Friday’s MLB Picks
The MLB Season continues to wind down as teams fight for playoff spots. Our team of writers and handicappers hand out three picks for Friday’s games.
Atlanta Braves (71-88) at Houston Astros (84-74)
The Houston Astros enter their final series of the regular season on the verge of missing the playoffs for the third straight year. The Atlanta Braves, meanwhile, have seemed resigned to that fate for months.
On the brink of playoff elimination, the Astros look to keep their slim hopes alive as they open a three-game set with the lowly Braves on Friday night.
Houston (84-74) remained alive in the playoff race with an 8-6 win over Cincinnati on Thursday.
The Astros went into that contest trailing Milwaukee and the New York Mets by 3 1/2 games for the NL wild card. But the Mets beat the Chicago Cubs 7-6 and the Brewers defeated Pittsburgh 5-1 in 10 innings, meaning Houston will now be mathematically eliminated with a loss or victory by either the Mets or Brewers.
The Astros will be facing the Braves’ Jorge Campillo (8-7, 3.76) for the first time. The rookie right-hander earned a win in his last outing, giving up two runs and five hits in six innings as Atlanta beat the Mets 4-2 on Saturday.
Campillo went 1-3 with a 6.91 ERA in his previous eight starts.
Campillo, though, has been one of Atlanta’s few bright spot this season and Chipper Jones, as usual, has been another. Jones, who finished second in last year’s batting race, appears to be in good position to hold off Albert Pujols for this year’s title.
Pick: Houston – View game matchup | Best line -110 SBG Global
Cincinnati Reds (74-85) at St. Louis Cardinals (83-76)
Albert Pujols has been the St. Louis Cardinals’ leading home run hitter each year since breaking into the major leagues. Ryan Ludwick is threatening to end that run.
Led by their top two longball threats, the Cardinals head into their final series of 2008 starting on Friday night at Busch Stadium against the Cincinnati Reds.
For seven years beginning in 2001, Pujols averaged 40 homers a season. Coming into this game, he has 35 – one fewer than Ludwick, who totaled that many from 2002-07.
Ludwick is hitting a team-best .357 (15-for-42) with three homers and nine RBIs, but also has struck out a team-high 12 times against Cincinnati (74-85) this year. Pujols, meanwhile has homered four times off Reds pitchers, tying the injured Rick Ankiel for the team lead.
For the second time this month, Cincinnati’s Bronson Arroyo (15-11, 4.66 ERA) matches up against St. Louis’ Braden Looper (12-14, 4.13).
Arroyo got the win in their first meeting on Sept. 16, allowing two solo homers among five hits over seven innings of a 7-2 victory. Looper also went seven innings, and gave up four runs and six hits.
Each pitcher lost his next start after that. Facing Milwaukee on Sunday, Arroyo lasted six innings and was tagged for six runs and six hits in an 8-1 loss.
Pick: St. Louis – View game matchup | Best line -120 SBG Global
Cleveland Indians (79-80) at Chicago White Sox (86-72)
All of a sudden, the Chicago White Sox are the ones who have to play catch-up.
Reeling after a three-game sweep that dropped them out of the AL Central lead, the White Sox set out to regroup quickly as they open a three-game series with the Cleveland Indians at U.S. Cellular Field on Friday.
The White Sox (86-72) had been maintaining a slim lead over the Twins for all of September until a disastrous trip to the Metrodome, where they lost three games – the last in excruciating fashion – and dropped one-half game behind Minnesota. Chicago does have a game in hand, a make-up of a rainout against Detroit that would be played Monday if necessary, which seems a near-certainty.
Cleveland (79-80) gets another chance to play spoiler after being unable to prevent Boston from settling for the AL wild card. The Indians dropped the final three games of their four-game series with the Red Sox, including a 6-1 defeat Thursday in which they were held hitless until the sixth.
Rookie Scott Lewis (3-0, 1.42) finally gave up his first runs since being promoted in September, but he still won for the third time in as many starts Sunday when he gave up three runs and eight hits in five innings of a 10-5 victory over Detroit.
Lewis’ outing Sunday was the shortest of his three since Wedge has limited him to 100 pitches in each outing. The left-hander, making his first appearance against the White Sox, has struck out 14 in 19 innings.
Indians catcher Victor Martinez will miss this game to complete serving his two-game suspension for his role in a fight involving teammate Fausto Carmona and Tigers slugger Gary Sheffield.
Pick: Cleveland – View game matchup | Best line +160 SBG Global
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