Category: MLB

New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox MLB Betting Preview

Starting Pitchers: New York (Kuroda) vs. Boston (Beckett)

Date/Time: July 6, 7:10 p.m. EST on MLB Network

MLB Gambling Odds from BetOnline

Moneyline: Boston (-107) New York (-103)

Runline: Red Sox -1.5 (+135) vs. Yankees +1.5 (-155)

Total: 9.5

The Yankees and Red Sox have only seen each other once so far this year, which means they’ll be seeing a lot of each other from here on out. The Yankees have gotten hot and ran out to a healthy lead in the AL East, while the Red Sox have been streaky all season long. It’s the best rivalry in all of baseball. Let’s take a look at Friday night’s series opener.

The Bronx Bombers continue to pile up the home runs this season. New York has bashed out 126 homers so far this year, which is the most in the majors. Robinson Cano may be the hottest hitter in baseball right now. Cano has at least two hits in 7 of his last 10 games. He has his average up to .316 for the season, and he leads the team with 50 RBI’s. Derek Jeter’s resurgence has really helped this offense as well. Jeter is hitting .303 so far this year. Six Yankees have at least 11 home runs. Even though the offense is very good, it has been the improved pitching which has helped the team make a run over the last month.

Josh Beckett has seen plenty of the New York Yankees in his career. Beckett is 14-7 with a 5.36 ERA in his career against the Yankees. It’s very surprising to see such an impressive record with a high ERA, but the Red Sox have clearly supported him well against the Yankees. Beckett is 4-7 with a 4.06 ERA in 2012. The Red Sox haven’t been getting many innings out of their starters, and they would really like to see Beckett go deep into this game. Offensively, the Red Sox have been very good this season. Despite missing Ellsbury and Crawford, the Red Sox are averaging 5.01 runs per game. Boston has scored two runs or less in each of their last five games, so they’ll need to get it going again against the high-powered Yankees offense.

The oddsmakers couldn’t decide who to favor in this one. The lineups are both very good. At essentially even money I like the team with the better pitching staff.

MLB Free Pick: Yankees ML

Washington Nationals vs. Colorado Rockies MLB Betting Preview

Starting Pitchers: Washington (Zimmerman) vs. Colorado (Outman)

Date/Time: June 27, 8:40 p.m. EST

MLB Gambling Odds from BetOnline

Moneyline: Washington (-145) Colorado (+135)

Runline: Nationals -1.5 (+105) vs. Rockies +1.5 (-125)

Total: 10.5

It’s certainly a surprise to most people that the Washington Nationals are at the top of the ultra-competitive National League East in late-June. The dominance of the pitching staff has allowed the Nationals to win a lot of close games this year. Colorado is having a surprisingly terrible season thus far. The Rockies are 14 games out of first place in the NL West. Let’s take a closer look at this matchup.

Jordan Zimmerman doesn’t get a ton of hype in the media, but he is a very solid pitcher for the Nationals. Zimmerman hasn’t gotten any run support this year. He is just 3-6 despite a brilliant 2.89 ERA. Can the Nationals provide some him with some run support at Coors Field? Bryce Harper has been a big contributor in his rookie season with Washington. Ian Desmond and Adam Laroche are both hitting for more power this year. Ryan Zimmerman is batting just .224, and the team needs more from him as the season moves along. The Nationals pitching staff leads the majors with a spectacular 2.98 ERA.

Colorado is still piling up the runs, but their pitching staff is so terrible that they haven’t been able to win consistently in 2012. The Rockies have a team ERA of 5.29, which is easily the worst mark in the majors. Josh Outman is 0-3 with an 8.64 ERA so far this season. Carlos Gonzalez is batting .327 with 17 homers and 53 RBI’s. Dexter Fowler started the season in a major slump, but he has been red hot over the last month. Fowler is becoming more of a power hitter, and he still has terrific speed as well. The absence of Troy Tulowitzki hurts this offense quite a bit. Tulowitzki will be out several more weeks with a severe groin injury. The Rockies simply have to outscore the opposition to win games right now.

Zimmerman gives the Nationals a major pitching advantage here. Look for Washington to actually give him some run support here and allow him to pick up a win.

MLB Free Pick: Washington ML

The Texas Rangers will close out their three-game set against the visiting Detroit Tigers, with their fourth win of their current 10-game home stand on Wednesday at Arlington Ballpark.

Detroit on the other hand, will try get back to .500, while the Rangers aim to maintain their cushion over second place Los Angeles in the race for the AL West.

