MLB Picks: August 11th 2011
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Pick: Chicago Cubs -114
Washington is very good at home, but struggles badly on the road, which is nothing new as they were like this last season. Jordan Zimmermann goes for the Nats, 0-1 with a 6.35 ERA in 11 career innings against Chicago. And the Cubs go with Ryan Dempster, who has dominated Washington in his career, with an 8-1 record and a 2.97 ERA against them. Dempster gave up two runs on four hits over six innings Friday against the Reds while picking up his ninth win of the season. And the Cubs are 12-4 in Dempster’s last 16 starts. Play the Cubs. -Jim Feist

Pick: Chicago White Sox -119
The White Sox get the call as our free play tonight as they stand a good chance of bouncing back from last night’s extra innings defeat. First off, the Orioles are a poor 5-16 in their last 21 games following a win. They are also 0-6 in their last 6 home games vs. a left-handed starter. That’s not good news with Buehrle stepping to the hill for Chicago. The White Sox are 13-3 in his last 16 starts, and he hasn’t allowed more than 3 earned runs in any of those starts. The White Sox are 7-1 in their last 8 road games, and I expect them to keep sizzlin’ away from home tonight. -Jimmy Boyd

Pick: Milwaukee Brewers +120
The Brewers dominance over the Cardinals continued on Wednesday, and I really like Milwaukee’s chances of completing the sweep tonight. Both teams will send out one of their top pitchers,as Yovani Gallardo takes on Chris Carpenter. Gallardo has clearly been the better start of late, posting a 1.23 ERA and 0.727 WHIP in his L3 starts, while Carpenter has a 3.86 ERA and 1.339 WHIP in his L3. The Brewers are also swinging the bats a lot better than the Cardinals right now. Milwaukee has scored 5 or more runs in each of their last 10 games, while the Cardinals are averaging just 3.4 over their last five games. Milwaukee is 21-6 in their last 27 vs. National League Central, 8-2 in Gallardo’s last 10 starts vs. a team with a winning record, and 4-0 in their last 4 during game 3 of a series. BET THE BREWERS! -Steve Janus (Handicapperspicks.com)

Expert MLB Picks: July 9th 2011
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Pick: Pittsburgh Pirates -105
Play on Pittsburgh at 7:05 ET. The remarkable story that is the Pittsburgh Pirates continued last night w/ a 7-4 victory over the lowly Cubs. That win assured the team will head into the All Star Break with a winning record for the first time since 1992. Playing the Cubs this weekend pretty much assures them of a couple more wins. Tonight, Pittsburgh uses Kevin Correia, who has seen the team win 12 of his 18 starts overall, including three straight. The Cubs turn to Ryan Dempster, who has a 6.86 ERA on the road this year. 10* on Pittsburgh. -Tom Freese

Pick: Cleveland Indians -105
Toronto is 43-47 overall this year while Cleveland comes in with a 47-40 overall record on the season. Toronto has lost 3 of their last 4 games overall while Cleveland has won 6 of their last 9 games overall. Cleveland has a nice 27-16 record at home this year. Cleveland bullpen has a 3.24 ERA overall and a 3.30 ERA at home this season. Josh Tomlin is 10-4 with a 3.77 ERA overall this year, 7-1 with a 3.26 ERA at home this season and 2-0 with a 3.10 ERA his last 3 starts. Morrow is 0-2 with a 6.61 ERA overall vs Cleveland since 1997. We’ll recommend a small play on Cleveland tonight! Thanks and good luck, Rocky Atkinson

Pick: San Francisco Giants -172
In his last 25 innings of work, RHP Tim Lincecum has allowed only 5 earned runs. However, the Giants have won just once in his last 5 starts. Life time versus New York, the talented hurler is 2-1 with a nice 3.07 ERA. Opposing starter, lefty Chris Capuano of New York appears to be in a bad spot as his current numbers versus San Francisco are horrible at 1-4 with a 5.31 ERA. In his last two winning decisions the Mets supplied the hurler with 21 runs of support. Still, with San Francisco 13-3 versus lefties and 4-1 at home against winning units, I’ll once again take a ticket with the Giants. Good Luck. -Brad Diamond (Handicapperspicks.com)

