7/26/14 July Record: 27-23 (54%)
Reds vs. Nationals <o
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Recommendation: UNDER 7<o></o>
We havea matchup of studs in this one as Johnny Cueto and Gio Gonzalez square offSaturday. The Reds have been a complete wreck and haven’t won a game since theAll-Star break. The loss of Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips in hurting thisteam tremendously. They’re rapidly falling out of the race in the NL Centralafter being right in contention going into the break. On the other side, losingRyan Zimmerman for the Nationals is a huge blow to their offense. The Nat’shave finally starting swinging the bat well the last few games, but getting itdone against Cueto is another story. <o></o>
Cuetohas a .184 batting average against him, which is the lowest in the majors. He’s5-1 with a 2.56 ERA in his last 8 starts and is striking batters out at analarming rate. The Reds have virtually no offense to put behind Cueto rightnow, which is why a “side” wager in this situation isn’t a smart bet. But he’sfully capable of shutting down any lineup. He also has a 2.07 FIP against theNationals current roster.<o></o>
GioGonzalez is 2-0 with a 1.00 ERA in his 4 career starts against Cincinnati. Keepin mind that The Reds come into this one a lot more shorthanded then they werein those contests. He also sports a stellar 1.00 FIP against the Reds lineup, provingthat all of his numbers are legit. Runs will be hard to come by in this one andwe’ll look for it to go UNDER the total. <o></o>
Braves vs. Padres<o></o>
Recommendation: UNDER 7<o></o>
ThePadres offense is one of the worst we’ve seen in the history of baseball. Thefront office is just as much to blame as the players, as poor drafting and not acquiringany bats has this team looking like a AAA squad right now. They just tradedaway one of their biggest offensive threats in Chase Headley to the Yankees.Headley had a career year in 2012 and his stock couldn’t possibly get anyhigher at that point. Padres GM Josh Byrnes needed to trade Headley back then,when they could have gotten some decent prospects back in return. That didn’thappen and now we’re looking at a terrible team with no help coming from thefarm. This team figures to be bad for the foreseeable future. <o></o>
OdrisamerDespaigne has been a rare bright spot since being called up from El Paso. Thisguy doesn’t have great stuff, but his delivery is very deceptive. He releasesthe ball at a variety of different arm angles and it’s proving to be very toughfor hitters to pick up on. So much so that Despaigne is coming off anappearance against the Mets in which he almost threw a no hitter. He has givenup 1 run or fewer in 4 of his 5 starts thus far. The league may eventuallycatch on to his stuff, but while he is still an unknown prospect look for thesuccess to continue, especially with this being the first time that the Braveshave seen him. Despaigne was also given an extra days rest by manager Bud Black,so he should be fresh and ready to go tonight. <o></o>
TheBraves are going through a rough offensive stretch of their own. They’rehitting just .196 in their last 5 games, including losing the opener of thisseries. Julio Teheran continued his dominance last time out, striking out 11and only allowing 1 earned run last time out against the Marlins. He received ano decision, as Teheran has received virtually no run support all year long. He’seven better at home, posting a 3-0 record with a 0.80 ERA in his last 3 startsin Atlanta. Take the UNDER.<o></o>
Pirates @ Rockies <o></o>
Recommendation: Pirates -144<o></o>
ThePirates look to avenge their loss in the opener as they look to pick up a winbehind the surprisingly consistent Jeff Locke tonight. The Bucs have won 5 of 7since the All-Star break, and Locke has been someone that they can count onsince he joined the club in early June. All 8 of his starts have been of goodquality, as he’s posted a 2.38 ERA and 0.99 WHIP during that span. His commandhas been extraordinary. He’s not putting batters on base for free, and italways gives me more confidence knowing the opposing team is going to have toearn their hits. <o></o>
TylerMatzek has allowed at least 3 runs in 6 of his last 7 starts. He’s not someonethe Rockies can count on right now and that’s a big problem given the state of thisteam. The Rockies have been battered by injuries all year long, and leading thelist is Colorado’s best player Troy Tulowitzki. This team sets up as one thatcan pose a big offensive threat when healthy, but that just hasn’t been thecase this season. The Rockies bullpen is also far below average. The bullpenhas an 8.58 ERA over their last 10 while allowing nearly a .400 average. Wehave to lay some chalk in this one but it will be worth it after we cash ourticket. Take the Pirates. <o></o>
