Front Page MLB Picks (Wed., Sep 3)

[Willie Bee]

White Sox -130 avoid sweep at Tribe

Game Time: 09/03/2008 12:05 PM -
By: LT Profits Sports Group | who2beton.com

One has to wonder why the Indians keep giving the ball to Jeremy Sowers every fifth day, as he had a horrible 6.41 ERA and 1.58 WHIP in 17 starts. Javier Vazquez has been solid, so take the White Sox.

The Cleveland Indians have taken the first two games of this series with the Chicago White Sox, but we look for Chicago to salvage a victory behind Javier Vazquez in this very early matinee.

Vazquez has allowed three earned runs or less in three of his last four starts, but more importantly, he has already demonstrated that that he can handle this Indians lineup. Vasquez has allowed three earned runs or less in five of his last six starts vs. Cleveland, including the last two this season. He is also among the American League leaders with 170 strikeouts in 176.2 innings.

Meanwhile, Jeremy Sowers has unfortunately been the one of the worst starters in all of baseball for Cleveland. The fact that he is 2-7 is just part of the story, as he has a brutal 6.41 ERA and 1.58 WHIP in 17 starts. His only start vs. the White Sox this season was atrocious, as he was torched for eight earned runs in only three innings.

Finally, Vazquez tends to work deep into games, which should give the White Sox bullpen a breather after it was called on to start the fifth inning last night.

Free Pick: White Sox -130

[Willie Bee]

Perez, Nationals +143 vs. Phillies

Game Time: 09/03/2008 07:10 PM -
By: Marc Lawrence | playbook.com

With a 6-3 team mark in his nine starts against the Phillies, Washington's Odalis Perez is the play as a nice home underdog this evening. Win with the Nationals against Philadelphia.

The Washington Nationals send Odalis Perez to the hill against Joe Blanton and the Philadelphia Phillies in a game that has upset written all over it.

For openers, Perez has cashed in six of his nine career team starts against Philadelphia, winning each of his last three home efforts while posting a microscopic 0.38 ERA at home in those games against today's visitors. On the flip side, Blanton is 2-11 on the road on Wednesday in his MLB career with a 7.32 ERA.

With Perez' 2.57 ERA at home this season more than three full runs better than his 5.66 road ERA, and Blanton owning a lousy 5.28 ERA on the road this year, we have no problem whatsoever staying at home with the Nationals tonight.

Free Pick: Nationals +143

[Willie Bee]

Angels +100 with Jon Garland on mound at Detroit Tigers

Game Time: 09/03/2008 07:00 PM -
By: Jimmy the Moose | sportspic.com

The Angels are 6-2 in Jon Garland's last eight starts and 5-2 in his last seven starts on the road. Back the Halos tonight in Motown when they take on the Detroit Tigers.

The Angels beat the Detroit Tigers again last night and will take another one tonight on the road in the Motor City.

Los Angeles is 28-13 in their last 41 games played on grass. The Angels are 6-2 in Jon Garland's last eight starts. The Angels have won five of his last seven road starts. In Garland's last six starts vs. a team with a losing record, the Angels are 5-1.

The Tigers have now lost seven of their last nine games. Detroit is 2-5 in Zach Miner's last seven home starts. The Tigers are 15-42 in the last 57 meetings between the clubs. LA is 18-8 in their last 26 trips to Detroit. Play on the Angels.

Free Pick: Angels +100

[accuscoresucks]

[Willie Bee]

San Francisco Giants, Colorado Rockies Under 9½ at Coors

Game Time: 09/03/2008 03:05 PM -
By: Al McMordie | bigal.com

With the Giants sending Barry Zito to the hill and the Rockies countering with Aaron Cook, look for today's San Francisco, Colorado contest to stay under the posted total.

Our Wednesday afternoon MLB selection is on the San Francisco Giants and Colorado Rockies staying under the total at Coors Field in the Mile High City.

Just when it looked like San Francisco lefthander Barry Zito was turning the corner and starting to pitch like the Barry Zito of old, his 2008 form has raised its ugly head again. After back-to-back quality starts on August 18 and 23 in which the veteran southpaw give up only three earned runs in 15 innings, Zito got hammered in his next start against Cincinnati, giving up seven earned runs in just over three innings of work.

But there is reason to believe that Zito might come back and pitch another strong one today. For one thing, Zito has pitched better on the road this season than at home in AT&T Park. Secondly, Zito seems to always step up against the Rockies. In his last five starts against Colorado, dating back to the 2006 season, Zito is 4-1 and has pitched lights out in those four wins with only one bad start out of the five.

Colorado righthander Aaron Cook has certainly had an All-Star caliber season even if most of the rest of his team has not. Look for Cook to have another quality showing this afternoon as he is 8-1 in 10 day game starts so far this season. Tuesday night's contest was the first in the last five meetings of these two to go over nine total runs and the under is 21-11 in San Francisco's last 32 games. Take the Under.

Free Pick: Giants-Rockies Under 9½ (-115)

[Willie Bee]

LA Dodgers on run line vs. Padres

Game Time: 09/03/2008 10:10 PM -
By: Bob Harvey | bobharveysports.com

The Dodgers have been on a roller coaster lately with both winning and losing streaks, and with Hiroki Kuroda on the LA mound tonight, they should cover the run line against the Padres.

Will the real Los Angeles Dodgers please stand-up? Are you the guys who lost eight straight followed by a four-game winning streak?

