Cincinnati Reds vs. Chicago Cubs
-Cincinnati has scored 11 runs and batting .180 during its five-game losing streak
-Chicago has won 14 of 19 at Wrigley Field
-Reds SP Homer Bailey is 1-0 with a 2.77 ERA in two starts versus the Cubs this year
-Cubs closer Carlos Marmol has sealed down 13 consecutive saves
-The Reds are 12-7 as a road favorite of -125 to -150 (9-9 over/under)
-The Cubs are 24-32 in day games (Reds, 26-13)
-Bailey suffered a 7-5 road loss to the Orioles in his lone start in Alan Porter’s strike zone (5 IP, 5 ER)
Boston Red Sox at Cleveland Indians
-Cleveland hasn’t won three straight games since July 3-5
-Red Sox SP Clay Buchholz is 1-0 with a 1.20 ERA over his last four starts
-Buchholz is 1-1 with a 5.32 ERA in four starts against the Indians
-Boston’s starting staff is 3-10 with a 5.82 ERA over its last 20 games
-David Ortiz is eyeing a return against the Tribe
-The Red Sox are 17-17 as a road favorite of -150 to -175 since 2010 (17-16 over)
-The Indians are 5-3 as a home underdog of +125 to +150 this season (6-1 under)
-Buchholz has not allowed an earned run in 13 innings (two regular-season starts) with umpire Eric Cooper behind home plate
St. Louis Cardinals at Philadelphia Phillies
-Roy Halladay is 2-2 with a 2.61 ERA in four home matchups against the Cardinals as a member of the Phillies rotation
-Cardinals SP Kyle Lohse is 1-2 with a 2.81 ERA in four regular-season meetings with the Phillies since 2010
-Lohse has 11 quality starts in his last 12 outings (2.32 ERA)
-Phillies 1B Ryan Howard is batting .213 in 26 games this season
-St. Louis is 5-8 as a road underdog of +100 to +125 (7-5 under)
-Philadelphia is 1-6 at home with a money line of -100 to -125
Kansas City Royals at Baltimore Orioles
-Kansas City will attempt to match its season high with four straight wins
-Hochevar is 0-3 with a 7.99 ERA in four starts at Camden Yards
-Gonzalez is 0-2 with a 10.80 ERA at Camden Yards
-The Royals are 6-11 on the road when the total is 9 to 9.5 (12-5 under)
-The Orioles are 9-3 as a home favorite of -125 to -150 (6-5 under)
-The OVER is 12-7-1 in umpire Bill Welke’s 20 home plate assignments (9.55 rpg)
San Diego Padres at Pittsburgh Pirates
-Pittsburgh owns a major league-best 35-18 home record
-The Pirates have been outscored 72-25 in losing their last nine home games against the Padres
-Currently San Diego’s longest road win streak over any opponent, while Pittsburgh’s longest at home versus any foe
-McDonald has a 7.76 ERA in his last five starts
-Volquez has a 2.16 ERA in three career starts at PNC Park
-McDonald has allowed first-inning runs in his last five starts (20 overall in that situation)
Two of the worst first-inning pitchers in all of baseball in this contest
Detroit Tigers
-Collected 13 hits in each of the last five games, no Tigers team has collected 13-or-more hits in more than five games since at least 1918
-Batting .356 with 11 HRs in eight games in August
-Detroit is 8-13 versus AL West opponents
-SP Max Scherzer is 10-3 with a 3.33 ERA in 16 career starts versus AL West opponents
Minnesota Twins
-Batting .285 since the All-Star break, lead the majors in that category
-Rotation has a 3.09 ERA in the last 13 games, nine quality starts
-Minnesota is 10-15 versus AL East opponents
-C Joe Mauer is batting .375 in 40 career games against the Rays, second-best among active players
-Need one HR to reach 100 this season, hit that mark on Sept. 25 last year
Milwaukee Brewers
-Gone 40-71 in Houston since 1998 (38-60 at MMP)
-Lost nine consecutive road games, longest since 2008
-Posted a 4-12-1 series record away from home
-SP Mark Rodgers was 0-5 with a 9.34 ERA in 15 games (13 starts) between Triple-A Nashville and Class-A in 2011
Chicago White Sox
-Gone 13-4 in their last 17 home games, outscoring opponents by a 100-59 margin
-Bullpen owns a 1.45 ERA over the last 16 games
-Posted a 15-8 record against AL West opponents, wins in eight of the last 10
-Hitting .310 with RISP at home this season
-SP Gavin Floyd is 0-4 with a 5.59 ERA in six starts versus AL West foes this season
-Floyd is 2-0 with a 1.27 ERA in three career home starts against the Athletics
Seattle Mariners
-The Mariners are 6-21 at Angel Stadium since 5/31/09
-Played 75 games against teams with a winning record, most in the majors
-Rotation is 11-5 with a 2.71 ERA over the last 20 games
-SP Felix Hernandez has a 2.65 ERA over his last 65 road starts
Tampa Bay Rays
-Same record this year as they did last season through 111 games
-Gone 8-16 against AL Central opponents, worst in the league
-The Rays are 16-8 in their last 24 games against the Twins, while going 7-3 all-time at Target Field
-Pitching staff leads the AL with a 1.19 ERA over the last 11 games, while bullpen leads that category with a 1.40 ERA since the break
-Went 10-for-28 (.357) with RISP versus the Blue Jays
