Monday MLB Handicapper Report - 8/6

[Jeff Grant]

Monday MLB Info (Part I)

-Pittsburgh is a major league-best 33-16 at home
-SP Erik Bedard has a 2.43 ERA in his last five home starts
-The Pirates are 18-45 in August since 2010

-Minnesota outscored Cleveland 28-6 in a three-game home sweep July 27-29
-Indians starters have an 11.69 ERA over the team’s nine-game losing streak
-The Twins haven’t won six games in a row over the Indians in the same season since 1991
-Cleveland suffered its first winless road trip of nine or more games in the 112-year history of the franchise
-Twins starting staff has a 2.57 ERA in its last nine games
-The Indians are 10-23 against left-handed starters

-Atlanta hits the road after an 8-2 homestand, moving a season-high 16 games above .500
-Philadelphia has moved out of last place in the NL East for the first time since June 27
-SP Ben Sheets topped 100 pitches for the first time since 7/19/10 in his last effort
-SP Vance Worley didn’t record a strikeout in his last start, first time in his career
-Worley is 1-0 with a 2.65 ERA in three career starts against the Braves
-The Braves are 1-12 on Mondays
-The Phillies are 1-8 as a home underdog of +100 to +125

-Tigers SP Justin Verlander is 0-1 with a 5.11 ERA in two starts against the Yankees this year
-Yankees SP Ivan Nova is 1-3 with a 5.14 ERA in his last seven starts
-Nova is 7-1 with a 3.32 ERA on the road
-New York is 2-0 as a road underdog of +150 to +175 this season (2-0 under)
-Detroit is 27-8 as a home favorite of -175 to -200 since 2010 (20-15 under)

Make sure to check out the SBR Forum articles for Monday's MLB action

[Jeff Grant]

Detroit Tigers
-Won 22 of their last 33 games (.667), top winning percentage in the AL since June 28
-Won eight straight home games
-Hitting .308 with 100 runs scored in their last 16 home games
-Bullpen has a 2.69 ERA over the last 71 games
-Posted a 15-14 record against AL East opponents
-SP Justin Verlander is third among AL pitchers with a 1.68 home ERA


Minnesota Twins
-The Twins went 0-for-8 with RISP on Sunday
-OF Josh Willingham has 28 HRs, one shy of his single-season career high
-Outscored the Indians by a 41-13 margin in winning the last five games in the series
-Batting .288 since the All-Star break (11-12 record), highest average in the majors
-Second in the majors in runs scored (122) since the All-Star break (Angels, 130)
-SP Scott Diamond hasn’t allowed a run in two starts against the Indians this year (16 IP)


Cincinnati Reds
-Pitching staff leads the majors with a 3.15 ERA on the road
-Gone 16-4 since 1B Joey Votto landed on the DL
-Current nine-game road win streak is the longest in the NL this year
-The Reds are 20-13 at Miller Park the last five seasons
-SP Bronson Arroyo is 5-2 with a 2.49 ERA in 12 games (10 starts) in Milwaukee

Keep up on the latest news on the gridiron on SBR's NFL page

[briedward]

Jeff what do you think of weaver/oak? I'm thinking of betting 5 innings on weaver.

[Jeff Grant]

Chicago Cubs
-Gone 2-2-1 in their last five road series (1-9-3 to start the season)
-Chicago is 14-16 all-time at Petco Park
-Registered an 11-44 mark when scoring three or fewer runs this season
-Won nine of their last 12 games against southpaw starters (12-19 season)
-SP Travis Wood is 1-4 with a 8.78 ERA in his last five outings (11 HRs)


New York Yankees
-Gone 24-11 in series openers (.686), best winning percentage in the majors
-OF Ichiro Suzuki has recorded exactly one hit in each of his 12 games
-Own the second-best run differential (+92) in the majors (Cardinals, +110)
-SP Ivan Nova is 15-3 in road games over the last two seasons, tied with Tampa Bay’s David Price (15-6) and Texas’ Matt Harrison (15-7) for the third-most such wins in the AL in that span


Seattle Mariners
-SP Jason Vargas was named AL Pitcher of the Month in July (1.64 ERA)
-Vargas has a 0.43 ERA in his last three starts against the Orioles (21 IP)
-Gone 11-19 against AL East teams (40-40 against all others)
-Vargas is 10-2 with a 2.76 ERA in his 14 starts following a team loss


Texas Rangers
-Own the majors’ best win percentage since the 2011 All-Star break (108-69, .610)
-SP Yu Darvish is 3-0 with a 1.77 ERA in three starts versus AL East opponents
-Won 11 of 16 and 16 of the last 23 meetings against the Red Sox
-Batting .366 with 52 runs scored in five games in Boston since 2011
-Posted a 14-7 record versus AL East opponents this year


Chicago White Sox
-The White Sox have lost 13 of their last 21 games against the Royals, but are 44-23 in this series at home since 2005
-Bullpen owns a 1.18 ERA in the last 13 games
-SP Chris Sale is 4-0 with a 0.69 ERA in his last five home starts
-Won 14 of their last 20 division games

Find out if Angels SP Jered Weaver will beat the Oakland Athletics on Monday night