Sunday at the Park

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Sunday at the Park

The final Sunday baseball card of July possesses a handful of matchups that have implications inside the NL Wild Card race. Three NL Central teams (Cardinals, Astros, and Brewers) take on inter-division foes, while the Cubs and Reds wrap up their series at Wrigley. There are four afternoon affairs that we'll focus on to make bettors money.

Braves at Brewers (2:05 PM EST)

A pair of nine-game winners take the mound at Miller Park, as Derek Lowe and Braden Looper get the call. Six teams are within three games of the top spot in the NL Wild Card race, but the team that has to make the biggest jump is Milwaukee. The Brewers enter Sunday's action four games behind the Rockies for the Wild Card lead. Ken Macha's team has 22 games remaining against the top six teams for the final playoff spot following Sunday's contest.

Lowe has been terrific lately, going at least six innings in each of his last three starts, all wins. The Braves righty has struggled mightily during the day this season, going 1-2 with an ERA of 7.98.


Looper's home numbers are solid, compiling a 4-1 mark, while the Brewers have won seven of his 11 starts at Miller Park. The right-hander has had success against Atlanta, facing the Braves twice last season as a member of the Cardinals. Looper allowed 13 hits and five earned runs in 14 innings pitched, both Cardinal victories.

Milwaukee has been awful on Sundays recently, losing seven straight. The Brewers have been a great 'under' play in day home games against right-handed starters, finishing 'under' the total in 10 of 12 contests.

Las Vegas Sports Consultants has listed the Brewers as a short favorite of $1.05, while the total is set at 8 ?.

Mets at Astros (2:05 PM EST)

The Astros wrap up their six-game homestand, as they look to keep climbing the ladder in both the Wild Card and NL Central race. The Mets, meanwhile, continue to stumble on without the vital pieces of their lineup. New York did rebound nicely with a double-digit outburst in Saturday's 10-3 blowout of Houston.

Brian Moehler has solidified his spot in the Houston rotation, going 5-1 in his last six decisions dating back to the start of June. The veteran right-hander is off consecutive home victories over the Nationals and Cardinals, allowing two earned runs. The Astros have finished 'under' the total in five of seven Moehler's home starts.

Livan Hernandez is coming off a win in his last start at Washington, improving his record to 6-5. The Mets have dropped six of Hernandez's last seven outings, but seeing the competition he has faced, it's understood. The Mets lost to the Yankees twice, Cardinals, Phillies, and Dodgers in this span, all division leaders. However, Hernandez will face an Astros offense that has scored four runs or less in nine of their last 15 home games against right-handed starting pitchers.

The Astros are a hefty $1.60 home favorite according to LVSC, while the total is listed at 9.

Giants at Rockies (3:10 PM EST)

These two NL West rivals continue to flip-flop as leaders of the Wild Card race, with Colorado up one game over San Francisco after the Rockies beat the Giants on Saturday. The Rockies will send out nine-game winner Aaron Cook to the mound, as he looks to change his luck against the Giants.

Colorado is just 4-9 in Cook's last 13 starts against San Francisco, including a 2-7 mark at Coors Field. To take it a step further, the Rockies are 2-7 this season against division opponents when Cook takes the mound, but he has not faced the Giants this season.

Cook has been an 'over' machine as of late, hitting the 'over' in four straight starts, and seven of his last nine. Since Colorado's massive hot streak that began in St. Louis in early June, Cook is 6-0 his last six decisions. The Rockies have given Cook plenty of support during this span, scoring at least five runs in eight of his last nine outings.

Ryan Sadowski's career got off to a promising start, with wins over the Brewers and Astros. However, the Giants right-hander has taken a step backwards, allowing 10 earned runs in 8.2 innings pitched against the Marlins and Braves, both losses. Sadowski's caused wasn't helped by the Giants fielding a weak lineup in his last outing, but he was touched up for eight hits and eight earned runs in less than four innings of work at Atlanta.

LVSC has the Rockies as substantial 'chalk,' at $2.10, while the total is set at 9.

Twins at Angels (3:35 PM EST)

The red-hot Angels are finally taking control of the AL West race as expected, looking to finish off the struggling Twins. It's been a trip from hell to the Golden State for Ron Gardenhire's club, dropping two of three to the A's, while losing the first three to the Halos.

Ervin Santana has bounced back after a rocky start, winning his last two decisions on the road. The Angels righty didn't face the two greatest offenses in the league (Royals and A's), but still allowed six earned runs in 14 innings of work. Santana's last two outings against Minnesota have been positive, delivering quality starts in two wins over the Twins last season.

