Tuesday's Tip Sheet
One month of the pro baseball season is in the books and Tampa Bay is sitting in the top spot. Tonight, the Rays begin a three-game set against Seattle. Along with this series starting, the National League also has some new sets beginning too.
Atlanta (11-14, -526) at Washington (13-12, +778)
Are the Braves back? After dropping nine straight games, Atlanta has rebounded with a three-game sweep over Houston this past weekend. The offense busted out of the slump with 21 runs and the pitching staff was brilliant too, surrendering just four runs in the victories. Kenshin Kawakami (0-4, 5.48 ERA) hopes to keep the momentum going on Tuesday when the team visits Washington. The Japanese product will also be looking for his first win of the season but he needs his lineup to help him. In his four starts, the Braves have put up a total of five runs. The ‘under’ has gone 3-1 in his appearances.
Washington has definitely opened up some eyes, especially with a winning record in May. The Nationals are tied for third place in the National League East despite losing two of three against the Marlins over the weekend. The pitching staff gave up 16 runs in the two losses, which hasn’t been a common theme for the Nats recently. Prior to those ugly performances, the staff allowed four runs or less in nine straight and the ‘under’ went 8-1 in those contests.
Livan Hernandez (3-1, 0.87 ERA) will try to bust Washington out of its mini-slump against Atlanta and he’s got a great shot to do so. The hefty hurler has only given up three earned runs in four starts, plus he’s gone at least seven innings in all four as well. The lone loss was a 2-0 setback to Colorado. The ‘under’ has gone 4-0 in his appearances this season.
The Braves went 10-8 against the Nationals last year and the ‘under’ posted a 10-7-1 mark in the 18 meetings.
Chicago Cubs (13-13, -370) at Pittsburgh (10-15, -147)
The Cubs have been up and down this season and a lot of their success has come from their bats and right now the hits are happening. After dropping three straight, Chicago finished up the weekend strong with three consecutive victories over Arizona behind an offense that put up 11, 7 and 10 runs. The only downside to taking three of four over the Diamondbacks was the pitching which surrendered 28 runs in the four-game set.
Chicago leans to Ryan Dempster (2-1, 2,78 ERA) tonight and he’s been unlucky this year with a pair of no decisions, and his only loss came by one run in his last start on Apr. 28 to Washington (2-3). The Cubs went 5-1 against the Pirates last season when Dempster was on the hill and three of the wins were at PNC Park.
Pittsburgh returns home from a 10-game road trip that watched the team go 3-7 and six of the losses came by three runs ore more. The offense struggled during this span, mustering up three runs or less in eight of the games. The Pirates hope lefthander Paul Maholm (1-2, 4.83 ERA) can stop the bleeding and he’ll be facing a Cubs lineup that has gone 4-3 against lefties this season. It should also be noted that Maholm has given up 23 earned runs in his last four appearances against the Cubs, and surprisingly Pitt has gone 2-2 in those games. The ‘over’ has gone 3-1.
The Pirates won five of their first six games at home but were trounced in their next three contests to Milwaukee (36-1). The ‘over’ has gone 4-3 in the nine games. Even though Pittsburgh’s offense is ranked third-worst (.234, 86 runs) in the majors, the team ERA (6.79) has helped keep the scoreboard operator very busy.
San Francisco (14-10, +297) at Florida (13-12, -74)
San Francisco heads to the East Coast for a quick six-game trip, which begins tonight in Florida. The Giants will lead with their ace, Tim Lincecum (4-0, 1.27 ERA), for the opener and “The Freak” has been lights out this season. He should be 5-0 but the bullpen blew a three-run lead in the team’s 7-6 extra inning loss to Philadelphia in his most recent start last Wednesday. What’s more impressive is that he’s gone 2-0 in his two road starts and he’s surrendered no earned runs in either game. Lincecum has only faced the Marlins once in his career and he pitched the Giants to a 3-2 win last season as a road favorite.
The Marlins snapped a three-game losing streak over the weekend with a pair of blowout wins over the Nationals (7-1, 9-3). The 16 runs came after the offense was held in check to six runs during the three straight setbacks. Anibel Sanchez (1-2, 4.32 ERA) doesn’t have numbers comparable to Lincecum but his last two starts (13 innings, 3 earned runs) were solid albeit against limited lineups in the Astros and Padres.
San Francisco’s offense started the season as a juggernaut, posting 68 runs in the first 11 games, which helped the ‘over’ go 7-4. Since that early explosion, the Giants have put up 40 runs in the last 13 contests and to no surprise, the ‘under’ has gone 12-1 during this span.
The Giants won four of seven against the Marlins last year, and total players should make a note that the ‘under’ went 5-1-1 in the regular season series.
Tampa Bay (18-7, +720) at Seattle (11-14, -429)
The Rays take to the road for nine straight encounters against the AL West, which starts tonight at Safeco Field against Seattle. Even though Tampa Bay went 2-2 over the weekend at home against Kansas City and its offense was held to five runs in the last three games, the club still has the best record and offense (147 runs) in the majors and a lot of the success has been away from home. Joe Maddon’s team has gone 9-1 on the road this year but keep in mind that the victories came against the Orioles (7-18), Red Sox (11-14) and White Sox (10-15).
Tampa Bay will send James Shields (3-0, 3.38 ERA) to the hill and the team has gone 4-1 in his starts this year, which includes three straight wins that was helped with run support of 26. Shields has faced the Mariners six times in his career and the Rays have gone 3-3 in those starts and five of the encounters were in Seattle. The ‘under’ has gone 5-1 during this span.
Seattle will counter with lefthander Justin Vargas (2-1, 3.60 ERA) and he’s pitched well in his last three outings (2-0, 5 earned runs), which has watched the team go 2-1 over that span. Vargas will need to have a good outing for Seattle since the team is mired in a 2-7 skid and the offense is averaging 3.7 runs per game during this drought, which includes a three-game sweep to the Rangers (0-2, 3-6, 1-3) over the weekend at home.
The Mariners won five of the eight battles against the Rays last season and the ‘over’ went 5-3 in the regular season series. Tampa owns a 4-3 ledger against southpaws this season.
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