Al McMordie

Our MLB selection for the Fourth of July is on the Washington Nationals at home in the nation's capital over the Atlanta Braves.

In his last start, Tommy Hanson overcame the flu and led the Braves to a 2-1 victory over the Red Sox. That play was a nice winner for our interleague Game of the Year. But we are going to go against Hanson and the Braves here, and take Nationals lefty John Lannan.

The Braves are a poor 47-71 their last 118 on the road, including 14-22 as a road favorite the last two years. There's no doubt that Hanson is a terrific young pitcher, but Lannan is 2-0 at home in his eight home starts this year, with a solid 2.03 ERA and 1.18 WHIP.

The Nats are also 14-8 their last 22 at home vs. the Braves. Take the home dog on this July 4th holiday.

Free Pick: Nationals +113

Our Friday night MLB selection is on the Los Angeles Dodgers over the San Diego Padres at Petco Park.

Padres righthander Chad Gaudin is a bit of an enigma.  He goes out and throws arguably his best start of his career in one of the toughest places to pitch in all of baseball (Arlington, Texas) last Sunday night, but only can manage a .500 record (2-2) in his home ballpark which is considered the most pitcher-friendly place to play.

Now granted, the Rangers have been in an awful power slump since losing outfielder Josh Hamilton to injury, so perhaps tonight facing their division rival and the best team in the National League it will be a much truer test for the former Oakland starter.

Other than having to face the team with the best record in the NL, Gaudin will likely have another obstacle to deal with and that is the much-anticipated return of slugger Manny Ramirez to the majors.  And the offensive spark provided by Manny's return could be just the thing that hard-luck L.A. starter Hiroki Kuroda needs.

In limited action (Kuroda missed the beginning of the season due to injury), the Japanese righthander has put up some of the best numbers in the NL in every category except win percentage as, despite a 3.77 ERA and an incredible 35 Ks to just seven walks, Kuroda is only 2-4.  He is working on an amazing streak of four games – 29 consecutive innings – without issuing a base on balls.

Kuroda also happens to be 3-1 in five career starts against the Padres.  Take the Dodgers.

Free Pick: Dodgers -132

Our Thursday afternoon MLB selection is on the Cincinnati Reds at home in Porkopolis over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Righthanded veteran Aaron Harang is usually one of the Reds' most reliable starters and that has been true for most of this season as well. Although, in Harang's last start on June 26 he had his second-worst start of the year when he went into Cleveland and gave up seven runs (five earned) on 10 hits in just 4.2 innings. A start at home against the Diamondbacks may be just what the doctor ordered for Harang and the Reds.

Tonight's Arizona starter, veteran Doug Davis, epitomizes exactly what's wrong with this team. Davis has actually been one of the better starters in the NL this season, but you'd never know it from his record. Despite a 3.28 ERA and quality starts in 10 of his 16 outings this season, Davis has a pathetic 3-8 record.

Arizona combines that deadly combination of a very weak hitting lineup with extremely poor defense which usually results in a loss (hence its 31-46 record, the third-worst in the majors). The Diamondbacks are the worst defensive team in baseball, leading all others with 71 team errors through last weekend.

Cincinnati's on a bit of a roll having moved into third place in its division ahead of the Cubs, and only four games back while flirting once again with the .500 mark. Take the Reds.

Free Pick: Reds -133

Our Wednesday afternoon MLB selection is on the Tigers and Athletics remaining under the total at the Coliseum in Oakland.

Oakland lefthanded starter Dallas Braden hit a small bump in the road in his last start on June 26.  True, the young third-year player only gave up two earned runs in that start – the fourth start in a row that Braden has only given up two earned runs – but he lasted just 5.1 innings and threw 100 pitches in the process.  However, Braden can be excused, at least a little bit, for struggling in that start as it was against the red-hot Rockies in an interleague game.

Now Braden can get back to work against an American League foe (which is the good news).  The bad news is that he will have to face another hot team in the Tigers and their ace, Justin Verlander.

Braden will also have to deal with a very weak offense, that being the one of his own team.  Braden knows this problem firsthand as, despite an excellent ERA of 3.26, Braden has been getting very little run support and has a losing record of 5-7.  In fact in his last four starts the A's are 0-4 and have only scored a total of 10 runs, or an average of just 2.5 runs per game.

Not to be outdone, in Verlander's last five starts, the Tigers are just 2-3 despite mostly quality starts by their ace, and Detroit has only scored a total of 12 runs in those five games.  Take the Under.

Free Pick: Tigers-A's Under 7½ (+105)

Our Tuesday night MLB selection is on the Seattle Mariners and New York Yankees remaining under the total in the Bronx.

Seattle righthander Brandon Morrow is back in the rotation where he wants to be.  Morrow never really wanted to be a closer, but he didn't have the arm strength to go seven or eight innings every five days earlier in the year.  Now he is trying to make the transition back to starter and so far this latest venture back into the rotation is going pretty well.

The Mariners have taken it slowly with Morrow, and increased his innings in his first three starts from three to four and then to five in his last start at home against San Diego.  Tonight should prove to be the toughest of his starting tasks so far, pitching in Yankee Stadium against one of the best lineups, and against another converted reliever in Joba Chamberlain.

Chamberlain put together a very solid outing against the Braves in his last start, and the part that the Yankees no doubt like the most was the fact that he exhibited great control, issuing no walks on that occasion after giving up nine free passes in his two prior starts combined.

In the five games which Morrow has appeared in for the Mariners in June (two relief efforts; three starts) the Mariners have only scored a total of 13 runs, and in those five games a total of only 29 runs have crossed the plate, or an average of less than six runs per game.  I foresee a low-scoring game here.  Take the Under.

Free Pick: Mariners-Yankees Under 10 (-120)

Our Monday night MLB selection is on the Texas Rangers at home in Arlington over the Los Angeles Angels in a crucial AL West contest.

Interleague play is over and the Rangers are probably quite pleased about that.  Not that they played that badly in the games vs. the National League (they went .500 during the 18 interleague contests this season), but they definitely didn't want to see their chief rival in the division – and tonight's foe – have any more success at the expense of the NL.

The Angels simply killed their opposition during interleague play this season, going a league-best 14-4 and pulling into first place in the race for the AL West title in the process.  So this series is huge as we head towards the All-Star break two weeks from now, and the Rangers get to start out with their hottest starter of late, veteran righthander Vicente Padilla.

The one-time Phillie is not only the hottest Ranger pitcher, but he's arguably been one of the best in the AL over his past four starts dating back to June 7, going 3-0 with a 2.16 ERA.  Padilla isn't a strikeout pitcher as his 40 Ks in just over 78 innings will attest, but he's a smart veteran who relies on changing speeds and picking batters apart.

He's done well in his career against the Angels, going 6-3 in 12 lifetime starts against them, including a big win on May 16 at this same ballpark when he almost went all the way (eight innings).  He should step up big again tonight in Arlington.

