MLB
Tuesday, June 29
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Trend Report
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7:05 PM
TORONTO vs. CLEVELAND
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Toronto's last 6 games
Toronto is 7-17 SU in its last 24 games when playing on the road against Cleveland
Cleveland is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Cleveland's last 5 games at home
7:05 PM
OAKLAND vs. BALTIMORE
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Oakland's last 5 games when playing on the road against Baltimore
Oakland is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Baltimore's last 8 games
Baltimore is 3-15 SU in its last 18 games when playing Oakland
7:05 PM
SEATTLE vs. NY YANKEES
Seattle is 1-10 SU in their last 11 games when playing on the road against NY Yankees
Seattle is 6-15 SU in their last 21 games when playing NY Yankees
The total has gone OVER in 5 of NY Yankees's last 6 games
NY Yankees are 4-1 SU in their last 5 games
7:10 PM
WASHINGTON vs. ATLANTA
Washington is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games
Washington is 6-2 SU in its last 8 games when playing Atlanta
Atlanta is 2-6 SU in its last 8 games when playing Washington
Atlanta is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Washington
7:10 PM
TAMPA BAY vs. BOSTON
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Tampa Bay's last 7 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Tampa Bay's last 6 games when playing on the road against Boston
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Boston's last 9 games when playing Tampa Bay
Boston is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
7:10 PM
PHILADELPHIA vs. CINCINNATI
Philadelphia is 9-4 SU in its last 13 games when playing Cincinnati
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Philadelphia's last 6 games when playing Cincinnati
The total has gone UNDER in 9 of Cincinnati's last 13 games when playing Philadelphia
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Cincinnati's last 6 games when playing Philadelphia
7:10 PM
NY METS vs. FLORIDA
NY Mets are 3-7 SU in its last 10 games when playing Florida
NY Mets are 0-5 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Florida
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Florida's last 6 games when playing NY Mets
Florida is 7-3 SU in its last 10 games when playing NY Mets
8:05 PM
PITTSBURGH vs. CHI CUBS
Pittsburgh is 1-6 SU in its last 7 games
Pittsburgh is 5-1 SU in their last 6 games when playing on the road against Chi Cubs
Chi Cubs are 16-8 SU in their last 24 games when playing at home against Pittsburgh
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Chi Cubs's last 8 games when playing at home against Pittsburgh
8:10 PM
DETROIT vs. MINNESOTA
Detroit is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Minnesota
Detroit is 3-6 SU in its last 9 games when playing Minnesota
Minnesota is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Minnesota's last 6 games
8:10 PM
CHI WHITE SOX vs. KANSAS CITY
Chi White Sox are 6-1 SU in their last 7 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Chi White Sox's last 6 games
Kansas City is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Kansas City's last 6 games at home
8:10 PM
HOUSTON vs. MILWAUKEE
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Houston's last 9 games on the road
Houston is 3-8 SU in its last 11 games when playing on the road against Milwaukee
Milwaukee is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Milwaukee's last 7 games when playing at home against Houston
8:15 PM
ARIZONA vs. ST. LOUIS
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Arizona's last 5 games on the road
Arizona is 3-17 SU in its last 20 games on the road
St. Louis is 11-5 SU in its last 16 games when playing Arizona
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of St. Louis's last 6 games
10:05 PM
TEXAS vs. LA ANGELS
Texas is 2-4 SU in their last 6 games when playing on the road against LA Angels
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Texas's last 5 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 6 of LA Angels's last 9 games
LA Angels are 17-7 SU in their last 24 games
10:05 PM
COLORADO vs. SAN DIEGO
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Colorado's last 6 games
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Colorado's last 5 games when playing on the road against San Diego
San Diego is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games when playing Colorado
The total has gone OVER in 4 of San Diego's last 5 games when playing at home against Colorado
10:15 PM
LA DODGERS vs. SAN FRANCISCO
LA Dodgers are 3-8 SU in their last 11 games
The total has gone UNDER in 14 of LA Dodgers's last 20 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 4 of San Francisco's last 6 games when playing at home against LA Dodgers
San Francisco is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games
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Hot Lines: Today's best MLB bets
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New York Mets at Florida Marlins (+105, 9.5)
The Marlins have been struggling of late, but maybe all the team needed was a change of venue.
After losing three straight to the Padres at home over the weekend, Florida is calling San Juan, Puerto Rico its new home.
"It feels like home," Hanley Ramirez said. "There are a lot of Dominican people here."
The Mets and Marlins began a three-game series at Hiram Bithorn Stadium on Monday. Florida bounced back in a big way, defeating New York 10-3. Interim manager Edwin Rodriguez, who’s only been on the job a little over the week, is a native of Puerto Rico so the victory was even more special.
"I can tell you, it feels just unbelievable," Rodriguez said. "I'm very aware of what it means for me, for my family, and really for the whole [island]. It's like a dream come true for me."
With homeland emotions undoubtedly factoring into Florida’s motivations, look for the Fins to hand the Metropolitans another loss Tuesday.
Pick: Marlins
Tampa Bay Rays at Boston Red Sox (-125, 9.5)
Within the span of three days, the Red Sox lost three key players.
Second baseman Dustin Pedroia was placed on the 15-day DL after fracturing his left foot Friday, pitcher Clay Buchholz injured his knee running the bases Saturday and catcher Victor Martinez broke his left thumb Sunday.
And did we mention that the Sox have been without leadoff hitter Jacoby Ellsbury and ace Josh Beckett for the better part of the season? Still, Boston continues to plug away and trails the Yankees by just two games in the division.
"There is no breaking point," said Bill Hall. "We're the Boston Red Sox. We expect to win. We're the Red Sox. We're supposed to win. That's the mentality we have in here. Guys know they need to step up, and we've had guys step up all year long. That's going to continue to happen."
