The Bum's Sports Page For Tuesday August 25th Best Bets-Trends-News !

[StarDust Bum]

Rays do not fare well following an off day

The Tampa Bay Rays have gone just 2-8 in their previous 10 ball games following an off day. The Rays are in this exact spot when they host the Minnesota Twins Tuesday evening at Tropicana Field after a day off Monday.

The Rays lost their last game following an off day when they were beaten by 5-3 by the Texas Rangers on Aug. 14 after getting the 13th off.

The Rays (-143) open a three-game set at the Trop with Nathan Karns expected to get the ball. The Twins (+132) are expected to start Ervin Santana.

[StarDust Bum]

August has not been kind to Robbie Ray

Robbie Ray has taken to the mound for the Arizona Diamondbacks on four occasions this August, with the left-hander losing each start.

Ray is 0-4 with a 5.48 ERA while allowing opponents to hit .321 so far this month. Through 21.1 innings pitched, Ray has surrendered 13 earned runs with three home runs.

The D-Backs are currently +112 when they host the St. Louis Cardinals Tuesday.

[StarDust Bum]

Royals have been dominating the Orioles

The Kansas City Royals have taken the past seven contests against the Baltimore Orioles. The Royals have outscored the O's by an average of two runs per game during that span.

The Orioles have also long their past five games while allowing an average of 6.8 runs per game.

The Royals are currently -133 when they host the O's Tuesday.

[StarDust Bum]

Wood has floundered since joining Dodgers

Alex Wood has not been looking his best since joining the LA Dodgers with the club going 1-3 in his four starts so far. Since joining the Dodgers, Wood has a 5.01 ERA while surrendering 23 hits and 13 runs over 23.1 innings.

On the season as a whole, between the Dodgers and Braves, Wood is 8-8 with a 3.79 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP.

The Dodgers are currently -146 when they visit Cincinnati Tuesday.

[StarDust Bum]

Pirates getting the job done behind Morton

The Pittsburgh Pirates are coming to play when Charlie Morton takes the mound, winning his last five starts with a combined score of 34-16.

Morton is helping his own cause as well, pitching to a 2.94 ERA with 35 strikeouts to just 10 walks in those five outings.

Morton takes the mound on the road in Miami to take on Brad Hand and the Marlins. The Pirates are currently -166 favorites with a total of 8.0.

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Under is cashing in Duffy's starts

The under is 9-1 in Danny Duffy's last 10 starts for the Kansas City Royals, with Duffy pitching to a 3.28 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP in those 10 starts.

The Royals host Miguel Gonzalez (4.73 ERA, 12-11 O/U) and the Baltimore Orioles Tuesday night with a total currently at 7.5 runs.

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Red Sox and White Sox cashing over tickets this season

The Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox have met five times this season, with the over cashing in each of those contests. SO far this season, the two teams have combined for 12.2 runs per game when they clash.

Boston has been one of the top over teams in baseball this season with a 66-53-5 over/under record, which is the opposite of the White Sox who hold a 58-61-4 O/U mark.

The total is currently set at 8.0 when these two teams met Tuesday.

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ESPN yanks Schilling off Little League games

Former major league pitcher and broadcaster Curt Schilling was removed from ESPN's telecasts of the Little League World Series on Tuesday because of a controversial post on Twitter.

Schilling's tweet, which was quickly taken down, was part of a graphic that read: It's said only 5-10% of Muslims are extremists. In 1940, only 7% of Germans were Nazis. How'd that go?"

"Curt's tweet was completely unacceptable, and in no way represents our company’s perspective," ESPN said in a statement. "We made that point very strongly to Curt and have removed him from his current Little League assignment pending further consideration."

Schilling apologized on Twitter, saying the tweet wasn't intended to offend anyone and that the information used in the graphic was inaccurate.

"My mistake posting the stuff," he tweeted.

Schilling is also an analyst for ESPN's "Sunday Night Baseball."