Anthony Swarzak is back in the rotation for the time being, off a no-decision at Oakland (Twins won the game in extra-innings). The Twins right-hander has nailed the 'under' in six of his seven starts thanks to lousy run support. Minnesota has scored 13 runs in Swarzak's last six outings, going 2-4.

The Angels are a $1.50 home favorites, with the total set at 9 ? according to LVSC.

 

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Sunday Night Baseball

Sunday Night Baseball

Sunday Night Baseball

It looked like the Tigers were going to run away with the American League Central about a month ago. Fast forward to the present and Detroit is locking horns with the White Sox in a much tighter race. These rivals are going to finish up their four-game set on ESPN?s Sunday Night Baseball at 8:05 p.m. EDT.

If you?re looking to pinpoint one of the reasons why Detroit fell back to the pack in its division, then you?ll want to focus on the offense. They aren?t exactly lacking pop for the year with a .257 team batting average and 443 runs scored. However, over the last week the Tigers are hitting a paltry .219 and crossed home plate 22 times.

So where did the Tigers? offense go? You could make a reasonable case that it went away without Carlos Guillen. Detroit?s jack of all trades (outfielder, third baseman, designated hitter) had been out of the lineup since May 4 with a shoulder injury. Since returning from the disabled list on Friday, Guillen is hitting .429 with one homer in his first two games back in the lineup.


Guillen?s return will no doubt make Miguel Cabrera even more dangerous since opposing pitchers won?t be able to walk the first baseman as much as usual. Cabrera leads the club in hitting with a .326 average to go along with 19 four-baggers and 52 runs batted in.

Detroit will entrust the starting duties to rookie right-hander Rick Porcello (9-6, 4.40 ERA) on Sunday night. Porcello snapped a two-game skid last Tuesday with a 9-7 home victory against the Mariners. He?s going to need to do a better job though because giving up five earned runs on five hits in just five innings of work. Although that might be all he has in the tank right now since he?s averaged around five innings in each of his last five starts, posting an earned run average of 6.38 in this stretch.

Folks might want to believe that the White Sox are on their way to greatness after seeing Mark Buehrle?s perfect game last Thursday. But that gem doesn?t account for Chicago losing five of its last eight games.

The perfect game also doesn?t help the ChiSox at the plate as they?re hitting .226 with 13 strikeouts and a total of 25 runners left on base in the last two games of this series. Chicago?s top hitter during the last week has been backstop A.J. Pierzynski, who is hitting .350 with one RBI to his credit. Jermaine Dye leads the club over the last seven days with six RBI, but is batting a lowly .167 in that time frame.

Chicago will hand the ball over to Clayton Richard (3-3, 5.00 ERA) in this contest. This is Richard?s first full season with the big club and the year has been serviceable. As a starter, however, Richard has not been at all impressive with an ERA of 10.39 as a starter. The Pale Hose have gone just 6-6 in his 12 total starts. He?s only started once against the Tigers, gave up three earned runs on five hits in just 4.2 innings?Chicago lost that game on June 8, 5-4.

Las Vegas Sports Consultants opened the line with the Tigers as $1.55 home favorites (risk $155 to win $100) and a total of 9 ?. Although, you?ll be able to find Detroit as a $1.50 home ?chalk? at some other betting shops with the total staying the same.

The season series has gone to Detroit as they?ve won seven of the 11 battles thus far. Bettors on the home team have won the last four games. However, the Tigers are 4-1 against their rivals at Comerica Park this season.

When starting your handicapping of this game, you can tell that these are true pair of Sunday drivers. The Tigers are 5-10 and Chicago is 6-9 on Sundays this season.

The White Sox are not great against right-handed pitchers in nighttime road games, as evidenced by a 9-12 record during the 2009 campaign.

You?re going to be hard pressed to find a better club to back when at home against a southpaw than the Tigers. Detroit is 12-2 against left-handers at Comerica Park this season, going 7-1 in primetime affairs.

 

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Bullpen Banter

Bullpen Banter

Bullpen Banter

Thriving ? Texas Rangers
Historically the Rangers simply have not been known for their pitching prowess. It?s been a long time since their bullpen threw fear into any opposing hitters. This year they were headed down the same road early in the season, as this Texas bullpen was on their way to some of the worst numbers in baseball. However, the relievers have turned in some very solid numbers as of late, which has this team contending for a playoff spot.

