4* MLB POD

4.5** MLB POD

[b]Pirates -136 4.5** MLB pod[/b]
The pirates are back at home where they have dominated in 2012 going 35-18 a leagues best and they'll look to end a 9 game losing streak at PNC to the padres who are one of the worst road teams this year.

James McDonald makes a home start after struggling over his last five starts where ironically he was on the road for 4 of them. This pitching staff is far more dominat at home an McDonald follows that trend posting a 2.15 era at PNC. Hell face the padres owners of the 25th ranked ops bs RHP.

Volquez starts for the Padres and his 5.33 bb/9 are alone enough reason to fade him, but the pirates active hitters have a .922 ops against him. The Pirates are also scoring 6.65 runs per 9 over the last 5 games vs RHP. They are also 24-8 in their last 32 as a favorite.

Cardinals -135 4.5* MLB POD
The Cardinals have good odds to bounce back from an embarrassing 15-0 loss. They are the best team in terms of hitting vs. LHP with an .813 OPS and they have had success against Madison Bumgarner who has not pitched as well during the day or on the road with ERA

Padres -130 4* MLB POD
Clayton Richard goes up against the Cubs who are 29th in .635 OPS vs. LHP. They have only face dRichard once and struggled and Richard has been solid at home 3.46 ERA and a 3.33 ERA during the day. IN 29 AB they have a .588 OPS against Richard. On the flip side Jeff Samdzija has a 5.00 ERA on the road and a 6.03 ERA during the day. The Padres have 42 AB and they have a .820 OPS led by Carolos Quentin who is 3-5 with a HR. The Padres are also a better day team both pitching and hitting and they are red hot right now scoring 5.86 runs per 9 over their last 10 vs. RHP. Cubs on the road this year average 2.75 runs per 9 vs. LHP and they have a 5.09 bullpen ERA to the Padres 2.53 bullpen ERA at home. Cubs are 8-26 in their last 34 road games vs. LH starter and 15-41 in their last 56 road games.

Rangers +104 4.5* MLB POD
I like the Rangers here as under dogs particularly because they have roughed up Lester who has struggled big time at home and I don't see an end to that in site as he posts a 6.96 ERA at home including giving up 7 ER in 2 innings to Texas earlier in the year. He's on 4 days rest after throwing 105 pitches and the active line up for the Rangers has 40 hits and a .323 average with 5 HR. They'll start 7 right handed bats to whom Lester has allowed an .844 OPS too. The Rangers are one of the best vs. LHP and are scoring 9.62 runs per over their last 10 games alone. Boston meanwhile has not seen a lot of Dempster although he pitched a gem 7 innings 0 ER while with Chicago this year. Their line up is 8-49 with a .163 average. I'll take the odds and go with the Rangers tonight.

REDS +127 5* MLB POD
Bronson Arroyo has really dominated the Brewers who have lost 12 of 16 while the Reds have been red hot. In his last 4 starts in MIlwaukee he posts a 1.93 ERA winning 3 of the 4 and today's line up has a lot of holes against him in 195 total at bats they have just 40 hits for a .204 average. The Reds are also 20-7 in Arroyo's last 27 road starts vs. a losing team as they always seem to get a quality start out of him as he posts a 3.39 ERA on the road this year.

Yovani Gallardo has not been nearly consistent despite his 3.60 ERA at home. He has a 4.08 ERA in 3 starts vs. the Reds this year and a 4.76 in 3 starts last year. Tonight's line up has a lot of success sin 145 at bats they post a .331 average and 8 HR. The Brewers have nothing to back him up as their bullpen has a 5.92 ERA at home and a 6.59 over their last 10 games while the Reds are under 2.50 on the road and over their last 10 games. Reds are also scoring 5.5 runs per 9 vs. RHP over their last 10 games and are 8-2 in their last 10 match ups with Gallardo.

Angels -102 4.5* MLB POD
Francisco Liriano makes his second start as a member of the the White Sox and he'll face a team he has not done well against posting a 7.63 ERA in 3 starts this year. Liriano has also struggled during his day starts posting a 5.86 ERA and he'll go up against a line up that in 108 AB has a .962 OPS against him. On the flip side, Dan Harren is on some extra rest and has kept the White Sox and their hitters in check over his career holding them to a .620 OPS in 95 AB over their career. He's got a 4.25 ERA during the day this year but traditionally he's been a great day starter with a 2.92 ERA over the last three years combined. I see him pitching a quality start over Liriano who is only on 4 days rest.

Rays -134 4* MLB POD ; Rays/Giants Parlay +186 1* play
Jeremy Hellickson has 8 starts vs. the Orioles posting a 1.99 ERA. At home he's been even better with 2 complete games and a 0.88 ERA. He's on 5 days rest and should be fresh to go up against Wei-Yen Chen who is also on 5 days rest, but threw 22 more pitches in his last outing. Chen has a 4.27 ERA on the road compared to Hellicksons 3.25 ERA at home and he posts a 5.84 ERA in 2 starts vs. the Rays pitching even worst in Tampa on the carpet with an ERA over 7.

Hellickson will go up against the O's who have a .200 average and a .616 OPS against him. The Orioles have really fell off lately and are now ranked 21st IN OPS vs. RHP where they were in the top 10 for a majority of the season. While I like Hellickson in this match up along with the Orioles struggles in Tampa - 1-5 getting outscored by a 30-10 margin, I like the odds of the Rays getting Chen out early. The Rays have faced 8 top 25 fly ball pitchers at home. None of them have gone more than 6 innings and that includes Justin Verlander (6/4ER). Combined they posted a 4.70 ERA which is not impressive at all considering how the Rays have struggled. Chen is 10th in ground ball % and he'll give up a lot of fly balls there is a reason why he has a 4.37 xFIP thus far compared to his 3.65 ERA. He's not as good as that ERA and I think it shows again in his third start against Tampa who have now won 5 of 6 and are creeping back up into contention, just a 1/2 game out of the Wild Card behind Oakland and the Angels.

[b]REDS -131 4* MLB POD[/b]
Loving the Reds here the only thing that worried me was Wandy Rodriguez's on 1 extra day of rest than Latos, but Rodriguez tends to struggle in that situation posting a 4.60 ERA over his last 5 on 5 days rest. He also goes up against a Reds team scoring 5.30 runs per 9 vs. LHP and will have a healthy RH line up tonight to beat Rodriguez who over his last 3 vs. the Reds has a 6.35 ERA. Latos meanwhile has an ERA well under 3 in his 4 career starts vs. the Pirates and the active line up is just 7-44 against him. I don't anticipate much to change as the Pirates have really cooled down and even their bullpen which has been a rock all year has started to cool down.

Royals -119 4.5* MLB POD
I love the Royals in this spot despite them facing an unknown in Kluber, making the start for the Indians. It's not very easy for him to start against the Royals on the road. Kluber was walking 3.52 guys per 9 in AAA and he was also only leaving 66% of base runners on base. That won't get it done at the majors and that tells me he's not so cool under pressure.

On the flip side the INdians will face Bruce Chen and you can tell they are getting desperate against lefties with some first timers in there including Rottino. All in all there are a total of 94 at bats with just 24 hits for a .255 average and 7 of those hits come from Brantley. The Indians rely on getting on base via the walk and hitting RHP. They face Chen who is ranked in the top 20 in BB/9 among starters and that's the main struggle for them here today especially since he also throws lefty. They are hitting .186 and scoring 00.96 runs per 9 vs. LHP over their last 10 games. ON the road this year they are scoring nearly a run less per 9 vs. LHP and their bullpen ERA is a run higher than the Royals who are scoring over a run more per 9 vs. RHP. They are about to get swept in back to back series which you would think is hard to happen, but the Indians are 3-14 in their last 17 games facing a game 3 after losing the first two.

