Bruce Marshall
Boston vs. San Francisco
Pick: San Francisco
When SF's former Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum has been good lately, he's been real good, posting a 1.23 ERA in his three starts prior to last Wednesday's shaky effort at Washington, and with a no-hitter at San Diego on July 13 not long before. So hit best effort would figure to be good enough to quell a Boston side that is wobbling a bit with four losses in its last five and five defeats in its last seven on the road. The Bosox, off a late Sunday night game (and loss) to the Yankees before flying across the country (at least the Giants were able to get out of Miami at a decent time on Sunday), might be hard-pressed with starter Jon Lester and his 4.72 road ERA. And while the Giants did lose on Sunday vs. the Marlins, they did rediscover their offense this weekend in south Florida, scoring 25 runs in three games.
Bryan Power
St. Louis vs. Milwaukee
Pick: St. Louis
It's hard not to prefer the Cards over the Brew Crew Monday night w/ Shelby Miller on the hill. St. Louis still has the best run differential in the National League at +140. They have gone 8-2 vs. Milwaukee in 2013 including a four-game sweep here at Miller Park earlier this season. Miller is 2-0 vs. the Brewers....
In those two starts, Miller has allowed just 1 ER in 13 innings. One was seven innings of shutout ball where he allowed just one hit. Here in Milwaukee, he allowed just one run in six innings. He has 13 K's versus just one walk. Miller comes in w/ a 2.97 ERA in his 23 starts this season.
The Brewers were blown out 9-1 at home by Cincinnati Sunday while the Cardinals rolled the Cubs 6-1. But the really bad news for Milwaukee is that Marco Estrada has a 7.72 ERA at home this season and has not pitched well against St. Louis, posting a 9.00 ERA in three starts. St. Louis is 58-33 vs. righties this year. I see the road team coming in and winning easily here.
Jeff Alexander
Cincinnati Reds -167
The Reds have won 9 of 12 overall and 5 of their last 7 against the Diamondbacks, who have dropped 17 of their last 25 on the road. The Reds are 10-4 in Arroyo's home starts this season and 6-1 in his last 7 starts as a favorite of -151 to -200. Delgado is 0-3 on the moneyline in 3 starts versus Cincy. He's allowed 8 runs in his last 10 1-3 innings versus the Reds.
Dave Price
San Diego Padres +1.5 -144
The Padres are showing value catching runs at this price against a struggling Pittsburgh club that has dropped seven of nine. The Pirates haven't been able to figure out San Diego. In fact, they have lost 38 of the last 52 meetings. Liriano is having a spectacular season, but he hasn't been as sharp on the road where he has a 3.75 ERA. Cashner has been cash at home where he's 5-2 with a 2.50 ERA. The Padres are 8-3 in Cashner's last 11 starts versus teams with a winning record and 4-0 in his last 4 home starts versus winning teams. Take San Diego on the run line.
Bob Balfe
Washington Redskins -2.5
The Steelers come into this game pretty banged up. This is one of those teams that have most of their positional battles locked up and can give a long look at the young guys tonight. I really do not like the Steelers back up receivers. Outside of the main 2-3 guys there is no experience at all. The Redskins are a younger team that has a lot more to work on. I like the fact they are at home and feel they will be more mentally focused for this game. Take Washington.
Nelly
Arizona Diamondbacks + over Cincinnati Reds
The Diamondbacks are 8-3 behind Randall Delgado this season and he owns a nearly 4:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio with a solid 3.52 ERA. He has not allowed more than four earned runs in any start and Arizona is 6-0 in his last six outings. After a 16-inning affair on Sunday the Diamondbacks will need a strong outing as Arizona opens up a critical series in the wild card race. While most assume that the three NL Central teams will sweep the wild card spots, Arizona is now just five games behind the Reds with a great opportunity with a four-game set in Cincinnati this week. Arizona is 8-3 in the last 11 games with great offensive numbers, scoring over 5.7 runs per game in that span and the schedule has been very tough of late. Cincinnati is 11-5 in the last 16 games, not conceding any ground but the Reds have really struggled on offense lately. In 14 of the last 21 games Cincinnati has scored four or fewer runs and over the last two weeks the Reds have one of the lowest team wOBA averages in baseball. Over the last 10 games the Reds are batting just .204 compared with a .281 mark for Arizona despite Cincinnati still winning games. The Reds have been playing some of the worst teams in the NL the last two weeks and the competition will get much tougher this week with an Arizona team that is finding ways to win close games. Arizona has a lower bullpen ERA for the season and the Diamondbacks should have opportunities against veteran Bronson Arroyo. Arroyo is a control master but he has been erratic, allowing seven or more runs twice in his last nine starts. He has very sharp numbers at home but the Reds are just 11-9 in his last 20 starts, including losing two of his last three home outings. This is too steep of a line with Arizona featuring a pitcher with a higher ceiling and the Reds posting awful offensive numbers of late. While Arizona will be a bit worn down from the long game Sunday the team knows this is the most important week of the season if they want to stay in the race.