Ben Burns
Chicago Cubs at New York Mets
Prediction: Chicago Cubs
This would have been a great matchup when Martinez was in his prime. However, while Pedro is still capable of rising to the occasion, he's not the consistently dominant pitcher of the past. For the season, he's 1-3 with a 4.62 ERA in seven home starts. On the other hand, Harden is 6-2 with a 2.34 ERA on the road. Harden has also been much better recently. Over his last three starts, Harden is 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA. The Cubs won all three of those games. Conversely, Martinez is 0-3 with a 7.87 ERA in his last three starts. Consider Chicago
Craig Trapp
Chicago White Sox vs. Minnesota Twins
Play: Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are in position to sweep the Chicago White Sox right out of first place in the AL Central. After winning the first two games of their biggest series this season, the Twins will try to overtake the White Sox for the top spot in the division on Thursday night. Since July 27, these teams haven't been separated by more than 2 1/2 games -- exactly what Minnesota (86-72) trailed Chicago by coming into Tuesday's series opener. Minnesota looking for its fifth division title since 2002 under manager Ron Gardenhire -- is 7-1 at home against Chicago this year, and 12-5 there over the last two seasons. Minnesota's Kevin Slowey (12-11, 3.85 ERA) will try to dominate Chicago again at home as he looks to avoid losing his third consecutive start. Since June, Slowey has been nearly unbeatable at the Metrodome. He's gone 7-1 with a 2.25 ERA in his last eight starts there, including a six-hitter in a 7-0 victory over the White Sox on July 28. Gavin Floyd (16-8, 3.84), slated to start for Chicago, has lost two of his last three outings, including on Saturday against Kansas City. Floyd was tagged for five runs and eight hits -- including three homers in a 5-2 defeat. Enjoy the winner here MIN. SCORE MIN 6 - CHW 2
Chris Jordan
Chicago at MINNESOTA -110
Your free winner is on the Twins, as they'll continue to frustrate the South Siders and continue to piss off Ozzie Guillen. His interview last night was hilarious, in not giving Nate Blackburn any credit for the win.
He does nothing but incite his opponents every time he speaks, and I'll take advantage of his quick quips that irritate people.
Minnesota plays well at home, and in riding a three-game winning streak, we have to play the Magical 4th in the Homer Domer, as there's too much at stake to play the road team. Cheap price, and we play the hot team.
1♦ TWINS
VEGAS EXPERTS
Chicago White Sox at Minnesota Twins
All of the momentum resides in the dugout of the home team as the Twins have taken the first two games of this series by a combined margin of of 12-5. That runs Chicago's record to 1-7 here at the Metrodome this season and overall they are a terrible 4-15 on artifical turf this season. Minnesota, meanwhile, has won 24 of its last 32 here at home and is 34-14 when favored in this building this season. This year, the choking in Chicago is taking place on the Northside.
Play on: Minnesota
Rocketman Sports
1* San Diego +115
Jake Peavy is still his same old stud pitching self. The problem is the lack of run support. Maddux has been in the same boat lately except he has been getting hit pretty hard. San Diego has managed 28 runs their past 5 games which is 5.6 runs per game. Peavy has a very nice 2.77 ERA overall this year and despite an 0-2 record his last 3 starts he has a 2.35 ERA. Maddux is 0-2 with a 5.50 ERA his last 3 starts. Peavy is 12-1 with a 2.21 ERA overall vs LA Dodgers since 1997. I see Peavy shutting down the Dodgers here tonight and getting a little more run support against Maddux. I'll recommend a small play on San Diego tonight.
Jimmy Boyd
Colorado Rockies vs. San Francisco Giants
Play: San Francisco Giants
Zito continues to be undervalued despite the turnaround he's made and we'll take advantage of that tonight. Zito is 10-4 against the money line when playing against a team with a losing record this season and 8-1 against the money line when playing against a team with a losing record in the second half of the season this season. Zito is also an impressive 70-39 against the money line against division opponents since 1997. It has not taken much to make Colorado road weary this season. The Rocks are just 20-41 against the money line after 2 or more consecutive road games this season. Take the Giants.
Tom Freese
Chicago at Ny Mets
This is a must win game for the Mets and I don't feel that Pedro Martinez is up to the task. Pedro has allowed 14 runs in his last 16 innings of work in his last 3 starts all of which were losses. The Mets as a whole looked like they saw a ghost last night after blowing a lead after already knowing that the Phillies had lost to Atlanta. Rich Harden has made 11 starts since joining the Cubs. He has allowed 2 or less runs in 10 of his 11 starts and Chicago is 9-2 in his starts. PLAY ON CHICAGO -
Sean Higgs
SMU vs. Tulane
Play: SMU +17.5
June Jones takes over this SMU club, and though they have been brutal, too many points here coming from a Tulane team that doesn't have that much fire-power. SMU won't get many prime-time week-night attention, but tonight, they will play their hearts out and not be embarressed for a change.
