[JBasketballjr]

7/23/14 Yesterday's Results: 1-2 July Record: 23-20 (53.49%)
White Sox vs. Royals
Recommendation: UNDER 7.5
Thisone should be a low scoring affair as James Shields and Jose Quintana match upat U.S. Cellular field tonight. Kansas City had some offensive production inTuesday’s victory, but prior to that contest the Royals had only plated 17 runsin their previous 8 games. Offensive woes have been a story all year long forKC, with players such as Mike Moustakas and Billy Butler not living up toexpectations. Moustakas is batting an abysmal .198 this season, and the teamjust hasn’t come together to put up runs.
JamesShields has great lifetime success at U.S. Cellular. He had two quality startsbefore the All-Star break before an average outing at Boston last time out.Shields’ has allowed a higher on base percentage than in recent years, but hisstats against the White Sox remain strong. Against the current Sox roster, hehas 47 strikeouts compared to just 20 walks. He also has a 1.95 ERA in his last5 trips to the south side.
JoseQuintana is 2-0 with a .177 ERA in his last 6 appearances. The southpaw usuallygoes deep into ballgames, as you can pretty much count on him to take you intoat least the 7^th. Quintana has 40 K’s to just 11 walks against KC’sroster. He’s also been a very good ground ball pitcher against them. It’s alsoworth noting that White Sox young phenom Jose Abreu struggles against KansasCity pitching. The Royals putting up 7 runs as they did last night doesn’thappen often, and I fully expect them to play their usual offensively challengedbaseball tonight. As for the Sox, expect them to struggle against James Shieldslike they have so many times in the past. Take the UNDER.
Phillies vs. Giants
Recommendation: UNDER 7.5
It wasa roller coaster ride for both of these teams as yesterday’s game went into the14^th inning. Brandon Crawford finally put the game out of reach,hitting a line drive off the wall with the bases loaded in the early morninghours of Philadelphia. After all was said and done the game had lasted over 6hours. The “hangover” effect will be in play here tonight as both teams will beexhausted from last night’s marathon. The Phillies probably more so, as theyhave nothing to play for and have other distractions like who’s going to begone with the July 31^st trade deadline approaching. Throw in thefact that Philly has no home field advantage right now and you can see how thisone sets up to be a snoozer.
A.J.Burnett doesn’t know where he’ll be pitching in a couple weeks as he’s at the forefrontof the trade talk. Burnett will be an asset for a contender, as he had posted a2.94 ERA in 7 starts prior to his rough outing last time out. He also has agood track record against the Giants.
He’llbe facing Giants All-Star “Ace” Madison Bumgarner. The break seem to do Bumsome good, as he looked like his regular self while only allowing 1 run lasttime out against the Marlins. Bumgarner is also a work horse, and he will becounted on to go deep into the game with every available pitcher used by SanFran last night. He has a solid 2.71 FIP against the Phillies current roster. Withboth teams tired and two solid pitchers on the mound, look for this one to stayunder the total.
Yankees vs. Rangers
Recommendation: UNDER 7.5
TheYankees are in real danger of missing the playoffs again this year. They’vemade a couple of recent acquisitions to try and patch up an injury depletedroster. Brandon McCarthy was brought over form Arizona, as almost every memberof the Yanks original starting rotation is on the shelf. Tuesday New Yorkbrought in Chase Headley from the Padres. This was actually a good move on GMBrian Cashman’s part, as the Yankees has serious needs at 3^rd baseand there aren’t many players currently available at that position. NaturallyHeadley had the game winning hit in what was an emotional night in the Bronx.The acquisition of Headley may have been a notch up from what they had, but hecertainly won’t pose much of an offensive threat in the long run, and especiallynot against Yu Darvish.
TheRangers have the worst rotation in the AL, but Darvish is one of the best. Hehas been hittable over the last month or so, but still possesses a very nice2.88 ERA on the season. He pitched another gem last time out against Toronto,allowing only 1 earned run. He’s also be pitching to a depleted Yankees lineup.Mark Teixeira is out with a bad back, and a few others are banged up as well.
DavidPhelps seems like he’s the only one who’s not hurt of the Yankees starters. Hehas a 2.52 ERA in his last 5 outings, including a good performance last timeagainst the Reds. The Yankees have the 2^nd fewest runs scored in theAL with 393, and the Rangers aren’t hitting either right now. We also have tokeep in mind that these teams are coming off of a long drawn out, emotional, 14inning game, so the “hangover” effect will be apparent. The first two games ofthis series have totaled 6 and 3 runs. I don’t see anything to indicate that itwon’t be the exact same result tonight. Take the UNDER.

[RollinDo]

Like them all...a bit leary of Sox Under though.
Shields has a 4.50 ERA at US Cellular from what I researched, but good ERA vs Sox.
KC batters have roughed up Quintana a bit