Baseball Handicapping - July 19, 2008

Yesterday we nailed our pick on Minnesota at +160 to the -1.5 runline to help us get a winning day. Today we are back with three picks.

Today's MLB Baseball Picks:

Game: San Diego at St. Louis (3:55 PM Eastern)
Pick: 3 units on St. Louis -1.5 runs +137 (runline) (risk 3 to win 4.1)

Randy Wolf has not been pitching well of late, and the Padres have not played well all season as they continue to struggle putting runs on the scoreboard. The Padres made a 13-6 run, but have fallen back hard as they have now gone 6-21 since. The Padres are also 7-24 in their last 31 road losses against the runline. The Cards have now won three straight and have been a solid team all season. St. Louis has also been swinging some hot bats producing 37 runs in their last four games. The Padres have been an awful 1-8 in road games started by Wolf, and that includes the last seven where the Padres have been outscored 44-13! We like the Cards on the runline here.

Ben Sheets is healthy and so is his record as he stands at 10-3 with a 2.85 ERA. Sheets has allowed three runs or less in 14 of his 17 starts for the Brewers this season, and already owns a complete-game shutout over the Giants this season. The Brewers have also been murder on LHP where they stand at 21-9 on the season, and this combo makes for a tough task on the Giants. The Giants aren't a very good team and are currently in free-fall mode as they have dropped seven of their last eight, including the opener here. The Brew Crew makes it two in a row.

Carlos Zambrano is having a big year for the Cubs. The Cubbies have now won 11 of his last 15 starts and has had seven starts on the season allowing one run or less. The Astros are just 15-28 over their last 43 games and have just not been a very good team in '08. Wandy Rodriguez had a 1.99 ERA through June 8, but has since struggled, posting an ERA of 5.29. The Cubs are a far better team than the Astros and have a huge pitching edge as well as short odds, so we'll back them here.

Results: 1-2

MLB Baseball Picks Resources:

• Read our mlb picks blog here.
• Check out our updated MLB lines and odds.
• Hop over to our mlb against-the-spread records here.
• Check out our updated 2008 MLB pick results.
• View our updated 2008 MLB handicapping preview.
• Check out our updated Baseball handicapping philosophy.
• Take a look at our mlb baseball pick here.
• Take a look at our sportsbook reviews mlb here.
• Hop over to our MLB Baseball Game-of-Day-Preview here.
• Check out baseball prior predictions here.

Check out the last five MLB Baseball Picks Newsletters:

MLB-Baseball-Picks-July-18-2008
Hot teams like the Mets find ways to win. Last night the Mets plated four runs in the ninth to grab their 10th straight win, so getting a team on fire at virtually even odds always shows value. After ...

MLB-Baseball-Picks-July-17-2008
While Jake Peavy remains one of the top pitchers in baseball, the Padres remain one of the worst teams. They had one good run during the first half, which even bad teams do, going 12-5. Before and aft...

MLB-Baseball-Picks-July-13-2008
Seattle is just that bad. We aren't even at the All-Star break and they are already 19 games out of first in their division, they own the worst record in the AL, and they are 17-31 away from ...

MLB-Baseball-Picks-July-12-2008
The Phillies were a hot team then ran cold, but now have won three straight and are back on track. The Phillies have been tough all season long against LHP, and have won 11 of their last 15 at home ag...

MLB-Baseball-Picks-July-11-2008
The Cubs were shelled for seven home runs and 12 overall runs last night. Overall, 19 runs were scored. Often after games like that, we see the next game result in a much lower tally and that'...