2012
Reds vs Braves Free Pick May 15, 2012
The Cincinnati Reds face the Atlanta Braves in the second game of their three game series at Turner Field in Atlanta. Johnny Cueto will go on the mound against the Braves. Cueto has not been given the recognition other pitchers have, but he has had one of the best starts of any pitcher in baseball. Cueto is 4-0 on the season with an ERA of just 1.12. He leads the National League in ERA. Cueto has only allowed a total of six earned runs over the seven starts he has had this season.
He pitched seven innings of shutout ball against Milwaukee last week, but left with no decision in a 2-1 Cincinnati win. Cueto will come into tonight’s game with a scoreless streak of 12-innings and has given up just a single run over his last three games.
One Braves hitter, Martin Prado has had career success against Cueto. Prado has 3 hits in 9 at bats against Cueto, including a homer. Prado over his last six games overall, is hitting .386.
Tim Hudson will go for the Braves tonight. Hudson is 1-1 on the season with an ERA of 4.50. He hopes he gets support in this game since the last time he pitched he gave up a single run over seven innings, but received the loss 1-0. In six starts lifetime against Cincinnati, Hudson is 3-1 with an ERA of 3.19.
Freedie Freeman, the first baseman for the Braves will be questionable for the game. He left Monday’s loss with blurred vision during the seventh innings. He is leading the team with six homers, but is hitless in his career against Cincinnati starter Cueto.
The line has the Braves as the favorite at -115 with the Reds at +105. The run total is sitting at 7. The Reds will take this game behind a solid pitching performance from Cueto who will increase his record to 5-0. Take Cincinnati to win and the total to end UNDER.
Indians vs Twins Free Pick May 14, 2012
The Cleveland Indians will visit the Minnesota Twins in the first game of a three game series tonight at Target Field. The Twins have not started their season well and are just 10-24 and in need of help. Tonight they will send Carl Pavano to the mound. Pavano is 2-3 on the season with an ERA of 5.02. He has lost velocity on his fastball as it has been only clocked at 86 mph. He has had an MRI to check on his condition, but there is nothing more than some inflammation in his shoulder.
The Twins have the worst team ERA of the major leagues at 6.31. Pavano has played against the Indians on nine occasions and has a career record of 2-3 with an ERA of 3.08. Asdrubal Cabrera is the team leader for Cleveland at the plate with an average of .315 but is just 1 for 26 when facing Pavano.
The Cleveland Indians will send Jeanmar Gomez to the mound. Gomez is 2-2 on the season with an ERA of 4.66. The right-hander against the Twins is 1-1 with an ERA of 5.60. The Indians lost three of four over the weekend to the Boston Red Sox. They won the first game of the series but have lost their last three straight.
Last season the Indians were 8-1 in their last nine games against the Twins. That was the first season they had won the head to head series against Minnesota since 2007. Minnesota split with the Toronto Blue Jays in a four game set over the weekend.
The current line has the Indians as the favorite at -120 and the Twins at +110. The run total is 8.5. With the ERA of both pitchers not the best and the fastball of Pavano not hitting the velocity he wants, look for a high scoring game. Take the OVER on this with the Twins winning.
Angels vs Rangers Free Pick May 13, 2012
The Los Angeles Angels are finding out just how tough the Texas Rangers are. The Angels meet the Rangers in game three of their of three game set in Texas. The teams split the first two games of the series, but Hamilton has continued his torrid hitting. The Rangers’ outfielder has three home runs in the first two games. He is leading the American League in hitting with a .402 average and leads the majors in both home runs with 18 and RBIs with 41.
Tonight Jered Weaver will get the opportunity to quiet the bat of Hamilton. Weaver is 5-0 on the season and has an ERA of just 1.60. He is only allowing a league low .174 batting average against opponents. In his last outing, he beat Minnesota by giving up just one run in six innings. He has already thrown a no-hitter this season on May 2 against the Twins.
