Drew Gordon
300,000* LA Dodgers
100,000* Diamondbacks
100,000* Rockies
Brandon Lang
15 DIME
A's -1 1/2 runs
5 DIME
Rockies
Tigers
Mariners
Billy Coleman
5* Game of the Year
LA Dodgers
The Wunderdog
Game: N Y Mets at N Y Yankees (7:00 PM Eastern)
Pick: N Y Yankees -174
What a reversal of fortunes. The Mets last saw the Yankees taking their last breath in what looked like a nightmarish season while they were cruising along as the new kings of NY. Here we are a couple of weeks later, and how things have changed! The Yankees have rattled off nine wins in a row and 12 of 14, while the Mets have dropped five straight and 9 of 10. The Yankees are pounding every pitcher thrown their way. They have now scored 102 runs in 14 games good for an amazing 7.3-runs per game (RPG). They aren't coming with big outbursts, they are coming with consistency. The Yankee lineup has produced four runs or more in all 14 games. It comes at a time when the pitching has been stellar as well. The Yankees have six bullpen hurlers that have pitched 14.1 innings the last week, resulting in 0 earned runs. The Mets are not hitting at all, as they have managed three runs or less in 8 of their last 10, and the pitching has been a disaster, allowing 8.2-rpg in their latest fi!
ve-game swoon. The bullpen has been in shambles allowing 16 runs in their last 18 innings of work. Bombers make the streak a double-digit 10.
Larry Ness
Weekly Wipeout Winner:
LA Dodgers
IL Game of the Week:
15* Seattle Mariners
Vegas Experts
Seattle Mariners at Houston Astros
Rodriguez has pitched well at home but the Mariners are 13-4 vs. LHPs. They wouldn't be starting Hernandez unless he'd been given a clean bill of health. SEATTLE is 15-6 against the money line vs. a bad bullpen that blows 38% or more of their save opportunities this season. HOUSTON is 5-13 against the money line vs. a good bullpen whose ERA is 3.75 or better this season and 4-14 against the money line vs. teams whose hitters strike out 6 or less times/game this season.
Play on: Seattle
Hondo
1o units: Padres
10 units: Tigers
Mighty ! Quinn
Florida Marlins
Marc Lawrence
Prediction: Chicago White Sox
Reason: Chicago White Sox w/Garland over Pittsburgh w/Maholm:
The Pirates host Jon Garland and the White Sox tonight knowing they are just 2-11 in their last 13 tries against teams from the AL Central. With Pittsburgh 3-10 behind Paul Maholm this season, and Garland's road WHIP (9.96) better than his home WHIP (10.87), look for the Pale Hose to improve their winning ways here this evening
Dave Cokin
(957) ARI D'backs
(958) BAL Orioles
Take "(957) ARI D'backs"
Both the Diamondbacks and Orioles are in bad form, having each just been swept in their respective Interleague series. But the D-Backs can take some solace in that they got blanked by a red hot Yankees entry in the Bronx. The Orioles, however, have to be reeling after getting wiped out at home by Washington. Baltimore is a real mess right now. They aren't hitting a lick, their bullpen is erratic and it looks as though their manager is now on extremely thin ice. As much as I'm impressed by the work of talented lefty Erik Bedard, he can't buy a win lately thanks to a lack of run support and shoddy relief work. I find it hard to justify a team in such awful form laying this kind of price, so with Micah Owings off two good starts my Friday Bonus Play is on the underdog Diamondbacks.
Jim Feist
(951) SDG Padres
(952) CHI Cubs
Take "(951) SDG Padres"
A pair of lefties take the hill in Wrigley Field. Veteran lefty David Wells throws strikes and is throwing well, helping the first place Padres, who have a winning record on the road. San Diego has the best bullpen in baseball, while the Cubs are one of the worst. The Cubbies also have a losing home record. NL hitters are finally getting used to Chicago soft-throwing lefty Ted Lilly, as he has a 7.82 ERA his last 3 starts. An excellent spot for the visitors. Play the Padres!
Michael Cannon Money Train
Friday's Plays..
20 Dime –
WHITE SOX (With Garland and Maholm as listed pitchers)
Take the White Sox tonight for the road win over the Pirates.
