Our Wednesday night MLB predictions take us to Tropicana Field where the Tampa Bay Rays will look to win their fifth game in a row by sweeping the division rival Boston Red Sox right out of the Sunshine State.
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The Rays took the first two games of this series after it disposed of the BoSox by a 3-2 final count in last night’s baseball betting battle. Though runs were very hard to come by, the Rays squeaked by the Red Sox on the heels of a four hit and one ER effort from starter Jeff Niemann who picked up his first win since June 8th to move to 7-2 on the year. The victory allowed the Rays to swell its lead in the AL Wild Card race to 1.5-games over the Red Sox; Tampa sits two-games in back of the AL East leading New York Yankees while Boston finds itself 3.5-games back heading into tonight’s series finale.

Boston Red Sox (49-35, $360) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (50-33, $168)
Game Date/Time: Wednesday, July 7th, 7:10 ET
Game Location: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, FL
TV/Radio Broadcast: NESN, Sun Sports, XM

MLB Betting Odds: Boston Red Sox +1.5 -130 +160 (Tim Wakefield – R) vs. Tampa Bay Rays -1.5 +110 -190 (David Price – R): Total 8.5 O Even 8.5 U -120

Knuckler Tim Wakefield takes to the bump for the 18th time this season in search of his fourth overall win. He did score his first win in just under a month his last time out at home against Baltimore by limiting the Orioles to a pair of ER’s through his eight innings of work. Boston has dropped five of Wakefield’s seven road starts this season where the veteran owns a 2-2 record with a 3.66 ERA & 1.22 WHIP over 39.1 total IP. He has however been rock solid of late allowing just 23 hits and eight ER’s with a K/BB ratio of 13/5 over his L/3 starts. He’s excelled mightily against the Rays throughout his career going 18-6 with a 3.79 ERA in 33 starts, but he’s gotten tagged to the tune of 19 hits and 16 ER’s through just 10 combined innings of work the L/3 times he’s faced them.

Opposing the Red Sox vet will be third year phenom David Price. He enters his 16th start of the season a dominating 11-4 with a 2.42 ERA & 1.20 WHIP having allowed just 87 hits and 29 ER’s through his 107.2 total innings of work. He’s been exceptional in “The Trop” going 5-1 with a 1.99 ERA, but he’s dropped two of his L/3 overall decisions beating the D’Backs while falling against both the Marlins and Twins; Tampa’s 5-2 in his seven overall home starts. He’s faced the BoSox twice and stands 1-1 with a 4.77 ERA & 1.24 WHIP lifetime.

MLB Insider Tip: After getting dominated by the Red Sox since the franchise was formed, it looks as if the Rays are finally able to hold their own in this division rivalry. They’ve taken seven of the 11 meetings this season, and enter tonight’s match-up winners of three in a row. While Wakefield has had tons of success against the Rays throughout his career, he’s been hit hard by them each of the L/3 times he’s opposed them; Boston’s dropped five of his L/6 starts vs. Tampa Bay. David Price is in the midst of an exceptional season, and I really don’t foresee this rag-tag line-up that Boston marches out there tonight doing much of anything against him this evening. My MLB predictions for tonight’s series finale have the Rays busting out the brooms and sweeping the Red Sox right out of “The Trop.” Lay the chalk!!!

My MLB Prediction: Tampa Bay Rays (Price)
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Our Friday afternoon MLB predictions take us to Wrigley Field where the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim will look to eat into their 2.5-game deficit in the AL West against the Chicago Cubs who just earned their fifth home series of the season Friday afternoon against the Oakland A’s.
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Manager Mike Scioscia’s Angels were humbled in a big way in their latest home series versus Milwaukee. After churning out an 11-3 mark on their most recent 14-game road trip against the Royals, Mariners, A’s, and Dodgers, the Halos returned home only to drop two of three to the Brew Crew. Due to its most recent success as a visitor, Los Angeles currently stands 20-17 (+$637) on the road in the 2010 baseball betting season.

Many have called for a changing of the guard in the Cubs dugout, but its recently been reported that manager Lou Piniella will finish out the current season. His squad reacted positively to that news yesterday afternoon by scoring a 3-2 win in the bottom of the 9th after Kosuke Fukudome’s single allowed the Cubs to pull it out in walk-off fashion. The victory improved Chicago to 17-16 overall in the “Friendly Confines” where it’s cost MLB bettors $670 on the year.

