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Saturday, July 14
Washington Nationals at Florida Marlins (-160, 9)
Veteran players are huge fans of the All-Star break, a three-day gap in an otherwise hectic schedule that lets them visit family and friends and kick their feet up. Newcomers to the big leagues, on the other hand, might not look at it the same way.
Nationals starter Matt Chico, for example, told the Washington Post last week that he wished he didn’t have to take a break. A look at his numbers tells you why – the young left-hander has allowed only one run over his last three starts. That the Nats lost two of them is solely the fault of the team’s offense.
That same offense, however, came to life last night in Miami with a 17-hit, 14-run outburst that sent Marlins ace Dontrelle Willis out of the game in the fourth innings to a chorus of boos from the home crowd.
Florida used six relievers to mop up the mess that Willis left behind him, the team’s fourth straight loss against the last-place Nationals. Washington won as +140 underdogs on Friday, boosting their impressive road money stats to +8.28 units for the season despite an away record of 18-25.
Pick: Nationals +152
Chicago White Sox at Baltimore Orioles (-106, 8 ½)
The dreaded curse strikes again. The very night the story about Chicago’s hot bats goes on the site, the Sox are shut out by the Orioles. But that was Friday night against Erik Bedard, not Saturday night against Daniel Cabrera.
Cabrera’s talent has never been in question, but his consistency and ability to find the plate have always been concerns for his handlers. Those concerns were well-founded when he last faced the White Sox just before the All-Star break on July 3. Cabrera walked five batters and threw 111 pitches in only six innings as Baltimore fell 5-1 in Chicago.
Cabrera faced Javier Vazquez that night, who threw a complete-game four-hitter and needed only 118 pitches through the full nine innings. Vazquez subsequently threw another complete-game win against the Minnesota Twins and has quietly become one of MLB’s hottest pitchers.
Pick: White Sox -102
Detroit Tigers at Seattle Mariners (+107, 9)
Gary Sheffield will make headlines for a recent interview he did for HBO in which race and steroids play major parts and in which he wasn’t shy about dropping names. What should be making headlines, however, is his bat.
Sheff is 15-for-32 so far in July with 10 runs and 10 RBIs in just eight games. He’s led the Tigers to a 6-2 record this month, including last night’s 6-3 win in Seattle in which Sheffield’s grand slam was the decisive blow. The big fly is more evidence of Sheffield's dominance over the Mariners – he owns a .475 on-base percentage against Seattle since 2004.
The win lifted Detroit’s record on the road to 28-16, which matches Seattle’s mark at home. The Tigers get the edge for tonight’s game because Kenny Rogers has been better than Detroit backers could have hoped since returning from the disabled list. Rogers has allowed only 17 baserunners and two earned runs in his three starts, all Detroit wins by a combined score of 16-6.
The Mariners’ bats have cooled off in July. Excepting Adrian Beltre and Jose Guillen, Seattle regulars are all hitting under .260 for the month and four are hitting below .200.
Pick: Tigers -115
Hot Lines
Saturday, July 14
Washington Nationals at Florida Marlins (-160, 9)
Veteran players are huge fans of the All-Star break, a three-day gap in an otherwise hectic schedule that lets them visit family and friends and kick their feet up. Newcomers to the big leagues, on the other hand, might not look at it the same way.
Nationals starter Matt Chico, for example, told the Washington Post last week that he wished he didn’t have to take a break. A look at his numbers tells you why – the young left-hander has allowed only one run over his last three starts. That the Nats lost two of them is solely the fault of the team’s offense.
That same offense, however, came to life last night in Miami with a 17-hit, 14-run outburst that sent Marlins ace Dontrelle Willis out of the game in the fourth innings to a chorus of boos from the home crowd.
Florida used six relievers to mop up the mess that Willis left behind him, the team’s fourth straight loss against the last-place Nationals. Washington won as +140 underdogs on Friday, boosting their impressive road money stats to +8.28 units for the season despite an away record of 18-25.
Pick: Nationals +152
Chicago White Sox at Baltimore Orioles (-106, 8 ½)
The dreaded curse strikes again. The very night the story about Chicago’s hot bats goes on the site, the Sox are shut out by the Orioles. But that was Friday night against Erik Bedard, not Saturday night against Daniel Cabrera.
Cabrera’s talent has never been in question, but his consistency and ability to find the plate have always been concerns for his handlers. Those concerns were well-founded when he last faced the White Sox just before the All-Star break on July 3. Cabrera walked five batters and threw 111 pitches in only six innings as Baltimore fell 5-1 in Chicago.
Cabrera faced Javier Vazquez that night, who threw a complete-game four-hitter and needed only 118 pitches through the full nine innings. Vazquez subsequently threw another complete-game win against the Minnesota Twins and has quietly become one of MLB’s hottest pitchers.
Pick: White Sox -102
Detroit Tigers at Seattle Mariners (+107, 9)
Gary Sheffield will make headlines for a recent interview he did for HBO in which race and steroids play major parts and in which he wasn’t shy about dropping names. What should be making headlines, however, is his bat.
Sheff is 15-for-32 so far in July with 10 runs and 10 RBIs in just eight games. He’s led the Tigers to a 6-2 record this month, including last night’s 6-3 win in Seattle in which Sheffield’s grand slam was the decisive blow. The big fly is more evidence of Sheffield's dominance over the Mariners – he owns a .475 on-base percentage against Seattle since 2004.
The win lifted Detroit’s record on the road to 28-16, which matches Seattle’s mark at home. The Tigers get the edge for tonight’s game because Kenny Rogers has been better than Detroit backers could have hoped since returning from the disabled list. Rogers has allowed only 17 baserunners and two earned runs in his three starts, all Detroit wins by a combined score of 16-6.
The Mariners’ bats have cooled off in July. Excepting Adrian Beltre and Jose Guillen, Seattle regulars are all hitting under .260 for the month and four are hitting below .200.
Pick: Tigers -115
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