DET: Doug Fister (1-4, 2.72 ERA) vs. TEX: Roy Oswalt (1-0, 1.35 ERA)
Date/Time: Wednesday, June 27, – 8:05 PM EST
Venue: Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Arlington, Texas
Broadcast: FOX Sports (Detroit), FOX Sports Southwest (Texas)
LINE: OFF
TOTAL: OFF

The Tigers jumped out to a big lead before Rick Porcello even threw a pitch, in Game 1 on Monday. Beating up on the Rangers to the final score of 8-2. It was Detroit’s 10th win in 15 games.

Texas were nearly shut out in that one, until Josh Hamilton, who went 3 for 3, ended an 11-game homerless drought with a two-run shot in the seventh.

Hamilton, who leads the majors with 67 RBIs – was hoping coming into Game 2 of the series that his long ball may have sparked some sort of plate resurgence. And it did, as Hamilton belted his 24th homer run of the season while finishing 2-for-4 in the Rangers’ 7-5 win on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Detroit slugger Miguel Cabrera went 3-for-4 with three RBIs Monday, raising his career regular-season average against Texas to .378 – the highest among active players. He followed that up on Tuesday however, with a disappointing 0-for-3 finish.

For the rubber match, the Tigers will send Doug Fister to the hill.

The 28-year old righty was pegged with his fourth loss in eight starts of the season during Friday night’s series opener against the Pirates. He will now look to get himself back in the win column against a hard-hitting Rangers lineup.

Fister is 0-2 with a 3.24 ERA in five road starts this season and has racked up 16 strikeouts over those outings

Texas will counter with veteran Roy Oswalt who wasn’t at his best but was able to earn the victory in a one-run and nine hits 4-1 win over Colorado on Friday. The 35-year old pitched 6 2-3 innings in his Texas debut, but will be tested when he takes on the Tigers. A much better barometer than an inconsistent Rockies club.

Matt’s Free Prediction: Texas- Although Oswalt has only pitched in one big league game after going 1-1 with a 5.87 ERA in four starts in the minor. He looked good his last time out. If he gets the same run support from a potentially potent Rangers lineup that starter Yu Darvish did in Tuesday’s Game 2. This game is his to lose.

MLB Betting Previews- Thursday, June 28 Parlay

MLB’s divisional races are starting to really heat up with the summer temperatures as teams race towards the halfway point of the regular season.

After poring over all pertinent stats and information available for the pitching matchups on Thursday’s schedule, we have uncovered a two-team parlay that promises to jump-start your weekend.

Game 1- Cleveland Indians vs. Baltimore Orioles

Money Line: Cleveland +135      Baltimore -150

Total Line: 8

Zach McAllister is expected to be called-up from Triple-A to get the start in this game in place of Jeanmar Gomez, who is headed back to the minors. The right-hander has started four previous games for Cleveland this season and is 1-1 with a 3.96 ERA. His last start was on May 23 and he gave-up two earned runs on eight hits but failed to get the decision against Detroit.

Baltimore will look to Wei-Yin Chen to give it the early edge in this extended four-game series. The left-hander continues to look impressive in his MLB debut with 3-1 record in his last four starts. Overall, he is 7-3 with a 3.38 ERA in 14 starts this year. Chen has given-up three or less earned runs in eight of his last 10 starts.

The Indians are 20-8 in the first game of their last 28 series but 7-20 in their last 27 road games against a team with a winning record. They have won six of their last eight games against Baltimore, but stick with Orioles’ clear advantage on the mound to fill-out the front-end of this parlay with a win.

Game 2- Detroit Tigers vs. Tampa Bay Rays

Money Line: Detroit +120     Tampa Bay -135

Total Line: 8.5

Detroit will kick-off this four-game series with Max Scherzer on the mound as its starter. The right-hander turned in a quality start last Saturday just two days after the death of his brother. He went six full innings while allowing three earned runs on a home run. Scherzer is 6-5 overall with an ERA of 5.12 in 15 outings. He is 0-2 against Tampa Bay with a 3.06.

Tampa Bay will counter with James Shields as its starter. He gave-up five earned runs on two home runs his last time out but came away with a no-decision. The right-hander is 7-4 this season in 15 starts with a 3.99 ERA and 1.36 WHIP. Lifetime against the Tigers, Shields is a perfect 5-0 with an ERA of 3.51.

The Tigers are 1-5 in Scherzer’s last six starts in Game 1 of a series, while the Rays are 11-3 in Shields last 14 starts at home. More importantly, Tampa Bay is 7-1 in Shields last eight starts against Detroit. Stick with the past pitching trends as the Rays secure the back-end of the parlay with a win.