Haren & Halos End Series At Minnesota Twins
Midway through the first full week of the 2012 Major League Baseball schedule, totals bettors might be getting a bit queasy from the rollercoaster ride they've been experiencing.
With 71 games in the books through Tuesday, April 10, the bottom line finds the 'under' with a slight 36-33 edge, along with a pair of 'pushes.' The 'under' screamed out of the gate with an 8-2 start before 'over' bettors enjoyed a 24-13-1 run this past weekend.
Since then, however, the 'under' has regained control with a 15-7-1 start to this week. We'll have to wait and see what, if anything, this all means in the long run. Schedules will begin to level out, and we should begin to see fewer ace-on-ace matchups within the next couple of weeks.
Here's a quick look at a couple of Thursday games, each the series finale.
Halos & Twinkies In Get-Out Affair
A couple of big-name pitchers coming off bad first cracks will oppose one another when the Minnesota Twins host the Los Angeles Angels. The contest at Target Field will begin at 1:10 p.m. (ET) with Dan Haren pitching for LA and Francisco Liriano going for Minnesota who remained winless through its first four games.
Los Angeles opened the series with a 5-1 victory Monday in CJ Wilson's Angels debut as -150 chalk. The clubs took Tuesday off and headed into Wednesday's contest that was still pending at press. The Halos were -175 with Jered Weaver on the hill opposing Minnesota's Carl Pavano.
Haren had a great spring, but that didn't translate in his first go out of the chute last Saturday at home vs. the Kansas City Royals. The right-hander made it just an out into the fifth while surrendering five runs on 11 hits (2 HR) in KC's 6-3 upset on a +170 money line. Since joining the Halos, Haren is 2-1 in three starts vs. Minnesota, the 4.71 ERA due mostly to one ugly outing at Target Field in 2010 (7 IP, 7 ER).
Liriano had an even rougher first assignment in Minnesota's 8-2 setback at Baltimore (+115) last Saturday. The southpaw lasted just four frames while allowing six runs (5 earned), a couple of Robert Andino singles driving home three of the runs.
Two starts vs. the Angels the last few years have also been ugly – 10-1/3 innings, 11.32 ERA – with both played at the Big A in Anaheim and resulting in red marks on the Minnesota ledger.
Tom Hallion is slated to call the plate on Thursday and the weatherman is calling for mostly sunny skies and a first-pitch temp in the mid-50s.
Cora At Helm Following Ozzie's Suspension
Personally, I think they should've made Miami Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen run laps and wash towels. Sell hot dogs, anything. If I'm paying a guy $2.5 million per year, he's gonna' work. But then, I'm neither Jeffrey Loria nor Bud Selig, and I'm very thankful for not being either one.
Guillen will be serving the second of a 5-game suspension for his remarks about Fidel Castro when the Marlins and Phillies conclude their first of six series Thursday night (7:05 ET). Mark Buehrle starts for interim manager Joey Cora and Miami; Philadelphia counters with Joe Blanton.
Those two arms will be following their staff aces in a prime-time Wednesday contest. Roy Halladay and the Phils were -140 for the tilt against Josh Johnson and the Fish. Omar Infante and Anibal Sanchez were the heroes for Miami in Tuesday's opener, a 6-2 Marlins victory as +130 underdogs.
Buehrle pitched well enough to win last Thursday in Cincinnati, allowing just two runs in six innings. The problem was Johnny Cueto pitched even better in the Reds' 4-0 blanking of the Marlins who were +120 'dogs.
The veteran lefty hasn't seen a Phillies lineup in nearly eight years, and this will be Buehrle's first trip to the bump at Citizens Bank Park. The White Sox were 2-0 in his two assignments back in 2002 and 2004, the first one a fine performance by the lefty at old Veterans Stadium and the latter a 14-11 slugfest at US Cellular.
Blanton, beginning the year in the 5-slot of the Phils' rotation, is making his first start of the season after a brief (and losing) relief appearance last Saturday in Pittsburgh. The beefy Nashville native has spent most of the past four seasons as a part-timer in Philadelphia's starting mix, and has performed much better at home (4.08 ERA, 251+ IP) the past three seasons than away from home (5.09 ERA, 261+ IP).
Philadelphia is 5-2 in Blanton's seven starts against Miami, a 2.86 ERA in those outings highlighted by 42 strikeouts in 44 innings.
A cool but otherwise nice evening is in the forecast for Philly on Thursday. The game should begin in the mid-50s before dropping into the upper-40s by the seventh inning stretch.
Veteran arbiter Jeff Nelson is in rotation to make his third appearance under the mask this season. He called the second game played in Japan about two weeks ago, and worked the plate last Saturday in Baltimore. So far, his games have split the totals, 1-1.
