For any resources you could need like sports handicapping odds, handicapping stats, schedules, or handicappers free picks and tips please click on any of the links on the right hand side of this page.
CLICK A CAPPERS NAME TO SEE THEIR PREMIUM DAILY EXPERT PLAYS + PREDICTIONS!
Schedule: NFL |Â CFB |Â MLB |Â NBA |Â CBB |Â NHL
WANT FREE SPORTS PICKS to your inbox? | Newsletter Sign-UP!
Date | Match Up | Rating | Score | Result | Profit | Lead Time | Analysis |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
07-04-17 | Red Sox v. Rangers -118 | Top | 11-4 | Loss | -118 | 19 h 58 m | Show |
At 8:05 pm, our selection is on the Texas Rangers over the Boston Red Sox. The BoSox won their fifth straight game last night -- a 7-5 victory over Texas in extra innings -- but will have to face a much more difficult pitcher in this game. Yu Darvish gets the call for the Rangers, and his ERA is 3.03 on the season (with a 1.08 WHIP). Those numbers greatly compare to David Price's pedestrian 4.61 ERA and 1.26 WHIP. Even worse, on the road, Price's ERA balloons to 5.32, with a 1.40 WHIP. The Rangers are 35-17 at home when priced as a favorite of -150 or less. Take the Rangers. Good luck, as always...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
07-04-17 | Pirates -137 v. Phillies | Top | 3-0 | Win | 100 | 15 h 59 m | Show |
At 4:05 pm, our selection is on the Pittsburgh Pirates over Philadelphia. The Buccos have lost four in a row, but should get back on the winning track behind Jameson Taillon, who has been solid since returning from the Disabled List. In his last four starts, he's gone 2-1 (the Pirates have gone 3-1), and he's given up just 6 runs in 22 1-3 innings. For the season, his ERA sits below 3 runs per game (2.97) and he should dominate the Phillies, who are 18-40 vs. righties this year, and 19-44 as an underdog. Take Pittsburgh. |
|||||||
07-04-17 | White Sox v. A's -152 | Top | 6-7 | Win | 100 | 15 h 59 m | Show |
At 4:05 pm, our selection is on the Oakland A's over the Chicago White Sox. Daniel Gossett and James Shields will have a rematch this afternoon from a game in Chicago 10 days ago. That game was dominated by Oakland, 10-2, and I look for a repeat performance on this holiday. Gossett shut down the Pale Hose that day with 0 earned runs over six innings (and five strikeouts), while Shields was blasted for six earned runs over three innings (and three home runs). Gossett has a 2.70 home ERA, and we'll take Oakland this afternoon to snap its six-game losing streak. |
|||||||
07-04-17 | Giants v. Tigers -196 | Top | 3-5 | Win | 100 | 12 h 4 m | Show |
At 1:10 pm, our selection is on the Detroit Tigers over San Francisco. Matt Cain has lost his last six decisions, and is 3-7 on the season with a 5.36 ERA (and a 1.70 WHIP). That doesn't bode well for him in Motown this afternoon, as the Tigers will hand the ball to one of their best, in Michael Fulmer, who has a 3.19 ERA and 1.13 WHIP. The Giants have won just 11 of 31 daytime games this season, and just 16 of 46 road games. Take the Tigers. |
|||||||
07-04-17 | Blue Jays +100 v. Yankees | Top | 4-1 | Win | 100 | 12 h 60 m | Show |
At 1:05 pm, our selection is on the Toronto Blue Jays over the New York Yankees. Toronto dropped its 5th straight game last night, when it lost at New York in the first of this 3-game series. But I love the Blue Jays to bounce back on this Tuesday, as they'll hand the ball to their southpaw veteran, J.A. Happ. And Happ has been dominant in his daytime starts, leading the Blue Jays to a 16-4 record. This season, Happ's ERA in his daytime starts is 2.12, and he has a career 6-2 record vs. the Yankees. He'll match up against Yankee veteran lefty C.C. Sabathia, who has a 4.60 ERA in the Bronx this season. Take Toronto. |
|||||||
07-03-17 | Royals v. Mariners -130 | Top | 3-1 | Loss | -130 | 18 h 17 m | Show |
At 10:10 pm, our selection is on the Seattle Mariners over the Kansas City Royals. Royals RHP Ian Kennedy has pitched much better lately than he did in April and May. The Royals have won Kennedy's last four starts (he's gone 2-0), including three on the road. But those three were in Detroit, Anaheim, and San Diego, and so it's likely that tonight's road start will offer a considerably tougher challenge than those three did as the Mariners' 25-17 record here at SafeCo Field is one of the best in the American League. Kennedy has only pitched at SafeCo on two previous occasions, and it has not gone particularly well for him here, as he has a 5.59 ERA and 1.76 WHIP in just under 10 innings. One of the things about the multitude of pitching injuries that the M's have experienced in the first half is that we've gotten to see some young pitching talent in the Seattle organization that we wouldn't have otherwise been able to assess. One of those is 23-year-old rookie RHP Andrew Moore. Moore will be recalled from Triple-A Tacoma to make his second MLB start after he allowed three runs and six hits in seven innings in winning his debut two weeks ago against the Tigers. The 2015 second-round draft pick will look to stay perfect. Take the Mariners. |
|||||||
07-03-17 | Red Sox v. Rangers +107 | Top | 7-5 | Loss | -100 | 16 h 13 m | Show |
At 8:05 pm, our selection is on the Texas Rangers over the Boston Red Sox. Rick Porcello's stellar 2016 Cy Young campaign is firmly in the rear view mirror. This season, Porcello has regressed significantly, and his ERA is 5.06 on the year (and 6.87 over his last three starts). Even worse: his career numbers vs. Texas are an uninspiring 5.49 ERA with a 1.68 WHIP. That doesn't bode well for Boston as a road favorite, especially given that Texas is 75-47 (+19 games on the moneyline) at home the past two seasons. Take the Rangers. |
|||||||
07-03-17 | Marlins v. Cardinals -150 | Top | 6-14 | Win | 100 | 3 h 55 m | Show |
At 7:15 pm, our selection is on the St. Louis Cardinals over the Miami Marlins. The Cards went into last night's Nationally Televised Game with a chance to sweep the Nats having won the first two here at Busch Stadium. But they ran up against the best pitcher in the game not named Kershaw and Max Scherzer and the Nationals got out of St. Louis with a game in hand. The Cards will take that and now they face a decidedly easier task with the Marlins coming to town for a four-game series. In the first one, veteran RHP Adam Wainwright will head to the mound for St. Louis for the 17th time this season. Wainwright has certainly taken a step backwards from his best seasons with a 5.17 ERA and 1.54 WHIP in his 85 innings. But it's interesting to note that despite his struggles, Wainwright is still 8-5 and the Cards have won nine of his 16 starts. If you ignore his road stats this season, you would swear you were looking at the Cy Young contender from several years ago as Wainwright is 5-1 with a 2.64 ERA in eight starts here at Busch. LHP Jeff Locke is still looking for his first win as a Marlin, having gone 0-4 with a 5.52 ERA in his six starts. The Cards are 43-16 in Wainwright's last 59 starts vs. teams with a losing record. Take St. Louis. MLB Roadkill Winner. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
07-03-17 | Blue Jays +118 v. Yankees | Top | 3-6 | Loss | -100 | 15 h 13 m | Show |
At 7:05 pm, our selection is on the Toronto Blue Jays over New York. The Blue Jays are in a tailspin this season. They've dropped their last four games, and now sit seven games under .500 on the year. But it's no fault of tonight's starter, Marcus Stroman. His record is a solid 8-4 in 16 starts, and his ERA is 3.41 (with a 1.24 WHIP). In contrast, Masahiro Tanaka has a losing record (6-7) for the 43-37 Yankees, and his ERA is north of 5.5 runs per game (with a 1.40 WHIP). We'll back the underdog Blue Jays tonite, as Stroman is 5-2 in his career vs. the Pinstripes, with a 2.91 ERA. Take Toronto. |
|||||||
07-02-17 | Braves v. A's -164 | Top | 4-3 | Loss | -164 | 11 h 53 m | Show |
At 4:05 pm, our selection is on the Oakland Athletics over the Atlanta Braves. The Oakland Athletics - and GM Billy Beane in particular - have a reputation for developing young pitchers through the organization until they become All-Stars, either on their team, or somewhere else. LHP Sean Manaea may be the latest in a line that has produced the likes of Mark Mulder, Tim Hudson, and Barry Zito (another southpaw) among others. So far anyway, Manaea looks like he might be able to develop into that type of starter. In his second season, Manaea is putting up some solid numbers - 7-4 with a 3.87 ERA in 14 starts - and he's increased his strikeout rate from 7.7 last season to over a K per inning so far in 2017 (9.6). He'll get his first career start vs. the Braves and his fourth career inter-league start today at home. Manaea has pitched well against NL teams, posting a 3.38 ERA in just under 19 inter-league innings. The Braves will hand the ball to RHP Julio Teheran. Teheran has struggled this season, having allowed at least six earned runs in five of his past 13 starts. The A's are 7-1 in Manaea's last eight starts. Take the Athletics. |
|||||||
07-02-17 | Marlins -128 v. Brewers | Top | 10-3 | Win | 100 | 9 h 59 m | Show |
At 2:10 pm, our selection is on the Miami Marlins over the Milwaukee Brewers. RHP Junior Guerra was the Brewers opening day starter back in early April and he's still listed as #1 on the rotation depth chart coming into tonight. But if Guerra doesn't turn things around soon, he may be in danger of losing his turn in the Milwaukee rotation at some point. Guerra has followed up a very good 2016 campaign in which he went 9-3 and posted a 2.81 ERA in 20 starts with a clunker of a season so far. No sooner did Guerra step to the mound for that opening day start on April 3, did he leave the game early due to a calf injury which would keep him on the sidelines for almost two months. He finally came back at the end of May, but he hasn't made the most of his return so far. In eight starts, Guerra has won just once (vs. two losses) while posting an ugly 4.54 ERA and 1.49 WHIP. And that single victory was on the road for Guerra despite the fact that he's generally pitched better in his five starts here at Miller Park. Guerra's biggest problem has been giving up home runs. After serving up four Reds homers last Tuesday, he has allowed more this season in 41 2/3 innings (11) than he did in all of last season in 121 2/3 innings (10). Take the Marlins. |
|||||||
07-02-17 | Rangers +113 v. White Sox | Top | 5-6 | Loss | -100 | 9 h 58 m | Show |
At 2:10 pm, our selection is on the Texas Rangers over the Chicago White Sox. With a 4.38 team ERA, the Texas Rangers could use some pitching help going forward and perhaps they've found some in the form of RHP Tyson Ross. The former All Star has thrown just 20 innings since the 2015 season, but he had three straight very productive seasons in San Diego and is still just 30 years old. In only his fourth start since Opening Day 2016, Ross stymied the Indians on Tuesday night at Progressive Field, tossing six strong innings, allowing one run on two hits and two walks with five strikeouts. He can build on that this afternoon and set himself up to have a strong second half for the Rangers. The White Sox are no doubt very happy to see LHP Jose Quintana turn things around in June (a 1.78 ERA in five starts) as they will likely be shopping their ace over the next month. But four of those five starts were on the road and Quintana has had major issues pitching at home this season. In seven starts here, Quintana is 1-4 with an ugly 4.99 ERA in just under 40 innings (vs. 3.93 on the road). Take the Rangers. |
|||||||
07-01-17 | Rays v. Orioles -122 | Top | 10-3 | Loss | -122 | 14 h 55 m | Show |
At 4:05 pm, our selection is on the Baltimore Orioles over the Tampa Bay Rays. Just when it looked like the Orioles were finished, having gotten crushed by the Yankees, White Sox, and Indians and then getting destroyed in the first game of a road series in Tampa (15-5), they came back to win the Tampa series before taking two of three in Toronto. They did lose last night's game, 6-4 in extra innings, to start this weekend series, so they're one game under .500 with nine games to go before the All Star Break. This afternoon, they'll send arguably their best starter this year, RHP Dylan Bundy, to the mound for his 17th start. Bundy is 8-6 with a 3.73 ERA and 1.22 WHIP and he has done his best work here at Oriole Park, going 4-3 with a 3.26 ERA in eight starts (vs. 4-3 and 4.20 in the same number on the road). The Rays will send out RHP Jake Odorizzi for his 15th start. He is 4-3 with a 4.00 on the season, which isn't terrible, but he has really struggled throughout his career vs. the O's. In 15 appearances (14 starts) vs. the Birds, Odorizzi is 3-4 with a 5.26 ERA and 1.45 WHIP in just under 79 innings. Heading into Saturday, the Rays are 7-15 in the last 22 meetings with the Orioles and 4-11 in the last 15 meetings in Baltimore. And the Orioles are also 68-39 as a favorite. Take the Birds. AL East Game of the Month. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
06-30-17 | Braves v. A's -159 | Top | 3-1 | Loss | -159 | 20 h 48 m | Show |
At 10:05 pm, our selection is on the Oakland Athletics over the Atlanta Braves. There have been several starting pitchers rumored to be available at the trade deadline and perhaps no name has been bounced around more than A's RHP Sonny Gray. And for good reason. Gray's numbers have dipped considerably since his All-Star form of two seasons ago, but he is still a very affordable option for contending teams (Gray doesn't hit free agency until 2020). And he is beginning to show flashes of his 2015 self recently. His overall numbers don't exactly jump off the page at you (3-3 with a 4.45 ERA in 11 starts), but Gray has three quality starts (out of five) this month and comes into this start vs. the Braves off of one of his best efforts of the season. Last Sunday, Gray held the White Sox to one ER on four hits over seven innings with seven strikeouts and one walk. He gets his second career start vs. the Braves tonight (the last one was in 2014). After he posted nine wins from 22 starts last season, the Braves were hoping for a breakout season from RHP Mike Foltynewicz, but what they've gotten instead is a bit of a regression. With a 5-5 record so far, Foltynewicz has a slightly lower ERA, but has seen his strikeout rate go down while his walk rate has gone up. Take the A's. MLB High Roller. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
06-29-17 | Yankees -139 v. White Sox | Top | 3-4 | Loss | -139 | 21 h 15 m | Show |
At 8:10 pm, our selection is on the New York Yankees over the Chicago White Sox. It wasn't that long ago that James Shields was one of the most consistent starters in the Major Leagues. For nine seasons -- between 2007 and 2015 -- Shields had over 30 starts and won at least 11 games (and you can pretty much count on one hand the number of MLB pitchers who can lay claim to that kind of stretch in recent years). But those days for Shields seem like a millennium ago, as he has completely fallen apart since the beginning of the 2016 season. It's certainly not unusual for starting pitchers to experience some regression as they get into their mid-30s, but for Shields it's been a fall off from a cliff (as opposed to a gradual downward trend). He gave the White Sox some hope at the beginning of the season that he could turn it around (1-0 with a 1.62 ERA after three starts in April) but a trip to the DL seems to have squashed any belief that he can rekindle the old flame as Shields has been pretty bad since returning from a lat issue (0-1 with an ERA over 9.0 in two starts). The Yanks are 16-7 in the last 23 meetings. Take New York. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
06-29-17 | Twins v. Red Sox -183 | Top | 3-6 | Win | 100 | 17 h 6 m | Show |
At 7:10 pm, our selection is on the Boston Red Sox over the Minnesota Twins. Boston's second ace LHP David Price began the season on the DL with a recurring elbow issue that started in the off-season. At one point in the winter it was thought that Price might need Tommy John surgery, but an MRI and second opinion from Dr. Andrews determined that he required rest and rehab and you could hear the sigh of relief from Boston all across the country. Price finally made his 2017 debut on May 29 and he looked okay. But overall his results have been so-so, with flashes of the old David Price inter-mixed with some pretty rough outings. The Sox are okay with what he's done year-to-date, so long as he continues to make steady progress, which he seems to be going. He will get start number seven tonight at home, where he's had two of his better outings this season. It will be his first of 2017 vs. the Twins. However this is a team he has dominated in the past, going 9-3 with a 2.43 ERA in 16 games (15 starts) vs. Minny covering a total of just over 107 innings. Heading into Thursday, the Twins are 5-9 in the last 14 in Fenway. Take the Sox. |