Offensively for the Angels, their acquisition in the offseason, Albert Pujols is still trying to find his way. Pujols is hitting just .195 and has only one home run. In this series, he has had only one hit and has not had an extra base hit on the road in his last 52 times at bat.
Neftali Feliz will take the mound for the Rangers in Sunday. Feliz is 2-1 on the season with an ERA of 3.38. Feliz is attempting to become a starter for the team and has started well. On Tuesday, he only allowed one run in six innings of work in the game Hamilton hit four home runs. He has not given up any earned runs against the Angels in 12 1/3 innings.
The current line has the Rangers as the favorite at -120 with the Angels at +110. The total is at 8.5. Take the Angles behind the arm of Weaver to win this game and the total will end UNDER.
Rockies vs Dodgers Free Pick May 11, 2012
The Colorado Rockies meet the Los Angeles Dodgers in the second game of their three game set in Los Angeles. Colorado has had problems scoring on the road. The Rockies are 13-18 on the season and average 5. 1 runs per game, but on the road they are only averaging 3.2. In their loss Friday night in the opening game of the series with the Dodger, the Rockies scored only three runs in the game.
Juan Nicasio will go on the mound for the Rockies. Nicasio is 2-1 on the season with an ERA of 5.35. He gave up just two runs in six innings on April 30 at home against the Dodgers in a 6-2 Rockies win.
Los Angeles has opened the season playing very good baseball. The Dodgers are 21-11 on the season and have the best home record in the major leagues at 13-3. Los Angeles will start Aaron Harang. Harang is 1-2 on the season with an ERA of 5.24. He is coming off one if his better starts of the season. He allowed only two runs in six innings on Sunday against the Chicago Cubs, but did not get a decision as the bullpen blew the lead.
Colorado is just 3-8 over their last 11 games in Los Angeles and in his only start in Dodger Stadium the Rockies’ Nicasio allowed five runs in just 5 2/3 innings last July.
Andre Ethier is one of the Dodgers’ leaders offensively. He leads the NL in RBIs with 32. Against Nicasio, he has 4 hits in 7 at bats including a home run. Matt Kemp, who has struggled for his last five games after starting out on fire, is batting .500 in his career against Nicasio with two home runs. Carlos Gonzalez is leading the Rockies hitting and has hit .385 in the last 13 games.
The line has the Dodgers as the favorite at -130 with Colorado at +120. The total is 7.5. Take the Dodgers in this game, as the Rockies will continue having a difficult time scoring runs on the road. The total will end OVER.
Braves vs Cardinals Free Pick May 11, 2012
The Atlanta Braves visit the St. Louis Cardinals Friday night for the first of three games. The Cardinals have played very well of late and have an overall record of 20-11, while the Braves are tied for first place with the Washington Nationals with a record 19-13.
The Cardinals have won their last four games and are 3 ½ games in front of Cincinnati in the National League Central. St. Louis beat Arizona on Wednesday to sweep the Diamondbacks. Rafael Furcal who has an average of .361 leads the Cards in batting. David Freese and Allen Craig also are hot at this time for the Cardinals.
Mike Minor will start on the mound for the Braves. Minor is 2-2 with an ERA of 5.97 and was hit hard in his last game. The Braves beat the Rockies 13-9 but he gave up 10 hits and allowed 8 runs in just five innings. Jaime Garcia will start for the Cardinals in Friday’s game. Garcia is 2-2 with an ERA of 3.76. He also was hit hard in his last game. He gave up six runs in a loss to Houston.
St. Louis is 6-1 against starters who are left handed, while the Braves are 7-7 against southpaws. The Cards have a home record of 8-4 and the Braves are 11-8 playing on the road. Both the Braves and Cardinals lead the National League in hitting.
For the Cardinals the UNDER is 16-14-1 this season, but at home the OVER is 9-3 in 12 games. The OVER for the Braves is 16-14-2 and 10-8-1 on the road. This week the UNDER paid out in the three games they played against the Cubs.
