Liriano hopes to turn things around vs. Mariners
Liriano hopes to turn things around vs. Mariners
Francisco Liriano is having a rough season and finds himself in a tough matchup to turn it around on Friday night when the Minnesota Twins travel to meet Felix Hernandez and the Mariners in Seattle.
Going to switch things upside down here and project my winner leading off the article. I like the Minnesota Twins (+135) tonight on the road at the Seattle Mariners.
Now the short of it is I'm taking the Twins (27-28, -3.90 Units) to fade a fantasy move I made this past week. I also think they have the better team overall right now and can improve on their 6-16 road mark against a Mariners team that is only 14-13 at home and last in the league in scoring with a 3.85 rpg rate. In other words, I'm counting on Minnesota's bats to make a winner out of Francisco Liriano (3-8, 6.60) after I dropped him due to his bad numbers and a numbers game on my fantasy squad with players returning from the DL.
I know, moves on a fantasy roster shouldn't affect your betting mentality, especially against a Seattle (26-28, -2.60 Units) team that has a big advantage statistically on the mound to start the game in Felix Hernandez (7-4, 3.41). Still, that's my play and my pick.
Liriano has flat-out sucked this year, making just two quality starts all season, with the Twins losing one of them when their bullpen melted down in a 5-4 loss at the Yankees. That was Liriano's start just before the last three shellings that he has taken. In Liriano's most recent three starts, he has worked just 4.0 innings and been charged with 16 earned runs in those 12 frames, along with 25 hits and six walks.
Over his career however, he has fared pretty well against the hitters he'll face in the M's lineup, holding them as a group to a .205 average (23-for-112) and three homers, one of those among the 617 Ken Griffey Jr. has on his career linescore. He made a nice start against Seattle for a win last August in the Metrodome, and also got a win against them in Minnesota back in 2006 in his only other start vs. the Mariners.
This will be the third time this season Hernandez has seen the Twins. After opening with a strong performance in a 6-1 win in Minnesota on Apr 6 in the season opener for both clubs, King Felix then posted his worst start of the season on May 9, again at the Metrodome, working four innings and giving up six runs, five earned, in a 9-6 Seattle loss.
To say that Joe Mauer has owned him would be like saying Miss July has a nice rack. Mauer, who has been nothing short of torrid since he made his delayed start to 2009, is 10-for-16 lifetime against Hernandez with three doubles and a pair of clouts among the 10 hits. But Mauer is the only one in the lineup with much to brag about when facing the Mariners righthander. Take away his stats, and the rest of the Twins in this game are hitting a collective .164 vs. Hernandez (15-for-91).
He didn't face Minnesota in 2008, but did twice in 2007. One of those was a nice winning effort, and the other was a game in which Hernandez worked just a third of the first inning in a 5-4 M's loss before spending a month on the DL.
Minnesota has a 4-3 mark vs. the Mariners so far this season, with all seven being played in the Metrodome, and went 4-2 against the M's in 2008 when they split a pair of three-game home-&-road series. Now I generally don't like to go back more than the previous season for possible info to cap, but since there really isn't any weather to report on for the game at Safeco Field with is poptop roof and I don't know who the umpire is going to be yet, not to mention my boss Bill Dozer likes me to fill a certain number of column inches when I write these pieces, I did go back a ways for head-to-head data.
This is the first time since the 2005 season these two teams have met for more than two series. The Twins are 21-13 overall in that span, counting the 4-2 mark this season, and 7-7 in Seattle.
The total is set at 7½ at most shops this morning. Very tempting to take the Under as I bank on Liriano having a good start. I'll wait to see if it climbs to 8 possibly before maybe making a play on it.
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Francisco Liriano is having a rough season and finds himself in a tough matchup to turn it around on Friday night when the Minnesota Twins travel to meet Felix Hernandez and the Mariners in Seattle.
Going to switch things upside down here and project my winner leading off the article. I like the Minnesota Twins (+135) tonight on the road at the Seattle Mariners.
Now the short of it is I'm taking the Twins (27-28, -3.90 Units) to fade a fantasy move I made this past week. I also think they have the better team overall right now and can improve on their 6-16 road mark against a Mariners team that is only 14-13 at home and last in the league in scoring with a 3.85 rpg rate. In other words, I'm counting on Minnesota's bats to make a winner out of Francisco Liriano (3-8, 6.60) after I dropped him due to his bad numbers and a numbers game on my fantasy squad with players returning from the DL.
I know, moves on a fantasy roster shouldn't affect your betting mentality, especially against a Seattle (26-28, -2.60 Units) team that has a big advantage statistically on the mound to start the game in Felix Hernandez (7-4, 3.41). Still, that's my play and my pick.
Liriano has flat-out sucked this year, making just two quality starts all season, with the Twins losing one of them when their bullpen melted down in a 5-4 loss at the Yankees. That was Liriano's start just before the last three shellings that he has taken. In Liriano's most recent three starts, he has worked just 4.0 innings and been charged with 16 earned runs in those 12 frames, along with 25 hits and six walks.
Over his career however, he has fared pretty well against the hitters he'll face in the M's lineup, holding them as a group to a .205 average (23-for-112) and three homers, one of those among the 617 Ken Griffey Jr. has on his career linescore. He made a nice start against Seattle for a win last August in the Metrodome, and also got a win against them in Minnesota back in 2006 in his only other start vs. the Mariners.
This will be the third time this season Hernandez has seen the Twins. After opening with a strong performance in a 6-1 win in Minnesota on Apr 6 in the season opener for both clubs, King Felix then posted his worst start of the season on May 9, again at the Metrodome, working four innings and giving up six runs, five earned, in a 9-6 Seattle loss.
To say that Joe Mauer has owned him would be like saying Miss July has a nice rack. Mauer, who has been nothing short of torrid since he made his delayed start to 2009, is 10-for-16 lifetime against Hernandez with three doubles and a pair of clouts among the 10 hits. But Mauer is the only one in the lineup with much to brag about when facing the Mariners righthander. Take away his stats, and the rest of the Twins in this game are hitting a collective .164 vs. Hernandez (15-for-91).
He didn't face Minnesota in 2008, but did twice in 2007. One of those was a nice winning effort, and the other was a game in which Hernandez worked just a third of the first inning in a 5-4 M's loss before spending a month on the DL.
Minnesota has a 4-3 mark vs. the Mariners so far this season, with all seven being played in the Metrodome, and went 4-2 against the M's in 2008 when they split a pair of three-game home-&-road series. Now I generally don't like to go back more than the previous season for possible info to cap, but since there really isn't any weather to report on for the game at Safeco Field with is poptop roof and I don't know who the umpire is going to be yet, not to mention my boss Bill Dozer likes me to fill a certain number of column inches when I write these pieces, I did go back a ways for head-to-head data.
This is the first time since the 2005 season these two teams have met for more than two series. The Twins are 21-13 overall in that span, counting the 4-2 mark this season, and 7-7 in Seattle.
The total is set at 7½ at most shops this morning. Very tempting to take the Under as I bank on Liriano having a good start. I'll wait to see if it climbs to 8 possibly before maybe making a play on it.
Win free SBR gear each Tuesday in the Tuesday Totals MLB Contest.