|||||||
06-29-17 | Brewers -108 v. Reds | Top | 11-3 | Win | 100 | 17 h 5 m | Show |
At 7:10 pm, our selection is on the Milwaukee Brewers over the Cincinnati Reds. Homer Bailey had his first MLB start since last August on Saturday and to say it was a rough return to the Bigs would be an understatement. All you need to know is that Bailey's 2017 ERA is 43.20 and you understand how much the oft-injured RH struggled on the mound in his season debut. To be fair, however, Bailey was in DC facing the Nats and that's one of the biggest mountains to climb for any starter -- much less one returning from a prolonged absence. Bailey will make his 2017 home debut tonight and no doubt the Cincy faithful will be behind him. But it's unclear coming off of that disastrous first start whether Bailey is even close to 100%. The other thing about Bailey -- who has spent his entire career with the Reds -- is that he has a significantly higher ERA here at home (4.56) than he has on the road (4.04). RHP Jimmy Nelson is having his best season since becoming a full-time starter with the Brewers in 2014. Nelson already owns a very good outing over the Reds this season as he allowed one run on five hits with five strikeouts and no walks right here on April 13 for his first victory of the season. The Reds are 4-14 in their last 18 overall. Take Milwaukee. |
|||||||
06-28-17 | Dodgers v. Angels +112 | Top | 2-3 | Win | 112 | 19 h 48 m | Show |
At 10:05 pm, our selection is on the Anaheim Angels over the Los Angeles Dodgers. This latest installment of the battle for bragging rights in Southern California does not exactly feature what you would call a "marquee" pitching match-up. Then again, it's hard to find any starter on the Angels these days who would fit that description. The Halos have been parading one of the motliest assortments of starting pitchers to the mound in recent memory, including names like Parker Bridwell, JC Ramirez, Ricky Nolasco, and tonight's starter, RHP Alex Meyer. Meyer came into the league with some pretty high expectations after being selected in the first round by the Nationals in 2011, but he got shipped off to Minnesota in the deal for Denard Span and since then has yet to fulfill the potential - either with the Twins or so far here in Anaheim. Meyer's problem is simple - he's always had a high strikeout rate and a low hit rate (both very good signs), but he can't harness his control and as a result, his walk rate has been through the roof. However, in Meyer's last start at home, he had his best game of the year. He shut out Kansas City over six innings, and struck out nine Royals, while he walked just one. The Angels won that game 9-0, and Meyer is 2-0 in his five home starts this season with a solid 2.02 ERA. The Dodgers, meanwhile, will go with LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu. Ryu has struggled away from home this season, as he has a 4.45 ERA and 1.61 WHIP. Additionally, the Angels are 13-9 at home this season, while the Dodgers are 2-10 on the road vs. the AL West. Take the Angels. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
06-27-17 | Rockies -136 v. Giants | Top | 3-4 | Loss | -136 | 14 h 21 m | Show |
At 10:15 pm, our selection is on the Colorado Rockies over the San Francisco Giants. When the Rockies shopped their shortstop, Troy Tulowitzki at the trade deadline in 2015, they were asking for a top prospect in return for their All-Star infielder. The team that offered up the biggest prize was the Toronto Blue Jays who were willing to ship their 2014 first-round draft pick (9th overall), RHP Jeff Hoffman, to Denver in exchange for Tulowitzki. For a team that had a huge a void in their middle infield, acquiring Tulo was a big step, but in another year or two, it may be the Rockies who come out as the winners. Hoffman is a big-time talent who - at age 24 - has potentially more upside than Tulowitzki did at this point in his career, and he's starting to show Colorado that they made the right move two years ago. After an uninspiring 2016 campaign, Hoffman is starting to shine in 2017 going 4-1 in seven appearances (six starts) with a 4.29 ERA and impressive 38 strikeouts and eight walks in 35.2 IP (a 4.75 K:BB ratio and 1.12 WHIP). And outside the thin air of Denver, Hoffman's ERA is 1.33 with a 0.54 WHIP. Also, heading into Tuesday, the Rockies are 10-2 in the last 12 meetings. Take Colorado. MLB Game of the Month! As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
06-27-17 | Mets v. Marlins -150 | Top | 3-6 | Win | 100 | 5 h 41 m | Show |
At 7:10 pm, our selection is on the Miami Marlins over the New York Mets. RHP Dan Straily came into the Majors as a 23-year-old with the A's in 2012 and a considerable amount of hype followed him. Straily led the Minor Leagues in strikeouts the year before and he made an immediate impact when he came in and again in 2013 when he won 10 times in 27 starts with a 3.97 ERA and finished fourth in the AL Rookie of the Year balloting. But injuries came the following year and Oakland shipped Straily out of town in an attempt to secure more experienced pitching in the form of Jason Hammel and Jeff Samardzija from the Cubs. Straily moved around the Majors for the next four seasons. The Marlins are the fourth team he's been with since then (Cubs, Astros, Reds) and finally it seems like he may have found a place where he can hone his skills. And those skills appear to be significant as Straily has the best ERA and WHIP of his career so far (3.43 and 1.09) while striking out over a batter per inning. He battled one of the Majors' best in his last start, going toe-to-toe with Max Scherzer while holding the Nats offense to just one run on three hits in six innings in a game won by Miami. On April 16 in his only other start this season against the Mets, Straily threw 5 1/3 no-hit innings. Take the Fish. MLB Roadkill Winner. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
06-26-17 | Yankees -151 v. White Sox | Top | 6-5 | Win | 100 | 12 h 41 m | Show |
At 8:10 pm, our selection is on the New York Yankees over the Chicago White Sox. The White Sox retired Mark Buehrle's uniform number the other night in a pre-game ceremony, paying tribute to one of the most consistent starters to ever take the mound for the South-siders. The 2017 version could certainly use a few southpaws like Buehrle right now, as #56 started at least 30 games in every season since he became a regular starter in 2001, and was not once placed on the DL in 16 MLB seasons. Tonight's LH starter, David Holmberg, would be well-served to emulate Buehrle as he progresses through his career, but his biggest problem right now is the quality of the team backing him up - compared to many of the clubs that Buehrle played with. Heading into Monday, the Sox are 10 games under .500 and fighting to stay out of the cellar of the AL Central as they begin this four-game series at home against the first place Yankees. LH Jordan Montgomery has been one of many pleasant surprises for the Yanks, posting a winning record (5-4) with a 3.74 ERA in 13 starts in his rookie season. His first MLB victory was against this Chicago club in his second career start when he threw six quality innings in a 7-4 Yankees win on April 17. Take New York. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
06-26-17 | Rangers v. Indians -170 | Top | 9-15 | Win | 100 | 11 h 42 m | Show |
At 7:10 pm, our selection is on the Cleveland Indians over the Texas Rangers. Cole Hamels will make his return to the Rangers' rotation tonight and not a moment too soon for a team that is struggling with a .500 record and already 13 games behind the division-leading Astros. Hamels has been out since early May with an oblique muscle strain, and he was off to a solid beginning with four decent starts in April before landing on the DL. His return outing will not be easy however, against the Indians who are playing some of their best baseball right now despite just getting swept by the Twins. They will turn to their second ace RHP Carlos Carrasco in this first of the four-game home-stand. Carrasco had a nagging pectoral issue back in May that affected his performance, although he was able to avoid the DL and has made all of his starts so far. He is fully recovered now and has been red-hot in his last three starts, posting a 1.53 ERA with 21 strikeouts and four walks in victories over the White Sox, Twins, and Orioles. Hamels has not fared well in his career vs. Cleveland, as his teams (Philly and Texas) are 1-4 in his five starts against the Tribe. The Rangers are 9-19 in the last 28 meetings. And Cleveland is 17-3 behind Carrasco when priced from -125 to -175. Take the Tribe. |
|||||||
06-26-17 | Cubs v. Nationals -143 | Top | 5-4 | Loss | -143 | 11 h 37 m | Show |
At 7:05 pm, our selection is on the Washington Nationals over the Chicago Cubs. In what could be a preview of the NLCS, the Cubs will visit DC for a four-game series. The Nats are out to prove that they belong with the defending World Series Champs who have had their number lately (7-2 in the last nine meetings). Chicago's offense has been hit-or-miss lately, with more miss than hit in recent games. The Cubs put 11 across the plate last Thursday against the Marlins, but other than that they have managed just 16 total runs in their other six contests going back to June 18. They will have to face one of the N.L's most consistent left-handers this season as Gio Gonzalez goes to the mound for his 16th start of the season. Gonzalez almost won the Cy Young in his first season after signing a six-year contract with the Nats in 2012, but the Nats must have been second guessing that contract after Gonzalez struggled in the next four campaigns. But 2017 has seen a return to that 2012 form as the former A's ace has gone 7-1 with a 2.96 ERA in 15 starts coming into tonight. Gonzalez had an incredible string of four straight scoreless starts against the Cubs from September 2012 through July 2014. He has a 1.66 ERA in seven starts here at home this season. Take the Nats. |
|||||||
06-25-17 | Mets v. Giants -131 | Top | 8-2 | Loss | -131 | 15 h 49 m | Show |
At 4:05 pm, our selection is on the San Francisco Giants over the New York Mets. The Mets have used six different starters in their last six games, and tonight RHP Rafael Montero will make it seven in their last seven. Montero gets his third spot start of the season - he also has 13 relief appearances - in place of the injured Zack Wheeler (biceps). Montero's numbers so far aren't pretty - an 0-4 record with a 6.49 ERA and 2.09 WHIP with a whopping 12.3 hit rate. The 2017 Giants aren't a very good team right now, but they don't really have to be against a pitcher with numbers like that. The Giants will go with veteran LHP Matt Moore, who will get his 16th start of the season tonight. Moore's overall numbers on the season also aren't pretty, but he won his first game since May 13 against the Braves last Tuesday night. He was effective and attacked opposing hitters low and away while he racked up six strikeouts and only issued one walk. And Moore has done by far his best work at home this season. In six starts here at AT&T Park, Moore is 2-3 with a 3.07 ERA and 1.17 WHIP. Finally, the Mets are an awful 11-28 in their last 39 vs. N.L. West teams. Take San Francisco. MLB Game of the Week. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
06-24-17 | Astros -158 v. Mariners | Top | 5-2 | Win | 100 | 16 h 29 m | Show |
At 10:10 pm, our selection is on the Houston Astros over the Seattle Mariners. Last night it was Seattle's Felix Hernandez coming back for injury and tonight it will be one of Houston's aces as Lance McCullers Jr. gets his first start since June 8. The 'Stros placed McCullers on the DL on June 12 for a sore lower back and fortunately for them, he didn't miss much time before making his return in this series (unlike Hernandez). And if McCullers can perform at even 85% of the level he was at before he hit the DL, then the Mariners could be in trouble tonight. They will send 27-year-old rookie RH Sam Gaviglio to the mound for the seventh start of his MLB career (Gaviglio also has one relief appearance). Gaviglio has put up some surprisingly good numbers (3-1 with a 3.43 ERA), but his four starts this month have come against the Tigers, Rays, Blue Jays, and Twins, and none of those teams features an offense with the firepower of the 'Stros. Perhaps McCullers' most impressive stat of the season is the fact that Houston is 11-2 in his 13 trips to the mound heading into tonight. And the Astros are 22-4 as a road favorite this season. Take Houston. MLB Road Warrior Winner. Good luck, as always....Al McMordie. |
|||||||
06-24-17 | Pirates v. Cardinals -130 | Top | 7-3 | Loss | -130 | 14 h 35 m | Show |
At 7:15 pm, our selection is on the St. Louis Cardinals over the Pittsburgh Pirates. RHP Lance Lynn goes to the hill for the 15th time this season and Lynn has been ultra-consistent, posting a sub-3.50 ERA for the third season in a row. His statistics don't jump off the page at you, but Lynn does everything well, even if he's not an overpowering strikeout artist. Lynn's WHIP is down from last season (1.16 vs. 1.37) but if there's a cause for concern, it's that his HR rate has more than doubled (from 0.7 per 9 IP to 1.8). That might not be much of a concern tonight however as the Pirates rank next-to-last in the NL with just 70 long-balls on the season. Pittsburgh will hand the ball to RHP Gerrit Cole for his 16th start of 2017. Hopes were high at the start of the season that Cole would bounce back after a somewhat disappointing 2016 campaign in which he was beset by injuries and won just seven times in 21 starts with a 3.88 ERA. But so far, 2017 has not been any better for Cole, who is 5-6 with a 4.28 ERA while his strikeout rate is a career-low 7.4. Cole has a nice career ERA of 3.11 at Busch Stadium, but he has won just twice in six starts here. The Cards have dominated this series lately, going 7-1 in the last eight meetings in St. Louis (and 28-12 in the last 40). Take the Cards. MLB Roadkill Winner. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
06-23-17 | Astros v. Mariners -101 | Top | 3-13 | Win | 100 | 20 h 26 m | Show |
At 10:10 pm, our selection is on the Seattle Mariners over the Houston Astros. Perhaps the only team that can claim to have had worse fortunes with pitching injuries than the Houston Astros is the Mariners. But while Houston still awaits the return of its aces, the M's get their #1 guy back on the mound tonight. RHP "King" Felix Hernandez will make his first start since suffering a shoulder injury at the end of April. And it couldn't come at a more opportune time as the Mariners have been holding their own with a 38-37 record without the services of their ace for almost two months. Sitting in second place, the M's are still a dozen games behind the division-leading 'Stros, so if King Felix can get the weekend series off on the right track, then you have to think it will give Seattle more confidence going forward. Hernandez gets a great match-up in his return thanks to Houston's own pitching maladies as RHP Joe Musgrove goes to the hill at Safeco for his 13th start of the season. If not for all of the injuries, then Musgrove probably wouldn't be in the Houston rotation as he has logged a 4-6 record with a 5.09 ERA so far. With their regulars slated to return soon, Musgrove better turn things around or he'll be back in the pen. He's had two mediocre starts vs. the M's already this season. Take Seattle. MLB Roadkill Winner. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
06-23-17 | Tigers -130 v. Padres | Top | 0-1 | Loss | -130 | 20 h 25 m | Show |
