Mr A
Pittsburgh Pirates at Houston Astros
The hot Astros have won 13 of its last 14 games, and their last seven at home. Meanwhile, the struggling Pirates have lost 16 of their last 19 games, 1-6 in its last five on the road.
Pittsburgh's Zach Duke (5-13, 4.87) is 1-2 with a 2.35 ERA in his last three starts. The lefthander is 1-3 in seven career starts against the Astros, but is 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA in his last last three starts versus Houston..
Houston's Roy Oswalt (14-9, 3.72 ERA) is 3-0 with a 0.37 ERA in his last three starts. The right-hander is 11-6 with a 2.59 ERA in 22 starts versus Pittsburgh.
Houston has won 13 of their last 14 games at Minute Maid Park, 18-5 in their last 22 at home and has won eight of Oswalt's last 9 starts. Contrary, the plunging Pirates have lost 12 of their last 16 road games and sixth straight against Houston. Pittsburgh is 2-9 in Duke’s last 11 starts.
Let's stay on the hot Astros bandwagon with their ace Roy Oswalt on the hill for a four-game sweep of the Pirates tonight in Texas.
Houston Astros -300
North Carolina at Rutgers Rutgers
Rutgers' offense was sluggish last week against Fresno State in a 24-7 defeat, but should be able to handle the Tar Heels defense. Take the Scarlet Knights at home
Scarlet Knights -5
Gina
Kansas City Royals at Minnesota Twins
The Royals are struggling, especially on the road. Kansas City has lost 13 of their last 15 games away from home, 28-42 this season. To boot, they have been unsuccessful against Minnesota. Kansas City has lost 11 of the last 14 meetings against the Twins and four of the last five in Minnesota.
Go with the Twins and southpaw Francisco Liriano this afternoon at the Metrodome. The Twins have won nine of their last 12 games at home and Liriano’s last four home starts.
Minnesota Twins -290
Rocketman Sports
Toronto @ Chicago White Sox
Play:1* Toronto +115
Toronto is 8-1 in September this year. Toronto finally lost one last night after winning 10 in a row. Toronto bullpen has a very nice 2.85 ERA overall this year and a 3.25 ERA on the road this season. Marcum has a 3.42 ERA overall this year and a 3.45 ERA his last 3 starts. Toronto is 6-1 overall vs Chicago White Sox this year. Marcum is 2-0 with a 2.04 ERA overall vs Chicago White Sox since 1997. We'll recommend a small play on the Toronto Blue Jays!
Ben Burns
Game: Chicago Cubs at St Louis Cardinals
Prediction: Chicago Cubs
The banged-up Cardinals lost last night and now tonight they've got to face one of the top pitchers in the game. Harden is 9-2 with an outstanding 1.99 ERA on the season. Over his last three starts he's 2-0 with a remarkable 0.95 ERA and 0.579 WHIP. Wellemeyer has also pitched well. However, his 4.57 ERA at home and 1.408 WHIP don't compare favorably to Harden's numbers. Consider CHICAGO
BIG AL
Milwaukee Brewers
WUNDERDOG
MLB
Kansas City at Minnesota
Pick: Minnesota -299
This one may appear a bit "chalky" laying some heavy wood, but not chalky enough for the overall expectation. Francisco Liriano was by far the best pitcher in baseball with a 1.93 ERA before he was injured, and since he has been totally healthy again, he is again the best pitcher in baseball. When you put him on the mound at home over that time period he is 9-1 with a 1.22 ERA, and the Twins have outscored the opponents 56-19! The problem for the oddsmakers, how can you get action on a team if you put this one where it belongs at -550? Over 10 home starts the expected outcome is the Royals score 1 run here, so unless the Twins get shutout by a pitcher with a 6.60 ERA I look to be in good shape here. Since the Royal staff hasn't recorded a shutout since May 14th, this looks like a lot of value to me, and I'll back the Twins here.
WNBA
New York at Indiana
Pick: Indiana -3.5
The New York Liberty makes the trip to Indiana to take on the Fever. The Fever have had the Liberty’s number this season. These teams have met three times with the Fever winning by double digits at home and in New York, and in the second meeting in New York the Fever blew a seven-point halftime lead only to fall in overtime. The Liberty has had some ugly quarters trying to solve the Fever’s defense, hanging a single digit number twice as well as an 11 and 13. This is an opportunity to feel good at the end of the season by beating a good team they match-up well against at home, and I'll back the Fever in this one.
