Tuesday MLB Handicapper Report - 7/24

[Jeff Grant]

Early Tuesday MLB Info

-Brewers SP Zack Greinke has tallied 12 quality starts in 20 opportunities, with the team posting a 14-6 record
-Pirates SP James McDonald is 5-1 with a 1.69 ERA in 10 home starts
-McDonald is 0-1 with a 4.66 ERA in four career appearances (three starts) versus the Cubs
-Cubs SP Paul Maholm is 4-0 with a 0.89 ERA in his last five games (four starts)
-Royals SP Will Smith was originally a seventh-round pick of the Angels in 2007
-Red Sox SP Clay Buchholz is 4-1 with a 2.63 ERA in his last seven starts, going at least six innings in each of those outings
-Buchholz is 0-2 with a 6.10 ERA in two career starts at Rangers Ballpark
-Cardinals SP Adam Wainwright has a 2.38 ERA in his career against NL West opponents, second-lowest in MLB history among pitchers with at least 25 starts
-Yankees SP Freddy Garcia is 4-2 with a 4.42 ERA in eight road starts against the Mariners
-Orioles SP Wei-Yin Chen is 4-2 with a 3.32 ERA in nine home starts
-White Sox SP Jose Quintana is 3-0 with a 2.42 ERA over his last seven starts
-Indians SP Ubaldo Jimenez is 2-0 with a 2.84 ERA in two starts against the Tigers this year

Make sure to get an early look at the SBR Odds and Matchup pages for Tuesday's MLB action

[Jeff Grant]

Monday MLB Recap

-Philadelphia has hit back-to-back homers four times this season, with Chase Utley being involved three games (missed 76 games)
-The Pirates lost for just the fifth time in the their last 26 home games
-The Mets lost for the 10th time in 11 games
-Miami is 6-9 since the trade to acquire Houston 1B Carlos Lee
-Boston has lost four straight and 12 of 18
-Reds 2B Brandon Phillips has 12 hits and nine RBIs in eight games since moving to the third spot in the batting order
-Houston has lost 10 of 11 since the All-Star break
-Cincinnati matched its season high with 17 hits
-Twins SP Francisco Liriano allowed three HRs and gave up a season-high seven runs
-The Dodgers have 14 HRs in their last 18 games
-Cardinals OF Matt Holliday is batting .491 in his last 16 home games
-Ian Kennedy became the first Arizona pitcher to strike out at least seven without issuing a walk in consecutive starts since 2009
-Royals SP Bruce Chen is 0-2 with a 9.25 ERA in his last five starts
-The Angels have won 12 of their last 13 games against left-handed starters
-Mariners 1B Justin Smoak is mired in an 0-for-19 slump
-Giants C Buster Posey is hitting .512 with 17 RBIs since July 7
-The Padres lost to the Giants for the 16th time in the past 21 meetings

[shimeon40]

jeff..no blue highlights???

[Jeff Grant]

Detroit Tigers
-Won 16 of their last 21 games, tops in the majors with a .762 win percentage since June 28
-3B Miguel Cabrera is batting .342 with 18 HRs and 63 RBIs in 73 games against the Indians since 2008
-The Tigers are 20-14 versus divisional opponents
-SP Doug Fister has earned the win in his last three starts (2.57 ERA)
-Fister has compiled a 1.21 ERA in his last four starts against the Indians


Milwaukee Brewers
-Lost their first four games of a six-game road trip to Cincinnati and Philadelphia
-Looking to avoid its first five-game losing streak of the season
-The Brewers are 3-7 versus NL East opponents this year
-SP Zack Greinke is 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA in two career games (one start) against the Phillies, start came in 2004 at CBP


