MLB Picks: August 7th 2011
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Pick: Oakland Athletics +162
The Oakland Athletics needed to do something different with a dismal road record and four straight losses, so they used their legs Saturday. The Athletics, who came into the game 17th in the majors in stolen bases, swiped seven to set up a big offensive night. The 8-0 victory gives Oakland a chance to win its first road series since May 24-26. Trevor Cahill takes the mound Sunday afternoon to face David Price and the Tampa Bay Rays. The victory also clinched the season series against the Rays 4-2. TAKE OAKLAND PLUS -Bob Wingerter

Pick: Los Angeles Angels -120
Hard pressed going against King Felix Hernandez (10-9, 3.36), but like our overall situation on Sunday with the Angels. Life time Hernandez has not had much luck versus Los Angeles as documented by a 4-8 record (4.11). In his last four starts the hurler has given up 13 earned runs. Against Los Angeles the Mariners are 0-5 with Felix Hernandez on the road. LA hurler Ervin Santana (7-8, 3.32) has been super in his last three outings allowing just 2 earned runs in 25 2/3 innings of work. With the Angels 8-2 in the last ten home outings with Santana versus Seattle, I’ll take a ticket with the improved club from Los Angeles. -Brad Diamond (Handicapperspicks.com)

MLB Picks: June 30th 2011
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Pick: Chicago White Sox -107
Chicago White Sox are 34-15 the past 3 years in inter-league games. Colorado has lost 4 of their last 5 games overall. Chicago White Sox bullpen has a 3.71 ERA overall this year and a 3.82 ERA on the road this season. Jake Peavy is 4-1 in all games this year, 3-1 in all starts this year, 1-0 on the road and 2-1 his last 3 starts. Aaron Cook is 0-3 with a 5.48 ERA overall this year, 0-2 with a 4.63 ERA at home and 0-3 with a 5.71 ERA his last 3 starts. Peavy has a 3.81 ERA overall vs Colorado since 1997. We’ll recommend a small play on the Chicago White Sox today! Thanks and good luck, Rocky Atkinson

Pick: St. Louis Cardinals -127
The Cardinals offense has came alive in the first two games of this series, and we see no reason why they won’t put up another big number on Thursday. St Louis will go up against Brian Matsuz, who is 1-3 with a 6.85 ERA in five starts this season. Matsux is just 1-2 with a 9.53 ERA and 2.471 WHIP in three home starts. The Cardinals will counter with Jaime Garcia, who is 6-3 with a 3.06 ERA this season and has really looked sharp of late with a 2.45 ERA over his last three starts. -Info Plays

Pick: Oakland Athletics -154
Florida has really bottomed out, going 16-36 in their last 52 overall. This offense is a long way from home and slumping badly, 25th in runs scored and 23rd in on base percentage. They won’t score many in a huge park like this, especially against Oakland righty Trevor Cahill (8-5, 3.09 ERA). And the Marlins have never faced him before. The Athletics are 76-36 in their last 112 interleague home games and the Marlins are 6-21 in their last 27 games vs. a right-handed starter. Play the Oakland A’s! -Jim Feist (Handicapperspicks.com)

MLB Picks: June 19th 2011
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Pick: Arizona Diamondbacks -123
Look for the D-backs to bounce back from yesterday’s 6-2 defeat. They are 22-10 in their last 32 overall, 8-3 in their last 11 games following a loss and 9-0 in their last 9 in the third game 3 of a series. Humber has been good for the White Sox but Collmenter has been better for the Snakes. His ERA is just 2.06 through 7 starts, 5 of which have been Arizona wins. I like his chances against a Chicago lineup hitting .255 and scoring 4.1 runs/game on the road better than I do Humber’s chances against an Arizona lineup batting .263 and scoring 4.9 runs/game at home. We’ll play the D-backs. -Jeff Alexander

Pick: San Francisco Giants -103
Since getting out of the gate 6-0, Oakland’s Trevor Cahill has fallen apart. The A’s have lost each of his last 7 starts, and he hasn’t looked good at all in his last 3, as evidenced by the 9.64 ERA he’s posted during this span. Matt Cain has been much better for the Giants, who have won 10 of his 14 starts in 2011. He’s 3-0 with an ERA of 2.78 over his last 3. In addition, the Giants are 24-8 in Cain’s last 32 starts and 9-3 in his last 12 road starts. Despite losses in the first 2 games of this series, the Giants have still won 6 of the last 8 against Oakland. We’ll take the reigning champs here with the hotter starter on the hill. -Jimmy Boyd