The Buccos gave their fans a little bit to cheer for coming off a series win over Texas, but that was against the pitching poor Rangers.
Tonight will be a little tougher against John Garland and the White Sox.
Garland checks in with a 4-3 record and a nice 3.42 ERA in 12 games. He shouldn’t have to hold the Bucs offense down too much to get the win here, as his mound opponent hasn’t won since May 10.
Paul Maholm is 0-5 over his last six starts for the Pirates and is just 2-9 on the season. The left-hander has a 5.33 ERA in 13 starts and has a 1.46 WHIP.
Facing Maholm is just the tonic the struggling ChiSox lineup needs, and I expect them to come through on the road tonight.
Take the White Sox as a small chalk for the win.
5 Dime –
MARLINS (With Mitre and Meche as listed pitchers)
Take the Marlins for the win over the Royals in Kansas City.
Sergio Mitre is having a fine season for the Fins. He’s just 2-2, but has posted an anemic 1.59 ERA in 10 games. He hasn’t allowed an earned run over his last three starts, spanning 16 2-3 innings.
Gil Meche will start for Kansas City and I’ll bet that he wishes the Royals would have saved some of their runs from last night’s outburst for tonight. That’s because he’s 0-3 over his last three starts despite a 3.10 ERA.
Look for the Royals bats to go to sleep tonight against Mitre, while the Marlins plate just enough for the win.
Take the Marlins as the small road chalk as they get by Kansas City.
DEVIL RAYS (With Shields and Lopez as listed pitchers)
Take Tampa Bay for the road win at Colorado tonight.
I made the mistake of going against James Shields his last time out, and I’m not going to do it again tonight.
The right-hander has solidified his status as Tampa Bay’s ace this year, going 6-0 with a 3.04 ERA in 13 games. Shields has a devastating change up that keeps hitters off-balance and has great control, walking only 18 batters in 97 2-3 innings.
Rodrigo Lopez will get the start for Colorado and I’m not fooled by his decent record this year. This is still the same pitcher who went 9-18 with a 5.90 ERA last year for the Orioles and it’s just a matter of time before the thin air of Coors gets to him.
We’re getting the much better pitcher as a small chalk here tonight, so take the Devil Rays as they grab the road win.
Bonus Play: METS
Brian Gabrielle
Bonus Play: Proposition 1 Special vs Proposition 2 Special
Take David Toms (50-1), 1/6 unit: Quietly having a good year with five top-10s and eight top-25s. He’s coming off a third place finish last week in Memphis, which was a tough test in itself. He ranks 37th in driving accuracy, pretty good, and he’s been rolling the ball well with that sweet putting stroke. He withdrew from the U.S. Open last year but since 2000 he’s gone T16, T66, T45, T5, T20 (in 2004,at nasty Shinnecock) and T15. Take Jim Furyk (16-1), 1/6 unit: Four top-10s and eight top-25s this year, he’s plodding along. Plodding along being a good approach this week. Always among the top players in driving accuracy, finding greens and a grinding putter, it’s no surprise his only major win was the U.S. Open in 2003. Since then, he’s gone T48, T28 and T2 last year because of a costly 18th at Winged Foot. Furyk has his own cross to bear and may be flying a little under the radar this week. Take Retief Goosen (25-1), 1/6 unit: Not the first time I’ve picked the Goose to win this tournament (I was right in 2004 when he outlasted Shinnecock with brilliant play around and on those treacherous greens). I think there’s a distinction between mentally tough and unfazed. He’s probably as much the latter as the former. Goosen finished T2 at the Masters this year. Driving accuracy is a problem and he hasn’t been putting all that well. Since 2001 he’s won the U.S. Open twice and missed the cut twice, one of those MCs last year
Cappersaccess
(Fri) MLB Cubs Padres 140 Cubs
(Fri) MLB Royals Marlins 110 Royals
(Fri) MLB Twins Brewers 115 Twins
STAN LISOWSKI
4* Minnesota
CALIFORNIA SPORTS
3* Minnesota/Milwaukee over
JIMMY ROGERS MONEY MAKERS
San Diego
THE LOUISVILLE SLUGGER
Pittsburgh/CWS under
charlie
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
mlb. white sox-125 (500*)
mlb. atlanta @ cleveland under 9 runs (30*)
mlb. philadelphia+110 (20*)
mlb. boston-135 (20*)
mlb. texas @ cincinnati over 10' runs (10*)
mlb. florida+110 (10*) Bonus Play
Big Al Shoots for his 5th Straight Baseball Winner
Al McMordie SWEPT THE BOARD here in baseball yesterday, going 2-0, and was 3-1 overall including an NBA Winner on the Cleveland Cavs +2.5. Big Al's Baseball Winners included his Interleague Total of the Year on the 'over' in the Angels/Reds game (9-7 final) and now Al goes for his 5th straight MLB Winner here. Don't miss it.
