MLB Bettor’s Box
Baseball fans got a very rare treat Sunday night when New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera came up to bat for just the third time in his career – against New York Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez, no less. The Yankees were up 3-2 with the bases loaded and two out in the top of the ninth. Rivera had come out of the bullpen in the previous inning, and wasn’t going to be pulled for a pinch-hitter.Instead, Rivera patiently drew a walk for his first career RBI. Then he completed his 500th career save as the Yanks (-153) prevailed 4-2.
We can only hope for another epic finish to the next Sunday nighter on ESPN. We’ve got it lined up for you in this week’s MLB betting preview; all stats are at press time, and the freshest lines are available at sports.bodog.com.
Series: Colorado Rockies at Los Angeles Dodgers
The Rockies (40-35, +7.36 units) remain the hottest thing on four wheels after sweeping the Oakland A’s to improve to 21-7 under new manager Jim Tracy. The Dodgers (48-28, +16.73 units) still have the best record in baseball despite losing four of their last five games. This is L.A.’s last series before Manny Ramirez (1.133 OPS) is eligible to return from his 50-game drug suspension. After a hot start as his replacement, Juan Pierre is swinging his more familiar light bat with a .611 OPS in June.
Series: Milwaukee Brewers at Chicago Cubs
These have been lean times for the Brewers (40-35, +3.77 units). They’re 7-12 over the past three weeks, and yet they find themselves with a share of the lead in the National League Central. The Cubs (35-37, -10.09 units) are 3.5 games back and feeling very grumpy after losing six of their last seven. This is a four-game series starting on Thursday; Milwaukee has split six games with Chicago at Miller Park this year.
Series: Toronto Blue Jays at New York Yankees
Rivera’s performance on Sunday secured a sweep of the Mets at Citi Field and pushed the Yankees to 43-32 (-4.41 units). That’s five wins in a row for New York; the Jays (41-36, +2.29 units) just finished dropping two of three to the defending champion Philadelphia Phillies. This is another four-game series starting Friday afternoon with rookie Brad Mills (14.09 ERA, 2.61 WHIP) making his third career start for the Jays against A.J. Burnett (3.93 ERA, 1.37 WHIP).
San Francisco Giants at St. Louis Cardinals (Wednesday, 8:15 p.m. Eastern, ESPN)
We’ve got the makings of a pitcher’s duel here between Matt Cain (2.57 ERA, 1.23 WHIP) and Adam Wainwright (3.51 ERA, 1.34 WHIP). Cain has led the Giants to victory in 11 of 15 starts for a profit of 6.19 units. Wainwright has a team record of 10-6 (+1.38 units) with the over cashing in at 11-4. The Giants took two of three from the Cards when they met in San Fran at the end of May; Cain won the series opener and Wainwright lost the finale.
Detroit Tigers at Minnesota Twins (Saturday, 4:10 p.m. ET, FOX)
The projected starters for this AL Central battle are breakthrough sensation Edwin Jackson (2.49 ERA, 1.04 WHIP) for Detroit and former phenom Francisco Liriano (5.62 ERA, 1.52 WHIP) for Minnesota. Despite Jackson’s heroics, the Tigers are only 9-7 in his starts (+1.47 units) with the under at 10-4, compliments of 3.88 runs per game in support. Liriano may be rounding into form after missing all of 2007 to Tommy John surgery; the Twins are 4-1 in his last five starts on the strength of a 3.77 ERA.
Tampa Bay Rays at Texas Rangers (Sunday, 8:05 p.m. ET, ESPN)
The AL champions have won five in a row and now own the best run differential in the majors at +87, three more than the Dodgers and 69 better than the slumping Rangers (3-7 in their last 10). Sunday’s starters, if the rotations hold, will be a pair of unlikely big money men: Jeff Niemann (4.23 ERA, 1.47 WHIP) for Tampa Bay and Vicente Padilla (4.48 ERA, 1.46 WHIP) for Texas. The Rays are 10-4 (+6.60 units) behind Niemann and the Rangers are 9-4 (+6.04 units) for Padilla, putting both in the Top 10 for MLB pitching profitability.
