Monday August 2nd, 2010.
There are a handful of fantastic pitching matchups today in baseball, most notably in the NL Central, where there is a full slate of division games.
In Pittsburgh, CIN -160 (T Wood) v PIT +140 (Ohlendorf), Cincinnati gets the serviceable chalk and sends Travis Wood to the mound in hopes to beat up on the lowly Buccos and maintain their standing in the division. Ohlendorf and the Pirates do get a little love here from the oddsmakers as he has been pretty good in his last several outings. In his 6 starts since the very end of June, the Pirates have gone 3-3 and Ross allowed less than 3 earned in 5 of those 6. One was a shellacking in an inning and a third in the second of back-to-backs versus the ‘stros, and two were impressive shutouts in his work, one versus Philadelphia and the other @ Oakland (which ended a 3-2 loss). Ohlendorf has only put together one positive decision on the season, but the Pirates have faired well of late in his outings.
Travis Wood (4-2, 2.87 era) takes the ball for the Reds and has been better than good so far in his brief stint in the bigs. His first career start was July 1st, and has won every contest except for 2 which were both 1-0 shutout losses (@ PHI and v COL). He just received his first win as a Red on 7/28, in his sixth start.
Gotta like the guy here in his 7th start as well. I like the Reds here. Wood will pitch well and keep the Reds in it. Hopefully for Cincinnati, they get to Ross at PNC and put up some support for Travis.
MIL -120 (Gallardo) @ CUB EV (Wells):
Yovani looks to rebound from his less-than-stellar performance last Monday versus the Reds, where he only lasted 2.2 innings and gave up a whopping 10 hits and 5 earned (6R). That was very un-Gallardo, and nothing short of his best should be expected today as he heads in to Wrigley to right the ship. This guy was an All-Star this season, has nasty strikeout stuff, and will bring it today. It’s just a matter of whether or not his struggling team’s offense has his back.
Randy Wells goes for the Cubs, and after a brutal start to the season, this guy is finally on track, and has remained on track over his last six outings, never allowing more than 3 earned, and allowing one or none in four of those six. The lowly Cubs have only won 2 of last six impressive outings.
I guess I like the Brewers in this spot today, and think Gallardo is just too good versus this bottom half squad division matchup.
HOU +140 (Myers) @ STL -160 (Westbrook):
Jake Westbrook (0-0, 0.00) gets the ball in his opening start for his new team in St. Louis. I love what this change of scenery does for a guy who pitched well in Cleveland and always seemed to have his team in the game. Now he gets to go to the NL, get the pitcher’s slot at least 2, if not three times a game, gets arguably the best pitching coach on his side, and joins a contender. Ill be very interested to see how this guy does today against new competition in a new place. Really leaning towards the Cardinals here, but we may have to pass considering who he’s up against.
Brett Myers (12-9, 3.10) takes the rock for the Astros today and this guy has been nothing short of dominant for his squad in Houston. In his last five, Brett has not allowed more than 2 earned (which he gave up only twice), and the ‘stros have won 4 straight. In his last outing, Myers struck out 12 at home versus the Cubs and has been amazing this season. No one could have guessed this kind of production from Myers, who has lasted at least six innings in every single start this season (now that is an impressive stat). He is striking out batters at an alarming rate and really isn’t walking many either.
I like the Astros here, if they can score runs, but probably won’t as they are facing a new face on the road in St. Louis vs. Jake Westbrook. Really leaning towards the u7.5.
There are a handful of fantastic pitching matchups today in baseball, most notably in the NL Central, where there is a full slate of division games.
In Pittsburgh, CIN -160 (T Wood) v PIT +140 (Ohlendorf), Cincinnati gets the serviceable chalk and sends Travis Wood to the mound in hopes to beat up on the lowly Buccos and maintain their standing in the division. Ohlendorf and the Pirates do get a little love here from the oddsmakers as he has been pretty good in his last several outings. In his 6 starts since the very end of June, the Pirates have gone 3-3 and Ross allowed less than 3 earned in 5 of those 6. One was a shellacking in an inning and a third in the second of back-to-backs versus the ‘stros, and two were impressive shutouts in his work, one versus Philadelphia and the other @ Oakland (which ended a 3-2 loss). Ohlendorf has only put together one positive decision on the season, but the Pirates have faired well of late in his outings.
Travis Wood (4-2, 2.87 era) takes the ball for the Reds and has been better than good so far in his brief stint in the bigs. His first career start was July 1st, and has won every contest except for 2 which were both 1-0 shutout losses (@ PHI and v COL). He just received his first win as a Red on 7/28, in his sixth start.
Gotta like the guy here in his 7th start as well. I like the Reds here. Wood will pitch well and keep the Reds in it. Hopefully for Cincinnati, they get to Ross at PNC and put up some support for Travis.
MIL -120 (Gallardo) @ CUB EV (Wells):
Yovani looks to rebound from his less-than-stellar performance last Monday versus the Reds, where he only lasted 2.2 innings and gave up a whopping 10 hits and 5 earned (6R). That was very un-Gallardo, and nothing short of his best should be expected today as he heads in to Wrigley to right the ship. This guy was an All-Star this season, has nasty strikeout stuff, and will bring it today. It’s just a matter of whether or not his struggling team’s offense has his back.
Randy Wells goes for the Cubs, and after a brutal start to the season, this guy is finally on track, and has remained on track over his last six outings, never allowing more than 3 earned, and allowing one or none in four of those six. The lowly Cubs have only won 2 of last six impressive outings.
I guess I like the Brewers in this spot today, and think Gallardo is just too good versus this bottom half squad division matchup.
HOU +140 (Myers) @ STL -160 (Westbrook):
Jake Westbrook (0-0, 0.00) gets the ball in his opening start for his new team in St. Louis. I love what this change of scenery does for a guy who pitched well in Cleveland and always seemed to have his team in the game. Now he gets to go to the NL, get the pitcher’s slot at least 2, if not three times a game, gets arguably the best pitching coach on his side, and joins a contender. Ill be very interested to see how this guy does today against new competition in a new place. Really leaning towards the Cardinals here, but we may have to pass considering who he’s up against.
Brett Myers (12-9, 3.10) takes the rock for the Astros today and this guy has been nothing short of dominant for his squad in Houston. In his last five, Brett has not allowed more than 2 earned (which he gave up only twice), and the ‘stros have won 4 straight. In his last outing, Myers struck out 12 at home versus the Cubs and has been amazing this season. No one could have guessed this kind of production from Myers, who has lasted at least six innings in every single start this season (now that is an impressive stat). He is striking out batters at an alarming rate and really isn’t walking many either.
I like the Astros here, if they can score runs, but probably won’t as they are facing a new face on the road in St. Louis vs. Jake Westbrook. Really leaning towards the u7.5.