Mariners
Larry Ness' Weekly Wipeout Winner (32-10 last 18 days / 103-46 since Opening Day!)
My Weekly Wipeout Winner is on the LA Dodgers at 10:40 ET. I've done great with the Angels this year and it's not easy going against them here, as they are a ML-best 25-9 since May 9, own MLB's 2nd-best mark against the moneyline (plus-$1,136) and have also upped their team BA to .285 (also 2nd-best in the majors). However, I CAN'T resist going against Ervin Santana, away from home. He did win his first road game of 2007 last Saturday at St Louis but come on. He's 1-5 in seven road starts this year (team is 1-6), with an 8.50 ERA. That compares to his 4-1 mark at home in six starts (team is 5-1), with a 2.41 ERA. I've documented his home and away discrepancies many times but quickly doing the math, the Angels are 11-21 in his road starts (his ERA is astronomical!) and 28-11 in his home starts. It's not just a chance to go against Santana however, that makes this an attractive play. The Dodgers will want some payback after getting swept in Angel Stadium back on May 18-20, getting outscored 19-4 in the three games! Derek Lowe has been a very strong pitcher for LA since 2006, following LYs 16-6 (3.63) mark by posting a 3.21 ERA (83 hits in 95.1 innings) in 14 starts this year. He had a terrible season debut at Milwaukee (allowed six runs) but has since allowed two ERs or less in SEVEN of his L/13 outings, NEVER allowing more than four. He's posted a 1.82 ERA in his last four games, with LA winning three straight before Lowe was on the short end of a 1-0 loss to the Blue Jays last Saturday (he threw a CG four-hitter!). Payback works here, especially against Santana. Weekly Wipeout Winner on the LA Dodgers
Larry Ness' 15* IL Game of the Week (now an almost unheard of 58-13 for the season!)
My 15* play is on the Sea Mariners at 8:05 ET. Felix Hernandez made a HUGE 'splash' in his rookie season of '05, posting a 2.67 ERA in 12 starts, while allowing just 61 hits in 84.1 innings while striking out 77. Last year was a struggle but he opened '07 allowing four hits and zero ERs in his first two starts (17 innings) with a K-W ratio of 18-4. He then suffered a strained right forearm flexor muscle injury in his next start. He didn't return until May 15 and in seven starts since, has a 6.82 ERA. However, he's definitely improving. His K-W ratio in his last three starts is 16-3, the Mariners have won his last two and in his last start, he allowed three runs in six innings, all coming on two HRs. While the Mariners enter this game off consecutive one-run losses to the Cubs, they have hit .308 as a team over their last 26 games, going 17-9 in that span! Meanwhile, the Astros are just 7-20 since May 17 and at minus-$1,583 on the season, are MLB's biggest 'moneyburners!' In comparison, the Mariners are at plus-$1,105, the third-best mark in the majors. Wandy Rodriquez (3-6, 4.62 ERA) will oppose Hernandez. The pressure is on him to pitch deep into the game, as Houston exhausted its bullpen yesterday, with six relievers pitching seven innings in a 6-5 (13 inn) loss to the A's. However, the left-hander has failed to reached the sixth inning in each of his last four starts, going 1-3 with a 5.85 ERA in that span! If that's not enough, consider the fact that the Mariners are 13-4 (plus-$1,235) vs lefties this year, averaging almost 5.5 RPG! IL Game of the Week 15* Sea Mariners
Billy Coleman 5* INTL GOY LA Dodgers
Larry Ness' Las Vegas Insider (32-10 L/18 days, including 7-2 with Insiders!)