At 10:10 pm, our selection is on the Detroit Tigers over the San Diego Padres. Michael Fulmer - who happens to be the reigning AL Rookie of the Year - came out of the gate in 2017 proving that his 2016 rookie campaign was no fluke. The right-hander threw quality starts in each of his first 10 outings through the end of May, posting a 5-3 record and 2.65 ERA in the process. But he hit the skids a bit at the beginning of June, allowing 10 runs in 11 1/3 innings in his first two starts this month. He got back on track in his last start, a six-inning effort against the Rays, but Fulmer didn't get much run support and wound up with the loss. He'll try to get back in the win column tonight in San Diego in what will be his first career start vs. the Padres. San Diego will counter with RHP Luis Perdomo, who gets his 13th start of the season tonight. Perdomo needs to up his game if he's to stick in the rotation - even for the lowly Padres. The 24-year-old Dominican is just 1-4 with an ugly 4.97 ERA and 1.45 WHIP.  And that's following up a rookie season in which he went 9-10 with a 5.71 ERA in 35 games (20 starts). The Padres are 17-35 in their last 52 inter-league games coming into this series. Take the Tigers. MLB Mound Mismatch Massacre! As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
06-22-17 | Pirates v. Brewers -112 | Top | 2-4 | Win | 100 | 12 h 6 m | Show |
At 2:20 pm, our selection is on the Milwaukee Brewers over the Pittsburgh Pirates. In his first three seasons in the Majors, RHP Chase Anderson was extremely average, always posting a record right around .500 with an ERA in the low-fours (4.01, 4.30, and 4.39). The first two of those seasons were with Arizona and then last season, Anderson joined the Brewers, but put up those same type of numbers. This season however - his second with Milwaukee - Anderson has broken out. In 14 starts, the now-29-year-old is 5-2 with a 2.92 ERA and 1.15 WHIP and his K:BB ratio is also at a career high of 3.08 (77 Ks and 25 BBs in 83 1/3 innings). Anderson has a 1.74 ERA in his last three starts and he'll look to stay hot this afternoon against the Pirates and RHP Ivan Nova. The Bucs have a winning record at home this season (19-18) but are just 14-21 on the road so far. Much like Anderson, Nova is also having a very nice season, but he's been better at home than he has been on the road. And despite a winning record overall, he is just 2-2 in seven starts away from PNC Park. The Brewers are 4-1 in Anderson's last five starts vs. the Pirates. Take Milwaukee. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
06-21-17 | Angels v. Yankees -177 | Top | 4-8 | Win | 100 | 18 h 17 m | Show |
At 7:05 pm, our selection is on the New York Yankees over the Los Angeles Angels. Just when it looked like it was going to be smooth sailing for the Yankees, things went a bit south recently. First, the Bronx Bombers had a disastrous west coast road trip in which they lost the last six games (out of seven), including a very surprising four-game sweep at the hands of the A's in Oakland. Prior to those four, they lost two of three to tonight's opponents in Anaheim. The Yanks also just got word that #1 prospect Gleyber Torres has a torn elbow ligament and will require Tommy John Surgery. But the good news is that the Orioles are tanking, the Blue Jays are looking like a .500 team at best, and the Rays are the Rays, so the AL East is shaping up as a two-horse race, and the Yankees are still in the lead. There have been plenty of pleasant surprises for the Yankees this season, not least of which is LHP Jordan Montgomery. While teammate and fellow rookie Aaron Judge has been stealing most of the headlines, Montgomery is quietly putting together a very nice first season in the Bigs, having gone 4-4 with a 3.78 ERA in 12 starts coming into tonight. One has to wonder how long the Angels will stick with RHP Ricky Nolasco in their rotation, as the veteran is 2-8 with a 5.01 ERA and the Halos are just 3-11 in his 14 starts. Take the Yanks. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
06-21-17 | Padres v. Cubs -175 | Top | 3-2 | Loss | -175 | 14 h 32 m | Show |
At 2:20 pm, our selection is on the Chicago Cubs over the San Diego Padres. The Cubs broke through in this series and finally beat the Padres in 2017. Prior to Monday's 3-2 Cubs victory, Chicago had won just three of the last five meetings against the Pads. But now the Cubbies are going for the same thing that San Diego did to them back in May - that is to say, a victory this afternoon would give Chicago a three-game sweep over the Pads. They may not seem like great numbers, but Cubs RHP Eddie Butler is having his best season ever, logging a 3-2 record and 4.41 ERA in seven starts so far. Butler will get start number eight this afternoon, and although he's struggled against the Padres in his career (0-3 with a 7.43 ERA), Butler is a better pitcher now than he has been in recent years. In limited time in Chicago, Butler has some pretty good numbers here at Wrigley Field (2-2 with a 3.80 ERA in five starts). The Padres will counter with a young pitcher of their own as RH Miguel Diaz will take the mound for San Diego. Diaz took a tough loss to the Brewers in Milwaukee last Friday, as he allowed four runs on five hits in just 3 1/3 innings. The Padres are 1-5 in their last six road games vs. teams with a winning record. Take the Cubbies. |
|||||||
06-21-17 | Red Sox -140 v. Royals | Top | 4-6 | Loss | -140 | 13 h 27 m | Show |
At 2:15 pm, our selection is on the Boston Red Sox over the Kansas City Royals. When Drew Pomeranz put up some of the best numbers of his career with the Padres in the first half of the 2016 season (8-7 with a 2.47 ERA in 17 starts), the Red Sox took one look and said "we need to have some of that." So Boston acquired the southpaw starter on July 14 for a Minor League player. But as soon as Pomeranz left San Diego for the more hitter friendly confines of Boston, he began to struggle, going 3-5 with a 4.59 ERA in 14 games (13 starts) with the Sox in the second half. But this season, Pomeranz seems to be getting back into form, as he is 6-4 with a 4.19 ERA in 13 starts heading into this afternoon. More importantly for today's game is the fact that Pomeranz is 2-2 with a 3.41 ERA in six road starts this season. On Friday in Houston, he allowed just one run on four hits in 6 1/3 innings in a no-decision, although the Red Sox won the game against a very good Astros team. Boston and Pomeranz should have an easier time of it today as the Royals are hitting just .249 against southpaws this season. The Royals will go with RHP Ian Kennedy, who is just 1-6 with a 5.03 ERA in 12 starts so far this season. The Royals are 1-7 in Kennedy's last eight starts vs. teams with a winning record and 0-5 in his last five home starts vs. the same. Take Boston. |
|||||||
06-20-17 | Blue Jays -121 v. Rangers | Top | 1-6 | Loss | -121 | 21 h 8 m | Show |
At 8:05 pm, our selection is on the Toronto Blue Jays over the Texas Rangers. There's no denying Francisco Liriano's struggles this season. The veteran Toronto southpaw started off 2017 with one of his worst starts ever and had posted a 6.35 ERA after his seventh start on May 10. Liriano went on the DL after that start with shoulder problems and he was out of action almost a month. One thing you can't deny, however, despite all of Liriano's issues is that the Jays win when he goes to the mound. Toronto is 7-3 in Liriano's 10 starts this season, including 6-0 in his last six going back to April 29. The Blue Jays and Liriano have a great chance to add to that streak against a Rangers club that is batting just .230 against left-handers this season - the second-worst number vs. southpaws in the A.L. (Tampa Bay .227). Texas will go with RHP Nick Martinez, who is 1-3 with a 4.67 ERA in nine starts on the season and 0-1 with an ugly 6.46 ERA in his last three covering 15 1/3 innings. Liriano by contrast is 1-0 with a 3.71 ERA in his last three. Finally, the Jays are 13-5 in the last 18 games in Arlington, Texas. Take Toronto. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
06-20-17 | Padres v. Cubs -192 | Top | 0-4 | Win | 100 | 21 h 8 m | Show |
At 8:05 pm, our selection is on the Chicago Cubs over the San Diego Padres. The Cubs suffered one of the most embarrassing losses of any defending World Series Champions recently when they were swept by one of the worst teams in baseball in San Diego back at the end of May. Now they have a chance to get some revenge at home in a three game series and tonight they send LHP Mike Montgomery to the mound for this, his 3rd start of the season. Montgomery also has 18 relief appearances and he has posted a very nice 2.56 ERA, but has been snake-bit a bit as he is still looking for his first win. He will have a great chance to get it this evening as the Padres are batting a league-worst .215 vs. southpaws this season. RHP Jhoulys Chacin will get his first start of the season against the Cubs tonight and it's a lineup that he's had some problems with in the past, especially here at Wrigley Field.  In three previous starts at Wrigley, Chacin is 0-3 with a 5.74 ERA and 1.85 WHIP in just under 16 innings. The Padres are also 0-5 in their last five road games vs. left-handed starters. Take the Cubs. |
|||||||
06-20-17 | Cardinals -145 v. Phillies | Top | 8-1 | Win | 100 | 20 h 9 m | Show |
At 7:05 pm, our selection is on the St. Louis Cardinals over the Philadelphia Phillies. After an uninspiring first season in St. Louis, RHP Mike Leake got off to a very fast start in 2017, going 5-2 with a 1.91 ERA over his first nine starts. Leake was off to the races and looking like a breakout candidate at the ripe old age of 29. But not so fast. Since that time (May 24th), Leake has gone 0-4 in his next four starts and his ERA has risen by more than a full run to its current 3.14. That's still a number that most starters wish they could have after 13 starts and certainly Leake has plenty of time to get back to a winning record and a sub-3.00 ERA. And a start in Philadelphia after an off-day on Monday isn't a bad way to get things going as this series has been one of the most lopsided in the Majors in recent history. In the last 16 meetings of these two, the Cards are 13-3, including 4-2 in the last six trips to Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies hopefully were able to use the day off to figure out some things as they are stuck in a horrible rut right now, having lost 11 of their last 12 overall. The Cards are 8-0 in their last eight road games vs. a team with a losing home record. Take St. Louis. |
|||||||
06-19-17 | Tigers v. Mariners -135 | Top | 2-6 | Win | 100 | 20 h 26 m | Show |
At 10:10 pm, our selection is on the Seattle Mariners over the Detroit Tigers. People who follow the Majors may remember the season - 2013 - when Detroit's Anibal Sanchez lead the AL in ERA (2.57) and finished fourth in the Cy Young voting. Those same people however may not remember much of anything else from Sanchez since then. And there's a very good reason for that Since 2013, the now-33-year-old has gotten progressively worse each season, watching that ERA go to 3.43 (2014), 4.99 (2015), and 5.87 last season, losing his starting job in the process. 2017 hasn't brought any answers for him either as he has pitched exclusively out of the bullpen and been demoted to the minors with a 9.00 ERA and 2.05 WHIP in his 11 appearances. Sanchez makes his return from AAA tonight to get his first start of the season. Sanchez will take the place of #5 starter Buck Farmer, whose bus to Toledo (the Tigers' AAA team) probably crossed paths with Sanchez's ride to Detroit. The Mariners will go with RHP Sam Gaviglio. The 27-year-old rookie has pitched well as a fill-in starter for Seattle’s injury-plagued rotation, going 3-1 with a 3.34 ERA in six starts. He’s yet to go past six innings, but the M's are 5-1 in his starts. More good news: Detroit is 2-13 in Sanchez's last 15 starts as an underdog. Take Seattle. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
06-19-17 | Astros -142 v. A's | Top | 4-1 | Win | 100 | 10 h 47 m | Show |
At 10:05 pm, our selection is on the Houston Astros over the Oakland Athletics. We're not even at the half-way point of the season, and the Houston Astros are running away with the AL West. Houston has a lead of a dozen games and it doesn't appear that any of the other teams in that Division have the talent or the fortitude to challenge the 'Stros. There's good news and bad news in that. On the one hand, if the 'Stros can wrap things up in the West early and secure home field in the AL, then they'll be able to save some pitchers down the stretch. But on the other hand, if they're not getting challenged from the other Western teams, then will they have the toughness they need come October? RHP Brad Peacock has been used mostly as a reliever this season, but has also been an effective spot starter for Houston. He gets another shot tonight as both Lance McCullers Jr. and Dallas Keuchel have hit the DL with injuries. Peacock is 3-1 with a 3.00 ERA and although he's never had a K rate higher than 8.3, he's all of sudden figured out his strikeout pitch with 58 whiffs in 39 innings (a K rate of 13.4). Houston is 19-7 in the last 26 meetings. Take the Astros. |
|||||||
06-19-17 | Giants -139 v. Braves | Top | 0-9 | Loss | -139 | 19 h 7 m | Show |
At 7:35 pm, our selection is on the San Francisco Giants over the Atlanta Braves. At age 30, Giants RHP Johnny Cueto had one of his best seasons in 2016, winning 18 games (vs. just five losses) with a 2.79 ERA and league-leading five complete games. This season however, Cueto has struggled, going 5-6 with a 4.57 ERA in 14 starts, so the veteran has some work to do. He'll get start number 15 in Atlanta as the Giants and Braves begin a four-game set with the home team turning to veteran knuckle-ball specialist R.A. Dickey. Dickey is having his worst season since he came back into the league in 2008, logging a 4-5 record with a 5.35 ERA and 1.51 WHIP in his 13 starts. Dickey got his first start vs. the Giants in four years on May 28, and it didn't go well for him. In that one - which was in pitcher-friendly San Francisco - Dickey allowed seven runs (six earned) on six hits in six innings in a 7-1 loss. The opposing starter that day? None other than Cueto, who had arguably his best start of the season (one run on six hits with eight strikeouts and one walk. The Giants are 7-3 in the last 10 meetings in Atlanta. And the Giants are 22-8 in his last 30 nighttime starts. Take San Francisco |
|||||||
06-17-17 | Royals v. Angels -128 | Top | 0-9 | Win | 100 | 19 h 50 m | Show |
At 8:15 pm, our selection is on the Anaheim Angels over the Kansas City Royals. Last night here in Anaheim, Ian Kennedy - who had an 0-6 record with a 5.40 ERA going in - shut down the Angels and the Royals won, 3-1. That was KC's second straight win over Anaheim in this four-game set. And even more improbable, it was KC's sixth straight win overall. Tonight, however, the Halos have a decided advantage on the mound. Royals' rookie RHP Jake Junis will get his fourth career start tonight (his sixth appearance), but his numbers so far do not inspire confidence. Junis has 4.67 ERA and 1.79 WHIP and in his 17 1/3 innings, Junis has surrendered 20 hits and he has a K:BB ratio of just 1.18. Junis had his best start of his career last time on June 11, allowing three runs on six hits in seven innings and while that may sound promising, it was against arguably the weakest offense in the Majors in the San Diego Padres. He will have a tougher time tonight against a much better Angels lineup. Alex Meyer, meanwhile, will get the start for the Halos. Meyer has a 1.62 ERA over his last 3 starts, and a 2.61 ERA at home this season. Take Anaheim. American League Game of the Month! As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
06-16-17 | Royals v. Angels -118 | Top | 3-1 | Loss | -118 | 21 h 34 m | Show |
At 10:05 pm, our selection is on the Los Angeles Angels over the Kansas City Royals. Watching the kind of season that he's having, it's hard to believe that Ian Kennedy was once a top prospect in the New York Yankees organization. To say that Kennedy is struggling in this, his 11th season in the Majors, would be a huge understatement. The former first-round draft pick has yet to win a game (0-6) in 11 starts, and he has posted a 5.40 ERA with 28 walks in 56 2/3 innings (a walk rate of 4.4 per nine IP). He'll start tonight in Anaheim to try to straighten himself out, but this is not a city that's been kind to Kennedy. In four appearance here (three starts) the veteran RH is 0-3 with an ugly 6.35 ERA and 1.71 WHIP in just 17 innings of work. The Angels will counter with RHP Jesse Chavez, whose overall numbers don't look like much (5-6 with a 5.06 ERA) but who has pitched much better at home this season. In seven games at Angel Stadium, including six starts, Chavez is 3-2 with a 4.10 ERA and 1.12 WHIP. Notwithstanding yesterday's loss, the Angels are still 21-7 in their last 28 home games vs. teams with a losing record. Take the Halos. |
|||||||
06-16-17 | Giants +102 v. Rockies | Top | 8-10 | Loss | -100 | 19 h 9 m | Show |
