MLB
Wednesday, June 23
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hot Lines: Today's best MLB bets
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Atlanta Braves at Chicago White Sox (+105, 8.5)
Two weeks ago we were talking about how the South Siders were looking to trade all of their players and that the manager and GM were about to step into a boxing ring.
After the dust settled, the White Sox went on to win six straight and 10 of 11 games. Chicago came into Tuesday’s game versus Atlanta with a .500 record – the first time the team’s carried the mark since it was 1-1 on April 7.
"We are playing good baseball and just happened to be playing some National League teams that aren't thought of as major powers,” pitcher John Danks said of naysayers after Chicago defeated Washington and Pittsburgh on its recent road trip.
"It would be nice if we go out and play well against Atlanta, being that they are a first-place team and we will get more credit for what we are doing,” he added. “When it's all said and done, it's just a matter of winning.”
Even if the Chi-Sox are beating up on inferior MLB teams, this is a squad the baseball world had written off earlier this month. Now, the Sox are contenders in the AL Central, sitting 5.5 games behind the division-leading Twins.
Mark Buehrle has been pretty good in his last two starts after enduring a minor slump, winning two straight decisions while yielding two runs or fewer in each. The Bravos are hitting .241 against lefties this season.
Pick: White Sox
Florida Marlins at Baltimore Orioles (+110, 9)
When you’re on a team that’s 19-50, you might start thinking in terms of “me” instead of “team.”
It appears that’s the case with Baltimore outfielder Adam Jones. It was reported that after a 9-4 loss to the Padres over the weekend, Jones approached the scorer’s table and asked for his first-inning at-bat that led to an infield error be changed to a hit.
The official scorer obliged, but this could be a sign that players in the Orioles clubhouse have given up on the season and are only concerned about personal accomplishments. An incident like this may be overlooked had Baltimore won or was playing average ball, but this just highlights the team’s season struggles.
This is a pretty fair price for a decent squad like the Fins against a pathetic team like the O’s. Grab the short favorite in this matchup.
Pick: Marlins
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Streaking and Slumping Pitchers
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Streaking
R.A. Dickey, New York Mets (5-0, 2.82 ERA)
The Mets knuckleballer has yet to taste defeat since joining the rotation in May. He’s undefeated in six starts with an ERA south of 3.00. In his most recent start, Dickey gave up two runs on seven hits while striking out seven batters in 6.0 innings of work for a 6-4 victory against the Cleveland Indians. That win was one of three victories on the road this year for the righty.
Ubaldo Jimenez, Colorado Rockies (13-1, 1.15 ERA)
Jimenez puts more distance between him and any other pitcher in the bigs, picking up win No. 13 in a one-run, eight-hit effort that equated to a 5-1 victory against the Minnesota Twins. The Rockies' right-hander has allowed two or fewer runs in all but one of his 14 starts and has blanked opposing batters in six outings this season.
Slumping
Brian Bannister, Kansas City Royals (6-5, 5.70 ERA)
Bannister’s season has taken a turn for the worse after winning five straight outings. In his last two games, the Royals righty has allowed 14 runs on 17 hits including three home runs. In his most recent trip to the bump, Bannister lasted just 4.0 innings after being knocked around for five runs on seven hits. He also has the lofty job of going up against Nationals super prospect Stephen Strasburg in DC Wednesday. Bannister is 1-4 with an 8.57 ERA on the road this season.
Kevin Correia, San Diego Padres (5-5, 5.27 ERA)
Correia is far from his red-hot start to the season. He has just one win in his last eight starts and has been inconsistent over his most recent trips to the hill. The Padres' right-hander has allowed 18 total earned runs over his last four appearances, holding a 1-1 mark in that span. In his most recent start, Correia was tagged for five runs in 5.0 innings including two home runs in a 7-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays last Wednesday. He’s given up at least one dinger in three of his last four starts.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This Day in Baseball
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On June 23 in Baseball History...
1917 - Boston pitcher Babe Ruth starts against Washington. He walks leadoff man Eddie Foster, griping to plate umpire Brick Owens after each pitch. On ball four, Ruth plants a right to the umpire's jaw. He is ejected, and Ernie Shore relieves. Foster is caught stealing, and Shore retires all 26 men he faces in a 4-0 win, getting credit in the books for a perfect game.
1932 - Lou Gehrig plays his 1,103rd successive game in a Yankees uniform, equaling Joe Sewell's record with one team (Cleveland).
1961 - Ernie Banks voluntarily takes the bench as a sore knee brings his 717 consecutive-games-played streak to an end.
1962 - Larry Doby, retired from the Cleveland Indians, signs on with the Chunichi Dragons. He becomes, with Don Newcombe, the first former major league player to toil for a Japanese team. Doby's season batting average will be a mediocre .225.
1963 - Jimmy Piersall of the New York Mets hits the 100th home run of his major league career and celebrates by running around the bases backwards. Dallas Green of the Phillies, who gave up the home run, is not amused. Neither is Commissioner Ford Frick, who is in the stands.
1971 - In a spectacular performance, Phillies pitcher Rick Wise no-hits the Reds 4-0 and hits two home runs in the game. Wise gets Pete Rose for the last out.
1973 - Phillies pitcher Ken Brett beats the Expos 7-2 and hits a home run for a major-league record for a pitcher fourth consecutive game. He hit home runs on June 9, 13, and 18: he will total ten for his career.
1981 - Dave Koza scores Marty Barrett with a bases-loaded single in the bottom of the 33rd inning, giving Pawtucket a 3-2 win over Rochester and ending the longest game in professional baseball history. The game had been suspended April 19 after 32 innings and eight hours, seven minutes of play, but the continuation took only eighteen minutes to complete. Bob Ojeda pitches one inning to earn the win.
1984 - Chicago's Ryne Sandberg hit two late-inning home runs off St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Bruce Sutter to tie the game twice as the Cubs went on to win 12-11 in 11 innings. Sandberg led off the ninth inning with a solo home run to tie the game 9-9 then hit a two-run, two-out homer in the 10th to tie the game 11-11.
1988 - George Steinbrenner fires Billy Martin for the fifth time, replacing him with Lou Piniella. In 1985, Piniella was fired and replaced by Martin. In 1985, Martin was fired and replaced by Piniella. New York's 40-28 record is the fourth best in the big leagues, but the Yankees had just completed a 2-7 road trip.
1994 - Replays show that A's pitcher Bobby Witt beat Kansas City's Greg Gagne to first base in the sixth inning, but umpire Gary Cedarstrom sees it differently. The infield hit is the only blemish on what otherwise would have been a perfect game.
