Sunday's Betting Tips
By Covers.com
Weather watch
It will be hot and humid in Baltimore where the Orioles host the Tigers Sunday, with temperatures in the low 90s and a chance of thunderstorms in the forecast for Camden Yards. There is a 57 percent chance of rain Sunday afternoon.
Who’s hot?
Detroit Tigers – Heading into Saturday’s slate, the Tigers have won six in a row spanning the All-Star break. Detroit won Game 1 7-2 on Friday night.
Tony Stewart – Stewart won last weekend’s race at Daytona and heads to New Hampshire, where he has three wins and 14 Top-5 finishes and an average finish of 11.54 – third best among active drivers.
Who’s not?
San Diego Padres – If you don’t know the Padres stink by now, maybe their four-game losing skid heading into Saturday will give you a clue. San Diego, which lost to the Dodgers 2-1 Friday, preceded this slide with a six-game winning run.
Philadelphia Phillies – The Phillies have lost five in a row heading into Saturday’s schedule. Philadelphia has easily been the most disappointing team in the majors this summer at 37-51 and down -26.21 units.
Key stat
8 - Hendrick Motorsports has won eight races at Loudon heading into Sunday’s Lenox Tools 301. Hendrick’s standout Jimmie Johnson is the race favorite at +500.
Game of the Day
St. Louis Cardinals at Cincinnati Reds, 8 p.m. ET
Injury not to be overlooked
Jason Kubel, Arizona Diamondbacks – Arizona’s slugger was scratched from Saturday’s lineup due to hamstring tightness. Kubel leads the D-backs with 15 home runs, hitting .293 BA with 60 RBIs – 10th in the majors.
Notable quotable
“With all the computers, the cybergenics (sabermetrics?), whatever they do, I think I rate the lowest possible in those things. The things I do don’t show up in box scores. Sacrifice bunting doesn’t make any sense to do. They don’t look at the guy going first to third or taking that extra bag.” – Philadelphia Phillies OF Juan Pierre told the Philadelphia Daily News.
Tips and notes
Sprint Cup driver Denny Hamlin is the most successful active driver at New Hampshire, owning an average finish of ninth. Hamlin has one win, five Top 5s, and eight Top 10s in just a dozen starts at Loudon. He’s the second overall favorite at +600 for Sunday’s event.
The New York Red Bull will have striker Sebastien Le Toux available versus Seattle Sunday after acquiring the 2010 MLS Best XI selection in a trade with Vancouver Friday. The Frenchman recorded 25 goals and 20 assists in 62 starts with the Philadelphia Union in 2010 and 2011. He had four goals and one assist with the White Caps this year.
Umpire Mike Winters is scheduled to be calling balls and strikes in the series finale between Houston and San Francisco Sunday. He has shown a slight lean towards the under this season, with games finishing 7-10 over/under when Winters is behind home plate. However, the under has cashed in 23 times in the last 33 Sunday games in which Winters was making the calls.
The Rogers Centre is rocking in 2012 and it’s got to be because of the Blue Jays’ new retro-inspired jerseys. According to the team, 1,107,908 fans have attended the first 42 home games. That’s 175,366 more than the count at this point in the season last year. Toronto, which ranks just 20th in attendance in the majors, is 23-20 (down -2.31 units) and 23-18-2 over/under heading into Saturday’s home tilt with Cleveland.