OAKLAND (Harden) -150 over MINNESOTA (Silva)
When a guy has walked only 7 batters all year long and is sporting
a 3.33 ERA but is still struggling to stay over .500, you know his team
stinks. That's the case with Carlos Silva (10-9, +$105), who has received
only 8 runs of support in his last 3 starts--all losses--in which he has
logged 23 innings pitched. With Torii Hunter out for the rest of the year
the Twins have very lilttle pop in the lineup as well as diminished
defense and leadership. They have lost 6 straight games and are
basically plating 2 or 3 runs each night. On the other side of the
spectrum is Oakland, which is 10-1, +$930 over the last 11 games
and puts one of the best pitchers in the game out there tonight. Rich
Harden had a tough time in his last start, but it was about 100 degrees
in Detroit at the time. Tonight he'll be in a climate-controlled dome
against one of the weakest lineups around, so we see good reason
to risk taking the heavy price. The A's have one 7 of Harden's last 8
starts and he is a very strong 5-2, +$260 on the road.
When a guy has walked only 7 batters all year long and is sporting
a 3.33 ERA but is still struggling to stay over .500, you know his team
stinks. That's the case with Carlos Silva (10-9, +$105), who has received
only 8 runs of support in his last 3 starts--all losses--in which he has
logged 23 innings pitched. With Torii Hunter out for the rest of the year
the Twins have very lilttle pop in the lineup as well as diminished
defense and leadership. They have lost 6 straight games and are
basically plating 2 or 3 runs each night. On the other side of the
spectrum is Oakland, which is 10-1, +$930 over the last 11 games
and puts one of the best pitchers in the game out there tonight. Rich
Harden had a tough time in his last start, but it was about 100 degrees
in Detroit at the time. Tonight he'll be in a climate-controlled dome
against one of the weakest lineups around, so we see good reason
to risk taking the heavy price. The A's have one 7 of Harden's last 8
starts and he is a very strong 5-2, +$260 on the road.