The Rangers bullpen ERA as of today sits at 3.85 which puts them in the middle of the pack in MLB. However, as I stated, that is a great improvement over how this group started the season. Over the last 10 games the reliever?s ERA is an impressive 2.73. Looking back even further, that numbers sits at a very low 1.87 over the last 16 games. During that 16 game stretch, this bullpen has allowed one run or less in all but three of those contests.




Closer Frank Francisco has been great this year with an ERA of just 2.28 and 15 saves. However, he hasn?t pitched since July 10th and has been put on the D.L. due to pneumonia. However that was retroactive to July 11th, thus I expect him back soon. Mainly because of Francisco, the Rangers have blown the second fewest number of saves in the Majors at just seven. His replacement, C.J. Wilson has also been impressive with nine saves and a 2.93 ERA. When Francisco comes back, that will move Wilson to a set up role making this bullpen even stronger than it currently is.

Unsung heroes Darren O?Day and Jason Jennings have been a huge key to this unit?s success. O?Day has put up great numbers with an ERA of only 1.99 in 36 appearances. Jennings has also been an innings eater with nearly 50 innings pitched. His 3.26 ERA is very respectable.

Two recent additions to the bullpen staff have given the Rangers a very deep relief corps. Jason Grilli, who pitched for Colorado earlier this season, has been solid allowing only 2 earned runs in his 13 innings pitched with Texas. Also, Doug Mathis was called up from Triple A and has an ERA of 1.64 in his 11 appearances. If those two continue to impress, that gives this team a deep bullpen with five or six really solid relievers.

At 11 games north of the .500 mark, this Texas team simply won?t go away. They are chasing the Angels in the A.L. West and a wild card spot is definitely a strong consideration. Especially if their bullpen continues to pitch lights out as they have been lately.

Struggling ? Milwaukee Brewers

The Brewers are on the opposite end of the bullpen spectrum when comparing them to Texas. Milwaukee surprised many with very good bullpen numbers early in the season. Those solid marks have come to an abrupt halt and the relief situation in Milwaukee is going downhill fast.

Milwaukee has won only 6 of their last 18 games and the bullpen definitely needs to take their share of the blame. Over the last 11 games, the ERA of the Brewer relievers has sky-rocketed to 6.19. The relievers have allowed a whopping 25 runs over those 11 games. The Brew Crew has won only 4 of those 11 games and the bullpen has an 0-4 record during that span. Not pretty to say the least.

The bullpen as a whole has a decent ERA at 3.84. However, as I mentioned above, much of that success came earlier in the season and their recent problems have actually pushed the ERA numbers upward. A truer indication of this group of relievers might be their 13 losses and 14 blown saves. They definitely have some work to do to help this team get back into the post-season race.

Here is a quick player by player overview of why this bullpen is struggling right now. Closer Trevor Hoffman was invincible for much of the season as he didn?t allow an earned run in his first 18 trips to the mound. Since then, Hoffman has allowed runs in 4 of his 11 appearances as teams are getting to him early in the count rather than waiting. Innings eaters, Carlos Villanueva and Seth McClung have been terrible as of late. Villanueva has an ERA approaching 25.00 over his last four outings while McClung?s ERA is above 15.00 in his last three trots to the rubber. Left handed specialist Mitch Stetter has been all but special recently with an ERA of 9.00 his last six appearances.

The injury to starter Dave Bush and lack of a sufficient fifth starter have pushed this bullpen into overuse and it?s starting to show. Mike Burns, the current fifth starter by default, averages only about five innings per start. Yovani Gallardo, who went deep into games for much of the season, has now pitched only 16 innings in his last three starts. The ups and downs of Jeff Suppan pitching six innings one start and following that up with three frames the next have also started to wear on the pen.

Unless the Brewers get their pitching situation rectified via a trade or drastic improvement, they could fall out of the playoff race sooner than later.

 