Washington Nationals
-Either led the NL East or shared the top spot for 100 of the season’s 110 days (Rangers, 107)
-Tied with Atlanta for the best road winning percentage in baseball (28-20, .583)
-Hitting .306 and averaging 5.8 runs per game since June 25
-3B Ryan Zimmerman is batting .383 with 11 HRs and 31 RBIs in 25 games
-SP Gio Gonzalez is 3-2 with a 5.81 ERA in his last five starts

Make sure to check out the SBR Forum articles for all of Tuesday's MLB action

[Jeff Grant]

More Tuesday MLB Info

-Chicago Cubs are batting .161 with three runs scored the last four games
-Pirates SP James McDonald has produced a career-high five-game win streak due to receiving 44 runs of support
-McDonald allowed three HRs in his last start against the Cubs, his most in one game

-Tampa Bay averaged 3.3 runs and hit .234 in losing six of 10 on its recent homestand
-Rays SP Jeremy Hellickson is 0-6 with a 4.29 ERA in his last nine starts
-Baltimore’s starting staff is 5-1 with a 2.21 ERA over the last six games

-Brewers SP Zack Greinke has a 9.00 ERA in four outings this month
-Philadelphia is 4-12 when Cliff Lee starts this season
-Lee has a 2.08 ERA in two starts against the Brewers in 2011
-Milwaukee OF Ryan Braun is batting .233 in his last eight games, and doesn’t have an extra-base hit against Lee (3 for 9)

Read more about this National League contest at Citizens Bank Park

-Atlanta is hitting .181 during its current three-game losing streak
-SP Tim Hudson is 3-0 with a 1.16 ERA in his last three starts against the Marlins
-Hudson has captured four straight road victories (0.63 ERA)
-Braves 1B Freddie Freeman has a .188 average in 15 road games against the Marlins

-Oakland has a major league-best 14-2 record in July
-Pitching staff paces the league with a 2.53 ERA this month and 3.37 ERA overall
-The Blue Jays outscored the Red Sox 28-11 in completing a three-game road sweep
-Toronto SP Brett Cecil is 2-2 with a 2.79 ERA in four career starts versus the Athletics

-The Mets only victory since the All-Star break came when R.A. Dickey beat Gio Gonzalez
-New York has a 6.41 ERA in dropping 10 of 11 games
-Dickey is 4-3 with a 2.80 ERA in 10 starts against the Nationals since 2010

-Cincinnati has won 12 of 14, playing the last eight games against Joey Votto
-The Reds have outscored opponents 26-13 during their five-game win streak, hitting .350 with RISP
-Houston has dropped seven in a row by a 58-22 margin
-Astros SP Lucas Harrell is 5-1 with a 1.99 ERA in seven home starts
-Reds SP Mike Leake is 2-1 with a 2.66 ERA in three career starts at MMP

Find out why the Astros are a dangerous home underdog

-Chicago 1B Paul Konerko hit his first HR in 19 games, but is batting .458 over his last seven contests
-Twins OF Josh Willingham is 2 for 26 with 11 Ks in his last seven games against the White Sox

-The Dodgers have won eight straight games against the Cardinals for the second time since 1975-76
-Los Angeles OF Matt Kemp is hitting .441 with three HRs and 11 RBIs in his last eight games versus the Cardinals, but is 2 for 14 against Wainwright
-Wainwright is 2-1 with a 0.70 ERA in five games (three starts) against the Dodgers at Bush Stadium

-Kansas City has dropped nine of 11 on the road, posting a 6.40 ERA
-Royals SP Will Smith was originally drafted by the Angels in 2008

-Arizona has won a season-high seven straight games at home
-The Diamondbacks have won 13 of their last 16 home games against the Rockies
-SP Joe Saunders allowed a season-high 11 hits in a 4-0 home loss to the Rockies on June 4, but was 5-1 with a 3.32 ERA in seven previous outings in the series
-Rockies OF Carlos Gonzalez has reached base in all 10 games since the All-Star break