This Dodger team has had more ups and downs this season than you can count. But just when it’s time to count ‘em out, faster than you can say “Man-Ram” they’re right back in the race in the NL “Worst.” Tonight Joe Torre’s club looks to extend their winning streak to five games and sweep a home series against the Padres for the first time in over three years.

If the Dodgers are to win the West, they’ll need Manny Ramirez to keep producing like he’s done since he donned Dodger Blue. Ramirez homered last night, his 30th of the season and is now 16-for-28 (.571) with four homers, eight runs batted in and 10 runs scored over the last eight games. Manny is also hitting .414 with 10 homers and 29 RBI since coming to LA.

What goes unnoticed is that the presence of Ramirez in the lineup has made everyone in the Dodgers order better, including and especially Andre Eithier (19 HR) and Matt Kemp (16 HR, 69 RBI and 32 SB). You can call it the “Manny being Manny” factor, but it’s because of him the Dodgers will edge Arizona and win the West.

Tonight the Dodgers send Hiroki Kuroda to hill. Kuroda is 7-10, with a 3.87 ERA, but has fared much better at home. He’s 5-2 with a 2.70 ERA in his last nine starts at Dodger Stadium. Wade Leblanc, making his major league debut, will toe the rubber for San Diego. Leblanc was 11-9 with an ERA of 5.32 in Portland.

As I said at the top, it’s been very hard to get a read on the Dodgers this season. I think though this is the right spot with the right pitcher on the hill. Look for LA to cover the RL against Los Padres.

Free Pick: Dodgers -1½ (-108)

[Willie Bee]

Seattle Mariners -119 take finale at Texas Rangers

Game Time: 09/03/2008 02:05 PM -
By: Matt Fargo | sportspic.com

Felix Hernandez has been excellent against the Rangers with six quality starts in his seven outings against Texas. Side with King Felix and the Seattle Mariners on the road.

The Mariners dropped their first game on this road trip last night after taking the first four. The season has been long gone for Seattle, but they have not thrown any towel in and gone on a 7-2 run over the last nine games.

The offense has been pretty good but it has been the pitching that has made the difference as the staff has allowed four runs or fewer in six of those games. Over the last 10 games, the ERA is at 3.82 with that exact number coming from both the starters and the bullpen.

Texas had a very solid run going at one point and looked like it might make a playoff push, but that has since ended. The Rangers are 8-18 in their last 26 games overall and this includes a 3-10 record in their last 13 games at Rangers Ballpark. While the pitching was the problem early on in this stretch, the hitting has been the problem of late as Texas has averaged only 3.8 RPG over the last eight games. The team ERA is 5.33 on the season, which is worst in baseball and the bullpen has posted a 7.22 ERA over the last 10 games.

Seattle sends Felix Hernandez to the mound in search of his 10th victory on the year. He has been the victim of a lot of bad luck as his nine wins do not correlate with his 3.27 ERA on the year. He has been even better on the road with a 3.18 ERA in 12 starts. Two of those starts came in Texas and both were quality outings. Six of his last seven starts against the Rangers have been quality performances and he has posted a 2.56 ERA over that span. Seattle is 6-2 in his last eight road starts.

Texas counters with Dustin Nippert and it has been a struggle this season. He is coming off a decent start last time out against the Angels but his combined ERA as a starter and a reliever is 7.53 in 16 appearances. The opposition is hitting .329 against him this season and that is part of the reason for his whopping 1.94 WHIP. He has a 34:26 K:BB ratio and the Rangers have lost each of the last eight games he has been involved in.

The Mariners keep it going here. Play Seattle for 1½ units.

Free Pick: Mariners -119

[Willie Bee]

San Francisco Giants, Colorado Rockies Over 9½ this afternoon

Game Time: 09/03/2008 03:05 PM -
By: LT Profits Sports Group | who2beton.com

Zito looks to be back to his old tricks after allowing seven earned runs in 3.1 innings vs. a dead Reds team last start, while Cook has struggled vs. the Giants.

The Colorado Rockies do not go Over at home as often as they did in the days before the humidor, but look for a return to the good old days today vs. the San Francisco Giants.

The struggles of Giants starter Barry Zito have been well documented this season, and after showing some flashes of snapping out of his funk, he regressed again last time out. Zito allowed seven earned runs and nine baserunners while lasting only 3.1 innings vs. a Cincinnati Reds team that has packed it in for the season. He was also awful in his only start in Colorado this year, allowing six earned runs and nine baserunners in six innings.

Now, we realize that Aaron Cook has become the ace of the Rockies staff this season. However, he has surprisingly had some difficulty with the normally light-hitting San Francisco lineup in 2008, allowing 29 hits in 21 innings while allowing at least nine hits in each of his three starts against them. Also, Cook understandably has a higher ERA in the altitude of home than on the road, at a mediocre 4.09.

These teams scored 11 runs in extra innings last night and they may reach that total in regulation time today.

Free Pick: Giants, Rockies Over 9½ (-115)

[Richkas]

Accuscore, are you betting these plays?

[accuscoresucks]

HEEELLLLLL NOOOOOOOOOOO


i cant understand why he posts other touts picks??
wtf is wrong with him

[mikumeku]

@Willy don`t take this critics in mind

I read and compare them with my decisions !

Keep posting and thanks for your efforts !

[accuscoresucks]

@Willy don`t take this critics in mind

I read and compare them with my decisions !

Keep posting and thanks for your efforts !

the write ups are only a click away you dont have to wait till the mod posts them