[StarDust Bum]

MLB CHEAT SHEETS: AUG 24-27

Here's a comprehensive look at betting notes for the mid-week major-league schedule:

Desert Heat

The Arizona Diamondbacks are averaging over 6.5 runs per game, batting .322 since July 25th. They've won 18-of-28 games during that span, and return home from a successful road trip to host the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals lost 2-of-3 in San Diego, and could be in for a tough series against a hot Diamondbacks team.

Runs At Wrigley

The Cubs are on a roll, winners of 13 of their last 16. They come off a four game sweep of the Braves at Wrigley, out-scoring Atlanta 40-14 in those games. They've gone over the total in six of their last seven home games, and that trend could continue in the Windy City as they host the Indians on Monday.

Blue Jays Battery

The Jays broke another record this weekend, scoring the most runs in a three game series in club history (36) in a sweep of the Angels in Anaheim. Toronto has seized the top spot in the AL East, moving a half game up on the Yankees. The Jays will be in Texas this week, and you should expect fireworks in Arlington.


Hitting Notes

*Josh Donaldson was 4-for-5 with a double, a home run and six RBIs on Saturday, helping the Jays beat the Angels by a score of 15-3 in Anaheim. He became the first player in the majors to reach 100 RBIs, and he second on the American League with 34 home runs.

*Yoenis Cespedes is proving to be a valuable acquisition for the Mets, and he had himself quite a series in Colorado over the weekend. Cespedes was 7-for-15 with three home runs and eight RBIs in a three game sweep of the Rockies.


Pitching Notes

*Madison Bumgarner did it again on Friday, hitting another home run in a win over the Pirates in Pittsburgh. He had a double, a home run and a pair of RBIs in his previous start.

*Mike Fiers tossed a no-hitter at home versus the Dodgers on Friday, striking out 10 in a 3-0 win. He's now 1-0 with a 2.42 ERA in four starts since coming over from Milwaukee. His next start comes on the road in Minnesota on Friday.


Totals Streak


We think of Safeco as one of the most pitcher friendly parks in the majors, but that hasn't been the case lately. The Mariners have seen the total go over at a rate of 20-5-3 in their last 28 home games. Their bullpen can take a lot of the blame, only two teams in the majors (Oakland and Colorado) rank worse than the Mariners who's releivers own a 4.45 ERA this season.


Injury Notes

*David Wright is set to return to the lineup for the Mets on Monday as they face the Phillies. He's batting .433 with a home run and eight RBIs in 30 career at bats versus Aaron Harang, who will start on Thursday.

*C.C. Sabathia left Sunday's game with a knee injury, and he' scheduled to have an MRI on Monday. With a record of 4-9 with a 5.27 ERA, the Yankees aren't likely to rush him back.
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[StarDust Bum]

Armadillo: Tuesday's six-pack

-- Mets hit eight HRs last night; took them 12 games to hit their first eight this year.

-- Peyton Manning says he has no feeling in the fingertips on his right hand, which is the hand he throws the football with.

-- Buccaneers were 0-8 at home LY, their first winless home season since 1076.

-- Reggie Miller turned 50 this week; I felt old typing that.

-- Houston Texans named Brian Hoyer starting QB for their opener with KC. .

-- Giants have nine safeties in camp; six of them are hurt; they play the Cowboys in 19 days-- take the over?

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Armadillo: Tuesday's List of 13: Nobody asked me, but.......

13) I swear, Draft Kings might be advertising more on TV this month than the beer companies. Imagine if gambling on sports becomes legal; advertisers will run amuck.

12) Stock market lost 588 points Monday; they were down 1,069 at one point, but rallied before slipping again in the afternoon. Wild day for the money people.

11) Cubs and White Sox both played at home Monday; wonder how many people went to both games? Would be a fun thing to know.

10) Cubs now have 12 walkoff wins; White Sox-Pirates-Angels have 9, Cardinals 8.

9) Justin Bour of the Marlins was on TV Monday wearing a t-shirt that said "I want abs, but I want a doughnut more." My kind of guy.

