Comps
Bobby Maxwell
3♦ COLORADO ROCKIES +110
We keep waiting and waiting for the Rockies to wake up and start playing baseball like we remember them playing last fall. Not saying it happens today but we will play them and the plus-money at home against the Cardinals. Lefty Mark Redman (2-2, 6.99 ERA) was brutal in his last outing and there's no way around that. He gave up 10 runs on seven hits in six innings of an 11-3 loss in Los Angeles. But other than that he has been solid this year, not allowing more than four runs in any of his starts. Braden Looper (4-1, 3.86 ERA) goes for the Cardinals tonight and hasn't pitched on the road but once this season. He's had four straight outings in St. Louis and the Cards are just 2-2 in those four. When he went to Colorado for a start last season he got knocked around, giving up six runs on seven hits in 5.2 innings of an 8-3 loss. The Cardinals have only hit .221 against southpaws in their last 10 games so we like Redman's chances in this outing. Let's play the Colorado offense to wake up, take the plus money and go with the Rockies.
Michael Cannon
2♦ TORONTO BLUE JAYS -140
J. Burnett gets the nod for Toronto, and I?ve always been a fan of his stuff. The right-hander is 3-2 on the year with a 4.82 ERA in seven games. But he?s pitched much better than that over his last three starts, going 2-1 with a 2.70 ERA. The Blue Jays pitching staff has posted three shutouts during the team?s five-game winning streak, and Burnett is more than capable of tossing one himself. Burnett has a 6-2 mark with a 2.95 ERA in 13 career starts against . Take the Blue Jays as they grab the home win.
Drew Gordon
2♦ BALTIMORE ORIOLES +130
By now its no secret that Oakland has struggled against southpaws, going 6-7 in games against them, batting just .234 in the process. Take yesterday's 2-1 win over the Orioles for example, they got shut down by lefty Garret Olson for 6 1/3 innings (allowing 1 run on 4 hits with 7 Ks), and got the winning run in the 10th against righty Jim Johnson. If the A's thought Olson was tough, they'll have their work cut out for them against another southpaw tonight in Brian Burres. He's 3-2 with a solid 2.87 ERA this season, but over his last 3 he's been downright nasty, going 2-1 with a miniscule 1.37 ERA! Although he took the loss in his last start, he's allowed just 3 runs over his last 19 2/3 innings, including pitching 5 2/3 scoreless innings against the powerhouse Yankees lineup back on April 19th! Opposing Burres is the A's Justin Duchsherer, who's coming off a nice start against the LA Angels, allowing just 1 earned over 5 innings last Thursday. Although he has good numbers against the O's in the past, they came as a reliever, and his inability to go late into games may very well be his downfall here tonight. Baltimore is hardly an offensive juggernaut, but they are better against righties than the A's have been against lefties. Duchsherer got plenty of run support against the Angels in his last one, but that won't be the case here tonight. Bottom line, plenty of value behind the Orioles in this one, especially considering the A's struggles against lefties. Expect a close game here, but in the end, the Orioles pull out the win, grabbing the plus money in the process! Take Baltimore behind Burres over Oakland and Duchsherer in this MLB match up.
Chuck Franklin
3♦ SEATTLE MARINERS -140
The Seattle bats came to life last night against the weak Texas pitching. That trend will continue throughout this four-game series. Tonight it will be Miguel Batista versus Sidney Ponson. The Mariners have the better part of that match-up. Ponson looked pretty good in his last start, his first win in a year, beating the Royals on Thursday. He is only 2-4 lifetime with a 4.84 ERA against Seattle. Batista has struggled at home this season, with a 9.00 ERA, but he has a winning record in 12 appearances against the Rangers. I'm on the home team. Texas has lost six of the last seven versus the Mariners and they are 3-13 the last 16 played in Seattle. They have won only eight of the last 31 road games when listed as the underdog and only six of the last 22 games played on grass. The Mariners are on a 13-5 run at home versus a right-handed starter and they are 8-3 in Batistas last 11 starts at home.