Free Pick: Rangers -125

Last night, the Colorado Rockies blasted the Oakland Athletics 11-9, but don't expect any offensive fireworks on this Sunday afternoon.

The pitching match-up will be right-handed veteran Aaron Cook vs. Oakland youngster Vin Mazzaro. Cook is 7-3 in his 16 starts, and has a super 2.25 ERA over his last three starts with a 1.10 WHIP. Not to be outdone, Mazzaro has a 2.56 ERA this season with a 1.07 WHIP.

This season, Oakland's offense has been dreadful, as its team batting average is a meager .235, while Colorado has hit just .246 on the road, away from the hitter-friendly Coors Field this season. The A's have gone Under in 107 games at home of their last 185, and I look for a low-scoring game today.

Take the Under.

Free Pick: Rockies, Athletics Under 7½ (+113)

Our Saturday MLB interleague selection is on the Detroit Tigers on the road over the Houston Astros.

With a name like Alfredo Figaro, it seems like Detroit's latest rookie starter call-up should perhaps be playing the Metropolitan Opera rather than taking the mound at Minute Maid Park. But Figaro (who's actually Dominican - not Italian) has shown in a very short amount of time that he has the stuff to potentially stick with this club for a long, long time and make an impact deep into the season.

In his last start, which just happened to be his first ever in the majors, Figaro hit 97 MPH with his fastball, and although he gave up eight hits in five innings, he earned his first major league win (not many can say they won their first ever MLB start).  And perhaps most importantly, he showed his club that he can be cool under pressure. He'll likely get great run support the rest of the way, and with a strong bullpen, the Tigers won't have to risk burning his young arm out as he gets acclimated to the big leagues.

Everything seems to be working for the Tigers right now and their fans and management probably feel like it's about time since they were supposed to run away with this division last year and were nothing but a huge disappointment.

Houston's just the opposite and is in danger of falling behind the Pirates and into the NL Central cellar, which at this point wouldn't be much of a surprise.  Take the Tigers.

Free Pick: Tigers -112

Our Thursday night MLB interleague selection is on the New York Yankees on the road at Turner Field over the Atlanta Braves.

Derek Lowe has hit a little road bump in his last two starts.  After throwing at least seven innings for five straight starts from May 18 to June 9, Lowe has only gone 8.2 innings combined in his last two starts and he's lost both of them while surrendering a total of 10 earned runs.  Both of those were on the road and now Lowe gets to come back home to Atlanta - that's the good news.

The bad news is that he's facing the Yankees and veteran Andy Pettitte, who had probably his best start of the season on the road in South Florida in his last trip to the hill.  More bad news for Lowe and the Braves: In nine previous regular season outings against Atlanta, Pettitte is a stellar 5-1 with a 3.13 ERA.

There is basically no home field advantage for the Braves this season as they are just under .500 on the season, just under .500 on the road, and just under .500 at home.  At least they are consistent, but consistency of that type won't get it done tonight against one of the most potent offenses in the league.  Take the Yanks.

Free Pick: Yankees -107

Our Wednesday MLB interleague selection is on the Minnesota Twins and Milwaukee Brewers going over the total at Miller Park.

This is an important series for both teams, especially for the Brewers who were in first place in their division when interleague play began but now have fallen behind the Cardinals due to their poor performances against the AL teams over the past couple of weeks.  The biggest reason for the regression has been the decline of Milwaukee's starting pitching.

Dave Bush (tentatively scheduled to pitch tomorrow afternoon's game) is a perfect example, going from a starter who could seemingly do no wrong in April and the first half of May to now being winless since May 19, and not throwing a single quality start during that time.

Tonight's starter, Braden Looper, has also fallen on hard times as he is winless in his four June starts with a 7.97 ERA and a .322 opponents batting average.  It is because of these types of performances that the Brewers are said to be shopping players like outfielder Corey Hart to other teams in search of some quality arms for the second half.

Twins righthander Nick Blackburn has been pitching very well of late and just threw his first career complete game in his last start.  But before you get too excited, consider that that latest gem was against the Pirates – perhaps the weakest offense right now in baseball – and the two starts before that were in Oakland and Seattle, two of the most pitcher-friendly places in the Major Leagues.  Take the Over.

Free Pick: Twins-Brewers Over 9 (+100)

Our Tuesday night MLB interleague selection is on the Seattle Mariners home at Safeco Field over the San Diego Padres.

After a pretty hot start to the season in April (12-6 in their first 18 games), the Mariners hit a "cooling off" stretch which saw them go 9-20 over their next month of competition. But since then, Seattle has righted the ship again and has now won 14 of its last 22 games to get back to .500.  In fact, the Mariners just went over the .500 mark with a win on Sunday against the Diamondbacks.

The key for the Mariners has been the surprising pitching performances they've gotten from some of the most unlikely of sources, like starter Jarrod Washburn.  Even more surprising than Washburn has been the performance of starter Garrett Olson who wasn't even on the opening day roster, but now appears to have a full-time rotation job with this club and seems to be making the most of his opportunity.  With Erik Bedard back on the DL for a shoulder injury, the Mariners will likely be relying on Olson for as long as he can keep it up.

His last two starts were on the road against Baltimore and San Diego and he has earned this one back at home.  It's also a great matchup for him as he will face the Padres and struggling starter Chad Gaudin.  Gaudin just took the loss to Seattle in his last start at home and he is now 2-6 with a 5.98 ERA, not the kind of numbers San Diego was hoping for when they signed the veteran righthander about two weeks into the season.  Take the Mariners.

Free Pick: Mariners -133

Our Monday night MLB interleague selection is on the Los Angeles Angels at home over the Colorado Rockies.

The two hottest teams in Major League Baseball meet in what should be a very interesting three-game series.  Colorado is the hotter of the two, as the Rockies are in the midst of a 16-1 stretch.  But despite this recent run of success the edge tonight has to go to the Angels, the main reason being their starter Matt Palmer, aka Mr. Clutch.

After going winless (0-2) as a starter for the Giants in 2008, his rookie season, Palmer is unbeaten this year at 6-0, making him undefeated in his career as an AL starter.  In his last game (against his former club, San Francisco), Palmer didn't get a decision but the Angels got the victory against last year's NL Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum.

Tonight's mound opponent isn't as good as Lincecum, so I expect the Angels to handle Aaron Cook despite the Rockies' current hot streak.  More telling than their recent 16-1 tear is the fact that the Rockies are 2-7 in their last nine games against the Angels.  Take Palmer and Los Angeles.

Free Pick: Angels +100

Our Saturday night MLB interleague selection is on the Atlanta Braves and Boston Red Sox going over the total at Fenway Park.