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Ubaldo Jimenez, Colorado Rockies (16-2, +$1,252) – At 16-2 for his team for the season, there is a real argument that Jimenez is the MVP in the National League. Without a doubt, he has had the best stuff amongst pitchers in baseball. Jimenez finished up his first half of the season with his 15th win, as he pitched eight strong innings and allowed just one earned run against the Cardinals at Coors Field. With 113 strikeouts, Jimenez is on a clip for 200 for the season, and his 15-1 record is self-explanatory.

Freddy Garcia, Chicago White Sox (12-4, +$1,099) – Coming into Friday night, Garcia is the only other man in baseball that can say that he has made over $1,000 for MLB wagering fans. The righty has cashed in eight straight games, and for good measure, he has led the team to four straight ‘unders’ as well. Garcia hasn’t pitched more than seven innings during this winning streak, but just like the rest of the White Sox, he is getting a ton of help and is picking up victories to show for it.

Kris Medlen, Atlanta Braves (10-1, +$970) – For those of you who didn’t know the name Kris Medlen before, perhaps you should take note. This righty for the Braves led the team to ten wins in his first 11 starts of the season. He pitched an inning in relief on the final day before the All-Star Break, but should be back and ready to go in the Atlanta rotation in the second half of the year. Medlen is going to be crucial for manager Bobby Cox to lead his team into the playoffs once again, and he is definitely someone to keep a close eye on with a 6-1 record and a 3.16 ERA.

Andy Pettitte, New York Yankees (14-3, +$966) – In the American League, only Tampa Bay’s Jeff Niemann and Pettitte have led their respective teams to 14 wins this year. Pettitte really has been the picture of consistency once again for the Bronx Bombers. He is 11-2 with a 2.70 ERA. The southpaw has only won 20+ games in his career one time, and that came way back in 2003. It would be truly remarkable to see his pick up 20 for the second time this year at the age of 38.

Mat Latos, San Diego Padres (12-5, +$882) – Latos is currently sitting on the disabled list after sneezing too hard, but he will be eligible to come off of the DL by the end of next week. A snub from the All-Star Game, Latos is 10-4 with a 2.45 ERA. He is just one strikeout away from 100 for the season and has only allowed one earned run in his L/4 starts.

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Ryan Rowland-Smith, Seattle Mariners (3-13, -$997) – Rowland-Smith has had no luck this year with the Mariners, but then again, who really has had much luck in Seattle this year? His time in the rotation probably would have been getting cut short if not for the trade that sent LHP Cliff Lee out of town right before the All-Star Break. Rowland-Smith is just 1-9 on the season, and his 5.89 ERA leaves plenty to be desired. Allowing 36 walks against 32 strikeouts in 84 frames isn’t helping either.

Zack Greinke, Kansas City Royals (6-12, -$811) – On top of everything else that has gone wrong for Greinke this year, he now has a sore shoulder and has been pushed back in the rotation from his most recent start on July 6th. Greinke still has to want to sue for a lack of support from his club, as the ’09 Cy Young Award winner in the American League has just a 3.71 ERA but a 5-8 record to show for it. He has picked up three straight wins though, which could be a sign of improvement for a man that used to be over 11 units in the hole in his starts just four weeks ago.

Dan Haren, Arizona Diamondbacks (7-12, -$810) – Having 125 strikeouts against just 26 walks for the year should be yielding a lot better than a 7-7 record for Haren. The right hander does have an uncharacteristically high ERA of 4.36, which is his highest such number since he was pitching as a youngster just coming out of the minors with the St. Louis Cardinals. The D’Backs have lost five straight starts of Haren’s in spite of the fact that he hasn’t allowed more than four earned in any of those games.