What I like most about this play is the Indians struggles vs. LHP who have control. They've faced 5 pitchers including Chen who are in the top 50 in BB/9 among starters resulting in 8 games where they are 0-8. Those pitchers have posted a 1.09 ERA. Chen has better control than Sale, Vargas and Price all who gave up a total of 3 ER combined in 26.2 innings pitched. Their most recent game was against the Twins Diamond who threw a complete game shutout.

4* MLB POD

Tigers -122 (4.5* MLB POD)
Josh Beckett likely won

REDS -144 4.5* MLB POD
We rebounded nicely yesterday with the Dodgers 4-0 win and we return Monday with just 1 play. This play is on the Reds and Mike Leake who faces a Padres team that struggles to score runs as the Reds look win an 11th in a row. Leake has posted an ERA of 2.86 over his last 7 starts after struggling early and the Padres have never faced him. Volquez returns to Cinci where he pitched well in his career but lacked run support. The same thing has been true pitching for the Padres and he has not been that great. He posts a .862 OPS vs. the Reds in 31 AB, but it is his 5.12 BB/9 that concerns me and I think the Reds should be able to take advantage of that. The Reds are also 20-7 in their last 27 vs. a RH starter and 39-18 in their last 57 home games as a favorite.

Dodgers -106 4* MLB POD
Just one play today after yesterday's unfortunate 0-2 day. The Dodgers are just on a roll right now and I"m not going to shy away from them despite them having to face Ryan Vogelsong. Vogelsong vs. the Dodgers has given up a .310 average and a .771 OPS in 129 AB while the Giants have just a .589 OPS in 173 AB vs. Kershaw. Kershaw has been great during his day starts posting a 2.76 ERA and he's got two quality starts already vs. the Giants this year and over his previous 11 starts over the last three years posts a 1.27 ERA.

I expect the Dodgers to be able to do some work against Ryan Vogelsong whose 2.26 ERA does not tell the entire story. He's been quite lucky posting a 4.44 xFIP as he's been fortunate to leave 85.2% of runners on base. The Dodgers are 13th with runners in scoring position and since picking up Hanley Ramirez seem like a different team.

Indians -120 5.5*MLB POD
Two major reasons why I like the Angels today. First I was not surprised last night when they got shut out by the lefty Scott Diamond. The Indians have been awful vs. lefties, but they are scoring nearly 1.5 more runs per 9 vs. RHP as they are 3rd IN OPS vs. RHP this year while Minnesota facing the righty Justin Masterson is 19th. The Indians actually score more runs per 9 vs. RHP on the road at 5.03 than at home.

The second major reason is Twins starter Samuel Deduno despite the Indians never facing him they should be able to get on base plenty. Deduno has always struggled with control and he only throw two pitches for the most part. A fastball and curve ball and he's walking 6.19 guys per 9 in his 3 starts. Well the Indians can clean up today as they are 1st in the majors in walks and should be able to take advantage. Deduno likely won't go deep in the game meaning the bullpen will have to play a major part and the Twins bullpen has an ERA over 5 in their last 10. The Twins are also 17-40 in their last 57 home games as an under dog and 6-20 in their last 26 Saturday games. I look for Justin Masterson to improve on his last two starts in Minnesota where he posts a 0.66 ERA. He won't have to go against Trevor Plouffe who went on the DL yesterday and was 3-8 vs. Masterson. Masterson is 7th in GB% behind his teammate Derek Lowe who leads the league. I bring that up because in two starts against the Twins this year he has 15.2 IP and 1 ER. The Twins have faced a RHP in the top 13 in GB% 4 times. (Lowe 2x, Henderson Alvarez 1x, and James Shields). Those pitchers combined for a 0.88 ERA. I like Mastersons' chances on Saturday against the Twins.

Oakland A

Cardinals -133 (4.5* MLB POD)
We got absolutely slaughtered yesterday by the A

Jays -128 4* MLB POD
The A's have been red hot, but I think the Jays will take game #2 behind their former ace. Romero has struggled big time but he gets a chance to turn it around on Wednesday night vs. an A's team that's 24th in OPS vs. LHP this year and have struggled vs. Romero over their career. Romero posts a 1.70 ERA in 6 career starts vs. the A's and has held their line up to .632 OPS in 81 AB. AJ Griffin making his 6th start for the Jays does not go deep into the game and he's been particularly lucky thus far considering he has just 6K/9 as he has a .227 BABIP and 86.1 LOB%. His xFIP of 4.24 tells a more accurate story. The Jays are 6th in average with runners in scoring position with a .270 average and 7th with .809 OPS. Griffin is getting just 39.1% ground balls and the Jays love to hit the home runs. Something Griffin will have issues with in Toronto in his first game on turf.

Pirates -158 (5.5* MLB POD)
Paul Maholm faces his old team on the road on Tuesday where he posts a 6.15 ERA this year. He

Indians -151 (4.5* MLB POD)
I look for the Indians to avoid a 3 game skid with their ace on the mound on Monday.

Nationals -133 4.5* MLB POD
I love the Nationals here today to even up the series up with the Braves. The Braves are 2-6 in their last 8 vs. LH starters and have dropped to 18th with a .713 OPS vs. LHP. They'll face Ross Detwiler, who may not be a big name, but is getting big results. Detwiler has held the Braves line up today to 15-63 with 0 HR, that's a .238 average. Take Prado out of the mix and that's 8-50, he's largely dominated this line up. That's something Jarr Jurjens can not claim this year or against the Nationals.

Jurrjens goes up against 5 hitters who have faced him today and are a combined 24-75 for a .320 average and a couple of home runs. Nationals have hist .309 vs. RHP over their last 10 games. Jurrjens has struggled big time during his day starts posting a 5.87 ERA while Detwiler in 2 day starts has a 0.75 ERA. Detwiler has also posted a 3.06 ERA during home starts while Jurrjens posts a 4.91 on the road and is only striking out 3.80 per 9 innings while walking 3.60 for an xFIP of 5.77. In his last three starts vs. the Nationals (all last year) he posts a 9.56 ERA and a 1.81 WHIP. The Nationals are 39-19 in their last 58 vs. a starter with a WHIP > 1.30.

Red Sox -130 4.5* MLB POD
Red Sox will face a pitcher in Carlos Villanueva who is on a hot streak posting a 1.59 ERA in his 3 starts, but against Boston the story has been far different as they have a .985 OPS in 41 AB vs. the reliever who is now starting. I mention he's a reliever because it's unlikely especially with his 4.83 BB/9 ratio that he'll go deep into this game. That means the game will likely fall in the hands of the Blue Jays 23rd ranked bullpen. That bullpen has been even worse since Villanueva left it and over their last 10 games they post a 5.47 ERA.

Boston will rely on Aaron Cook to continue to cook up some ground balls with his 58.8% ground ball percentage he would be among the top 3 if he qualified with enough innings. Toronto is now without Jose Bautista making it even easier for Cook to pitch effectively. The Jays have faced 2 pitchers in 3 games that are among the top 10 in GB% and those pitchers post a combined 1.35 ERA and all three starts were of quality. I expect the same from Cook who posts a 1.23 ERA over his last three starts w/ 0.77 WHIP. Toronoto is also 10-27 in their last 37 road games vs. a winning team while Boston is 8-2 in their last 10 home games as a favorite -110 to -150 and 15-6 in their last 21 overall. Lastly Andy Fletcher will be calling balls and strikes and the Jays are just 5-19 in their last 24 with him back there.

Angels -137 4.5* MLB POD
The Angels return home after a disappointing road trip, but they get there ace on the mound on Friday night in a very important game against their division rival that

Marlins -121 (4.5* MLB POD)
Two lefties face off in a day game at Wrigley Field in Maholm vs. Buehrle.

