Jeff Grant: Friday MLB Picks and Insider Report - 6/8

Jeff Grant · 06-08-12, 09:36 AM

I'm already playing the Mets/Yankees Over 8.5 for Friday night
-Mets SP Johan Santana is 0-2 with a 13.00 ERA in two career starts at the new Yankee Stadium, which is his highest ERA at any ball park
-Yankees SP Hiroki Kuroda is 1-5 with a 5.75 ERA in seven career starts against the Mets, allowing four earned runs or more in four of those outings

Need more information on this game - read an SBR Forum preview

PaperTrail07 · 06-08-12, 09:46 AM

nice work

Jeff Grant · 06-08-12, 12:57 PM

San Diego Padres at Milwaukee Brewers
-San Diego has scored 17 runs during its current six-game losing streak on the road, as the club is a major league-worst 5-19 away from Petco Park
-Milwaukee SP Shaun Marcum is 2-0 with a 3.15 ERA in three career starts against the Padres
-Padres SP Edinson Volquez is 0-3 with a 4.76 ERA in his last four starts
-Volquez is 3-2 with a 5.17 ERA in nine starts against Milwaukee
-Six times this season, Volquez has received no runs of support, including three of the past four games
-Volquez is 3-0 with a 4.91 ERA in five career starts at Miller Park
-The Padres are 1-10 as a road underdog of +125 to +150, with the “over” going 7-4 in those contests
-The Brewers are 38-11 as a home favorite of -150 to -175 the past two-plus seasons

Kansas City Royals at Pittsburgh Pirates
-Pittsburgh has won eight of its last 12 interleague home games, while going 56-54 overall against AL opponents at PNC Park
-Kansas City has lost 12 of 15 interleague road games
-Pirates SP Erik Bedard is 3-2 with a 3.00 ERA in six career starts versus the Royals
-Royals SP Luke Hochevar is 0-3 with a 5.73 ERA in his last four starts in interleague play
-In order to keep DH Billy Butler in the lineup, first baseman Eric Hosmer will move to right field
-The Royals have lost both games with a total of 7 or less this season
-The Pirates are 6-1 at home with a money line of -100 to -125

Jeff Grant · 06-08-12, 01:30 PM

Philadelphia Phillies at Baltimore Orioles (SBR Forum Preview)
-Baltimore has scored more than three runs just three times in the last 11 games
-Phillies SP Joe Blanton has a 10.98 ERA during a current 0-3 stretch in his last four starts, surrendering 10 home runs in 19.2 innings
-Blanton is 2-3 with a 6.31 ERA in seven interleague starts since joining the Phillies
-Baltimore SP Jake Arrieta is 0-5 with a 7.96 ERA in his last six outings
-The Orioles will miss OF Nick Markakis, who leads all active players with a .353 interleague average, but is currently on the disabled list
-Current Orioles players, excluding pitchers, are hitting a collective .419 (18-for-43) in their career against Blanton
-The Phillies are 20-16 in interleague play the last two-plus seasons
-The Orioles are 9-11 as a home favorite of -125 to -150 the last two-plus seasons, with the “over” going 12-8 in that situation

Washington Nationals at Boston Red Sox
-Washington SP Stephen Strasburg has posted a 2.65 ERA in winning his last three starts, but has never won four straight outings in his career
-Strasburg is 7-1 with a 2.09 ERA in 11 career road starts, as he’ll face the Red Sox for the first time in his career
-Boston SP Felix Doubront has received 7.22 runs of support this season
-The Nationals have faced fewer left-handers than any team in the majors, going 7-5 in those contests
-Red Sox 1B Adrian Gonzalez hit .423 during interleague play last year, and is a career .330 hitter versus the Nationals
-The Nationals are 0-2 when playing on the road when the total is 8 to 8.5
-The Red Sox are 18-20 against right-handed starters

Detroit Tigers at Cincinnati Reds
-Detroit 3B Miguel Cabrera is hitting .386 with 27 RBIs in his last 27 games, which could improve due to being a .386 career hitter at the GABP
-Tigers 1B Prince Fielder is a carer .323 hitter in Cincinnati, with 11 HRs and 34 RBIs in 52 games
-Reds 1B Joey Votto is batting .182 in his last 12 interleague games
-Cincinnati SP Mat Latos is 4-2 with a 3.53 ERA in seven career starts versus AL teams, but has never matched up with the Tigers
-The Tigers are 55-35 in interleague play since 2007
-The Reds are 99-124 all-time in interleague play, including a 6-12 mark last season
-The Tigers are 3-3 as a road underdog of +100 to +125 this season, with the “over” going 4-2 in those contests
-The Reds are 6-4 as a home favorite of -125 to -150, with the “over” going 6-4 in those games.