My Las Vegas Insider is on the Det Tigers at 7:05 ET. The Phillies just completed a three-game sweep of Detroit's AL Central rivals, the Chicago White Sox, as they get ready to host the Tigers this weekend. However, the White Sox have been the AL Central's worst team lately, losing 15 of 18, while the Tigers have been its best, with wins in seven of 10. Chicago has the lowest batting average in baseball (.232) while the Phillies now face a Detroit club which leads the majors at .292. The Tigers were MLB's best road team LY (49-32 at plus-$1,785) and are a solid 19-14 (plus-$565) so far in 2007. Better yet for Detroit, the Tigers will send Jeremy Bonderman (6-0, 3.63 ERA) to the mound, who who's won six straight starts. He's 10-0 in 18 outings, including 1-0 in three playoff starts, since losing at Minnesota on Sept. 10. His run of nine straight regular season victories is the longest by a Detroit starter since David Wells won 10 decisions in a row in 1995. However, Bonderman did not pitch well in his most recent outing, allowing six runs and eight hits in six innings of an 8-7 home win over the Mets on Saturday. It was though, the first time in four starts he had given up more than two runs or four hits. He did not walk a batter on Saturday and he's walked just four while striking out 34, in 34 innings this year on the road! Jon Lieber (3-4, 3.72) gets the start for Philly. However, the Phillies are just 2-4 in his six home starts this year, where opponents are hitting .317 against Lieber, compared to just .217 on the road. Las Vegas Insider on the Det Tigers
Karl Garrett
30 DIMER - KANSAS CITY WITH MECHE....10 DIMERS - DETROIT WITH BONDERMAN, & TAMPA BAY WITH SHIELDS
30 DIMER - KANSAS CITY ROYALS WITH MECHE
Chuck Franklin
Baseball
1500? WHITE SOX w/GARLAND over Pittsburgh w/Maholm
1500? ARIZONA w/OWINGS over Baltimore w/Bedard
Will Cover 4*DODGERS
Trev Rogers:
Brewers/Twins OVER 9.5
300,000* LA Dodgers
100,000* Diamondbacks
100,000* Rockies
Brandon Lang
15 DIME
A's -1 1/2 runs
5 DIME
Rockies
Tigers
Mariners
Billy Coleman
5* Game of the Year
LA Dodgers
The Wunderdog
Game: N Y Mets at N Y Yankees (7:00 PM Eastern)
Pick: N Y Yankees -174
What a reversal of fortunes. The Mets last saw the Yankees taking their last breath in what looked like a nightmarish season while they were cruising along as the new kings of NY. Here we are a couple of weeks later, and how things have changed! The Yankees have rattled off nine wins in a row and 12 of 14, while the Mets have dropped five straight and 9 of 10. The Yankees are pounding every pitcher thrown their way. They have now scored 102 runs in 14 games good for an amazing 7.3-runs per game (RPG). They aren't coming with big outbursts, they are coming with consistency. The Yankee lineup has produced four runs or more in all 14 games. It comes at a time when the pitching has been stellar as well. The Yankees have six bullpen hurlers that have pitched 14.1 innings the last week, resulting in 0 earned runs. The Mets are not hitting at all, as they have managed three runs or less in 8 of their last 10, and the pitching has been a disaster, allowing 8.2-rpg in their latest fi!
ve-game swoon. The bullpen has been in shambles allowing 16 runs in their last 18 innings of work. Bombers make the streak a double-digit 10.
Larry Ness
Weekly Wipeout Winner:
LA Dodgers
IL Game of the Week:
15* Seattle Mariners
Vegas Experts
Seattle Mariners at Houston Astros
Rodriguez has pitched well at home but the Mariners are 13-4 vs. LHPs. They wouldn't be starting Hernandez unless he'd been given a clean bill of health. SEATTLE is 15-6 against the money line vs. a bad bullpen that blows 38% or more of their save opportunities this season. HOUSTON is 5-13 against the money line vs. a good bullpen whose ERA is 3.75 or better this season and 4-14 against the money line vs. teams whose hitters strike out 6 or less times/game this season.
