Michael Cannon
(1-4 last two days)
Thursday's Plays...
15 Dime –
A’s (With Duchscherer as listed pitcher)
Take the A’s for the road win tonight over the White Sox.
Oakland will start Justin Duchscherer and he’s been outstanding this season. The right-hander is 8-5 with a 1.91 ERA in 13 games this season, allowing only 59 hits and 19 walks in 85 innings. He’s also given up just four homeruns.
Look, in this day and age any time a pitcher can boast a WHIP under 1.00 it’s saying something.
Duchscherer has also fared well against the White Sox in his career, going 3-1 with a 2.76 ERA.
The White Sox will counter with Javier Vazquez, and he has struggled recently. The right-hander is 1-1 with a 7.71 ERA in his last three games, issuing 10 walks in just 16 1-3 innings. In five lifetime games Vazquez is 1-2 with a 6.60 ERA against the A’s.
Take Oakland as they grab the road win.
5 Dime –
GIANTS (With Lincecum as listed pitcher)
Take the Giants for the home win over the Cubs tonight.
The Giants aren’t much; I’ll give you that. But Tim Lincecum is such a dominant pitcher that he immediately makes the Giants better overall, much like Barry Bonds used to do for them as a hitter.
There aren’t enough superlatives for me to throw out there about Lincecum, so his overall stats will suffice for now. The right-hander sports a 9-1 record with a 2.38 ERA and 114 strikeouts in 109 2-3 innings.
The Cubs will counter that with Sean Gallagher, who is 3-3 with a 4.36 ERA. The right-hander isn’t terrible, but he’s not going to outpitch Lincecum.
Take the Giants as they grab the home win.
YANKEES (With Pettitte as listed pitcher)
Take the Yankees for the home win tonight over the Red Sox.
Boston is reeling, having just been swept by the Rays and now they have to travel to the Bronx to take on their hated rivals.
The good news, they’ll be fired up for this matchup.
The bad news, they’ll be going against a rejuvenated Andy Pettitte.
Pettitte is 3-0 with a 0.95 ERA in his last three starts. The left-hander has also pitched great against Boston in his career, going 15-6 with a 3.45 ERA in 27 lifetime games.
Boston will counter with Jon Lester and he hasn’t done a bad job at all this year, going 6-3 with a 3.48 ERA. But he’s coming into the lion’s den tonight, and the Yankees finally look like they’re breaking out of their mini-offensive slump after erupting for 19 runs last night.
Pettitte + good offense = bad day for Boston.
Take the Yankees as they grab the home win.
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