MLB
Wednesday, August 11
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Streaking and Slumping Pitchers
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Streaking
Bronson Arroyo, Cincinnati Reds (12-6, 3.83 ERA)
Arroyo may not have a huge winning streak rolling, but the rock star wannabe is lugging a scoreless streak through his last 14 innings or work. Arroyo pitched his second straight scoreless start in a 3-0 shutout of the Chicago Cubs Friday. It was the righty’s second win in a row and fifth victory in his last seven trips to the mound. Since the All-Star break, Arroyo is 3-2 with a 3.12 ERA.
Wandy Rodriguez, Houston Astros (9-11, 4.34 ERA)
Rodriguez has been all over the page this season, but seems to be finding his stride late in the summer. The Astros lefty is undefeated in his last four starts, going 3-0 with a 1.62 ERA and is 6-1 since June 24. Over his last three, Way-Rod boasts a skinny 0.42 ERA and 23 strikeouts. His last outing was a no-decision in a 6-5 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers in which the Houston bullpen spoiled a one-run, eight-hit effort from Rodriguez.
Slumping
Tommy Hanson, Atlanta Braves (8-8, 3.69 ERA)
Despite the Braves’ success in the NL East, Hanson has come up short in his recent starts. The young right hander hasn’t tasted victory since early July and is 0-3 in his last six outings. Hanson hasn’t pitched poorly, posting a 2.41 ERA in that span. He’s allowed only one run in each of his last three starts but hasn’t received enough from the Braves’ bats to back up those efforts. He gave up just a single run on three hits but took a no-decision in a 3-2 loss to the San Francisco Giants in his most recent start Friday.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hot Lines: Today's best MLB bets
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New York Yankees at Texas Rangers (-156)
Arlington should just be considered another borough of New York, because the Yankees absolutely own it.
The Bronx Bombers are 36-16 in their past 52 against Texas, including 23-9 in the past 32 in the Lone Star State. Not only that, when the team faces left-hander Cliff Lee, it can tout that no squad has scored more runs (174) then them against South Paws this season.
Dig even deeper.
New York also is 10th in the league in batting average against lefties, hitting a respectable .266. The team also is second in home runs (39) and fifth in doubles (67) against lefty pitching.
And over the past three years, the Yankees are batting .286 against Cliff Lee. He did beat the Yankees in a start in New York in late June, but allowed four runs in the complete game.
“He’s pretty much the same every time you see him,” Derek Jeter told the Associated Press. “He’s a perfect example of a guy who’s going to come after you. He throws strikes, not going to hurt himself, doesn’t walk anybody.”
He won’t hurt himself. Jeter and the Bombers will do that for him.
Pick: Yankees
Colorado Rockies at New York Mets (-115)
Citi Field has been a graveyard for batters this season. The Mets pitching staff has defended its home field by ranking as the fifth-best home pitching team in the Majors.
Mets pitchers have a 3.06 ERA at home and have allowed just 161 earned runs in Queens – the second fewest in all of baseball for a home team. Opponents also are hitting a meager .248 off the hurlers.
And the bats come alive at home, too. The team is hitting .265 at home, 25 points higher than on the road, where the team has especially struggled this year.
Meantime, don’t ask the Rockies to even try to make contact away from Coors Field. Colorado is the second-best home hitting team in baseball, but is next to last in road batting average (.235) and 23rd in road runs scored (217).
The team even recently called a meeting to discuss a horrendous 22-35 road record.
"There aren't any answers," outfielder Dexter Fowler told MLB.com. "It's life."
And don’t expect life to get any easier in the Empire State.
Pick: Mets
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This Day in Baseball
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On August 11 in Baseball History...
1907 - In the second game of a doubleheader, shortened to seven innings by prior agreement, St. Louis Cardinal hurler Ed Karger pitches a perfect game, 4-0, against Boston.
1926 - Tris Speaker of Cleveland hit his 700th career double but the Indians lost to the Chicago White Sox, 7-2. The double came in the third inning off Jim Joe Edwards.
1928 - Carl Hubbell's first major league victory is a 4-0 shutout of the Phillies. He'll be 10-6 down the stretch and will pitch 16 years with the Giants.
1929 - At League Park, Babe Ruth hits home run number 500 off Willis Hudlin of Cleveland.
1950 - Hitting just .279, Yankee great Joe DiMaggio is benched for the first time in his career. He is currently languishing in a 4-for-38 slump.
1951 - Robin Roberts of the Philadelphia Phillies beat the New York Giants, 4-0, dropping the Giants 13 1/2 games behind the first-place Brooklyn Dodgers.
1961 - Warren Spahn of the Milwaukee Braves scattered six hits to beat the Chicago Cubs, 2-1, for his 300th career victory.
1962 - The Dodgers protest the wetting down of the field at Candlestick, a tactic they claim is to stop Maury Wills. The Giants win 5-4, but the watering ploy earns Giants manager Alvin Dark the sobriquet The Swamp Fox.
1968 - Satchel Paige, 62 years or so old, and needing 158 days on a major league payroll to qualify for a pension, is signed by the Braves. He will not pitch a regular-season game for Atlanta and will become a coach on September 30.
1969 - Don Drysdale retires because of damage to his right shoulder. Drysdale is the last Los Angeles player left from the Brooklyn Dodgers. Bob Aspromonte, who will retire in 1971, is the last active former Brooklyn Dodger.
1970 - Jim Bunning notches his 100th NL victory, a 6-5 Phillies win over the Astros. Bunning is the first pitcher since Cy Young to win 100 games in each league.
1982 - Terry Felton (0-11) is the losing pitcher in Minnesota's 6-3 loss to the Angels, dropping his career record to 0-14, the worst individual start in major league history. Felton will never win a major league game, finishing his career with an 0-16 record.
1986 - Cincinnati player-manager Pete Rose singled four times and doubled to set a National League record with the 10th five-hit game of his career. The 45-year-old Rose drove in three runs in a 13-4 loss to the San Francisco Giants, to move one ahead of Max Carey for the record.
1987 - Mark McGwire of the Athletics broke Al Rosen's American League rookie record by hitting his 38th home run in Oakland's 8-2 loss to the Seattle Mariners.
1991 - Wilson Alvarez hurls a no-hitter in his second big league start as the White Sox stop Baltimore 7-0.
1998 - Mark McGwire homers off Bobby Jones in an 8-3 Mets win. The home run tops Hack Wilson's 1930 National League record of 46 home runs hit before September 1. In McGwire's 162 games with the Cardinals since a trade with Oakland on July 31, 1997, McGwire has a .275 batting average with 71 home runs and 146 runs batted in with 165 walks.