Jimmy The Moose
TAMPA BAY DEVIL RAYS
The Rays have lost 3 straight games but a game vs. the Jays will get them back on the winning side tonight. Tampa is 7-2 in their last 9 vs. a right-handed starter. The Rays have won 4 of their last 5 games played on turf. Tampa's offense has been scoring runs while the Jays offense has been sputtering. The Jays are 3-7 in their last 10 games as a home favorite. The Jays are 1-5 in their last 6 division games. The Jays have lost the last 4 meetings between the clubs including all 3 this season. Play on the Tampa Bay Rays +.
Strike Point Sports
RANGERS / MARINERS OVER 9?
Suprisingly Sidney Ponson has not completely melted down yet on the mound since his return to the majors. Well, this is his third chance to do just that, and I think it's about time that happen. And as far as home cooking goes, the Mariners needed to get back to Safeco and produce some offense, just as they did in Monday's opener. Neither Ponson or Miguel Batista will get beyond the sixth, and they'll combine to assist the offenses in this one. Play the over, as these two AL West clubs combine for double digits in Seattle.
Stephen Nover
PADRES / BRAVES UNDER 9
The San Diego Padres are batting under .200 during the past three weeks. They have scored less than three runs in eight of their last 18 games. Atlanta starter Jair Jurrjens has a 2.25 ERA during his past three starts. Foes are hitting just .101 against him during this time span. The Padres have yet to see him. But Padres starter Chris Young can keep San Diego in this game. Young has yielded two runs or less in all but one of his six starts this year. He has yielded just three earned runs during his last two starts, spanning 13 innings against the Giants and Phillies. He's allowed just seven hits during this time while fanning 16. The total is too high considering the quality of these two starters and the Padres' pathetic offense.
Jim Feist
TWINS / WHITE SOX OVER
Minnesota's offense has been terrific on the road, averaging close to 5 runs per game. The Twins are 9-4 over the total away from home. Twins starter Nick Blackburn is very hittable, giving up 47 hits in 38 innings. Chicago starter Gavin Floyd is too liberal with free passes, walking 15 in 31 innings. Minnesota is 10-6 over the total the last 16 games. Oddsmakers sold this total a little too short. Play the Twins/White Sox over the total!
Marc Lawrence
PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
When the Philadelphia Phillies send Adam Eaton to the hill against the Diamondbacks in Arizona tonight they'll do so knowing Eaton has won 11 of his last 12 team starts in May. He's also 6-2 in his last 8 team starts against Arizona. With Philadelphia 9-4 in their las 13 games in this ballpark, we'll back Eaton and the Phillies this evening.
Rocketman Sports
3* ATLANTA BRAVES -135
San Diego is 6-16 in night games this year. San Diego is scoring only 3.4 runs per game overall, 3.8 runs per game on the road and 3.2 runs per game against right handed starters this year. San Diego bullpen has a 5.74 ERA on the road this season. Atlanta is scoring 6.3 runs per game at home this year and 5.7 runs per game against right handed starters this season. Atlanta bullpen has a 3.38 ERA at home this year. Jurrjens has a 3.05 ERA overall this year, 2-0 with a 2.19 ERA at home this year and 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA his last 3 starts. Atlanta is 12-4 overall vs San Diego last 3 years. Young has a 7.11 ERA overall vs Atlanta since 1997. We'll play Atlanta for 3 units tonight! Thanks and good luck, Rocky
Tom Freese
LA DODGERS
Los Angeles starter Hirocki Kuroda has allowed 4 or less runs in 5 of his 6 starts this year. The Dodgers are red hot winning 9 of their last 10 games and they are 21-8 their last 20-9 games as home favorites. Mets starter Nelson Figueroa is off a phony win his last start where he allowed twice as many baserunners as innings pitched. The Mets are 4-11 their last 15 games vs. right handed starters.
