When the A's return home off an East Coast road swing to host the Rays in Oakland Monday evening they will take the filed behind rookie Guillermo Moscoso knowing he is 3-1 with a 1.91 ERA in his team starts at home this season. He is off his worst start of the season and I expect him to bounce back tonight at home.
I look for the Rays to fall to 3-7 the last 10 games in this park here tonight. 5*

Ubaldo Jimenez is on the hill and after an all-star season in 2010 in which he went 19-8 with a 2.88 ERA, Jimenez got off to a horrible start in the first two months this season. At the end of May, Jimenez was 0-5 with a 5.86 ERA in his first nine starts. Since then, Jimenez has gone 6-3 and has lowered his ERA by almost two runs in his next 10 starts, and most importantly, Jimenez has cut way down on the number of walks he's issued. Jimenez has firmly put talk of his slow start to rest, going 6-3 with a 2.85 ERA in his last 10 starts. He has 63 strikeouts against 15 walks in that span.
PLAY THE ROCKIES as our play of the day!
5*

The Cardinals have won Carpenter's last five starts, and he has a 1.66 ERA in that span. He gets the ball in the opener of a pivotal series in a park where he's had considerable success.
STL seems to hit well at night on the road and I'll back them tonight.
5*

Tommy Hanson lost for the first time in 7 outings his last time out.
He is on the mound for the Braves, and he has been solid all season long. He is coming off maybe his roughest outing of the season, but I see him bouncing back to form in today's start. Hanson is 10-5 on the season with a 2.73 ERA and 1.06 WHIP. Batters are hitting just .198 against Hanson, who has struck out 117 on the season.
Atlanta has taken 5 of the 7 meetings between these two teams on the season, and have 10 more wins than the Rockies overall. I like Atlanta this afternoon in a pickem situation.5*

5*

Another strong Nolasco outing was wasted in his last start Friday. He gave up two unearned runs while striking out seven in seven frames, but lost to the Cubs. Nolasco has gone at least seven innings in five straight starts and has been pitching great. I have no reason to beleive he'll struggle with the punchless Padres.10*

Tyler Chatwood is lucky to have five wins, as this is a skill set in need of more Triple-A refinement: His strikeout rate is far below what is necessary for prolonged MLB success. In fairness, his 2010 minor league numbers (in 74 IP) gave us fair warning. The Texas batters will club him around.
At this point in his professional career, Chatwood has logged more innings in the majors (99) than Double-A and Triple-A combined (74). Given his poor skills, he really does need more work before backers can count on him--but given his "success," that's not coming anytime soon. PLay the Texas Rangers on Tuesday night. 5*

With Yovani Gallardo pitching I see the Brewers as having the edge over the Diamondbacks. Barry Enright will start for Arizona with a 1-3 record and 6.49 ERA. Gallardo is 10-6 with a 4.08 ERA and he's a perfect 4-0 lifetime against Arizona with a 1.13 ERA in four starts and I expect more of the same tonight. 5*

The situation is this: The Red Sox played a 16 inning game at Tampa Bay last night that did not end until 2am. By the time the RedSox got showered, got on the bus, and loaded on their plane to Baltimore, it is likely that they did not arrive in Baltimore until 8am this morning. By the time they got to their hotel and got situated, it is likely that the Sox will not get to sleep until 9am. They now have to get very little sleep, get a meal, and find themselves at Camden Yards probably later this afternoon not to mention 95 degree weather today. This Sox team will be dead tired! Lets bank on Baltimore here at home Monday night. 5*

The Red Sox and Rays meet n the rubber match of this three-game series Sunday night when Josh Beckett opposes Jeff Niemann at Tropicana Field in Tampa.
Beckett takes the mound knowing he is in terrific KW form with three walks and 21 strikeouts in his last four starts knowing he's cashed in eight of his last nine team starts during the month of July. Jeff Niemann is 2-2 with a 6.62 ERA in four career starts against Boston.
I like the RED HOT REDSOX here on Sunday night.
5* BEST

4*

The Reds will try to win back-to-back games for the first time in a month while winning their fifth straight at home over the Cardinals on Saturday night.

La Russa's club will try to bounce back and prevent Cincinnati from winning two straight for the first time since June 13-15. The Cardinals dropped into a tie with Pittsburgh for first place in the division with Friday's defeat.

Carpenter is 13-4 with a 2.29 ERA in 21 starts against the Reds.
On the other hand Bronson Arroyo (7-7, 5.58) takes the mound for the Reds, hoping to turn things around after a poor end to the first half.

Arroyo posted a 9.35 ERA over his last three starts, and has surrendered a major league-high 25 home runs, eight in his last three starts.
5* STL here on Saturday.

After getting poor starting pitching to begin this series, the New York Yankees are turning to their red-hot ace to try to slow down the surging Toronto Blue Jays - with or without major league home run leader Jose Bautista.

CC Sabathia has thrown a career-high 23 2-3 consecutive scoreless innings as he looks to win his seventh straight start Saturday when the Yankees try to snap the Blue Jays' five-game win streak.
Yanks play great in day games and should get back on track behind their ace CC this afternoon.

5*

Haren might be pitching some of the best baseball of his career, coming one out shy of his second straight complete game in his last start. He's won four straight and five of his last six decisions, and has posted quality starts in 16 of 19 outings.

The last time the LA Angels were in Oakland, they lost 14-0 back in May. Its payback and REVENGE tonight!