-Current members of the Twins have hit .091 against Hellickson
Atlanta Braves
-Own a 5-4 edge over the Mets in the season series (5-1 at Turner Field)
-Second-best road record in the majors (32-21), trailing the Nationals (37-21)
-Won 18 of 26 games since the All-Star break
-Bullpen owns a 1.59 ERA over the last 32 games
-SP Paul Maholm is 0-2 with an 8.80 ERA in four career games at Citi Field
Colorado Rockies
-Have at least eight hits in six of nine road games since the All-Star break
-Gone 53-102 all-time in San Francisco
-The Rockies are 10-8 on Fridays, their only winning mark on any particular day this year
Houston Astros
-Won three of five home games against the Brewers this year
-Bullpen has posted a 1.40 ERA in the last seven games
-Youngest active roster in the big leagues (26.7)
-Seven of Bud Norris’ last eight starts have been on the road
-Norris has received three or fewer runs of support in eight of his last 11 outings
Los Angeles Dodgers
-The Dodgers went 40-37 against the Marlins at their old ballpark
-OF Matt Kemp has hit nine HRs in 64 at-bats against lefties
-SP Clayton Kershaw has allowed one or fewer runs in four of his five starts since the All-Star break
Miami Marlins
-Won seven of their last 11 against the Dodgers
-Rank second in the majors in allowing just 88 HRs this year, behind only the Dodgers (83)
-1B Carlos Lee is hitting .420 during his 14-game hit streak
-Bullpen has the fourth-lowest ERA (1.99) since the break
-SP Mark Buehrle is 3-1 with a 1.50 ERA in four career starts against the Dodgers, never issued a walk against them (30 IP)
New York Mets
-The Mets are 8-18 since the All-Star break
-Batting .189 with RISP over the last six games (.260 season)
-Starters rank eight in the majors with a 3.86 ERA, bullpen is the worst (4.97)
-Matt Harvey is set to make his debut at home, first three starts on the road
Philadelphia Phillies
-Won seven of their last 10 home games, averaging 4.5 runs
-Bullpen has posted an NL-best .174 opponents BA over the last 17 games
-Despite a 13-13 all-time record against the Cardinals at CBP, won four of the last five series
-NL Central is the only division the Phillies have a winning record (15-7) against
-Hit 27 HRs in 24 games since the All-Star break
-SP Roy Halladay is 0-2 with a 7.20 ERA in his last two regular-season starts against the Cardinals (1-1, 2.25 ERA in two outings in the 2011 NLDS)
San Diego Padres
-Averaged 6.4 runs at PNC Park since it opened in 2001
-The Padres are 13-2 in their last 15 games against the Pirates, their best record against any NL opponent in that amount of games
-Closer Huston Street has worked scoreless ball in each of his last 21 appearances (20.1 IP)
-SP Edinson Volquez has factored into one decision in his seven starts against the Pirates
-Volquez has received 3.13 runs of support this year, lowest in the majors
-Volquez has allowed 15 runs in the first inning (23 starts), 24 in 20 starts with Cincinnati last year
Boston Red Sox
-Tied for the AL lead with a 22-14 record against left-handed starters
-1B Adrian Gonzalez is batting .401 since June 23, leads the AL with 29 RBI since the break
-Gone 25-19 on the road since April 23, tops in the AL in that span
-Lost seven of their last nine games in Cleveland
-Top all AL offenses with 5.55 rpg versus AL Central clubs
-SP Clay Buchholz is 5-1 with a 2.21 ERA in his last 10 starts, second-best ERA in the AL in that span (Felix Hernandez, 2.16)
-Buchholz is second in road winning percentage (.710) since 2009
Cleveland Indians
-Gone 8-19 since the All-Star break, lowest win percentage (.296) in the AL
-Cleveland is 12-9 in its last 21 games against Boston
-SP Chris Seddon has not allowed a hit in 14 at-bats against him versus the Red Sox
-Seddon will make his first career start at Progressive Field
Oakland Athletics
-Allowed the fewest HRs (98) in the AL this season
-Rank last in the majors with a .230 batting average, lead the AL in strikeouts
-Won 11 of their last 12 one-run games
-SP Brandon McCarthy is 6-0 with a 1.96 ERA in his last seven starts
-McCarthy is 12-0 the last two seasons when receiving run support of four runs or more
Los Angeles Angels
-The Angels are 21-6 in their last 27 home games against the Mariners
-Bullpen has a 6.66 ERA since the All-Star break
-SP Ervin Santana is 18-8 with a 3.93 ERA in his career during August
-Santana leads the league in allowing 26 HRs
St. Louis Cardinals
-Gone 5-2 and are batting .282 and averaging 4.7 runs over their current homestand
-Since 2000, own the NL’s top winning percentage (.587) in August
-SP Kyle Lohse has a current team best six-game win streak over his last eight starts (7-1 team record)
-Lohse has the best win percentage (.857) in the NL with a 12-2 record
-Lohse has allowed 23 of his 49 runs in the first two innings this year