darrell,

Back to the winning ways yesterday at 2-1 and 4-1 on a star basis thanks to the easy 3-star win on Oakland. Five picks today.

View past 2005 MLB picks.

Good luck today...

A low number here, but for a reason as two of the hottest pitchers in baseball square off. Chris Carpenter is making a run at the Cy Young. He posts a 18-4 record with a 2.34 ERA. In his last thirteen starts he's 10-0 with a 1.41 ERA! In his last game against these Florida Marlins, he gave up one run on way to a final score in which 4 total runs were scored. For the Marlins, AJ Burnett goes and he's got a 2.90 ERA on the season which he's dropped to 1.40 in his last eight starts. Against the high-powered Cardinals, Burnett posts a lifetime 2.50 ERA. In the last seven starts for Carpenter vs. the Marlins, the UNDER has cashed six times. Over their past seven games, St. Louis is scoring just 4.3 per game while Florida is scoring 3.7. Against these two pitchers, it should be well below that tonight. One star on the UNDER here.

The AL East is getting very interesting and the Red Sox will need to keep up in this series at home this weekend. The Yankees are breathing down their necks, which makes these very winnable games even more essential to the Sawx. Clement has been very solid all year long, and looks to continue that here. Boston is 13-1 athome after scoring 8 runs or more 2 straight games over the last 2 seasons. Boston knows how to go on offensive tears and they seem to be on the front end of one now. The Red Sox are by far and away the better team and they own the D-Rays to the tune of a 20-5 record over the past three seasons including 5-1 this year. Boston has won 15 of 16 at home and we'll back them for another here for one star.

While not the pitching matchup of the day (that honor goes to the Cardinals and Marlins), this is a good one. John Patterson comes in at 8-4 with a 2.43 ERA and faces Jorge Sosa (9-2, 2.56 ERA). But, the edge here certainly goes to Sosa and the Braves who are at home and who have a much better offense. They are scoring 5.3 per game at home while Washington manages just 4.1 on the road and 3.9 vs. right handed starters. Over their past seven games, the Nats have scored just 3.0 per game. That's not good for them because they don't fare well in low scoring games. They are just 3-26 over the past two seasons after 4 or more consecutive UNDERs. Also, underdogs at +100 to +150 off 2 straight games with no home runs starting a hot pitcher with an ERA less than 3.00 over his last 10 games are only 12-49 (20%) since 1997. Two stars on Hotlanta.

It's late August and time for the Yankees to turn it on. They've won eight of ten, scoring nearly 7 runs per game during the stretch and tonight they get Seattle , a team that they've beaten 5 out of 6 times this year. Giambi had another huge day on Sunday propelling the Yanks to a sweep of the hapless Royals. It gets tougher here, but these games are winnable and the Yankees really need them. The Moose goes here for the Yanks and he has been their most consistent pitcher all season long. He's 17-5 lifetime against Seattle. Seattle is 10-30 vs. a starting pitcher whose strikes out 5 or more batters per start over the last 2 seasons. They are also just 19-44 after batting .250 or worse over a 20 game span over the last 2 seasons. Simply put, the Yankees are the better team, and have been built for this kind of run. One star on New York.

San Francisco held the Mets to a total of 3 runs in their three game series. The Rockies have been playing better of late, but this is very good value on a Giants team that generally enjoys the Rockies visits to the Bay. Favorites that field well (avg <0.6 errors/game) clicking defensively (3 straight excellent defensive efforts allowing 1 run or less) are 43-11 (80%) since 1997. The Rockies are only 7-29 vs. teams outscored by opp by 0.5 or more runs/game on the season this season. Colorado has only hit .228 on the road this season which is obviously horrible. They are also 0-10 as a road underdog of +100 to +125 this season. One star on the Giants.