Series for Thursday

[Hucklebuck]

Season Series Plays: 2-0 +2.00 Units

The Pads took care of business in games 1 and 2, Stl was a little closer than I would have liked, but that's Coors field.

We have 2 series that begin tonight, I will first discuss the Jays/A's series

Toronto -115 2.30 to win 2

Series Match-ups
TOR: Towers (5-3, 4.14)
OAK: Saarloos (1-4, 4.74)

TOR: Halladay (8-2, 2.54)
OAK: Etherton (1-1, 6.62)

TOR: Lilly (3-5, 7.60)
OAK: Blanton (0-5, 6.66)


In Game 1
Towers had a solid 3.57 ERA in May.
In his career he is 3-0 with a 3.26 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP @ Oakland. He didn't fare well his last start vs Minny, but I think he has a better than even chance of returning to form and allowing 3 ER in 6 or 7 innings.

Saarloos has been bouncing back and forth between the bullpen and rotation. He typically lasts 5 innings a start, 6 if he's on.

Not a whole lot of data to go off of but Toronto hitters are a combined 15-30 vs him.
Catalanotto 3-4 3B, HR
Wells 2-4 HR
Hudson 2-4
Rios 2-4
Zaun 2-3

Game 2 Halladay vs Etherton
If the Doc is on this should be the Jays game. Nothing is a given in life, but he was 4-1 with a 1.58 ERA in May. He has allowed 2 ER over his last 4 starts. Chavez and Kendall the only hitters with any sort of career success at 5-16 .313 (Chavez) and Kendall is 3-3

Etherton has had 3 starts and has given up 4 ER or more in each start.

Game 3 Lilly vs. Blanton
Lilly had a horrible start to the month of May allowing 17 runs in his first 3 starts. He settled down a bit and only allowed 6 ER over his last 3 starts.

Blanton is 0-5 with a 6.66 ERA. He started the season well but imploded in 2 games vs the Yanks and D-Rays allowing a combined 16 ER in 3 IP in those 2 games. Even if you take away those 2 games he's allowing an average of 4 ER in 5 innings of work.

Toronto is 14-13 on the road while Oakland is 12-12 at home. The A's have won 3 in a row after a nice losing streak. If Halladay can take care of business, like his stats indicate, in Game 2 than I am getting -115 on the Jays winning Game 1 or 3. I don't see the A's bats staying hot and hopefully Towers takes care of business tonight and I get to relax and not worry about the game on Saturday.

Good Luck,
Hucklebuck

 

[Hucklebuck]

Series 2

Brewers -105 2.10 to win 2

Series Match-ups
MIL: Sheets (1-4, 3.62)
LAD: Thompson (0-0, 3.60)

MIL: Capuano (4-4, 3.01)
LAD: Weaver (5-4, 5.70)

MIL: Santos (2-4, 2.73)
LAD: Alvarez (1-3, 5.79)

More than anything else this is a fade on the Dodgers right now. This team just hasn't done a whole lot right since the first 2 weeks of the season. Bradley was their offensive heart and soul, constantly coming up with clutch hits but he shouldn't play in the first 3 games of this series. The Brewers are throwing out 3 talented young pitchers. They are coming off a hard fought series in San Diego and they should take advantage of a reeling Dodgers squad.

Game 1 Sheets vs Thompson
Sheets making just his 2nd start since an extended stint on the DL due to his ear infection. After working out some kinks in the 1st inning he was lights out in his last start. When healthy he is one of the premiere pitchers in the league. Thompson had a good first outing vs AZ this past weekend, but his team is slumping and there is a good chance the rookie will be pressing to pick up his teammates.

Dodgers career vs Sheets
Izturis 2-15 .133
Kent 4-21 .190
Drew 7-28 .250


Game 2 Capuano vs Weaver
Capuano is an innings eater and just flat out battles on the mound. He has allowed 3 ER or less in his last 7 starts. Weaver has been anything but a world beater lately. He seems to cruise and then have one inning where he loses his composure and before he knows it he's on the bench and his team has a deficit. Weaver actually has pretty good career #s vs the Brew Crew and I am looking at a possible under for this game also. As long as Capuano can keep the Lefty killer Saenz from going deep I think he keeps the Dodgers handcuffed in this one.

Game 3 Santos vs Alvarez
Alvarez has stated publicly that he feels more comfortable coming out of the bullpen than he does starting. Since being re-inserted into the rotation he has allowed 11 ER in 8 IP. From the Dodgers point of view they still feel he's better than Erickson, but not by a whole lot.

Santos has a respectable ERA, but not a whole lot to show for it. He's 8th in the NL in ERA (2.73) and 10th in opponent's average (.226). A 2.31 ERA in May but just a 1-3 record to show for it. Going against Alvarez I don't imagine run support will be lacking in this one.