At 8:40 pm, our selection is on the San Francisco Giants over Colorado. Giants' RHP Jeff Samardzija got off to a horrible start to the season, going 0-5 with a 5.44 ERA in his first seven starts through May 9. But since then, Samardzija has thrown quality starts in five of his next six outings, allowing 13 runs in 32 2/3 innings, lowering his ERA more than a full run (to 4.31). Unfortunately however, the run support hasn't been there for the veteran, as the Giants have plated an average of just 3.23 runs per game for Samardzija. That represents the second-worst support in the National League, with only Jerad Eickhoff getting less help so far this season (3.00). I expect the Giants to break through with some runs tonight for Samardzija, as Senzatela's ERA over his last three starts is 6.46. Take the Giants. Good luck, as always...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
06-16-17 | White Sox v. Blue Jays -149 | Top | 11-4 | Loss | -149 | 18 h 34 m | Show |
At 7:05 pm, our selection is on the Toronto Blue Jays over the Chicago White Sox. Heading into this season, the White Sox' Jose Quintana had been one of the most consistent southpaws in the American League of the past four years. Like clockwork, Quintana would put in an injury-free season of 30-plus starts, winning at least nine games and posting an ERA in the low-to-mid threes. But that has ended with a thud in 2017. Through his first 13 starts, Quintana has two wins to go with a league-leading eight losses and an ERA two runs higher than where he normally is (5.30). The poor performance is especially damaging to the Sox, who are hoping to move Quintana and his payroll-friendly contract to a contender in exchange for some prospects - preferably before the trade deadline. That's not likely to happen now, so Quintana will use the rest of the season to try to get his form back, but doing so in Toronto against a hot Jays lineup will not be easy. RHP Joe Biagini has emerged as a very capable sophomore starter for the Jays. Now if only he can figure out how to win some games. He has now pitched seven innings in back-to-back starts and has looked sharp since being fully stretched out. Chicago is 7-20 in its last 27 road games. Take the Jays. |
|||||||
06-15-17 | Royals v. Angels -126 | Top | 7-2 | Loss | -126 | 21 h 37 m | Show |
At 10:05 pm, our selection is on the Los Angeles Angels over the Kansas City Royals. When the best overall player in the game, OF Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels, tore a ligament in his thumb on May 28, his team was 26-27 and in second place in the A.L. West. You would think that the next several weeks without Trout would result in a major regression for the Halos. But here we are on June 15, and the Angels are actually 9-7 since they lost Trout. Go figure. It's likely that nobody is happier than Trout himself as he has won pretty much every accolade possible in his short time in the Majors other than a post-season title, be it ALDS, ALCS, or World Series. The Angels probably won't catch the Astros, but if they can keep pace until Trout is back, then a Wild Card spot certainly would not be out of the question. This weekend's series against the Royals is certainly a great way to build on their unexpected success and push their record over the .500 mark. RHP Ricky Nolasco has lost his last five starts, but he's faced some pretty tough teams lately. And in his last two outings, Nolasco has struck out nine without issuing a walk. The Angels are 21-6 in their last 27 home games vs. teams with a losing record. Take L.A. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
06-15-17 | Orioles -108 v. White Sox | Top | 2-5 | Loss | -108 | 13 h 32 m | Show |
At 2:10 pm, our selection is on the Baltimore Orioles over the Chicago White Sox. Orioles RHP Chris Tillman had just about the ugliest start that a pitcher can have in his last trip to the mound in the Bronx on June 10. That one resulted in nine runs on seven hits in just 1 1/3 innings. If it were anyone other than Tillman and the O's, then there would be a good chance that he would be sitting out for a bit. But Tillman is coming back this afternoon to face a White Sox club that he just threw five shutout innings against on May 7 at home. The Sox will counter with unheralded southpaw David Holmberg, who has a career MLB record of 4-6 with an ERA of 5.29. Holmberg has allowed six earned runs over 12 2/3 innings as a starter this season, and this will be his first career start vs. the Orioles. Baltimore's offense finally woke up on Wednesday as they scored 10 runs against this White Sox team after plating just 17 in their six previous games (in which they went 0-6). The Orioles are 12-4 in Tillman's last 16 starts following an outing of less than four innings in his last appearance. Take Baltimore. |
|||||||
06-11-17 | Blue Jays v. Mariners -157 | Top | 4-0 | Loss | -157 | 13 h 53 m | Show |
At 4:10 pm, our selection is on the Seattle Mariners over the Toronto Blue Jays. Those waiting for LHP James Paxton to break out need to wait no longer. After going 6-7 with a 3.79 ERA in 20 starts last season, Paxton has officially taken things to the next level this season, posting a 5-0 record in eight starts with a 1.69 ERA. If there's a concern with the big southpaw, it's injuries as Paxton has had at least one DL stint every season since 2014. And in fact after going 3-0 with a 1.46 ERA in his first six starts heading into early May, Paxton gave his team another scare and landed on the DL again with a forearm strain. But fortunately, this one turned out to be not a long-term situation and Paxton came back at the end of last month and threw five scoreless innings here at home against a very good Colorado team and picked up his fourth win of the season. He will look to improve his record to 6-0 this afternoon against the Jays, and he has won seven straight decisions dating back to last season and has a 1.17 ERA in five starts at Safeco Field this season. Heading into Sunday, the Jays are 4-8 in their last 12 games in Seattle. And they're 3-10 this season vs. in games their opponent started a southpaw. Take the M's. Mound Mismatch Massacre! As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
06-10-17 | Brewers v. Diamondbacks -149 | Top | 2-3 | Win | 100 | 19 h 15 m | Show |
At 10:10 pm, our selection is on the Arizona Diamondbacks over the Milwaukee Brewers. RHP Zack Godley got a chance to move into the starting rotation in Arizona when Shelby Miller went down for the season with an elbow ligament tear at the end of April. And Godley made the most of his opportunities, posting a 2.39 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in six starts. But a log-jam of talent on a roster that clearly could win the division this season necessitated that the D-Backs shuffle some things, so they sent Godley down to the minors temporarily. Now with the blister problem that RHP Taijuan Walker has suffered on his throwing hand, Godley has the chance to come back and reclaim his rotation spot and perhaps this time it will be for the rest of the season. A victory against one of the best offenses in the league tonight would go a long way to keeping his job in the big leagues. Two starts back (May 26) Godley threw six shutout innings in Milwaukee while striking out six Brewers and walking just one in a 4-2 victory. He would love to duplicate that effort here at home where Godley has a 1.93 ERA in three starts. Heading into Saturday, Arizona is 37-17 in its last 54 home games. Take the D-Backs. MLB Roadkill Winner! As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
06-09-17 | Brewers v. Diamondbacks -137 | Top | 8-6 | Loss | -137 | 19 h 47 m | Show |
At 9:40 pm, our selection is on the Arizona Diamondbacks over the Milwaukee Brewers. The Diamondbacks offense is on fire, exploding for 32 runs in their just completed three game series here at home. Of course that series - in which the D-Backs won all three games - was against the Padres, so Arizona fans shouldn't start making their World Series plans quite yet. But they're 24-8 here at Chase Field this season and that's the best home record in the league, so if they make it to the playoffs, you know they're going to be tough. The pitching hasn't been bad either and tonight it will be a recent addition to the rotation as RHP Randall Delgado steps to the mound for only the fourth time this season as a starter. Delgado's promotion is mainly because of the injury to newly-acquired Taijuan Walker, who is out with a blister on his throwing hand. Although they were short outings (4.0, 5.2, and 5.1 innings), Delgado has only allowed one earned run in each of his three starts so is definitely deserved of another chance tonight against the Brewers. Their lineup will certainly offer more of a challenge than the Padres did, but it might not matter against the team with the third-most runs in the league. Take the D-Backs. MLB Roadkill Winner! As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
06-08-17 | White Sox v. Rays -144 | Top | 5-7 | Win | 100 | 15 h 26 m | Show |
At 7:10 pm, our selection is on the Tampa Bay Rays over the Chicago White Sox. The Rays had some very nice success in the first two months of the MLB season, but have hit a rough patch lately. Tampa just got swept in a three game series in Seattle by the Mariners and then came home only to have its ace, Chris Archer, lose to this White Sox team on Monday. The Rays came back on Tuesday to take a 3-1 decision so now they go for the series clincher before beginning a weekend set against the Athletics. RHP Jake Ordorizzi will go to the mound tonight and he will try to bounce back from his toughest outing of the year, a loss vs. the Mariners in Seattle in which he gave up eight runs (three earned) in 2 1/3 innings.  Odorizzi should relish a home start tonight as he has posted a 2.90 ERA in five starts at Tropicana Field this season vs. 4.50 in the same number on the road. He's never beaten the White Sox, but Odorizzi has a 3.18 ERA in two starts against them in his career. The home team is 6-2 in the last eight meetings of these two clubs. Take Tampa. MLB High Roller Winner! As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
06-07-17 | Giants v. Brewers -124 | Top | 3-6 | Win | 100 | 7 h 33 m | Show |
At 8:10 pm, our selection is on the Milwaukee Brewers over the San Francisco Giants. The Brewers have been patiently waiting for RHP Jimmy Nelson to break out since they selected him in the second round of the amateur draft in 2010. They may finally be seeing their patience pay off this season. Nelson has a 3.36 ERA through 11 starts - his best ERA since he became a full-time starter in 2014. More importantly, Nelson seems to have finally gotten his control issues of the past years straightened out. After leading the league in hit batsmen the last two seasons (13 in 2016 and 17 in 2017), Nelson has only hit one batter in 2017 and he has cut his walk rate in half (from 4.3 per nine IP in 2016 to 2.2 this season). As if that weren't progress enough, Nelson made franchise history in his last start against the Dodgers on Friday, becoming the first Brewers pitcher to make consecutive starts with at least 10 strikeouts while allowing no walks. Both of those were at home too, where Nelson will face the struggling Giants for the first time this season. With their loss on Tuesday, the Giants are 20-49 in their last 69 road games vs. teams with a winning record. Take Milwaukee. MLB Roadkill Winner! As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
06-07-17 | Blue Jays -109 v. A's | Top | 7-5 | Win | 100 | 2 h 35 m | Show |
At 3:35 pm, our selection is on the Toronto Blue Jays over the Oakland Athletics. Veteran LHP Francisco Liriano began the season with one of the ugliest starts of his career, allowing five earned runs while retiring just a single batter and throwing 35 pitches on April 7 against the Tampa Bay Rays. He settled down after that, allowing two runs or fewer in his next four starts to close out the first month. But then Liriano imploded again to start the month of May and the Jays finally shut him down, placing him on the 10-day DL with shoulder inflammation. The fact is that Liriano may have had the injury from the beginning and just decided to try to pitch through it. He's back now, and in his first start since coming off the DL, Liriano pitched well allowing two runs on four hits in five innings in beating a very good Yankees lineup for his third win of the season. He was also pretty efficient in that one, throwing 81 pitches, while striking out five and walking two. Expect an improvement this afternoon in Oakland against an A's team that is hitting just .239 vs. southpaws this season. The Blue Jays are 4-0 in Liriano's last four starts coming into today. Take Toronto. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
06-06-17 | Cardinals -127 v. Reds | Top | 1-13 | Loss | -127 | 19 h 6 m | Show |
At 7:10 pm, our selection is on the St. Louis Cardinals over the Cincinnati Reds. At this point in his career, Adam Wainwright's pitching exploits have been well documented. The veteran RH has won a World Series ring (2006), been an All Star on three separate occasions, and finished in the top three in Cy Young balloting in four different campaigns. But this season -- his twelfth in the Major Leagues -- Wainwright is also showing his prowess at the plate. In 22 at-bats in 2017, Wainwright is hitting .273 with two home runs and seven RBI and an .864 OPS. Those are pretty good numbers for a 35-year-old who doesn't swing a bat for a living. Tonight, Wainwright won't be worried about improving on those hitting stats, but he will look to pick up his seventh victory in 12 starts this season. And the fact that he's pitching at Great American Ballpark won't hurt his chances as Wainwright has a winning record (6-4) along with a very nice 3.60 ERA and 1.10 WHIP in 15 appearances (13 starts) here. The Cards are also 7-3 in their last 10 road games vs. teams with a losing record and 39-12 in Wainwright's last 51 starts vs. teams with a losing record. Finally, Wainwright has given up just one earned run over his last four starts (26 1/3 innings), and is 4-0 in those games! Take St. Louis. Mound Mismatch Massacre! As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
06-05-17 | Nationals v. Dodgers -124 | Top | 4-2 | Loss | -124 | 20 h 17 m | Show |
At 10:10 pm, our selection is on the Los Angeles Dodgers over the Washington Nationals. After playing a weekend set up in the Bay Area, the Nats will head south to Los Angeles for three games at Chavez Ravine. The first game of the series will feature a couple of veteran southpaws as Gio Gonzalez and Hyun-Jin Ryu head to the mound. Gonzalez will make his first appearance at Dodger Stadium since Game 3 of last year’s NLDS, when he gave up three runs in 4 1/3 innings in a loss. The Nats' lefty was in fine form earlier this season, as he posted a 3-0 record with a 1.62 ERA during a stellar April. But Gonzalez regressed significantly in May, going 1-1 with a 4.37 ERA and 1.66 WHIP in six starts. Ryu is back in the rotation because of shoulder inflammation to Alex Wood. And given Wood's history of injuries, Ryu could have this spot for a while. It certainly doesn't hurt Ryu's chances that he followed a four-inning save by allowing one run in six innings against St. Louis his last time out, which was his best start of the season. The Dodgers have loved their southern California home recently, going 38-15 in their last 53 games here. Even better: over the last three years, they're 125-57 (+29 games on the moneyline) as a home favorite, while Washington's an awful 30-57 (minus 22 games on the moneyline) as an underdog! LA's also 10-3 in its last 13 meetings with the Nats. Take L.A. Baseball Game of the Week! As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
06-04-17 | Indians -135 v. Royals | Top | 8-0 | Win | 100 | 13 h 33 m | Show |
At 2:15 pm, our selection is on the Cleveland Indians over the Kansas City Royals. The Royals roughed up the Indians on Saturday, plating 12 runs behind some pretty solid pitching from starter Jason Hammel and three relievers. This afternoon, they will send rookie LHP Eric Skoglund to the mound for just his second career start. Skoglund was pretty brilliant in his MLB debut, throwing 6 1/3 scoreless, two-hit innings against the Twins while picking up his first victory in his first attempt. Today figures to be a bit of a tougher assignment as the Indians are the defending American League champions. It's true that Indians RHP Trevor Bauer has struggled through most of the season so far. However in his last start, Bauer set a career high with 14 strikeouts while allowing three runs on seven hits in seven innings against the A's. Bauer's also thrown quality starts against the Royals in his last six meetings. Finally, the Royals are just 2-6 in their last eight games following a win while the Indians are 6-2 in their last eight road games vs. a team with a winning home record. Take the Tribe. As always, good luck...Al Mcmordie. |