Pick: Colorado Rockies +126
Verlander is on the hill for the Tigers, but the Rockies are still showing solid value at home at this price when you consider they have won 4 in a row against Detroit and 9 of their last 10 at home against the Tigers. Colorado is swinging hot bats right now, amassing 11 hits or more in 8 of its last 10 games. Verlander is pitching well but is yet to hurl in flighty Coors. Plus, the Rockies are 44-16 in their last 60 interleague home games, 22-9 in their last 31 interleague games overall and 23-5 in their last 28 interleague home games vs. a right-handed starter. The Rockies are also 35-17 in their last 52 games as a home underdog. Take the Rockies. -Dave Price (Handicapperspicks.com)

MLB Picks: May 25th 2011
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Pick: St. Louis Cardinals -113
St. Louis, which has won 4 in a row and 8 of its last 9, is in good position to pull off the sweep against San Diego. Consider that the Cards are 14-4 in their last 18 in the 3rd game of a series and 67-26 in their last 93 meetings with the Padres. Former Cy Young winner Chris Carpenter has struggled early, but I expect a nice performance out of him at pitcher-friendly Petco. He’s 6-2 with an ERA of 2.63 in 10 career starts against the Padres. The Cardinals are 5-2 in his last 7 starts vs. the Padres. The Padres, which have no lost 5 straight, are just 3-13 in Mat Latos’ last 16 starts, 1-6 in his last 7 home starts and 0-8 in his last 8 starts coming on 4 days’ rest. In addition, Latos is 0-2 with an ERA of 25.33 in 2 career starts against the Cards. We’ll take St. Louis in this one. -Jimmy Boyd

Pick: Los Angeles Dodgers -127
The last place Astros are 10-24 in their last 34 games vs. a starter with a WHIP greater than 1.30 and they face a good veteran southpaw in Ted Lilly. Lilly doesn’t walk anyone and is 7-2 in his career against Houston. Houston righty Aneury Rodriguez (0-2, 5.72 ERA) is struggling, which will help the LA offense. This is the end of a 5-game trip for Los Angeles, with umpire Jim Nelson behind the plate: The road team is 18-8 in Nelson’s last 26 games behind home plate, making this a great spot for the visitors. Play the Dodgers. -Jim Feist

Pick: Oakland Athletics +100
Athletics -105 (1.05* FREE PLAY) Trever Cahill has been getting it done no matter where he pitches home or away. His 3-0 record and 2.27. ERA on the road is proof of that and he goes up against the Angels who he has dominated in his career including a 2-1 record in 3 starts in LA holding a 2.36 ERA. Overall he’s 6-1 in 7 starts with a 1.81 ERA and I have to add in that the Angels do not hit right hand pitching nearly as well at home as they do lefties and over their last 10 they are batting just .230 vs. RHP so Cahill should be able to put a solid pitching performance together against Ervin Santana who he should have the edge on. Santana is 10-3 in his last 13 vs. the A’s, but these A’s active hitters have a .316 average and .820 OPS collectively vs. Santana over 196 AB. I expect them to get a couple of runs and the Angels bullpen has struggled at times this year. Santana is 1-3 at home this year with a 3.89 ERA while the A’s have won 9 of Cahill’s last 11 starts vs. the AL West. I think he’ll take another win on Wednesday. -Freddy Wills (Handicapperspicks.com)

MLB Picks: May 4th 2011
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Pick: Indians vs. Athletics Under 7
In the L10 meetings between the Indian’s and the A’s, only 2 have not gone UNDER the total. Cleveland comes into this matchup averaging 5.4 RPG but only has 3 solid run outputs in their L10 contests overall. They have just 2 hitters with 87 or more plate appearances that are batting over .300. Today, the Tribe sends Josh Tomlin to the mound. The RH is 4-0 on the season with a 2.45 ERA. Tomlin has pitched 33.0 innings TY, giving up a mere 9.0 ER’s. He faces an Oakland lineup that is posting a laughable 3.4 RPG. The A’s have had just 2 solid offensive performances in their L10 games. The squad does not possess a single batter with more than 93 plate appearances that is near a .300 average. Power has also been a problem. The team’s home run leader is Josh Willingham with 5 round tripper’s. They have Trevor Cahill throwing today. The RH is 4-0 with a 1.88 ERA on the season. Cahill has pitched 38.1 innings this year and has given up a mere 8.0 ER’s., The UNDER is 15-5-1 the L21 meetings, 7-2 in the Indian’s L9 road games vs. a RH starter, and 21-8-1 in the A’s L30 vs. the AL Central. Take the UNDER. Thank you. -Joseph D’Amico

