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News

Brewers’ strength befits crazy 15-0 Cubs’ trend!
2009-07-02

The word “disappointing” has been thrown about regularly regarding the Cubs’ 2009 season thus far as they begin a key four-game series at home against the Brewers on Thursday night. Still, a big holiday weekend against division-leading Milwaukee and Chicago will be right back in the thick of things. According to a 15-0 StatFox Matchup Power Trend, that may be just what’s in store.

The ironic thing about this all-important trend is that it negates the Brewers best strength to this point, their bullpen. Milwaukee currently owns the best WHIP in baseball at 1.247. This sets Chicago up for a matchup that has been very favorable of late. Take a look at the trend, a rare 5* angle from FoxSheets:

CHICAGO CUBS are 15-0 (+15.0 Units) against the money line in home games vs. a very good bullpen whose WHIP is 1.250 or better over the last 2 seasons. The average score was CHICAGO CUBS 6.5, OPPONENT 2.9 - (Rating = 5*)

Of course, with the Brewers teetering right below that key 1.250 WHIP benchmark, this trend might only be in place for Thursday if Chicago smacks around Milwaukee’s relief staff in the series opener.

Milwaukee comes off a disheartening 1-0 setback to the Mets on Wednesday. In fact, after going more than two months without being shut out, the Brewers have been blanked twice in the last four days.

Perhaps now they can sympathize with the Chicago Cubs.

The Cubs hope a return to Wrigley Field will help them snap out of a lengthy offensive funk, especially with the first-place Brewers in town for the first time this year to open a four-game set Thursday night.

Milwaukee had a chance to sweep each of its last two series, but lost 7-0 to San Francisco on Sunday and 1-0 to the New York Mets on Wednesday afternoon.

After scoring a combined 16 runs in their first two games against the Mets, the Brewers (42-36) wasted a seven-inning, 12-strikeout effort from Yovani Gallardo in the finale. They went 0 for 7 with men in scoring position.

"We're in first place. That's all that really matters," outfielder Ryan Braun told the Brewers' official Web site. "We're playing well right now, and I think a lot of guys are starting to put together some quality at-bats. We're in pretty good shape."

The Cubs can't make the same claim. They've scored 129 runs since May 19, fewest in the majors over that span, and suffered six shutout losses to tie Atlanta for the most in that stretch. Chicago went 16-23 in those 39 games.

Last year, the Cubs (37-38) led the NL with 855 runs.

Despite its problems at the plate, Chicago is 3 1/2 games behind Milwaukee in the tightly bunched NL Central. Thanks to some strong pitching, the Cubs took two of three from Pittsburgh this week even though they managed seven runs in the series.

Chicago's offensive woes are a major reason why Ryan Dempster went 0-2 in his five June starts. He had a 3.23 ERA in the month, but received 2.35 runs of support per nine innings as the Cubs lost all five games.

Dempster entered the year with an 8-2 record and 2.45 ERA in 35 appearances against Milwaukee, but he is 1-1 with a 5.84 ERA in two starts versus the Brewers in 2009.

The Cubs and Brewers split their first six meetings of the season, all at Miller Park. Milwaukee was 5-4 at Wrigley last year, an impressive mark considering Chicago went 55-26 at home.

Seth McClung (3-1, 3.55) will be making his first career start against the Cubs, although he has pitched 5 1-3 innings of relief versus Chicago this year. He held the Cubs to a .177 average while posting a 2.55 ERA in 10 career relief appearances despite walking 10 in 17 2-3 innings.

Game time is 7:05 PM local time in Chicago.

MLB: Big-time run line system backs Giants in St. Louis
2009-07-01

Most baseball bettors use the K.I.S.S method when it comes to filling out their wagering tickets each day. They Keep It Simple by just playing sides and the occasional total. More savvy players mix it up though, throwing in some 5 inning bets or run line wagers when it makes sense. Perhaps this is because most bettors don’t have access to powerful information, like systems, to take advantage of those latter opportunities. Well, for Tuesday, a big-time Super Situation from FoxSheets backs San Francisco as a +1-1/2 run dog in St. Louis. Take a look.