The A's are near the bottom of the majors in scoring (3.4 runs per game), batting (.233), homers (50) and on-base percentage (.299). They have a .205 average while averaging 2.4 runs over their last 18 games. TOTAL MISMATCH here tonight!

Colorado goes for a three-game sweep and a sixth consecutive victory over Washington on Sunday at Nationals Park.

Each of the Rockies' last four wins against the Nationals has been by a one-run margin, including Saturday's 2-1 victory. Ubaldo Jimenez pitched eight strong innings and Todd Helton drove in both runs to give manager Jim Tracy his 200th win with Colorado (43-47).
The Rockies are 17-6 in the nation's capital since the Nationals relocated from Montreal in 2005.

The Rockies' Jhoulys Chacin (8-6, 3.28 ERA) hopes not as he looks for his first win in four starts. He has very good stuff and just has to cut back on his walks.
5* COLORADO

Not only are these teams headed in opposite directions right now

The Cubs are feeling good after snapping a five-game road losing streak by erasing an eight-run deficit and prevailing 10-9 at Washington on Thursday. They used their speed and hit well in the game.

Aramis Ramirez, 22 for 55 (.400) with nine homers in his last 15 games, went 2 for 3 with two runs scored and an RBI while Carlos Pena homered for the second time in as many days. Chicago went 6 for 11 with runners in scoring position and is hoping its latest performance is a sign of things to come.

The Cubs throw right-hander Rodrigo Lopez (1-2, 3.91), who allowed two hits in seven scoreless innings of Sunday's 3-1 victory over the White Sox - just his second start since spending most of June in the bullpen.He looked very good and I like the Cubs again tonight in Pittsburgh. 5*

Matt Garza is a top-two pitcher on 95% of the teams in this league. His profile stands out from top to bottom and bad luck has been his only flaw. Garza has an outstanding strikeout rate, a rock-solid groundball bias of 50%, very good command
The Cubbies lose a lot of games because their pitching is putrid. When Ryan Dempster or Matt Garza start, they have a very good chance of winning because the Cubs offense is pretty decent with a .264 BA, which is fourth in the NL.

Livan Hernandez pitching is far too risky as the chalk. Hernandez needs no introduction. He has average stuff and relies on his defense to make outstanding plays to keep him in games. No pitcher over the past five years has gotten into more jams than Hernandez and no matter how you break this one down, the Cubs offer up some real good value here as our 10* NL GAME OF THE WEEK.

The Mets look to make it three straight wins over the Dodgers in Los Angeles. Niese gave up three runs in the first inning against the Yankees on Friday, but rebounded with five scoreless innings afterward. He struck out seven hitters and worked out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the sixth to keep the Mets in the game. Mets get the call here tonight as our 5* play of the day.

He's not flashy, but Karstens continues to get the job done almost every time. He went at least 6 2/3 innings in all six June starts and did not lose a decision. He's working quick, too, which is a sign of confidence and the Pirates have been tough at home.
5*

Angels starter Joel Pineiro has struck out just 33 batters all year in 76 innings. He has great control but he

Garcia posted another solid outing against the Brewers on Tuesday, scattering two runs on eight hits and no walks in six innings to pick up the win. The 34-year-old hasn't allowed a homer in four starts -- his longest stretch since 2002 and the Yankees have revenge against Dickey who beat them back in May.
Play the NY YANKEES again this Sunday afternoon.
10*

The top offense in baseball is the Yankees, who are 16-5 in their last 21 against a team with a winning record. The Yankees are also 24-4 in day games. Colon, who is 3-0 in day games this season, is also 5-1 in his six away starts as a member of the Yankees.
Mets promising starter Dillon Gee has come back to earth for the Mets, with a 4.50 ERA his last three starts with more walks (10) than strikeouts (7) in those 14 innings. Play the NY Yankees.10* SLAMMER

The Giants are 7-2 their last 9 and playing good ball.
Bumgarner toes the slab knowing he is in terrific KW form with three walks and 35 strikeouts his last five starts and 3-0 in his last three road team starts. In addition, his road ERA (2.86) is more than two runs per game stronger than his home ERA (5.05) this season. The Tigers pitching has been getting clobbered lately except for Vanlander.
PLAY of the SF GIANTS

The Mets and the Tigers meet in Game Two of their three-games series when Chris Capuano takes the mound against Phil Coke in the Motor City Wednesday evening. Capuano enters in great KW form with nine walks and 37 strikeouts in his last seven starts, while also sporting a 1.44 ERA in his last four starting efforts.


Phil Coke is winless in 11 starts since April 14, and his frustration is building after blowing a four-run lead in a no-decision Friday against Arizona without allowing an extra-base hit. Coke remains in terrible KW form with 12 walks and six strikeouts in his last four starts knowing his home ERA (5.33) is nearly two full worse than his road ERA (3.57) this season.
The NY METS have won 5 of 6 and I like them again tonight as a small dog.

Beckett gets the start tonight after 9 days off and a stomach illness. He wont be the same and Philly is a very good team at home who doesn't seem to lose series. They'll get the job done tonight.
I'll gladly take Cliff Lee is in as hot a stretch as any in baseball and looks every bit worth the money the Phils signed him for this offseason, allowing just one earned run in his past four starts, spanning 33 innings. He's pitched back-to-back shutouts and we are getting a great price with him at home.
5*

Jeremy Hellickson took his seventh loss of the season Tuesday in Milwaukee, when he allowed two runs on three hits while walking four in six innings. He is 2-3 with a 2.52 ERA in five starts at Tropicana Field this season. He has control issues and I beleive the REDS bats will take advantage.