The current line has the Cardinal as the favorite at -145 and the Braves at +135. The total is at 8. Take the Cardinals at home to beat the Braves, with the total ending OVER.
Indians vs Red Sox Free Pick May 10, 2012
The Cleveland Indians open a four game series with the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park tonight. The Red Sox have had some controversy this season with new manager Bobby Valentine. Tonight’s starter for the Red Sox, Josh Becket also had controversy swirling around him as he was reportedly seen playing golf while everyone though he was injured last week.
Nevertheless, Beckett will try to stop the bleeding for the Red Sox. The right-hander is 2-3 on the season with an ERA of 4.45 and will try to end the Sox five-game losing streak at home. This will be his first start since April 29. In that start he gave up three runs in 6 2/3 innings, in a loss to Chicago on the road. In that game he threw a career high 126 pitches.
The Indians are 17-13 on the season and have two former Red Sox players that will play for them during the series. Johnny Damon will lead off the Indians lineup and the probable starter for tonight’s game is Derek Lowe. Both players held key roles for the Red Sox during their 2004 season in which they won the World Series.
Lowe is 4-1 on the season with an ERA of 2.39. He has only played against the Red Sox on one occasion. He lost 3-0 against them in June of 2009 at Fenway. In four of the first six games Lowe started this season, he gave up two or fewer runs. He was acquired by Cleveland in the offseason from the Atlanta Braves. Damon has just a .167 batting average since he joined the Indians eight games ago. He was hitless in four at bats in Cleveland’s loss 8-1 against the White Sox Wednesday.
The Red Sox are favored at home -150, while the Indians are at +140. The total is at 8.5. The Indians will take the first game of this series behind the strong pitching of Lowe in just his second game against his former club. The total will cash out to UNDER bettors.
Bulls vs 76ers Free Pick May 10, 2012
The Chicago Bulls pulled out a win Tuesday night against the Philadelphia 76ers to stave off elimination. The Bulls won 77-69 in a very low scoring game. The series is now 3-2 in favor of Philly and returns to Philly for the sixth game. Both teams shot terribly from the field with Chicago only making 41% of their shots and the 76ers only hitting on 32%.
The Bulls are still playing shorthanded, but hope to have top rebounder Joakim Noah back from his ankle injury for this game. Picking up the slack for the Bulls has been Luol Deng who scored a game high 24 points and had eight rebounds. The 76ers got a great overall game out of Stephen Hawes who scored 11 points but grabbed 14 rebounds and blocked two shots. Jrue Holiday once again led the Sixers in scoring with 16.
The Bulls experimented with Taj Gibson and Ronnie Brewer on the court at the same time for over 20 minutes in the game and it seemed to work, as the Bulls outscored the 76ers in that span by 12 points and the 76ers could only manage to shoot 19% from the field. Over the entire game, the 76ers had 80 half court sets on offense and could only score on 22 of them.
The 76ers will have to do something about the Bulls’ defense if they hope to win one of the last two games in the series to move to the next round. Carlos Boozer has come up big for Chicago as he scored 19 points and led the team with 13 rebounds in Tuesday’s win.
The line opened shortly after the Bulls win Tuesday night with the 76ers as a 2 ½-point favorite and is holding there. The total is at just 172. Smart money will take the Bulls to pull out another victory and take the series to a seventh game at home. UNDER bettors will cash out on this defensive struggle.
Rays vs Yankees Free Pick May 9, 2012
The season is only 30 games old and the cream has not risen to the top as of yet, but two teams that have played well this season meet tonight as the Tampa Bay Rays visit the New York Yankees. This is the second game of the series and the Yankees won the first game 5-3 on Tuesday night. One thing worrying Yankees supporters is who will take over the closing duties for the injured Mariano Rivera, who has handled that job for close to an entire generation. David Robertson may be that person, as he saved the game last night.