The Giants shut out the Cardinals on Monday night behind Tim Lincecum. The final tally was a decisive 10-0 count, with San Francisco beating St. Louis 12-2 in the hit column as well. Now, because of that results, with the ageless Randy Johnson squaring off against Chris Carpenter, the Giants actually make for a strong underdog play on the run line at about +1-1/2 -125. Here is why, according to FoxSheets:

Play Against - Home favorites against a 1.5 run line (Money Line =-190 to +175) (ST LOUIS) - revenging a loss where opponent scored 10 or more runs, with a hot starting pitcher- ERA less than 3.00 over his last 10 games (78-21 since 1997.) (78.8%, +49.9 units. Rating=4*)

In essence, the system is indicating that too much of this line is reliant on another dominant performance by Carpenter. That is apparently a dangerous presumption to make after San Francisco broke out last night. What’s most interesting about that game is that the Giants are among baseball's least productive offensive clubs, a fact the Cardinals are having a hard time believing after they were hit hard in the series opener.

Of course, repeating the outbreak at the plate won't be nearly as easy. The Cardinals will have ace Carpenter on the mound. He is 5-2 with a stellar 1.78 ERA and 0.700 WHIP. He is also 3-0 against San Francisco in his career with an ERA of 3.00, including a win on May 30th on the road when he allowed just two runs in six innings.

San Francisco (41-34) came into St. Louis this week with the NL wild card lead, but a potent lineup hasn't been what's made it one of baseball's most surprising teams. Instead, it's been the major league-best 3.61 staff ERA that's propelled the Giants despite a less-than-stellar offense that scores just 4.1 runs per game.

They averaged 6.5 runs in their last two contests in Milwaukee over the weekend, though, and that offensive spark carried over on Monday. Edgar Renteria and Travis Ishikawa each drove in three runs to support reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum's two-hitter.

Johnson (7-5, 4.68), the 45-year-old left-hander, has done a particularly impressive job lately. He's 4-1 with a 2.57 ERA in his last seven starts, and gave up one run and six hits over seven innings Wednesday in a 6-3 win at Oakland.

Johnson's two starts against St. Louis last season didn't go well. He went 0-1 with a 9.31 ERA, yielding five homers in 9 2-3 innings.

In other key Run Line Betting information available from FoxSheets on this game:

* SAN FRANCISCO is 12-2 against the run line (+10.1 Units) in road games vs. an NL starting pitcher whose WHIP is 1.150 or better over the last 2 seasons. The average score was SAN FRANCISCO 4.4, OPPONENT 2.6 - (Rating = 1*)

However, there is one strong bit of info that would seem to conflict our top system a bit, focusing on the aspect of revenge. It is a team trend and reads as follows:

* ST LOUIS is 57-28 against the run line (+33.2 Units) revenging a shutout loss to opponent since 1997. The average score was ST LOUIS 5.1, OPPONENT 3.9 - (Rating = 2*)

What wins out, system or trend? Find out tonight when the Cardinals host the Giants from baseball-friendly Busch Stadium at 8:15 PM ET.

MLB Series Betting- Chicago Cubs at White Sox
2009-06-26

The Windy City is about to get a whole lot windier with the Cubs invading the South Side of Chicago to face the White Sox. For the fans of these teams, this is really a treat, for the bragging rites of the town, no matter where they finish in the standings. (Be in the baseball betting action checking the LIVE ODDS, BETTING TRENDS, TEAM STATISTICS and PROPS like SERIES WAGERING each day)

The Cubs (34-35, -8.6 units) return to Chicago having lost the first four games of their road trip. Once again it is a lack of offense, averaging three runs per game to start the 10-game trip. The North Siders are just 6-14 (-9.2 Units) against the money line in road games after batting .250 or worse over a 20-game span this season.

The White Sox (35-37, -2.4 units) are feeling pretty spry after beating the best team in baseball, the Dodgers, two of three times. “Most importantly, we won a series against a club like the Dodgers, who came into town with the best record,” Sox outfielder Scott Podsednik said. “Maybe that will give us some momentum at home. We haven’t been playing that great here.”

