7/5/14
Mariners @ White Sox
Recommendation: Mariners -140
Ialways feel confident when King Felix is on the mound no matter who he is goingup against. This is the ultimate “bet on” pitcher. If I could choose one guy tohand the ball to in a game that had to be won, Hernandez would definitely be inthe top 3. He’s currently 6-1 with a 1.30 ERA in his last 9 starts. He also wonthe AL pitcher of the month award. In his last start, he gave up only one hitand struck out 9 against an underrated Cleveland offense. Felix is also a workhorse, so you can count on him to go deep into the ballgame virtually everystart.
Seattlehas actually been a much better ball club on the road this year. For whateverreason, they’ve struggled to impress the home crowd but found their groovewhile on the highway. They are overshadowed in the division with the A’s andAngels, but this is a decent team with some good, young talent.
TheWhite Sox can score runs at times, but overall they’re just not a very goodteam. Jose Quintana cannot be trusted. He has found a little rhythm in his pastcouple of starts, but the odds of him outpitching King Felix are slim to none.The M’s need to keep the ball away from Jose Abreu, who is an absolute monsterand would get my vote for Rookie of the Year if the season were to end today.All signs point towards Seattle here. Take the Mariners.
Giants @ Padres
Recommendation: Giants -120
OdrisamerDespaigne takes the mound at Petco Saturday against the reeling Giants. The 27year old right hander from Cuba is an interesting pitcher. Most scouts wouldagree that Despaigne’s stuff is average across the board. His velocity isn’tparticularly high and he is the ultimate finesse pitcher. He had an up and downcareer in Cuba but his talent level is far below someone such as an AroldisChapman. The reason behind his success so far is he delivers the baseball at avariety of different angles. This can be hard to pick up for many major leaguehitters because it is so unorthodox and uncommon.
Despaignepitched great against San Fran the last time he faced them, but I think thatwill actually work to their advantage this time. As I mentioned, his stuff is averageso when the Giants see him for the second time around they will have madeadjustments and should have much more success.
TheGiants are struggling more than any team in baseball right now while the Friarshave won 5 straight. I just don’t see the success continuing in San Diego, notwith that lineup. Tim Hudson has been great for the Giants this season. He cameout of the gates early on and had one of the best starts to a season of hiscareer. There have been a couple tough bumps along the way, but we can say thatabout almost every pitcher. He was strong again last time out, giving up only 2earned in 8 innings against the Reds. The Giants may not turn things aroundcompletely, but I expect them to get the victory here tonight. Take the Giants.
A’s vs. Blue Jays
Recommendation: A’s -132
Those Athleticsjust continue to get better and better. The A’s added Jeff Samardzija and JasonHammel to their rotation on Friday. Already one of the best teams in theleague, this move figures to dramatically improve the starting pitching as bothof these guys have pitched great this year. Billy Beane shows once against howmuch of a genius he is.
Beforethese guys suit up in the yellow and green, Scott Kazmir looks to stayimpressive and will hopefully be heading to the all-star game. Kazmir has givenup 2 or fewer runs in 6 of his last 7 starts. That’s not good news for theslumping Blue Jays.
TheJays have scored only 1 run through the first two games of this series, andthings won’t get any easier tonight. They’ll look to Mark Buehrle to help themout, but he’s lost 4 decisions in a row himself. Buehrle got off to anextremely hot start this year that I think surprised most of us. He’s not afeared pitcher and was actually backed by a great deal of run support. Oncethat run support was regressed, we saw the losses begin to roll in. The A’s canflat out hit so this is not the team you want to be facing when your stuff isn’tworking. Lay the chalk and take the A’s.