Ryan Dempster, Chicago Cubs (8-11, -$705) – If Dempster was on almost any other team in baseball, he probably wouldn’t be anywhere near this list right now. He did kick off the second half of the season with a victory on Thursday night, but with an 8-7 record and a 3.57 ERA, no pitcher should still be on a list like this one. The bullpen has yet to pick up a ‘W’ for Dempster this year, and it has conceded a whopping 14 runs in his L/4 starts.

Matt Cain, San Francisco Giants (7-11, -$704) – Again, this is a product of a team just not picking up their man. Cain has a 6-8 record and just a 3.34 ERA. He is issuing more walks this season (42) than most would prefer to see, but Cain also has 88 strikeouts and is well on his way to his fourth straight season with at least 200 innings under his belt.

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Best Pitchers To Wager On
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Ubaldo Jimenez, Colorado Rockies (14-1, +$1,272) – The bad news for MLB betting fans of Jimenez’s is that the days of getting good numbers on him are absolutely gone. The good news is that he just keeps on finding ways to win games, which keeps putting money in their pockets one unit at a time. His ERA ballooned up to 1.60 in his most recent start against the Red Sox, but the team just continues to win. At 13-1, 30 wins still seems like a possibility.

Mike Pelfrey, New York Mets (11-3, +$931) – Pelfrey had his first bad start last week when the Bronx Bombers knocked him around for five earned runs in seven innings of work. It was the first time that one of the top righties for the Mets was beaten in a game since May 1st. This is going to be the first time that New York has had itself a starting pitcher in the All-Star Game that hasn’t been named Johan Santana. We still aren’t totally sure that Pelfrey can keep this pace up for the whole season, but for as long as he is winning, he is worth backing.

Philip Hughes, New York Yankees (11-2, +$764) – The man that beat Pelfrey in that game last week in the Big Apple was none other than Hughes. Who would’ve thought that the best starter that the Yankees would have right around the halfway point of the season wouldn’t be named CC Sabathia, Andy Pettitte, AJ Burnett, or Javier Vazquez? Hughes just continues to put up consistent start after consistent start, and though his 3.17 ERA isn’t necessarily a stud type of a number at this point in the year, that consistency with New York’s lethal lineup keeps producing wins.

Carlos Silva, Chicago Cubs (10-3, +$725) – Is the window of opportunity closing on Silva and the Cubs? His hamstring is acting up right now, which has caused manager Lou Piniella to push him back a few days for his next start. After winning games for the Cubs in ten straight starts, the last two starts haven’t worked so well. Silva has been given two straight losses, even though he only allowed five earned runs in 13.0 innings. The six inning start against the Angels only took 70 pitches, but it was cut short due to that hammy.

Freddy Garcia, Chicago White Sox (9-4, +$716) – The White Sox have won nine straight games, and Garcia is a big part of the season why the team is gaining ground quickly in the AL Central standings. Since allowing seven runs to the Marlins in just 2.1 innings on May 23rd, Garcia has won five straight starts. He has thrown exactly seven innings in four of those five starts, and didn’t allow more than three runs in any of those outings.

Worst Pitchers To Wager On
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Zack Greinke, Kansas City Royals (3-12, -$1,111) – Poor Zack Greinke still can’t figure out how to get back on track. The oddsmakers are still burying Greinke because of his name in spite of the fact that the Royals flat out stink. The good news for last year’s AL Cy Young Award winner is that he did strike out 12 batters in a complete game victory against the Reds two starts ago, but all in all, a 3.94 ERA doesn’t warrant much in the way of special treatment, especially with a 2-8 record to boot.

Ryan Dempster, Chicago Cubs (5-10, -$897) – Theoretically speaking, Dempster deserves a heck of a lot better than what he has gotten of late from his teammates. The offense continues to fail to put runs on the board on a consistent basis. As a result, the righty has ended up with plenty of starts this year like he had on Tuesday when he allowed two runs over eight innings and lost 2-0. The righty will reach 100 strikeouts in his next start, and as long as his ERA ends up staying around the 3.56 range it sits at right now, he’ll probably get off of this list sooner than later.

