MLB
Tuesday, September 7
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Hot Lines: Today's best MLB bets
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Chicago White Sox at Detroit Tigers (-160, 8)
The Chicago White Sox are doing their best to catch the Minnesota Twins, who lead the AL Central by 3 ½ games. Chicago has won seven straight games on its current road trip heading into Tuesday’s game.
They could get a big part of their lineup back in action too, as Paul Konerko gets ready to return after leaving Sunday’s game with a stiff back. Konerko is hitting .318 with 33 home runs and 98 RBIs.
"My thoughts are to play [Tuesday] unless I walk in here and something tells me otherwise," Konerko told reporters Monday. "That's my goal. But if for some reason it wasn't tomorrow, it would be the next day. I'm shooting for tomorrow for sure."
Pick: White Sox
Cincinnati at Colorado (-130, 9)
Are the Cincinnati Reds finally cooling down? With Monday’s loss to Colorado, the Reds have now dropped three of their last four games after a pulling off a crazy run that has them at the top of the NL Central.
Johnny Cueto is just the man to get Cincinnati back on the right track. He has allowed only two runs over his last two outings while striking out 10 and walking one over 14 innings. Cueto left the team to tend to a family emergency in the Dominican Republic but was expected to rejoin the team on Monday.
Pick: Reds
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Streaking and Slumping Pitchers
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Streaking
Francisco Liriano (12-7, 3.29 ERA), Minnesota Twins
This lefty is pitching like he’s ready for October baseball. He carries a 2.15 ERA over his last eight starts into Tuesday’s game. And forget about taking the ace yard. Liriano has given up just one homer in his last 112 1/3 innings pitched.
The Twins are also 8-1 in Liriano’s last nine appearances.
Barry Enright (6-2, 2.45 ERA), Arizona Diamondbacks
You’ve got to look at the positives when you’re having a crap season like the Diamondbacks are having. Barry Enright’s half-season performance is one good thing Arizona backers should remember going into next season.
The D-backs are 5-1 in the young righty’s last six starts and the under is 7-3 in his last 10 appearaances.
Slumping
Daisuke Matsuzaka (9-4, 4.29 ERA), Boston Red Sox
Much ado about nothing. That’s pretty much how most would describe Dice-K’s big league career so far. He consistently disappoints when Boston needs a big game and he refuses to just get the ball over the plate against scrub hitters.
Matsuzaka has surrendered four runs in five of his last six starts and the over is 4-0 in his last four trips to the mound.
Kevin Correia (10-10, 5.52), San Diego Padres
Things are going well for San Diego backers. Kevin Correia is not the type of hurler you want to be sending to the hill when your club is struggling.
The 30-year-old righthander is 0-3 with a 15.00 ERA over his last three starts. The over is also 5-0 in his last five outings.
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This Day in Baseball
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On September 7 in Baseball History...
1889 - The most controversial game in American Association history is held in Brooklyn. The St. Louis Browns hold a 4-2 lead in the ninth over the Bridegrooms and claim it is too dark to continue. The lighted candles in front of their bench make umpire Fred Goldsmith determined to finish the game no matter what. Several St. Louis players are hit with bottles as they leave the grounds. The Browns will forfeit the game the next day because they fear for their safety.
1908 - Walter Johnson pitched his third consecutive shutout in four days, a 4-0, two-hitter over the New York Highlanders.
1911 - Rookie Grover Alexander of the Philadelphia Phillies beat 44-year-old Cy Young 1-0, as Young ended his career with the Boston Braves.
1912 - Eddie Collins steals six bases in the Athletics' 9-7 win over Detroit, a 20th-century-record. Remarkably, on September 22, he will repeat with six against the Browns.
1916 - The New York Giants beat the Brooklyn Dodgers 4-1 to start their 26-game winning streak, a Major League record.
1918 - On one day's rest, Hippo Vaughn gives up only seven hits, but Carl Mays wins a 2-1 duel for the Red Sox. Game Three of the World Series ends with the Charlie Pick of the Cubs caught in a rundown between third base and home while trying to score on a passed ball.
1945 - Joe Kuhel hits an inside-the-park home run, the only homer hit by a Senator all season at Washington's Griffith Stadium. The Nats hit twenty-six on the road.
1952 - Johnny Mize hits a pinch-hit grand slam to give the Yanks a 5-1 win at Washington. He has now homered in each one of the fifteen Major League parks, including Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, while in each league.
1953 - Roy Campanella sets the Major League record for RBI by a catcher when he smacks a three-run home run in a 6-3 Dodgers win over the Phils. Campy's 125 breaks Yogi Berra's Major League record of 124 set in 1950, and he will finish the season with 142. Yesterday Roy broke Gabby Hartnett's record for home runs by a catcher in a season with his 38th.
1955 - Whitey Ford continues his mastery with his second consecutive one-hitter, beating the A's 2-1. Jim Finigan hits a two-out single in the seventh for the Nats' only hit. The Yankees southpaw is the fifth Major League pitcher to throw consecutive one-hitters.
1962 - Maury Wills of Los Angeles stole four bases, setting a National League record with a total of 82 for the season. The Dodgers lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates 10-1.
1970 - The White Sox use a Major League record 41 players in a doubleheader with Oakland, but lose both games, 7-4, and 7-5.
1975 - The Reds clinch the National League West flag with an 8-4 win over the Giants. It is the earliest clinching date in league history.
1978 - The Yankees, four games behind the Red Sox in the American League East, arrive in Boston for a crucial four-game series. The Yanks begin the "Boston Massacre" with a 15-3 rout.
1984 - Dwight Gooden of the New York Mets struck out Ron Cey of the Chicago Cubs in the second inning - his 228th of the season setting a National League record for a rookie. Gooden passed Grover Alexander, who set the mark with 227 in 1911. New York won 10-0 behind Gooden's one-hitter.
1993 - Mark Whiten of the St. Louis Cardinals had one of the greatest offensive games in Major League history in the nightcap of a doubleheader against Cincinnati. In the 15-2 win, Whiten hit four home runs and drove in twelve runs, becoming the only player ever to accomplish both feats in one game.
1998 - Ken Griffey, Jr. homered twice against Baltimore, giving baseball three 50-homer players in a season for the first time. Jr. joined Mark McGwire and Babe Ruth as the only players to hit fifty or more in consecutive seasons.
1998 - Mark McGwire, who had become the third player in history to reach 60 home runs, hits his record-tying 61st against Cubs pitcher Mike Morgan. McGwire's pursuer in the home run chase, Cubs right fielder Sammy Sosa, applauds McGwire, as does the adoring sold-out crowd in St. Louis.