MLB
Wednesday, August 18
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hot Lines: Today's best MLB bets
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Los Angeles Angels at Boston Red Sox (-165, 10)
The Red Sox's disabled list is starting to look a lot like a phone book, but their latest callup should inject some strong medicine into the walking wounded and the AL East playoff race.
Second baseman Dustin Pedroia returned Tuesday night after spending eight weeks on the DL and brought some hope back to Fenway Park and the Red Sox's dugout.
When he went down with a foot injury on June 25, the Red Sox were three games back of the Yankees and tied with the Rays for the wild-card. Now, well, they have their work cut out for them.
"Everyone in that clubhouse feels we can win," Pedroia said. "We don't need to prove anything to anybody. We've had guys fight through it all year. Frankly, we don't give a s**t about what anybody thinks. We're trying to win games. That's the attitude we have. Jump on the wagon now. It's going to be a fun ride."
Boston has lost in John Lackey's last three starts, but the righthander is 8-2 at home this season and has had some success against the Angels. His last win came over the Halos on July 27, when he allowed only two earned runs over 7 1/3 innings.
The Angels counter with lefty Scott Kazmir, who is just 1-5 in his last six outings. The Red Sox roughed him up for seven earned runs in only 4 1/3 innings in their last meeting on May 6, when Pedroia went 2-for-4 with three runs scored.
Pick: Red Sox
Seattle Mariners at Baltimore Orioles (-145, 8.5)
The Buck Showalter bump appears to have more legs than anyone imagined.
After winning nine of their first 11 games under Uncle Buck - the clubs' hottest stretch in more than five seasons - the Orioles are making the transition from losers to spoilers in the AL East.
"It's not a coincidence that we've turned it around since Buck showed up," said Orioles starting pitcher Jeremy Guthrie. "We know what he expects and we've played good baseball with him here. No magic formula, but maybe just a good shift in gears for us."
No one has benefited from Showalter's arrival than Guthrie, who has won three consecutive starts and allowed only 13 hits and four earned runs in 21 innings of work during that span. Those victories came against the hard-hitting Rays, White Sox and Angels.
So the right-hander won't be intimidated by the Mariners, who are batting just .233 against righties this season. The M's are 17-44 on the road this year, and the Daren Brown bump doesn't have the same ring to it.
Pick: Orioles
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Streaking and Slumping Pitchers
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Streaking
Adam Wainwright, St. Louis Cardinals (17-6, 1.99 ERA)
Wainwright has been virtually unhittable over his last three starts, going 3-0 with an ERA of 0.39 and striking out 16 batters during that span. The big righty carries a streak of 21 scoreless innings into today's game. As impressive as he was in his last two shutout performances, both of which came on the road, he has been even more dominant at home this season.
Tim Hudson, Atlanta Braves (14-5, 2.13 ERA)
Hudson has won five consecutive starts, including shutout victories over the three contending teams in the NL West. The righthander took 1-0 decisions over the Dodgers and Giants in his last two outings, both lasting eight innings, and also goose-egged the Padres on July 22. His ERA over those five starts is an unfathomable 0.21.
Slumping
Josh Johnson, Florida Marlins (10-5, 2.27 ERA)
Hard to believe that Johnson's last win came a month ago today. His last three starts have been particularly tough, going 0-2 with 22 hits and 12 earned runs in only 17 1/3 innings of work. The right-handed fireballer swears he feels fine but he's showing all the signs of the dreaded "dead arm" after throwing 158 2/3 innings this season.
James Shields, Tampa Bay Rays (10-11, 4.98 ERA)
Shields got knocked around for 10 hits and four earned runs in five innings against the Orioles in his last outing. That came on the heels of a nine-hit, eight run performance in only four innings against the Blue Jays. That's an 0-2 mark with a whopping 12.00 ERA against the AL East cellar-dwllers - a bad sign against the hot-swinging Rangers.