Padres -132 4* MLB POD
The Astros have been ice cold especially since losing Carlos Lee. They have gone 2-14 while getting outscored 78-37 while batting .157 with runners in scoring position. This being the rubber game and the fact that the Padres have hit much better of late (scoring at least 7 runs in 3 of their last 4 games), I think they

Rockies -120 4.5* MLB POD
All of a sudden the Pirates are sliding losing 3 of 4 since the break. The same thing happened last year and I just do not think this team will be able to hold up, particularly away from home where they are just not built to win. This is an interesting match up when you look at it closer as the Rockies are 7th vs. LHP in OPS and are scoring 5.58 runs per 9 vs. LHP at home as they face off against Eric Bedard. Bedard has struggled big time and posts a 7.99 ERA over his last 5 game starts and a 9.51 in his last 5 road starts and now he faces one of the better LHP hitting teams.

On the flip side Christian Friedrich has pitched a lot better of late and has been victim of some bad luck this year as is evident by his 3.66 xFIP and 8.79 k/9 stat. He's been victim of .367 BABIP and 66.3 LOB%. The Pirates have been hot with the bats, but I see that continuing to slow down. The Pirates are 26-69 in their last 98 road games vs. a LH starter and 5-12 in their last 17 in Colorado.

Reds -127 (4.5* MLB POD)
I think the Reds stay hot to defeat the Diamondbacks, a team not known for its road success.

Phillies -130 4.5* MLB POD
I like the Phillies here today as they have a major advantage in pitching with Cole Hamels going who has held the Rockies hitters collectively to a .611 OPS in 99 AB. Though Drew Promeranz, making the start for the Rockies, has never faced the Phillies I'd say they have a huge advantage. Promeranz has been largely lucky with an ERA just above 3 considering he is walking 5.09 guys per 9 and K'ng just 6.88 per 9. He's held teams to .51 HR/9 and .250 BABIP while allowing just 44% ground balls which all in all is pretty shocking considering where he plays. I think that luck starts to change today as the Phillies rough him up a bit. The Phillies are 55-23 in Hamels last 78 vs. a losing team and 13-3 in their last 16 with him on the mound as a favorite -110 to -150 so the oddsmakers usually get it right and I think they do again today with the Phillies knocking Promeranz out of the game early and they'll have success against the Rockies 4.13 bullpen ERA which is ranked 21st.

Cardinals +118 4.5* MLB POD
These are great odds considering we have a team that has the edge on both sides, offense and defense.

Pirates -121 4.5* MLB POD
Tim Lincecum has not been the same pitcher all year. His main issues have been his control where he is walking 4.7 guys per 9 innings, but the fact that he's taken 2 mph off his fastball on average can not be ignored either. He's had a 8.65 ERA in his last 5 road starts and he's faced some bad hitting teams. Those 5 teams were ranked at the bottom of the league in OPS vs. RHP 30, 29, 28, 23, and 18th. The Pirates are at the back of the league in OPS vs. RHP too however over their last 10 games they have been hitting scoring 6.95 runs per 9 vs. RHP and batting .300.

A.J. Burnett makes another start and he's been dominant much of this year. He's got a 2.01 ERA at home and a 2.86 ERA during day starts which backs up the Pirates #1 ERA during day games at 2.68. Pirates also are the best home team this year. Burnett eve has controlled Melky Cabrera who is 2-21 vs. the RHP. The Pirates are 20-7 in their last 27 as a favorite and 20-6 in their last 26 home games while Burnett is 11-0 in his last 11 starts. Lincecum on the other hand 5-16 in their last 21 on 4 days rest and 2-10 in his last 12 road starts.

Reds -108 4* MLB POD
I'm looking for the Reds to take another game on the road against the Padres despite the great pitching of late by Clayton Richard who has relied on the ground ball. Homer Bailey though has better numbers vs. the opposition and I'm banking on him to continue that as he has posted a 3.48 ERA in 5 career starts and he's been pitching great on the road posting a 1.89 ERA over his last 5. He goes up against the Padres who are 28th in OPS vs. RHP with a .680 and are scoring just 2.97 runs per 9 vs. RHP at home.

Clayton Richard can not claim such success vs. the Reds who he has posted a 5.57 ERA against over 4 career starts. Phillips, Votto, and Bruce are 11-25 combined alone and the Reds are 5th with a .781 OPS vs. LHP this year. The Reds also have the better bullpen this year by nearly an entire run. The Reds are 27-9 in Bailey's last 36 starts vs. a team with a losing record while Clayton Richard is 5-19 in his last 24 home starts. Richard has gotten it done thus far by being in the top 10 with the ground ball. He only K's 5.23 guys per 9 and his .260 BABIP and 69.5LOB% are well below the norm and are what I consider to be lucky. He faces a Reds team that is 7th in LD% vs. LHP, 26th in GB's meaning they just don't hit grounders as they are 4th in HR/FB so Richard can't expect the same amount of ground balls today and I think the Reds will be able to scratch a few runs across and hold onto any lead with their great bullpen.

Brewers -133 4.5* MLB POD
These are good odds considering the Brewers are 11-3 in their last 14 match ups with the Astros. These are also good odds considering Carlos Lee is no longer with the Astros and are 10-28 in their last 38 games. These are good odds considering Yovani Gallardo is 10-2 with a 2.81 ERA lifetime vs. the Astros and the Astros hitters have 57 AB for a .158 average and .348 OPS vs. Gallardo who is pitching well right now. These are good odds considering J.A. Happ vs. the Brewers has not been very good posting a 6.08 ERA over his last 5 before this year and collectively the Brewers have 101 AB, a .347 average and a 1.060 OPS.

Happ has pitched well lately, but why? He's faced the Cubs, ranked 30th in OPS, the Indians ranked 25th in OPS, and the Royals ranked 21st in OPS vs. LHP. The Brewers are 13th with a ton of success vs. Happ who the Astros rarely win for whether he's pitching well or not. The Brewers are 39-18 in Gallardo's last 57 as a favorite and 23-9 vs. a team with a losing record. I like Gallardo and the Brewers to go into the all star break on a high note.

Rangers -128 4.5* MLB POD
It

Marlins -119 4* MLB POD
I love the Marlins despite getting beat on the walk off yesterday because Josh Johnson is just on top of his game right now and the Brewers have 66 AB total against him and not much to show for it with a .412 OPS and a .167 average. Johnson posts a 1.89 ERA over his last three starts and has a 2.27 ERA in his last 10 July starts. Randy Wolf on the other hand has a 4.11 ERA over the last three years and posts a 4.92 ERA at home over the last three years. Marlins have a .774 OPS combined against him in their career which is far better than the .412 OPS that the Brewers have against Johnson. Brewers are actually just 13-19 during day games and are ranked 22nd with a 4.20 ERA while the Marlins are 14-13 ranked 8th with a 3.38 ERA. The Brewers bullpen has an ERA over 6 at home this year.

Yankees -109 4.5* MLB POD
For a third day in a row we are going with the world

Yankees +123 4.5* MLB POD
I'm going with the Yankees here today although they are 0-7 in their last 7 visits to Tampa I believe they have too many advantages and with this kind of value it is hard to pass up a big play. Garcia will make his first start since being sent to the bullpen where he has thrived with a 1.56 ERA. Garcia struggled as a starter earlier this year, but he faces a Rays team he has dominated over his career. He has posted a 1.32 ERA over his last two visits to Tampa and collectively the Rays have just a .540 OPS in 127 AB against him. Rays are currently 23rd with a .698 OPS vs. RHP and 20th at home with a .673 OPS so Garcia should be in good shape for a quality start. Especially since the Rays are losers of 6 of 7 being out scored 39-17.

