Larry Ness
Las Vegas Insider
The Twins had another chance to catch the White Sox in the AL Central last night (began Friday a half-game back) but despite a 4-1 win over the Indians, Minnesota remains a half-game behind the White Six, who won at KC, 4-2. The Twins will give it another shot tonight and the Indians don't figure to offer much of a challenge. Cleveland has now lost 13 of its last 16 road games to fall to an AL-worst 18-35 on the road this year, as well as a ML-worst minus-$1,714 against the moneyline in away games. Paul Byrd gets the starts for Cleveland and the veteran has allowed only one run over 13 innings in winning his last two starts but after going 15-8 in '07, he enters this game 5-10 with a 4.93 ERA this season. The Indians are just 6-14 in his starts this year, including 2-10 in his 12 road starts, with Byrd allowing 87 hits in only 65 innings, while posting a 6.51 ERA. He does own a solid career mark vs the Twins, going 10-5 with a 4.06 ERA in 19 starts but his teams are just 11-8 in those games, after the Indians have failed to win any of his three starts vs the Twins this year. Byrd pitched well in an early April start vs Minnesota but in his two most recent outings against them, he's been ripped for 14 hits and 11 ERs over 8.1 inngs (11.88 ERA). Considering his poor road efforts all season and the team's terrible road play, there is NO reason to back Cleveland with Byrd on the mound in ANY road game. Much less against a team like the Twins, who own a ML-best 19-4 mark at home since June 17. Last night's win ups their home mark to 38-20 on the season and at plus-$1,792 vs the moneyline, only the Tampa Bay Rays have made more money for their backers in home games in '08! Kevin Slowey takes the mound for the Twins, who have outscored opponents at home this year, 5.21 RPG to 3.78. Slowey has become a solid contributor in Minnesota's rotation, after getting off to an 0-4 start. He's 7-3 with a 3.49 ERA over his last 12 starts (team is 9-3), including a 5-1 run over his last eight starts (team is 7-1). Just this past Monday, Slowey threw his first career shutout, beating the White Sox, 7-0.
Minnesota Twins
Weekend Wipeout Winner
Everyone remembers Colorado's second-half run last year, which took the Rockies all the way to the World Series. Can they repeat it this year, in a very mediocre NL West? The Rockies are trying, as they've gone since the All Star break, However, this is NOT 2007 but 2008. The Rockies were MLB's biggest "money-makers' last year (plus-$2,466) but at 50-61 in '08, rank 25th against the moneyline at minus-$1,186. The team that hit .280 last year and averaged 5.3 RPG, is batting .270 this year, while averaging 4. 7 RPG. The Rockies are a dreadful 19-39 (minus-$1,582) on the road (getting outscored by an average of 3.76-to-5.26 RPG) and will face a Florida team which just "refuses to go away." Coming off a 71-91 season in '07, the Marlins take a 58-52 mark into this game, featuring a moneyline mark (plus-$1,699) which ranks them 3rd in the majors. The Marlins took Thursday's game 12-2 but behind the red-hot Ubaldo Jimenez, Colorado won last night, 5-2. Tonight, the pitching matchup of Valerio De Los Santos for Colorado and Ricky Nolasco of Florida, gives the Marlins a HUGE edge. De Los Santos started for the Rockies this past Monday at Pittsburgh, in a game the Rockies lost 8-4. He allowed two hits and two ERs in only four innings, while also allowing SIX walks. Maybe that's not so bad for a guy making his first major league appearance since 2005 and his first start since 2000 (I'm NOT making this up!). Now he's a lefty and the Marlins are just 14-16 this year vs lefties but that sure didn't seem to bother them Thursday night, when they rocked lefty Jorge De La Rosa for five hits (four walks) and seven runs in just 1.2 innings. If the Marlins were facing Johan Santana, I might be worried but I'm not concerned with their ability to get to De Los Santos. As for Florida, Ricky Nolasco will toe the rubber. He followed an 11-11 rookie season ('06) with a injury-shortened '07, in which he made just five appearances (four starts). However, it's been an excellent "bounce-back" year for him in '08. He began the year in the bullpen but after two relief appearances, has made 21 consecutive starts. He entered the All Star break in excellent form, going 9-1 with a 2.84 ERA in his last 13 starts (team won 10 of his last 11). He struggled in his first two starts after the break (12 IP / 15 hits / 9 ERs / 6.75 ERA) but was sharp in his last outing, going six innings while allowing seven hits and two ERs, as the Marlins beat the Mets, 7-3 (he didn't get a decision). Let's not forget that the Marlins are 14-7 in this right-handers' starts this year and unlike last year, when the Rockies just 'killed' righties (70-49, plus-$3,070), '08 has been a season-long struggle for the Rockies vs right-handers. The Rockies are only 33-48 vs righties this year, including 15-31 on the road, where they are averaging just under four runs per game. This game has blowout written all over it!
Florida Marlins