Mike Leake is 3-0 with an awesome 0.44 ERA away in his his career team starts during the month of June.Lets start the week with a winner on the REDS.
5*

Washington sends Livan Hernandez to the mound but I sure don

It was a familiar story for Kuroda on Sunday when he threw seven shutout innings but got a no-decision.

He has four quality starts in a row but hasn't won since mid-May. Hiroki Kuroda has been one of baseball's most effective pitchers over the past few weeks.

It's hard to tell, however, from his win-loss record.

Kuroda looks to shut down the Los Angeles Angels and pick up a rare win, too, when he takes the ball for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday at Chavez Ravine.

Despite posting a 2.50 ERA in eight starts since May 11, Kuroda's record is 2-5 as he has been backed by an NL-worst 1.61 run support average.


LA Angels starter Tyler Chatwood is coming off his best performance in the Majors, with seven scoreless innings against the Mets, but he been very hitable and is very inconsistant with his pitches. Dodgers will get to him and I like LAD at home on Saturday afternoon as our only play of the day. 5*

Lowe posted a 1.82 and split the four decisions he garnered through his first four starts. He got a no-decision when he limited the Padres to two runs in six innings on April 25 in San Diego. SD gives their pitchers no run support and Atlanta by far has the better lineup from top to bottom.
5* BRAVES

Jim Riggleman resigned yesterday and I like the new manager backing the hottest combination in baseball in Jordan Zimmerman and the Washington Nationals. Zimmerman has allowed two runs or less in six straight and in eight of his last nine. The one game he allowed more than two, he allowed three. And how about his pitch-count in those games? Zimmerman threw 99, 101, 91, 97, 99, 94, 103 and 89 pitches respectively and he

The first thing that stands out about this game is the line. Oddsmakers are begging for Nationals money here, which makes little sense given the way they've played of late. Why would they give you a little plus money to go along with a team that's won 10 of 11 and starting a pitcher who's posted a 2.70 ERA over his L3 starts?


Michael Pineda is the real deal, who got back on track nicely following an awful start against the Tigers. He held the Phillies to 1 run on 2 hits over 6 innings (took a no-hitter into the 6th) for the win last Friday, and anything like that effort tonight will be more than enough. He's also been superb in day games, going 2-0 with a 1.89 ERA this season.

Neither offense is particularly potent here, but the Mariners are going to have their chances against Marquis, who has struggled in interleague play going 4-6 with a 7.76 ERA in his L15 starts against A.L. clubs. Throw in a little of the avoid the sweep angle, and I believe we're going to see a razor sharp effort from Seattle on Thursday afternoon. 5*

Sanches will be making his second spot start in a bullpen day. He went three innings and gave up a run on three hits against the Dodgers in his last one. Sanches has allowed just 18 hits in 120 at-bats out of the bullpen and has very good stuff.
Lets play the Marlins here at home to get another win.
5*

Atlanta has a league-low .219 BA this month with a league-high 142 strikeouts. ATL struggles against lefties and is 29th in the majors in runs scored and they

The Nationals are red hot and have won eight straight games as they go for the three game sweep of the Orioles in this inter-league match up. The Orioles are just 3-10 in their last 13 inter-league road games after yesterdays loss and the Nats have flourished as a favorite in inter-league play posting a 32-12 record and winning this game would help then reach their short term goal.
The Nationals are now a win away from reaching the .500 mark at the latest point in the season and I like them to get there Sunday afternoon at home.
5*

The Twins welcomed back Joe Mauer to the lineup on Friday and continued the hot streak they started without him, by toppling the Padres 6-5.

Minnesota, winners of 12 of 14 - including five straight - will be in a better flow tonight against the Pads, and will take it to Tim Stauffer, who is just 2-4 with a 3.28 ERA this season. Stauffer can't seem to get any run support, as his offense has backed him with just seven runs of support over his last six outings and the SD offense is lifeless.

I'd much rather side with the Twins' Scott Baker, who is fresh off a five-hitter in an 8-1 win over the Rangers last weekend. He was dominant in striking out seven.
5*

Florida is struggling (1-16 in June), but this is a winnable match up for them, and the oddsmakers agree with me.

You've got a team that's struggling and a pitcher who's coming off a terrible effort, and yet we find the Marlins and Nolasco as only slight underdogs here. That doesn't make much sense, unless you're trying to entice bettors to play the Rays by offering what looks like a bargain.

I expect Nolasco to bounce back strong tonight. He's got rocked by the Diamondbacks, but that's hardly the norm for the veteran righty.

The line is signaling a Florida bounce back, and I happen to believe Nolasco leads the way, thoroughly outpitcing his rookie counterpart. Doesn't hurt that the Rays pen has been down of late, posting a 5.16 ERA in their 22 2/3 innings. Take Florida here on Saturday night.
5*

We really like the Reds, fresh off a three-game sweep of the Dodgers, in this matchup. Cincy has been getting some really good pitching of late as they are allowing 2.4 rpg L7 and have won seven of 11 overall. Tonight's starter Mike Leake has been no exception as he's gone 2-0 in his last three starts with a 2.05 ERA.

