The Sports Advisors
THE SPORTS ADVISORS
NATIONAL LEAGUE
L.A. Dodgers (79-70) at Colorado (77-72)
A critical four-game, three-day series at Coors Field kicks off with a day-night doubleheader, as the Dodgers visit the Rockies. L.A.’s Chad Billingsley (11-4, 3.14 ERA) will oppose Jeff Francis (15-8, 4.35) in Game 1, with David Wells (8-8, 5.27) set to go in the nightcap against Colorado’s Mark Redman (1-4, 9.67).
Los Angeles had a four-game winning streak snapped in Sunday’s 6-1 home loss to Arizona. The Dodgers are 4½ games behind the first-place DBacks and they trail the Padres by 2½ games in the wild-card race, two games ahead of Colorado.
The Rockies come into this one having lost three of four. However, Colorado is still on a 30-13 roll at Coors Field (3-4 in the last seven).
The Dodgers are 20-8 in their last 28 games against Colorado, but just 6-5 this season.
Billingsley is 4-0 with a 1.64 ERA in his last five starts, including a 6-1 victory over the Padres on Wednesday. He’s 7-2 with a 2.61 ERA in 22 road games (nine starts). However, the righthander is 0-1 with a 7.36 ERA in five career appearances (three starts) against the Rockies. Two of those starts came this year, and Billingsley allowed a combined seven runs on 13 hits in 9 1/3 innings, with L.A. losing 9-6 on the road and 7-4 at home.
Francis is coming off one of his worst outings of the season, as he surrendered eight runs on eight hits and four walks in 3 1/3 innings on Thursday at Philadelphia, losing 12-4. The Rockies are 20-11 when the southpaw pitches, but just 3-4 in the last seven.
Francis is 7-4 with a 4.28 ERA in 16 starts at Coors Field, with Colorado winning 11 of those contests. He’s also dominated the Dodgers in three starts this year, going 2-0 with a 2.66 ERA (two earned runs allowed in each outings). For his career, Francis is 3-1 with a 2.82 ERA in eight starts against Los Angeles.
Both Francis (6-0, 2.68 ERA) and Billingsley (6-1, 2.84 ERA) have been outstanding in day games.
Wells has been outstanding since signing with the Dodgers in late August, going 3-0 with a 3.91 ERA in four starts while allowing three runs or fewer in all four. On Thursday against San Diego, he gave up three runs on four hits (two home runs) in six innings, winning 6-3 at home.
Wells is 4-6 with a 6.85 ERA on the road this year. And although he shut down the Rockies back on April 7 when he was with the Padres (two runs in 6 2/3 innings), his only career start at Coors Field was a disaster (six runs, 10 hits in 4 1/3 innings).
Redman, who began the season with the Braves but was cut in mid-May, has made two relief appearances since signing with Colorado, including pitching five scoreless innings on Wednesday at Philadelphia and picking up the win, 12-0. Redman, who hasn’t started a game since May 1, is 0-1 with a 11.81 ERA in three games (two starts) at Coors Field.
The under is 5-1 in Francis’ last six starts against the Dodgers and 7-2 in Billingsley’s last nine starts overall.
The over is 8-1 in Redman’s last nine starts going back to last season and 4-2 in Wells’ last six outings.
The under is 18-8 in the Dodgers’ last 26 road games and 7-3 in the last 10 head-to-head battles between these rivals. However, the Rockies have topped the total in five straight games, and the over is 7-3 in the Rockies’ last 10 at Coors Field.
ATS ADVANTAGE: NONE
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Detroit (83-68) at Cleveland (88-62)
The Tigers continue their critical three-game series at Jacobs Field, with red-hot Detroit ace Justin Verlander (17-5, 3.47) scheduled to go against Cleveland’s Jake Westbrook (5-9, 4.38).
The Indians rallied from a 5-1 deficit on Monday and prevailed 6-5 in 11 innings to move 5½ games ahead of the Tigers in the A.L. Central. Cleveland is 23-8 in its last 31 games, including 10-2 at home. Detroit, which had a five-game winning streak snapped last night, is still 10-3 in its last 13 but it now trails the Yankees by 3½ games in the wild-card race.
The Indians lead the season series, 10-6.
Verlander has been incredible in his last four starts, going 4-0 with a 0.94 ERA, allowing a total of just three runs in 28 2/3 innings. However, his last loss came against the Indians on Aug. 22, as he gave up seven runs on 10 hits in four innings, falling 11-8. Verlander also gave up seven runs in five innings in his only start at Jacobs Field this year, losing 11-5.
For the season, Verlander is 1-2 with a 7.36 ERA in four starts against Cleveland, and the Tigers are just 1-4 in his last five outings against the Tribe. On the bright side, the righthander has been outstanding on the road this year, going 8-2 with a 3.11 ERA in 13 starts, including that 11-5 loss at Cleveland.
Westbrook is 0-2 with a 4.34 ERA in his last three starts, all Cleveland losses. Also, despite a solid 3.97 ERA, the veteran righthander is just 3-5 when pitching at home.
Westbrook has faced the Tigers twice this season, both in Motown, with completely different results. He gave up five runs on 10 hits in six innings in a 6-4 loss on July 4, then scattered five hits over eight scoreless innings in a 3-1 extra-innings victory on Aug. 23. For his career, Westbrook is 4-8 with a 6.09 ERA in 19 games (16 starts) against Detroit.
The over is 5-0 in Verlander’s last five starts against Cleveland and 17-10-2 in Verlander’s 29 starts this year. However, the under is 15-6-1 when Westbrook starts, including 10-2 at home.
The under is 13-6-1 in Detroit’s last 20 games overall, including 7-3 on the road. The under is also 6-4 in Cleveland’s last 10 games and 4-2 in the last six series meetings.
ATS ADVANTAGE: DETROIT and UNDER
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CFB: 19-14-1
NFL: 12-6
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