|||||||
06-03-17 | Braves v. Reds -149 | Top | 6-5 | Loss | -149 | 16 h 34 m | Show |
At 4:10 pm, our selection is on the Cincinnati Reds over the Atlanta Braves. RHP Scott Feldman has been a nice surprise for the Reds this season, as the team is 5-5 in his 10 starts so far. And Feldman has been very good at home too, going 2-2 with a very competitive 3.53 ERA and 1.15 WHIP in his six starts here at Great American Ball Park. That includes a complete game, four-hit shutout against the Giants on May 7 and seven innings of one-run, four-hit ball against a powerful O's lineup back on April 20. This will be Feldman's fourth career start against the Braves, each with a different team (he previously faced them with the Astros, Cubs, and Rangers). The Reds' lineup could have its way today with Braves' veteran RH starter R.A. Dickey and his knuckleball. Dickey has struggled of late, going 0-2 with a 5.71 ERA and 2.08 WHIP in his last three starts covering 17 1/3 innings. And he is 1-3 with a 5.32 ERA in four road starts in 2017. Heading into Saturday afternoon's game, the Reds are 6-0 in their last six home games vs. teams with a losing record. Moreover, the home team is 7-3 in the last 10 meetings. Take Cincy. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
06-02-17 | Twins v. Angels -134 | Top | 11-5 | Loss | -134 | 18 h 1 m | Show |
At 10:05 pm, our selection is on the Los Angeles Angels over the Minnesota Twins. Middle reliever JC Ramirez probably used to wake up in the morning and wonder what professional baseball city he was living in. The right-hander from Nicaragua spent his first three MLB seasons (2013, 2015, 2016) with five different teams - the Phillies, Diamondbacks, Mariners, Reds and Angels. So he's probably thrilled that Los Angeles has converted him to a starter for the first time in his MLB career and that it appears he will stick in that role with the Angels for the foreseeable future. Injuries to Tyler Skaggs and Garrett Richards have given Ramirez this opportunity and so far it looks like he will make the most of it. Since being given a spot in the Halos rotation earlier in the season, Ramirez has gone 5-3 with a 3.38 ERA and 1.16 WHIP in nine starts.   The Angels look to make it 7-3 in his 10 starts tonight as Ramirez faces the Twins for the first time in his career. Heading into Friday night's game, the home team is 6-2 in the last eight meetings of the Angels and Twins. Take L.A. Mound Mismatch Massacre! As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
06-02-17 | Cardinals v. Cubs -152 | Top | 2-3 | Win | 100 | 10 h 17 m | Show |
At 2:20 pm, our selection is on the Chicago Cubs over the St. Louis Cardinals. Of all the crazy things that would be hard to predict this season in the Major Leagues, the San Diego Padres' sweep of the Chicago Cubs in the just-concluded three-game at Petco Park is without question one of the craziest. You would be hard-pressed in recent memory to find a team as bad as the Padres sweeping a defending World Series Champion that - on paper anyway - is just as good as it was when it hoisted the trophy. Add to that the sweep of the Cubs by the Dodgers in L.A. before that, and that equals a six-game losing streak for the Cubbies coming into this daytime game. So, what better way to get back on track than to beat your division rival at home over a weekend series. And in this first game, the Cubs will send a pitcher to the mound who called St. Louis his MLB home for one-and-a-half seasons. Big RH John Lackey has faced the Cards seven times in his career (five with the Cubs) and has never had a non-quality start against them. The Cubs should be thrilled to be back at Wrigley, where they are 47-22 in their last 69 games. Take Chicago. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
05-31-17 | Dodgers v. Cardinals -128 | Top | 1-2 | Win | 100 | 18 h 24 m | Show |
At 8:15 pm, our selection is on the St. Louis Cardinals over the Los Angeles Dodgers. LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu is being moved back into the rotation from the bullpen due to yet another DL stint for fellow southpaw Alex Wood (shoulder). The fact is that Ryu belongs in the bullpen however as he has been much more effective in that role and his numbers as a starter are not pretty to say the least. Ryu has pitched four scoreless relief innings this season (two hits and one walk) and actually recorded a save in the process, but in seven starts, he is 2-5 with an ugly 4.75 ERA and 1.58 WHIP. The Cardinals will send their ace, RHP Carlos Martinez to the mound for his 11th start of the season. In his last two starts, Martinez pitched nine innings of shutout ball for a no-decision against the Giants then lost to the Rockies but had another quality start, as he allowed three runs in 7 1/3 innings. The Cards lost to the Dodgers on Monday and Tuesday, but that works well for tonight as they are 41-18 in their last 59 games after losing the first two games of a series. The Dodgers are 0-6 in Ryu's last six road starts. Take the Cardinals. 5* MLB Game of the Month! As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
05-30-17 | Cubs -135 v. Padres | Top | 2-6 | Loss | -135 | 20 h 50 m | Show |
At 10:10 pm, our selection is on the Chicago Cubs over the San Diego Padres. The Padres pulled off a major upset on Memorial Day, beating this Cubs team and starter Kyle Hendricks, 5-2 here at Petco Park. Tonight, the Cubs will send a less-experienced starter to the mound in RHP Eddie Butler. Butler may not have the track record of the other starters on this team, but he has done little wrong with the opportunity he's been given this season. The 30-year-old who is in his fourth Major League season (first in Chicago) is 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA in three starts covering 14 innings. There are some warning signs with Butler however, like his strikeouts to walks of 9:10 coming into his fourth start tonight. But Butler will actually be the more experienced starter tonight as the Pads send rookie RH Dinelson Lamet to the mound for just his second career MLB appearance. Lamet earned this second trip to the mound by virtue of a five inning, one-run on four hits performance last Wednesday in Queens. But the Cubs offense will offer a significantly more difficult challenge to him tonight. The Cubs are 6-3 in the last nine meetings. Take Chicago. MLB Road Warrior Winner! As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
05-29-17 | Rays v. Rangers -115 | Top | 10-8 | Loss | -115 | 16 h 23 m | Show |
At 8:05 pm, our selection is on the Texas Rangers over the Tampa Bay Rays. There are some interesting match-ups on this 2017 Memorial Day, including this one in Arlington, Texas between the Rays and Rangers. When LHP Martin Perez came into the Rangers organization in 2012 as a 21-year-old, Texas had high hopes for the young Venezuelan. But those hopes haven't quite panned out as Perez has shown flashes of brilliance over his five-plus seasons, but has never really been able to put it all together. This year is another example, as Perez has a very solid 3.77 ERA over his 10 starts, but is just 2-5 on the season and his 1.54 WHIP and 1.74 K:BB ratio are far from ideal. Perhaps a start against a Rays team that is batting just .218 vs. lefties this season will be just the thing Perez needs to jump start his campaign (and to some extent - his career). The Rays will go with RHP Erasmo Ramirez who is undefeated in his three starts this season. But Ramirez has always struggled against the Rangers in his career, going 0-1 with a 5.72 ERA in 11 career appearances including four starts. The home team is 6-3 in the last nine meetings of these two. Take Texas. MLB High Roller! As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
05-27-17 | Mets v. Pirates -110 | Top | 4-5 | Win | 100 | 18 h 44 m | Show |
At 7:15 pm, our selection is on the Pittsburgh Pirates over the New York Mets. The Mets schooled the Pirates on Friday night, with their ace Jacob deGrom coming two outs away from a complete game here at PNC Park. The Pirates will try again tonight and they should have better luck not having to face deGrom, who also had two hits to help his own case on Friday. Tonight it will be the Pirates who send their ace to the hill as RHP Gerrit Cole will get his league-leading 11th start. After a very disappointing 2016 campaign in which he saw his ERA rise by more than a run (from 2.60 to 3.88) Cole is bouncing back this season with a 3.36 ERA and 4.00 K:BB ratio, even if the wins haven't been there. If Cole keeps doing what he's doing, then the wins will come eventually and tonight is a great spot in which to start. Cole has always done his best work at PNC where he is 23-15 with a very nice 3.19 ERA in 53 starts. RHP Zack Wheeler will to the mound for his ninth start tonight and Wheeler is trying to come back after missing all of 2015 and 2016 with injuries. Wheeler has never faced the Bucs before. Despite their win on Friday, the Mets are just 4-10 in the last 14 meetings. Take Pittsburgh. MLB Roadkill Winner. As always good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
05-27-17 | Reds v. Phillies -137 | Top | 3-4 | Win | 100 | 15 h 35 m | Show |
At 4:05 pm, our selection is on the Philadelphia Phillies over the Cincinnati Reds. If you're wondering why Bronson Arroyo is struggling with a 3-4 record and 6.75 ERA through his first nine starts, then all you have to do is look at the radar gun when he pitches. The veteran RHP - who is back with the Reds in this, his 16th MLB season - is now 40 years old. And at a time when just about every MLB pitcher touches at least 91 or 92 MPH, Arroyo's fastball tops out at about 84, and his curveball has been regularly clocked under 70 MPH. While it's not unheard of for "junk-ballers" to be effective against Major League hitters with a collection of off-speed pitches, it doesn't appear that Arroyo is fooling much of anyone as he has already given up 54 hits in 46 2/3 innings and has a K:BB ratio of just 2.00. Things haven't historically gotten better for him when he's pitched at Citizen's Bank Park as Arroyo has a 6.35 ERA in four starts here covering just under 23 innings. Arroyo is 4-7 with a 5.14 ERA in 14 career appearances (13 starts) vs. Philly. The Reds are 2-6 in Arroyo's last eight starts vs. teams with a losing record. Take the Phils. MLB High Roller. As always, good luck...Al McMordie |
|||||||
05-26-17 | Cardinals -125 v. Rockies | Top | 0-10 | Loss | -125 | 17 h 23 m | Show |
At 8:40 pm, our selection is on the St. Louis Cardinals over the Colorado Rockies. First year rookie RHP Antonio Senzatela came out of nowhere this season to go 6-1 with a 3.67 ERA in his first nine starts. But after logging quality starts in six of his first seven outings, it seems like the league is catching up to the Venezuelan lately. He's had two almost-identical poor outings including his last one in which he allowed four runs on five hits in five innings in a 12-8 beat down at the hands of the Reds. He will try to get back on track, but it won't be easy against this Cardinals team and its RH ace tonight. Carlos Martinez has just three wins in nine starts, but he has logged a 3.28 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP in just under 58 innings so far. And also figuring heavily into tonight's game is the fact that Martinez is 2-0 in five starts here at Coors Field. But the most important factor for the Cards - not only for tonight but for the entire series - is how well they've been doing on the road lately. Heading into tonight's game, St. Louis is 10-2 in its last 12 games away from Busch Stadium. Take the Cardinals. MLB Road Warrior Winner! As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
05-25-17 | Angels v. Rays -129 | Top | 0-4 | Win | 100 | 12 h 0 m | Show |
At 1:10 pm, our selection is on the Tampa Bay Rays over the Los Angeles Angels. The Rays finally broke through against the Angels on Wednesday night, beating the Halos by a 5-2 final here at home. It was the first victory for Tampa in this series over the last six meetings, going back to July of last year. This afternoon the Rays will try to make it two in a row behind one of their most reliable starters of the season so far. RHP Matt Andriese wasn't on anyone's radar to start the season, however the third-year MLB pitcher is 4-1 with a 3.75 ERA in his first nine starts. That may not sound like Cy Young material, but on a team that has let so many great pitchers leave for greener pastures, it's pretty darn good. Andriese's only other career start against L.A. was a gem as he threw seven innings allowing one run on four hits in a 3-1 Tampa victory. The Angels will go with someone who is even more anonymous than Andriese as RHP Daniel Wright will get just the ninth start of his MLB career tonight. Wright's numbers certainly don't jump off the page at you as he is just 1-5 with a 5.98 ERA in 12 career appearances. Wright will be subbing for Alex Meyer today in what will be just his second start of the season. Take the Rays. As always good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
05-24-17 | Tigers v. Astros -161 | Top | 6-3 | Loss | -161 | 19 h 49 m | Show |
At 8:10 pm, our selection is on the Houston Astros over the Detroit Tigers. After toiling in Pittsburgh for many years (eight to be exact), 33-year-old RHP Charlie Morton has been "re-born" in his first season in Houston. Now granted, the numbers aren't exactly similar to Clayton Kershaw - as Morton has a 4.26 ERA through his first nine starts - but they don't have to be either. The Astros offense is just about the best in the league. And as a result, despite those somewhat pedestrian pitching stats, Morton is 5-3 and could very well have a winning season - which would be just the second in his 10-year MLB career. He has a great chance to go to 6-3 tonight at his new home where Morton is a very nice 4-1 with a 3.09 ERA in six starts this season. LHP Daniel Norris brings his ugly 2-3 record and 4.81 ERA into his first career start vs. the Astros tonight. The Tigers are catching the Astros at a particularly bad time as they were just swept by the Indians here at home and are likely not in a very good mood right now. However, with their wins on Monday and Tuesday, the Astros became the first MLB team to reach 31 wins. Also, the home team is now 6-0 in the last six meetings. Take Houston. MLB Roadkill Winner. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
05-23-17 | Giants v. Cubs -156 | Top | 1-4 | Win | 100 | 18 h 13 m | Show |
At 7:05 pm, our selection is on the Chicago Cubs over the San Francisco Giants. One quarter of the way into the season, many people probably would have predicted that the Cubs would already have a comfortable lead - say five or six games - in their division. But that certainly is not the case as Chicago is not only in third place currently (behind the Cardinals and Brewers) but is also struggling to stay above the .500 mark. Chicago lost again last night in Game 1 of this series as the Giants broke out to a 6-0 lead before giving up four runs late in the game. But there's plenty of time for the Cubs to get it together, and they are still the favorites to win the NL Central behind their hitting and pitching, including tonight's starter, LH ace Jon Lester. Lester gets start number 10 tonight. And although he's just 2-2 at this point, his numbers are solid. This is Lester's first start of the season against the Giants, a team he's done very well against in his career. In six starts vs. San Francisco covering 44 innings, Lester is 5-1 with a 1.84 ERA. Despite their win here on Monday the Giants are still just 2-9 in their last 11 games at Wrigley. Take the Cubs. MLB Roadkill play. Good luck, as always...Al McMordie |
|||||||
05-21-17 | Indians v. Astros -110 | Top | 8-6 | Loss | -110 | 10 h 36 m | Show |
