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**InsiderEdge** · 05-25-2004, 04:44 PM

First game is at 7:05 PM ET tonight.

Contest closes at 7:05 PM ET as well.

**InsiderEdge** · 05-25-2004, 09:51 PM

Well, the Braves let us down with our free play but our other two plays on Cincinnati and Tampa Bay come in easy. Kansas City is the last play pending.

Florida Marlins (Beckett) at Cincinnati Reds (Wilson) 7:10 PM ET

Cincinnati (Wilson) +111 (2 Units)

Paul Wilson is back on track after a few shaky outings in the middle of his starts. He still has yet to lose and the Reds are 8-1 in his 9 starts this season. Wilson has gone 3-0 with a 1.64 ERA and a 0.86 WHIP in his last 3 trips to the hill. Wilson has only pitched 3 times at home this season but he has certainly made the most of it. He is 3-0 with a 1.23 ERA and 0.77 ratio. As good as the Reds are playing now, an average performance should get the job done. Josh Beckett is overvalued yet again and will most likely all season long. Not saying he is having a bad season but after the World Series, he was put on top of the pitching world and he would become a public pitcher. The Marlins are 5-4 in his 9 starts this season but only one of those wins came on the road. Beckett has a 2.43 ERA at home but that balloons to a 6.52 ERA on the road. His WHIP nearly doubles to 1.60 and opposing hitters are comfortably hitting .313 against him in his 3 road starts. He has allowed at least 4 earned runs in those 3 road outings. An important part of the Reds success is the fact that they have been healthy, meaning greater consistency on offense. They have used the same lineup for 6 straight games (with the exception of resting Barry Larkin and Jason LaRue on Sunday) for the first time in 3 years. The return of Austin Kearns is significant. He is 4-for-13 (.308) in five games after coming off the DL. Kearns is heating up, which brings a much-needed right-handed bat to the middle of the Reds order. The Reds are hitting .286 against right-handers over their last 10 games, a major improvement from just two weeks ago.

Minnesota Twins (Lohse) at Tampa Bay Devil Rays (Zambrano) 7:15 PM ET

Tampa Bay (Zambrano) –103 (2 Units)

The Devil Rays are hot and while they remain one of the worst road teams in all of baseball, they are doing a good job at home. Victor Zambrano was moved up a spot in the rotation, followed by Rob Bell who was the original starter. Zambrano has the stuff to be a dominant pitcher and he has shown that this season despite his recent struggles. He started the season with 4 straight home starts, all of which were quality starts with Tampa Bay winning 3 of those games. He was then penalized by the schedule makers with a brutal schedule as he was on the road for his next 5 starts. He returned home in his last start but still felt the effects of the road. He is 3-1 at home with a 5.22 ERA but opposing hitters are only batting 2.38 against him. Kyle Lohse has been on the road in 6 of his 9 starts but he isn’t getting accustomed to it. He has allowed at least 4 earned runs in 4 of those starts while posting a 6.29 ERA away from home. Tampa Bay has lost 11 straight games to Minnesota, dating back the last 2 seasons, but that doesn’t scare us here. Despite the recent slide, the Rays are 28-23 overall against the Twins and have a winning record (13-12) against them at Tropicana Field. This current 4-game winning streak is the longest in the Lou Piniella era and all of a sudden, there is a different attitude in the clubhouse. "We're taking the field with a lot more confidence,” said Tino Martinez. “No matter if we fell behind or not, we knew we were in the game until the end. Now we're expecting to win. Even when we fell behind, we knew we were going to come back and battle. And we did.” The Devil Rays bullpen has been unhittable lately. On Sunday, the bullpen ran its streak to 22 innings without allowing a run. During that stretch, the bullpen has allowed 12 hits and four walks, struck out 16 and held opposing hitters to a .147 average. Everyone is contributing out of the pen, which means everyone is staying fresh and rested as well.

Detroit Tigers (Maroth) at Kansas City Royals (Gobble) 8:10 PM ET

Kansas City (Gobble) –121 (2 Units)

The Royals return home after losing some tough games in Oakland that included two extra inning games in their last two. They have lost 7 of their last 9 games but 6 of those came against Oakland, who is arguably one of the hottest teams in all of baseball right now. Before that sweep, they were 8-7 at home. Jimmy Gobble takes the hill and while his last 3 starting numbers have been suspect, he gets to pitch at home where he has had the most success. He has a 3.13 ERA at home with the royals going 2-1 in those 3 starts. Pitching has not been the biggest culprit of their recent skid. They have given up more than 6 runs only once in their last 12 games. It’s been the offense that has taken a halt. Oakland pitching held them to 11 total runs in their 6 meetings (1.67 rpg at home). In their other home games, they are averaging 4.7 rpg. They get a pitching break tonight as well. Mike Maroth has really turned things around since last season but he continues to struggle on the road. He has allowed at least 4 earned runs in each of his last 4 road starts and he has a 6.62 ERA for the season to go along with a 1.68 WHIP. The Tigers are not the biggest clutch hitting team around as Thursday’s come from behind win was the first time this season the Tigers handed a blown save to an opposing reliever. That is great news for the Royals bullpen that has blown 8 this season. More good news is that Jeremy Affeldt solidified his role as the new closer despite blowing a save in his first attempt on Saturday. He went two innings, something that will not happen in the future as he breezed through the eighth inning, hitting 97-98 mph on the radar gun. His fastball lost 3-4 mph in the ninth. Manager Alan Trammell made it definite Sunday by saying that Dmitri Young won’t be activated Tuesday.

**mvpwins** · 05-26-2004, 12:59 AM

Great job

Good job 3-1 for + 4.22 units......keep up the good work!

MVP

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