Front Page Picks (Fri., Jun 13)

Willie Bee · 06-13-08, 11:04 AM

Zito, Giants +100 vs. Oakland A's

Game Time: 06/13/2008 10:15 PM -
By: Scott Spreitzer | sportspic.com

Giants left-hander Barry Zito has turned around his slow start with the G-Men victorious in three of his last four starts. Side with San Francisco at home against the Oakland Athletics.

I'm taking the price with the Giants at home in San Francisco on Friday night against their AL rivals from across the bay in Oakland.

The Athletics have not been able to handle southpaws away from home this season, going 2-7 while scoring just 2.2 runs per game. Enter San Fran's Barry Zito...and the A's should right the ship, correct?

Absolutely not, in my book. Zito has been pitching much better as of late. In fact, he's been finding his "stuff" in six of the last seven starts. Take out the one subpar performance and you'll find that Zito has allowed just 14 earned runs in the other six games, spanning 33.1 innings of work. That's a strong 3.78 ERA.

The A's will send a lefty of their own to the bump in the form of Greg Smith. The Oakland southpaw has been bombed in his last two outings, and San Francisco loves taking on left-handers. The Giants are 6-3 at home against southpaws this season, scoring 5.22 runs per game.

The wrong side opened as the favorite as far as I'm concerned, and I'll back the Giants on Friday night.

Free Pick: Giants +100

Willie Bee · 06-13-08, 11:05 AM

Play Chicago Cubs & Toronto Blue Jays Over 8

Game Time: 06/13/2008 07:05 PM -
By: Bob Harvey | bobharveysports.com

A.J. Burnett has struggled under the dome at the Rogers Centre this season, and Sean Gallagher has been horrible on the road. Play the Blue Jays and Cubs over the total.

Sean Gallagher and the Cubs travel north of the border to battle the Blue Jays in the opener of a three-game series. Veteran A.J. Burnett gets the call for Toronto.

The Jays have dropped their last three games when Burnett has toed the rubber. Burnett got blasted in his last outing allowing eight earned runs on 10 hits and was gone by the fifth inning. Of extreme interest to those of us who are playing the Over tonight is what Burnett has done under the dome this season. It’s not pretty. Burnett is 2-3 with a whopping 9.00 ERA in six appearances (five starts) at home this year.

Meanwhile, the 22-year-old Gallagher has had recent trouble on the road going 0-2 with two no-decisions and a 5.93 ERA in four road starts this year, and tonight marks his first career start against Toronto.

Finally, the Over is 7-2 in the Blue Jays' last nine interleague games.

Free Pick: Cubs-Blue Jays Over 8 (-115)

Willie Bee · 06-13-08, 11:06 AM

Nationals +120 at Seattle Mariners

Game Time: 06/13/2008 10:10 PM -
By: Matt Fargo | 10starpicks.com

This series won't make the top of any marquee, but there's still money to be made and the tickets that cash tonight will be on the Washington Nationals at the Seattle Mariners.

No one would have thought that the Nationals would have a better record than Seattle at this point in the season. Washington is by no means playing great baseball right now but has gotten out of a horrible offensive slump that took place in eight of nine games prior to the recent three-game set at Pittsburgh.

The Nationals are hitting .261 over their last 10 games which is a significant improvement of the season-long struggles. The pitching has not improved but is better in this matchup here.

Seattle took two of three in Toronto after losing two of three in Boston. The Mariners won that series with the Blue Jays despite scoring a total of six runs in the three games as this offense remains stagnate. Seattle is hitting .247 on the season which is second-to-last in the American League, and this is after hitting .287 a season ago, finishing just below the Yankees for best in baseball.

The Mariners are five games under .500 at home and head into this one with losses in four straight at Safeco Field. Play Washington for 1½ units.

Free Pick: Nationals +120

Willie Bee · 06-13-08, 11:07 AM

Chicago White Sox -139 vs. Rockies

Game Time: 06/13/2008 08:10 PM -
By: Alex Smart | who2beton.com

With Chicago's Gavin Floyd in top-notch form and bringing home the money in his last three starting assignments, backing the White Sox at home over the Colorado Rockies is easy.

Gavin Floyd (7-3, 3.10 ERA), the Chicago White Sox starter tonight against the visiting Colorado Rockies, is beginning to round into form with his velocity at a season high.

His pitching opponent, Jeff Francis (2-6, 5.45 ERA), is at the proverbial opposite end of the performance spectrum, and despite a couple of recent respectable performances still looks like he is susceptible to a beat-down. With Colorado struggling mightily on the road this season losing 23 of 32 games, it will not be a hard decision to back a Pale Hose team that has converted on 12 of their last 14 as home favorites.

