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Around the Horn - Friday

June 14, 2012

NATIONAL LEAGUE


Cincinnati at N.Y. Mets - 7:10 PM EST (Game 1/3)
Teams Pitcher Notes Team Record Betcha Didn't Know
Arroyo (2-4, 3.79 ERA) 35-27 6-2 L8 away Game 1's
Gee (4-4, 4.42 ERA) 35-29 OVER 5-1 L6 home Game 1's


INTERLEAGUE

Boston at Chicago (N) - 2:20 PM EST (Game 1/3)
Teams Pitcher Notes Team Record Betcha Didn't Know
Matsuzaka (0-1, 7.20 ERA) 31-32 3-6 L9 away during day
Dempster (2-3, 2.31 ERA) 21-42 UNDER 6-2 L8 home during day

IL Record
BOS: (4-5 in 2012, 10-8 in 2011)
CHC: (2-7 in 2012, 5-10 in 2011)

N.Y. Yankees at Washington - 7:05 PM EST (Game 1/3)
Teams Pitcher Notes Team Record Betcha Didn't Know
Hughes (6-5, 4.76 ERA) 37-25 8-2 L10 vs LHP
Gonzalez (8-2, 2.35 ERA) 38-23 7-2 L9 home Game 1's

IL Record
NYY: (7-2 in 2012, 13-5 in 2011)
WSH: (7-2 in 2012, 8-7 in 2011)

Pittsburgh at Cleveland - 7:05 PM EST (Game 1/3)
Teams Pitcher Notes Team Record Betcha Didn't Know
McDonald (5-2, 2.39 ERA) 32-30 3-8 L11 away Game 1's
Masterson (2-6, 4.76 ERA) 32-30 7-3 L10 home off loss

IL Record
PIT: (4-5 in 2012, 8-7 in 2011)
CLE: (3-6 in 2012, 11-7 in 2011)


Colorado at Detroit - 7:05 PM EST (Game 1/3)
Teams Pitcher Notes Team Record Betcha Didn't Know
Francis (0-1, 21.60 ERA) 24-38 7-13 L20 vs LHP
Crosby (1-1, 9.35 ERA) 30-33 0-11 L11 vs LHP

IL Record
COL: (0-9 in 2012, 8-7 in 2011)
DET: (6-3 in 2012, 7-11 in 2011)

Philadelphia at Toronto - 7:05 PM EST (Game 1/3)
Teams Pitcher Notes Team Record Betcha Didn't Know
Worley (3-2, 3.00 ERA) 31-34 8-3 L11 away Game 1's
Hutchison (5-3, 4.66 ERA) 31-32 7-4 L11 home vs RHP

IL Record
PHI: (4-5 in 2012, 9-6 in 2011)
TOR: (3-6 in 2012, 8-10 in 2011)


Miami at Tampa Bay - 7:10 PM EST (Game 1/3)
Teams Pitcher Notes Team Record Betcha Didn't Know
Zambrano (4-4, 3.55 ERA) 32-31 5-0 L5 away vs LHP
Moore (3-5, 4.59 ERA) 35-28 OVER 7-3 L10 on Fridays

IL Record
MIA: (3-6 in 2012, 8-10 in 2011)
TAM: (4-5 in 2012, 12-6 in 2011)

Baltimore at Atlanta - 7:35 PM EST (Game 1/3)
Teams Pitcher Notes Team Record Betcha Didn't Know
Matusz (5-6, 4.82 ERA) 37-26 UNDER 6-2 L8 away Game 1's
Hanson (7-4, 3.55 ERA) 34-29 0-7 L7 home vs LHP

IL Record

BAL: (7-2 in 2012, 7-11 in 2011)
ATL: (4-5 in 2012, 10-5 in 2011)

Houston at Texas - 8:05 PM EST (Game 1/3)
Teams Pitcher Notes Team Record Betcha Didn't Know
Lyles (1-2, 5.40 ERA) 26-36 OVER 7-3 L10 away Game 1's
Darvish (7-4, 3.72 ERA) 37-27 7-3 L10 home Game 1's

IL Record
HOU: (3-3 in 2012, 4-11 in 2011)
TEX: (6-3 in 2012, 9-9 in 2011)

Milwaukee at Minnesota - 8:10 PM EST (Game 1/3)
Teams Pitcher Notes Team Record Betcha Didn't Know
Fiers (1-2, 4.50 ERA) 28-35 2-5 L7 away vs LHP
Liriano (1-7, 6.45 ERA) 25-37 3-8 L11 home Game 1's

IL Record
MIL: (1-5 in 2012, 6-9 in 2011)
MIN: (5-4 in 2012, 8-10 in 2011)