Veteran Derek Lowe will be making a homecoming of sorts when he pitches this game in Fenway, as it will be his first performance in that venue since he played a key role for Boston in the 2004 postseason march to their first World Series title in almost a century. It should be a very interesting return for Lowe because he comes into this game off his worst start of the season, an 11-2 drubbing the Braves took at the hands of the Orioles back on June 14 when Lowe failed to make it out of the third inning.

Since Lowe is a sinkerball specialist, it's safe to say that his ball wasn't sinking very effectively on that occasion and if he has the same problem tonight it will be an even shorter outing for him. He will face Josh Beckett who, like Lowe, has also had a successful season but comes into this game off a very ineffective start against the Phillies in which he gave up six earned runs on 11 hits in just six innings. It was his first loss since April, but there's no telling how Beckett will bounce back from that one.

The Braves beefed up the middle of their lineup in a big way when they acquired Nate McLouth from the Pittsburgh Pirates on June 3 for three prospects. McLouth fills a big hole in the heart of the order and it is beginning to show for Atlanta on the scoreboard. Take the Over.

Free Pick: Braves-Red Sox Over 8½ (-109)

Looking for offense today?  The Rays and Rockies hook up in an afternoon contest at Coors Field in Colorado that should provide plenty of runs from both teams.

Our Thursday afternoon MLB selection is on the Tampa Bay Rays and Colorado Rockies going over the total at Coors Field in Denver.

Who's the most underrated starter in the National League?  It just might be tonight's Colorado starter, righthander Ubaldo Jimenez.  On a team that has an overall record of 31-33, Jimenez is 6-4 with a 3.92 ERA and 69 strikeouts in 82+ innings.

In his last start, the 25-year old Dominican threw just his second career complete game in beating Seattle at home.  It hasn't hurt that Jimenez has gotten very strong run support in most of his starts, especially at home.  In fact, in his five starts at Coors Field, Jimenez has gotten an incredible 40 runs of support from his teammates.

This game is a very interesting matchup because it features the two surprise teams that made it to the World Series the last two seasons.  This is the first series between these two since 2007, and they're picking up where they left off which means plenty of runs.

In the 2007 series, all of the games went comfortably over the total and that pattern held up in the first game of this series as the two teams scored 16 runs before settling down a bit in the game last night and only plating eight runs.

Rays starter Matt Garza has had a good season, but the Rays may be a little concerned because Garza has not gotten past the sixth inning in either of his last two starts and Coors Field is a particularly tough place if that were to happen again this afternoon.  Take the Over.

Free Pick: Rays-Rockies Over 9 (-120)

Our Tuesday night MLB selection is on the Milwaukee Brewers on the road at Progressive Field over the Cleveland Indians.

The Brew Crew just had an awful 1-5 home stand and looks to win back-to-back road games with another victory on Tuesday (Milwaukee won 14-12 last night).  In tonight's matchup, Milwaukee's Yovani Gallardo will take on Cleveland southpaw Jeremy Sowers.

Gallardo is one of my favorite hurlers, and this season he is 6-3 in 12 starts with a 2.88 ERA.  Sowers, on the other hand, is 0-3 in his five starts (1-3 overall in six appearances) and his ERA in all games this season is 5.10.

Cleveland is a dismal 22-30 this year vs. righthanded starters, and will be overmatched by Gallardo tonight.  Take Milwaukee.

Free Pick: Brewers -135

Our Monday night MLB selection is on the Milwaukee Brewers and Cleveland Indians remaining under the total at Progressive Field.

Milwaukee and Cleveland play the first series against each other since exactly three years ago, and the Indians no doubt hope to continue the success they've had in their earlier weekend interleague series as they took two of three from Milwaukee's divisional rival, St. Louis.

The Tribe would like nothing more than to repeat the pitching performance of last night as the Indians beat the Cards 3-0, and while it's unlikely that righthander Carl Pavano will be able to duplicate the complete game three-hitter that was brilliantly thrown by Cliff Lee in that last game, don't be surprised if Pavano has a strong showing at home against a team that he's seen several times in the past.

Pavano's opposing pitcher will be Dave Bush, and Bush hasn't gotten much support from his teammates lately as the Brewers have only scored more than three runs in one of the last four of his starts, with four of Bush's last five starts going under the total.

The Under is 6-3-1 in Milwaukee's last 10 games overall and 10-2-1 in Cleveland's last 13 interleague contests.  Take the Under.

Free Pick: Brewers-Indians Under 9½ (-110)

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These Chicago White Sox and Milwaukee Brewers are two of the geographically closest interleague teams which are not in the same state, as you can drive from U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago to Miller Park in Milwaukee in less than two hours. 

Despite this fact, and the fact that we've had interleague play every season now since 1997, these two clubs had not played each other since the 2001 season.  And this year it's an interesting matchup as Chicago is trying to play catch-up in its division, which is the weakest in the American League, while the Brewers are trying to hold onto their lead in what is probably the most competitive division in the National League. 

Because these two haven't played since 2001, Sox southpaw ace Mark Buehrle has never started against the Brewers, despite being in the league for 10 years (although oddly enough Buehrle had his first-ever Major League appearance -- in relief -- against Milwaukee back in 2000). 

Buehrle of course has since developed into one of the craftiest lefthanders around, and once again he's putting up very solid, if not spectacular numbers this season with a 6-2 record and 3.24 ERA in 12 starts. 

Milwaukee will send out the very inconsistent Braden Looper who, like Buehrle, has only faced the White Sox in a relief appearance. Chicago had one of the best interleague records in 2008 at 12-6 and Buehrle was tied for the Major League lead in interleague wins with four and had the fourth best interleague ERA at 1.21. 

Take the White Sox.

Free Pick: White Sox +122

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Our Saturday afternoon MLB interleague selection is on the New York Yankees at home in the Bronx over their cross-town rivals the Mets.

Last night, the Bronx Bombers had perhaps the luckiest win in franchise history.  With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Yanks' Alex Rodriguez hit a pop fly to Luis Castillo.  At the time, the Yankees were down 8-7, and had runners on first and second.  Thus, both runners were off at the crack of the bat.

And when Rodriguez made contact with the ball, it was such an obvious out that A-Rod slammed his bat to the ground, and broke it, before he half-heartedly jogged to first base.  The three-time Gold Glove winner Castillo moved into shallow right field and got under the high pop-up, but inexplicably dropped it and allowed the two Yankees baserunners to trot around with the game-tying and -winning runs.

When a team wins a game like that, it's definitely a "high," and when a team loses a game like that, it haunts them.  That's not good news for the Mets this afternoon.  Neither is the fact that righty Fernando Nieve will be making his first start since 2006.  He will match up against southpaw Andy Pettitte, who is 8-4 lifetime vs. the Mets.  Take the Yankees.

Free Pick: Yankees -200

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Our Wednesday night MLB selection is on the New York Yankeeson the road at Fenway Park over the Boston Red Sox.