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Reds vs. Nationals <o
></o>Recommendation: UNDER 7<o
></o>We havea matchup of studs in this one as Johnny Cueto and Gio Gonzalez square offSaturday. The Reds have been a complete wreck and haven’t won a game since theAll-Star break. The loss of Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips in hurting thisteam tremendously. They’re rapidly falling out of the race in the NL Centralafter being right in contention going into the break. On the other side, losingRyan Zimmerman for the Nationals is a huge blow to their offense. The Nat’shave finally starting swinging the bat well the last few games, but getting itdone against Cueto is another story. <o
></o>Cuetohas a .184 batting average against him, which is the lowest in the majors. He’s5-1 with a 2.56 ERA in his last 8 starts and is striking batters out at analarming rate. The Reds have virtually no offense to put behind Cueto rightnow, which is why a “side” wager in this situation isn’t a smart bet. But he’sfully capable of shutting down any lineup. He also has a 2.07 FIP against theNationals current roster.<o
></o>GioGonzalez is 2-0 with a 1.00 ERA in his 4 career starts against Cincinnati. Keepin mind that The Reds come into this one a lot more shorthanded then they werein those contests. He also sports a stellar 1.00 FIP against the Reds lineup, provingthat all of his numbers are legit. Runs will be hard to come by in this one andwe’ll look for it to go UNDER the total. <o
></o>Braves vs. Padres<o
></o>Recommendation: UNDER 7<o
></o>ThePadres offense is one of the worst we’ve seen in the history of baseball. Thefront office is just as much to blame as the players, as poor drafting and not acquiringany bats has this team looking like a AAA squad right now. They just tradedaway one of their biggest offensive threats in Chase Headley to the Yankees.Headley had a career year in 2012 and his stock couldn’t possibly get anyhigher at that point. Padres GM Josh Byrnes needed to trade Headley back then,when they could have gotten some decent prospects back in return. That didn’thappen and now we’re looking at a terrible team with no help coming from thefarm. This team figures to be bad for the foreseeable future. <o
></o>OdrisamerDespaigne has been a rare bright spot since being called up from El Paso. Thisguy doesn’t have great stuff, but his delivery is very deceptive. He releasesthe ball at a variety of different arm angles and it’s proving to be very toughfor hitters to pick up on. So much so that Despaigne is coming off anappearance against the Mets in which he almost threw a no hitter. He has givenup 1 run or fewer in 4 of his 5 starts thus far. The league may eventuallycatch on to his stuff, but while he is still an unknown prospect look for thesuccess to continue, especially with this being the first time that the Braveshave seen him. Despaigne was also given an extra days rest by manager Bud Black,so he should be fresh and ready to go tonight. <o
></o>TheBraves are going through a rough offensive stretch of their own. They’rehitting just .196 in their last 5 games, including losing the opener of thisseries. Julio Teheran continued his dominance last time out, striking out 11and only allowing 1 earned run last time out against the Marlins. He received ano decision, as Teheran has received virtually no run support all year long. He’seven better at home, posting a 3-0 record with a 0.80 ERA in his last 3 startsin Atlanta. Take the UNDER.<o
></o>Pirates @ Rockies <o
></o>Recommendation: Pirates -144<o
></o>ThePirates look to avenge their loss in the opener as they look to pick up a winbehind the surprisingly consistent Jeff Locke tonight. The Bucs have won 5 of 7since the All-Star break, and Locke has been someone that they can count onsince he joined the club in early June. All 8 of his starts have been of goodquality, as he’s posted a 2.38 ERA and 0.99 WHIP during that span. His commandhas been extraordinary. He’s not putting batters on base for free, and italways gives me more confidence knowing the opposing team is going to have toearn their hits. <o
></o>TylerMatzek has allowed at least 3 runs in 6 of his last 7 starts. He’s not someonethe Rockies can count on right now and that’s a big problem given the state of thisteam. The Rockies have been battered by injuries all year long, and leading thelist is Colorado’s best player Troy Tulowitzki. This team sets up as one thatcan pose a big offensive threat when healthy, but that just hasn’t been thecase this season. The Rockies bullpen is also far below average. The bullpenhas an 8.58 ERA over their last 10 while allowing nearly a .400 average. Wehave to lay some chalk in this one but it will be worth it after we cash ourticket. Take the Pirates. <o
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