MLB Picks: April 25th 2011
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Pick: Texas Rangers -144
At 8:05 pm, our complimentary selection is on the Texas Rangers over Toronto. Rangers righthander Colby Lewis had his worst start of this young season in his last trip to the mound Tuesday at home against the Angels. But Lewis may have a very good excuse for sub-par performance as he was coming off of a prolonged absence which caused him to miss a start due to the fact that he was at his wife’s bedside for the delivery of their second child. Lewis lasted only five innings in that start but look for him to come back focused and strong tonight in Arlington against the Jays and second-year starter Kyle Drabek. The young Blue Jay righthander has made quite an impression since being awarded a rotation spot coming out of Spring Training, but despite the Jays winning each of his four starts to date, Drabek has been a bit shaky, given that his WHIP is a very high 1.76, mainly due to putting 15 men on base via walks (in 24 innings). In contrast, Lewis’ WHIP is 1.35. Take Texas. Good luck, as always…Al McMordie.

Pick: Oakland Athletics +143
What a difficult stretch for the Angels the last week, playing an emotional early-season showdown series at rival Texas (taking 2 of 3), then heading home to get smacked around by resurgent Boston as the banged up LA offense got shut down. Now a team with exceptional pitching comes to town in the A’s. Oakland lefty Gio Gonzalez (2-1, 1.80 ERA) is throwing great and he’s eaten up the Angels, with a 3-1 record and a 3.29 ERA against them, striking out 33 in 27 innings and only 0 walks. And Angel ace Jered Weaver is only 3-6 lifetime against the A’s, offering great value on the dog. Play the Oakland A’s. -Jim Feist (Handicapperspicks.com)

Our Wednesday night MLB predictions take us to the Ballpark in Arlington where the Texas Rangers will look to secure their 60th win of the 2010 baseball betting season against the division rival Oakland A’s.
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Last night’s 3-1 extra innings Rangers win saw Texas snag its third win in a row in the 2010 series; they hold a 4-3 advantage in the AL West rivals seven meetings heading into Game 2 of the teams current three-game series; three of the L/4 overall meetings were decided in extras.

Once Nelson Cruz launched the walk-off bomb last night, the Rangers had greatly improved upon their positioning in the division. With the Angels once again falling to the Red Sox at home, manager Ron Washington’s club now enjoys a healthy 8.5-game lead in the AL West. That said; while they sit 15-games over .500 at home, the Rangers have cost MLB bettors some coin as a host losing $62 on the year.

The A’s now sit a game over .500 on the year (50-49) and have made their MLB betting backers upwards of $200 overall. They sit seven-games under .500 as a visitor (20-27, -$455), but have won seven of their L/10 road games capturing series wins at Baltimore, Cleveland, and Kansas City; not the stiffest of competition.

Oakland A’s (50-49, $205) vs. Texas Rangers (59-41, $475)
Game Date/Time: Wednesday, July 28th, 8:05 ET
Game Location: Ballpark in Arlington, Arlington, TX
TV/Radio Broadcast: Comcast (California), FOX – Southwest, XM

MLB Odds: Oakland A’s +135 (Trevor Cahill – R) vs. Texas Rangers -155 (Colby Lewis – R) Total: Over/Under 8.5

The A’s have been very successful with Trevor Cahill leading their charge having won 12 of his 17 overall starts on the year. He enters his 18th test of the season off a loss however after getting outdueled by Chicago’s Mark Buehrle in the A’s 5-1 defeat last Friday night. He’s been at his best in the comfy confines of Oakland-Alameda County Stadium where he stands 5-2 with a 2.19 ERA, but the A’s have won seven of his nine road outings where he’s 4-2 with a 4.07 ERA & 1.07 WHIP. The A’s have won each of his L/6 road starts, and he’s been exceptional against the Rangers throughout his career going 4-1 with a 2.23 ERA & 1.10 WHIP in six overall starts.

Getting his 20th overall call to the bump will be Rangers righty Colby Lewis. He’s 9-6 on the year with a 3.52 ERA & 1.14 WHIP having allowed 99 hits and 48 ER’s with a K/BB ratio of 117/41 through 122.2 total IP. Texas has been around a .500 team behind him winning 10 of his 19 overall starts. Max Scherzer and the Detroit Tigers got the best of him his last time out. Lewis has been at his best at home where he sports a 5-1 mark with a 3.40 ERA. He’s been matched up against Cahill twice already this season and has a loss and no decision to show for his efforts. In six career starts vs. Oakland, he’s 2-1 with a 4.05 ERA & 1.68 WHIP.

MLB Insider Tip: I’m expecting runs to continue to be hard to come by in tonight’s battle after Game 1 of this series fell comfortably ‘under’ the closing number. Both Trevor Cahill and Colby Lewis are in very fine form. Cahill has had nothing but success against the Rangers throughout his career, and I firmly expect Lewis to come out real fired up so as not to get defeated by Trevor for the third straight time this season.

‘Under’ bettors have made mad bank with both of these starting hurlers this season as its 11-4-2 in Cahill’s outings and 12-6-1 in Lewis’. Pitching and defense have reigned supreme when these division rivals have hooked up in Texas with it cashing in 9 of the L/13 overall meetings. My MLB predictions have that trend holding suit this evening!

My MLB Prediction: Colorado/Texas Under (Cahill/Lewis)
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