At 2:10 pm, our selection is on the Houston Astros over the Cleveland Indians. In what could be a preview of the ALCS, the Indians are visiting Houston for the first and only series here this regular season. And in fact, these two teams won't meet again this year unless it's in the post-season, and that's a distinct possibility as both the Indians and Astros are playing great ball right now. After a torrid Spring campaign, 'Stros RHP Joe Musgrove got off to a shaky start to the regular season, going 1-3 with a 5.40 ERA after his first six starts. But thankfully for his team, Musgrove has settled down in his last two starts, beating the Braves and Marlins in inter-league starts and lowering his ERA by almost a run. Cleveland LHP Danny Salazar looked like a strong breakout candidate after his last two seasons, even though his 2016 was slightly interrupted by some injuries. But 2017 has been a real struggle for the 27-year-old as Salazar has been a strikeout machine (a 13.5 K rate) but is just 2-4 with an ugly 5.66 ERA over his first eight starts. Heading into Sunday, the Indians are 4-7 in their last 11 games vs. a RH starter, while the 'Stros are 12-5 in their last 17 home games vs. a RH starter. Take Houston. MLB Roadkill Winner. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
05-20-17 | Giants v. Cardinals -140 | Top | 3-1 | Loss | -140 | 16 h 35 m | Show |
At 7:15 pm, our selection is on the St. Louis Cardinals over the San Francisco Giants. Cardinals RHP Carlos Martinez looked like he was ready to make the move from very good pitcher to bona-fide ace this season after two very good campaigns in 2015 and 2016. But Martinez has taken a slight step backwards at the age of 25, going 3-3 with a 3.88 ERA through his first eight starts. But if not for two April outings in which C-Mart gave up five runs, his numbers would look much better. And in fact Martinez has been very good in his last four trips to the mound - beginning on April 27 - as he's gone 3-0 (the Cards have gone 4-0 in those) and lowered his ERA almost a full run. He'll look to keep it going tonight in his first start against the Giants this season. In two previous career starts vs. San Francisco (in 2016 and 2014) the Cardinals are 2-0 as C-Mart allowed four runs in 11 innings. When you look up the word "inconsistent" you will see a picture of the 2017 version of Giants RH starter Jeff Samardzija. The veteran has alternated between gems and complete ugliness this season.  It's true that he is pitching with an extra day of rest tonight. Unfortunately, Samardzija's teams are a dreadful 22-44 (-29 games on the moneyline) when he's pitched on 5 or 6 days of rest. Finally, the Giants are 1-3 in his last four starts against St. Louis going back to September 2013. Take the Cards. MLB Roadkill Winner. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
05-19-17 | Angels v. Mets -147 | Top | 0-3 | Win | 100 | 17 h 14 m | Show |
At 7:10 pm, our selection is on the New York Mets over the Los Angeles Angels. The Mets return home after a disastrous six-game road trip in which they were swept in Milwaukee and Arizona. There's only one direction to go from there, and perhaps an inter-league series against the Angels can right the ship for this under-achieving team. New York could get a big boost to its offense this weekend if Yoenis Cespedes (hamstring) is able to return, although that is doubtful to happen tonight. The Mets will send the only healthy "ace" that they have right now to the mound as RHP Jacob deGrom gets his 9th start of season. Despite only two wins and an ERA north of four runs (4.07), there are several things to like about deGrom this season. He has the league's best strikeout rate with 67 Ks in just under 49 innings (12.4 per 9 IP) and his hit rate of 8.5 is slightly below where it was last season. Obviously, run support has been an issue, but deGrom loves pitching at Citi Field where he is 16-11 with a sparkling 2.02 ERA in 41 starts. He's also had success against the AL as he's 4-3 with a 2.16 ERA in 10 inter-league starts. The Angels have never faced deGrom before and this will be just their fourth game at Citi Field. The Angels are 4-9 in their last 13 inter-league road games, while New York is 38-20 as a favorite behind deGrom. Take the Mets. Mound Mismatch Massacre! As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
05-18-17 | Phillies v. Rangers -152 | Top | 4-8 | Win | 100 | 12 h 1 m | Show |
At 2:05 pm, our selection is on the Texas Rangers over the Philadelphia Phillies. Rangers LHP Martin Perez just might be the most hard-luck pitcher in the league right now. Despite a 3.89 ERA along with the fact that he's allowed three or fewer runs in six of his eight starts so far, Perez is just 1-5 for the Rangers heading into this afternoon. The 26-year-old southpaw will be the veteran tonight in this match-up as the Phillies will send rookie RHP Nick Pivetta to the mound for the fourth start of his career. Pivetta is still looking for his first victory as a Major League pitcher and this will be the 24-year-old's first inter-league start. You could argue that he's faced some pretty tough competition in his first three starts, having to go up against the Nationals (twice) and Dodgers, but then again it really doesn't get any easier for him today having to go into Arlington Texas for the first time. Perez's only other career start against the Phillies was a good one as he allowed two runs on 5 2/3 innings resulting in a 3-2 Rangers victory back on April 1, 2014. With their loss here last night, the Phillies are now 7-24 in their last 31 road games and 14-38 in their last 52 inter-league road games. Take the Rangers. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
05-17-17 | Dodgers -175 v. Giants | Top | 6-1 | Win | 100 | 14 h 55 m | Show |
At 3:45 pm, our selection is on the Los Angeles Dodgers over the San Francisco Giants. Most starting pitchers would love to begin their season this way: a 6-2 record with a 2.43 ERA in their first eight starts. LH Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers however is no ordinary starting pitcher. As great as those numbers are, they are actually sub-par for Kershaw, who is generally considered the best hurler on the planet. It is rare that a Dodgers-Giants game with each team's ace going to the mound doesn't generate huge interest, however this season that interest is somewhat muted and the reason is simple. The Giants simply aren't a very good baseball team right now. Roughly 1/4 way into the regular season, and the Giants are sitting at 17-24 in fourth place in the NL West, 8.5 games behind the surprise Colorado Rockies. Their normal #1 ace, LHP Madison Bumgarner was injured in a dirt bike accident, so RH Johnny Cueto has inherited the top spot. Although Cueto is a very good pitcher, he is not Mad-Bum, let alone Kershaw. And the lineup that Cueto has backing him up today is far from ideal, especially with OF Hunter Pence out of action (hamstring). The Dodgers are 7-2 in Kershaw's last nine starts vs. the Giants. And they're 60-22 in his daytime starts (+28 games on the moneyline). Take L.A. NL West Game of the Month. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
05-16-17 | A's -114 v. Mariners | Top | 9-6 | Win | 100 | 20 h 35 m | Show |
At 10:10 pm, our selection is on the Oakland Athletics over the Seattle Mariners. Andrew Triggs has been a very nice surprise for the Oakland Athletics. Triggs didn't make it to the Majors until he was a 27-year-old last season, and he certainly didn't set the league on fire with a 4.31 ERA in 24 games, including six starts. But Triggs' numbers featured a solid 1.22 WHIP and a very nice 4.23 K:BB ratio as he struck out 55 hitters in 56 1/3 innings while walking just 13. This season, Triggs has been handed a full-time starting job with the A's and he seems to be taking his game to the next level with a 5-2 record and 2.21 ERA in his first seven starts. Triggs will try to keep it going tonight in his eighth start against a Mariners team that he lost to at home back on April 23. This will be Triggs' first start at Safeco Field and he will be facing a lineup that won't be featuring Mitch Haniger or Robinson Cano who are both out with injuries. Heading into Tuesday's game, the A's are 5-2 in the last seven meetings. And Triggs is a perfect 2-0, with a 0.00 ERA in his 2 road starts this season, with a 0.76 WHIP. Take Oakland. AL West Game of the Month. As always, good luck...Al McMordie |
|||||||
05-14-17 | Philadelphia Phillies - Game #1 v. Washington Nationals - Game #1 -165 | Top | 4-3 | Loss | -165 | 11 h 7 m | Show |
At 1:35 pm, our selection is on the Washington Nationals over the Philadelphia Phillies. This is the first game of a double-header in DC and it will feature a veteran righty-lefty pitching match-up of Jeremy Hellickson and Gio Gonzalez. Gonzalez had given up two runs or fewer in each of his first six starts on his way to a 1.64 ERA to begin the season. Then he met the Orioles lineup last Tuesday night and was bitten by a bad first inning once again. That first inning rough-up has been Gonzalez's Achilles' Heel this season as he has now allowed seven earned runs in seven first innings (a 9.00 ERA). So if he can just get off to a clean start this afternoon against the Phils, then he should be okay. Gonzalez loves pitching in day games as his teams are 53-36 (+12 games on the moneyline) in his starts. The Phillies are 5-18 in the last 23 meetings with the Nationals heading into Sunday, while Washington is 110-64 (+21 games on the moneyline) vs. division opponents. Take Washington. Good luck, as always...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
05-13-17 | A's v. Rangers -101 | Top | 5-6 | Win | 100 | 19 h 15 m | Show |
At 8:05 pm, our selection is on the Texas Rangers over the Oakland Athletics. When RH Sonny Gray burst on the Major League scene back in 2013 at the age of 23, he looked like he might be the most promising prospects in Oakland's system. And indeed when he put up even better numbers in 2014 and 2015, Gray seemed poised to put himself among the A.L's elite starters. But the workload caught up to Gray (he went from 64 MLB innings in his rookie season to over 200 the next two years) and last season numerous injuries derailed the A's ace. Gray was limited to 22 starts and he probably shouldn't have had that many as he logged a 5-11 record with an ugly 5.69 ERA over 117 innings. Re-signed to just a one-year contract, Gray is trying to get back on track in 2017, but he's already been on the DL with a strained lat muscle right before the season started. He came off the DL and has had two starts since, but he's clearly not back to form. Gray has pitched very well in Arlington over this career, but almost all of that was pre-2016 (he had one start here last season and got an ugly win). Heading into Saturday, Oakland is 2-9 in its last 11 road games. Take Texas. MLB Roadkill Winner. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
05-11-17 | Twins v. White Sox -124 | Top | 7-6 | Loss | -124 | 16 h 26 m | Show |
At 8:10 pm, our selection is on the Chicago White Sox over the Minnesota Twins. 30 games into the season and the Twins continue to defy logic (and the experts). The fact that Minnesota is 16-14 and battling just a game behind the Indians for control of the AL Central is certainly surprising enough. But when you also consider the fact that they have perhaps the thinnest pitching rotation of any team in the Majors, it makes what they've done even more astounding. Right now, there are only four starters listed on the Twins depth chart with the recent demotion of RHP Kyle Gibson to AAA. And #4 on that list is journeyman Nick Tepesch, who would be hard-pressed to make most MLB teams' #5 spot let alone #4. Fortunately, for tonight, Mother Nature is looking down on the Twins as they will go with RHP Phil Hughes instead of Tepesch because of Wednesday night's rain-out. But even Hughes is far from a sure thing. Despite a 4-1 record, the veteran RH has a 4.32 ERA and has allowed 40 hits in just 33 1/3 innings. The Sox will send one of their pleasant surprises in LHP Derek Holland to the mound. The former Texas Ranger is having a huge bounce-back in his first season in Chicago, going 3-2 with a 2.02 ERA in six starts. And the rain-out last night means that Holland will now be pitching with 6 days off. Holland's always been terrific in his career with extra rest (including 2-0 this season when pitching with at least 5 days' of rest). Finally, the Twins are hitting just .230 vs. southpaws this season. Take Chicago. |
|||||||
05-11-17 | Red Sox -133 v. Brewers | Top | 4-1 | Win | 100 | 9 h 27 m | Show |
At 1:10 pm, our selection is on the Boston Red Sox over the Milwaukee Brewers. This week's series is the Red Sox's first visit to Milwaukee since June of 2003, and after the first two games, Boston has likely had enough of Miller Park for a while. The Brew Crew has won the first two games of the series and they've plated 18 runs in the process. Perhaps LHP Eduardo Rodriguez can stop the bleeding for the Sox in the third and final contest of this trip to Wisconsin. Rodriguez is having a very good season so far, posting a 3.07 ERA in six appearances, including five starts, and he has turned into a strikeout artist as well, registering 37 punch-outs in just under 30 innings. The Crew will go with RHP Jimmy Nelson, who was one of their top pitching prospects when he came into the league in 2013. But it hasn't worked out for the former Crimson Tide hurler as Nelson has never had an ERA less than four runs in his four-plus seasons, and last year he led the National League with 16 losses. And it doesn't get any better for Nelson in Inter-league play either as he is 4-5 with an ugly 4.76 ERA and 1.59 WHIP in 10 starts vs. the American League. Even with their second straight loss to Milwaukee on Wednesday, the Red Sox are still 22-9 in their last 31 inter-league games. Take Boston. |
|||||||
05-09-17 | Rangers -137 v. Padres | Top | 11-0 | Win | 100 | 14 h 56 m | Show |
At 3:40 pm, our selection is on the Texas Rangers over the San Diego Padres. Not much has gone right for Texas so far this season as the former power-house of its Division is just 13-20 and in last place in the AL West, a full eight games behind its cross-state rivals, the Astros. But there have been some bright spots for this club and one of them is RHP A.J. Griffin, who got off to a 2-0 start before landing on the DL with a case of gout in his ankle. Griffin came off the new 10-day DL last Thursday and immediately picked up his third victory with five strong innings (1 earned run, 6 hits) against the aforementioned 'Stros in Houston. He will return to his hometown this afternoon as Griffin not only grew up in nearby El Cajon, but played his college ball at the University of San Diego. It will be the first start of his career against the Padres and you can bet there will be plenty of friends and family in the crowd tonight at Petco Park as Griffin looks to become one of the most surprising 4-0 starters in the league. The Pads will go with veteran RHP Jered Weaver. Weaver allowed a career-high 10 runs in his most recent start against the Rockies on Wednesday and 17 of the 20 runs he’s allowed this season have come via the long ball. Heading into Tuesday, the Rangers are 5-2 in the last seven trips to San Diego. And the Rangers are a perfect 7-0 behind Griffin after he allowed 1 earned run or less in his previous start. Take Texas. MLB Elite Info Winner. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
05-07-17 | Yankees v. Cubs -127 | Top | 5-4 | Loss | -127 | 17 h 9 m | Show |
At 8:05 pm, our selection is on the Chicago Cubs over the New York Yankees. Young RH Luis Severino burst on the scene for the Yankees two seasons ago after being signed as an amateur free agent. That year (2015), the 21-year-old went 5-3 with a 2.89 ERA in 11 starts in pinstripes and looked primed for a major breakout in 2016. But last season was a bust for Severino (as it was for many players on this team) and the Dominican wound up in the bullpen and was looking like trade fodder for the Yanks in the off-season. But New York stuck with him and now it seems like they might be rewarded for their patience as Severino - pitching this year on a $550K salary - seems rejuvenated, and has a 3.86 ERA and 0.95 WHIP in his first five starts. But this will be his toughest test since he faced the Orioles in his season debut, and he'll be on the big stage at Wrigley Field facing the defending MLB Champs. Jon Lester has seen his season go the opposite way of Severino's, as the veteran southpaw is off to a slow start after winning 19 games last season and finishing as the Cy Young runner up. Lester has seen plenty of the Yankees from his days in the AL, and he sure doesn't seem to mind it, going 13-6 with a 3.78 ERA in 29 career starts vs. The Pinstripes. Take the Cubs. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