Matt Moore on the other hand has been pretty good of late, but he's on 4 days rest in this game for the first time since May 22nd where he threw just 4.2 innings giving up 4 ER. Moore has faced some light hitting teams of late ranked 22nd, 13, 18th twice over his last 4 starts in terms of OPS vs. LHP. He will have his hands full the second time around vs. the Yankees. I don't trust Moore's stuff for one he struggles with control walking 4.3 batters per 9 and he's giving up 1.33 HR/9. Yankees are #1 in HR and #3 in BB's. Moore throws just 3 pitches and he throws the fastball 70% of the time where the Yankees are ranked #1 vs. that pitch. Yankees are 45-20 in their last 65 vs. LH starter. Garcia on the other side has a 4.03 xFIP and has much more control walking just 2.32 guys per 9.

Yankees -140 4.5* MLB POD
I think we are getting great odds here in this game considering Floyd's troubles with the Yankees and the tendency to give up HR's which is what the Yankees are all about. Floyd is giving up 1.5 HR/9 and is coming off two quality starts so I believe a let down is in order. He's struggled vs. the Yankees posting a 5.47 ERA vs. the Yankees over his last 4 and collectively the Yankees have 149 AB, a .282 average and an .840 OPS.

Phil Hughes on the other hand has 4 starts and 4 relief appearances posting a 2-1 record and a 0.75 ERA holding the Sox to a .586 OPS in 66 AB. The Yankees are the #1 OPS team during day games with a .819 and are 14-8. The White Sox are 10-23 in Floyd's last 33 as road dogs. The Yankees on the other hand are 32-10 in Hughes last 42 as a home favorite and 18-6 in their last 24 vs. RH starter.

Reds -129 4.5* MLB POD
I love this play based on the success Mat Latos has had over the years against the Giants particularly at ATT Park where he has a 1.85 ERA and a 0.85 WHIP in his last 5 starts here. Collectively the Giants have just a .566 OPS against Latos who before this year had 3.17 ERA during his last 27 day starts compared to Zito who has a 4.56 over his prev 21. Reds are also an excellent day hitting team where they rank 8th in OPS while the Giants are 24th with a .676 OPS during the day. The Reds are also one of the better hitting teams vs. LHP ranking 5th with a .790 OPS and they are even better against Zito.

The Reds have a .307 and a .921 OPS in 127 AB vs. Zito, but the starting line up today is collectively 28-88 with 3 HR and a .318 average. Zito has pitched well during the day and at home which is the reason we are getting such a low line. However he's been really lucky considering he's got just 5.03 K/9 and 4BB/9 this year. He's held opposing batters to a .250 BABIP so that's one of the reasons his 4.00 ERA is where it is but it should be closer to his 5.21 XFIP. Latos on the other hand has 8.42K/9 and 2.84 BB/9 and his xFIP is 3.95. His greatest weakness is also a weakness of the Giants. He's given up 1.73 HR/9, but the Giants are 28th overall in HR and 29th in HR during day games with just .54 HR/day game.Oddsmakers have been pretty accurate with the lines when Zito starts as the Giants are 4-12 in his last 16 as a dog +110 to +150 and I'm betting that trend moves to 4-13.

Rockies -144 5* MLB POD
We are going with the Rockies as our MLB POD despite their inability to keep teams from scoring a lot of runs. Facing the Padres could help as Jeff Francis goes up against the Padres who are 28th in the league in OPS vs. LHP and are only scoring 3.30 Runs per 9 vs. LHP on the road. Francis has held them to a .506 OPS in 55 AB and he will have plenty of run support the way the Rockies have been hitting especially Carlos Gonzalez 34-74 wiht 7 HR 18 RBI during a 17 game hit streak. Gonzalez is playing like an MVP right now and I think the Rockies can get in a little groove here. Rockies are #2 with a .792 OPS vs RHP and are #1 with a .868 OPS at home. They'll face off against Jason Marquis who is pitching well above what his raw stats say which is trouble. He's got less than a 2:1 K/BB ratio as he is walking 3.73 guys on the year and giving up 1.64 HR/9 is hard to do when you are getting over 54% ground balls. He's in trouble in Colorado vs. a hot team who is led by Todd Helton who is 10-32 with 3 HR. collectively they have an .825 OPS against Marquis. Padres are 15-39 in their last 54 road games as an under dog.

Angels -111 5* MLB POD
I got to believe the Angels stay hot as they are now 13-3 in their last 16 road games. They have a distinct match up advantage on the mound here with Dan Haren who has dominated the Jays vs. Brett Cecil making just his 3rd start this year and struggling to go deep. Cecil is on just 4 days of rest after 98 pitches compared to Haren who is on 5 days rest. Dan Haren has dominated the Jays in the past despite his tendency to give up home runs in 2012. IN his last 2 starts in Toronto last year he posted a 2.40 ERA and a 0.73 WHIP. Over the last three years he has a 2.43 ERA in 4 starts on turf. The Jays have a .226 average and a .684 OPS vs. Haren in their career. Their main issues is going to be dealing with Haren's #2 pitch the cutter which he throws a third of the time. The Jays are ranked 28th this year vs. the cutter.

ON the flip side Brett Cecil will have his hands fill with the #1 offense in June. The Angels have exploded and have come on real fast hitting lefties hard but also righties. They have an .831 OPS this month and over their last 10 games they are hitting .368 and scoring 7.68 runs per 9 vs. LHP. Career vs. Cecil they have hit him hard with an .837 OPS. Cecil has 5 career starts vs. the Angels posting a 6.43 ERA. Cecil over his last 3 years has posted a 4.79 ERA at home and even worse a 6.08 ERA in June compared to Haren's 2.93 ERA in June. Haren has struggled of late giving us plenty of value on this line. The Jays are 5-14 in their last 19 as a dog and I don't think their bats can keep up with the Angels who are also getting success out of their bullpen a 1.01 ERA over their last 10.

Red Sox -131 4.5* MLB POD
Two south paws kick off a day game today where the Red Sox are 10-15 during the day this year while the Blue Jays are 15-13.

Dodgers -116 4.5* MLB POD
Clayton Kershaw is the definition of a stopper and the Giants own a career .537 OPS against him in terms of their active hitters.

Cardinals -108 4.5* MLB POD
Ricky Nolasco is coming off one of his worst starts of his career and now he returns home to face the Cardinals whom he has struggled against.

Astros -115 4.5* MLB POD
The Indians are 29th in OPS vs. LHP as they face J.A. Happ whose numbers look bad on paper, but he's been solid at home in most of his games and carries a 3.89 XFIP. He should be able to have success against the Indians who are hitting just .219 and scoring 3.64 runs per 9 vs. LHP while posting a bullpen ERA of 5.13 on the road this year over a run higher than the Astros bullpen ERA.

Derek Lowe starts for the Indians and Carlos Lee is very familiar with the righty going 16-44 with 2 HR and a .364 average. Lowe has a 6.18 ERA in his 7 road starts and he faces an Astros team that's scoring nearly a run more at home than the Indians are on the road. Astros are also 36-15 in their last 51 inter league games as a favorite -110 to -150.

Angels -146 5* MLB POD
I like Ervin Santana to continue what he did last time out which was throw a complete game shutout. For on the Dodgers are 30th in the league in June OPS with a .614 mark while the Angels are on a tear 21-7 in their last 28 games and are 2nd with a .815 OPS in the month of June. It also helps that Santana has dominated the Dodgers holding them to a .594 OPS combined in 139 AB with a .223 average. He's on 6 days rest so the complete game where he only threw 102 pitches will not be a factor. I see him dominating these Dodgers hitters today.