With the state the Tampa clubhouse is in right now (Longoria/Upton fallout), nine one-armed Bostonians could defeat the Rays.
Pick: Red Sox
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Streaking and Slumping Pitchers
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Streaking
Cliff Lee (6-3, 2.39), Seattle Mariners
Complete game winning efforts in three of your last four starts will always land you on this list. Lee has been dominant of late and contending teams are salivating over trade possibilities.
Seattle’s southpaw most recently silenced NL opponent Chicago in a complete game shutout. Lee positioned himself with an 0-2 count to 19 Cubs during the game.
“You just don’t see that,” manager Don Wakamatsu said. “Pretty special.”
Lee is 6-1 over his last seven starts and is 4-0 with a 1.26 ERA in his last four at Yankee Stadium.
Brandon Morrow (5-5, 4.50), Toronto Blue Jays
Morrow had a rough start to the 2010 campaign, which eventually led him to a minor-league assignment, but the hard-throwing righty has righted the ship recently.
Morrow is only 2-1 in his last five starts but didn’t yield more than two runs in any of them and went at least 6.0 innings in each. He allowed a total of five runs during that stretch (34.0 innings, 1.32 ERA) with no homers while recording 25 strikeouts.
"This kid is just going to get better all the time," manager Cito Gaston said. "We're talking No. 1 or 2 starter one of these days as far as rotation. He's got that kind of stuff."
Slumping
Dontrelle Willis (2-2, 4.90), Arizona Diamondbacks
Willis went to Arizona looking for a fresh start for his career but things have remained the same. The lefty only lasted 2.1 innings in his most recent outing after walking seven hitters.
"I can't try to be too fine," Willis said. "I just have to hit the target. Everybody's been asking, but I just have to do it. I have to be aggressive. I have to hit the target."
Willis’ control problems have equated to 18 walks in his last 21.1 innings on the mound. Neither he nor the team has won a game (0-3) since his first start with the Diamondbacks on June 5. Willis is 1-3 in five career starts versus St. Louis with a hefty 5.53 ERA.
Matt Cain (6-6, 2.72), San Francisco Giants
San Fran’s No. 2 starter is usually in the “Streaking” segment of this article but Cain has struggled over his last two starts. The right-hander was knocked out of a game last Thursday after giving up seven earned runs to the Astros in only 2.2 innings of work.
Houston touched Cain up for nine hits and two bombs in that 7-5 loss. Cain has lost both of his last starts and combined for only five strikeouts in those two games.
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This Day in Baseball
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On June 29 in Baseball History...
1916 - The Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds played a nine-inning game with just one baseball.
1923 - Brooklyn's Jack Fournier went 6-for-6 with a home run, two doubles and three singles. The Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies 14-5.
1937 - Chicago Cubs first baseman Rip Collins played an entire game without a putout or an assist.
1941 - Joe DiMaggio singles against Washington knuckleballer Dutch Leonard in the sixth inning in the first game of a doubleheader to tie George Sisler's A.L. consecutive-game hit record of forty-one (41). In the nightcap he collects a seventh-inning single off of Walt Masterson to set the record at forty-two (42) games.
1961 - With three home runs at Philadelphia, including a tenth-inning shot to win 8-7, Willie Mays becomes the fourth major-league player with three or more home runs twice in one season. Manager Gene Mauch's efforts to conceal his starting pitcher and force Alvin Dark's hand has a Phillies lineup including hurlers Don Ferrarese (batting leadoff, playing center field), Jim Owens (third, right field), Chris Short (seventh, catcher), and Ken Lehman (ninth, pitcher) against San Francisco. When Dark sends a lefty to the mound, Mauch replaces Ferrarese. Dark then replaces Billy O'Dell with Sam Jones. Mauch replaces Lehman with Dallas Green after two batters. All the maneuvering takes three hours and twenty (20) minutes.
1968 - Detroit's Jim Northrup hit his third grand slam in a week and the Tigers beat the Chicago White Sox 5-2.
1969 - On Billy Williams Day in Chicago, the Cubs outfielder passes Stan Musial's National League record for consecutive games played (896). The Cubs sweep the Cardinals 3-1 and 12-1 before 41,060.
1977 - Willie Stargell hits his 400th career home run, this one coming off Eric Rasmussen of the Cardinals.
1984 - Pete Rose plays in his 3,309th major-league game, surpassing Carl Yastrzemski as the all-time leader. Rose goes 0-for-5, but Montreal beats Cincinnati 7-3.
1986 - Detroit beats Milwaukee 9-5 in the first game of a doubleheader split, making Tigers manager Sparky Anderson the first manager ever to win six-hundred games in each league.
1987 - In the first game of Philadelphia's doubleheader sweep of Pittsburgh, Steve Bedrosian records his twelfth consecutive save (in twelve appearances) to break the major-league record set by Sparky Lyle in 1975.
1990 - Oakland's Dave Stewart and the Dodgers Fernando Valenzuela both throw no-hitters. Stewart blanks the Blue Jays 5-0, and a few hours later Valenzuela beats the Cardinals 6-0.
1992 - Oakland's Dennis Eckersley sets the new standard with his twenty-sixth straight save of the season.
1995 - The Dodgers' Hideo Nomo struck out thirteen Colorado Rockies in a 3-0 victory, giving him fifty (50) strikeouts in four (4) games. That broke the Los Angeles record of forty-nine (49) over four (4) games accomplished three (3) times by Sandy Koufax, the last thirty (30) years earlier.
2003 - Eric Byrnes hit for the cycle and matched a franchise record with five hits in Oakland's 5-2 win over San Francisco.