This line looks crazy to me, I dont see how the Padres are only -140 against the Pirates tommorow. The Padres will win this game BIG, In fact my play is going to be the Padres runline - 1 1/2 runs + 115 because they will win by more than 1 run.
The Padres are starting Wade Leblanc. This guy has an ERA this year of 1.96. That is like Josh Johnson and Ubaldo Jiminez' numbers. Leblanc with his 1.96 ERA has 4 starts for a total of 23 innings pitched. He has given up 19 hits , 5 Earned Runs, only 3 walks, and recorded 17 strikeouts.
The only thing with Leblanc is he hasnt always been a starter so in his first few starts he has been on pitch count. Therefore guy is only going like 5 innings per start, which of course has kept his ERA artificially low. They have been pulling him before he gets in trouble in the later innings.
I dont know if that continues tommorow. This will be his fifth start so I would expect he will be pitching deeper into the game as his pitch count will no longer be an issue or at least it will be raised.
Still I have a lot of confidence in the Padres bullpen too. I feel very confident that Leblanc will get the Padres into at least the sixth inning will a nice lead, and I feel equally confident that the Padres bullpen will make it hold up.
The real reason that I love the Padres tommorow is the Pirates starter Brad Lincoln. This guy just flat out sucks. I think the Pirates would have a better chance with JJGold on the mound tommorow. This Lincoln guy just got called up from the minors, where he SUCKED.
Look at these numbers
14 wins 19 losses 4.60 ERA 263 innings pitched 291 hits allowed 10 hits per 9 innings allowed 5.1 runs per 9 innings allowed
Those are his career MINOR LEAGUE numbers. Wow how did this guy get called up ?
He has only 1 major league start, where he went 2 innings, gave up 4 hits, and walked 3 batters. 7 of the 12 batters he faced reached base safely. I think it is very clear that we are going to see a lot of that Pirate bullpen tommorow. When this game comes down to the bullpens, the Padres have a massive advantage.
Last nights bullpen usage by these two teams.
Padres
FRIER 0.00 ERA
Gregerson 2.66 ERA
Bell 1.91 ERA
Pirates
Donnelly 5.58 ERA
Carrasco 3.86 ERA
Gallagher 4.71 ERA
Hanrahan 3.76 ERA
Dotel 4.62 ERA
Lopez 2.62 ERA
The Pirate bullpen was used extensively in their last series against the Brewers and again last night. This bullpen is madly overworked and their terrible ERA's show this fact. I think the Padres will crush Brad Lincoln tommorow and then will continue crushing the Pirate bullpen.
The Padres team total is 4 1/2, the game total is 8 1/2.
I love Padres, Padres runline, Padres and the over parlay. The Padres will score 9 runs in this game all by themselves. I dont care that they dont have a lot of .300 hitters, they have a lot of good hitters just the same. Hairston .260, Denorfia .281, Gonzalez .293, Headley .272. None of these guys are easy outs, and lets keep it real, this Brad Lincoln guy couldnt even get minor leaguers out.