Last night, the boys from Beantown shut out the Bronx Bombers 7-0 behind Josh Beckett, and will turn to veteran knuckleballer Timmy Wakefield on Wednesday.  His mound opponent will be Chien-Ming Wang, who has been dreadful all season.  Wang's ERA is 14.46 over his seven starts, so the knee-jerk reaction might be to play on Wakefield here, especially given that Boston is 6-0 over the Yankees this year.

But Wakefield's ERA is pretty bad, too, over his last three starts:  7.27, with a 1.85 WHIP.  And he has never had success vs. the Yankees in his career, going 10-15 with a 4.80 ERA.

Take the Yankees as a live underdog tonight as they look to pick up their first win this season against the Red Sox.

Free Pick: Yankees +122

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Seattle Mariners southpaw starter Erik Bedard seems to be all the way back now from the injuries which cost him most of the 2008 season. 

Bedard has had back-to-back dominating starts, the last one being his first-ever time facing his former team, the Orioles and Bedard beat his former club.  Prior to that, he had a win against division rival Oakland.  The only problem for Bedard this season is that the wins will likely be hard to come by, as they have so far. 

With Seattle not having much punch in their offense, and management not wanting to leave Bedard out there very long (he's only gone seven or more innings twice), he may be taken out of a lot of games either tied or leading by one or two runs. 

Minnesota Twins right-hander Kevin Slowey on the other hand has not had much trouble at all racking up wins.  In fact with his last victory, Slowey is now in second place behind Roy Halladay in the American League with eight wins to his credit.  This guy just finds a way to get it done, and his Twin teammates usually score plenty of runs for him. 

He's already beaten the Mariners once this season, in fact it was in his first start on April 6 (at home), and Slowey is a better pitcher now and should relish the friendly confines of Safeco Field.  Ichiro had a 27-game hitting streak for the Mariners which just ended but it didn't help his team much as Seattle was only 11-16 during that time. 

Take the Twins.

Free Pick: Twins +118

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Our Saturday night MLB selection is on the Detroit Tigers at home in Comericao Park over the Los Angeles Angels.

The Angels defeated Detroit last night 2-1, and in that game bested Tigers ace Justin Verlander.  Now, Los Angeles will try to win the second game of this series and defeat the hurler who is emerging as Detroit's second-best pitcher – Edwin Jackson.

In 11 starts this season, Jackson is 5-3 and has a sparkling 2.30 ERA and 1.02 WHIP.  In his last outing he pitched eight scoreless innings at Baltimore, and struck out seven Orioles en route to a 3-0 Tigers victory.

Jackson's mound opponent tonight will be Kelvim Escobar, who is making his first start of the year.  This is a tough assignment for a pitcher to kick off his season while returning from an injury.  Take Detroit.

Free Pick: Tigers -140

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Our Thursday night MLB selection is on the Houston Astros at home in Minute Maid Park with Wandy Rodriguez over Colorado and Jason Hammel.

Last night, Houston won 6-4 over the Rockies and will attempt to sweep this four-game set with a victory tonight behind their young southpaw pitcher.  Colorado has been mired in a dismal season which has already seen its manager get fired.

The Rockies seemed to have been given a spark by that front office decision, and won their first two games under new manager Jim Tracy, but have since dropped four in a row.  This will be a tough game for the Rockies to win, as Rodriguez has always been a tough nut to crack in Houston, and this year is no different. Wandy is 3-1 at home with a 0.79 ERA and a 0.88 WHIP!  He's also 4-1 in his career vs. Colorado with a 3.35 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP.

Last year, Rodriguez made one start vs. the Rockies, and he was brilliant, even though that game was at Colorado.  Rodriguez struck out 11 Rockies and gave up just two runs and five hits in seven innings.  Houston won that game 5-3, and Wandy's mound opponent that day was  Hammel.  Take Houston.

Free Pick: Astros -159

Young Marlins southpaw Sean West has started his MLB career in fine fashion, and will notch his first big league win tonight at home vs. the Milwaukee Brewers.

Our Wednesday night MLB selection is on the Florida Marlins as small favorites at home in Miami over the Milwaukee Brewers.

It's only two starts into his major league career, but the Marlins could have a real nice find in young lefthander Sean West.  The southpaw from Houston turns 23 in a couple of weeks, but already he is looking poised and mature for somebody who, prior to this season, had never pitched above the Double-A level.

West is big (6-8) and throws hard, and he struck out about one batter per inning in his minor league career.  His first two starts haven't exactly been a walk in the park as he first had to face the Rays in an interleague matchup that resulted in a no-decision, and then followed that up with a trip into Citi Field to face the Mets in what turned out to be an excellent performance.

Tonight West is looking for his first win as a major leaguer and the chances for that first "W" are strong as he faces the Brewers and the soft-tossing righty Braden Looper, who as we've seen sometimes, if his control isn't working can look like a batting practice pitcher.  Looper has already faced the Marlins this season and he was not effective at all, giving up five earned runs on eight hits in just six innings, but the Brewers won that game 8-6, mostly because they were facing Ricky Nolasco who had been so bad for Florida that they eventually gave up and sent him to the minors so he could work things out.

West should prove to be a much more difficult assignment.  This series has been one for the home teams as the visitors have lost eight straight meetings.  Take the Marlins.

Free Pick: Marlins -106

Our Tuesday night MLB selection is on the Toronto Blue Jays at home in the Rogers Centre over the Los Angeles Angels.

For most of the first two months of the season, the Toronto bullpen has been pretty reliable in securing wins for Jays ace Roy Halladay as evidenced by eight wins in his first nine starts, only one of which was a complete game.  But such was not the case in Halladay's last start when he left with what seemed to be a safe five-run lead only to have his relievers blow it.

That game was at Baltimore and part of an Orioles sweep of Toronto, and you can expect that if Halladay takex a lead in this game at home against the Angels, things will be different.

It won't be easy as Joe Saunders has himself been pitching pretty well lately, though other than a nine-run outburst on Sunday, Los Angeles hasn't exactly been lighting up the scoreboard.  In four career starts against the Jays, Saunders is 1-2 with a 3.62 ERA, and although those numbers aren't too bad, the lefthander usually hasn't had to face one of the best starters in the game.

Tonight he does, however. and he has to face him in a place that has been very tough for visiting teams this season as Toronto is 18-7 at home, the best home record in the American League.  The Angels are 4-9 in their last 13 games in Toronto.  Take the Blue Jays.

Free Pick: Blue Jays -162

The Minnesota Twins and the Tampa Bay Rays have very similar records, and so do the two starters who will be facing off this afternoon. 

The Twins' Nick Blackburn is 4-2 with a 3.55 ERA and the Rays Matt Garza is 4-3 with a 3.65 ERA.  Those are both very respectable statistics for two young right-handers. 

The difference is what each has done in his last three starts and who they've done it against.  Garza has given up eight earned runs in just under 19 innings for an ERA of 3.86 while Blackburn has surrendered five earned runs in just under 22 innings for an ERA of 2.08. 