On the flip side the Angels 26 runs in their last 3 games alone go up against a lefty in Chris Capuano. Angels have soared in their rankings vs. LHP and are now 12th overall with a .731 OPS. Over their last 10 games they have a .347 average and are scoring 8.45 runs per 9 vs. LHP. Pujols leads the club vs. Capuano as he's19-36 with 5 HR to combine with the rest of the team which has a total of 91 AB and a .462 average and 1.364 OPS. Capuano has had a nice start to the season, but he will digress and have inconsistent starts for a while and this is one I"m banking on him struggling in.

Dodgers are now 16-48 in their last 64 inter league road games while the also going 8-22 in their last 30 trips to play the Angels. While the Angels are 46-17 in their last 63 games vs. the NL West and 40-17 in their last 57 inter league games vs. LH starter.

5.5* MBA pod

[b]Thunder + 140 5.5* nba pod pirates -155 4* pod[/b]
McDonald has been like an ace posting 1.75 era in 7 home starts and he goes up against the twins offense which is ranked 29th in ops .644 on the road this season. Twins start Liam Hendricks who has pitched terribly allowing 8 hr in 5 starts and he faces the pirates who before last night had 25runs over 3 games. Pirates are a streaky offensive bunch and I see them scoring some runs off Hendricks. McDonald should be dominant especially if joe Mauer doesn't start.

Padres +170 2* Early Bird Bonus
I feel there is tremendous value here as the Padres try to avoid the sweep in this twilight game.

Thunder +150 5.5* NBA POD

[B]Red Sox -148 4.5* MLB POD; [/B]
Mark Buehrle and Clay Bucholz face off against each other once again and I"m backing Bucholz as he continues to pitch like an ace of late. Buehlre also pitched well last time out but he didn't have to face David Ortiz who will be DH'n tonight and is 20-58 off Buehrle in his career. Overall the Red Sox have hit Buehrle and lefties well this season while the Marlins have been pathetic vs. RHP. Bucholz also has been stellar during his night starts posting a 4.10 ERA this year is not as impressive but over his previous 40 night starts he posted a 2.66 ERA.

The Marlins just are not hitting they are 28th in OPS during night games, and are 26th vs. RHP. They have 32 AB and a .188 average with a .653 OPS vs. Bucholz. Boston has much more experience with 302 AB vs. Buehrle and Buehrle's last 3 starts in Boston have resulted in an 8.20 ERA. He doesn't strike guys out so he relies on his control and ground balls, but the Red Sox should be able to get to him at Fenway in my opinion. If they don't the Marlins will have to hit and they are hitting .179 with 21 runs over their last 12 games. Boston vs. LHP compared to Marlins vs. RHP is not even close they are +2.03 runs per 9 on the season, +3.35 at home vs. away, and +3.44 over the last 10 games. All the while Boston has a bullpen that's nearly a run better and they post a bullpen ERA that's over 5 runs better over the last 10 games combined 1.07 to 6.18.

Rangers -170 5* MLB POD
We are getting pretty good odds considering the Rangers have a better bullpen by nearly a run on the year, by 1.06 on the road vs. SD at home, and by 2.01 in the last 10 games.

Marlins -116 4.5* MLB POD
The Marlins won a thriller yesterday and though we were the unfortunate ones on the other side of a 15 inning loss after the Rays gave up 3 unearned runs during Shields start we think this is the turning point the Marlins offense needs. They'll have their ace Josh Johnson on the mound as he faces a struggling Rays offense one that is now 24th in OPS vs. RHP and 24th in OPS with a .674 mark during day games. Rays have 44 AB .182 average and a .523 OPS vs. Johnson and Longoria had three of their total hits. Without Longoria the Rays are unable to do damage against quality pitchers like Johnson.

On the other side Cobb has been struggling getting beat up for 4,4, and 5 runs in his last 3 starts as more and more of a scouting report comes out on him. He's a pretty basic pitcher with nearly 90% of his pitches being a fast ball or a change up. Now if you have a deadly combination that can be effective but Cobb rarely tops 90 mph on a regular basis. I think the win last night was what the Marlins needed to get their bats going and I see them going on a run here.

Rays -134 5* MLB POD
James Shields is having a great year, but his numbers are not telling the full picture. He's a rare guy in the fact that he's got 8.64 K/9 and he gets a ton of ground balls 56.4% among the leagues best. He faces the Marlins, a team he has flat out dominated of late. Over his last three starts he's got 24.1 IP and 1 ER while K'ng nearly 30 batters. The Marlins continue to struggle vs. RHP and are 26th in OPS. TB is averaging over a run better vs. RHP per 9 innings and the story is even worse when we look at it from a H/A perspective and if we look at the last 10 games the Marlins are scoring just 1.45 runs per 9 and their bullpen is struggling mightily with a 8.63 ERA. On the season the Rays bullpen has been over a run better. While they post a 2.28 bullpen ERA at home this year.

The Rays will continue to stay afloat without Evan Longoria as they face Anibal Sanchez. They are 23-10 in their last 33 games vs. RH starters at home and over their last 10 games they are scoring 5.43 runs per 9 vs. RHP. Rays hitters own .826 OPS vs. Sanchez who is starting to come back to live giving up 11 ER combined over his last two starts. Marlins are 6-15 in his last 21 starts as an under dog and they are 16-40 in their last 56 as a dog +110 to +150.

Yankees +119 4* MLB POD
The Yankees as under dogs in inter league play?

ARI/TEX U10.5 4.4* MLB POD

Dbacks +144 1.5* bonus

Angels -137 4.5* MLB POD
After looking at the card a few times this game sticks out the most to me. C.J. Wilson goes up against the young lefty in Nate Eovaldi who throws 95mph. However, there is now a scouting report on Eovaldi and the scouting says that 3 out of 4 pitches he's throwing a fast ball. The Angels are the #1 team in hitting that pitch over the last 2 weeks. They also have been more selective while getting walks which was a rare thing for them in the first two months of the season. That results in better counts and better pitches to hit and the results are obvious. The Angels have scored 7.23 R/9 over the last 10 games while hitting .328. While the Dodgers .222 3.15 runs per 9 vs. LHP in their last 10. Wilson combo of 8.32 K/9 and a 54% ground ball rate are intriguing and a rare combo. Unlike Eovaldi he spreads his pitches out with 5 different pitches in his arsenal. His last 4 outings have been stellar while opponents have a .146 avg against him. He's also 2-1 with a 2.57 ERA in 5 career road starts in inter league play. I'm going with the Angels and their new approach to stay hot and take this game.

Red Sox -104 4* MLB POD
love the Sox here as Mark Buehlre has started to come back to earth with a 4.91 ERA in his last two starts. Now he faces a team that has faced him many times before and the active lineup has a .337 average against him in nearly 100AB. That's not including David Ortiz fromt he bench who is 20-58 vs. him. The Red Sox as a team have hit much better vs. LHP (3RD IN OPS) than the Marlins have vs. RHP (26th). I also like the fact that Bucholz seems to be back on top of his game wiht three quality starts in a row posting a 0.92 WHIP and a 1.50 ERA. He'll be back on top of his game today as he faces a Marlins team that is scoring just 2.26 runs per 9 vs. RHP over their last 10 games and have never seen Bucholz before.

Meanwhile Buehlre goes up against the Red Sox who are scoring nearly 2 runs more per 9 vs. LHP than the Marlins are vs. RHP and they are scoring 5.55 over their last 10 combined while sporting a 2.79 bullpen ERA. Speaking of bullpen the Marlins have a 6.51 over their last 10 and a 4.48 ERA at home while the Sox have a 2.84 on the road. I'm not that worried about Bucholz on short rest as Buehlre is too and the Red Sox are 26-7 in their last 33 with Bucholz on 4 days rest. Marlins are 21-43 in their last 64 home games vs. a RH starter where they struggle big time.