Kansas City at St. Louis - 8:15 PM EST (Game 1/3)
Teams Pitcher Notes Team Record Betcha Didn't Know
Mazzaro (2-1, 3.60 ERA) 27-34 3-8 L11 away Game 1's
Lohse (6-1, 2.90 ERA) 33-31 3-7 L10 on Fridays

IL Record
KAN: (4-5 in 2012, 5-13 in 2011)
STL: (3-3 in 2012, 8-7 in 2011)

Arizona at Los Angeles (A) - 10:05 PM EST (Game 1/3)
Teams Pitcher Notes Team Record Betcha Didn't Know
Cahill (4-5, 3.36 ERA) 31-32 1-5 L6 away Game 1's
Haren (4-6, 3.73 ERA) 34-30 7-3 L10 home Game 1's

IL Record
ARZ: (6-3 in 2012, 10-8 in 2011)
LAA: (6-3 in 2012, 13-5 in 2011)

San Diego at Oakland - 10:05 PM EST (Game 1/3)
Teams Pitcher Notes Team Record Betcha Didn't Know
Bass (2-6, 4.38 ERA) 23-41 2-8 L10 on Fridays
Blackley (0-2, 3.98 ERA) 29-35 UNDER 6-3 L9 home vs RHP

IL Record
SDG: (5-1 in 2012, 6-9 in 2011)
OAK: (4-5 in 2012, 8-10 in 2011)

Chicago (A) at Los Angeles (N) - 10:10 PM EST (Game 1/3)
Teams Pitcher Notes Team Record Betcha Didn't Know
Sale (8-2, 2.05 ERA) 34-29 UNDER 6-1 L7 away vs LHP
Kershaw (5-3, 2.65 ERA) 40-24 7-3 L10 home vs LHP

IL Record
CHW: (5-4 in 2012, 11-7 in 2011)
LAD: (3-3 in 2012, 6-9 in 2011)

San Francisco at Seattle - 10:15 PM EST (Game 1/3)
Teams Pitcher Notes Team Record Betcha Didn't Know
Vogelsong (5-2, 2.26 ERA) 37-27 6-3 L9 away vs LHP
Vargas (7-5, 3.90 ERA) 27-38 3-6 L9 home Game 1's

IL Record
SFG: (3-3 in 2012, 10-5 in 2011)
SEA: (4-5 in 2012, 9-9 in 2011)

Diamond Trends - Friday

June 15, 2012

SU TREND OF THE DAY:

The Rangers are 13-0 since June 20, 2011 at home after a loss and it is the first game of the series for a net profit of $1300.

OU TREND OF THE DAY:

The Diamondbacks are 11-0 OU since June 24, 2011 as a road dog after a win in which they allowed 1 or fewer walks for a net profit of $1100 when playing the over.


STARTER TREND OF THE DAY:

The Dodgers are 12-0 since May 29, 2011 when Clayton Kershaw starts as a favorite after his team lost the last time he started vs this opponent for a net profit of $1200.


MLB BIBLE TREND OF THE DAY:

The Rockies are 11-0 (4.0 rpg) when their starter allowed at least eight runs in his last start.


TODAY’S TRENDS:

The Cardinals are 8-0 since May 18, 2011 when Kyle Lohse starts as a home 140+ favorite for a net profit of $800.

The Orioles are 0-9 since June 18, 2011 when Brian Matusz starts after facing 25 or fewer hitters and they lost in his previous start for a net profit of $900 when playing against.

Orioles Visit Atlanta For Weekend With Braves

The Baltimore Orioles continue to defy the odds near the top of the AL East standings as they head into a weekend set with the Braves in Atlanta.

Buck Showalter's squad began the weekend just a half-game behind the Yankees in the division ranks. New York has been on a roll and winners of six straight going into another key East-on-East series in Washington against the Nationals. But the Yanks have not been able to shake the O's who were riding a 5-game win streak going into Friday's series opener at Atlanta.

The Braves, meanwhile, had lost four straight and fallen to third in the NL East, five games south of the Nats with the New York Mets in second. Fredi Gonzalez's gang was swept by the Yankees earlier this week following a loss to the Blue Jays last Sunday, leaving the Braves 2-4 on this current homestand and needing to sweep the Orioles to have a winning stand before departing to face the Yankees and Red Sox next week.

It all makes for a big series at Turner Field, beginning with Friday's affair (7:35 p.m. ET) that pits Baltimore's Brian Matusz opposite Atlanta's Tommy Hanson. The Braves originally opened as 165 favorites on the Don Best odds screen, but that number dropped to -150 by noon on Friday. The total remains at its initial 8½-run mark, and is priced a little higher to the 'over.'

