Tuesday MLB Insider Report - 6/19

Jeff Grant · 06-19-12, 10:33 AM

St. Louis Cardinals at Detroit Tigers (Betting Odds - Matchup)
-Detroit has won all 11 regular-season home games that SP Justin Verlander has started in against NL opponents, going 10-0 with a 1.73 ERA
-Verlander is 2-3 with a 5.59 ERA in five starts against the Cardinals, including the postseason
-Since losing to the Cardinals in the 2006 World Series, Detroit has won six of nine against St. Louis
-St. Louis is 9-18 as a road underdog of +125 to +150 since 2010 (14-12 under)
-The Tigers are 11-20 following a win this season

San Francisco Giants at Los Angeles Angels (Betting Odds - Matchup)
-Angels SP C.J. Wilson leads the AL with a 0.77 ERA in five starts since May 18
-Los Angeles leads the majors with a 70-33 interleague record since 2007
-Since May 22, the Angels have the second-best record (18-7) in the majors, behind only the New York Yankees (20-4)
-Giants SP Barry Zito is 0-3 with a 4.97 ERA in his last four starts against the Angels
-Angels 1B Albert Pujols is 6-for-18 (.333) with two HRs and nine RBIs in his career against Zito
-San Francisco is 14-9 all-time against Los Angeles, including 6-3 at Angel Stadium
-The Angels are 0-4 as a home favorite of -175 to -200 (14-5 under since 2010)
-The Giants are 15-7 against left-handed starters this season (13-7 under)

Jeff Grant · 06-19-12, 02:46 PM

Other MLB Items (Part I)

-The Twins are batting .306 in interleague play this season, which ranks first in baseball
-Minnesota is 13-18 all-time against Pittsburgh
-In 29 games since May 16, the Twins have batted .304 with RISP, which ranks second in baseball over that span
-SP Scott Diamond is 2-1 with a 3.63 ERA in three career interleague starts

-Detroit has reinstated reliever Octavio Dotel from the 15-day disabled list
-The Tigers are 73-41 in interleague play at Comerica Park
-1B Prince Fielder is batting .347 with seven HRs and 32 RBIs over his last 36 games
-Bullpen has compiled a 2.16 ERA over the last 29 games
-SP Justin Verlander ranks third in the AL with a 1.77 home ERA
-Verlander is 17-2 with a 2.73 ERA in 23 career interleague starts

-Baltimore has not hit a home run in four games, its longest stretch of the season
-The Orioles have scored nine runs on 17 hits in their last four games, batting .152 over that span
-Among pitchers with 35.0 or more innings pitched in the history of interleague play, closer Jim Johnson’s 0.68 ERA in 30 games is the lowest
-Bullpen leads the majors with a 2.39 ERA
-SP Tommy Hunter is 3-1 with a 3.74 ERA in six career interleague starts, with his team winning five of those games
-Hunter is 0-2 with a 8.31 ERA in five road starts, allowing more home runs (9) than walks (8)

-St. Louis is 4-5 in beginning a 15-game stretch against AL foes, with all games coming against the AL Central division
-Starting rotation has posted a 2.35 ERA in its last nine games, ranking third in the league behind the Rangers (1.92) and Yankees (2.09)
-St. Louis is 9-17 all-time in interleague play against Detroit, including a 4-11 mark on the road
-SP Lance Lynn leads all NL pitchers with six road wins (6-1, 2.32 ERA in eight road starts)

Jeff Grant · 06-19-12, 03:56 PM

Other MLB Items (Part II)

-Boston ranks third in the AL in scoring an average of 5.09 runs per game at home this season
-SP Clay Buchholz is 3-0 with a 1.45 ERA in his last four starts (28 Ks)
-Lead the majors with 240 extra-base hits
-Since April 23, Boston’s bullpen leads the majors with a 2.01 ERA
-Buchholz has limited right-handed batters to an AL-best .145 batting average
-Buchholz is second in the majors with 7.51 runs of support per 9.0 innings

-Yankees starting staff has tossed at least 6.0 innings in each of the team’s last 18 games
-New York is 14-2 in June, outscoring opponents by an 83-38 margin over that span, while the starters have posted a 1.97 ERA
-Lead the majors with 101 HRs
-SP Hiroki Kuroda is 3-0 with a 1.29 ERA over his last four starts (22 K, 5 BB)

-36 of Tampa Bay’s last 40 games have come against teams with a .500 or better record
-Since May 13, the Rays have the best road record in the majors at 9-3
-SP David Price is 3-3 with a 5.26 ERA in six starts in NL ball parks, but 3-1 in all other cities outside of Miami

-Atlanta is 1-7 in its last eight games, with the lineup hitting just .197 with RISP in that span, scoring just one run in the 7th inning or later
-Starting pitchers have posted a 2.74 ERA in the month of June, ranking behind only the Yankees (1.97) and Mets (2.37)
-Braves SP Tim Hudson is 15-17 with a 3.98 ERA in 43 career interleague starts

-Miami is 4-8 in interleague play this season, but 139-127 overall
-The Marlins have gone 32-9 this season when scoring at least three runs, including 15-2 on the road
-Pitching staff has posted the fourth-lowest MLB road ERA at 3.25, behind only the Nationals (2.86), White Sox (3.05) and Diamondbacks (3.23)
-One of eight NL teams to have a road record over .500 despite ranking last in the majors with a .213 road batting average
-SP Mark Buehrle has more interleague wins than any pitcher in history (24)
-Buehrle has faced the same team in back-to-back outings 26 times in this career, going 13-10 with a 2.93 ERA

-Since May 8, Milwaukee’s starters have posted a 3.36 ERA, which ranks third in the NL behind the Mets (3.15) and Dodgers (3.24)
-OF Ryan Braun has a 23-game hitting streak during interleague paly, batting .391 with six HR and 26 RBI
-SP Tyler Thornburg will be making his MLB debut, posting an 8-1 record and 3.00 ERA in 13 starts at Double-A Huntsville