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MLB UMPIRE REPORT

MLB UMPIRE REPORT

MLB UMPIRE REPORT
UMPIRE AVG RUNS GAMES UNDER OVER K/GAME BB/GAME K/BB
ADRIAN JOHNSON 9.93 14 3 8 11.2 8.0 1.4
ALFONSO MARQUEZ 10.00 2 1 1 14.5 7.5 1.9
ANDY FLETCHER 6.38 13 10 2 15.2 8.5 1.8
ANGEL CAMPOS 7.55 11 8 3 15.8 5.6 2.8
ANGEL HERNANDEZ 10.00 15 6 8 12.9 7.9 1.6
BILL HOHN 8.23 13 7 5 13.3 6.2 2.1
BILL MILLER 9.21 14 9 5 16.1 5.6 2.8
BILL WELKE 9.57 14 7 6 14.6 5.3 2.8
BOB DAVIDSON 9.73 11 4 6 13.5 6.4 2.1
BRIAN GORMAN 7.38 13 9 3 15.2 6.1 2.5
BRIAN KNIGHT 9.00 15 8 6 13.4 6.9 1.9
BRIAN O'NORA 7.21 14 8 5 13.4 6.2 2.2
BRIAN RUNGE 8.67 12 7 3 13.2 6.8 2.0
BRUCE DRECKMAN 9.25 12 4 7 11.2 7.0 1.6
BUCKNOR 8.93 15 8 7 13.3 7.6 1.7
CASEY MOSER 4.00 2 2 0 12.5 4.0 3.1
CHAD FAIRCHILD 8.83 12 7 5 15.5 6.6 2.4
CHARLIE RELIFORD 8.29 14 9 5 13.7 5.4 2.5
CHRIS GUCCIONE 8.50 16 8 7 14.6 7.1 2.1
CHRIS TILLER 6.00 2 2 0 11.0 7.0 1.6
CHUCK MERIWETHER 10.00 13 5 8 13.7 7.4 1.9
DALE SCOTT 10.00 14 5 8 14.1 5.7 2.5
DAMIEN BEAL 7.00 1 1 0 17.0 3.0 5.7
DAN BELLINO 4.67 3 3 0 16.7 3.3 5.0
DAN IASSOGNA 10.79 14 7 7 13.3 6.9 1.9
DANA DEMUTH 9.67 15 8 7 13.4 6.7 2.0
DELFIN COLON 6.50 2 2 0 10.0 4.5 2.2
DERRYL COUSINS 8.86 14 7 6 11.8 8.0 1.5
DOUG EDDINGS 9.73 15 6 9 14.9 5.7 2.6
ED HICKOX 14.33 3 2 1 10.7 10.0 1.1
ED MONTAGUE 11.80 5 1 4 14.4 6.8 2.1
ED RAPUANO 8.79 14 6 7 13.9 7.7 1.8
ERIC COOPER 10.47 15 5 10 14.5 7.1 2.0
FIELDIN CULBRETH 7.69 13 9 3 13.2 7.8 1.7
GARY CEDERSTROM 9.09 11 7 4 13.8 6.2 2.2
GARY DARLING 8.70 10 6 4 13.8 5.8 2.4
GERRY DAVIS 10.60 15 6 6 12.8 7.7 1.7
GREG GIBSON 11.22 9 3 6 10.7 7.2 1.5
HUNTER WENDELSTEDT10.13 15 7 8 13 7 7.3 1.9
JAMES HOYE 9.63 16 10 5 11.6 7.9 1.5
JEFF KELLOGG 8.07 15 9 6 13.0 8.7 1.5
JEFF NELSON 10.23 13 6 6 11.9 7.6 1.6
JERRY CRAWFORD 11.23 13 6 6 14.8 9.2 1.6
JERRY LAYNE 8.69 13 6 6 15.5 7.0 2.2
JERRY MEALS 9.62 13 4 8 15.8 8.2 1.9
JIM JOYCE 9.14 14 7 7 14.9 9.1 1.6
JIM REYNOLDS 10.00 9 3 6 14.4 7.3 2.0
JIM WOLF 9.50 14 7 6 14.2 6.9 2.1
JOE WEST 8.93 15 7 7 13.1 7.6 1.7
JOHN HIRSCHBECK 8.14 14 10 4 13.9 6.5 2.1
KERWIN DANLEY 8.50 4 2 2 13.5 6.5 2.1
KEVIN CAUSEY 3.00 1 1 0 12.0 5.0 2.4
LANCE BARKSDALE 9.62 13 5 8 11.7 7.3 1.6
LARRY VANOVER 8.64 14 6 7 12.1 6.9 1.7
LAZ DIAZ 11.08 12 4 8 13.0 7.2 1.8
MARK CARLSON 9.36 11 6 5 14.1 7.7 1.8
MARK WEGNER 10.20 15 7 8 13.3 6.9 1.9
MARTY FOSTER 8.77 13 7 5 13.8 6.5 2.1
MARVIN HUDSON 7.21 14 8 6 14.9 6.7 2.2
MIKE DIMURO 8.42 12 6 6 15.8 6.8 2.3
MIKE ESTABROOK 8.33 6 3 3 13.2 3.8 3.4
MIKE EVERITT 10.43 14 5 9 12.5 7.6 1.7
MIKE MUCHLINSKI 8.00 2 1 0 14.5 8.5 1.7
MIKE REILLY 9.85 13 5 8 14.6 8.8 1.7
MIKE WINTERS 10.25 12 5 7 12.8 5.5 2.3
PAUL EMMEL 9.17 12 7 5 12.5 7.3 1.7
PAUL NAUERT 9.29 14 6 8 14.9 6.4 2.3
PAUL SCHRIEBER 10.00 14 6 5 14.4 8.8 1.6
PHIL CUZZI 9.07 14 8 5 15.4 7.9 2.0
RANDY MARSH 9.62 13 4 8 11.8 8.6 1.4
REYBURN 6.33 3 2 1 10.7 2.3 4.6
ROB DRAKE 9.56 16 7 9 14.5 5.9 2.5
RON KULPA 11.25 4 2 2 15.8 7.3 2.2
SAM HOLBROOK 8.62 13 7 6 14.5 7.2 2.0
SCOTT BARRY 7.07 15 11 4 12.7 6.8 1.9
TED BARRETT 8.92 13 8 4 12.0 7.5 1.6
TIM MCCLELLAND 12.60 15 3 9 13.4 8.4 1.6
TIM TIMMONS 10.50 16 7 7 13.6 7.7 1.8
TIM TSCHIDA 10.07 14 7 7 13.4 8.1 1.7
TIM WELKE 11.14 14 6 8 13.4 8.0 1.7
TODD TICHENOR 8.67 12 7 5 13.0 7.7 1.7
TOM HALLION 8.93 14 5 8 13.3 7.0 1.9
TONY RANDAZZO 7.94 16 9 6 12.4 5.1 2.4
WALLY BELL 10.00 14 7 6 14.1 7.9 1.8