Reyes now has just two wins in his L31 starts dating back to 2008 and he has been terrible in his career vs. NL opponents, going 0-12 in 23 starts with a 6.49 ERA. NEED I SAY MORE?
The Reds get the win at home without the DH in the BJays lineup. 10*

CJ Wilson has pitched very well for Texas and is very good in his day starts. Wilson is 3-0 with a 2.27 ERA in his last four starts. He will be making his eighth start out of 15 in a day game.
WIth the Yankees starting a young pitcher versus this Rangers tough lineup, I expect the Rangers hitters to tee-off and get the Win on Thursday afternoon.
5*

Gee has defeated Atlanta twice this season and the Braves are looking for a little revenge at the Ted on Wednesday night.
McCann and Gonzalez have good numbers against Gee and I think they get it done tonight! The Braves sticks were quiet last night as they were tired after their long road trip only getting 6 hits.

The Braves owned MLB

The Mets continue their extended road trip, heading to Atlanta to face-off vs. the Braves. The Mets pitching has been superb and their 1-6 batter went 0-20 last night, so expect their bats to wake up tonight versus a tired Braves team who returns home after a 11-game road trip. The Mets are 6-1 in their last seven vs. a right-hand starter and I like them in an underdog spot tonight. 5*

IT was a tight game on Sunday then the Mets broke it open late to win the game 7-0. The Pirates have been gutless when seeking immediate revenge for a shutout loss and they play on the road next. The Pirates are 0-9 in spot, losing by an average of a staggering 6.8 runs per game. Note that the Pirates NEVER led in any of the nine games. Note further that they are 0-3 in this spot this season.

Mets starter Mike Pelfrey submitted one of his best starts of the season Wednesday against the Brewers, holding them to two runs in six efficient innings. The Mets are 7-3 their last 10 and getting contributions from the entire team.
10* PERFECT PLAY on the NY METS on Monday night.

After falling short of matching their longest win streak this season, the Baltimore Orioles will try to bounce back with help from a rejuvenated Brian Matusz. He has won seven straight decisions dating back to Aug. 19th of last year and pitching great.


The Orioles left-hander will try to deliver another strong start.



Wade Davis received a couple of extra days of rest due to a realignment of the rotation. The right-hander has lost his past three decisions and will be on a pitch count on Sunday.

HE is 0-3 with a 7.22 ERA in his last five outings - a stretch that began with a 6-0 defeat to Baltimore on May 14th. His chances of ending his slump don't appear promising as he's 1-3 with a 5.79 ERA in his last five starts against the Orioles.
5*

Price will be making his 14th start of the season after picking up his seventh win Monday against the Angels in Anaheim. He is 2-0 with a 2.33 ERA in three career starts at Camden Yards, 4-1 lifetime against the Orioles.

The Rays came into this series off a three-game sweep of the Angels in LA and were the owners of the best road record in MLB. This Orioles' lineup is averaging only 3.5 runs per game vs. lefties. Price has posted a 1.64 ERA his last three starts and came into the year perfect vs. Baltimore before losing earlier in the year to tonight's opponent Jeremy Guthrie who has been struggling lately.

Lets back the TB RAYS on Saturday night. 5*

The surging Tigers are one game back of first-place Cleveland in the AL Central after winning last night and they've won 9 of their last 11 while Seattle is struggling losing four of six since winning 13 of 16. Seattle has totaled only five runs in its last four defeats. Detroit is a very good hitting team now that everyone is healthy with 5 players in the starting lineup batter over .280 while Seattle has just 1 player hitting over a .280 average and Ichiro is slumping. I like the TIGERS at home on Friday night! 10*

On last Friday, Collmenter picked up where he left off before allowing two earned runs in back-to-back starts, blanking the Nationals over seven innings. He has 3 great pitches and should mow down the Pirates. The right-hander allowed only three hits, struck out five and lowered his ERA to 1.25 on the season. Arizona left 23 runners on base last night, as they couldn't get a key hit. I expect them to give a better effort tonight and put up some runs.


Another concern for the Pirates on Thursday is their sudden lack of depth behind the plate. Chris Snyder left Wednesday's win in the second inning with lower back pain - Ryan Doumit is already on the disabled list - leaving Dusty Brown as Pittsburgh's lone healthy catcher.
10*

Aaron Cook makes his return to action at PETCO Park, where he is 7-1 with a 2.21 ERA in 11 career starts. Colorado has also won 8 of the last 10 games here at this field. After getting shutout last night, look for the Rockies to bounce back and get a win against one of the worst offensive lineups on baseball.
5*

5* I'm backing the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night.
Brett Myers' 3.72 ERA at the end of April skyrocketed to 5.11 after May and hasn't looks good lately.

Pujols broke out of a slump with a huge weekend against the Cubs, and he expects to be joined by Lance Berkman in tonight's lineup. Despite their share of injuries and the abnormally slow start to the season by Pujols, the Cardinals are still #1 in MLB in team batting average, #2 in on base %, and #3 in rpg.
PLAY THE STL CARDS tonight.

Brandon Morrow has great stuff and strikes out more than 1 batter/inning.
The Royals are ice cold right now (5-17 L22) as they get set to host the Toronto Blue Jays Monday in the opener of a four-game set. KC just got swept here at Kauffman Stadium over the weekend by the last place Twins.

They were outscored 26-6 in the four-game series. This is not good when you consider the club's bad 5-21 mark when coming off a loss by 6+ runs and playing at home.