Brian Matusz, Baltimore Orioles (3-12, -$801) – The young lefty for the Orioles was pitching quite well in the month of June, as he had four straight starts in which he allowed three or fewer runs. That all went up in smoke against the Marlins on Wednesday when he gave up six runs in 6.1 innings in a 7-5 defeat. Unfortunately, that was the first time since May 20th that his team had given him more than four runs of support.

Jeremy Guthrie, Baltimore Orioles (3-12, -$799) – It should come as no surprise that the Orioles have a pair of starters amongst the five worst in the game considering the fact that they are on pace to break all sorts of records for futility in baseball history. Guthrie’s 4.28 ERA would look fantastic on the Yankees, and against any reasonable team in the game, that would at least post a marginal record. However, because he is an Oriole, Guthrie is just 3-9 and things aren’t looking to get better any time soon.

Charlie Morton, Pittsburgh Pirates (1-9, -$758) – The good news for Pirates bettors is that Morton hasn’t been in the lineup. He has been on the disabled list since May 27th and probably still has a week or so until he comes back from his shoulder fatigue. You never like hearing “shoulder fatigue” on a pitcher, particularly on a bad team, and particularly on one that is playing as poorly as Pittsburgh is right now. Stay away at all costs!

Source: BetUS Locker Room Featured on: Handicapperspicks.com

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.
CLICK HERE TO OPEN A BETTING ACCOUNT AT BETUS

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.
Source: BetUS Locker Room Featured on: Handicapperspicks.com

Washington Nationals vs. Chicago Cubs
Free Pick: Under 8 Runs
Courtesy of Mike Rose (Handicapperspicks.com)
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Washington evened the series up last night after it secured a 3-1 victory behind yet another stellar pitching performance from Livan Hernandez; the crafty veteran went seven strong while allowing six hits and one run to push the Nats across the .500 mark.

Lefty Tom Gorzelanny came out the tough luck loser once again after allowing just five hits and a pair of ER’s through seven innings of work.

Closer Matt Capps hammered down his league leading ninth save of the season. The Nationals have now won three of the L/5 games played between these clubs at Sheffield and Addison.

Just after Jason Marquis was put on the DL, Atilano got the call and tossed against the Dodgers the following day. April 23rd, 2010 will be a day Luis Atilano never forgets, as it marked his debut in the “Bigs.”

With the Dodgers ripping the cover off the ball to start the year, it’s very impressive that he limited them to just five hits and one ER through his six innings of work. He helped lead his club to the 5-1 home victory, and for his efforts, he received a couple pies in the face in post-game interviews courtesy of starting pitchers John Lannan and Livan Hernandez.

With the Cubs dropping four of its previous five, they were badly in need of a win to get back on track. So, after watching his teammate’s botch a pair of incredible starts, Ryan Dempster took it upon himself to lead his club to victory by simply shutting what were the red hot Brewers down through 7.2 innings of work last Friday.

Milwaukee entered last weekend’s series with the Cubs having scored 47 runs in its previous four games. That hardly seemed to bother “Demp” as he limited the Brew Crew to just seven hits and one ER while striking out four and issuing one free pass to tally his second win of the 2010 season.

Cubs/Nats lined at 8 Over -115 for a day game after each of the first two went comfortably under the number? Oddsmakers are begging you to jump on the over here with the rookie making his first career road start!

Warning alarms went off the moment this number was released! I’m not biting, nor do I recommend you either!

The Nationals have been getting it done in the pitching department this season. Save for the six over’s they played in against the Phillies, the under would be 10-4 ATS overall.

HP ump Gerry Davis is an under guy with it cashing eight of the L/12 times he was behind the dish (8-2-2 ATS).

Look for the Cubs to once again struggle with a pitcher they’ve never seen before, and for Dempster to churn out his fourth quality start in five tries. Under she goes!