|
**ATLANTA
-162 Over Arizona (1:20 EST)
Atlanta,
37-17 at home this season, has dropped two straight
in front of the home crowd and we expect that to
end tonight. The Braves are a wallet-stuffing 13-3
following two consecutive losses this season. They
are 22-3 at home when the total is between 8.5
and 10 this season. This is a team scoring 5 runs
per game on .284 batting
at
home
so their
cold
bats
can'd continue. They're putting John Thomson on
the mound and he brings in a 2.31 home ERA. He'll
be facing Russ Ortiz who has a 5.89 road ERA and
a 6.52 overall ERA his last three starts. Over
the past three seasons, Hotlanta is 14-1 when facing
an NL starting pitcher whose WHIP is 1.750 or worse.
Finally, winning home favorites revenging 2 straight
losses where team scored 2 or less runs are 35-8
(81%) over the last 5 seasons vs. losing teams.
Take the Bravos this afternoon for two stars.
**St.
Louis -186 over CHICAGO CUBS (1:20 EST)
After
eight straight losses, the Cubbies have reeled
off two wins in a row against the mightly St. Louis
Cardinals. Don't think they'll be making it three
today. Not with Chris Carpenter on the mound for
the Cards. St. Louis is 6-1 vs. the Cubs when Carpenter
toes the rubber. In those games, he's put up a
stingy 2.94 ERA. On top of that, Carpenter is en
fuego this year. He's 16-4 overall with a 2.24
ERA and 11-0 vs. division opponents. On the road
this season he's a perfect 8-0 with a 1.92 ERA.
Yowser!
Backing
him
up is
an awesome
bullpen with a 2.73 road ERA. St. Louis dropped
last game 4-1. I've said it here before but this
team just doesn't struggle offensively
two games in a row. Following games in which they
scored 1 run or less, they are a perfect 16-0 this
season in their next game! All Cards here. St.
Louis for two stars.
*FLORIDA
-225 over San Francisco (7:05 EST)
Both
of these teams have struggled offensively of late
(3.4 runs per game for Florida and 3.0 for San
Francisco) but SF will have a harder time breaking
out of that tonight. They face Josh
Beckett who is 7-2 with
a 2.81 ERA at home this season. Big home favorites
of -175 to -250 off a game where they had 4 or
less hits are 86-19 (82%) over the last 5 seasons.
One star on the Marlins.
**BOSTON
-130 over Chicago White Sox (7:05 EST)
The
Red Sox continue their tear and have now won
13 of their last 15 games. Don't get in front
of this train. Tonight the Red Sox call on Tim
Wakefield who sports a 2.42 home ERA with a perfect
3-0 record. In their last six home games, Boston
has scored 10.3 runs per game. Yes, you read
that right. Despite an early lead last night,
this offense was too much for the White Sox to
handle in the end. Chicago's John Garland has
had a good season but he folds against good teams.
He's 3-19 since 1997 when playing against good
teams at 54%-62% SU. Favorites of -125 to -175
that are scoring >5.7
runs/game off two straight games in which they
scored 9+ runs are 43-10 (81%) since 1997. Road
teams off a one run loss
facing an opponent that has scored
9 runs or more 2 straight games are 8-32 (20%)
since 1997. Two stars on the BoSox.
Check
up-to-the-minute lines on these games:
MLB
Lines & Odds
| 