These stats would be essentially equal if Garza had faced the tougher opponents, but in fact while Garza went up against Cleveland (twice) and Oakland in his last three, Blackburn faced the White Sox, Yankees, and Red Sox. Clearly the advantage of late goes to the Minnesota right-hander. 

Similar to the performance of these two starters, when it comes to the way these two squads have been performing lately, it's also advantage to the Twins. Including last night's victory by the Rays, Minnesota is 6-3 in its last nine games while Tampa is 4-5.  Look for Minnesota to avenge last night's tough defeat. 

Take the Twins at a price.

Free Pick: Twins +148

Our Saturday night MLB selection is on the Los Angeles Angels at home in Anaheim over the Seattle Mariners.

Which version of "King Felix" Hernandez will show up tonight for the Mariners?  Will it be the one that shut down the Giants in his last start over eight innings, which incidentally seems like the same Felix who two starts before that shut down the Rangers in Arlington over seven innings?  Or will it be the one who got blasted in the Metrodome on May 9, which seems to be the same Felix who this same Angels team teed off against at Safeco Field on May 19?

In that start, the Angels took advantage of Hernandez not just at the plate but also on the basepaths, stealing five bases against him.  The Los Angeles starter in that game is also the starter for them tonight, righthander Matt Palmer, and Palmer has been getting some of the best run support in the league as evidenced by his 5-0 record to go along with his 4.82 ERA.

Palmer got those five wins in his first five starts of the season and although he didn't win his last start against the Dodgers, he didn't lose it either.  Palmer and the rest of this Angels team should get a boost from the return of their All-Star outfielder Vladimir Guerrero, just back from an injury that had kept him out since the middle of April.  He's come out of the gate slowly so far, but expect Guerrero to contribute some serious offense soon.

Hernandez always seems to struggle against the Angels.  In 2007, despite going 14-7 with an ERA of 3.92, Felix was 0-2 with a 7.30 ERA in four starts against the Halos and last season he was only slightly better, recording only one win in four starts against them while logging a 5.06 ERA.  Take the Angels.

Free Pick: Angels -103

Our Thursday night MLB selection is on the Los Angeles Dodgers on the road in the Windy City over the Chicago Cubs.

It's the battle of the Randy' in this first of a four-game set for the Dodgers visiting Wrigley Field.  In addition to this being a matchup of two starters named Randy (Wolf for the Dodgers and Wells for the Cubs), it's also a matchup of starters who are no stranger to the "no-decision."

Although Wells has only three starts (with two no-decisions), Wolf is tied for the league lead in that statistic with seven no-decisions in his 10 starts.  Wolf has pitched very well this season, but has very little to show for it.  After a month of April that saw the veteran lefthander finish with a mediocre ERA of 4.31, the month of May has seen Wolf excel and in five starts this month he has gone 1-0 and has lowered his ERA to 3.02.

Despite not having the services of outfielder Manny Ramirez, Los Angeles has not missed a beat, and since May 13 they are 11-3 with 11 of those games have been against the likes of the Phillies, Mets, Marlins and an interleague set against the Angels (the only team to take a series against the Dodgers during this time).

Though Wells, a righthander who is in his second major league season, has pitched admirably, two of his three starts this season have been against the Padres and Astros, two of the weakest offenses in the league.  Take the Dodgers.

Free Pick: Dodgers +112

Our Tuesday night MLB selection is on the New York Mets at their home park in Queens over the Washington Nationals.

This series marks the Nats' second trip to Citi Field as Washington played a three-game set there back in late April, and the Mets took two of those games.  Nationals hitters will be facing one of their former veteran starters in righthander Livan Hernandez, who in this age of players going on the DL for anything from blisters to ulcers has to be considered one of the most durable starters in all of the majors over the last 25 years.

Hernandez enters this season – his first with the Mets – having made 30 or more starts in his last 11 seasons, all in the majors (he hasn't seen any minor league innings since 1997). 
And Hernandez seemingly still has plenty of gas in the tank as in his last start he held the league's best offensive team (the Dodgers) to one run on seven hits and only one walk in seven very strong innings at Dodger Stadium.

The 14-year veteran from Cuba faced his former Nats teammates twice last season – once when he was in the Rockies rotation and once as a member of the Twins – and he came away with the victory both times.

Washington will send young rookie righthander Craig Stammen to the mound for his second career start and although he didn't pitch great in his debut on May 21 against Pittsburgh, he almost certainly will hang around the Nats rotation for awhile given how few options they currently have.  He's likely going to have a much tougher time of it tonight against a much stronger lineup than what he saw when he faced the Pirates.  Take the Mets.

Free Pick: Mets -144

The Twins score more runs in their home park than any other team in the majors, and the Red Sox also have no problem crossing the dish.  Play Boston and Minnesota over the total.

Our Memorial Day MLB selection is on the Boston Red Sox and Minnesota Twins going over the total at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

The short set of interleague games is over and the Twins probably aren't too happy about it. Last season the Twins had the best interleague record in baseball at 14-4 and they swept a very good Milwaukee Brewers team in their games over the weekend. But fear not, there's something else the Twins do exceedingly well which is win games at home.

Besides the recently-completed Milwaukee sweep, Minnesota is 16-9 this season at the Metrodome and the seem to have little problem scoring runs there. In fact, the Twins have scored more runs at home than any other team in the majors (the Red Sox happen to be second in that category).

Adding to the potential for run-scoring fireworks this afternoon is the fact that both starters, Francisco Liriano and Brad Penny, have struggled this season, with Penny pitching better of late having just beaten the division-leading Blue Jays but still with an ERA over six runs.

Joe Mauer is pretty much the hottest hitter in baseball. He hit his 10th homer Sunday night and while that number is five short of league leader Carlos Pena, what is truly amazing is that Mauer missed almost a full month of the season due to a back injury coming out of spring training.

Four of Liriano's last seven starts have gone over the total as have six of Penny's last nine. Take the Over'

Free Pick: Red Sox-Twins Over 9½ (+105)

Despite the recent dominance of the American League over the National League in interleague play, this matchup clearly favors the St. Louis Cardinals over the Kansas City Royals.

The Cards have played perhaps their best ball of the season over their last half-dozen games. They are going for a three-game sweep against the Royals, and although they were able to avoid Kansas City’s incredible ace Zack Greinke, as well as its second best starter Gil Meche, the Cardinals have been completely dominant in the first two games of the set, shutting out the Royals both times by identical 5-0 scores. 

Sure, it would have been great to see them have to face Greinke in this series (although perhaps not for them), but the fact that they didn't really should not diminish their great performance on both sides of the ball right now. 

