Mlb Plays Friday May 24

[ndnfan]

Yesterday: 1-3 (-2.5 Units)

SEASON: 107-81 (+17.15 UNITS)
Sides: 78-67 (+1 Unit)
Totals: 29-14 (+16.15 Units)
______________________________________________

Playing 3 games today:

NY YANKEES -135 (1 UNIT)
HOUSTON -125 (1 UNIT)
COLORADO +110 (1 UNIT)


Still in the midst of a little slump. Hopefully, will get back in the right direction today. I'll put up some posts on my reasoning behind these plays later on in the day.

Good Luck in all your plays today.

-ndnfan

 

[ddubs]

Good luck today.

Like all 3 but laying off of Houston since the "Jimmy" seems to be on the loose again making all the wrong decisions starting 7th inning of each games lately.

 

[ndnfan]

Thanks ddubs. The "Jimmy" bothers me abit in the Houston game, but I'm gonna try it anyways. :shrug:


Houston -125:

Gonna try Houston today at home vs the Cubbies for several reasons.

First of all, the Astros are simply the better team. The Astros are hitting .285 vs righties at home averaging 5.2 runs per game, while the Cubbies on the road are only hitting .232 vs righties while averaging just 3.8 runs per game.

True, Houston has lost 4 games in a row, but 3 of these were against the RED HOT Cardinals team. At Home, the Astros have won 7 of their last 9 games. The Cubs on the other hand have won 3 in a row, but these were against the very weak Pirates, plus you throw in the fact they haven't won 4 in a row all season, I like my chances here.

Lieber is the starter for the Cubs today and remember, here is a pitcher that for some reasons continues to struggle in night games. He has his whole career and this year is no different with his ERA at night being almost 1.5 runs higher than his ERA during the day games. Check out his career Day-Night numbers:

Lieber at Night: 44-52 4.87 ERA
Lieber at Day: 39-26 3.34 ERA

Redding is pitching for the Astros and looks like he's developing into a solid pitcher...at least if his last 4 games is any indicator.

Redding has made 6 starts this season, and if you throw out the 1st 2 games, he's gone 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA in his last 4 starts. In those 4 starts, he has only given up 14 hits in 26 innings.

Redding is also over a run lower on his ERA in his 10 career starts at home and this season has been very tough at the "hitter friendly" park going 2-1 with a 3.27 ERA in 4 starts at home.


Bullpen advantage has to go to Houston in this one. Last 10 games, the Cubs pen has an ERA of 7.31 while the Astros pen has an ERA of just 3.00 over the same period.

Also, an interesting note....Lieber started 3 games at Houston last season and pretty much got rocked in 2 of the 3 games. In those 2 games he gave up 16 hits in just 10 innings. The one game that he pitched very well in, had a lot to do with the Umpire in that game who was Brian Runge. For those of you who don't know, B Runge has called an average strike % call of over 63% going back this season and last.


Good luck.

 

[ndnfan]

Yankees -135:

The Yankees I believe are another solid play today for several reasons, especially after dropping the 1st game of the series in this battle of 1st place, I can really see the Yanks wanting this one very bad.

Who better to get the win to even the series up today than Roger Clemens. Clemens has been in peak form as of late. He has not allowed more than 2 runs in any of his last 6 starts, while averaging over 7 innings over those starts.

If the Bullpen needs to finish the game for Clemens, it shouldn't be a problem. They've been good all season, and it looks like Mariano Rivera is probable for the game today.

Clemens loves to pitch in Fenway Park due to pitching so many years there and look for another very solid outing today.

In 12 career starts vs Boston, Clemens is 5-2 with a 2.10 ERA. In those starts, his numbers are amazing. In 81.1 innings pitched vs his former team, he has only given up 54 hits, while striking out 96! Last season, Clemens made 2 starts vs Boston and was 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA in 13 innings.

Even better, the current Boston players really have struggled vs Clemens over their careers. Check out their career averages vs him:

T Clark .238 (5-21)
J Damon .208 (5-24)
B Dauback .062 (1-16)
N Garciaparra .059 (1-17)
R Henderson .091 (1-11)
S Hillanbrand .167(1-6)
T Nixon .421 (8-19)
J Offerman .125 (2-16)
R Sanchez .200 (2-10)
J Varitek .250(3-12)

This is a combined just 29 hits in 152 At bats for a .197 Average!!


Burkett is pitching for the Redsox and I think he's got a good chance of giving up some runs today especially if the Yanks start threatening.

Burkett has made 6 career starts vs the Yankees and is 0-5 with a 10.95 ERA vs them. This is by far, the worse stats vs any team he has ever faced and usually when you have this situation, the ability to mentally focus in getting hitters out when a rally starts developing really takes it's toll. The Pitchers start "over thinking" and a big inning can take place. Some good examples are H Nomo vs Florida or Maddux vs Arizona etc.

Also helps when Burkett's ERA during night games over his career is almost a run higher than his day outings.

Good luck.

 

[ndnfan]

Colorado:

I know a lot of good cappers are on San Fran in this game....I just can't see it. I'm going with the Rockies here.

Rockies are simply awesome at home. They have won 13 of their last 16 games at home(16-10 overall at home) while the Giants can be beat on the road (13-10 on the road)


Even with this humidor factor, the Rockies are still hitting very well at home. They are hitting over .307 overall at home and if you look at how they are hitting righties at home, they are hitting .318 averaging 6.4 runs per game. San Fran on the other hand, is a team that really pounds lefties this year, but there is a righty on the mound today, and they are only hitting .243 vs righties for the season, and over the last 10 games are hitting just .226 vs them.

Stark is starting for the Rockies today, and so far has made 2 starts this season at Coors. In those starts, he is 2-0 with a 0.69 ERA!! He has given up just 6 hits in 13 innings. Stark is a pitcher that throws a lot of sinkers and sliders and I think he'll have another solid outing keeping the Giant runs at a minimum today.

Ortiz is going for the Giants today, and although his career numbers are pretty good vs the Rockies....they are not very good at Coors.

Last season, he made 5 starts vs the Rockies, but was is important about these starts is that he only made 2 of these in Coors field. He got hit very hard in both of these starts, giving up a combined 18 hits and 6 walks and 11 runs in 13.1 innings. What's even more amazing is the fact that he had 2 benefidial umps in these 2 games(Eric Cooper 63% Strike% and Mike Everitt 64% strike%)

Over the course of Ortiz's career, his ERA on the road is 1.4 runs higher than his home ERA.

Also, I would give the bullpen advantage to Colorado which has a 2.59 ERA over their last 10 games vs The Giants pen that has an ERA of 4.85 over their last 10 games.


Definately the Rockies in this one.

Good luck.