[b]Angels +101 4* MLB POD[/b]
You can't go wrong with taking the Angels as under dogs right now even if it is against MLB's best team record wise. The Dodgers send Chris Capuano to the mound who is 8-2 with a 2.82 ERA. However, it's been long coming for him to digress and against the Angels who came off a series scoring 28 runs in 3 games and Pujols has monster numbers against Capuano as he's 18-33 with 5 HR. Tori Hunter is also 7-15 with a HR and the others help combine for a .472 average and a 1.406 OPS in 72 AB. The Angels are hitting .318 with 7.78 runs per 9 over their last 10 games vs. LHP and are 39-14 in their last 53 vs. the NL West as well as 41-17 overall in their last 58 in interleague play. Dodgers meanwhile are 18-42 in interleague play vs. a winning team. I like the Richards kid going for the Angels as he seems to have good stuff striking out 8 against a Mariners team that has been hitting lately. Capuano lately has benefited from opponents having a .228 BABIP. Angels are 3rd over the last 14 days with a .337 BABIP. Something is bound to break and I'm putting my money on it being Capuano.

5**nba pod

Marlins -133 4** pod

PIT/CIN U7.5 5.5* MLB POD Brad Lincoln vs. Johny Cueto and the line that opened up at -178 i sgoing down as low as -170? This just doesn't make sense to me and what it means is oddsmakers are expecting a quality start out of Lincoln who is coming off his first start giving up 6 IP 2 ER at Miami. He also gave up just 2 ER in 5 innings last year to the Reds. The Reds just are not the same vs. RHP 25th in the league while the Pirates are 29th and are completely dominated by Cueto who carries a 1.31 ERA over his last 8 starts vs. the Pirates. Pirates hitters have a .204 average and a .625 OPS against him. What I like even more is both these teams have remarkable bullpens ranked 1st and 3rd. This game will be played like a 1 run game. Reds are under 7-3-1 in Cueto's last 11 starts and the Pirates are under 17-6-3 in their last 26 following a win.

Braves +126 4.5* MLB POD
I love the Braves here as road dogs as Tim Hudson is 9-4 in his last 13 as a road dog. More importantly he's pitched well vs. the Marlins with 2 of 3 quality starts last year while posting an overall 3.54 ERA. Anibal Sanchez had an ERA over 9 with a 1.97 WHIP against the Braves a year ago and has been stellar thus far. That's why we are getting great odds here, but the Braves line up is red hot vs. Sanchez the combined starters are 35-97 vs. Sanchez with a .361 average and I look for that to continue tonight.

The Marlins on the other hand are 51-185 vs. Hudson for a .275 and the reigning player of the month in Stanton is just 2-12 against him. Hudson also has a ton of quality starts this year as does Sanchez, but Sanchez has faced only two top 15 teams in OPS vs. RHP. Braves have hit well during night games and are ranked 7th with a .751 OPS while the Marlins are 20th with a .707. On top of all of that the Braves have a better bullpen.

Rangers -127 (4.5* MLB POD)
Scott Feldman could be the odd man out with Roy Oswalt coming to town, but I believe he

Thunder +5 4.4* NBA POD

5* NBA POD

Dbacks -115 (4.5* MLB POD)
Arizona will face a LHP where they are much better hitter, 10th with a .736 OPS. Justin Upton got a mental day off yesterday and he should return on Sunday and play a huge factor as he's 2-4 with a HR 2 BB and a 1.917 OPS in his career vs. ERic Stultz whose raw stats raise a very large red flag. Stultz has 3.28 K/9 with 3.28 BB/9. A 1:1 ratio is very rare in its own right but he's also been extremely lucky .247 BABIP. Vegas knows it can get public bettors off guard with ERA stats, but looking deeper there is a reason Stultz was dropped earlier this year. When the majority of your balls are getting put in play things are bound to go wrong. He's also walking a lot of guys and his ERA has stayed low because of the lucky .247 BABIP (one of the lowest in the leagues). Well now he faces a Diamondbacks team that is top 10 in K"s, but when they put the ball in play they are 6th in average. They also walk quite a bit and are 8th in BB/K ratio. It's not a good match up for Stultz here today and I think the Dbacks will continue their trend of 13-3 in their last 16 as a road favorite -110 to -150.

If they win they'll need another solid performance from Trevor Cahill who gave up just 2 hits and 1 ER vs. the Padres earlier in the year. The Padres are 28th with a .651 OPS vs. RHP and Cahill is getting hitters to hit the ball on the ground 62% of the time which is second to only Derek Lowe. The Diamondbacks are scoring over a run more per 9 vs. LHP than the Padres are vs. RHP and both bullpens are even on home/away splits. However, the Padres bullpen has been struggling with an ERA over 7 in their last 5 and 6.67 in their last 10. Cahill has been solid on the road this year with a 3.26 ERA and I think it continues in a ballpark that is pitcher friendly while the Dbacks will get another win vs. a LHP and the Padres will continue their awful run of 18-48 in their last 66 as an under dog.

Royals -122 (5* MLB POD)
Luke Hochevar has been awful this year and Brandon McCarthy has been great, but as we know with McCarthy who is coming off 2 weeks of not pitching he pitches much better at home in the big ball park. His ERA is more than double on the road and he makes a day start where the Royals are 6th with a .754 OPS. He can't give up any runs the way the A's have been hitting. Over their last 10 they are scoring just 1.21 runs per 9 and a .148 average vs. RHP. That's huge for Luke Hocevars confidence.

Hochevar gets the start and he faces the A's who are 29th in OPS vs. RHP, but are 30th with a .578 OPS during day games. Hochevar has faced probably the most challenging schedule thus far. He faced the Angels in his first start of the year who are currently 20th in OPS VS. RHP, and since he's faced 8 teams that ranked no higher than 12th in OPS vs. RHP. Now he gets the A's at home during the day and he'll have a great chance to improve on his unlucky .363 BABIP.

Brewers -140 (5.5* MLB POD)
I love the Brewers here tonight fresh off a sweep in LA they return home where they are 46-8 in their last 54 home games vs. the Pirates.

Red Sox -133 (4.5* MLB POD)
Both Beckett and Scherzer have pitched well since the last time the two faced each others teams and were horrific.

4.4* nba pod

Orioles +125 3* play
This play was nearly our play of the day, but the way the Jays have been hitting I

[b]Blue Jays -130 4.5* MLB POD[/b]
I'm going with the team that is home and the pitcher that's been more consistent. Ricky Romero has struggled with control at times, but the Orioles are 18th in BB's and Romero has a 1.11 ERA in his last 3 vs. the Orioles and is 6-1 with a 2.08 ERA since the 2010 series. Jake Arieta is 3-1 with a 3.80 ERA, but he's given up 7 ER in his two starts in Toronto along with 4 HR. I see much of the same happening here tonight. The Orioles are 13-42 in their last 55 at Toronto. They've hit lefties hard, but their #1 and #2 hitters are a combined 4-32 against Romero. Romero will be able to pitch around this line up as the Blue Jays hurt Arieta whose struggles (0-3, 7.15 ERA over last 4 starts) will continue.

Diamondbacks -112 4.5* MLB POD
Barry Zito is a phony. He is nearly at a 1:1 ratio for K/BB which is never good when you are only striking out 5.47 batters. He faces a team that is 6th in the league in walks and he's walked Upton/Young a combined 15 times. There should be runners on base all day long and I see his ERA starting to creep towards his xFIP of 5.20 which is a more accurate indication of his ability right now. Zito just does not match up against the Diamondbacks well who are 10th with a .740 OPS vs. LHP. They score 1 run more per game vs. RHP than when they face righties and over 187 AB they have a .792 OPS vs. Zito who over the last three years has had 5 starts vs. the Diamondbacks and an 8.31 ERA to show for it.