Matusz missed his regular turn in the rotation on Wednesday after an accident during Tuesday's batting practice when he bunted a ball into his face and bloodied his nose. Considering his track record in interleague play, perhaps he was hoping to miss the rest of Baltimore's slate vs. NL squads. Matusz has made six starts of the interleague variety, and the Orioles have lost all six while the lefty compiled a 7.48 ERA. Friday will be his first go at the Braves.

Hanson has bounced back with a pair of nice wins since being chewed up by the Cardinals on May 28 in Atlanta. One of those dubyas was the last time out vs. Toronto, and he also beat the Rays at Tropicana Field last month to continue his success in interleague play. Atlanta has won eight of his 10 career outings against AL squads with Hanson sporting a 4.16 ERA.

Saturday's middle game of the set definitely has the best mound matchup of the weekend as Jason Hammel battles Brandon Beachy in the 7:15 p.m. (ET) contest. The early odds listed Beachy and the Braves at -160 with an 8-run total.

Hammel is still getting used to thinking of starts vs. NL crews as interleague after spending the last three years in Colorado. He saw the Braves five times while with the Rockies, and Colorado managed to win two of those games despite Hammel's bloated 9.00 ERA.

Both of his assignments against NL sides this season have gone into the win column for Baltimore even though Hammel has been charged with eight earned runs in the 11-1/3 innings. Six of his last seven trips to the mound have gone 'over' the total.

Beachy will have had a full week of rest when he takes the hill Saturday. He went five against Toronto last weekend, a 4-3 extra-inning win for the Braves, laboring through those 15 outs on 108 pitches that were the result of five walks to go along with his six strikeouts. Beachy lost his three prior starts, including back-to-back outings vs. Washington in which he issued four free passes each game.

This will be his second career start vs. Baltimore after a no-decision in a 5-4 Braves setback to the Orioles in Atlanta last June. Beachy worked five innings and allowed three runs, one of those on a solo shot off the bat of Orioles starting pitcher Zach Britton.

The series will conclude with a Sunday matinee (1:35 p.m.). Baltimore lefty Wei-Yin Chen is slated to square off against Atlanta rookie Randall Delgado. Chen beat the Pirates on Tuesday (6+ IP, 4 ER) after being thrashed by the Nats in Washington last month (4+ IP, 6 ER) for his only interleague experiences to date. Delgado has dropped both of his outings vs. AL crews, allowing a combined seven earned runs in nine total innings against the Rays and Yankees.

Atlanta started the series with a 19-14 edge in previous meetings with the Orioles. Baltimore swept the first two get-togethers in Atlanta (1997 and 1999), but the Braves have since taken all five series played at Turner Field while going 11-4.

Sale & Kershaw Duel In White Sox, Dodgers Opener

Before the 2012 season began, few would have forecast the mid-June matchup between the White Sox and Dodgers series as one of the marquee interleague clashes of the season.

Fast forward to June 15, however, and that’s exactly what we have on tap at Chavez Ravine, including perhaps the most delicious pitching matchup of the season.

The schedule tells us that the Chisox will invade Chavez Ravine on Friday night for a 10:10 p.m. (ET) clash. Inspecting further, it’s a true heavyweight pitching matchup between Chicago’s red-hot Chris Sale and LA’s reigning NL Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw.

A check of the Don Best odds screen notes that the Dodgers and Kershaw have been posted as early -130 favorites, with the take-back on the Sale’s Pale Hose at +120. Speaking to the prowess of these respective hurlers, the early total at most Las Vegas wagering outlets has been posted at a mere 5½ runs, the lowest such of the season to date, shaded slightly to the ‘over’ at -120.

Early Run line prices show Sale and the Chisox at -205 plus the extra run, with the Dodgers and Kershaw at +175 minus the added run. Check your cable guides for TV coverage that will be handled by Comcast in Chicago – with the one and only due of Ken Harrelson and Steve Stone describing the action – and Fox Prime Ticket in the west coast with Vin Scully calling the balls and strikes.

The battle lines have certainly been drawn for this one in a rare renewal of a distant rivalry that includes the 1959 World Series in which Walt Alston’s Dodgers, in just their second season in Los Angeles, outdueled the “go-go” White Sox of Al Lopez in six games. That World Series will resonate forever on at least one page of the baseball record book as it boasted of attendance figures unlikely to ever be matched in MLB, considering the Dodgers were playing games at the cavernous LA Coliseum in those days and drawing huge throngs, topped by a whopping 92,706 for Game 5 which still stands as an MLB and World Series record.

