WUNDERDOG
Philadelphia at Toronto
Pick: Toronto -140
The folding Phillies continue their misery in Toronto. They are 3-11 their last 14 games and close to being swept after another crushing loss yesterday, 6-5. The offense has struggled all season and the Phillies are 1-8 in their last nine against a team with a winning record. Kyle Kendrick (2-6, 5.08 ERA) takes the mound and he's no stopper, allowing 87 base runners in 56+ innings. And, he's getting worse, with a 1-2 record and a 7.80 ERA his last three starts walking 10 in 15 innings. The Phillies are 5-12 in their last 17 games vs. a left-handed starter and face Brett Cecil, making his first start called up from the minors. While the Philadelphia offense struggled, Toronto has one of the best in baseball, sixth in runs scored and ninth in slugging. The Blue Jays are 8-3 in their last 11 games as a favorite and 10-4 in their last 14 against a team with a losing record. Play the Blue Jays.
Dave Price
Milwaukee Brewers -160
With wins in each of the first two games of this series, the Brewers have now won 11 of their last 15 versus the Twins. Expect their dominance over Minnesota to continue with ace Zack Greinke on the hill. The Brewers are 22-7 in his last 29 starts, 21-5 in his last 26 starts as a favorite, 11-1 in his last 12 starts as a favorite of -151 to -200 and 7-0 in his last 7 Sunday starts. Bet the Brew Crew.
Jeff Alexander
LA Dodgers -113
The Dodgers are 5-0 in their last 5 games following a loss and 39-14 in their last 53 games as a home favorite. Expect these strong trends to hold up with Capuano set to deal. The southpaw is 8-2 with a 2.87 ERA on the season, including 5-0 at home with a 1.66 ERA. The White Sox, who are 0-5 in their last 5 games following a win, haven't won consecutive games since May 30 and June 1. Take the Dodgers.
MATT RIVERS
Your Sunday comp play is the Blue Jays over the Phillies.
Crippling loss yesterday afternoon for Philadelphia, as Cliff Lee left with a 5-2 lead - in line for his first win of the season - and the Phillies bullpen once again imploded on the southpaw, as Philadelphia dropped a 6-5 decision in 10-innings.
That puts the Phils at just 3 wins and 11 losses their past 14 games! The state of affairs is getting a little urgent for the Phillies, as they are drifting further off the pace in the competitive N.L. East.
Kyle Kendrick will be in charge of damage control today, but with Kendrick coming into this game at just 2-6 with a 5.08 ERA the chances of him being able to get the Phillies out of their tailspin is not likely. Kendrick has allowed 11 runs on 12 hits over his last pair of starts, and has lasted under 10 innings combined.
Brett Cecil is back up with the big club after getting sent to the minors this spring, as both Brandon Morrow and now Kyle Drabek are on the shelf for the Blue Jays. Cecil has had success at this level before, and faced with the prospect of being sent back down, look for him to make the most of his chance to stay with the Jays through the summer.
Toronto came from 5-2 down late yesterday, and today with the chance to pull off the home sweep, look for the offense to pace Cecil to an early lead and for the southpaw to settle in and give his team the quality start they are looking for.
Go with the Jays to break out the broom.
2♦ TORONTO
JEFF BENTON
Your Sunday freebie is the Under in Baltimore-Atlanta.
Just don't see this afternoon's series finale going Over the total. Both Friday and Saturday's meetings at Turner Field have landed Under the total, and this one will as well.
Baltimore has played three of their last four games Under the total, and on the road the Orioles are on a 7-2 Under clip their last nine.
Atlanta has played eight games on their current homestand, and six of those eight have played Low.
Your pitching matchup features Wei-Yin Chen versus Randall Delgado, and 7 of Chen's 12 starts this season have played Low, while 7 of Delagdo's 11 starts this year have landed Under the total.
Not much changes today, as Baltimore and Atlanta conclude their series with another low-scoring affair.
O's and Bravos Under the total for Sunday.
3♦ UNDER
CRAIG DAVIS
I am on a 27-18 free play run coming into Sunday's action.
Free play winner is the Yankees today...why not?
All New York has done is win 8 straight games, and 18 of their last 22 to take over the lead in the A.L. East.
Pitcher Ivan Nova has worked back-to-back dominating wins, holding Tampa Bay to 1 run over 8 innings and Atlanta scoreless over 7 innings his last time out.
Nova is now 8-2 for the season, and the Yankees are 10-2 when he starts this year.
Edwin Jackson goes for the Nationals, and as good as he has been for the Nats, I have my doubts he will get by a Yankees team that remembers him from his days in the junior circuit.
You saw the Yanks chase Gio Gonzalez on Friday, and you will see them chase Edwin Jackson today.
The beat goes on, make it 9 straight wins for the Yanks.
1♦ N.Y. YANKEES
DOM CHAMBERS
For my free selection, let’s take a look at the New York Yankees to complete the sweep and beat the Washington Nationals.
The Yankees are starting Ivan Nova and he has been the Yankees’ most consistent starter to date. He is 8-2 with a 4.64 ERA. On the road, he gets even better. He is 5-0 with a 3.92 ERA. And, in his last three starts, Nova has gotten even better, going 3-0 with a 2.49 ERA.
In his last two games, he has given up one run in 15 innings.
The Nationals’ lineup is limited at best and will find it difficult to score against Nova.
Now, the Nationals are starting Edwin Jackson, who has some nice numbers. He is 3-3 with a 3.02 ERA.
It’s going to be a little bit of a pitching duel.
But the Yankees’ bats get the edge here.
The Yankees’ lineup has more weapons and they have the edge here. The Yankees average five runs a game on the road, while the Nats average 3.7 at home.
Both the pitching and hitting edges go to the Yankees.
Take the Yankees.
3♦ YANKEES
The Duke's Sports
Miami -117
Marlins/Rays 1:40: One starting pitcher has heated up while his counterpart has cooled down. Josh Johnson has won 4 of his last 5 decisions with a strong 2.71 ERA over that stretch while Alex Cobb has sunk on an 0-3 slide with a bloated 6.27 ERA. And Cobb hasn't been money at home dropping 2 of his 3 starts while posting a lofty 5.30 ERA. Miami has won 10 of its last 14 Sunday starts with Johnson. Moreover, the Marlins have won 5 of its last 7 on the interleague road. Furthermore, the home plate umpire -- Cuzzis -- sports a 4-0 advantage to the interleague road team, and the road team has gone 5-1 against TB with Cuzzis behind home plate. Lately, TB has struggled to manufacture runs with runners in scoring position. And with Cobb at 2-5 in his last 7 team starts, steering clear of TB is the call.