Final Notes & Key Trends: Colorado is 2-8 in their last 10 interleague games. The White Sox have won seven tilts in a row against the NL West. The Rockies are 9-28 in their last 37 road games in interleague action against an above .500 team. Play on Chicago.

Free Pick: White Sox.-139

Willie Bee · 06-13-08, 11:09 AM

Garland, LA Angels -137 vs. Braves

Game Time: 06/13/2008 10:05 PM -
By: Marc Lawrence | playbook.com

The Braves have been awful in interleague play and send one of their worst road pitchers to the mound in Anaheim tonight. Grab Garland and the Angels in this contest.

When the Halos play host to the Braves tonight they will take on one of the worst teams in MLB in Interleague play with Atlanta just 26-40 against the American League.

Worse, Braves left-hander Jo-Jo Reyes is 1-6 with a 6.76 ERA in his career team starts on the road. Look for Jon Garland to improve to 9-3 in his last 12 team starts during his good month of June while the Angels make it 19 wins in their last 23 home games on Fridays here tonight.

We recommend a one-unit play on the Angels with Garland vs. Reyes.

Free Pick: Angels -137

Willie Bee · 06-13-08, 11:10 AM

Minnesota Twins +125 over Brewers

Game Time: 06/13/2008 08:05 PM -
By: LT Profits Sports Group | who2beton.com

The Twins have enjoyed playing their interleague natural rivals from Milwaukee, as Minnesota is 9-4 in the last 13 meetings. We also feel that Twins starter Slowey has more potential than the erratic Bush.

The Minnesota Twins are 9-4 in the last 13 head-to-head meetings with their border rivals, the Milwaukee Brewers, and we look for the underdog Twins to get to David Bush tonight.

Bush has managed to stay in the Milwaukee starting rotation with a few nice efforts here an there, but the bottom line is that he is still just 2-6 with a 5.85 ERA, making the Brewers very vulnerable as favorites here. Bush allowed five earned runs in just four innings in his last start vs. Colorado, and the last time he faced the Twins here in Milwaukee last season, Minnesota reached him for five earned runs in 7.1 innings of a 5-2 Brewers loss.

Now granted, Twins starter Kevin Slowey was also lit up in his last start, but at least he has allowed three runs or less in six of his eight starts this season, and the highly regarded youngster should only get better with more experience. Also, very little separates these teams lately from a batting average standpoint, with the Twins batting .262 as a team over the last 10 games and the Brewers batting .266 over the same span, so that gives the Twins value at a nice dog price.

Look for the Twins’ success in this rivalry to continue for at least one more game.

Free Pick: Twins +125

Willie Bee · 06-13-08, 11:11 AM

KC Royals +125 at Diamondbacks

Game Time: 06/13/2008 09:40 PM -
By: Dave Cokin | playbook.com

Kansas City's Zack Greinke got off to a great start but has slipped recently. Look for the Royals right-hander to rebound with an underdog win tonight in Arizona against the D-Backs.

Zack Greinke has cooled off significantly of late, with the long ball suddenly a real concern for the Kansas City right-hander.

Greinke allowed just seven home runs in his first 11 starts and sported a nifty sub-3.00 ERA. But he's allowed six batters to go deep in just his last two efforts and the ERA has spiked nearly one full run. Greinke also has some pretty ugly numbers in his limited dealings with the Diamondbacks.

Nevertheless, I will back the KC righty here. The Royals should be able to mount an attack against Arizona's Doug Davis, and the Diamondbacks could be a little spent after a very hard fought series with the Mets. First game back home off the trip can be a tough one, and I see the Royals with a good shot to score the underdog win tonight.

Free Pick: Royals +125

Willie Bee · 06-13-08, 11:13 AM

Red Sox -110 at Cincinnati Reds

Game Time: 06/13/2008 07:10 PM -
By: Ross Benjamin | sportspic.com

This series is full of red as Boston travels to Cincinnati for the weekend. Look for the Red Sox to grab the win in the series opener when they face Aaron Harang and the Reds.

Cincinnati starting pitcher Aaron Harang enters the game in bad form going 0-3 in his last three team starts with a 2.02 WHIP and 9.39 ERA.

Harang has gone 1-5 in his last six team starts in the opening game of a series. The Reds are 7-15 this season in the opening game of a series.

Boston starter Justin Masterson has been superb in his four starts this season posting a 1.09 WHIP and 2.95 ERA. The Red Sox have broken the bank in interleague play going 44-9 in their last 53 games in that role. Play on Boston as my selection of the night.

Free Pick: Red Sox -110