-San Francisco has won five straight games at AT&T Park and own the second-best home record in baseball (30-16)
-The Giants are 8-2 since the All-Star break, scoring at least six runs in five of the last seven games
-SP Madison Bumgarner is 7-1 with a 1.81 ERA in eight home starts, including a 1.14 ERA in the last five
-The Giants have won nine of the last 11 home meetings in this series
-Padres SP Edinson Volquez is 3-0 with a 1.34 ERA in his last five starts

[Jeff Grant]

Pittsburgh Pirates
-Gone 10-3 against left-handed starters at PNC Park this season
-OF Andrew McCutchen leads the majors with a .459 average against southpaws
-Bullpen ranks second in the majors with a 2.59 ERA (Reds, 2.49)
-Pitching staff ranks second in the majors with a 2.32 home ERA (Giants, 2.28)
-Scored 97 runs this month, ranking fourth in baseball behind the Angels (102), Tigers (100) and Nationals (99)
-McDonald and Maholm are two of five NL pitchers (min. 4 starts) without a loss this month


Chicago Cubs
-Recorded their eighth shutout of the season, third-most in the NL behind the Giants (11) and Mets (10)
-SP Paul Maholm is 4-0 with a 0.92 ERA in his last five games (four starts)
-Gone 0-for-17 with RISP in the first four games of their road trip


Minnesota Twins
-The Twins went 0-for-14 with RISP last night
-Gone 13-14 against left-handed starters (27-42 vs. RHP)
-Lost 13 of their last 17 games against the White Sox, getting outscored by a 90-55 margin
-Minnesota and Baltimore have grounded into the most double plays in baseball (99)
-Bullpen has a 3.68 ERA, throwing 342 innings this season, which is the third-highest total in baseball


St. Louis Cardinals
-The Cardinals haven’t lost nine straight games or more against a team since a 10-game drought against the Reds from 1997-98
-Gone 15-7 all-time against Los Angeles at Busch Stadium III
-SP Adam Wainwright ranks 11th in the NL with 8.61 strikeouts per nine innings

Make sure to use your forum points at the SBR Sportsbook

[Jeff Grant]

Boston Red Sox
-1B Adrian Gonzalez leads the majors with a .406 average with RISP
-The Red Sox are 20-11 against left-handed starters this year, while ranking second with 43 HRs in that situation (Giants, 21-9)
-SP Clay Buchholz is 7-2 in 14 starts following a Red Sox loss since 2011
-Buchholz is second in the majors with a .710 win percentage on the road (22-9) since 2009


Chicago White Sox
-Won eight of their last nine games at home
-Starting staff is 6-3 with a 2.42 ERA over their last 12 home games
-SP Jose Quintana’s 2.30 ERA is the third-lowest in baseball among rookies in 2012 (min. 50 IP)
-Quintana has a 3.96 ERA at night (0.53 during the day)


Kansas City Royals
-Club is a season-high 15 games below the .500 mark, losing 13 of 18 games in July
-SP Will Smith is 3-0 with a 1.30 ERA in his last four starts with Triple-A Omaha


Cleveland Indians
-The Indians are 9-10 in July and 4-7 since the All-Star break
-Gone 22-9 in series openers this season, including 11-5 at home
-Began the year on a 10-game losing streak in its series with Detroit, but has won five of six this year
-SP Ubaldo Jimenez has won four of his last six decisions at Progressive Field, while his .212 home batting average against is 10th-lowest in the AL


Tampa Bay Rays
-Only MLB team yet to play a road game after the All-Star break
-Series is tied at three games apiece with the Orioles, compiling a 2.60 ERA, but allowing eight unearned runs
-Won only one of their last seven series, while dropping 15 of their last 24 games
-Batted .154 with RISP over their last six games
-SP Jeremy Hellickson has issued 18 walks and struck out 14 batters over his last six starts (28.2 IP)
-Hellickson is 1-2 with a 3.21 ERA in his last four starts against the Orioles, started 3-0 with a 0.45 ERA