Play on: Seattle
Hondo
1o units: Padres
10 units: Tigers
Mighty ! Quinn
Florida Marlins
Marc Lawrence
Prediction: Chicago White Sox
Reason: Chicago White Sox w/Garland over Pittsburgh w/Maholm:
The Pirates host Jon Garland and the White Sox tonight knowing they are just 2-11 in their last 13 tries against teams from the AL Central. With Pittsburgh 3-10 behind Paul Maholm this season, and Garland's road WHIP (9.96) better than his home WHIP (10.87), look for the Pale Hose to improve their winning ways here this evening
Dave Cokin
(957) ARI D'backs
(958) BAL Orioles
Take "(957) ARI D'backs"
Both the Diamondbacks and Orioles are in bad form, having each just been swept in their respective Interleague series. But the D-Backs can take some solace in that they got blanked by a red hot Yankees entry in the Bronx. The Orioles, however, have to be reeling after getting wiped out at home by Washington. Baltimore is a real mess right now. They aren't hitting a lick, their bullpen is erratic and it looks as though their manager is now on extremely thin ice. As much as I'm impressed by the work of talented lefty Erik Bedard, he can't buy a win lately thanks to a lack of run support and shoddy relief work. I find it hard to justify a team in such awful form laying this kind of price, so with Micah Owings off two good starts my Friday Bonus Play is on the underdog Diamondbacks.
Jim Feist
(951) SDG Padres
(952) CHI Cubs
Take "(951) SDG Padres"
A pair of lefties take the hill in Wrigley Field. Veteran lefty David Wells throws strikes and is throwing well, helping the first place Padres, who have a winning record on the road. San Diego has the best bullpen in baseball, while the Cubs are one of the worst. The Cubbies also have a losing home record. NL hitters are finally getting used to Chicago soft-throwing lefty Ted Lilly, as he has a 7.82 ERA his last 3 starts. An excellent spot for the visitors. Play the Padres!
Michael Cannon Money Train
Friday's Plays..
20 Dime –
WHITE SOX (With Garland and Maholm as listed pitchers)
Take the White Sox tonight for the road win over the Pirates.
The Buccos gave their fans a little bit to cheer for coming off a series win over Texas, but that was against the pitching poor Rangers.
Tonight will be a little tougher against John Garland and the White Sox.
Garland checks in with a 4-3 record and a nice 3.42 ERA in 12 games. He shouldn’t have to hold the Bucs offense down too much to get the win here, as his mound opponent hasn’t won since May 10.
Paul Maholm is 0-5 over his last six starts for the Pirates and is just 2-9 on the season. The left-hander has a 5.33 ERA in 13 starts and has a 1.46 WHIP.
Facing Maholm is just the tonic the struggling ChiSox lineup needs, and I expect them to come through on the road tonight.
Take the White Sox as a small chalk for the win.
5 Dime –
MARLINS (With Mitre and Meche as listed pitchers)
Take the Marlins for the win over the Royals in Kansas City.
Sergio Mitre is having a fine season for the Fins. He’s just 2-2, but has posted an anemic 1.59 ERA in 10 games. He hasn’t allowed an earned run over his last three starts, spanning 16 2-3 innings.
Gil Meche will start for Kansas City and I’ll bet that he wishes the Royals would have saved some of their runs from last night’s outburst for tonight. That’s because he’s 0-3 over his last three starts despite a 3.10 ERA.
Look for the Royals bats to go to sleep tonight against Mitre, while the Marlins plate just enough for the win.
Take the Marlins as the small road chalk as they get by Kansas City.
DEVIL RAYS (With Shields and Lopez as listed pitchers)
Take Tampa Bay for the road win at Colorado tonight.
I made the mistake of going against James Shields his last time out, and I’m not going to do it again tonight.
The right-hander has solidified his status as Tampa Bay’s ace this year, going 6-0 with a 3.04 ERA in 13 games. Shields has a devastating change up that keeps hitters off-balance and has great control, walking only 18 batters in 97 2-3 innings.
Rodrigo Lopez will get the start for Colorado and I’m not fooled by his decent record this year. This is still the same pitcher who went 9-18 with a 5.90 ERA last year for the Orioles and it’s just a matter of time before the thin air of Coors gets to him.
