5/30 Baseball

[Tinfish]

1) Tampa Bay/Baltimore Under 10.5 (-110)
I beleive, Lopez has finally turned the corner. His stellar performance last game was of note as he finally managed to win a game. He was the ace of the Orioles team keep in mind last year while Bedard went down. He pitched over 7 innings of ball with just giving up 2 hits, granted it was against the Mariners his last start. However, I beleive he stays in form and pitches well against the Drays. Yes, Weachter does blow. However, of late his last 2 games have gone under and he has pitched steady giving up 3er in roughly 6 innings of ball which any American League Manager or Manager in general would take as his starter goes into the 7th inning just giving up 3er as his team has a chance to win the ballgame. These starts were against the hot Marlins and the sound Red Sox. Thus, I like the under in this one as Waechter gave up just 1er in 6 innings against the Orioles earlier this year. I favored the Orioles for the game, but getting 10.5 in the inflated lines as both pitchers are turning the corner is too tempting to pass up.

2) Pittsburgh Pirates (-101)
Why the hell not? Pittsburgh has been playing much better ball and Victor Santos is too good of a pitcher to remain at 1-5 with a 5.4 era. He is at home and his last start was solid giving up 2er in 6 innings against a very good Diamondback team. Furthermore, the Pirates are playing much better ball and their bats have awakened as Jason Bay and the team are hitting the ball well as evidenced by their 14 run production last night. The Brewers send De La Rossa to the mound who in about 7 innings of ball has given up 6er. Thus, the Brewers are getting too much respect and the Pirates are getting "hated" on so to speak as the lines are inflated. Victor Santos goes against his old team and I think he pitches well as he too is turning the corner of late along with the Pirates offense. Besides, the Brew Crew is 0-5 when De La Rossa Starts and the Pirates are 3-0 of late as underdogs.

3) Twins/Angles Over 9.5 (-110)
These 2 teams combined for just 7 runs last night and I beleive they get the bats going today as Weaver as Weaver and Baker take the mound. Baker has given up 18 runs in 21 innings in his last 4 games and Weaver has given up 13 runs in about as many innings his last 3 games. Weaver does not last very long in the game as he averages around the 5th inning and I think both pitchers get shelled today given the fact there wasn't much too hit yesterday and both pitchers have struggled this season. Besides, the over is 4-0 of late in Baker's starts and 3-0 of late in Weaver's starts. That's a combined 7 games in a row that these pitchers have been in involved with. Thus, I'll take the over.

4) Cubs/Reds Over 8.0 (-110)
Simple reason here: These teams had 10 runs in the last game as the Cubs put up 7 runs. Their offense is coming around and the Reds have one of the best offensive lineups in the ball game. Maddux has tapered off considerably of late giving up 12er in as many innings while Claussen has not done much better giving up 9er in 13 innings. Maddux did a great job last time against the Reds and I think the Reds hit him well today as the hitters have the benefit the second time around and Maddux has struggled of late. Furthermore, the Cubs bats are coming around the corner finally offensively one would hope with the slugfest game against the Braves and now 10 runs against the Reds. Hopefully, Dusty is actually doing something constructive besides jacking off in the dugout. Also, the over is 14-5 in the last 19 meetings head to head between these 2 teams.