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MLB
Saturday, September 13
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Hot Lines: Saturday's best MLB bets
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Milwaukee Brewers at Philadelphia Phillies (-135, 10)
The Philadelphia Phillies are making a charge toward the postseason, and Ryan Howard is a key reason why.
The slugger will try to homer for the fourth consecutive game and draw the Phillies closer to the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL wild-card race as the teams resume their four-game series on Saturday at Citizens Bank Park.
Friday's scheduled game was rained out, and will be made up as part of a day-night doubleheader on Sunday.
Howard did not clear .200 until May 22, and still was hitting as low as .204 as late as June 12. But the 2006 NL Most Valuable Player has proven his worth of late, helping the Phillies (80-67) draw within three games of the Brewers (83-64) for the wild card and the New York Mets for the NL East lead.
He opened the scoring in Thursday's 6-3 victory with a two-run homer - his major-league leading 43rd - in the first inning, and added an RBI double that missed being a two-run homer by inches in the fourth as Philadelphia avoided its third straight loss.
The Brewers are 3-8 in September, and each loss is leaving them with less of a chance to catch the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central. Milwaukee is 5 1/2 games out of first, and surging Houston is tied with the Phillies in the wild-card race.
"This series has no more importance or value than the last series, but every day is important, every game is important," said Brewers manager Ned Yost, who is looking for ways to avoid a second straight late-season collapse. "It's must-win, that must be your mind-set in September."
Pick: Phillies
Cincinnati Reds at Arizona Diamondbacks (-145, 8 1/2)
A recent six-game losing streak has left the Arizona Diamondbacks in a hole. Having a healthy and effective Randy Johnson for the stretch run would give them a much better chance of climbing out.
After missing his last turn in the rotation, Johnson hopes to help the Diamondbacks make up ground in the NL West race as they continue a three-game series on Saturday night against the Cincinnati Reds.
Although Arizona (72-74) ended its season-high skid with a 3-2 victory in Friday's series opener behind Brandon Webb's 20th win, it remained 3 1/2 games behind the West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers with 16 games remaining.
Johnson (10-9, 4.21 ERA) was originally scheduled to start Sunday against the Dodgers, but was sidelined with shoulder fatigue. The left-hander, who turned 45 on Wednesday, pitched very well in eight straight second-half starts before he was reached for five runs and six hits - including four homers - over a season-low 3 2-3 innings in Arizona's 8-6 win over St. Louis on Sept. 1.
Regardless of Johnson's performance, winning two straight won't be easy for Arizona with an offense that has scored 17 runs and batted .194 in the last seven games.
Facing Cincinnati's Edinson Volquez (16-5, 3.23) won't make the task any less difficult. Volquez, making his third attempt at his 17th victory, had a chance at a 20-win season, but that seems unlikely now that he has won only once in his last four starts.
He threw a season-high 119 pitches in 5 2-3 innings at Milwaukee on Monday, giving up five runs, four hits and three walks as the Reds rallied for a 5-4 victory.
Volquez, who has never faced the Diamondbacks, is 3-0 with a 2.84 ERA in his last five road starts.
Pick: Reds
Saturday, September 13
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hot Lines: Saturday's best MLB bets
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Milwaukee Brewers at Philadelphia Phillies (-135, 10)
The Philadelphia Phillies are making a charge toward the postseason, and Ryan Howard is a key reason why.
The slugger will try to homer for the fourth consecutive game and draw the Phillies closer to the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL wild-card race as the teams resume their four-game series on Saturday at Citizens Bank Park.
Friday's scheduled game was rained out, and will be made up as part of a day-night doubleheader on Sunday.
Howard did not clear .200 until May 22, and still was hitting as low as .204 as late as June 12. But the 2006 NL Most Valuable Player has proven his worth of late, helping the Phillies (80-67) draw within three games of the Brewers (83-64) for the wild card and the New York Mets for the NL East lead.
He opened the scoring in Thursday's 6-3 victory with a two-run homer - his major-league leading 43rd - in the first inning, and added an RBI double that missed being a two-run homer by inches in the fourth as Philadelphia avoided its third straight loss.
The Brewers are 3-8 in September, and each loss is leaving them with less of a chance to catch the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central. Milwaukee is 5 1/2 games out of first, and surging Houston is tied with the Phillies in the wild-card race.
"This series has no more importance or value than the last series, but every day is important, every game is important," said Brewers manager Ned Yost, who is looking for ways to avoid a second straight late-season collapse. "It's must-win, that must be your mind-set in September."
Pick: Phillies
Cincinnati Reds at Arizona Diamondbacks (-145, 8 1/2)
A recent six-game losing streak has left the Arizona Diamondbacks in a hole. Having a healthy and effective Randy Johnson for the stretch run would give them a much better chance of climbing out.
After missing his last turn in the rotation, Johnson hopes to help the Diamondbacks make up ground in the NL West race as they continue a three-game series on Saturday night against the Cincinnati Reds.
Although Arizona (72-74) ended its season-high skid with a 3-2 victory in Friday's series opener behind Brandon Webb's 20th win, it remained 3 1/2 games behind the West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers with 16 games remaining.
Johnson (10-9, 4.21 ERA) was originally scheduled to start Sunday against the Dodgers, but was sidelined with shoulder fatigue. The left-hander, who turned 45 on Wednesday, pitched very well in eight straight second-half starts before he was reached for five runs and six hits - including four homers - over a season-low 3 2-3 innings in Arizona's 8-6 win over St. Louis on Sept. 1.
Regardless of Johnson's performance, winning two straight won't be easy for Arizona with an offense that has scored 17 runs and batted .194 in the last seven games.
Facing Cincinnati's Edinson Volquez (16-5, 3.23) won't make the task any less difficult. Volquez, making his third attempt at his 17th victory, had a chance at a 20-win season, but that seems unlikely now that he has won only once in his last four starts.
He threw a season-high 119 pitches in 5 2-3 innings at Milwaukee on Monday, giving up five runs, four hits and three walks as the Reds rallied for a 5-4 victory.
Volquez, who has never faced the Diamondbacks, is 3-0 with a 2.84 ERA in his last five road starts.
Pick: Reds
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