Pick: Milwaukee Brewers +126 G2
Zach Greinke makes his debut for his new team here, off the 15-day DL. There was nothing wrong with his arm, it was a cracked rib which has now healed. Greinke’s final tuneup came Friday night for Nashville, his second start there and third overall in the minors. He went five innings, allowing seven hits, two runs and one walk, with seven strikeouts. Atlanta has a below average offense and the team is 1-3 in the last 4 starts made by Tim Hudson, plus he’s thrown 99 and 113 pitches his last 2 starts. The Braves are 0-4 in Hudson’s last 4 starts vs. the National League Central. Play the Brewers. -Jim Feist (Handicapperspicks.com)

MLB Picks: April 17th 2011
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Pick: Milwaukee Brewers -140 G1
Yovani Gallardo looks to be 100% healthy this year and he’s got a 2.70 ERA on the year. He has to be itching to get back out on the mound after the rain dealy and coming off his last start of 5 IP 7 hits and 4 ER vs. the Cubs. I believe he will bounce back against the Nationals who in his career he has good numbers especially against their active batters who have just 53 AB and a .151 average to go along with a .442 OPS. He’ll face Jason Marquis early on Sunday. Jason Marquis struggled last year and he has not had a lot of success against the Brewers as of late. I like the fact hte Brewers have been hitting and have a .330 average in 106 AB against Marquis to go along with a .968 OPS. Gallardo was great in his other two starts against the Reds and Braves giving up just 2 ER in 15 innings pitched. Gallardo will make the day start where he struggled a year ago with a 4.24 ERA in 11 starts, but in 2010 he dominated in 14 with a 2.47 ERA. Over the last 3 years he has 27 day starts and a 3.21 ERA. Nationals are without Zimmerman still and the Brewers are 13-3 with Yovani on the mound facing a losing team. -Freddy Wills

Pick: Oakland Athletics -152
Detroit starter Brad Penny is off to a rough start. He’s 0-1 with an ERA of 8.27 and a WHIP of 1.715 through 3 starts. Oakland starter Trevor Cahill, meanwhile, is picking up where he left off last season. He’s out of the gate strong at 1-0 with an ERA of 3.11 and a WHIP of 1.153. The last time Penny saw the A’s, he gave up 7 earned in just 5 innings. Cahill, meanwhile, has shut the Tigers down in each of his last two starts against them, holding them to 5 hits in each and 2 or fewer runs. The Athletics are 20-9 in Cahill’s last 29 starts, 20-8 in his last 28 home starts, 19-7 in his last 26 starts as a favorite and 11-3 in his last 14 starts as a home favorite. The A’s are also 9-1 in Cahill’s last 10 starts vs. a team with a losing record, including 4-0 in his last 4 home starts vs. a team with a losing mark. We’ll get behind the better starting pitcher in this one. Take the A’s. -Jimmy Boyd

Pick: Houston Astros -116
Houston picked up their fifth win of the season on Saturday after beating San Diego and Mat Latos. Brett Myers has a chance to end their homestand with another victory on Sunday afternoon. Myers is 1-0 with a 1.77 ERA in three starts for Houston. He’s coming off a game where he gave up one run and eight hits in seven innings pitched against the Cubs. Myers is 2-0 with a 2.35 ERA in five career starts against San Diego. Last year, he gave up two runs and four hits in six innings in a 3-2 San Diego win on the road. Brad Hawpe (2-13), Chase Headley (1-4), Jason Bartlett (0-3), Nick Hundley (0-3) and Orlando Hudson (0-1) all struggle with Myers. As a team, San Diego is hitting around .210 with that average actually lower on the road. The Padres have not put up more then 4 runs in a game since April 10th. Clayton Richard has been a pitcher who has struggled on the road in his career. Richard has an ERA near 5.00 in 35 starts away from home. Opponents are hitting him at a .308 average when he’s not pitching in his home ballpark. The lefty gave up 3 runs and 5 hits in six innings of work in his lone road start this season. Richard has never faced the Astros in his career with only two batters having seen him. Houston is hitting right around .300 at home and over .300 in their two games against left-handed starters this season. Houston’s lineup should be successful once again on Sunday as they earn a solid home win over Richard and the Padres. -Steve Merril (Handicapperspicks.com)