Midway through the first full week of the 2012 Major League Baseball schedule, totals bettors might be getting a bit queasy from the rollercoaster ride they've been experiencing.
With 71 games in the books through Tuesday, April 10, the bottom line finds the 'under' with a slight 36-33 edge, along with a pair of 'pushes.' The 'under' screamed out of the gate with an 8-2 start before 'over' bettors enjoyed a 24-13-1 run this past weekend.
Since then, however, the 'under' has regained control with a 15-7-1 start to this week. We'll have to wait and see what, if anything, this all means in the long run. Schedules will begin to level out, and we should begin to see fewer ace-on-ace matchups within the next couple of weeks.
Here's a quick look at a couple of Thursday games, each the series finale.
Halos & Twinkies In Get-Out Affair
A couple of big-name pitchers coming off bad first cracks will oppose one another when the Minnesota Twins host the Los Angeles Angels. The contest at Target Field will begin at 1:10 p.m. (ET) with Dan Haren pitching for LA and Francisco Liriano going for Minnesota who remained winless through its first four games.
Los Angeles opened the series with a 5-1 victory Monday in CJ Wilson's Angels debut as -150 chalk. The clubs took Tuesday off and headed into Wednesday's contest that was still pending at press. The Halos were -175 with Jered Weaver on the hill opposing Minnesota's Carl Pavano.
Haren had a great spring, but that didn't translate in his first go out of the chute last Saturday at home vs. the Kansas City Royals. The right-hander made it just an out into the fifth while surrendering five runs on 11 hits (2 HR) in KC's 6-3 upset on a +170 money line. Since joining the Halos, Haren is 2-1 in three starts vs. Minnesota, the 4.71 ERA due mostly to one ugly outing at Target Field in 2010 (7 IP, 7 ER).
Liriano had an even rougher first assignment in Minnesota's 8-2 setback at Baltimore (+115) last Saturday. The southpaw lasted just four frames while allowing six runs (5 earned), a couple of Robert Andino singles driving home three of the runs.
Two starts vs. the Angels the last few years have also been ugly – 10-1/3 innings, 11.32 ERA – with both played at the Big A in Anaheim and resulting in red marks on the Minnesota ledger.
Tom Hallion is slated to call the plate on Thursday and the weatherman is calling for mostly sunny skies and a first-pitch temp in the mid-50s.
Cora At Helm Following Ozzie's Suspension
Personally, I think they should've made Miami Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen run laps and wash towels. Sell hot dogs, anything. If I'm paying a guy $2.5 million per year, he's gonna' work. But then, I'm neither Jeffrey Loria nor Bud Selig, and I'm very thankful for not being either one.
Guillen will be serving the second of a 5-game suspension for his remarks about Fidel Castro when the Marlins and Phillies conclude their first of six series Thursday night (7:05 ET). Mark Buehrle starts for interim manager Joey Cora and Miami; Philadelphia counters with Joe Blanton.
Those two arms will be following their staff aces in a prime-time Wednesday contest. Roy Halladay and the Phils were -140 for the tilt against Josh Johnson and the Fish. Omar Infante and Anibal Sanchez were the heroes for Miami in Tuesday's opener, a 6-2 Marlins victory as +130 underdogs.
Buehrle pitched well enough to win last Thursday in Cincinnati, allowing just two runs in six innings. The problem was Johnny Cueto pitched even better in the Reds' 4-0 blanking of the Marlins who were +120 'dogs.
The veteran lefty hasn't seen a Phillies lineup in nearly eight years, and this will be Buehrle's first trip to the bump at Citizens Bank Park. The White Sox were 2-0 in his two assignments back in 2002 and 2004, the first one a fine performance by the lefty at old Veterans Stadium and the latter a 14-11 slugfest at US Cellular.
Blanton, beginning the year in the 5-slot of the Phils' rotation, is making his first start of the season after a brief (and losing) relief appearance last Saturday in Pittsburgh. The beefy Nashville native has spent most of the past four seasons as a part-timer in Philadelphia's starting mix, and has performed much better at home (4.08 ERA, 251+ IP) the past three seasons than away from home (5.09 ERA, 261+ IP).
Philadelphia is 5-2 in Blanton's seven starts against Miami, a 2.86 ERA in those outings highlighted by 42 strikeouts in 44 innings.
A cool but otherwise nice evening is in the forecast for Philly on Thursday. The game should begin in the mid-50s before dropping into the upper-40s by the seventh inning stretch.
Veteran arbiter Jeff Nelson is in rotation to make his third appearance under the mask this season. He called the second game played in Japan about two weeks ago, and worked the plate last Saturday in Baltimore. So far, his games have split the totals, 1-1.