 

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TOTALS REPORT

TOTALS REPORT

TOTALS REPORT
Team Total Home Away Streak
Arizona Diamondbacks 48 - 44 33 - 18 15 - 26 Over-2
Atlanta Braves 40 - 53 20 - 27 20 - 26 Over-1
Baltimore Orioles 45 - 46 19 - 26 26 - 20 Under-4
Boston Red Sox 36 - 51 16 - 26 20 - 25 Under-8
Chicago Cubs 41 - 50 22 - 24 19 - 26 Over-2
Chicago White Sox 39 - 58 16 - 36 23 - 22 Under-6
Cincinnati Reds 40 - 50 20 - 21 20 - 29 Over-1
Cleveland Indians 49 - 45 19 - 28 30 - 17 Over-1
Colorado Rockies 45 - 48 24 - 20 21 - 28 Under-2
Detroit Tigers 35 - 58 19 - 25 16 - 33 Under-4
Florida Marlins 46 - 45 27 - 19 19 - 26 Over-1
Houston Astros 39 - 51 19 - 28 20 - 23 Over-1
Kansas City Royals 41 - 49 27 - 23 14 - 26 Under-1
Los Angeles Angels 53 - 37 26 - 18 27 - 19 Over-5
Los Angeles Dodgers 48 - 43 22 - 24 26 - 19 Over-1
Milwaukee Brewers 47 - 45 20 - 25 27 - 20 Over-2
Minnesota Twins 42 - 50 28 - 18 14 - 32 Over-3
New York Mets 41 - 49 20 - 24 21 - 25 Over-1
New York Yankees 46 - 44 24 - 22 22 - 22 Over-1
Oakland Athletics 43 - 51 21 - 26 22 - 25 Over-1
Philadelphia Phillies 43 - 45 20 - 27 23 - 18 Push-1
Pittsburgh Pirates 41 - 51 16 - 27 25 - 24 Over-3
San Diego Padres 46 - 48 21 - 26 25 - 22 Under-1
San Francisco Giants 42 - 47 22 - 20 20 - 27 Under-3
Seattle Mariners 37 - 58 18 - 25 19 - 33 Over-1
St. Louis Cardinals 40 - 51 17 - 28 23 - 23 Push-1
Tampa Bay Rays 42 - 52 23 - 20 19 - 32 Under-7
Texas Rangers 33 - 59 16 - 33 17 - 26 Under-9
Toronto Blue Jays 44 - 50 21 - 26 23 - 24 Under-1
Washington Nationals 42 - 50 21 - 29 21 - 21 Under-5

 

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Sunday's streaking and slumping starters

Sunday's streaking and slumping starters

Sunday's streaking and slumping starters

Streaking

Derek Lowe (Atlanta Braves)

The 12-year veteran had become a staple of the ?Slumping? section as June was easily one of the worst months of his career.