8) Last three years in the NFL, a team that had been 2-14 the year before wound up with a winning season: Texans LY, Chiefs in '13, Colts in '12. Titans/Bucs both went thru last year 2-14-- can you envision either having a winning season this year?

7) Bucs 25, Bengals 11-- Jameis Winston looked alright, but he is not a mobile QB and he sprained his ankle when hit early in second quarter Monday. He jogged off the field at the end of the game. His first eight passes went to eight different receivers, which is a good thing, but Tampa Bay is also starting two rookies on the offensive line.

6) Odd fact: Last time an Alabama QB won an NFL game that counted was 1988.

5) A's 11, Mariners 5-- Solid comeback by the A's, who trailed 5-0, but disappointing day to be an A's fan-- they fired third base coach Mike Gallego, who had been part of the team for almost 20 years, as a player and coach. You do not fire family during the season, it is bad form. Gallego deserves much, much better than this.

4) Mentioned this in passing couple days ago but it bears repeating: when Milwaukee traded Carlos Gomez to Astros, he was leading major leagues, knocking in 21.3% of runners who were on base when he was at bat. With Houston, he's knocked in 3 of 44 runners; he came up with first/second and no outs last night, and they had him bunt.

You trade for a guy, bat him 4th or 5th, then three weeks later you have him bunting guys over with the game on the line. That not good.

3) Weird baseball night last night: Detroit led 5-0, Phillies led 7-2, Seattle led 5-0 but all three lost and none of the games were close at the end. Lot of bad relief pitching.

2) Phillies put veteran OF Jeff Francoeur on waivers, someone claimed him, then the Phillies pulled him back, meaning he won't be traded before the end of the season. Not sure why they wouldn't dump him for a prospect, but thats their business.

1) I finished reading the book about last year's Washington Nationals; learned a lot, but thought he book was too short, which I guess is a compliment of sorts. Apparently it started out as a 6-part magazine article, but grew into a book. Name of the book is "The Grind" if you like baseball, you'll find it interesting.

[StarDust Bum]

TUESDAY, AUGUST 25

Game Score Status Pick Amount

Houston - 7:05 PM ET NY Yankees +136 500 *****
NY Yankees - Under 7.5 500 GRAND SLAM

NY Mets - 7:05 PM ET Philadelphia +198 500 TRIPLE PLAY
Philadelphia - Over 8 500 TRIPLE PLAY

San Diego - 7:05 PM ET San Diego +161 500
Washington - Under 7 500

LA Angels - 7:08 PM ET LA Angels -126 500 *****
Detroit - Under 9 500

Milwaukee - 7:10 PM ET Cleveland -160 500
Cleveland - Over 8 500

Minnesota - 7:10 PM ET Minnesota +136 500 DOUBLE PLAY
Tampa Bay - Over 7 500

Colorado - 7:10 PM ET Atlanta -118 500 DOUBLE GRAND SLAM
Atlanta - Under 8 500

LA Dodgers - 7:10 PM ET Cincinnati +118 500 DOUBLE PLAY
Cincinnati - Over 8 500

Pittsburgh - 7:10 PM ET Miami +131 500
Miami - Under 7.5 500

Toronto - 8:05 PM ET Toronto -132 500 *****
Texas - Over 9 500 *****

Baltimore - 8:10 PM ET Baltimore +115 500
Kansas City - Over 8 500 TRIPLE PLAY

Boston - 8:10 PM ET Chi. White Sox -130 500
Chi. White Sox - Under 7.5 500

St. Louis - 9:40 PM ET St. Louis -128 500 TRIPLE PLAY
Arizona - Over 8 500

Oakland - 10:10 PM ET Oakland +102 500
Seattle - Over 7.5 500 GRAND SLAM

Chi. Cubs - 10:15 PM ET San Francisco +130 500 DOUBLE PLAY
San Francisco - Under 6.5 500 DOUBLE PLAY