One of their big surprises for the season, right-hander Joel Pineiro, gets the call this afternoon for the Cards, and Pineiro is coming off of his best start of the season, a complete-game shutout at home vs. the Cubs.  The near-flawless three-hitter was Pineiro's first complete game since 2006 and he has now gone three straight starts without issuing a walk. In fact, Pineiro only has issued seven walks all season in over 54 innings pitched.

Like his Royals teammates, right-hander Brian Bannister seemed to be performing over his head earlier in the season and now is perhaps coming back down to earth, as his last start was sub-par against a weak Cleveland team.  Bannister faced the Cards twice last season, going 1-1 with a 6.94 ERA. 

Take the Cardinals.

Free Pick: Cardinals -135

Despite Tim Lincecum throwing for San Francisco and neither the Giants nor the Padres having much offense, the total has been set too low for this one in San Diego.

Our Thursday night MLB selection is on the San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres going over the total at Petco Park.

With Giants ace Tim Lincecum, we've become accustomed to seeing eight or nine innings per start with one or two earned runs and double-digit strikeouts.  But in his last four starts, Lincecum is actually looking more like a very good pitcher rather than a great pitcher.

Over those four games, Lincecum has only averaged six-and-a-half innings per start and he hasn't recorded more than eight strikeouts in any of those.  Perhaps most concerning is the fact that he's surrendered a total of 13 earned runs over those four starts covering 26 innings for an ERA of 4.50.

If there is any good news in this for the Giants it is perhaps that when Lincecum does not appear to have his best stuff, his teammates seem to step up and give him great run support, as evident in these last four starts when San Fran scored a total of 28 runs, an average of seven per start. The same can certainly not be said for other Giants starters, like Barry Zito who had another great outing on Tuesday night, only to get almost no run support from his hitters and take the loss.

No one would ever confuse San Diego's Kevin Correia for Lincecum, but the veteran righthander just recorded his first win of the season in his seventh start and he has also been getting pretty consistent run support from his teammates lately, something that isn't easy to do when your teammates are the Padres.

With the total posted at seven runs, we'll look for a relatively high-scoring game.  Take the Over.

Free Pick: Giants-Padres Over 7 (+110)

Our Tuesday night MLB selection is on the Cleveland Indians and the Kansas City Royals remaining under the total at Kauffman Stadium.

Cleveland's Cliff Lee won the Cy Young award last season, but is not going to win it this year unless the Tribe starts to score some runs when he's on the mound.  Lee has a 3.00 ERA this year, but just a 2-5 record, as the Indians don't give him any run support.

That was the case back on April 22 when Lee matched up against tonight's opponent, Kansas City.  The Indians gave up just two runs, yet were shutout 2-0 by Brian Bannister and the Royals.

Bannister will get the start tonight once again, and he's 3-1 with a 1.80 ERA this season. Plus, in his career Bannister is a solid 4-1 vs. Cleveland with a 1.62 ERA.  Take the Under in this AL Central matchup.

Free Pick: Indians-Royals Under 8½ (-110)

Our Monday night MLB selection is on the Tampa Bay Rays on their home turf at Tropicana Field over the Oakland Athletics.

How well have the Rays been playing on this current home stand?  So well that they can even afford to bat a pitcher in the third spot in their lineup.  In a bizarre situation on Sunday, Tampa manager Joe Maddon made an error on his lineup card when he listed both Evan Longoria and Ben Zobrist as third basemen with no DH in the lineup.

That error was pointed out after Zobrist took the field (and Longoria did not because he thought he would be the DH), so it meant that Longoria (who normally bats third) had to be replaced in the lineup by starter Andy Sonnanstine.  After going hitless in his first two at-bats, Sonnanstine actually provided an RBI double in the fourth inning which helped his team win the game and enabled Tampa to take three of the four vs. Cleveland.

Oakland has been having no such offensive luck lately.  In fact the A's were embarrassed in a three-game sweep at the hands of the Tigers this weekend, with the combined score for the series 34-8.

Oakland's dreadful road record now stands at 5-11.  Despite taking two of three against the Rays in the Bay Area earlier in the season, Oakland has lost five of the last six games in this series when playing at Tropicana Field.  And it doesn't help its chances that it sends righthander Sean Gallagher to the mound this evening.  He's a spot starter with a career 6-8 record and 5.45 ERA.  Take the Rays.

Free Pick: Rays -135

Which version of right-handed veteran starter Bronson Arroyo will show up this afternoon for the Cincinnati Reds when they visit the San Diego Padres? 

Will it be the one who shut down the Pirates over eight shutout innings to start the month, or the one who gave up nine earned runs, not once, but twice this season? It should be the "good" Arroyo, as the 10-year veteran has wrested the title of biggest home-away pitching bias in the Major Leagues from guys like Wandy Rodriguez and Jamie Shields (however, Arroyo is pitching much better on the road than at home). 

It's very strange to see someone with a strong record like Arroyo's (5-2) but with an ERA over seven runs. However, Arroyo is on the road for this game, and he is also at one of the strongest pitchers parks in baseball -- and a place where he has had success throughout his career. He did well against the Padres last season, going 2-0 against them in 2008 with a 3.38 ERA. 

Jake Peavy's record is the opposite of Arroyo's (2-5), and his ERA, while well under seven runs, is still uncharacteristically high for this former Cy Young winner. Unlike Arroyo, who has gotten plenty of help from his teammates, Peavy has had terrible run support, as evident in his last home start, which was one of his best of the season (and his highest strikeout total -- 12 over seven innings). 

Despite this dominating pitching performance, Peavy took the loss in front of the home crowd. Of course, that's one of the big differences between these two teams:  San Diego's offense is weak, while Cincinnati can put up plenty of runs. 

Take the Reds as a nice-sized underdog here.

Free Pick: Reds +143

Our Friday night MLB selection is on the Los Angeles Angels on the road in the Lone Star State over the Texas Rangers.

Rangers righthanded pitcher Kevin Millwood has an amazing ERA of only 2.92, but his record is only 3-3 which means that the 13-year veteran is probably not getting much run support.  In fact, in Millwood's three losses Texas has only scored a total of four runs and one of those games was a 2-0 shutout at the hands of the Royals at home in Arlington.

Angels lefthander Joe Saunders is in All-Star form right now, having won his last three starts and pitching a complete game shutout in his last outing on May 9 against the Royals.  That game was significant as Saunders finally broke the scoreless pitching streak of KC's Zack Greinke.

The really good news for the Angels is that despite the loss of outfielder Vladimir Guerrero, out since early May with a pectoral muscle injury, Los Angeles has won nine of their last 11 games heading into tonight.  Even without Guerrero, this is a pretty potent offense, and the pitching performances of guys like Matt Palmer and Shane Loux have served them well while they're waiting for the return of Ervin Santana, John Lackey, and Kelvim Escobar.

No matter who returns to the rotation for this team, Saunders isn't going anywhere and this talented southpaw should be a fixture on this starting staff for some time to come.  Take the Angels.