But the 36 year old appears to be preparing for a late playoff push with Atlanta. He has turned in three straight quality starts by keeping the ball down and making opponents hit into his solid defense. And it?s no coincidence he has recorded nearly twice as many groundouts as flyouts the past three games.

Lowe (9-7, 4.26 ERA) was great in his most recent start, allowing just one run in six innings and most importantly walking only one.

?He used that sinker an awful lot. He got groundballs and got some strikeouts, too,? Atlanta manager Bobby Cox told the Associated Press. ?I think he?s back to normal again.?

Brian Moehler (Houston Astros)

No one will confuse the 37 year old with an inning-eating ace. But Moehler?s solid play at the end of the rotation has been a huge reason for the Astros surging back into the playoff race.

Moehler (7-5, 4.92 ERA) has turned in four straight quality starts and hasn?t allowed more than three earned runs since June 9, a span of seven starts. The right-hander hasn?t been dominant ? opponents are batting .288 BA and he has struck out just 56 against 27 walks ? but he has given his team a chance to win during the dog days of summer.

In his most recent outing, a 3-2 win over the division-leading Cardinals, he gave up both runs on six hits over 6 2-3 innings as he struck out five.

?I?m more upset with the walks than anything else,? Moehler told the Associated Press. ?I don?t like throwing a lot of pitches out. Too many walks, and strikeouts just come with the territory. To me, a couple of strikeouts and maybe no walks would have been better.?

Slumping

Micah Owings (Cincinnati Reds)

The right-hander has a basic goal on Sunday: try not to pick up an NL-leading 11th loss of the season.

Owings (6-10, 5.33 ERA) has been nothing short of awful his past two starts. He has failed to pitch past the fifth inning in each of those outings, yielding a combined 14 earned runs on 17 hits. To make matters worse, he also has allowed six walks and three homers over that span.

And the Cubs are a team he doesn?t want to face on Sunday. In two starts against them this season, he is 0-2 and has given up a total of 10 hits and seven run in just 10 2-3 innings.

?It was a frustrating night any way you look at it,? Owings told the Associated Press.

John Smoltz (Boston Red Sox)

The future hall of famer has yet to find his form after returning from the disabled list and debuting late last month.

Smoltz (1-3, 6.31 ERA) hasn?t made it past the sixth inning in any of his five starts and has struggled to find his fastball consistently. And while he isn?t walking many batters, the 42 year old is allowing opponents to hit .303 against him.

In Smoltz?s most recent outing, a 6-3 loss to Texas, he gave up all the runs in just 5 2-3 innings on nine hits, including three homers.

?I?m frustrated. I?m pleased with the way I?m throwing the baseball, but the results have been awful. They haven?t matched the effort,? Smoltz told the Associated Press. ?I?ll have a hard time sleeping.?

 

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Hot lines: Sunday's best MLB bets

Hot lines: Sunday's best MLB bets

Hot lines: Sunday's best MLB bets

Florida Marlins at Los Angeles Dodgers (-125,9)

The Dodgers aren?t unbeatable at home ? but they sure are close.

Los Angeles is an MLB-best 33-16 in its own back yard this season. The Dodgers are one of the best pitching teams at home in the majors, posting a 3.13 ERA and allowing opponents to hit a meager .232.

Los Angeles also has no problem hitting in California, as the Dodgers are batting .268 BA as a team there, to go with a balanced power attack: 84 doubles, 41 homers and 10 triples.

Meantime, the Marlins are no slouches on the road. The team?s piching staff has a 3.98 road ERA, one of the best marks in the majors.

The Dodgers, however, are just too good at Chavez Ravine.

Pick: Dodgers

Minnesota Twins at Los Angeles Angels (-135, 9.5)

When the Twins and Angles get together you can expect a slugfest.

These two teams have been lighting up the scoreboard when they get together this season. In six of the team?s seven meetings the over has hit, as the clubs average about 12 total runs per game.

The trend is especially odd for Minnesota, which has a 15-32-1 over/under road record. But for the Angels, who have a 27-18-2 over/under home record, it?s just business as usual.

?When we get a runner on, we?ve been capitalizing on it lately,? Angels infielder Chone Figgins told the Associated Press. ?If we get that leadoff hitter on, we usually get that runner from first to third and that keeps us in the ballgame.?

Pick: Over