MLB
Thursday, July 15
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Hot Lines: Today's best MLB bets
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Los Angeles Dodgers at St. Louis Cardinals (-130, 7)
This matchup features two pitchers headed in opposite directions, with Dodgers lefty Clayton Kershaw going the right way and Cardinals righty Chris Carpenter going wrong.
Kershaw has won his last two starts by allowing only two earned runs and striking out 20 batters in that span. Just as impressive, he has allowed no walks in two of his last three outings, thanks in part to his relatively new repertoire of pitches.
"Two years ago I didn't even have a slider, and then last year toward the end of the season I started throwing it," Kershaw told mlb.com. "It's a lot easier pitch to throw for me as opposed to the changeup."
Carpenter, on the other hand, is 0-2 in his last two outings, surrendering 18 hits and 11 earned runs in those nine innings for an easy-to-figure but hard-to-explain 11.00 ERA during that span.
Furthermore, Kershaw has a modest .198 average in his last five starts against the Cards and is 2-0 in his last two start while. Carpenter is 0-2 in his last two against the Dodgers.
Pick: Dodgers
Chicago White Sox at Minnesota Twins (-110, 8.5)
The White Sox were the hottest team in baseball heading into the All-Star break. They have won eight straight and a few days off isn't likely to break their momentum.
Especially against the fellow AL Central contending Twins, who have defeated the Chi-Sox 12 times in their last 15 meetings. This one means more than the second-half opener.
The White Sox pitched their way to a half-game lead in the division, getting 27 quality starts in their last 31 outings while winning 25 of their last 30. John Danks gets the ball in an effort to keep it rolling for the South-siders.
"What we are doing right now, let's not get in the way of that," White Sox pitching coach Dan Cooper told mlb.com. "If we want to go finish the deal, our biggest games and challenges lay ahead."
The Twins counter with a struggling Kevin Slowey, who came out of the bullpen in his last appearance. The Twins have lost four of their last five and scored just 13 runs in those four defeats.
Pick: White Sox
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Streaking and Slumping Pitchers
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Streakers
Tommy Hunter (5-0, 1.98) Texas Rangers
Hunter is 5-0 on the season and the young righty was having one of his best performance of the season before settling for a no-decision against the Orioles in his last start.
Hunter struck out a season-high seven batters to only one walk but gave up a pair of runs in the seventh before turning it over to the bullpen. He threw seven-plus innings of one-run ball against the White Sox in his previous outing on July 3, an outing more indicative of his season so far.
"He's pounding the strike zone, not making mistakes in the middle of the plate and executing his pitches," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "When you do that, you get the results he's getting. Right now he's executing very well. He's throwing strikes, keeping the ball in play. He's doing everything we'd like to see a pitcher do."
Dave Bush (4-6, 4.14) Milwaukee Brewers
Since getting knocked around for seven earned runs in only 1/3 of an inning against the Twins six weeks ago, Bush has put together six solid starts.
He is 3-1 with a 3.37 ERA during that span and his last no-decision was as strong as any of his wins, allowing only one run and five hits against the Giants.
"The last month or so, I've had good command and quite honestly, I'm just feeling stronger," Bush told mlb.com. "I feel like I've kind of gotten back to the point where I was before I got hurt."
Slumping
R.A. Dickey (6-2, 2.77) New York Mets
Dickey was a sizzling 6-0 until two weeks ago, but both the Braves and Marlins used one big inning to beat the knuckleballer just before the All-Star break.
Dickey is 0-2 in his last three starts, allowing 20 hits and eight earned runs in those 18 2/3 innings. The Marlins chased him after five innings and unearned runs and the Braves hammered a pair of homers in the seventh, the first of which snapped Dickey's homerless streak at 45 1/3 innings.
"Dickey was tough. I don't think we hit a ball hard until we hit the home runs," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "He's legit. He knows where the fastball is going every time. It's in or out. It's never down the middle."
With the Giants getting their first look at Dickey, don't read too much into his recent mini-slump. The Giants are hitting just .247 against righties (compared to .315 against lefties) in their last 10.
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This Day in Baseball
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On July 15 in Baseball History...
1901 - Christy Mathewson of the New York Giants pitched his first of two career no-hitters, beating the St. Louis Cardinals 5-0.
1969 - Cincinnati's Lee May hit four home runs in a doubleheader split with the Atlanta Braves. May had two home runs and drove in five runs in both games as the Reds lost the opener 9-8 but came back to win the second game, 10-4.
1973 - Nolan Ryan of the California Angels struck out seventeen batters and threw his second no-hitter of the year, beating Detroit 6-0.
1980 - Johnny Bench broke Yogi Berra's record for home runs by a catcher as the Cincinnati Reds beat the Montreal Expos 12-7. Bench hit his 314th homer as a catcher off David Palmer. Bench had thirty-three home runs while playing other positions.
1990 - Chicago's Bobby Thigpen became quickest to reach thirty saves in a season as the White Sox beat New York 8-5.
1997 - The San Francisco Giants scored thirteen runs to set a modern National League record for runs in a seventh inning en route to a 16-2 rout of the San Diego Padres. The Giants set the National League record for the most runs in a seventh inning since 1900.
1999 - After 22 1/2 years in the dreary Kingdome, Seattle finally played a home game outdoors, moving into a $517.6 million ballpark with a retractable roof. Jose Mesa wasted a ninth-inning lead by walking four batters and the Mariners lost 3-2 to the San Diego Padres in Safeco Field's opener.