The Pale Hose have won four of five and seven of last 10, as they try to get back to .500 on the season. Their win yesterday ended 0-2-1 home series drought. The down side is they are 23-37 having won three of their last four games over the last two seasons.

The White Sox will face Randy Wells (1-3, 2.57 ERA), who is coming off his first major league victory after finally receiving run support. He has allowed two or fewer runs in six of his eight starts, yet picked up just his first win last Sunday against Cleveland in 6-2 victory. He’ll face Jose Contreras (2-6, 5.23), who is 2-1 in last three starts with 1.23 ERA. Sportsbook.com has the Cubs as slight -110 money line favorites with total of Ov.9. The Cubs have been poor series starters and are 4-13 in road games when playing on Friday’s since last year. The White Sox by contrast are 13-3 as a home underdog of +100 to +125.

Game 1 Edge: Cubs

Mark Buehrle (7-2, 3.17) is one of the most dominant home pitchers in baseball. The left-hander and his Sox mates are 45-20 at US Cellular Field and he is 19-6 in interleague play. The month of June has been Buehrle’s time, with 27-11 record and the White Sox have won 20 of last 28 starts the lefty has made on Saturday.

Contrast those numbers with the Cubs and Ryan Dempster (4-5, 3.83) on the road. Coming into the series, the Cubbies are 5-16 in last 21 visitor assignments. This includes in part losing nine in a row in interleague play in road uniforms. Dempster and the Cubs have dropped 10 of 11 road games he’s started and if the Cubs lose on Friday, the two collectively are 0-9 off a defeat.

Game 2 Edge: White Sox

The final game of the series has Carlos Zambrano (4-2, 3.48) taking on John Danks (5-6, 4.43). Zambrano has complained he’s “bored” playing road interleague games, since he doesn’t get to hit with Cubs using DH. Big Z hasn’t pitched that way with 3-1 record and 2.78 ERA in away contests. Danks hasn’t been able to spot his pitches as well this year, being hurt by the long ball. The left-hander surrendered 15 home runs in 2008 and has allowed 11 already this year. Maybe pitching during the day will help, with his earned run average less than half playing in the afternoon compared to pitching at night (2.45 day vs 5.00 night).

Game 3 Edge: White Sox

These teams have taken turns sweeping each other the last two years off the Dan Ryan Freeway, with the Pale Hose taking all three a season ago. The White Sox have won four of last five and are playing better baseball at the moment. To borrow from Sox announcer Ken “Hawk” Harrelson, “Good Guys” take the weekend series.

Sportsbook.com series odds: Cubs +115, White Sox -145
StatFox Edge Pick: White Sox

MLB: Lowe vs Pettitte – Just like the old days
2009-06-26

Tonight’s pitching matchup in Atlanta pits the Yankees’ Andy Pettitte vs. the Braves’ Derek Lowe. To the baseball historian, that should conjure up memories of past Yankees-Red Sox duals gone by. If nothing else, it’s simply fun to talk about. Well, things have and always will change, as tonight’s game is an Interleague affair, with little or no added flair besides the pitchers. Atlanta started as the home dog, but is now the favorite. Follow the LIVE ODDS page for the latest price on this game.

It’s closing in on five years since the last time the New York Yankees last faced Derek Lowe and it’s one they would just as soon forget. Lowe is only 8-10 with a 6.07 ERA in 39 career appearances (15 starts) against the Yankees; however the last appearance left a distinct mark. Pitching on two days rest, Lowe gave the Boston Red Sox six solid innings of one-hit baseball, which enabled them to overcome 3-0 deficit in the deciding game of the 2004 ALCS and go on to win 10-3. Riding that momentum, Boston went on to end 86-year drought and win the World Series.

Lowe (7-5, 4.09 ERA) left that off-season as a free agent and hasn’t run into the Yankees since until tonight. After a 5-1 start with his new team, Lowe has been hit harder of late, with 1-2 record and 7.47 ERA in his last three starts. He hasn’t been able to locate his sinker as well and hitters have fattened up batting averages. The Braves are 1-4 in his last five starts.