Tonight's starter Brandon Morrow has actually pitched better on the road than at home this year (2-0, 3.12 ERA) and dominated KC in his lone start against them last year. Led by Jose Bautista and Adam Lind, the Jays are hitting .290 w/ 12 HR's their last 10 road games and using a combination of speed, power and good defense and getting the job done.
PLAY THE BLUE JAYS as our 10* Oddsmake Mistake Play.

Wade Davis is 0-3 with a 7.48 ERA in his last four starts.
He has looked AWFUL!
Erik Bedard has turned his season around in his past six starts, going 2-0 with a 1.37 ERA, yielding 27 hits and eight walks with 35 strikeouts in 39 1/3 innings. He got a no-decision Tuesday against Baltimore after 6 1/3 innings of two-run ball.
Seattle's bullpen has been phenomenal over the last 18 games w/ a 1.05 ERA. Seattle is our 10* AL GAME OF THE WEEK..

The Pirates have taken 6 of the last 7 against the cross state Phillies.
Tonight, Pittsburgh starts the red hot Charlie Morton, who checks in with a 1.95 ERA in four starts here in PNC Park and a 1.23 ERA his last three starts overall. Morton has allowed one earned run or less in six of his 10 starts this season + only twice has he allowed more than two.


This will be only Kendrick's third start in spot duty this season and the Phillies are not hitting. He is only expected to throw at least 65 pitches against the Pirates.
Lets play the HOT HITTING and SURPRISING PITTSBURGH PIRATES on Saturday night as a 10* HOME COOKER!

Lefty Randy Wolf is pitching about as well as we've ever seen him. Despite a 4-4 YTD record, Wolf has posted a 1.83 ERA L3 starts and he's allowed two runs or less in seven of his previous nine starts. Florida, for whatever reason, has not been as effective vs. southpaws this year compared to last as the Fish are averaging only 3.9 rpg.
Marlins starter Ricky Nolasco is off a poor showing against the Dodgers, getting hit hard over five innings for eight runs and 15 hits. BREWERS get the call here on Friday night. 10*

I know the Pirates have won eight of their last 13, but the main reason has been because of their outstanding pitching. And by handing the ball to Paul Maholm, the Bucs could be in deep trouble.

I know he's in after his best outing of the season, a three-hitter against the Cubs, but in his five previous starts he went 0-4 with a 3.41 ERA.

The southpaw is also 0-2 with a 10.38 ERA in his last three starts against New York.

I'd much rather take Mike Pelfrey, who is in after limiting the much better offensive Phillies to just 2 runs. Lets play the NY METS this afternoon. 5*

This is a major pitching mismatch with Hudson here tonight.
Arizona has won 13 of the last 15 games and they have also won 24 of the last 31 home games as a favorite of -150 to -200.
5* BEST BET on the DBACKS.

Colon has had control problems and Oakland is tough at home and always gives the Yankees problems.
Cahill wasn't at his best in his last start, and picking up just his second loss. He is 6-2 this year and a 2.02 brillant ERA.
PLAY the A's at home on Memorial Day.
10*

JA Happ allowed one earned run but five total runs on Tuesday night vs. the Dodgers after a third-inning error led to a grand slam which wasn't his fault. Happ is 1-2 with a 3.18 ERA in his past three starts and 1-1 with a 2.77 ERA in his career against Arizona. HE has great stuff at home and I like the Astros in their underdog role today! 5*

Kuroda struggled in his last start, allowing six runs -- four earned -- on nine hits in 5 2/3 innings against the White Sox. The right-hander had been magnificent in his prior two starts, however, tossing 14 2/3 scoreless innings. HE loves pitching at home and on the west coast.
Look for the LA Dodgers to take another one here Saturday night.
Greg Dobbs leads the Marlins with a .340 batting average, but is 0 for 3 against Kuroda in his career. 5*

The Red Sox had the edge in Davis' last start as he fell behind hitters. The good news is he's healthy and has great stuff.
I expect him to get his first win this afternoon against the Pirates.
These 2 teams alternated wins and losses in their last 10 meetings at Wrigley and the Pirates won the last meeting.

PLAY THE CUBS THIS AFTERNOON in a pick'em situation.
10*

Scherzer suffered his first loss of the season Saturday night with a three-run sixth inning in Pittsburgh, as he struggled to finish out Pirates hitters in two-strike counts. A return to Comerica Park will do him some good this afternoon.

The Red Sox are 0-13 since August 2007 in the first game of a road series when they are off a road win in which they had at least a 12 or more hits.
10*

CJ Wilson is on the hill this afternoon versus the WhiteSox.
He went seven innings vs. the Phillies on Friday, allowing three runs while striking out 10. It was his fifth career double-digit strikeout game. Wilson allowed a homer to a lefty in a regular-season game for the first time since 2008 and I expect more of the same here.

Gavin Floyd is a perfect 4-0 in night games compared to just 1-3 under the sun. Batters seem to hit him better during the day and I like Texas at home to take advantage this afternoon.
10* TEXAS RANGERS

The Reds have now lost 10 in a row on the road and some books have them at +105 for tonight's game. Philly really isn't hitting the ball and the Reds have one of their better pitchers on the hill.
Johnny Cueto has been lights out since coming off the DL. He's got a 1.45 ERA through 16 innings with 14 K's, and pretty impressive control and stuff. PLAY THE REDS tonight to get the win. 10*

Look for Indians to finish off the three-game sweep of instate rival Cincinnati.

