Aloha Gang.....I hope you are all in good health and spirits on this Aloha Friday.....Yesterday was a sweet day for me as I posted a solid
8W-5L= +8.21 Unit Day......Today I am releasing another
BIG GAME PLAY in MLB(rated as a Game of the Week Play).....So far this year I have released 3 MLB Big Game Plays(1 GOM and 2 GOWs) going
2-1......Ok, enough chit chat already.....Lets get to Rockin Already!
**4 UNIT BIG GAME OF THE WEEK PLAY ON:
Baltimore -144
-Zambrano is another one of those pitchers who is good at home, but on the road he sucks donkey's balls....His record is 0-3 on the road in 5 starts...TB is 1-4 when he started on the road this year....In his last two road games he allowed 11 hits, 12 runs, got only 2 K's, walked 9, and gave up 2 HRs, in just a little over 6 innings....Holy Shit you suck!....
In fact, in Zambrano's 5 road games, he has allowed 1 HR in each game.....He also gave up 20 Walks, and 21 ER's.....Again, you suck on the road Bro!.....Here are some more bad news for Zambrano backers....In his last 5 road games where he was dismantled, it was vs. the White Sox (ranked 5th in the League in hitting), Boston (ranked 9th), Texas (ranked 7th), Angels (ranked 2nd), and Cleveland (ranking 8th in the League in hitting)....Today, he must now go against the #1 hitting team in the League the Baltimore Orioles....Oh My!
Even more bad news for TB backers, is that Balt is also ranked 4th in the League in Hits....Whereas TB ranks 2nd to last in the League in Hits.....Balt is ranked 6th in the League in producing runs....TB ranks 2nd to last in the League in run production.....Balt ranks 4th in the League in OBP.....TB again ranks 2nd to last in the League.....Lastly, and one major overlooked statistic is Stolen Bases, which Balt ranks # 1.....
Now for many teams who lacks the high powered Offenses at the plate, you will see that they are ranked fairly high in this catergory.....Why?....Because due to their poor hitting %, they will need to take more chances in moving the runner into scoring position via stealing as they cannot depend so much on getting it done via hits....Teams like the Expos, Devil Ray, Brewers, Mets, etc....rank high in this category and if used effectively can help to get more players into scoring position giving them more opportunities to score runs.....Well, TB in this category ranks 2nd in the League in stolen bases.....BUT,....Here is another problem for them, Balt is also the best team in the League in moving runners via Stolen Bases with 51 SB's on the year, 4 more than TB.....Thats right, not only are the O's the BEST in the League in hitting, they are also the BEST in moving runners via SB as well....Not Good for TB!
Now that is aggressive baseball, and that is what makes this O's Offense a force to be reckoned with and TB's Offense not even close to matching....What this also shows is that this O's team, besides being dangerous at the plate, can be a very dangerous team with runners on base, as they will keep opposing pitchers working double time.....He(Zambrano) must now concentrate on the guy at the plate and also the guy on base....This aggressive base running is another reason, besides the fact that the O's lineup is filled with studs, which gives the O's hitters many bad pitches to hit at and thus leading to their high hitting %,, as well as many bad pitches leading to many walks and thus their 4th best OBP ranking....
Bedard for the O's isn't anything special, but he has shown a lot of improvement in his last 3 starts....giving the O's a solid 2-1 record and him a 3.24 ERA.....Still, based on the highly potent Offense that the O's possess, along with their ability to play aggressive ball when on base, and their ability to get on base a lot, I feel that today he will have a lot of Offensive support to overcome any slip ups he may have.....I simply see to many more opportunities for the O's to score runs and not enough for TB's 2nd ranked Offense to match in this one......
Other stats, insights, and intangibles in favor of Balt today:
-TB ONLY 6-18 on the road this year....A Major League worst..
-Balt hitting RHP's .311 in their last 10 games vs them...
-TB hitting LHP's .255 in their last 10 games vs them...
-Both BP's are bad right now, so I will call it even...
-Balt has fallen 2 games below .500, and they must be pissed after taking their first 4 on their 7 day road trip....
-Balt is now happy to be at home after 7 game on the road, and now face a weak road team in TB on their 5th consecutive road game...
-Balt has a lot of motivation to get back to above .500, as does most MLB squads, before the All-Star break....TB is the perfect opponent to accomplish this against....
-I am not reading to much into the O's woes in the Yankee series, as there is probably no team or pitcher who can face the Evil Empire right now and come out a head....
-Bedard and the O's already beat this TB squad 11-3 earlier in the year...
**Ok Gang, I wanted to get this
BIG GAME PLAY w/ WRITE-UP to you as early as possible before the line goes up, or for you to use as you see fit......I will have the rest of my card up a little later, so you can check back for them if interested.....Until then, lets keep it positive as only positive will come.....Good luck to All today, and LETS GO GET EM!....ALOHA CC.