Andy Pettitte (7-3, 4.26, 1.500) has pitched better than anticipated for the Yankees who are 10-4 in his starts in 2009. Pettitte has been a big part of New York’s past glory and like every pitcher on the Yankees staff, is trying to adapt to new Yankee Stadium which has been a hitter’s haven. Pettitte has been particularly impressive on the road with 4-1 record and among the better hurlers in baseball with 2.35 ERA in the traveling uniforms.

New York (39-32, -8.7 units) ended their three game losing streak last evening, pounding out 10 hits in 8-4 triumph over Atlanta. The Yankees will be trying to win the rubber game of the series and are 61-30 in Game 3’s. If they would happen to lose this evening, that would mean they would have to sweep the Mets this weekend to finish .500 in interleague play.

Atlanta (34-37, -9.7 units) has been stuck in neutral, going nowhere fast. Since sweeping Toronto in the latter stages of May, the Braves are 0-6-3 in series action, with Monday’s makeup game against the Cubs not counting. About the only real positive is Atlanta is 5-1 against the American League at Turner Field this year.

New York opened as favorite, but sports bettors have flipped the two teams at Sportsbook.com and Atlanta is now a -110 money line favorite with a total of Un8.5. The Braves are 6-1 as -110 to -150 favorites and are 17-6 UNDER on Thursday’s. The Yankees are miserable 1-6 after scoring five or more runs in previous game and are 16-3 UNDER on the road when the total is 8.5 to 10 over the last two seasons with Pettitte as the starter.

Game time is 7:10 Eastern and can be seen on YES or Peachtree networks, with Atlanta 4-12 (-11.4 Units) after a loss by four runs or more this season.

StatFox Power Line – Yankees -104

MLB: Texas hitters have Rangers up against Bad System
2009-06-25

Over the years, the best baseball played in the state of Texas has in been in Austin at the University of Texas, who plays in tonight’s College World Series championship game. The Texas Rangers have long been known for something also, hitting the ball and not winning many games. The Rangers organization has never been able to develop pitchers, thus having everyday hitters has been their best road to what success they have enjoyed. After a fast start, Texas is now tied atop the A.L. West Division, and on Wednesday, the Rangers will be up against Arizona AND a tough betting system.

This season, with a better bullpen and change in pitching philosophy, Texas has spent the vast majority of the time in first place in the American League West by themselves, until know. Having lost five in a row and nine of last 14, the Rangers have been caught by favored Los Angeles. To the casual baseball observer, one would expect another collapse of Texas pitching to be the culprit; however this is not the case at the present time, as the Rangers bats have gone uncommonly quiet.
In their current batting slump, Texas is hitting below .250 as a team, scoring as many as six runs only twice and averaging 2.64 runs per game. Though management is saying they are not concerned per se, there are troubling signs.

“Obviously we’ve hit a speed bump and the players know that,” general manager Jon Daniels told the Rangers’ official Web site. “But I’d much rather talk about an offensive slump than the pitching issues we’ve had to deal with in the past.”

In looking at Lone Star Ball blog, we find a series of Rangers woes when it comes to hitting.

In the American League, Texas has the highest percentage of swings and misses at 20 percent. The Rangers are last in pitches taken for strikes at 24 percent. Texas batters swing at 48 percent of the pitches they see, which is the highest in the AL, with first place Boston taking hacks the fewest amount of times at 41 percent. The Rangers only make contact 74 percent of the time, which is again dead last.

The pitching axiom of throwing first pitch strike is much easier against Texas, since they swing at one-third of these pitches. Consider Tampa Bay is the second most impatient team to swing the bat on the first pitch at 28 percent and doing the math you have a difference of almost 18 percent between first and second positions, which is an enormous gap.

Last night pitcher Max Scherzer of Arizona was able to strikeout seven Texas hitters in six innings, by pitching up the ladder to Rangers hitters. (With each strike pitching higher in the zone) With how undisciplined Texas hitters are right now, six of the seven pitches that resulted in K’s would have been balls with more patience.
There task becomes a lot whole more difficult this evening facing Dan Haren (6-4, 2.23 ERA, 0.822 WHIP). Haren would have much better record be it for more run support and is 11-2 with a 2.90 ERA in his career in interleague play, including 8-0 with a 2.57 ERA in his last nine outings. Haren has been close to un-hittable in last five starts, with a 3-0 record and silly 1.66 ERA.

