Wednesday

pat venditto · 08-06-08, 12:40 AM

bol

rjt721 · 08-06-08, 02:28 AM

1* Brewers -120: With each start it appears Homer Bailey's less likely to fulfill the potential that made him one of the game's biggest pitching prospects. His best outing of the season came against the Brewers at Miller Park, but it's been all downhill from there, culminating in allowing 22 H and 9 R over 6.2 IP in his L2 starts. Reds have nothing to play for, which explains why they're still trotting him out there with the hope he'll figure it out. If his inability to make hitters swing and miss is any indication, things aren't likely to improve. Bailey's flyball ratio is dreadful, which is a disaster waiting to happen pitching at Great American. Suppan, meanwhile, is coming off his best road outing of the season, albeit against a depleted Atlanta lineup.

1* Pirates +210: Randy Johnson putting his 21 consecutive innings w/o allowing an earned run streak on the line, which has resulted in him getting the respect from the linemakers that he regularly achieved several years back. Despite his recent success, he's far from the same pitcher, and the team behind him, particularly the offense, which is only producing 3.8 RPG over Johnson's L10 starts, is largely undeserving of this lofty price. Karstens, for his part, shut out the Cubs through 6 at Wrigley in his Pittsburgh debut. That outing shouldn't come as much of a surprise considering he threw the ball relatively well all season while pitching for the Yankees' AAA affiliate, which only makes the fact he was passed over by the likes of Darrell Rasner for a spot in NYY's rotation all the more perplexing. Karstens has demonstrated stellar command throughout his career, which makes him a strong candidate to keep the Pirates competitve throughout this game against one of the weaker offenses the NL has to offer.

1* White Sox -108: Both pens in rough shape following Tuesday's 14 inning affair, which resulted in a devastating loss for Detroit. Tigers have won only 1 of Verlander's L6 starts against the ChiSox, and have lost each of his 6 career outings at U.S. Cellular. Seems Detroit's getting far too much respect with this line, in what almost amounts to a pk 'em on the road against the division leaders with one of the AL's most consistent starters this season on the hill. I don't think it's justified, and I don't anticipate the Tigers making a run to get back in the AL Central race. Actually feel the opposite -- that Detroit will continue to be one of the best fades in baseball the remainder of the season.

TheLock · 08-06-08, 09:24 PM

Very nice Hat Trick shaping up here rjt

5-1 Sox going to the 9th