Trevor Cahill on the other hand has better raw stats with a 3.83 XFIP and the Giants have 77 AB .195 and a .555 OPS against him. Giants are only scoring 3.5 runs per 9 vs. RHP this year at home so the Dimaondbacks 4.48 vs. LHP gives them the edge here too. Diamondbacks are 9-2 in the last 11 meetings while the Giants are 5-12 in Zito's last 17 as a dog.

Dodgers -137 4.5* MLB POD Two lefties take the mound today in LA where the Dodgers just keep winning despite all of their injuries. Today is the rubber game between a team that's 20-5 at home and a team that's 6-14 on the road. I'm going with the home team as Chris Capuano has been fabulous at home this year posting a 1.38 ERA in his 4 starts here and a 1.35 ERA during day. J.A. Happ ont he other hand has a 6.19 ERA on the road and a 6.19 ERA during his day starts. This is not a surprise as Happ posted a 6.62 ERA on the road last year with a 1-9 record. Happ is pitching better of late and that's the main reason we have a shorter line here, but the Dodgers have a .408 average in 49 AB vs. Happ and the Astros are also 15-45 in their last 60 road games while the Dodgers are 43-17 in their last 60 home. I also like the fact the Dodgers are 9th in OPS vs. LHP while the AStros are nearly .100 pts behind and are ranked 20th. Astros are hitting just .190 on the road vs. south paws this year averaging 2.70 runs per 9 while the Dodgers are at .281 and 5.95 at home. That stat is not from early success as the Dodgers are still raking against lefties over their last 5 games they are at .292 and 6.14 runs per 9.

Sixers +6 4.4* NBA POD

Orioles -113 4.5* MLB POD
I am loving the way the Orioles are playing and their star Adam Jones is the reason why as he's hitting .348 during his 16 game hitting streak. The Royals will face a lefty and that is not something they get too excited over as they are 22nd with a .655 OPS this year and are a meager 14-47 in their last 61 road games vs. a left hand starter. They faced Wade Miley of the Diamondbacks for the first time and he shut them out for 7 innings. Now Wei-Yin Chen makes his debut and has been lights out with a 1.98 ERA at home. Chen is primarily a fastball and change up pitcher with 80% of his pitches coming from those two pitches and the Royals are ranked 21st and 28th overall vs. the fastball and change up. I'm expecting a quality start from Chen here.

As for the Orioles they have some revenge to take on Felipe Paulino who is pitching out of his mind right now with an ERA under 2. That's something out of the ordinary because Paulino over the last three years has 24 road starts and 41 games with a 5.85 ERA. He shut the Orioles out at home earlier this year but now he has to do it on the road and on top of that he's doing it against an Orioles team that's been clutch 14-3 vs. a starter with a whip under 1.15. Paulino also in a hang over spot as he pitched great vs. the Yankees and that's another reason why we have great odds in this situation. The line should be at least -130, but we are getting it at close to money. Paulino is all about the fastball and slider. He averages a 95mph fast ball, but guess what the Orioles are absolutely a fast ball hitting team (5th in the league vs. the fastball) and they are not so bad against the slider that he throws 27% of the time (ranked 11th). Baltiomore is 4th with a .751 OPS during day games and are 9-4 overall with a 3.99 ERA while the Royals are 5-8 with a 4.47 ERA.

[b]PHILLIES -118 4.5* MLB POD[/b]
This is the longest Cliff Lee has gone without a win and its not like he has pitched well. Lee should be well motivated against the Cardinals who are fading fast. Beltran and Holliday are a combined 3-18 vs. Lee and the rest of the line up has an OPS under .600 when you take Berkman out of the line up. Cardinals actually vs. LHP have struggled of late with a .233 average and just 3.43 runs per 9 over their last 10 games combined while the Phillies have hit righties well all year and are hitting .300 over their last 10 while scoring 4.91 runs per 9. Kyle Lohse has struggled of late and there are three big hitters in the Phillies line up that he struggles against and that's Wiggington, Pierre, and Pence who are a combined 27-66. I expect the Phillies bats to get hot and for Lee to get his first win tonight.

Mariners +111 4* MLB POD; LAA/SEA U6.5 2.2* PLAY
Both Vargas and Harren will have the upper hand tonight agsint these bottom ranked offenses. The Angels are still struggling and it's even worse vs. LHP where they are 28th with a .620 OPS this year as the Mariners are 27th vs. RHP but with a .664 OPS (slightly better). Vargas has impressive numbers in 10 career starts vs. the Angels posting a 2.39 ERA as he has held them to a .608 OPS in 150 AB with a .220 average. The Angels are hitting just .191 while scoring 3.28 runs per 9 vs. LHP on the road this year while sporting a 4.54 bullpen ERA. The Mariners are better but not by much at .199, 4.21 runs per 9 vs. RHP and 2.76 bullpen ERA. The home advantage along with the bullpen at home are the major reasons why I see the Mariners winning this game along with their bats being a little alive of late. Dan Haren may dominated the Mariners in his career but his margin for error is slim considering what the Angels offense has done. For the under I expect this to be a low scoring game and the under is 8-3 in the last 11 meetings in Seattle and the Angels are 15-5-1 on the under in their last 21 road games where they post just a .632 OPS this year.

Pacers +3.5 4.4* POD; MIA/IND U187/Pacers +8.5 3* teaser

4.4* NBA POD

Twins +140 4* MLB POD
PJ Walters will make his third start of the year and he's been pretty good in the first two against the Tigers and Blue Jays posting a 1.05 WHIP. Walters had a 2.70 ERA over 33 innings in AAA and he faces a White Sox team that has never faced him before. A Whitesox team with a losing record at home.

On the flip side the Twins will look to stay hot as they have won 4 of 5 games and 35 runs over their last 5 games. Gavin Floyd goes for the Twins and he's been terribly consistent against the Twins. As Minnesota has 157 AB .363 average and a .966 OPS vs. Floyd. Floyd in his last 3 home starts vs. the Twins posted a 10.91 ERA and a 2.23 WHIP. in all three starts gave up 6 ER or more.

Pacers +7 4.4* NBA POD

Rays -132 (5.5* MLB POD)
Like the Rockies the Blue Jays are a completely different team away from home. Jeremy Hellickson who has a 1.44 ERA at home facing some pretty good teams including the Red Sox and Yankees has a 3.92 ERA vs. the Blue Jays but all three starts have been in Toronto. Toronto is 22nd in OPS on the road and they are 6-15 in their last 21 as a road dog. While TB is 20-6 in their last 26 home games facing a RH starter. They'll go up against Kyle Drabek who just is not that good away from home.

Drabek is off a QS vs. the Yankees where he dominated, but it came at a cost as he threw a season high 113 pitches and now he's on 4 days rest going on the road where he has a 5.23 ERA this year and playing in a dome with turf where he posted a 6.95 ERA last year on turf. Drabek should have his hands full tonight and the Blue Jays won't give him much run support. Rays are #1 vs. Drabeks best pitch the fast ball and they are also 3rd in the league in taking walks. Drabek's big issue still is control as he is walking 5.44 runners per 9 innings. I expect the Rays to have guys on base all day long while Hellickson continues his success at home as Toronto is ranked just 16th and 18th overall vs. fast ball and change ups. Hellickson should be able to keep them off balance tonight.

4.4* NBA POD

Rangers -159 5* MLB POD
The Rangers are off a loss where they are 41-13 in their last 54 in that following that situation. After a loss they are scoring 6.34 runs per 9 vs. RHP. They are the #1 OPS team vs. RHP and Jordan Lyles is not an unknown for the Rangers line up as he has 2 starts from 2011 when he posted a 1.62 WHIP and 5.54 ERA. He faces a Rangers team that's been consistently good this year scoring 6.59 runs per 9 over their last 10 and 5.69 per 9 vs. RHP on the road this year. Lyles is not particularly tricky to figure out as 84% of his pitches are fast balls and curve balls. Rangers are #4 vs. the fast ball and are an overwhelming #1 vs. the curve ball this year. Unless Lyles changes something the Rangers are going to score runs.