05-06-17 | Red Sox -150 v. Twins | Top | 11-1 | Win | 100 | 10 h 25 m | Show |
At 2:10 pm, our selection is on the Boston Red Sox over the Minnesota Twins. Friday night brought yet another win for the surprising - no make that VERY surprising - Minnesota Twins. And this one was dramatic as career Twin Joe Mauer hit his first-ever walk-off home run to beat the Red Sox, 4-3 here at home. At 15-12, the Twins aren't exactly setting Major League records, but first place is first place, and although almost nobody thinks they'll be atop the Central Division come September, the Twins attitude right now is that they'll enjoy it while it lasts. Game two of the series is this afternoon, and the pitching match-up gets a bit tougher for the Minnesota line-up as reigning Cy Young winner RH Rick Porcello takes the hill for the Sox. Porcello didn't have a very good April, going 1-3 with a 4.75 ERA in five starts, and although he started out the month of May with his fourth loss, he pitched very well against a very good Orioles lineup, allowing two runs on five hits in six innings with seven strikeouts and no walks. It was actually Porcello's third straight quality start and over those last three he has a 1.83 ERA and 1.07 WHIP, allowing just 16 hits in 19 2/3 innings. So the victories should come as the Red Sox hitters start to heat up and they should be able to do some of that today against RHP Nick Tepesch, who gets his first-ever start for the Twins. Tepesch is 9-18 with a 4.68 ERA in 43 career games. Take Boston. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
05-05-17 | Dodgers -152 v. Padres | Top | 8-2 | Win | 100 | 21 h 57 m | Show |
At 10:10 pm, our selection is on the Los Angeles Dodgers over the San Diego Padres.  The Dodgers' Japanese import, RHP Kenta Maeda had a very successful rookie season in 2016, winning 16 games with a 3.48 ERA in 32 starts and finishing third in the NL Rookie of the Year voting. This season hasn't gone nearly as well so far, as Maeda is 2-2 with a 6.58 ERA in his first five starts. But the funny thing is, if you look at some of Maeda's other metrics, his numbers are actually just as strong as they were last season. For example, Maeda has 27 strikeouts and six walks in his 26 innings, for a strikeout rate of 9.3 (he had a 9.2 rate in 2016) and a K:BB ratio of 4.50 (better than his 3.58 last season). His problem however is that his hit rate is up considerably (10.0 from 7.7 last season) and in particular he has allowed 2.4 HRs/Game as compared to just 1.0 per game in 2016. This shouldn't be a problem tonight for him as the Padres are hitting an NL-worst .221 on the season so far. Last year, Maeda went 2-1 with a 3.27 ERA and 0.73 WHIP in four starts covering 22 innings vs. San Diego. Expect more of the same tonight as Maeda begins lowering that ERA towards the number he put up in 2016. The Dodgers are 47-22 in the last 69 meetings. Take L.A. MLB High Roller. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
05-03-17 | Rockies -118 v. Padres | Top | 11-3 | Win | 100 | 16 h 38 m | Show |
At 10:10 pm, our selection is on the Colorado Rockies over the San Diego Padres. If you've never heard of RHP Antonio Senzatela, you're probably not alone. The Venezuelan Rookie has come out of virtually nowhere to become an effective starter for the Rockies. And the fact that Senzatela had his first non-quality start in his last outing can be forgiven when you consider a couple of things. First, that start - Senzatela's fifth of the season - was at his home ballpark in Denver which happens to be the most hitter-friendly in the league. Second - and more important - Senzatela was facing the Washington Nationals. When you consider what the Nats did in April - including a 23-run outburst in the last game of the month against the Mets - then Senzatela's four earned runs in six innings against DC last Thursday really isn't bad at all. Now he goes from one extreme to the other as the Rockies rookie will face the anemic offense of the Padres, whose .223 team batting average ranks them next-to-last in the league. RH veteran Jered Weaver will get the start for the Padres and once again, Weaver's Achilles' heel has been the long-ball. Weaver - who allowed a league-high 37 dingers last year - has already given up 10 in his first five starts of 2017. And San Diego's an awful 0-5 in those five starts. Take the Rockies. MLB Road Warrior. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
05-02-17 | Angels v. Mariners -141 | Top | 6-4 | Loss | -141 | 19 h 12 m | Show |
At 10:10 pm, our selection is on the Seattle Mariners over the Los Angeles Angels. There was great expectation that Mariners LHP James Paxton would have a breakout season in 2017 after the former first round pick (of the Blue Jays) seemed to be improving in each of his first four seasons (all with Seattle). But it's likely nobody thought that the now-28-year-old would be this dominant early on. Paxton is putting together an All-Star first half with a 3-0 record in five starts and a 1.39 ERA, 0.84 WHIP, 10.9 strikeout rate and K:BB ratio of 6.50. Needless to say, those numbers place Paxton among the league leaders in almost every category. He'll go for his fourth victory tonight against the Angels, a team he's done very well against in the past (even when he wasn't this dominant). In seven starts against the Halos in his career, Paxton is 3-2 with a 2.17 ERA and 0.83 WHIP in just under 46 innings. This will be his first start vs. Los Angeles this season, and it's probably the worst Angels lineup he's faced to date. The Halos are also very banged up right now so the fact that they've managed a winning record (barely) is really quite amazing. But their lineup is pretty bad against southpaws, having scored just 16 runs against left-handed pitching (18 games) so far in 2017. Take the Mariners. Mound Mismatch Massacre. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
04-30-17 | Angels v. Rangers -101 | Top | 5-2 | Loss | -101 | 3 h 13 m | Show |
At 3:05 pm, our selection is on the Texas Rangers over the Los Angeles Angels. It seems like the Los Angeles Angels always have one of the longest lists of injured players in the league, and this season is certainly no exception. The pitching staff has been decimated by various maladies, including both the rotation and bullpen. With regard to the starters, injuries to Tyler Scaggs and Garrett Richards have necessitated the Halos to dig deep into their reserve. So that means that RHP JC Ramirez will get his fourth start of the season this afternoon. A reliever throughout his career, Ramirez got the chance to start games this season at the age of 28 and although he is 2-0 in his relief role in 2017, he has yet to win as a starter, going 0-2 with a 4.15 ERA, not exactly the type of numbers that instill confidence. The Rangers will go with LH Martin Perez who is a better pitcher than his overall record would indicate. Were it not for a poor effort two starts back against the Athletics on April 19, Perez would have quality starts in every trip to the hill this season. The good news for him this afternoon is that the Angels' lineup has struggled mightily against southpaws so far this season. The Angels have plated just 16 runs and are batting just .199 for the season against lefties. Take the Rangers. |
|||||||
04-29-17 | White Sox v. Tigers -161 | Top | 6-4 | Loss | -161 | 8 h 47 m | Show |
At 1:10 pm, our selection is on the Detroit Tigers over the Chicago White Sox. We've often seen when a young starting pitcher wins the Rookie of the Year award, he comes back the following season and has a letdown. Such has not been the case for the Tigers' 24-year-old RH, Michael Fulmer. Fulmer took home that ROY hardware last season with a ledger that included an 11-7 record, a 3.06 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP in 26 starts covering 159 innings. So far for 2017, Fulmer has kept up those types of numbers, going 2-1 with a 2.88 ERA over his first four starts. He will look to continue to prove that 2016 was no fluke as he faces the White Sox for the third time in his career. He's never lost to the Sox - but he's never gotten a W against them either, so he'll try to add them to a growing list of teams he's beaten. Fulmer can certainly thank his teammates for helping him collect that ROY award as he usually gets excellent run support from the Tiger bats. That support was on display in Fulmer's last start as he picked up his second win of the season in a 16-4 shellacking of the Twins. Detroit has now won five of Fulmer's last six starts, and is also 10-0 in Fulmer's starts when priced from -125 to -175, and 11-0 when Fulmer has pitched in the afternoon. Finally, despite their victory on Friday night, the White Sox are just 17-43 in their last 60 visits to Detroit. Take the Tigers. MLB Game of the Month. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
04-28-17 | Twins v. Royals -126 | Top | 6-4 | Loss | -126 | 17 h 0 m | Show |
At 8:15 pm, our selection is on the Kansas City Royals over the Minnesota Twins. Veteran RHP Ian Kennedy gets the start for the Royals in the first game of this three-game set at home against the Twins. Kennedy is attempting to build on a pretty successful 2016 - his first season with the Royals - in which he won 11 games and posted a 3.68 ERA in 33 starts. So far, he's done just about everything right in his first four starts of 2017, but he simply hasn't found a way to win as he is 0-2 with an outstanding 2.08 ERA in 26 innings. After a rough first start against this same Minnesota club on the road to open his season on April 5, Kennedy has thrown three consecutive quality starts and in his last two he's allowed just one run on six hits in 15 innings with 13 strikeouts and five walks. He'll look for some revenge tonight - along with that elusive first victory - vs. a team that he's put up decent numbers against in his career (that April 5 start not withstanding). Kennedy is 4-2 with a 3.78 ERA in eight starts vs. the Twinkies covering just under 48 innings. Minnesota is also a poor 27-56 in the last 83 meetings. Take the Royals. MLB High Roller Winner. As always, good luck...Al McMordie |
|||||||
04-27-17 | Padres v. Diamondbacks -161 | Top | 2-6 | Win | 100 | 19 h 13 m | Show |
At 9:40 pm, our selection is on the Arizona Diamondbacks over the San Diego Padres. The Seattle Mariners finally gave up on the pitcher who was once their top prospect, and shipped RH Taijuan Walker off to Arizona for Jean Segura and Mitch Haniger. So far, that trade has worked out much better for the M's than the D-Backs as Walker's Arizona career is off to a bit of a slow start. The 24-year-old is 2-1 with a 4.57 ERA and 1.39 WHIP in his four starts. However, the news isn't all bad and there is plenty of time for Walker to turn things around. First, although his outings haven't all gone the way he would have liked, the D-Backs have won three of Walker's starts. Second, he has had to face the Dodgers and Giants twice each in his four starts, so he gets some class relief tonight facing the Padres, who have won just nine games this season. In two career starts covering 12 innings against the Pads, Walker owns a 1.50 ERA and 0.50 WHIP and he also owns a 3.31 career ERA in inter-league games. Heading into Thursday, Arizona is an incredible 18-5 in their last 23 home games. Take the Diamondbacks. MLB Roadkill Winner. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
04-27-17 | Marlins -105 v. Phillies | Top | 2-3 | Loss | -105 | 11 h 39 m | Show |
At 1:05 pm, our selection is on the Miami Marlins over the Philadelphia Phillies. The Marlins are off to a better-than-expected start to the season and a lot of that is due to what appears to be a greatly improved offense - especially in the power department. Last season, the Fish finished the year with only 128 home runs, which ranked them next-to-last in the NL in that department. This year, so far, they're on pace for over 200 by season's end. Of course, it helps have Giancarlo Stanton back and healthy (the slugger missed significant time in 2016). Miami will hand the ball to veteran RH Edinson Volquez. In three career starts here, Volquez is 2-0 with a sparkling 1.89 ERA and 1.05 WHIP in 19 innings pitched. Take the Fish. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
04-23-17 | Yankees v. Pirates -110 | Top | 1-2 | Win | 100 | 10 h 38 m | Show |
At 1:35 pm, our selection is on the Pittsburgh Pirates over the New York Yankees. After being signed as an amateur free agent in 2004, RHP Ivan Nova spent his first six MLB seasons with the Yankees, with mostly mixed results. He began the 2016 season in the Bronx as well, but with Nova scheduled to hit free agency soon, and the Yanks looking to shed some salary, they dealt him to the Pirates for the famous "players to be named later". Pittsburgh signed Nova to an affordable three-year deal back in December, and so far he's been making them look pretty smart in doing so. After his first three starts of 2017, Nova has a 2.25 ERA and 0.95 WHIP and even though he hasn't been striking anybody out (just 8 K's in 20 innings) he also has yet to issue a walk. Needless to say, this is a big game for Nova because it will be the first time that he has faced his former team. However, Nova's numbers in inter-league games are very impressive: 9-3 with a 2.58 ERA in 18 appearances (17 starts) covering 115 inter-league innings. Take the Bucs. MLB Roadkill play. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
04-22-17 | Cardinals v. Brewers -105 | Top | 4-1 | Loss | -105 | 7 h 57 m | Show |
At 7:10 pm, our selection is on the Milwaukee Brewers over the St. Louis Cardinals. Like the Rangers and Blue Jays over in the American League, the Cardinals - a team many thought would contend for a pennant (or at least give the Cubs some competition) - are mired in last place in their Division. And it doesn't take a baseball genius to figure out why. St. Louis simply isn't hitting. The Cards rank 13th in runs scored (behind only Pittsburgh and San Diego) and 13th in team batting average at just .224. That's going to result in a lot of losses no matter how good your team's pitching is - and the Cards' pitching actually hasn't been that good. St. Louis' team ERA is 4.29, also 13th in the league. The Brew Crew on the other hand, has been a very pleasant surprise so far. They are sitting at 9-8 overall heading into Saturday's games, and one of the real bright spots for them has been RHP Chase Anderson. And Anderson is one Brewers pitcher who has had some success against St. Louis. In five starts, he owns a 2.42 ERA spanning 26 innings against the Redbirds. But he's also looking for his first victory against the Cards. But with the Cards' offense struggling, this looks like a great time to pick up his first 'W.' Meanwhile, the Brewers lineup is hitting the cover off the ball as they rank second in the N.L. in runs scored (86) and first in home runs (33). Take the Brewers. MLB Division Game of the Month. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
04-21-17 | Tigers -130 v. Twins | Top | 3-6 | Loss | -130 | 17 h 5 m | Show |
At 8:10 pm, our selection is on the Detroit Tigers over the Minnesota Twins. Tigers ace Justin Verlander suffered one of the worst outings of his career last time out when he was blasted by a very good Cleveland Indians lineup. Verlander allowed nine runs on 11 hits in just four innings as seemingly nothing went right for the veteran RH last Saturday. But if Verlander was going to hand-pick an opponent against which to get his next start against after a disaster like that, it would likely be the Twins. Verlander has arguably had as much success against tonight's opponent as anyone, going 17-8 with a 3.06 ERA in 33 starts against Minny. And there's also no ballpark that Verlander seems to enjoy pitching in more than Target Field. In nine career starts here, he's never lost, going 6-0 with a 2.35 ERA in just over 57 innings. Verlander hasn't lost to the Twins in almost three years (May 9, 2014) and even that was a quality start in a 2-1 defeat. Take the Tigers. MOUND MISMATCH. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
04-20-17 | Nationals -173 v. Braves | Top | 3-2 | Win | 100 | 18 h 33 m | Show |