Free Pick: Angels +109

At first glance it would seem that Washington Nationals starter Daniel Cabrera and San Francisco Giants starter Randy Johnson are having parallel seasons. 

Actually, nothing could be further from the truth. While Johnson has been alternating great and poor outings, Cabrera has just been consistently bad. And while, surprisingly, Johnson's ERA is the higher of the two, there are at least two reasons for his team to be very optimistic about this evening. 

First, it's time for one of the Big Unit's strong starts, as he had almost identical seven-inning shutout performances two starts back and four starts back. Second, both of those starts (his two best starts of the year by far) were his only two at home, and tonight Johnson will be on the mound at AT&T Park for the third time. 

Don't try to find any pattern in Cabrera's performances to date. Just as was the case for most of the time with the Orioles, Cabrera has had trouble finding the plate and staying consistent. Even when he has several good innings in a row, it seems like a blow-up is right around the corner, as happened in his last start against the Dodgers when he was pretty effective through the first four innings, only to come apart in innings five and six. 

Cabrera has give up 10 total walks in his last two starts covering just 11.1 innings.  It's uncertain how long the Nats will stick with him in their rotation, but it's unlikely they will be as patient as the Orioles were before finally giving up on him at the end of 2008 after five full seasons of frustration. 

Take the Giants.

Free Pick: Giants -140

Our Thursday night MLB selection is on the Milwaukee Brewers on the road in the City of Seven Hills over the Cincinnati Reds.

Don't look now but the Brew Crew is on a roll. They've won eight of 10, and they're finally starting to put up some runs in the process. In those eight wins the Brewers have scored 55 runs, including 15 last night. And today, perhaps their most consistent starter of the season, Braden Looper, will get the call. (Both Looper and Yovani Gallardo are running neck-and-neck for that honor.)

Looper has been incredibly steady in his five starts to date, and he already owns a win against the Reds this season, as he was the pitcher of record in Milwaukee's 9-3 pasting of Cincy back on April 15. Tonight's game is in Cincinnati, a place where Looper should feel comfortable as he went 1-1 with a 2.25 ERA there in two starts at Great America Ball Park last season.

The Reds will send former D-Back Micah Owings to the mound tonight, and he has been anything but their most consistent starter. Unless of course you define consistent as consistently bad. If there is anything positive to say about Owings, it may be, oddly enough, that he has a great bat for a pitcher. Owings is hitting .286 this year, and in 2007 he actually had four HRs in just 60 at bats.

But it will take more than Owings at the plate to help the Reds tonight. He will have to step up and throw a quality start, something that has eluded him in all but one of his appearances so far. Owings was the starter in that earlier 9-3 loss to Milwaukee, and he'll get hit hard again tonight. Take the Brewers.

Free Pick: Brewers +100

Our Wednesday night MLB selection is on the San Francisco Giants over the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field in Denver.

Giants veteran starter Randy Johnson holds the distinction of being the pitcher with the most career victories vs. Colorado with 19 wins (and only seven losses) over his 21+ year career.  He notched Win No. 19 in his last start on May 1 in which he held the Rockies scoreless over seven brilliant innings, surrendering only four hits while striking out nine.

This was the second time in his last three starts that Johnson pitched a seven inning shutout (the other being against Johnson's former team, the Diamondbacks).  The fact that the Giants have such a strong bullpen (fourth in the league with a 3.95 ERA) means that there is no pressure on the Big Unit to go out and throw a complete game like there used to be years ago, which is no doubt a good thing since Johnson is 45-years old.

Colorado's starter in this game will be the same one that Johnson face on May 1, righthander Ubaldo Jimenez.  Ironically that start was Jimenez's best outing since his first one on April 7.  But both of those were on the road, and this start is in Colorado, site of Jimenez's worst start of the season so far.

And unlike the Giants stingy bullpen, Colorado currently has the worst relief pitching in the National League with a 5.30 ERA.  Take San Francisco.

Free Pick: Giants +125

Our Monday night MLB selection is on the Cincinnati Reds and Florida Marlins remaining under the total at Dolphin Stadium.

No matter what else Marlins starter Josh Johnson does this season, he can lay claim to something that not many others can.  Specifically, in his last start on April 29, Johnson out-dueled the best starter in baseball, Johan Santana, in a performance that admittedly was not one of Johnson's best.

Johnson only has one bad outing in his five starts, but he is winless in his last three, due more to a lack of run support from his teammates more than anything else.

Cincy's Aaron Harang is one of a handful of starters in the league who seem to be having good and bad alternating starts.  Harang has lost his first, third, and fifth starts while winning starts two and four.  When he's been on, he's really been on, like in his second start of the season on April 12 in which he completely shut down the surprising Pittsburgh Pirates or as in his fourth start when he shut out the Cubs over seven innings in perhaps the toughest place to pitch in all of baseball: Chicago's Wrigley Field.

This is an even-numbered start for Harang, so it is time for him to shine once again.  Four of Harang's five starts this season have gone under the total.  Take the Under.

Free Pick: Reds-Marlins Under 8 (-110)

Florida Marlins ace Ricky Nolasco is glad that April is over and May is here so that he can start anew here vs. the Chicago Cubs. 

Nolasco had a month that he would rather forget in April, going 1-2 with a 6.92 ERA in five starts since being anointed this season as the opening day starter. Not only will Nolasco be looking at his sixth start as a chance to right himself with the beginning of a new month, but it is against the team through whose system he first came up with (Nolasco was traded from the Cubs minor league system to Florida in the Juan Pierre deal in 2005).

It's been almost three years, but perhaps a start against Chicago is just what Nolasco needs as in his only other start against them (in May 2006), Nolasco threw seven strong innings, allowing only one earned run. 

Cubs starter Carlos Zambrano has had back-to-back stellar starts with almost identical lines (three earned runs in seven innings) after stumbling badly against the Cardinals three starts back on April 17.  Unlike Nolasco, Zambrano has had a very strong April and appears to be getting stronger, and his ERA is only high because of that one bad start against St. Louis.

In this game at home, Zambrano will go for career win number 99 against a team that he has performed very well against in the past. 

Take Under in the Windy City.

Free Pick: Marlins, Cubs Under 9 (-110)

Our Friday night MLB selection is on the Philadelphia Phillies at home in Citizens Bank Park over the New York Mets.

Chan Ho Park, a 16-year veteran, must be thrilled to be part of the World Champion Phillies rotation this season.  After toiling with four different major league teams over the last four years, Park is now contributing as the fourth or fifth starter on a team that has plenty of firepower.

Speaking of firepower, in his last start, Park helped his own cause by hitting a home run and although he took a no-decision in that game on April 25 in South Florida, the Phillies beat the Marlins, marking the third straight start for Park in which his team got the win.  Also encouraging is the fact that Park has gotten noticeably better and better in each of his three starts this season.