Colby Lewis on the other hand should be salivating at an opportunity to face the Astros line up on the road. Lewis had a great year last year on the road, but is off to a slower start this year. That will happen when you face four top 11 OPS vs. RHP teams as he's faced the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 11th ranked OPS teams. If that was not enough Lewis has a 2.28 ERA over 4 starts vs. the Astros including a 1.72 at Houston where he has never walked a batter over 2 starts. The Astros are hitting just .218 and scoring 2.35 runs per 9 vs. RHP over their last 10 games that has seen them drop fast to 25th with a .685 OPS vs. RHP. They are also just 2-14 in Lyles last 16 starts and 15-37 in their last 52 as a dog. I like that the Rangers come off a loss and they get a game 3 (rubber game) to win the series against their in state rival. Rangers are 15-5 in their last 20 match ups with the Astros.

Thunder -1 5.5* MAX NBA POD

Red Sox -113 4.5* MLB POD
Jon Lester has been his usual self on the road and if he could only duplicate those starts at Fenway the Red Sox would be a lot better off. He'll make his 4th career start at Philly tonight and carries a 2.65 ERA on the road over 5 starts this year. I believe that's about to improve as he faces the Phillies who are 16th in OPS vs. LHP. In Lester's 3 starts in Philly he carries a 0.42 ERA and 0.71 WHIP with a 21:5 K/BB ratio. He doesn't have to deal with Utley or Howard which could be a bad thing since they are lefties any way but that takes out the pop in the line up and Lester has held Philly hitters to a .582 OPS and a .209 average over 91 combined at bats.

Joe Blanton will try to continue his success at home where he posts a 2.57 ERA this year as he faces the Red Sox who are 5th in OPS vs. RHP this year. Blanton has faced some bad teams which are a result of his success in my opinion. His 4 home starts have been against 24th, 12th, 23rd, and 22nd ranked teams in OPS vs. RHP. Even his road starts are not that impressive facing 30, 17, 28 and 7. Boston despite all the injuries continue to put runs on the board and Gonzalez has to continue to step up and he is 7-16 vs. Blanton with 2 HR. As we said yesterday in our Red Sox +135, the Sox have a major advantage out of the bullpen compared to the Phillies. Expect it to play a factor tonight. Boston is 67-21 in their last 88 inter league games vs. RH starter and 53-18 when Lester pitches on 4 days rest.

Red Sox +135 3* PLAY Although Cole Hamels has given up just 4ER in his 4 career starts vs. the Red Sox and carries a 2.79 ERA at home this year I

Nationals -143 5* MLB POD
I love the Nationals here today especially with Ryan Zimmermann regularly back in the line up. James McDonald is a bigger reason though as he's been red hot with a 2.42 ERA, but his success on the road is not nearly the same as he posted a 5.42 ERA on the road last year over 15 starts. That was an ERA 2.23 higher than what he had at home and it's looking like the same trend this year. Nationals have saw him before he's 80% fastballs and curve balls and the Nationals are 8th vs. the fastball this year 2nd over the last 7 days. Actually the Nationals are starting to hit the ball and Ryan Zimmermann is a big reason why as he is protecting Bryce Harper who is starting to look like the prospect he is. Nationals have an .821 OPS over the last 7 days to the Pirates .555.

Pirates are last with a .612 OPS this year and they go up against Jordan Zimmerman who they have never faced so it's going to be the same old thing. Zimmerman throws fastball, slider, and curve ball and Pitt is ranked 30th, 29th and 27th vs. that pitch. I'm expecting a quality and dominating performance from him today as the Pirates bats continue to struggle big time.

Pacers +2.5 4.4 * nba pod

4.4* nba pod

Braves -110 2.2* bonus
Tim Hudson has a 3.19 ERA in 6 career starts vs. the Reds which is nothing special, but over the last 3 years he has a 2.46 ERA in 41 home starts. He faces the Reds who are 24th in OPS vs. RHP. These are great odds because Johny Cueto is on the other side of the hill and is leading the National League in ERA, but I think he

4.4* NBA POD

Tigers -130 4.5* MLB POD
White Sox are among the worst in the league not only at home (6-11) but vs. LHP and they face the Tigers tonight with John Danks on the mound who hasn't exactly been decent when facing the Tigers. Over his last two starts he posts a 13.96 ERA and a 2.58 WHIP. Smyly has been pretty consistent this year so I expect the same when he faced a struggling White Sox team that's 28th in OPS vs. LHP with a .600. The White Sox are also 22nd with a .684 OPS during their home games. Danks has struggled this year so I won't be shocked when he doesn't turn in a quality start today.

Royals +118 4* MLB POD
I like the Royals today mainly because of the pitching match up. White Sox are hitting just .196 and scoring 2.56 runs per 9 vs. LHP and are 27th with a .607 OPS. They go up against Danny Duffy who to me has good stuff as he's averaging over 95mph on his fast ball that he throws 68% of the time. White Sox will struggle big time today as Duffy has a QS in his back pocket vs. the White Sox when he threw 7 innings and gave up 2 ER last year. Meanwhile Phillip Humber continues to struggle big time since throwing his perfect game.

Humber goes up against the Royals for the 2nd time in his career they have a .375 average in 32 AB with a .913 OPS vs. Humber after they hit him pretty hard in KC last year 6 IP 5 ER. KC has 7th in OPS during day games and 8th overall vs. RHP so their bats along with their pitching have the advantage today. Humber's slider should be the pitch the Royals have success on as they are 8th in the league vs. the slider and Humber relies on that pitch nearly 30% of the time this year. White Sox are just 6-10 at home this year and 3-13 in Humber's last 16 starts.

4.4* NBA POD

Cardinals -122 4.5* MLB POD
Cardinals lost a tough one last night to the Braves in extra innings as we lost on our POD. Cardinals had multiple opportunities in extra to end this game and they could not come up with the key hit. However, this team bounces back well as they are 22-7 in their last 29 following a loss and 17-6 in their last 23 game 2's while the Braves are 2-9 in their last 11 as an under dog.

The pitching match up is an intriguing one with Adam Wainwright taking on Brandon Beachy. Beachy has been outstanding posting a 1.62 ERA, but his xFIP at 3.93 tells a different story and highlights how he's been a bit lucky with a .225 BABIP. The Cardinals are #1 home team in terms of BABIP and they did not slow down yesterday either. Beachy will have his hands full here today. 80% of his pitches are fastballs and sliders which make it a lot easier for hitters to come to the plate with a strategy.

Wainwright takes the mound after finally looking like himself in his last start as he now posts a 2.70 ERA over his last 3 after a rough start. He actually has a better xFIP at 2.67. What's really been his downfall is the .BABIP with a.319 and 1.87 HR/9. I expect him to come out and pitch great for the Cardinals who need a rebound win. He is 6-0 with a 2.48 ERA in 6 starts vs. the Braves and over his last 35 home starts before this season Wainwright posted a 1.92 ERA. We have an elite pitcher with an elite offense following a loss at home and -122 odds? I'll take that every day of the week. On top of that the Cardinals are 21-6 in their last 27 home games vs. a RH starter where they are ranked 3rd in OPS this year while the Braves are 1-7 in their last 8 games at Busch Stadium.

5** nba pod

Pirates -130 (2.5* BONUS PLAY)
I like the Pirates in this spot despite their 30th OPS vs. RHP this year as Bud Norris has a 1.42 WHIP over his last 3 starts and the Pirates over 128 AB have a .788 OPS against him.