All the Indians do is win at home. With Saturday

The Chicago WhiteSox were the best interleague team last year and they will continue the roll against the struggling Dodgers.
The Whitesox are hitting now are coming off another winning series against the INDIANS and now will keep up the momentum heading into the weekend. Chicago starter Humber has not allowed more than three runs in last three starts and Lilly has been awful this year. 5*

The Detroit Tigers should be good and rested for tonight's home game against the Blue Jays. The Tigers are one of the hottest teams in baseball, winners of 7 straight games and nine of their last 10.
I love their starting pitcher Max Scherzer who is equally as hot. Scherzer looks to become the majors first seven-game winner with a victory on Monday.

Blue Jays starter Drabek has had some control issues this season and tonight is not a good time for that to happen against the red-hot Tigers and their tough lineup who has the extra punch with Victor Martinez back in their lineup.
5*

I like the WHITE SOX here who are 5-1 L6 behind Gavin Floyd this afternoon. Couple things I like about the White Sox here, but let's start with the fact their playing much better baseball, and that includes getting their offense back on track, batting .280 vs. righties over their L10 games. Moreover, Gavin Floyd has not only been money against the Athletic (3-0, 1.32 ERA in 6 career starts), but also on the road of late (3-0, 1.64 ERA L3 on the highway).
I like red-hot Paul Konerko, Chicago has been swinging the bats well in winning 5 of their L6, and will test Ross early and often this afternoon. Look for the kid to come back down to Earth just a bit here today, as the White Sox and Floyd take care of business in this one.
5*

The Astros (14-23) took two of three at Citi Field last month, and they stopped a four-game slide with a 4-3 win over Cincinnati on Wednesday. Hunter Pence's tiebreaking double in the ninth inning helped Houston avoid being swept.

'Everything that he does every day is all out and (he does) everything that he can do to help this ball club win,' manager Brad Mills said of Pence, who is batting .307 and leads Houston with 12 doubles, 46 hits, five homers and 31 RBIs.

Pence is hitting .355 (22 for 62) during a 15-game hitting streak. He's also gotten hits in 13 of 14 career home games versus the Mets.


Dillon Gee (2-0, 3.80), who will make his second straight start for New York in place of Chris Young, out for the season due to a career-threatening shoulder injury.



Norris has been the Astros' most consistent starter, and he is improving. He's allowed six earned runs in his past five starts after giving up nine earned runs in his first two. He's struck out 52 batters in 42 2/3 innings. PLAY THE HOUSTON ASTROS here at home as my 10* NL GAME OF THE MONTH!

Needless to say, tonight

The Cleveland Indians had to settle for a split of their six-game West Coast swing, and now return home.

The Tampa Bay Rays have no reason to think a trip to Cleveland - or anywhere, for that matter - will slow them down.
The TB Rays (20-14) have had the opposite problem of the Indians. Just 9-10 at home, Tampa Bay has the majors' best road winning percentage with an 11-4 record.

It was 3-4 away from Tropicana Field just a little over two weeks ago, but eight straight road wins - and 19 of 25 overall - have allowed manager Joe Maddon's club to put a 1-8 start in the rear-view mirror. TB has won 11 of their last 14 and is 7-2 their last 9 versus the Indians.
The Rays are really seeing and hitting the ball nicely including Ben Zobrist. Everybody gets excited when you're scoring a lot of runs.

Zobrist is batting .421 during a 14-game hitting streak for the Rays, who have averaged 7.0 runs during their road streak. The defense and pitching have played just as big a role in that stretch, committing one error and posting a 2.13 ERA.
These are all the ingredients that spell winning and TB is on fire right now!
We'll grab the nice underdog price with TB on Tuesday night.10*

If familiarity breeds contempt, there should be animosity aplenty on Monday when the Oakland Athletics and the Texas Rangers meet at Rangers Ballpark.

Trevor Cahill will be the starting pitcher for the Athletics on this day. Right-hander Cahill is 5-0 this season with a 1.79 ERA.



Oakland won its last outing, a 5-2 result against the Royals Sunday.
Texas has been struggling and are missing several players due to injuries.
The Rangers have gone 4-10 since sweeping the Royals from April 22-24th.
PLAY THE OAKLAND A's on Monday night.
5*

A handsome chestnut colt, Shackleford has won two of five starts with earnings of $271,666. Regular rider J L Castanon rides for trainer Dale Romans.


Shackleford- the Florida Derby (gr. I) runner-up, impressed observers at Churchill Downs the morning of April 30 when the son of Forestry sizzled five furlongs in a bullet :58 4/5 in his final preparations for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I).

This horse is very fast and just last week Shackleford turned in the best time of the day among 36 horses working that distance on a welcome warm, sunny Saturday morning at the Downs.

Shackleford, a homebred for Mike Lauffer and Bill Cubbedge, was timed in fractions of :11 3/5, :23 and :34 2/5. As impressive as he worked, the colt also looked just as good afterward, galloping out six furlongs in 1:12 2/5. Even then, Fox had a hard time pulling up Shackleford, who looked like he wanted to do more.

Shackleford held on gamely to lose by a head after setting a torrid pace in the Florida Derby-G1. Ran a career best sheet fig in that effort. Look for him to get out early and be the pacesetter and he's been training hard with more in the tank.

We are getting very nice odds with #14 Shackleford and we'll play him to WIN-PLACE-and SHOW across the board.