Tampa Bay Rays at Miami Marlins
-Miami batted .172 and was outscored 21-3 in losing its last three home games against the Atlanta Braves
-Rays SP Jeremy Hellickson is 1-2 with a 2.60 ERA over his last seven starts, receiving just 10 runs of support over that span
-Tampa Bay is hitting .173 as a team over its last nine games, losing six of those contests
-Marlins SP Ricky Nolasco has allowed 18 runs in 9.1 innings in losing his last three starts against the Rays
-Nolasco is 2-3 with a 6.59 ERA over his last five starts
-Tampa Bay took four of six games in the Citrus Series last year
-The Rays are 23-13 versus right-handed starters this year
-The Marlins are 18-42 in June the last two-plus years

Pick: Tampa Bay Rays -110

Jeff Grant · 06-08-12, 03:17 PM

More MLB Items
-The Tigers have compiled a 72-39 record during interleague play since 2006, with the .649 winning percentage ranking second in the majors in that span (Red Sox, .676)
-Detroit’s bullpen has a 2.22 ERA over its last 20 games
-Tigers SP Rick Porcello is 6-3 with a 4.70 ERA in 11 career interleague starts
-Porcello enters tonight surrendering 11.14 hits per nine innings, the second-highest total among all AL pitchers

-Tampa Bay has played a team with a winning record in 27 of its last 31 games
-The Rays are 17-17 without 3B Evan Longoria since he landed on the disabled list with a hamstring injury
-Bullpen has a major league-best 2.13 ERA over the past 43 games
-The Rays are batting a major league-low .185 over the last 13 games, while their team average of .234 for the entire season is the lowest in club history after 57 games
-Rays SP Jeremy Hellickson leads the majors with a .119 opponents average with RISP
-Hellickson has a career 2.80 ERA as a starter, lowest of any active pitcher with at least 40 starts
-Hellickson is 1-2 with a 3.72 ERA in three interleague starts

-San Diego is working on an 18-inning scoreless streak against Milwaukee, allowing the team to hit just .147 over that span
-Over the last nine games, the Padres offense is hitting .253 with 13 home runs
-In Edinson Volquez’s nine starts versus the Brewers, his team is 7-2 in those contests, including a 5-0 mark at Miller Park

-Chicago Cubs own a 103-120 all-time mark in interleague action. The Cubs are 0-3 this season, while going 5-10 during the 2011 campaign
-SP Travis Wood has allowed just one hit in 31 at-bats against him when facing a left-handed hitter (.034 average)

-Since the start of the 2006 season, the Minnesota Twins are 71-40 in interleague play, including a 40-14 mark at home
-The Twins have an all-time record of 10-11 against the Cubs, but have won five of the last six meetings
-Minnesota has won 12 of its last 20 games, winning five of seven series in that span
-Twins SP P.J. Walters has faced Cubs OF Alfonso Soriano five times, striking him out in each at-bat

shimeon40 · 06-08-12, 03:22 PM

Geez jeff..probably why u were so right about cardinals yesterday..+4.5....try +14.5 ....tampa moneyline best of best today?..u can change your mind...

shimeon40 · 06-08-12, 03:32 PM

Screw it...tampa bay it is...looking 2 make it 2 out of 2

Jeff Grant · 06-08-12, 03:54 PM

More MLB Items (Part II)
-Since 2010, the Phillies have 19 interleague wins, which are the third-most among NL clubs behind the New York Mets (23) and Atlanta Braves (21)
-Philadelphia is 12-5 in its last 17 road games, hitting .291 and averaging 6.4 runs per game over that span
-SP Joe Blanton is 0-2 with a 7.33 ERA in his last four starts against the Orioles
-Since 2008, Blanton is 3-5 with a 7.32 ERA in 10 interleague starts

-Mets SP Johan Santana hasn’t allowed a run in his last 18.0 innings
-The Mets are 2-13 all-time in series in the Bronx
-Over the last 16 games, starting staff is 10-2 with a 2.07 ERA
-Since May 22, the bullpen is 0-4 with a 6.38 ERA, while ranking last in the majors overall with a 5.38 ERA
-3B David Wright leads the NL with a .431 road batting average
-New York has hit a home run in nine of its last 10 games (15 HR)

-Red Sox bullpen is 2nd in the majors with a 2.17 ERA since April 23
-Over its last 15 home games, Boston has tallied a 10-5 record, outscoring opponents by an 80-49 margin
-Boston leads the majors with a 107-58 interleague record since 2003
-SP Felix Doubront ranks fourth among MLB qualifiers with 7.22 runs of support per 9.0 innings, trailing Toronto’s Ricky Romero (7.24), St. Louis Lance Lynn (7.87) and teammate Clay Buchholz (7.98)

-St. Louis is 117-103 all-time in interleague play, which is the third best record in the NL, trailing the Miami Marlins (145-124) and Atlanta Braves (131-113)
-The Cardinals are 5-12 all-time against the Indians, never winning a series in six attempts
-Cardinals SP Jake Westbrook went 2-0 with a 2.73 ERA in facing four AL Central teams during interleague play last year

-Indians SP Josh Tomlin is 3-0 with a 2.33 ERA in four interleague starts, as he gets set to face the Cardinals for the first time in his career

Pick: Cleveland Indians +120

Pick: Atlanta Braves -165 First Five Innings

shimeon40 · 06-08-12, 04:03 PM

indians...thanks jeff.

bassfish · 06-08-12, 04:06 PM

Add this to your Minn Twins info

Minn has lost the series opener 15 out of the last 16 games. And the last one was a back to back home series, so it was not like they went on the road and came back to play at home.

Jeff Grant · 06-08-12, 08:14 PM

Originally posted by shimeon40

indians...thanks jeff.

You're welcome - good luck tonight

kamikazekanesh · 06-09-12, 01:04 AM

great calls, trying to msg you on FB, no response?