This places Texas in a conundrum, going up against a system that reads this way:

Play Against road underdogs with a money line of +150 or more, who are batting .250 or worse over their last 20 games, against opponent with a hot starting pitcher, with WHIP or 1.000 or less over his last five starts.

With Haren posting 96 strikeouts in 101 innings, the free-swinging Rangers might cool off the surroundings of the 100+ degrees heat in downtown Phoenix, providing natural wind flow. This system is 76-13, 85.4 percent since 2004. Haren is 22-7 in June starts (Teams Record) in his career and is 22-8 UNDER in home games vs teams who strand 6.9 or less runners on base per game.

Sportsbook.com has Arizona as -175 money line favorites with the total Ov8. Sure the Rangers miss Josh Hamilton’s bat in the lineup, but what they miss more is plate discipline, after leading the AL in contact on percentage of swings in 2008.

MLB: Orioles flying high and are slight underdogs
2009-06-24

It was looking like another glum baseball season in Baltimore, especially after the Orioles started 2-8 in June, but quicker than you can say John minus Kate ain’t eight, the O’s have won five in a row and seven of eight. Baltimore (32-37, -3 units) has feasted on the National League with 9-3 record and has six games this week trying to edge even closer to .500, starting in Florida. On Tuesday, Baltimore is a slight +100 dog, and with Florida’s past domination in the series, expect most bettors to be backing the hosts.

The Orioles have everyday lineup has meshed together, scoring 6.1 runs per game during this eight-game period, compared to 4.6 in all games played. Even the Baltimore starting pitchers have been effective. This no-name group has Jeremy Guthrie as the only recognizable name to even a fairly ardent baseball fan.

“I feel like we’ve improved,” Orioles manager Dave Trembley told the team’s official Web site. “There are a lot of things going on. We’re getting contributions from everybody, our bench has contributed, our situational hitting has improved. We’re getting key hits when it counts. We’re playing with confidence and we’re having a lot of fun. That’s what happens when everybody plays as a team.”

That was especially evident in sweep of the defending World Series champs Philadelphia at the there park. The Orioles will face an even greater challenge playing at Landshark Stadium for three games.
Baltimore has just five wins in 18 tries against Florida in interleague action, with only one win in Miami in nine ballgames. In spite of winning three in Philly, the Birds are still feckless 11-20 on the road and 16-35 as visitors dating back to last season.

They will try to get off to good start with Koji Uehara (2-4, 4.30 ERA, 1.253 WHIP), who is a rookie in name only at 34 years old. The Japanese veteran Uehara has not won since April 13, but hasn’t pitched poorly in last nine starts, with more than respectable 3.73 ERA in that span. He’s been too often caught up in the Orioles lack of run production, as Uehara has seen 2.3 runs per start since his last victory.
Baltimore will face left-hander Andrew Miller (2-3, 4.56, 1.559) of the Marlins, who continues flounder. Granted, most lefties take longer to develop, but the 6’6 Miller is not only tall, but has long arms, which has made his ability to have a repeatable delivery difficult. Though his fastball is lively and he has 43 punchouts in 51 1/3 innings, Miller also handed out 27 free passes. The Orioles have beaten the last five lefty starters they have encountered.

Florida (35-36, +0.7 units) has been coming around, with 6-3 record in last nine games, all versus the American League. The offense tends to be like the nearby Atlantic Ocean tide, it rises and drifts away. The best news is the Marlins are 14-6 (+11.9 Units) after five straight games where they had less than 10 hits.

Sportsbook.com has placed Florida in the favorite’s role at -110 on the money line with a total 9. The Fish are 8-3 at home against teams that have less than .400 road record and they are 12-3 OVER when the total is 8.5 to 10 over the last three seasons and Miller is the starter. Baltimore is 2-8 against clubs with losing record and is 23-10 OVER against left-handed starters on the road since last season.

Baltimore last won six straight on April 2-8, 2008 and will try to match that streak starting at 7:10 Eastern on MLB.TV.
StatFox Power Line – Baltimore -117