Tony Matthews
FLORIDA MARLINS -110
The Florida Marlins should be able to beat the Milwaukee Brewers in Tuesday's MLB game. The Milwaukee Brewers will use starting pitcher Jeff Suppan. Jeff Suppan has struggled this season. This is shown by Jeff Suppan's 5.19 ERA on the season. Jeff Suppan also has a 5.71 ERA in his last 3 starts. It's safe to say that Jeff Suppan will have another bad start tonight. The Florida Marlins will use starting pitcher Scott Olsen. Scott Olsen has been solid so far this season. The Florida Marlins are 5-1 when Scott Olsen starts this season which is mainly due to his 2.70 ERA. Scott Olsen also has a 2.33 ERA in his last 3 starts. It's clear that Scott Olsen will pitch another solid game today. The Florida Marlins are 7-2 in their last 9 meetings against the Milwaukee Brewers (when playing in Florida), and should be able to get another win tonight! Take the Florida Marlins!
Vernon Croy
TORONTO BLUE JAYS -147
The Jays have one of the best pitching staffs in all of MLB right now and I look for A.J. Burnett (3-2, 4.82 ERA) to have another solid start after allowing just 3 hits against a potent Red Sox line-up in his last outing. Burnett has averaged 7.5 innings per start over his last 2 starts and he has dominated this Tampa Bay team over his career with a 6-2 record and an ERA of just 2.95. The Jays opponents are hitting just .157 against them over their last 7 games before coming into last nights game and the Rays are hitting just .232 as a team over their last 7 games. The Jays have won 5 straight games with their pitching and I look for their bats to finally come alive tonight against Andy Sonnanstine (4-1, 4.42 ERA) who is 1-1 against the Jays with an ERA of 6.12. The Jays are 22-10 in their last 32 home games when the posted total is 8 to 8.5 and the Rays are just 13-31 in their last 44 games as a road dog of +125 to +150. Take the Jays to make it 6 in a row tonight as my MLB Free play for Tuesday night.
Matt Fargo
PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES +135
I?m not going to stray from the Phillies despite what looks like another pitching mismatch on paper. They took the first game of this series rather easily last night and the momentum continues to build. Philadelphia has now won 11 of its last 15 games to move into first place in the National League East. The offense continues to be up and down (it was an up last night) but the pitching remains a constant positive. The Phillies have now won 10 of the last 14 meetings in Arizona. The Diamondbacks are definitely on the wrong side of positive right now. Arizona has been missing opportunities on offense, which was the case again on Monday, and the pitching has been the real disappointment of late. Pitching has been the strength all season but the Diamondbacks have allowed 40 runs over the last six games and taking away two Brandon Webb starts and they have allowed 6.7 rpg over their last seven games. Even with Webb, the ERA from the starters is 4.72 in their home games. When I said pitching mismatch earlier, Adam Eaton against Randy Johnson may look like that but that was the case five years ago. In 2008, it is nothing more than a big name starter being overpriced. Johnson has shown hardly anything to be priced as a rather hefty favorite. He has started four games this season and only one of those was a quality start. He is coming off a horrible performance against Houston where he allowed six runs on nine hits in just four innings of work. The Phillies counter with Adam Eaton and from the start, I was hesitant because he kept putting together decent starts. And he continues to do that. In six starts, he has allowed three runs or fewer in five of those and he continues to simply keep Philadelphia in the game. Despite six starts, his record sits at 0-0 but the Phillies have won four of those six including four straight. Eaton is coming off his best outing of the season and I see that continuing. In 13 career starts against Arizona, he has a solid 3.80 ERA.