Returning
Richard Holland, Texas Rangers (2-1, 4.19 ERA)
Holland gets the call up to the Rangers' rotation after Rich Harden was placed on the disabled list. The lefty has been burning it up at Triple-A Oklahoma City, going 6-2 with a 1.91 ERA, but the Rays are far from minor-leaguers.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This Day in Baseball
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On August 18 in Baseball History...
1886 - St. Louis Maroons owner Henry Lucas quits baseball, announcing that the club has cost him $27,000 in three years.
1892 - In the course of a 13-4 win over Baltimore, Browns left fielder Cliff Carroll attempts to field a ground ball. He misjudges it, and the ball becomes lodged in his shirt pocket. Before he can extricate it, the Oriole batter makes it to third base. St. Louis owner Chris Von der Ahe is so incensed that he fines Carroll $50 and suspends him without pay for the rest of the season. The league rejects Carroll's appeal.
1906 - Willie Keeler is struck out for only the second time this season, both times by spitballer Ed [04-17] Walsh of the White Sox.
1909 - Giants player-coach Arlie Latham steals second base in New York's 14-1 win over the Phillies. At 49, he's the oldest major leaguer ever to steal a base.
1915 - The new Braves Field opens in Boston. An estimated 46,500 jam the park to see the Braves beat the Cards 3-1.
1931 - Lou Gehrig is hitless in Detroit, as he plays his 1,000th consecutive game. He is 307 short of Everett Scott's record streak.
1943 - Carl Hubbell wins his 253rd and final game, all with the Giants, as he beats the Pirates, 3-2. He will retire at the end of the year and take over the farm system for the Giants, which is down to two teams due to the war.
1956 - The Cincinnati Reds hit eight home runs and the Milwaukee Braves added two to set a National League record for two clubs in a nine-inning night game. Bob Thurman's three homers and double led the Reds in the 13-4 rout.
1959 - Branch Rickey resigns as chairman of the Pirates to become president of the Continental League, which never plays a game.
1960 - Facing just 27 batters, Lew Burdette pitches a 1-0 no-hitter against the Phillies. Tony Gonzalez, the only Phil to reach base, is hit by a Burdette pitch in the fifth inning but a double play erases him. The Milwaukee pitcher also scores the only run of the game.
1965 - Hank Aaron of Milwaukee hit Curt Simmons' pitch on top of the pavilion roof at Sportman's Park in St. Louis for an apparent home run. However, umpire Chris Pelekoudas called him out for being out of the batter's box when he connected. Nevertheless, the Braves won the game 6-2.
1965 - In a 3-2 win over the Red Sox, Orioles third baseman Brooks Robinson hits into his third triple play against Boston, tying the record of George Sisler.
1967 - A baseball tragedy occurs when Tony Conigliaro of the Red Sox is beaned by the Angels' Jack Hamilton. Hit on the left cheekbone, just below the eye socket, Conigliaro will miss the rest of 1967 and all of 1968. He was hitting .267 with 20 home runs and 67 RBI in 95 games.
1977 - Dodgers pitcher Don Sutton throws his fifth one-hitter, tying the National League record, as he blanks the Giants 7-0. The lone hit is Marc Hill's two-out single in the eighth.
1982 - Pete Rose of the Philadelphia Phillies made his 13,941st plate appearance in a 5-3 victory over the Houston Astros to move into first place on the career list ahead of Hank Aaron.
1982 - The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs 2-1 in a 21-inning game. It was the second longest game in Cubs' history and took two days to complete.
1983 - In the continuation of the Pine Tar Game, Hal McRae strikes out and Dan Quisenberry retires the Yankees in order in the bottom of the ninth to preserve Kansas City's 5-4 victory. The conclusion takes just 12 minutes (and 16 pitches) and, as the only game scheduled at the Stadium, is witnessed by a crowd of 1,245.
1989 - Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken, Jr. plays in his 1,208th consecutive game to move past Steve Garvey into third place on the all-time list.
1995 - Cardinals reliever Tom Henke earns his 300th career save in a 4-3 win over the Braves.
1998 - The Braves collect nine hits, all doubles, as Greg Maddux earns his 200th career win, 8-4 over the Giants.