We’re getting the much better pitcher as a small chalk here tonight, so take the Devil Rays as they grab the road win.
Bonus Play: METS
Brian Gabrielle
Bonus Play: Proposition 1 Special vs Proposition 2 Special
Take David Toms (50-1), 1/6 unit: Quietly having a good year with five top-10s and eight top-25s. He’s coming off a third place finish last week in Memphis, which was a tough test in itself. He ranks 37th in driving accuracy, pretty good, and he’s been rolling the ball well with that sweet putting stroke. He withdrew from the U.S. Open last year but since 2000 he’s gone T16, T66, T45, T5, T20 (in 2004,at nasty Shinnecock) and T15. Take Jim Furyk (16-1), 1/6 unit: Four top-10s and eight top-25s this year, he’s plodding along. Plodding along being a good approach this week. Always among the top players in driving accuracy, finding greens and a grinding putter, it’s no surprise his only major win was the U.S. Open in 2003. Since then, he’s gone T48, T28 and T2 last year because of a costly 18th at Winged Foot. Furyk has his own cross to bear and may be flying a little under the radar this week. Take Retief Goosen (25-1), 1/6 unit: Not the first time I’ve picked the Goose to win this tournament (I was right in 2004 when he outlasted Shinnecock with brilliant play around and on those treacherous greens). I think there’s a distinction between mentally tough and unfazed. He’s probably as much the latter as the former. Goosen finished T2 at the Masters this year. Driving accuracy is a problem and he hasn’t been putting all that well. Since 2001 he’s won the U.S. Open twice and missed the cut twice, one of those MCs last year
Cappersaccess
(Fri) MLB Cubs Padres 140 Cubs
(Fri) MLB Royals Marlins 110 Royals
(Fri) MLB Twins Brewers 115 Twins
STAN LISOWSKI
4* Minnesota
CALIFORNIA SPORTS
3* Minnesota/Milwaukee over
JIMMY ROGERS MONEY MAKERS
San Diego
THE LOUISVILLE SLUGGER
Pittsburgh/CWS under
charlie
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
mlb. white sox-125 (500*)
mlb. atlanta @ cleveland under 9 runs (30*)
mlb. philadelphia+110 (20*)
mlb. boston-135 (20*)
mlb. texas @ cincinnati over 10' runs (10*)
mlb. florida+110 (10*) Bonus Play
Big Al Shoots for his 5th Straight Baseball Winner
Al McMordie SWEPT THE BOARD here in baseball yesterday, going 2-0, and was 3-1 overall including an NBA Winner on the Cleveland Cavs +2.5. Big Al's Baseball Winners included his Interleague Total of the Year on the 'over' in the Angels/Reds game (9-7 final) and now Al goes for his 5th straight MLB Winner here. Don't miss it.
Mariners
Larry Ness' Weekly Wipeout Winner (32-10 last 18 days / 103-46 since Opening Day!)
My Weekly Wipeout Winner is on the LA Dodgers at 10:40 ET. I've done great with the Angels this year and it's not easy going against them here, as they are a ML-best 25-9 since May 9, own MLB's 2nd-best mark against the moneyline (plus-$1,136) and have also upped their team BA to .285 (also 2nd-best in the majors). However, I CAN'T resist going against Ervin Santana, away from home. He did win his first road game of 2007 last Saturday at St Louis but come on. He's 1-5 in seven road starts this year (team is 1-6), with an 8.50 ERA. That compares to his 4-1 mark at home in six starts (team is 5-1), with a 2.41 ERA. I've documented his home and away discrepancies many times but quickly doing the math, the Angels are 11-21 in his road starts (his ERA is astronomical!) and 28-11 in his home starts. It's not just a chance to go against Santana however, that makes this an attractive play. The Dodgers will want some payback after getting swept in Angel Stadium back on May 18-20, getting outscored 19-4 in the three games! Derek Lowe has been a very strong pitcher for LA since 2006, following LYs 16-6 (3.63) mark by posting a 3.21 ERA (83 hits in 95.1 innings) in 14 starts this year. He had a terrible season debut at Milwaukee (allowed six runs) but has since allowed two ERs or less in SEVEN of his L/13 outings, NEVER allowing more than four. He's posted a 1.82 ERA in his last four games, with LA winning three straight before Lowe was on the short end of a 1-0 loss to the Blue Jays last Saturday (he threw a CG four-hitter!). Payback works here, especially against Santana. Weekly Wipeout Winner on the LA Dodgers
Larry Ness' 15* IL Game of the Week (now an almost unheard of 58-13 for the season!)