Los Angeles Angels (37-32, +$450) vs. Chicago Cubs (30-36, -$1541)
Game Date/Time: Friday, June 18th, 2:20 ET
Game Location: Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL
TV/Radio Broadcast: FOX – West, Comcast (Chicago), XM

MLB Betting Odds: Los Angeles Angels +1.5 -155 +120 (Scott Kazmir – L) vs. Chicago Cubs -1.5 +135 -140 (Carlos Silva – R): Total 11 O -115 11 U -105

Scott Kazmir enters his 13th start of the season in decent form having gone 3-0 with a 2.12 ERA & 1.35 WHIP allowing 13 hits and just 14 ER’s through 17 total innings pitched. He pitched the minimum in order to receive a win his last time out against the in-state rival Dodgers, but short outings have continued to plague the lefty all season long. He’s managed to pitch through the 6th inning only once in his L/4 outings, but his beleaguered bullpen has managed to hold the lead in his three June starts. Opponents are batting .263 against him this season and the Halos stand 4-4 in his eight overall road starts. He has one career start against Chicago under his belt coming back in June of 2008 when he allowed three hits and one run while K’ing seven and walking four through 4.2 IP when tossing for Tampa Bay.

Carlos Silva has revitalized his career in the Windy City after suffering through a pair of nightmarish seasons in Seattle. The Cubs are 10-2 in his 12 overall starts, and at 8-1 overall with a 2.89 ERA, the Venezuelan currently ranks 3rd on the starter $$$ rankings with an overall return of $847. He suffered his first loss of the season his last time out against the Chicago White sox, but that’s not to say he didn’t perform admirably. The righty allowed seven hits and a pair of ER’s through seven IP, and ended up putting forth his ninth quality start of the season. In a pair of starts against the Angels last season, Silva gave up a combined 10 hits and five ER’s with a K/BB ratio of 5/2 through 12 innings of work. Chicago’s 6-1 in his seven Wrigley starts in 2010.

MLB Insider Tip: Chicago’s enjoyed digging in against left-handed pitching all season long evidenced by the fact that it’s .279 seasonal batting average is 74-points higher than against righties; they’re a $$$-making 8-1 the L/9 times they’ve opposed a southpaw.

Silva hardly deserved to lose his last outing vs. the Palehose, and his teammates will most definitely look to make sure he gets back in the win column this afternoon. I’m not sold that the Halos are back, and my MLB predictions foresee them cooling off dramatically after ripping off that impressive road trip last week.

My MLB Pick: Chicago Cubs (Silva)
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Pitchers that burn holes in our pockets is just another day in the life of trying to beat the MLB odds. Here at BetUS Sportsbook, we’ve got the five worst money burning pitchers in the bigs listed for you to steer clear of in the future. Take a look at the toughest luck pitchers against the MLB Betting odds this year.
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Zack Greinke, Kansas City Royals (2-10, -$1,011) – We have such a hard time faulting Greinke for this type of a record. His team, quite frankly, just stinks. Yes, Greinke hasn’t put up Cy Young type numbers again for a second straight year, as he has a 3.60 ERA and 17 walks against 60 strikeouts. Still, those numbers should yield a heck of a lot more than a 1-7 mark. There is major cause for concern, though. Over his L/3 starts, Greinke has only pitched 15.1 innings and allowed 24 hits and 13 runs, and has just a 10/6 K/BB ratio.

Ryan Dempster, Chicago Cubs (3-8, -$869) – The last time that the Cubs won a game that Dempster allowed more than one earned run in was back on April 12th. Yes, he hasn’t done much to help himself lately, especially allowing six earned runs in 6.2 innings against the Cardinals right before Memorial Day, but Dempster’s numbers don’t suggest that the Cubs should be just 3-8 this year in 11 starts. Dempster has a 3.72 ERA and has already fanned 72 batters this year, putting him on a pace for 200+ Ks.

Charlie Morton, Pittsburgh Pirates (1-9, -$758) – Now, here’s a case where the pitcher is just having an atrocious season. It’s pretty clear that the Pirates simply shouldn’t have Morton in the rotation. He is still a young kid and should be babied along in the minors for a bit before giving it a whack in the big leagues. At just 1-9 with a 9.35 ERA, Morton was given a bit of a blessing in the form of a free pass from his next few starts. The Pirates stuck him on the 15-day DL retroactive to May 28th for shoulder fatigue.

David Bush, Milwaukee Brewers (2-9, -$721) – Bush picked up a blister on the middle finger of his throwing hand and might not be available for his next start. It might be a good thing for the Brewers if that’s the case. They are just 2-9 in his starts this year and are 1-8 since his second outing of the year. A K/BB ratio of 30/29 for the year represents both far too many walks and not nearly enough strikeouts, while an ERA of 4.99 seems to be the punishment.

Tom Gorzelanny, Chicago Cubs (2-7, -$694) – Gorzelanny has been pitching pretty well this year, as there is no harm in a 3.66 ERA. He has only allowed more than three earned runs twice all season long, but it happens to be that both of those starts were amongst his L/3. However, in his L/5 starts, the southpaw has K’d 36 batters, and if that keeps up, his ERA should once again continue to drop, and hopefully, the Cubs will start winning some games for him.
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