Big Al McMordie
MILWAUKEE BREWERS +102
Everyone is waiting for the Marlins to come back down to earth, but so far it hasn't happened. A little more than a month into the season, the Marlins find themselves with a very surprising 17-14 record and only 1 game out of first place in the NL East. But the next couple of weeks may really challenge Florida's young ballclub as the Marlins, who were already decimated by injuries, were just forced to place outfielder Josh Willingham on the 15-day DL with a bad back. Willingham had been one of the Marlins most productive hitters, and it will be interesting to see how they respond without him as they begin this tough 3-day homestand against a very dangerous Milwaukee club. Lefthander Scott Olsen gets the start for the Marlins and although Olsen has pitched very well this year, he has had the benefit of having faced the Nationals twice and Pirates once so far in his six starts. And Olsen's last start against the Dodgers at home was by far his shortest (only five innings) and worst and it was his first loss of the year in a game which saw Florida routed 13-1. More potential bad news for Olsen tonight as the Brewers are hitting 30 points higher against lefties than righthanders (.269 vs. .239). The Brew Crew dominated this series last season taking five of seven games against the Fish. Take Milwaukee. As always, good luck...Al McMordie.
John Ryan
OAKLAND ATHLETICS -141
Ai Simulator 3* graded play on Oakland ? Don?t expect too much hitting and scoring in this game as two of the worst offensive teams meet tonight. Oakland has significant advantages across a array of game categories based on the AiS. Supporting this graded play is a system that has produced a record of 83-29 and has made 47.9 units since 1997. Play against any team that is a very bad AL offensive team scoring <=4.2 runs/game and is now facing a team with a good bullpen sporting an ERA<=3.75 and with a starting pitcher whose gives up 5.5 or less hits/start. Here is a second system that has gone 66-15 for 82% and has made 41.6 units since 1997. Play against all dogs with a money line of +100 or higher and is a very bad AL offensive team scoring <=4.2 runs/game and is now facing a team with a good bullpen sporting an ERA<=3.75 and with a starting pitcher whose gives up 5.5 or less hits/start. Oakland is 8-1 (+8.6 Units) against the money line versus a good bullpen whose ERA is 3.75 or better this season. Take Oakland.
Doc's Sports
PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES +1? RL
The Snakes have one of the best pitching rotations in the league, but unfortunately Randy Johnson is a setback more then a strength. Johnson continues to believe that he can blow it right by hitters and thus usually gives up a ton of homers. He has allowed 11 earned runs in his last three starts and with a strong Philly line-up awaiting, you can bet that the ball will be leaving the yard a lot. This will be a high scoring contest and we will side with the pointspread giving us yet another free play victory.
Alex Smart
SEATTLE MARINERS -139
The Seattle Mariners snapped a 5 game losing streak last night with a 7 run out put on their way to a easy lopsided win in the first game of this series against the Texas Rangers . I expect Seattle to extend on the momentum of Mondays effort, in game 2, behind the arm of Miguel Batista ,who is off a brilliant 4 hit , 1 ER 7 inning performance in his last trip the hill vs the Indians. Final notes & Key Trends: The Rangers have lost 13 of their L/16 here in the Emerald City. Mariners are 5-0 in Batistas last 5 home starts vs. a team with a losing record like Texas.
Vegas Sports Picks
CLEVELAND CAVALIERS +9?
Defending East champ Cleveland is 14-6 ATS last 20 playoff games as a dog. The Cavs went 3-1 ATS (2-2 SU) vs. Celtics this season including a (+10) loss at Boston 92-87 in the latest meeting.
Dave Cokin
LA ANGELS
The big league debut for heralded Angels rookie Nick Adenhart wasn't exactly memorable. Adenhart could not locate the strike zone and was sent to the showers after very harsh big league intro. But pitching before a big home crowd and having to do so on just three days rest was a ton for Adenhart to overcome. It gets easier here, as he makes another try at Kansas City. The Royals aren't hitting a lick and the pressure level for Adenhart will be considerably less than last week. Brian Bannister is very solid and he's been great at home. But I just can't see the Royals as chalk against the Halos, so the road team is the choice in this contest.