My 15* play is on the Sea Mariners at 8:05 ET. Felix Hernandez made a HUGE 'splash' in his rookie season of '05, posting a 2.67 ERA in 12 starts, while allowing just 61 hits in 84.1 innings while striking out 77. Last year was a struggle but he opened '07 allowing four hits and zero ERs in his first two starts (17 innings) with a K-W ratio of 18-4. He then suffered a strained right forearm flexor muscle injury in his next start. He didn't return until May 15 and in seven starts since, has a 6.82 ERA. However, he's definitely improving. His K-W ratio in his last three starts is 16-3, the Mariners have won his last two and in his last start, he allowed three runs in six innings, all coming on two HRs. While the Mariners enter this game off consecutive one-run losses to the Cubs, they have hit .308 as a team over their last 26 games, going 17-9 in that span! Meanwhile, the Astros are just 7-20 since May 17 and at minus-$1,583 on the season, are MLB's biggest 'moneyburners!' In comparison, the Mariners are at plus-$1,105, the third-best mark in the majors. Wandy Rodriquez (3-6, 4.62 ERA) will oppose Hernandez. The pressure is on him to pitch deep into the game, as Houston exhausted its bullpen yesterday, with six relievers pitching seven innings in a 6-5 (13 inn) loss to the A's. However, the left-hander has failed to reached the sixth inning in each of his last four starts, going 1-3 with a 5.85 ERA in that span! If that's not enough, consider the fact that the Mariners are 13-4 (plus-$1,235) vs lefties this year, averaging almost 5.5 RPG! IL Game of the Week 15* Sea Mariners
Billy Coleman 5* INTL GOY LA Dodgers
Larry Ness' Las Vegas Insider (32-10 L/18 days, including 7-2 with Insiders!)
My Las Vegas Insider is on the Det Tigers at 7:05 ET. The Phillies just completed a three-game sweep of Detroit's AL Central rivals, the Chicago White Sox, as they get ready to host the Tigers this weekend. However, the White Sox have been the AL Central's worst team lately, losing 15 of 18, while the Tigers have been its best, with wins in seven of 10. Chicago has the lowest batting average in baseball (.232) while the Phillies now face a Detroit club which leads the majors at .292. The Tigers were MLB's best road team LY (49-32 at plus-$1,785) and are a solid 19-14 (plus-$565) so far in 2007. Better yet for Detroit, the Tigers will send Jeremy Bonderman (6-0, 3.63 ERA) to the mound, who who's won six straight starts. He's 10-0 in 18 outings, including 1-0 in three playoff starts, since losing at Minnesota on Sept. 10. His run of nine straight regular season victories is the longest by a Detroit starter since David Wells won 10 decisions in a row in 1995. However, Bonderman did not pitch well in his most recent outing, allowing six runs and eight hits in six innings of an 8-7 home win over the Mets on Saturday. It was though, the first time in four starts he had given up more than two runs or four hits. He did not walk a batter on Saturday and he's walked just four while striking out 34, in 34 innings this year on the road! Jon Lieber (3-4, 3.72) gets the start for Philly. However, the Phillies are just 2-4 in his six home starts this year, where opponents are hitting .317 against Lieber, compared to just .217 on the road. Las Vegas Insider on the Det Tigers
Karl Garrett
30 DIMER - KANSAS CITY WITH MECHE....10 DIMERS - DETROIT WITH BONDERMAN, & TAMPA BAY WITH SHIELDS
30 DIMER - KANSAS CITY ROYALS WITH MECHE
Chuck Franklin
Baseball
1500? WHITE SOX w/GARLAND over Pittsburgh w/Maholm
1500? ARIZONA w/OWINGS over Baltimore w/Bedard
Will Cover 4*DODGERS
Trev Rogers:
Brewers/Twins OVER 9.5