PORCELLO is a solid pitcher who can give the Tigers some quality innings. Detroit has won 5 of 7 at home versus the Yankees and always hit well in day games.
Victor Martinez is back in the Tigers lineup and will add some extra punch in their lineup.
Jeter will most likely be OUT for today's game with an injury.
10* AL GAME OF THE WEEK on the DETROIT TIGERS.

The Angels will give the ball to Joel Pineiro, who makes his season debut after beginning the season on the DL with right shoulder tightness.

The Texas Rangers have gone just 6-9 since its 9-1 start and the loss of Josh Hamilton.
The team posted an impressive 2.22 ERA in that 9-1 start but it

5*

Making his first start since coming up just short of his second career no-hitter, Sanchez will try to help the NL East-leading Marlins win their fifth straight at home against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Wednesday's series finale.
But as Lee Corso would say- NOT SO FAST MY FRIEND!
These close no hitters seem to have a negative hangover effect on pitchers.
Also, Chad Billingley is light out during the day. He owns a lifetime day ERA of 1.04.


Sanchez, allowed 26 hits in his first three outings, before his 1 hitter and career high 9 K's.
Sanchez is 0-1 with a 3.00 ERA in three starts against the Dodgers.

The Marlins also haven't sweep Los Angeles at home since 1999.


Look for the Dodgers to get this early start on Wednesday afternoon with Billingsley who is 4-0 with a 1.69 ERA in five starts against Florida. The last time he faced the Marlins, he struck out a career-best 13 in a 9-1 victory July 13, 2008.

Dodgers right fielder Andre Ethier will look to extend his career-best hitting streak to 24 games and its nice to have a hot hitter on our side.
Ethier is batting .412 (28 for 68) with 15 RBIs in his last 20 games against Florida.
Lets play a 10* selection on the LA DODGERS this afternoon.

Taking Baltimore with Britton the hill here on Tuesday night. The RedSox are off 2 straight shutouts on the West Coast and now travel cross country to face a pitcher they've never seen.

These 2 division teams split out last year going 9-9 against each other. Clay has awful year sporting a 5.31 ERA, and coming off his best outing of the year. Look for the Baltimore bats to come alive and Britton to cut down the Sox.
Britton is a tough lefty who should give these Boston hitters some trouble. 10* UNDERDOG GEM.

10*
Jared Weaver has been excellent this year already with a 5-0 record and the much better bats behind him. Weaver is pitching flawless baseball and you have to continue to ride a guy until he proves otherwise, especially at a good bargain like tonight at home. The Angels will look to rebound from a bad weekend against the RedSox with the best pitcher so far this season in baseball on the mound. Take the Angels here.

I look for the REDSOX to bounce back after getting shutout. They have always been good playing a day game after a night game shutout. Boston also has the better + hotter hitters.

Oakland's .236 team batting average and 3.7 runs per game is bad,
Red Sox third baseman Kevin Youkilis is 4 for 8 against Gonzalez.
The Red Sox appeared to be heating up after concluding a nine-game homestand with three straight wins over Toronto, but suffered their second consecutive 1-0 road loss Tuesday.
PLAY BOSTON here in a pick'em situation on Wednesday afternoon. 10* Afternoon HAMMMER PLAY

like Danks here the strong lefty to get the best of TB. He is a solid ERA and WHIP and gave up just 5 hits and 1 run in his last outing. John is also 5-2 against the Tampa Bay Rays. 5*

Forget Liriano

On Wednesday Texas lost their second in a row 3-2 to the Tigers.
Opponents are hitting .143 off Matt Harrison. He is 1-1 with a 7.53 ERA in two starts and three relief appearances vs. the Yankees but has never pitched in the Bronx.

Ivan Nova heads to the hill for the Yanks. Nova has great stuff and looks to beat the Rangers who are without Josh Hamilton for another six weeks.
I expect the Yanks to find a way to get the job done tonight in front of the home town crowd on Friday night with a little revenge from Texas knocking them out of the playoffs last season. 10*

Tulowitzki and the Rockies may be in for a tougher test at the plate when they face knuckleballer R.A. Dickey (1-1, 2.45 ERA) for the first time in the opener of this twinbill.

Dickey, though, is trying to rebound from a shaky outing. He battled through a split nail Friday while allowing three runs with five walks in five innings of a 6-2 loss to Washington.

Dickey will take the mound after manager Terry Collins held a closed-door meeting with the Mets to make his expectations clear for a team that has dropped six of seven, including three in a row.

Look for the Mets to come out fired up and take this early tilt.

Colorado will start Reynolds (0-0, 3.00) who has been a disappointment since being drafted second overall in 2006, going 2-8 with an 8.13 ERA in 14 games - 13 starts - in 2008 before shoulder and elbow problems slowed him down the last two years. 5* in game 1

The Tigers Max Scherzer to the mound. Scherzer got roughed up in his first start, although he did still manage to earn the victory. Max Scherzer was 8-4 with a stellar 2.99 ERA at home last season. The Tigers are 9-4 his last 13 starts here. Now Texas is without Josh Hamilton who was injured on Tuesday.
Scherzer is 2-0 with a stellar 2.25 ERA and 1.10 WHIP in three starts vs. Texas. In his lone home start against the Rangers last season, he tossed seven shutout innings and allowed only four hits. Look for Detroit to take the rubber match on Wednesday afternoon.
5*

Michael Pelfrey has dominated this Rockies

Even though he had an outstanding season debut (one run, six hits, six innings, 3-1 win over the Giants), I

Toronto lefty Brett Cecil wasn

5*

The Mets head back to New York following a respectable roadtrip where they went 3-3 and that came against some serious pitching opposition.

