Baseball Handicapping - July 20, 2008
We gave back a few units yesterday as we finished 1-2. Today we offer three afternoon games with a 4-unit play.
Today's MLB Baseball Picks:
Game: Oakland at New York (1:05 PM Eastern)
Pick: 4 units on Oakland +128 (moneyline) (risk 4 to win 5.1)
Justin Duchscherer has put together an amazing run for the A's. He has not pitched a bad game all season, and has pitched 10 consecutive quality starts not allowing more than two runs in any of them. Their opponents have produced a total of just 18 runs over these 10 games or 1.8 per game. The Yankee offense is still a mystery, as this potent offense has been anything but, producing three runs or less in 42 games on the season. The Yankees have been just a .500 team over their last 24 and have not had the type of season most expected and the A's will salvage the final game of this series.
Game: Toronto at Tampa Bay (1:40 PM Eastern)Pick: 3 units on Tampa Bay -150 (moneyline) (risk 3 to win 2)
The Blue Jays have not been able to get anything going on the road where they are just 4-15 over their last 19 games. They have sunk to the bottom of the AL East, and although they have been five games over .500 against RHP, they have not been able to get anything done against the lefties where they stand at 9-17. Today they face a Tampa Bay team that is recovering from a seven-game losing streak by taking the first two in this series, and has Edwin Jackson on the mound looking for the sweep. The Rays have been mighty tough at home producing a 38-14 mark, and we look for them to add one more to the win column at home in this one.
Game: Pittsburgh at Colorado (3:05 PM Eastern)Pick: 3 units on Colorado -1.5 runs +106 (runline) (risk 3 to win 3.2)
The Rockies have taken the first three of this series and will look for the four-game sweep today behind Aaron Cook who has been their most consistent pitcher all season. Cook brings an 11-6 mark into this game with a 3.57 ERA. The Rockies continue to pound LHP at home where they are now 11-4 on the season, averaging nearly seven runs per game against southpaws. That spells trouble for the Pirates and Zach Duke, who has been ineffective of late, pitching to a 7.43 ERA over his last three starts. Opponents have tallied an average of 5.7 runs per game over Duke's 19 starts. We like the Rockies to come away with an easy win here and sweep the four-game series.
Results: 1-2
MLB Baseball Picks Resources:
Check out the last five MLB Baseball Picks Newsletters:
MLB-Baseball-Picks-July-19-2008
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 b...
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...
