MLB
Tuesday, June 15
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Hot Lines: Today's best MLB bets
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Milwaukee Brewers at Los Angeles Angels (-155)
It looked for awhile like the Halos had too many holes to match their usual dominance in the AL West. Their lineup was spotty, especially with power-hitting first baseman Kendry Morales out for the year, and starting rotation routinely let manager Mike Scioscia down.
But things are going much better for the Angels. The starters have an ERA under 4.00 since the first week of May and sleeping batters Hideki Matsui and Erick Aybar have come alive. L.A.’s other team is 13-3 in its last 16 games heading into Monday night’s game.
"We definitely knew what we had," start Scott Kazmir told ESPN Los Angeles. "We knew it was going to turn around for us sooner or later."
Pick: Angels
New York Mets at Cleveland Indians (+133)
Don’t like the leader in the NL East? Wait a week and it’ll be someone else. The latest club making a charge is New York. The Mets have four in a row and eight of their last nine contests.
Slumping slugger Jason Bay was the latest Met to shake off the rust. The left fielder went 4-for-4 with a double and a homer in Sunday’s 11-4 win over the Orioles.
"I feel like I changed a lot today, but I watched my at-bats on video and they looked identical to what I've been doing," Bay told the New York Post after the game. "But I'm not making wholesale changes. It's always one subtle thing that even I wouldn't notice."
Pick: Mets
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Streaking and Slumping Pitchers
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Streaking
David Price, Tampa Bay Rays
Before Steven Strasburg there was David Price. The Rays lefty is just another young hurler delivering for the once laughingstock franchise. Tampa Bay is 6-1 in Price’s last seven trips to the hill and the Nashville native has eight quality starts in his last nine outings.
"He's got such good stuff," Rays catcher Dioner Navarro said after Price disposed of the hot-hitting Jays. "If he stays ahead of hitters, it's really difficult to get him."
Josh Johnson, Florida Marlins
If Josh Johnson read cov.com, we feel confident we’d make the guy blush. That’s because we’ve got nothing but love for this Marlin ace. Johnson did the unthinkable in his last start.
He went on the road and beat the Phillies even with Roy Halladay dealing a gem. The 6-foot-7 righty pitched eight innings, allowed just four base runners and kept the Phils scoreless.
"Johnson is one of the better pitchers in our league," Philly manager Charlie Manuel told the Associated Press after the game. "We didn't hit many balls hard. Outside of Raul Ibanez (who singled in the second), I'm trying to think of another ball we hit hard. We couldn't get to him."
Florida is 8-1 in Johnson’s last nine starts and the under is 4-1-1 in his last six outings.
Brett Cecil, Toronto Blue Jays
This budding southpaw has been a golden nugget for astute bettors. Cecil, who’s still not a household name, is 7-2 with a 3.22 ERA and a WHIP (walks + hits per inning) under 1.00.
Better yet, the Jays are 6-0 in his last six trips to the bump and four of those games he was priced as an underdog. The under is also 5-0 in his last five appearances.
Slumping
Jeff Suppan, St. Louis Cardinals
The Cards are hoping their pitching guru Dave Duncan can resurrect Suppan’s career. The 6-3 righthander was a regular contributor for St. Louis from 2004-06 but he left Missouri for a richer contract in Milwaukee.
The Brewers recently gave up on him after four forgettable years of service. Before they cut ties, the Brew Crew had Suppan coming out of the bullpen. Let’s just say that didn’t go over so well.
He allowed eight runs in his last three outings, which totaled just four innings. Yikes.
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This Day in Baseball
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On June 15 in Baseball History...
1928 - Ty Cobb, 41 years old, steals home for the 50th and final time in his 24-year career to extend his major league record. It comes in the eighth inning against the Indians. In a 12-5 Tiger win, Veach, Crawford and Cobb team up for a triple steal.
1931 - Cut-down day for major league rosters brings the retirement of Eddie Collins and Harry Heilmann. Collins becomes a coach for the A's. Heilmann will return briefly to the Reds in 1932.
1938 - Johnny Vander Meer stuns baseball by pitching his second successive no-hitter, defeating the Dodgers 6-0, as Brooklyn plays the first night game ever at Ebbets Field. In front of 38,748 fans, including spectator Babe Ruth, Vandy strikes out seven and walks eight, including three walks in the ninth. A force at home and a fly ball end the game.
1948 - The Detroit Tigers beat the Philadelphia Athletics 4-1 before a crowd of 54,480 in the first night game at Briggs Stadium. The Tigers are the last A.L. team to install lights.
1949 - Eddie Waitkus of the Phillies is shot by 19-year-old Ruth Steinhagen at Chicago's Edgewater Beach Hotel. She will later be placed in a mental hospital. Waitkus battles for his life and will come back to play the following season.
1953 - Duane Pillette of the St. Louis Browns ends the Yankees' win streak at 18 and the Browns' team record 14-game losing streak with a 3-1 victory in Yankee Stadium. Johnny Mize becomes the 93rd player in baseball history to get 2,000 hits when he singles in the Yankees' run in the fifth.
1961 - The expansion Senators are 30-30 after winning today. It is the latest date an expansion team will be at .500. Washington will lose it next 10 games.
1965 - Tigers pitcher Denny McLain makes a first-inning relief appearance and fans the first seven batters he faces, setting a major league record. He has 14 strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings as Detroit rallies to beat Boston 6-5. Bill Freehan has a record-tying 19 putouts at catcher.
1969 - The Mets help their power needs by adding first baseman Donn Clendenon. The 33-year-old had refused a January trade that would send him from Montreal to Houston, but he agrees to go to New York. The Expos receive Steve Renko, Kevin Collins, and two minor leaguers. The Expos also purchase pitcher Dick Radatz from the Tigers.
1976 - Rain out! The scheduled game at the Astrodome is canceled when heavy rains make it difficult for the visiting team and umpires to get through flooded streets to the stadium.
1977 - New York fans are in shock as the Mets trade ace pitcher Tom Seaver to the Reds. In return they get pitcher Pat Zachry, infielder Doug Flynn, and minor leaguers Steve Henderson and Dan Norman. The Mets also trade slugger Dave Kingman to the Padres for utility player Bobby Valentine and a minor league pitcher.
1983 - In what will turn out to be a terrible trade for St. Louis, the Cardinals trade first baseman Keith Hernandez to the Mets for pitchers Neil Allen and Rick Ownbey.
1992 - Jeff Reardon of the Red Sox breaks Rollie Fingers' all-time save record with No. 342 in a 1-0 win over the Yankees.
1997 - In one of the more surprising developments of the first weekend of interleague baseball, the Orioles complete a sweep of the Braves at Turner Field on Lenny Webster's tenth inning home run off Mark Wohlers. One byproduct of interleague play that wasn't a surprise was the increase at the turnstiles. Attendance was up nearly 10,000 per game for the weekend, and the Mariners averaged 52,074 for their four interleague games in the Kingdome.