Jeff Benton
3♦ WASHINGTON NATIONALS
This play comes down to one basic premise: Of the two starting pitchers going tonight ? both of whom are off to solid starts ? I believe one is for real and the other is a fraud. Washington?s Shawn Hill is a 27-year-old late-bloomer who began his season a little late because of injury. And after a rough debut at Florida, Hill bounced back with two strong outings, holding the Mets to three runs (two earned) in five innings, then came back Wednesday against the Braves and tossed eight innings, allowing a single run on four hits. He didn?t get a decision in either game, but Washington won both by scores of 10-5 and 3-2, and most importantly, Hill showed his arm is good to go as he threw 98 and 94 pitches against the Mets and Braves, respectively. Now let?s talk about Houston?s Shawn Chacon ? the much-traveled Shawn Chacon who is with his fourth organization since 2005. Why has he moved around so much? Because despite a live arm, he?s never been consistent. And because I don?t expect that to change this year, it?s ?sell? time with Chacon, as I?m confident he?s about ready to implode after posting a 3.32 ERA in his first six starts. In fact, we saw signs of the impending implosion in his last start, as he gave up a season-high five runs in five innings of an 8-7 Houston loss in Arizona. Throw in the fact the Nats are 8-2 in their last 10 meetings with the Astros, and I?m willing to back Washington despite its season-long struggles on the road
Matt Rivers
WASHINGTON NATIONALS
I am just not a big fan of Shawn Chacon or his Astros. The Houston righthander did look good in his first four or so starts this season and the Astros did just sweep aside a quality Milwaukee team but all in all both the hurler and the team are extremely extremely mediocre. With Lee, Berkman, Tejada and Pence this Houston team does have talent but they have always had talent and yet never seemed to truly live up to the billing. In other words, even in the days of Biggio and Bagwell and Bell and others the Astros' sum never seemed to equal the parts and that is once again the case this season. Obviously Washington is still Washington but I like Shawn Hill. The guy is obviously not a Cy Young contender but he looked great in that last start shutting down the Braves and is extremely under the radar right now and easily could impress once again tonight. The Nats are a spunky team that did go through that horrific stretch after beginning the season 3-0 but Manny Acta's team has righted of late the ship of late and have proven they can win some ballgames. Zimmerman, Belliard, Kearns, Johnson and a few others are quality ballplayers and this game is not that far from 50-50 at all!
Tony Weston
3♦ PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
The Phillies ruined the debut of heralded D-Backs pitcher Max Scherzer as they destroyed Arizona 11-4. Actually, Scherzer didn?t pitch too bad, giving up only two earned runs in four innings of work. That?s not the point. Philadelphia continued its hot hitting ways and is now 4-1 its last five games and has scored 28 runs in that stretch. For Arizona, the team is only 2-4 its last six games and will turn to one-time phenom Randy Johnson, who is only 1-1 this season with a 4.79 ERA. In his two starts at home this year he?s given up 10 earned runs in 9 2/3 innings of work. He?s struggled and definitely not the same pitcher he once was. Take the hot Phillies offense to light up Johnson. Go with Philadelphia on the road.
Sports Gambling Hotline
4♦ CAVALIERS / CELTICS UNDER 183?
Boston is coming off a solid defensive effort that saw them limit Atlanta to a lowly 65-points in Sunday's 7th game to stop an OVER streak of 4 in a row in that series. Look for tonight's game to be a half court battle, and the UNDER to prevail. 6 of the last 8 games Boston has played at home have stayed UNDER the posted price, and Cleveland does come into this one on a 9-3 UNDER run their last 12 games. Both regular season series meetings on the parquet floor this year stayed UNDER the total, and we see this one staying low as well. Play on the UNDER in Game One of the East Semis.
Karl Garrett
3♦ MILWAUKEE BREWERS +110
Both Jeff Suppan, and Scott Olsen are coming off their first losses, so it will be interesting to see how these starters bounce-back. Olsen pitched 7 strong shutout innings against the Brewers back on April 25th in a no decision. In that series the Marlins took 2 of 3 at Miller Park, but I like the Brew Crew to return the favor in this series. The Marlins have tailed off a little bit, as they come into this home game having lost 4 of their last 6. Make that 5 of 7 after tonight's Milwaukee losing streak-ending win over the fish. Brewers the call.