Washington is coming off an extra-inning win over Florida in which they are probably tired that went late last night then had to travel to NY and they could be in for a long night as they were crushed by the Braves following that first victory.

The Nationals are 0-9 in Zimmermann's last nine road starts. The Mets send R.A. Dickey to the hill and one of the biggest surprise stories in baseball last season has started again this season. Dickey posted a 2.84 ERA and 1.19 WHIP in 26 starts with the Mets a season ago and in his first outing this season, he allowed no earned runs on five hits in six innings against the Marlins. He was sensational at home last season where he had a 1.99 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in 11 starts. Play the NY Mets are our 10* NL GAME OF THE WEEK.

Dan Haren hasn't received much run support since joining the Los Angeles Angels last season.
Acquired from Arizona in a five-player deal last July, Haren (0-0, 1.29 ERA) received more than three runs of support just once and one or fewer seven times in 14 starts for the Angels in 2010.


TB has struggled to start the season, but had a team meeting after the game and taking extra batting practice this morning.
Look for TB to get into the win column behind their young pitcher and Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez to step up at the plate and get some key hits.
5*

I think the Oakland A's pitching will cool off the Blue Jays bats- Last year Toronto's top hitter Jose Batista hit just .115 average against Oakland (1-2) was his worst against an AL opponent, and he had one homer and two RBIs in seven meetings.

Oakland will go with Brandon McCarthy his first start with the A's - and first since Oct. 2, 2009. McCarthy was limited to 22 starts over the past three seasons because of shoulder problems, but earned a spot in the rotation in spring training and has looked great.

The Blue Jays will counter with JoJo Reyes, making his AL debut. Reyes spent his previous four seasons with Atlanta, and made one appearance for the Braves last season as he spent most of it in the minors.

I like the A's in this spot tonight as our 10* MLB DIAMOND in the ROUGH selection.

Texas is handing the ball to their tough southpaw in C.J. Wilson.

Last year, Texas threw Wilson into the starting rotation for the first time in his career, and the Southern California native went 15-8 with a 3.35 ERA, including 3-0 with a 0.86 ERA in three starts against the Red Sox, allowing just two runs, 11 hits and eight walks with 20 strikeouts in 21 innings.

Most impressive was the fact two of those wins came in Fenway Park

The defending World Series champs open the year at LA, on the road against their rivals Dodgers. I am very impressed with young Clayton Kershaw as the next star pitcher. LA's Kershaw was 9-2 against division foes last season, and was even quite stellar against the Giants last season, with a 1.55 ERA in four starts against them last season. I think the Dodgers have the better offense and the LA Dodgers start their season with a win. 5*

I

The Rangers did not have much going for them during the first two games, but they have plenty going for them at home. Texas went 51-30 at the Ballpark in Arlington during the regular season; fourth best in the American League. San Francisco, meanwhile, was a solid but unspectacular 43-38 on the road.

I think the DH is gonna make a HUGE difference for the games in Texas. Texas puts their DH at cleanup with Vladimir Guerrero batting 4th as he had 29HR and 115 RBI's and a veteran of the postseason. SF uses Sandoval as their DH and batted him 8th in the lineup as he struggled through a down year, batting .268 with 13 home runs.

Perhaps even more encouragingly, the Rangers are sending Tommy Hunter to the mound on Sunday. Hunter was 6-4 with a 4.48 ERA on the road during the regular season. OK numbers, right? Well, not compared to his home marks: 7-0, 3.06 ERA.

According to Fox's coverage of Game 2, the Rangers have not lost to a left-handed starter at home since August 29th: The Rangers are hitting .306 against lefties, and Bumgarner is a lefty for SF today.
5* TEXAS RANGERS in game 4.

5*

Major surprise in Game 1 of the World Series as the Giants brought their bats with them and pounded out an 11-7 victory, banging out 14 hits against Texas ace Cliff Lee. Tonight, I dont see them scoring much. The last 5 times the SF Giants scored more than 6 runs, they've averaged 1.4 runs in the following game. They are not an offensive team especially at home.
Texas has an 8-2 record on the road in the playoffs this year, which is huge because this is the first time since 2001 that the National League has held home-field advantage. The Rangers have been hitting all playoffs long and SF had one good game. TExas is a very good club right now though, especially on the road where they

Lincecum doesn

Lets play San Francisco as it looks to push the Phillies to the brink of elimination with a Game 4 victory.

How does this grab ya: Zero. That

It

Cain will be working on 10 days' rest since he pitched Game 2 of the division series against Atlanta on Oct. 8, the longest layoff of the right-hander's career and he has said he felt as good as ever.



Manager Bruce Bochy said he was planning on starting former Phillies fan favorite Aaron Rowand in center field in place of the struggling Andres Torres, who is 1 for 9 in the series and 3 for 25 overall in these playoffs. Torres went 0 for 4 and struck out all four times on Sunday night.


Matt Cain has been solid in his last 3 starts averaging 6 strikeouts and a 2 ERA. This SF team was build to win in this stadium and I like them to get the job done in this Tuesday afternoon game.
10* MLB GAME OF THE YEAR