I have been having a fairly succesful time so far this season with my MLB plays so I have decided to share them on here. I will not be able to post my picks everyday, but I will post them when I have the time. Good luck to everyone, and feel free to comment.
Baltimore Orioles over Tampa Bay Devil Rays @1.752 (Pinnacle)
Tonight the Baltimore Orioles will look to break their current four game slide against a team they beat twice to begin the season. The Orioles won two of three games at home against the D-Rays in their opening series of the season; including a 16-6 victory with today’s starters on the mound. Baltimore rocked Seth McClung for five hits and seven earned runs in three innings. He struggled immensely with his control walking seven batters in what was his worst start since the beginning of last season. Erik Bedard did not pitch great his last time out, but he did manage to get some big outs when needed and picked up a big win against a divisional rival. He pitched five innings allowing eight hits, and three runs. In his career against the D-Rays he is 4-2, with a 3.38 ERA and I can see him playing spoiler to Devil Rays fans in their home opener tonight.
Although it is very early in the season I believe all games against divisional opponents are quite important and the Orioles would love nothing more then spoiling the Devil Rays home opener. It is expected that their will be a lot of people in attendance in Tampa Bay, but I believe Sam Perlozzo’s club will be up to the task in this spot. The Orioles added a veteran catcher in Ramon Hernandez in the offseason; as well as a new pitching coach Leo Mazzone, 1B Jeff Conine, and closer LaTroy Hawkins. Hernandez is a bright spot in the Orioles line-up and is leading the team so far this season with a .688 batting average while reaching base in 14 of 20 plate appearances. Combine this with the speed of Brian Roberts, and power of Melvin Mora and Miguel Tejada and I believe the Orioles have a potentially dangerous line-up. The Devil Rays on the other hand are dealing with a lot of injuries this season. Rocco Baldelli, Sean Burroughs, Jorge Cantu, and Julio Logo are 4 starters who are currently nursing injuries. Delmon Young appears to be a solid prospect in the middle of their line-up but he is still having some problems adjusting to the major leagues. I believe the Orioles will do what it takes to open up their series against the D-Rays with a win, and pull even with them in the standings in the AL East.
9u
Philadelphia Phillies over Atlanta Braves @1.94 (Pinnacle)
After picking up their first win of the season in the first game of a double header yesterday against the Dodgers, the Phillies are looking to pick up a big win against their NL east rival Atlanta Braves tonight. The Braves are off to a much better start (4-3) then the Phillies (1-5), but it appears as if the teams are heading in opposite directions right now. The Phillies have been playing quite well as of late, while the Braves are having to deal with a lot of problems. They have already lost two starting pitchers (Mike Hampton and Horiaco Ramirez) for the season, and to add insult to injury they lost two of their key offensive players (Chipper Jones and Marcus Giles) in their last game. Tonight’s starter John Thompson has been pushed into this start from his usual position in the bullpen, and this does not usual produce good results. Thomson missed nearly three months last season with a strained tendon in the middle finger of his pitching hand and is 7-4 with a 2.66 ERA in his career against Philadelphia. The Braves bullpen is very exhausted at this point in the season as they have used 17 relievers in their past 4 games. Braves starters have combined for an ERA of 10.04 so far this season, and things are really not looking much better heading into tonight contest.
The Phillies are looking to improve upon their 1-5 record tonight against an injury plagued Braves team. Bobby Abreu broke a 3-3 tie in the ninth inning with his first homerun of the season in the first game of a double hitter yesterday against the Dodgers. Also, Jimmy Rollins will look to pick things up tonight after having his 38 game hitting streak snapped on Wednesday. They will be sending Brett Myers to the mound tonight who is looking to pick up his first win of the season. His last time out Myers failed to receive a decision as he allowed three runs on five hits in a loss to the Cardinals. Tonight I believe the Braves will have a bit of a tough time producing runs as two key offensive players will be missing from their line-up. They still have solid players such as Andruw Jones and Jeff Francouer in their line-up but it is hard to believe Chipper and Marcus Giles replacements will be very effective. I see the Phillies in a good spot to pick up their second win of the season tonight.