NCAAF
North Carolina at Rutgers
Pick: North Carolina +5.5
Rutgers has found that life after Ray Rice is going to be difficult. Last week they were held to less than 10 points in a game for just the second time in 29 games. Mike Teel moved the team between the 20s, but Rutgers had problems all game long getting into the end-zone. They were only able to generate just 3.1 yards per carry and that put a lot of pressure on Teel, who ultimately made two key mistakes, both ending in interceptions. The Rutgers defense also showed some shortcomings as they allowed 5.3 yards per carry and 422 yards in total. The Tar Heels had to come from behind to win against McNeese State and it took a tremendous effort by Brandon Tate to do it. Tate will be the most explosive man on the field for this one, as he netted 397all-purpose yards last week. He returned a punt 82 yards for a TDand a kickoff 54 yards. He also carried the ball three times for over 100 yards, and caught a TD pass for 57 yards. Overall, this North Carolina team has 10 starters back from their offense last season. Rutgers really struggled on offense, and if Tate gets free for an easy one, it is going to be hard for the Scarlet Knights to get it back. Both of these teams should play better in their second game, but unless Rutgers finds some consistent yardage in the backfield, Carolina will be right there at the end. I like the points here.
winning points ULTRASHARP perferred N.C. by 4, revenge calender cards cubs over 7.5 :-X
BRANDON LANG
20 Dime Southern Cal (Advanced Release)
5 Dime Rutgers
FREE - UNC/Rutgers Under
Black Magic Sports
1 Unit on Blue Jays/White Sox U 9
Two solid starting pitchers square off in Marcum vs. Floyd tonight. This will be a pitcher’s duel from start to finish and I don’t foresee more than 6 runs crossing the plate Thursday. Shaun Marcum is 8-6 with a 3.42 ERA this season, and he’s coming off an outing against Tampa Bay in which he pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing 4 hits and three walks while striking out seven. Marcum didn’t allow a single run in his last start against the White Sox, a 2-0 Toronto victory. Gavin Floyd is 9-2 with a 3.57 ERA at home. He’s 2-0 with a 3.20 ERA through his last three starts as well. Both pitchers have saved their best stuff for the end of the season. The White Sox are 24-8 UNDER on a good fielding streak, 15 straight games with one or less errors this season. Marcum is 13-3 UNDER vs. poor base-running teams - averaging 0.5 or less SB's/game over the last 3 seasons. Cash in with the UNDER 9 runs.
Locksmith Sports
1 Unit on St. Louis Cardinals +130
I like the Cards showing great value in the home dog role in the deciding game of this series. The Cubs have been struggling at 2-8 in their last 10 overall and only 1-6 in their last 7 vs. a team with a winning record. Harden has had a solid season for both the A's and the Cubs, but I expect him to show some rust after an extended stay away from the rotation. The Cardinals are an impressive 13-6 in their last 19 home games vs. a team with a winning road record and 4-0 in Wellemeyer's last 4 starts following a Quality Start in his last appearance. The Cards need every win they can get the rest of the way out to try to claw their way into the NL Wild Card. I like their chances in tonight's spot.
Lenny Del Genio
Game: Cleveland Indians at Baltimore Orioles
Prediction: Cleveland Indians
Zach Jackson is not Cliff Lee, but against Baltimore he does not have to be. We had the O's right here on Monday when they won 14-3 over the Tribe, but that was the team's ONLY win since 8/27! They have scored four runs or less in every loss this month. Over the last two years, they are a sorry 6-21 coming off a loss by 6+ runs. How anyone could take Baltimore given the above info is beyond us. Heck, we're even questioning ourselves for Monday's pick! Take Cleveland.
LT Profits
Oakland Athletics -120
Perhaps the Oakland Athletics should have brought up their young September call-ups sooner, as they are playing with exuberance that they have not shown all year, and they get the call tonight vs. a Texas Rangers team that was officially eliminated yesterday.
Oakland has now won four of their last five games, all on the road, and the team is scoring more runs recently than it has all year. The Athletics have scored 32 runs in the last five games, and they are averaging a respectable 5.10 runs over the last 10 games.
Their starter Dallas Braden has pitched commendably since being called up, going 5-3 with a 3.72 ERA in nine starts. Furthermore, he has allowed three runs or less in each of his last six starts, including allowing exactly one earned run in each of his last three outings.
