MLB Picks: August 19th 2011
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Pick: Seattle Mariners -110
On Friday the Free MLB Power system Play is on the Seattle Mariners. Game 919 at 7;10 eastern. Seattle fits a tight system that plays on road favorites off a home favored loss by 2 or more runs, if they scored 4 or less runs and had 5 or more men left on base, vs an opponent off a road win and scored 4 or less runs with 5 or more men left on base. Hard to believe Seattle is the 6th best play on the board for me tonight. However they do have F. Hernandez going and he is 7-1 with a 2.29 era vs the Rays. He has better road numbers than Tampa Starter W. Davis does at home. Davis has been mediocre in starts vs Seattle and has a 4.82 era against them. The Rays have lost 6 of 9 after a day off. Look for Seattle to take game one of the series. On Friday the deepest card this season has 5 big plays. The Lead play is a rare 14-0 MLB System play. There are 2 more perfect system MLB plays and 2 NFLX System plays that are cashing over 90% Since 1990. Thursday card swept the board going 3-0. For the free play take Seattle. -Rob Vinciletti

Pick: Cincinnati Reds -133
With the crowd at 58 percent regular season capacity for such a big game it’s obvious the Pirates fan base have given up on their team and for good reason with Pittsburgh flopping 19 of 24 times from July 20-Aug. 14. After winning back-to-back games against Cincinnati 2-0 and 1-0 the Pirates have been sinking in the National League standings. Pittsburgh dropped a series finale to the Reds 3-1 and like the problem has been all season it’s been hitting. The Pirates are a mediocre 27th in Runs, 26th in Batting Average, 26th in On Base Percentage and 28th in Slugging Percentage so no wonder the fans aren’t expecting Pittsburgh to turn around their disappointing start to the second-half. TAKE CINCINNATI MINUS -Bob Wingerter

Pick: Detroit Tigers -140
Play on Detroit at 7:05 ET. Home field advantage plays a big role when these teams play as Cleveland is 13-1 at home facing the Tigers, but 4-17 in Detroit. The Tigers had yesterday off while the Indians did not. Max Scherzer has a 6-1 TSR this season when working on five or six days rest. He is in great form with a 130-45 KW ratio for the season, including 16-2 L3 starts. Cleveland’s Josh Tomlin has a 4.88 ERA on the road where the team has lost his last three starts. 10* on Detroit. -Tom Freese (Handicapperspicks.com)

MLB Baseball Predictions: July 1st 2011
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Pick: Los Angeles Dodgers +104
The Los Angeles Dodgers have the better starter on the mound tonight, and we’ll side with them in this crosstown rivalry because of it. Hiroki Kuroda has posted a 3.10 ERA in 16 starts, a 2.80 ERA in seven road starts, and a 1.96 ERA in his last three starts. He remains one of the more underrated starters in the business. The Dodgers have been at their best on the road this year. The Dodgers are hitting .280 and scoring 4.8 runs/game on the road this year, while the Angels are hitting .243 and scoring 3.3 runs/game at home. Not only do the Dodgers have the better starter, but they also have the better lineup. The Angels are 5-11 in their last 16 home games vs. a team with a losing record. Take the Dodgers on the Money Line. -Black Widow

Pick: Tampa Bay Rays -135
The Cards are just 1-5 in their last 6 series openers and 1-7 in their last 8 games versus a team with a winning record. They’ll have a tough time bucking these trends with the way Wade Davis has been pitching for Tampa. He’s 3-0 with an ERA of 2.84 over his last 3 starts and 2-0 with an ERA of 1.38 in 2 interleague starts. St. Louis scheduled starter Jake Westbrook, meanwhile, is 0-1 (1-2 on the ML) with an ERA of 6.61 over his last 3 starts. We’ll bet the Rays. -Dave Price

Pick: Arizona Diamondbacks -104
The normal play is on the home team over the weekend, but the Diamondbacks should have the clear edge in Friday nights matchup against the A’s. Arizona starter Josh Collmenter has struggled in his last three starts, but if there is an offense to face to get back on track, its the Athletics. The A’s are averaging just 3.5 runs a game this season and just 3.2 against right-handed starters. Arizona on the other hand is averaging 4.5 runs a game this season, and will only benefit from having an extra bat in the lineup playing in the AL. Oakland will send Rich Harden to the mound to make his first start of the season, and rarely will a pitcher just come out and throw like he has in the past after such a long layoff. -Info Plays (Handicapperspicks.com)

The balance of power in the AL East could swing quite a bit one way or the other this weekend, as the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays crack skulls in MLB betting encounters. The first of these duels is on Friday night at Tropicana Field.
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The Rays enter this evening’s tussle just two games back on the Bronx Bombers in the AL East. New York holds a comfortable lead on the other division leaders for the best record in baseball, while Tampa Bay, who has the second best record in the bigs, is a whopping 5.5 games ahead of the Boston Red Sox for the AL Wild Card race.

New York Yankees (65-36, +$848) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (63-38, +$741)
Game Date/Time: Friday, July 30th, 7:10 ET
Game Location: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, FL
TV/Radio Broadcast: YES, Sun Sports, XM

MLB Wagering Odds: New York Yankees -1.5 +150 -110 (Phil Hughes – R) vs. Tampa Bay Rays +1.5 -170 -110 (Wade Davis – R): Total 9 O -105 9 U -115

Things have certainly not gone well for RHP Phil Hughes to say the least of late. Even though he is 12-3 with a 4.04 ERA and was a deserving All-Star, his performances over the last two months haven’t been up to stuff. Hughes has watched his ERA balloon from 2.54 up to where it is now since in just eight starts, and in the L/6, it has risen from 3.11 up almost a full run. The righty “only” allowed three runs in 5.1 innings of work, but thanks to the fact that the bats really came to play on that night, Hughes escaped with a win over the Kansas City Royals. It was just his second victory since June 19th. Hughes has allowed at least three earned runs in four of his L/5 starts and at least five runs in three of his L/5.

Though RHP Wade Davis isn’t going to be the Rookie of the Year in the American League, he is certainly one of the most feared fifth starters in baseball. He is 8-9 on the season with a 4.32 ERA. Davis has won three straight starts and is pitching quite well, as he has only allowed a total of five runs to cross the plate over 21.1 innings of work in that stretch. Davis has faced the Bronx Bombers three times in his career, going just 1-2 with a 4.86 ERA.

MLB Insider Tip: The Rays are suddenly 10-1 in their L/11 games at Tropicana Field to improve to 30-20 there on the season. This series is just too important for Tampa Bay to lose. A sweep would be devastating for a club that is just trying its best to stick around in the race for the playoffs in spite of the fact that it has the second best record in baseball. The road team might have captured five of the eight meetings this season, but that all ends tonight. Bank on the Rays to go bananas on the slumping Hughes in this MLB betting affair.

My MLB Prediction: Tampa Bay Rays (Davis)
Source: BetUS Locker Room Featured on: Handicapperspicks.com