Considering no current stadium tops 56,000 in attendance, it’s safe to say that record will endure until further notice.

While the Dodgers have continued with the good early foot they displayed in the first couple of weeks of the season, entering Friday night on top of the NL West with an MLB-best 40-24 mark, the Chisox have in fact been playing better than LA lately, winning 17 of their last 24 prior to Thursday’s game at St. Louis. That surge has pushed the Pale Hose to the top of the AL Central.

The Dodgers have been very solid at home thus far, winning 22 of their first 33 at the Ravine and providing good value in the process, +807 units as host in the process. The White Sox, however, have been sizzling away from home and are a whopping +1111 units as a visitor prior to Thursday’s game at St. Louis.

Moreover, these teams have both been dynamite on the Run Line, with the Dodgers +1876 units on the season and the Pale Hose even better at +2013 on the Run Line.

The feature of the Friday clash, however, is the pitching matchup between Sale and Kershaw. The young lefty Sale has been a real revelation since moving to the starting rotation for new manager Robin Ventura. Sale, who performed out of the bullpen the past two seasons, has been almost untouchable lately, allowing just four runs and 19 hits over his last five outings covering 36 2/3 IP, which equates to a microscopic 0.98 ERA. Along the way Sale has recorded 43 strikeouts and just seven walks in those last five games, all White Sox wins.

As for Kershaw, his numbers have lagged a bit behind his wondrous stats of a year ago when he won the NL Cy Young, but he remains formidable with a 5-3 record and 2.65 ERA. In the Ravine, Kershaw has been a bit tougher, with a 2.37 ERA and 1.02 WHIP thus far in 2012.

The Dodgers have managed to keep afloat despite the absence of All-Star OF Matt Kemp, who enjoyed a sizzling April with 12 homers but has made two trips to the DL since with hamstring issues, and likely remains out until the end of June, if not the All-Star break. Los Angeles has also been without 2B Mark Ellis, who enjoyed a stellar first month of the season, since mid-May due to a sprained knee.

The Dodgers looked ready to slump two weeks ago when swept at home in a 4-game set by the Brewers and losing two of three at Colorado, but have rebounded to win seven of their last 10 to maintain their edge in the NL West over the Giants.

Skeptics, however, have pointed out the favorable scheduling sequencing the Dodgers have enjoyed, and wonder if that luck might be running out after losing two of three at home to the nearby Angels at midweek. Dodger hitting issues minus Kemp resurfaced in the series vs. the Angels when managing just seven runs – five of those in the lone win over the Halos on Tuesday night – in the 3-game set. The Dodgers were also no-hit by six Seattle pitchers last Friday at Safeco Field.

The White Sox continue to benefit by the resurgence of big 1B/DH Adam Dunn, who has recovered from a brutal 2011 to belt 21 homers by mid-June. Note however that Dunn, suffering from a mild sprained knee that limited him to pinch hit duties midweek at St. Louis, will have to play at 1B in this series as the DH will not be utilized in the Dodgers’ NL park.

Prior to Thursday game at St. Louis, the Chisox had also won eight of their last nine games on the road.

Still, it’s the heavyweight pitching battle between Sale and Kershaw that draws extra interest for this intriguing battle at Chavez Ravine.

Friday, June 15

Game Score Status Pick Amount

NY Yankees - 7:05 PM ET Washington -114 500
Washington - Under 7 500

Pittsburgh - 7:05 PM ET Pittsburgh +132 500
Cleveland - Over 7.5 500

Colorado - 7:05 PM ET Detroit -145 500
Detroit - Over 10 500

Philadelphia - 7:07 PM ET Philadelphia +116 500
Toronto - Over 9 500

Miami - 7:10 PM ET Miami +143 500
Tampa Bay - Under 8 500

Cincinnati - 7:10 PM ET NY Mets -119 500
NY Mets - Under 8 500

Houston - 8:05 PM ET Houston +226 500
Texas - Under 10 500

Milwaukee - 8:10 PM ET Minnesota -104 500
Minnesota - Over 8.5 500

Kansas City - 8:15 PM ET Kansas City +157 500
St. Louis - Over 8.5 500

Arizona - 10:05 PM ET LA Angels -148 500
LA Angels - Over 7 500

San Diego - 10:05 PM ET Oakland -114 500
Oakland - Over 7.5 500

Chi. White Sox - 10:10 PM ET Chi. White Sox +109 500
LA Dodgers - Under 5.5 500

San Francisco - 10:10 PM ET San Francisco -105 500 ( STREAKER PLAY )
Seattle - Over 7 500