At 7:35 pm, our selection is on the Washington Nationals over the Atlanta Braves. Don't look now, but the Braves had won five straight games before the first game of this series, including opening their new ball park with a four-game sweep (not sure how many times in history that has happened, but it can't be many). But those five games were against the Marlins (1) and Padres (4), so before we proclaim that the Braves are a playoff-caliber club now, let's see how they do in their stretch of games they have coming up against decidedly better competition. The Nats have a winning record and are keeping pace with the Marlins and Mets so far, but it seems like nothing comes easy for them this season. They had to rely on another walk-off hit on Sunday (a HR from Bryce Harper) and they barely beat the Braves in game one of this series on Tuesday. Six of the Nats' eight victories have come by two or fewer runs. RH ace Stephen Strasburg is off to a very good start for his his team, with a 3.00 ERA and 1.00 WHIP over this first three starts covering 21 innings. Most importantly, Strasburg has made each start on schedule and has not had any injury setbacks. RA Dickey gets the start for the for the Braves, and it will be interesting to see how Dickey's knuckleball (which he throws over 90% of the time) does in the new ballpark. Dickey is just 4-6 in 16 career games (14 starts) vs. D.C, while the Braves have won just 9 of the last 40 meetings vs. Washington. Take the Nats. MLB Road Warrior Winner. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
04-18-17 | Red Sox v. Blue Jays -147 | Top | 8-7 | Loss | -147 | 16 h 39 m | Show |
At 7:05 pm, our selection is on the Toronto Blue Jays over the Boston Red Sox. It's early in the season, but so far the most disappointing team has to be the Blue Jays. Toronto is expected to contend for the AL East Pennant again, but very little has gone right for the team from North of the Border. And then, just when it looked like things couldn't get any worse, the Jays lost one of their best players - 3B Josh Donaldson - to a nagging calf injury that won't go away. Nonetheless, this is still a very dangerous team and it will send its ace to the mound tonight as RH Marcus Stroman will get his third start of the season. It certainly hasn't been Stroman's fault that the Jays are floundering with a 2-10 record, as the World Baseball Classic Series MVP is 1-1 with a stellar 1.76 ERA in two starts, including a complete game his last time out. Ironically, the complete game was Stroman's lone loss as he won his first outing, when he pitched 6 1/3 quality innings in Tampa. Boston will go with journeyman Brian Johnson. The lefty prospect will be recalled from Triple-A to make his second big league start in place of Eduardo Rodriguez, who was placed on the paternity list. Johnson’s first start for the Sox was was back in July of 2015, when he gave up 3 runs in 5 1/3 innings. Boston is 1-8 in its last nine road games, and we'll fade the Red Sox tonight. Take the Jays. Game of the Week. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
04-17-17 | Marlins v. Mariners -127 | Top | 1-6 | Win | 100 | 20 h 43 m | Show |
At 10:10 pm, our selection is on the Seattle Mariners over the Miami Marlins. These two teams haven't met in Seattle since June of 2011, so this 3-game series is the first time that the Marlins have visited the Pacific Northwest in almost six years. Game 1 of this series isn't exactly a marquee pitching matchup either, as Miami's Tom Koehler goes to the mound to face the M's and southpaw Ariel Miranda. Miranda is a 28-year-old Cuban product who was originally signed as an amateur free agent by the Orioles. His time in Baltimore was short-lived however as Miranda came to Seattle after throwing just two innings with the O's last season. He pitched pretty well after putting on a Mariners uniform, going 5-2 with a 3.54 ERA in 11 games (10 starts) in August and September. Miranda hasn't kept it up so far in 2017 after taking over for the injured Drew Smyly in the rotation. But both of Miranda's starts so far have come against the Houston Astros, so he will get some class relief tonight as he faces the Marlins for the first time. This is Koehler's first start vs. Seattle however he is just 6-7 with a 4.50 ERA in 18 inter-league starts. The Marlins are 2-5 in Koehler's last 7 inter-league starts, while the M's are 9-3 in their last 12 inter-league games vs. a right-handed starter. Take Seattle. MLB Roadkill Winner. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
04-14-17 | Phillies v. Nationals -197 | Top | 2-3 | Win | 100 | 12 h 37 m | Show |
At 4:05 pm, our selection is on the Washington Nationals over the Philadelphia Phillies. After the embarrassment DC suffered in its second game vs. the Phils this season, when spot starter - and now ex-Nat - Jeremy Guthrie gave up a dozen runs in the first inning in Citizens Bank Park, you can bet the Nats would love to return the favor. They're not likely to duplicate the Phillies' 17 runs in that game, but they may be able to run up the score this evening at home against RHP Aaron Nola. Nola was the starter who went in that shellacking last Saturday, and although he picked up the win (the easiest 'W' he's likely to see in his career), Nola really didn't pitch that well, allowing three runs on seven hits with two walks in six innings. He's faced the Nats more than he has any other team in the league, but unfortunately that may not be a good thing as Nola is 1-3 with a 5.26 ERA against Washington. And despite starting three games here at Nationals park in his career, Nola has never beaten the Nats on their home soil (0-3 in seven starts). Stephen Strasburg gets the nod for the Nats, and so far, so good for the oft-injured ace of the staff as Stras is 1-0 with a 3.21 ERA in his first two starts. And his numbers against the Phils are pretty sick as Stras is 8-2 with a 2.46 ERA in 18 starts against them. Finally, the Nationals are an awesome 77-26 as a -200 favorite, including 31-9 behind Strasburg (and 17-2 their last 19). I won't buck those numbers. Take Washington. MLB ELITE INFO. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
04-11-17 | Padres v. Rockies -168 | Top | 2-3 | Win | 100 | 19 h 59 m | Show |
At 8:40 pm, our selection is on the Colorado Rockies over the San Diego Padres. About the only good thing you can say about the Padres 2017 rotation is that a former Cy Young contender is now among its ranks. Unfortunately, that former ace is RHP Jered Weaver and the three years that he finished in the top five in AL Cy Young voting were 2010-2012. In his last five seasons with the Angels - the only team he had been with before joining San Diego - Weaver's ERA steadily increased (from 2.41 in 2011 to 5.06 last season). Weaver was not offered a new contract to stay in Anaheim, and so he took a big pay cut to join the Padres on a one-year deal. Unfortunately, the trend of rising ERAs continued in his first start with his new team, as Weaver allowed four runs in five innings (7.20) in a 10-2 loss to the Dodgers. And Weaver pitched that game in friendly Dodger Stadium and now he has to go to the very unfriendly Coors Field - one of the few Major League ballparks Weaver has never pitched in. Despite the loss on Monday, the Rox have won five of the last six meetings with the Pads at home. The Padres are 14-37 in their last 51 road games vs. a RH starter. Take Colorado. Mound Mismatch Winner. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
04-10-17 | Red Sox v. Tigers -112 | Top | 1-2 | Win | 100 | 2 h 19 m | Show |
At 1:10 pm, our selection is on the Detroit Tigers over the Boston Red Sox. This afternoon's game at Comerica Park features perhaps the best pitching matchup of the season so far as Chris Sale of the Red Sox goes against fellow RHP Justin Verlander of the Tigers. Verlander finished second in last season's Cy Young voting while Sale finished fifth (his Boston teammate Rick Porcello took home the hardware) and now Sale finds himself in a new home with a much more realistic chance getting to the World Series than he's had with the White Sox in his first seven seasons. We'll give the edge to the home team today as the Tigers have been playing very well so far this season and Verlander's first start against the aforementioned White Sox was vintage Verlander. He went 6 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on two hits while striking out 10 Chicago batters. Sale was very good in his season debut as well, but he's never done particularly well against his former division rivals, logging an 8-7 record in 19 career starts vs. the Tigers. This is the final game of a four game series that carries over from the weekend and the Tigers took two of the first three and are 7-3 in the last 10 meetings. The Sox are 1-7 in their last eight road games. Take the Tigers. Good luck, as always...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
04-09-17 | Dodgers -120 v. Rockies | Top | 10-6 | Win | 100 | 14 h 37 m | Show |
At 3:10 pm, our selection is on the Los Angeles Dodgers over the Colorado Rockies. He didn't get the fanfare that Yu Darvish or Masahiro Tanaka did when they came over, but Japanese veteran Kenta Maeda did just about as well as any Japanese player in his first year on these shores. Maeda played a full, healthy season in 2016, and won 16 games with a 3.48 ERA. He didn't carry that form over to his first start of 2017, in which he allowed three runs in five innings to the Padres. But I love him to rebound this afternoon in Denver. Indeed, in his limited time in the Majors, Maeda has made Coors Field one of his favorite places. In 2016, Maeda made three starts here and he went 2-1 with an incredible 2.12 ERA and 0.77 WHIP in 17 innings. He'll look to keep that going this afternoon against the Rockies and LHP Tyler Anderson, who will also be making his second start of the new season. Anderson had an ugly win his first time out, as he allowed five runs on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings, in a 6-5 win at Milwaukee. Take Los Angeles. MLB Road Warrior. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
04-08-17 | Reds v. Cardinals -173 | Top | 4-10 | Win | 100 | 11 h 47 m | Show |
At 2:15 pm, our selection is on the St. Louis Cardinals over the Cincinnati Reds. The years of the Cardinals dominating play in the NL Central division may be numbered as the Chicago Cubs are now obviously the team to beat. But that doesn't mean that St. Louis is just going to roll over and play dead. The Cards have too much history to just go away and certainly a Wild Card spot is a very real possibility for the team that includes players like Yadier Molina, Matt Carpenter and Dexter Fowler just to name a few. For the Reds, 40-year-old RH Bronson Arroyo, who has not pitched in the Majors since June of 2014, will get the start. When Arroyo came into the league in 2000 as a 23-year-old with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Cards RHP Michael Wacha was just becoming a teenager. Wacha made the most of his first season in the Majors back in 2013, going 4-1 with a 2.78 ERA in 15 games (nine starts), but he's had a bit of an up-and-down campaign since then. Wacha gets his first start of 2017 this afternoon, so he will look to put his unsuccessful 2016 season behind him as he faces the Reds and Arroyo at Busch Stadium. The great news for Wacha is that the Cards are 8-0 in his last eight starts vs. the Reds. Take St. Louis. MLB HIGH ROLLER. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
04-07-17 | Indians -150 v. Diamondbacks | Top | 3-7 | Loss | -150 | 19 h 23 m | Show |
At 9:40 pm, our selection is on the Cleveland Indians over the Arizona Diamondbacks. The second inter-league series of the season matches last year's AL Champion team - the Indians - against the under-achieving - but hopeful - Arizona Diamondbacks. The Tribe will send RH veteran Josh Tomlin to the mound. Not only was Tomlin healthy for an entire season in 2016 for the first time in his career, but he had a breakout campaign in which he won 13 games and was an important part of the Indians' success. Tomlin's strength is his ability to throw strikes (he featured the lowest walk rate in the league last season) and at the end of June, he actually had more victories (nine) than he had total walks (eight). Tomlin faded a bit in July and then completely fell apart in August with a disastrous month. But he got it together again in the final month and then posted victories in both of his starts in the AL playoff series. It's not surprising that he struggled a bit late in the season as Tomlin's 174 regular season innings was the most he'd ever logged, so look for him to be back to his early season form tonight after a well-deserved rest. The opposite of Tomlin's season belonged to the D-Backs RH Shelby Miller who was quite possibly the worst starter in baseball with at least 20 starts last year. Miller's also been especially dreadful in nighttime starts, as his team has lost 29 of his last 38 (in contrast, Cleveland has gone 21-9 in Tomlin's nighttime starts). Finally, Cleveland is 7-3 in the last 10 meetings. Take the Tribe. MLB Road Warrior. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
04-06-17 | Blue Jays -117 v. Rays | Top | 5-2 | Win | 100 | 17 h 39 m | Show |
At 7:10 pm, our selection is on the Toronto Blue Jays over the Tampa Bay Rays. Marcus Stroman has had quite a 2017 baseball season already, and he hasn't even thrown his first pitch in an MLB regular season game. Stroman led Team USA to its first World Baseball Classic title and he won the tournament MVP award in he process. Stroman aims to keep the good times going as he steps to the mound tonight for his 2017 Blue Jays debut in Tampa against the Rays. He also looks to put his 2016 season behind him. The Jays' RH had high hopes entering the 2015 season after a solid rookie campaign in 2014 in which he won 11 games. But his sophomore season was over before it began as Stroman tore the ACL in his knee that Spring and didn't pitch until September. Although optimism was high for a bounce-back last season, it didn't materialize as Stroman went just 9-10, with a pedestrian 4.37 ERA in 32 starts. He may see a little bit of himself from a couple of years ago when he watches his mound opponent tonight. Blake Snell will get the start for the Rays. He's a 24-year-old southpaw and, like Stroman, is highly-touted and had a pretty successful rookie campaign. But Snell also had 51 walks in just 89 innings last season and he can't do that against this Jays lineup or they will eat him alive. Stroman is 3-0 in five career starts in April. Take Toronto. Mound Mismatch. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
|||||||
04-04-17 | Mariners v. Astros -155 | Top | 1-2 | Win | 100 | 9 h 53 m | Show |
At 8:10 pm, our selection is on the Houston Astros over the Seattle Mariners. With the moves these teams made in the off-season, both the Mariners and Astros could improve on their records of 2016. And that's saying something since they both had winning records - but still fell way short of the Pennant-winning Rangers. The Mariners added SS Jean Segura and OF Jarrod Dyson as well as a quality starter in Drew Smyly, while the Astros added C Brian McCann, OF Josh Reddick, and DH Carlos Beltran. On the pitching side, Houston didn't really improve its rotation and that could be a problem in the long run. But tonight it sends perhaps its most talented starter to the mound in RH Lance McCullers, Jr. McCullers missed the final two months of the 2016 season with an elbow strain, but looked pretty good in Spring Training. For the Mariners, RHP Hisashi Iwakuma led the team with 16 wins last season, but his numbers regressed for the most part as his ERA rose to over four runs for the first time in his MLB career and his K:BB ratio dropped all the way from 5.29 to 3.20. His awful Spring indicates that Iwakuma - now 35 years old - may be on the downside of his career. Iwakuma is just 5-6 in 14 career starts. vs. Houston and is 3-3 in eight starts here at Minute Maid Park. Take the 'Stros. As always, good luck...Al McMordie. |
- Early Lines
- High Limits
- NEW VIP Rewards
- VIP Program
- Mobile Betting
- Crypto
- VIP Program
- Crypto
- Live & Mobile Betting!
- Crypto
- Live & Mobile Betting
- 48 Hour Payouts
- 35% Crypto Bonus
- Live Betting
- Mobile Friendly
Guaranteed Winners or your money back and Free Picks in the NFL football, NBA basketball, MLB baseball, NCAA college football and basketball, Nascar Racing, Arena Football nhl hockey leagues and more.
We are part of the internets Premier Sports Handicappers League with full documentation of all members on this sports betting news and info portal. Free Membership, Join Today and start Winning!
For any resources you could need like sports handicapping odds, handicapping stats, schedules, or handicappers free picks and tips please click on any of the links on the right hand side of this page.