Lang
10 Dime USC/Oregon State Over
5 Dime Tulane
Free Pick Oregon State
Larry Ness
SDP +110 vs LOS
Jake Peavy posted a 2.54 ERA in '07 and went 19-6 to win the NL's Cy Young award. His ERA is 2.77 in '08 but what a difference a year makes. Peavy is just 9-11 this year and the Padres have struggled to an 11-15 mark in his 26 starts. San Diego went 89-73 last year, before losing a one-game playoff to the Rockies for the NL wild card. However, the Padres enter this game 61-97 on the year (27-53 on the road) and 22 games back of the NL West-leading Dodgers. San Diego owns a .251 team BA (ranks 27th of 30 teams) and has scored a ML-low 3.94 RPG. No wonder Peavy's record is so bad. Despite a spectacular 1.77 home ERA, the Padres are only 7-7 in his home starts and on the road (where Peavy's ERA is 4.20), they are 4-8. However, one thing HAS remained constant in '08 and that's his ability to beat the Dodgers. Peavy is a perfect 3-0 vs LA in '08 with a 1.71 ERA, which ups his career mark against the Dodgers to 12-1 with a 2.21 ERA in 21 starts (team is 15-6). Wednesday's 12-4 rout of the Padres gives LA 18 wins in its last 23 games. The Dodgers were 65-70 and trailed the D'backs by 4 1/2 games heading into August 30 action but last night's win (coupled with Arizona's loss) clinched at least a share of the NL West title for Joe Torre's team (think Manny has helped?). LA could already have the division clinched before taking the field tonight, if Arizona loses at St Louis this afternoon. That makes this game a little tougher to bet, as if the D'backs lose, the Dodgers may sit many of their regulars. With that in mind, I've made this a small play. However, I like the Padres in both scenarios (Arizona winning or losing this afternoon). Greg Maddux was acquired by the Dodgers (from the Padres) in mid-August. He allowed nine hits and seven ERs (5.2 IP) in his first start for LA (at Philly on Aug 22) and in his most recent start, allowed nine hits and seven ERs (5 IP) vs San Fran on Sep 22. In between, he's been better but not by all that much. Maddux owns a 6.23 ERA in six starts with LA, going 1-4 (team is 1-5). I'm taking Peavy and the Padres regardless of the outcome of the Arz/StL game this afternoon.
Jeff Alexander Sports
1 Unit on Blue Jays -174
The juice is worth the squeeze here behind Mr. Halladay. The Yanks have kicked things in high gear down the home stretch (for nothing) while the Jays have trailed off a little bit the last week. However, Halladay is a Yankee killer. The Blue Jays are 8-0 in Halladay's last 8 home starts vs. the Yankees and Blue Jays are 19-7 in Halladay's last 26 starts vs. the Yankees period. The Blue Jays are an impressive 25-4 in their last 29 after allowing 5 runs or more in their previous game and 42-16 in Halladay's last 58 starts vs. the American League East. Take the Jays.
Yankee Capper
2 Units Reds +170
2 Units Padres +110
WILD BILL
Detroit Tigers +130 vs Kazmir (5 units)
Yankees vs Halladay +170 (5 units)
Chicago Cubs w/Harden -115 (5 units)
Florida Marlins vs Balester -115 (5 units)
Pittsburgh Pirates vs Gallardo +205 (5 units)
Cincinnati Reds vs Oswalt +175 (5 units)
Chicago White Sox +140 (5 units)
San Diego Padres w/Peavy +110 (5 units)
Seattle Mariners +105 (5 units)
Colorado Rockies -110 (5 units)
Twins-Chicago White Sox Over 8 1/2 (5 units)
NCAAF
Tulane-Smu Over 49 (5 units)
BIG AL
Reds at Astros
Play: Under
After a very poor start to the 2008 season which saw him try to pitch through injuries, nobody has had a stronger performance in the second half than 31-year-old Houston right-hander Roy Oswalt. A win tonight would give Oswalt 10 victories since the break to go with his 2.29 ERA, the type of numbers we're used to seeing from him throughout the course of an entire season. In 22-year-old right-hander Johnny Cueto, the Reds see a young budding star who could possibly one day put up numbers consistently like Oswalt has for years. But like Oswalt, Cueto has a slight frame (only about 180 lbs) and pitchers built like that who throw hard (as Cueto does) are susceptible to injury. In fact, the Reds have already experienced that with the talented youngster as he missed some time already this season. Now that he appears healthy again, he is pitching very well and the Reds are certainly going to keep his innings to a minimum in this, his last start before a well-deserved offseason. There is no doubt that a healthy Cueto is in the Reds' rotation plans for years to come. The 'under' is 19-5-3 in Cincy's last 27 road games and 11-3 in Houston's last 14 home games. Take the under.
Wunderdog
Chicago at Minnesota
Pick: Minnesota -144
The noose is tightening around the necks of the White Sox as their lead is down to just a half game over the Twins. The Twins have taken the first two games and are playing loose and free. This is the pivotal game. If the Twins lose they are two back with three to play. The White Sox are 10 games under .500 on the road while the Twins are 25 over at home, but barely over .500 against right hand pitching. Kevin Slowey has been a full 1.5 runs better at home, 3.04 vs. his road ERA of 4.52, and the Twins are now 7-1 in his last eight home starts. Gavin Floyd has a road ERA of over four, and the Pale Hose are just 7-7 in his last 14 road starts. Minnesota has been 32-10 over their last 42 at home, and I like them to take over first place in the AL Central with the win here.