Milwaukee –1½ +1.24 over PITTSBURGH
Despite not getting any wins for his good work, Chris Capuano is back in all-star form. He’s pitching deep into games again and in fact, has pitched 21 innings over his last three starts. Capuano is a lefthander and the Pirates are 5-15 at home and 5-20 on the road vs lefties and that really strengthens our position here. A good lefty against the Pirates has to be considered a strong bet. Than we have the leagues most useless pitcher going for the Buccos in Shawn Chacon. He allowed five runs and eight hits, including three jacks, in six innings against the Cubs in his last start, but did not receive a decision. Chacon is 1-2 with a 6.33 ERA in six starts since the Pirates acquired him at the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline from the New York Yankees. Chacon is always behind in the count and in fact, he’s walked 59 batters in 90 innings and has just 52 k’s. Play: Milwaukee –1½ +1.24 (Risking 1.5 units). <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com
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></o><o
></o>BALTIMORE –1.08 over Boston
The Orioles might not be winning these days but they’ve had a heavy dose of the A’s, Angels and Yankees recently and things figure to get much easier here. Baltimore is scoring runs and that’s a sign that there’s no quit in them just yet. Tonight they’ll send out Daniel Cabrera and we’ve maintained all year that he’s as good as any pitcher in the game when he’s on. There are 29 other GM’s in the majors that would love to have this guy and when they call to talk trade, Cabrera is the first guy mentioned. The Orioles refuse to budge because he’s that good. Kason Gabbard will make his sixth appearance and fourth start of the year for the Red Sox. Gabbard was sharp in his last start vs the White Sox but he’s 0-3 on the road with a 6.35 ERA and his Triple AAA numbers aren’t that impressive either. Gabbard went 1-7 at Pawtucket with a 5.23 ERA and allowed eight bombs in just 51 innings. His control is shaky too. The Royals just finished battering the Red Sox and to make matters worse, Boston’s bullpen is a complete mess right now. Lastly, David Ortiz back in the line-up but couldn’t help going off about winning the MVP award. Said Ortiz,” "If I get 50 home runs and 10 more RBIs (for a total of 137), that's going to be a round number that no one else in the American League will have. They're talking about Jeter a lot, right? He's done a great job, he's having a great season, but Jeter is not a 40-homer hitter or an RBI guy." "Don't get me wrong -- he's a great player, having a great season, but he's got a lot of guys in that lineup," Ortiz said. "Top to bottom, you've got a guy who can hurt you. Come hit in this lineup, see how good you can be." You might want to read that last sentence again. He’s basically saying that he’s hitting in a line-up that’s not worthy of much and when your supposed leader sounds off in the press it can’t sit too well with anyone. If Ortiz thinks he’s more valuable than Jeter than obviously the medication hasn’t worn off. Anyway, we’ll gladly go with Cabrera here laying a sort price. Play: Baltimore –1.08 (Risking 1.62 units to win 1.5).
<o
></o>Toronto +1.16 over SEATTLE<o
></o>If the Blue Jays had their choice they’d want to face Gil Meche about 162 times a year. Meche isn’t very good to begin with and he simply can’t get out any Blue Jays. His ERA against the Blue Jays this year is 8.71 after allowing 16 hits and 10 runs in 11 innings in two starts against them. The Jays are quietly putting a decent run together with six wins in their past nine games and Shaun Marcum looks like a keeper. Marcum is 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA over his last three starts and he just keeps on improving. The Mariners have never seen Marcum and that, too, works to our advantage. Oh, it’s also worth noting that Meche hasn’t won a ball game since July 14, covering his last nine starts. Wrong side favored. Play: Toronto +1.16 (Risking 1.5 units).
<o
></o>MINNESOTA –1 +1.14 over Oakland (Pinnacle)<o
></o>The Twins are just too hot to ignore right now, especially at home, where they own the leagues best record and have yet to lose to Oakland at the Metrodome this year. Minnesota has won four straight and the A’s lack of offense is finally starting to catch up to them. Against Tampa Bay and Texas in its last two series the A’s lost four of seven games and were ripped apart last night in the opener of this series. The pitching match-up (Saarloos v Guerrier) favors nobody but everything else favors the Twins. Twins have huge momentum and finally have the Tigers in their sight. Twins at home is as good as it gets. Play: Minnesota –1 +1.14 (Risking 1.5 units).