The Yankees are 16-13 on the season and will have rookie David Phelps on the mound tonight. Phelps is 0-1 with an ERA of 3.74. This will most likely be his last turn in the Yankee rotation, as veteran Andy Pettitte will start his season on Sunday. Phelps made his debut as a starter when Rivera tore his ACL. He allowed two runs over four innings but did not get the decision. He has appeared twice in long relief stints, with six strikeouts over 8 1/3 innings.
The Rays are 19-11 on the season and will send Jeff Neimann to the mound. Neimann is 2-3 on the season with an ERA of 4.05. He is 0-3 away from Tampa, but his teammates have only produced four runs in those three starts. Neimann however, has pitched well in New York. He is 2-0 at Yankee Stadium with an ERA of 3.00.
The line has the Yankees as the favorite at home -125, while Tampa is +115. The total is sitting at 9.5. This game will be a hitters game, as both pitchers have proven they are not playing at their top levels as of yet. Take the Yankees to win with the total ending OVER.
Marlins vs Astros Free Pick May 8, 2012
The Miami Marlins are now playing the baseball manager Ozzie Guillen knew they could. The Marlins have won seven straight and even though they inaugurated a beautiful new park earlier this season, the Marlins are playing better on the road than at home. With their seven straight wins, the Marlins are now 15-14 on the season. They will take on the Houston Astros, who are just 13-16 on the season, tonight in the second game of their three game series.
The Marlins defeated the Astros 4-0 in game one of the series Monday night. The Marlins received a great pitching performance from Carlos Zambrano Monday as he threw a three hitter striking out nine. Hanley Ramirez added his sixth home run and Giancarlo Stanton hit in his tenth consecutive game.
Ramirez has a hit in 7 of his last 18 at bats and in that span has hit two homers and knocked in seven runs. During his ten game hitting streak, Stanton is hitting .333 with six home runs and 12 RBIs.
Anibal Sanchez will go for the Marlins in this game. Sanchez is 2-0 on the season with an ERA of 2.43. He has given up two or fewer runs in all five starts this season and over his last three starts, he has lasted to at least the seventh inning.
The Astros have called up Aneury Rodriguez from their Triple A affiliate in Oklahoma City to pitch tonight. Last season the right-hander had a record of 1-6 with an ERA of 5.27 with Houston. He is 1-3 thus far in Triple A.
The current line has the Marlins as the favorite -155 while the Astros are at +140. The run total is 8. The Marlins will continue their hot streak and win this game behind the pitching of Sanchez and with the bats of Ramirez and Stanton. Look for the total to be OVER, as Rodriguez will be hit hard by the Marlins.
Rangers vs Orioles Free Pick May 7, 2012
Two of the top teams in all of baseball thus far in the season meet tonight as the Texas Rangers visit the Baltimore Orioles. The Rangers have dominated the head to head series with the Orioles over the last six games. Texas has outscored Baltimore by 29 runs over that stretch of games. However, this season the teams seem to better matched. The Rangers currently have a record of 18-10, while the Orioles are one better at 19-9.
Baltimore is winners of five consecutive and owns the best record in the American League. The four game series will see the Orioles send Brian Matusz to the mound in tonight’s first game. Matusz is 1-3 on the season with an ERA of 4.67. He had an impressive outing his last time out giving up only one run over 6 1/3 innings in a win over the Yankees. The Rangers will counter with Matt Harrison who is 3-2 on the season with an ERA of 5.40. He won his first three starts this season posting an ERA of 1.66, but has looked miserable in his last two starts.
Chris Davis has been hitting a ton for the Orioles. Davis will be facing his former team for the first time and in his last 10 games is hitting .400 with four home runs and 10 runs batted in. Texas has dropped four of their last five and their offense went 1 out of 7 with runners in scoring position in their Sunday loss to Cleveland. Ranger, Josh Hamilton has a .395 average over his last nine games against Baltimore.
The current line has the Rangers as the favorite on the road at -140, with the Orioles at +120. The total is at 9.5. Take the Orioles in this game, as they will knock Harrison around and the total will end OVER.