6u
Baltimore Orioles over Tampa Bay Devil Rays @1.752 (Pinnacle)
Tonight the Baltimore Orioles will look to break their current four game slide against a team they beat twice to begin the season. The Orioles won two of three games at home against the D-Rays in their opening series of the season; including a 16-6 victory with today’s starters on the mound. Baltimore rocked Seth McClung for five hits and seven earned runs in three innings. He struggled immensely with his control walking seven batters in what was his worst start since the beginning of last season. Erik Bedard did not pitch great his last time out, but he did manage to get some big outs when needed and picked up a big win against a divisional rival. He pitched five innings allowing eight hits, and three runs. In his career against the D-Rays he is 4-2, with a 3.38 ERA and I can see him playing spoiler to Devil Rays fans in their home opener tonight.
Although it is very early in the season I believe all games against divisional opponents are quite important and the Orioles would love nothing more then spoiling the Devil Rays home opener. It is expected that their will be a lot of people in attendance in Tampa Bay, but I believe Sam Perlozzo’s club will be up to the task in this spot. The Orioles added a veteran catcher in Ramon Hernandez in the offseason; as well as a new pitching coach Leo Mazzone, 1B Jeff Conine, and closer LaTroy Hawkins. Hernandez is a bright spot in the Orioles line-up and is leading the team so far this season with a .688 batting average while reaching base in 14 of 20 plate appearances. Combine this with the speed of Brian Roberts, and power of Melvin Mora and Miguel Tejada and I believe the Orioles have a potentially dangerous line-up. The Devil Rays on the other hand are dealing with a lot of injuries this season. Rocco Baldelli, Sean Burroughs, Jorge Cantu, and Julio Logo are 4 starters who are currently nursing injuries. Delmon Young appears to be a solid prospect in the middle of their line-up but he is still having some problems adjusting to the major leagues. I believe the Orioles will do what it takes to open up their series against the D-Rays with a win, and pull even with them in the standings in the AL East.
9u
Philadelphia Phillies over Atlanta Braves @1.94 (Pinnacle)
After picking up their first win of the season in the first game of a double header yesterday against the Dodgers, the Phillies are looking to pick up a big win against their NL east rival Atlanta Braves tonight. The Braves are off to a much better start (4-3) then the Phillies (1-5), but it appears as if the teams are heading in opposite directions right now. The Phillies have been playing quite well as of late, while the Braves are having to deal with a lot of problems. They have already lost two starting pitchers (Mike Hampton and Horiaco Ramirez) for the season, and to add insult to injury they lost two of their key offensive players (Chipper Jones and Marcus Giles) in their last game. Tonight’s starter John Thompson has been pushed into this start from his usual position in the bullpen, and this does not usual produce good results. Thomson missed nearly three months last season with a strained tendon in the middle finger of his pitching hand and is 7-4 with a 2.66 ERA in his career against Philadelphia. The Braves bullpen is very exhausted at this point in the season as they have used 17 relievers in their past 4 games. Braves starters have combined for an ERA of 10.04 so far this season, and things are really not looking much better heading into tonight contest.
The Phillies are looking to improve upon their 1-5 record tonight against an injury plagued Braves team. Bobby Abreu broke a 3-3 tie in the ninth inning with his first homerun of the season in the first game of a double hitter yesterday against the Dodgers. Also, Jimmy Rollins will look to pick things up tonight after having his 38 game hitting streak snapped on Wednesday. They will be sending Brett Myers to the mound tonight who is looking to pick up his first win of the season. His last time out Myers failed to receive a decision as he allowed three runs on five hits in a loss to the Cardinals. Tonight I believe the Braves will have a bit of a tough time producing runs as two key offensive players will be missing from their line-up. They still have solid players such as Andruw Jones and Jeff Francouer in their line-up but it is hard to believe Chipper and Marcus Giles replacements will be very effective. I see the Phillies in a good spot to pick up their second win of the season tonight.
6u
