Jeff Grant: Wednesday MLB Picks and Insider Report - 6/6

[Jeff Grant]

Tuesday MLB Recap

• The Indians won for only the fourth time in their last 27 games at Comerica Park
• Cleveland improved to 5-12 when facing a left-handed starter
• Detroit 1B Prince Fielder has a 12-game hitting streak
• Yankees SP Andy Pettitte improved to 3-1 with a 1.88 ERA in four starts at Yankee Stadium this year
• Philadelphia right-handed relievers outside of closer Jonathan Papelbon came into last night's game with a 6.06 ERA
• Orioles Jim Johnson had his streak of 25 consecutive saves snapped
• The Pirates have won eight of their last 10 games, moving within two games of first-place in the NL Central division
• White Sox SP Phil Humber is 1-3 with a 7.38 ERA in eight starts since throwing his perfect game on April 21
• Chicago Cubs snapped an 11-game road losing streak
• Arizona collected a season-high 17 hits
• Seattle has homered in seven straight games, the team's longest streak since August 2009
• Giants SP Tim Lincecum is winless in seven starts, going 0-4 with a 5.90 ERA in that span
• Padres OF Carlos Quentin has hit five home runs since coming off the disabled list last week

[Jeff Grant]

Cleveland Indians at Detroit Tigers
-Cleveland is 4-0 against Detroit this year after losing the final 10 meetings during the 2011 campaign
-The Indians are 5-23 in their last 28 games at Comerica Park
-Indians SP Jeanmar Gomez is 0-2 in two road starts against the Tigers, allowing 16 runs (13 earned) and 20 hits over 7.2 innings
-Tigers SP Max Scherzer is 3-0 with a 3.44 ERA in his last three starts against the Indians, with each effort coming at home
-The Indians are 24-13 against right-handed starters
-Cleveland plans to use Carlos Santana behind the plate Wednesday for the first time since suffering a concussion on May 25
-Scherzer allowed six runs (five earned) and eight hits in just four innings in his only start in umpire Greg Gibson’s strike zone on May 15 against the White Sox


San Francisco Giants at San Diego Padres
-Padres OF Carlos Quentin is batting .522 with five HRs and nine RBIs in six games
-San Diego hasn’t won back-to-back games since May 19-20
-Giants SP Madison Bumgarner is 2-0 with a 1.64 ERA in his last three starts against the Padres
-San Francisco has won 13 of 18 in this series, including 10 of the last 15 at Petco Park
-Padres SP Clayton Richard has a 2.12 ERA at home, while sporting a 6.57 mark on the road
-The Giants have played 35 games that were decided by two runs or fewer, the most in the majors, going 21-14 in those contests
-Over his last eight starts against the Giants, Richard has gone 5-2 with a 2.54 ERA, while the team has won six of his nine starts overall in the series
-San Francisco is 12-5 against left-handed starters, while San Diego is 4-16 in that situation
-The road team is 7-3 in CB Bucknor’s 10 games behind home plate this year, while the “under” is 5-3-2

[Jeff Grant]

Los Angeles Dodgers at Philadelphia Phillies
-Dodgers SP Chris Capuano is 0-1 with a 1.64 ERA in his last two starts against the Phillies
-Phillies SP Kyle Kendrick is 4-3 with an 8.01 ERA in seven games (six starts) versus the Dodgers, but hasn’t faced them since Aug. 31, 2010
-When their opponent scores first, the Phillies are 7-16
-Los Angeles is 12-15 all-time at Citizens Bank Park
-Since posting a season-best four-game win streak at home, the Phillies are 2-8 in their last 10 contests at CBP
-The Dodgers are 6-7 as a road underdog of +100 to +125, while the “over” is 7-5 in that situation
-The Phillies are 6-10 against left-handed starters, with the “over” going 9-7 in those contests


Tampa Bay Rays at New York Yankees
-New York is 5-0 in games started by Ivan Nova against Tampa Bay
-The Yankees are a season-high six games over .500
-Rays SP Alex Cobb is 3-1 with a 1.78 ERA in five career road starts
-From 2008-11, the Rays allowed the fewest unearned runs in the AL (196), but have allowed 31 already this season
-New York has scored 24 runs in its last four games, ranking sixth in the majors with a .266 batting average
-The Rays are 16-16 since 3B Evan Longoria landed on the disabled list
-Tampa Bay is 4-2 as a road underdog of +125 to +150 this season
-New York is 4-4 as a home favorite of -125 to -150, while also dropping all three games after pitching a shutout this season
-Since the start of the 2011 campaign, Tampa Bay has out-homered New York 35-25 in the series
-Cobb has yet to allow a HR this season, giving up just three in 12 career MLB starts (69.2 IP)


Pick: Rays/Yankees Under 9

[Jeff Grant]

Atlanta Braves at Miami Marlins
-Atlanta has won nine of its last 11 road games against Miami
-Braves 2B Dan Uggla is batting .300 in 10 career road games against his former team
-Braves SP Randall Delgado is 1-0 with a 0.90 ERA in two career starts versus the Marlins
-Marlins SP Josh Johnson is 3-0 with a 3.09 ERA in his last five starts
-Johnson has tallied a 5-3 record and 2.29 ERA in 16 outings (15 starts) against the Braves
-Marlins SS Jose Reyes is batting .371 during his current 15-game hit streak
-Braves closer Craig Kimbrel has gone nearly a month without surrendering a hit, tossing nine innings and allowing a single hit since May 8
-Miami has come from behind a Major League-leading 21 times in 31 victories
-The Braves are 5-2 as a road unerdog of +125 to +150, with the “over” going 5-2 in those contests
-The Marlins are 6-6 as a home favorite of -125 to -150, with the “over” going 10-2 in those contests (38-14 since 2010)
-Delgado walked a season-high five batters in dropping a 5-2 road decision to the Tampa Bay Rays in his only start with umpire Lance Barksdale behind home plate


New York Mets at Washington Nationals
-Nationals SP Edwin Jackson is 0-3 with a 3.33 ERA in eight starts since posting his only victory of the year on April 14
-Washington has scored a total of three runs in Jackson’s last three starts (one in each)
-The Nationals are 30-28 against the Mets since the start of the 2009 campaign
-New York is 4-6 as a road underdog of +125 to +150, while the “over” is 9-1 in that situation
-Washington is 2-2 as a home favorite of -150 to -175, with the “over” going 3-1 in those games


Pick: New York Mets +140 First Five Innings

[Jeff Grant]

More Wednesday MLB Items
-Red Sox C Jarrod Saltalamacchia leads all MLB catchers with 11 HRs and 22 extra-base hits
-Red Sox SP Josh Beckett has allowed six runs in each of his last two starts against the Orioles, after now allowing more than five runs in his first 16 outings


-White Sox have lost five straight season series to the Blue Jays, while going 8-24 in the overall series since July 29, 2007
-Chicago leads the majors in average (.289), runs scored (130) and home runs (38) since May 14
-Opponents are hitting just .111 against SP Jose Quintana


-Royals SP Felipe Paulino is the only pitcher in baseball to not allow a run at home (min. three starts)
-Paulino has tossed 19 shutout innings with two wins in three starts at Kauffman Stadium this season


-Angels SP Jerome Williams is 8-0 with a 2.32 ERA in 11 career games (eight starts) at Angel Stadium
-Los Angeles is 21-5 in its last 26 home games against Seattle


-Seattle has played the most road games in baseball this year (36)
-The Mariners are 5-3 in rubber games of a series, winning four of their last five
-Mariners SP Hector Noesi is 0-3 with a 7.47 ERA in six road starts this year

Pick: Los Angeles Angels -160