team has scored a total of 5 runs during their current 4-game skid. Baltimore is 11-3 their L14 vs. RH starters, 5-1 their L6 on the road, and 10-4 their L14 overall. Houston is 2-8 their L10 during Game 1 of a series, 1-4 their L5 at home, and 1-4 their L5 vs. the AL East.