Texas counters with Dustin Nippert, who pitched the game of his life while hurling seven scoreless innings vs. Seattle in his last week. However, that was probably an aberration, as Nippert never showed that kind of ability before and he still has a 6.59 ERA and a disgusting 1.82 WHIP for the season.
Look for Nippert to return to reality today, resulting in an Oakland victory.
Pick: Athletics -120
Larry Ness
Milwaukee Brewers @ Philadelphia Phillies
PICK: Milwaukee Brewers
The Brewers and Phillies open a very important four-game series tonight in Philadelphia. The Brewers blew a second-half lead in the NL Central last year (Cubs took the title), while the Phillies were the beneficiaries of the Mets' late collapse in taking the NL East. The Brewers enter this series 4 1/2 games behind the Cubs and the Phillies enter 3 1/2 games behind the Mets but also of importance is that the Brewers lead the Philles (and Astros) by four games in the wild card race. Ben Sheets (13-7, 2.82 ERA) gets the start for Milwaukee, while the ageless Jamie Moyer (13-7, 3.64 ERA) starts for Philadelphia. The Brewers added CC Sabathia (from Cleveland) right before the break and he and Sheets were expected to be the one-two punch at the top of the rotation which would solidify Milwaukee as a playoff team. Sabathia's been spectacular, going 9-0 with a 1.59 ERA in 13 starts (Brewers are 12-1). However, Sheets did not do his part right away. In his first eight starts (after Sabathia's acquisition), Sheets went 1-5 with a 3.53 ERA (team was 3-5). That being said, Sheets has been terrific in his last three starts, allowing 12 hits and not a single run over 20 innings. He can hardly be blamed for Milwaukee failing to win one of the three. The 45-year-old Moyer has always been a "tough cookie" and this year is no different. However, the Brewers are 31-18 vs left-handers this year, averaging 5.2 RPG. That impressive record is somewhat tainted by the fact the Brewers are 0-4 vs lefties in September but I'm giving the team credit for its season-long efforts vs lefties and I'm also riding the 'hot' pitching of Sheet. Take the Brewers.
King Creole
CLE (-110) vs BAL
The Indians could very well be slight road favs by the time first pitch occurs tonight, but Speedee will be on 'em regardless of the line. After all, Baltimore opened up as a -115 favorite on the overnight line. When we played the Tribe late last night, they were getting back +110.
RELIEF pitcher Brain Bass will be making the spot start (FIRST of the year) for the Orioles, so don't expect him to go very long. YTD numbers include an ERA of 5.01 and opponent team batting average of .360. He'll be taking on lefty Zack Jackson... who has been MOST effective in his road starts for the Indians in the last 6 weeks. Last 3 road starts' ERA is only 3.43, He'll have a big time advantage over the Orioles... who are hitting only .186 vs southpaws in their last 10 games. In fact, the Orioles are only 15-41 in their last 56 vs lefties. Let's not forget that after losing the last two games of this series, the current tailspin for Baltimore is 1-9 in their last 10 games.
The Indians are a team that has been playing pressure-free great baseball since being eliminated from the playoff race. This loosey-goosey attitude has contributed to a 13-3 record in their last 16 road games and 9-1 in their last 10 vs righties. Tonight, they'll be licking their chops (like SPEEDEE) in anticipation of facing the 5.00 RELIEF PITCHER. Thursday is a good day of the week for this one to cash (CLEV: 4-1 Thursdays / BALT: 1-4 Thursdays).
Michael Cannon
Toronto +110 at CHICAGO WHITE SOX
Take the Blue Jays over the White Sox as your free winner for Thursday.
The White Sox finally ended the Blue Jays winning streak over them last night, but it wasn’t without drama. Toronto trailed 6-2 entering the 9th and put three runs on the board before Alex Rios struck out with the tying run in scoring position.
Even though they lost, Toronto still holds the psychological edge in this matchup. The Blue Jays had won all six meetings this season prior to last night, so it’s not like they can’t bounce back.
Shaun Marcum will get the start for the Blue Jays and he’s 2-0 with a 2.04 ERA in three career games against the ChiSox. He won his only start against them this year, pitching 6 2-3 scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and recording nine strikeouts.
Take the Blue Jays as they grab the road win.
3♦ TORONTO