This is seemingly another great opportunity for Park and the Phillies as the Mets will send Mike Pelfrey to the mound and although the big (6-7) righthander is 2-0, he has been anything but impressive this season with a 6.32 ERA and a very troubling nine walks with only six strikeouts in less than 16 innings.

Pelfrey faced the Phillies three times in 2008, with the Mets losing two of the three games and in this game they will have to deal with the probable loss of two of their offensive starters in first baseman Carlos Delgado and second baseman Luis Castillo.  There is a chance that Delgado will play despite his sore hip, but he will likely not be close to 100%.  Take the Phils.

Free Pick: Phillies -109

Our Thursday night MLB selection is on the St. Louis Cardinals and Washington Nationals remaining under the total. The Nats must be glad to get back home to their ballpark in Southeast DC.  It's not that they have a winning record there (3-4), but the games there have been at least close, and the Nats have to feel that they had a decent chance to win almost all seven of their home contests.

The key is in the amount of runs that the Nats opponents have scored at their home park vs. their road games.  In the 11 games played away from Nationals Park between the start of the season and Tuesday night, their opponents have scored a total of 78 runs or just over seven runs per game.

During these same games, the Nats scored a total of 59 runs or an average of just over five runs per game.  Yet in the eight home games played so far, the competition has only tallied 36 runs (average of less than 5 per game), while the Nats have scored a total of 35 runs, which makes the runs scored virtually identical.  So all of this points to the Nats home being a pretty pitcher-friendly facility this season.

Adding to this is the very stingy young Cardinal ace Mitchell Boggs who will take the mound tonight for St. Louis.  Boggs has two very nice outings in which he's given up a total of one earned run.  And Boggs' first two appearances were against a tough Cubs team, so he is no doubt looking forward to facing the comparatively light-hitting Nats.  Take the Under.

Free Pick: Cardinals-Nationals Under 10 (-115)

Our Tuesday night MLB selection is on the Toronto Blue Jays on the road at Kauffman Stadium over the Kansas City Royals.

After being the ace of the Royals staff since he was signed to a huge free agent contract at the beginning of the 2007 season, righthanded veteran Gil Meche is now taking a bit of a back seat to fellow righthander Zack Greinke.  It's not that Meche isn't pitching well – quite the opposite as a matter of fact – but Greinke has stolen the spotlight with some performances this season that seem other-worldly.

Also, Meche seems to be suffering from some poor run support and a poor bullpen in at least two of his starts, which is the main reason he is only 1-1.

Toronto's Scott Richmond has flown under the radar so far this season, but that probably won't last long.  There are two reasons for this.  First, Toronto has an astounding number of injuries to its starting pitching (the Jays recently put both Jesse Litsch and Ricky Romero on the 15-day DL to go along with starters Shaun Marcum and Dustin McGowan).

The second reason is that Richmond is pitching very well and should be opening eyes with his high strikeout totals.  So far this season, Richmond has 15 Ks in just over 16 innings, and despite not reaching the majors until age 28, Richmond seems to be making the most of his opportunity with a 2-0 record and 3.31 ERA in three starts.

Toronto dominated the series between these two teams in 2008, taking five of the seven games played (though they dropped last night's game, 7-1).  The Jays will rebound tonight.  Take Toronto.

Free Pick: Blue Jays +121

Our Monday MLB selection is on the Houston Astros and Cincinnati Reds remaining under the total at Great American Ball Park.

One can almost sense that young Reds righthander Johnny Cueto is going to get better and better with each start this season.  Cueto is still only 22-years old and in his second year of major league duty, but there is no denying that there is an incredible amount of talent in this fireballer.  Cueto has improved with each start this April, and his last outing was one of the best in his career, as he went into Wrigley Field (rarely an easy place for a young opposing pitcher) and hurled seven innings of shutout ball.

Perhaps most impressive in that outing is that the sometimes erratic Cueto did not issue a single walk.  His strikeouts were down and it is entirely likely that as Cueto matures, he will begin changing speeds more and become less and less of a big strikeout pitcher while allowing fewer and fewer baserunners, something that the Reds will obviously look forward to.

Veteran Astros righthander Roy Oswalt has been a bit of a bad luck starter, having pitched very well in three of his four starts but is still winless on the season.  His lifetime record against the Reds is incredible, and he pitched six shutout innings against them back on April 17 with nothing to show for it.

With the weak Houston lineup, the same could very well happen tonight.  Take the Under.

Free Pick: Astros-Reds Under 8½ (-120)

Our Saturday afternoon MLB selection is on the St. Louis Cardinals at home over their rivals the Chicago Cubs.

Righthander and second-year player for the Cardinals Mitchell Boggs had a shot at the fifth starter's job going into the preseason, but he was passed by little-known P.J. Walters when Boggs got injured slightly during spring training.  But Boggs is healthy again and looked good in his one relief appearance while Walters struggled a bit in his only start, so now Boggs has taken Walters' place.

This move was expected, as Boggs was always the guy the Cards hoped would emerge at the back end of the rotation, as he had flourished in the last three years starting games in the minors at the A, AA, and AAA levels, having winning records at each level, and low ERAs with plenty of strikeouts.

Righthander Sean Marshall is supposedly the Cubs' fifth starter although he had two relief appearances before his first start, and in 2008 Marshall was used primarily out of the bullpen, so it's unclear exactly what role he will have as the season progresses.  Ironically, Marshall's only start thus far came against this St. Louis team on Apr 16, a game which the Cards won quite easily, 7-4.

The Cubs offense is struggling a bit right now with only the 11th-best batting average in the National League (.254) and just 66 total runs scored, which is 22 fewer than the Cards.  Take St. Louis.

Free Pick: Cardinals -110

Our Friday night MLB selection is on the Minnesota Twins on the road at Progressive Field over the Cleveland Indians.

Cleveland righthander Fausto Carmona didn't have to worry about run support in his last start as his team put up 14 runs in the second inning at the new Yankee Stadium and the Tribe embarrassed the Bronx Bombers, 22-4. But somewhat lost in that record-breaking performance was the fact that Carmona did not pitch particularly well, and had his third sub-par performance in as many starts.

Although he obviously got the win in that blowout, Carmona should probably be 0-3 as he gave up four runs on six hits in six innings. But perhaps most troubling is that he had four walks and only one strikeout in that outing.

The Twins' righthanded starter Nick Blackburn has pitched better this season than his 0-1 record and 5.71 ERA would indicate. Blackburn pitched into the seventh inning in his last start at home against the Angels and came away with a no-decision. More importantly, the Twins are 2-1 when Blackburn has taken the hill this season, and they should continue the success tonight at Jacobs Field where Blackburn is 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA in two career starts. Take the Twins.

Free Pick: Twins +130

Our Tuesday night MLB selection is on the Kansas City Royals and Cleveland Indians remaining under the total at Progressive Field.

Two of the lightest-hitting teams in baseball face off in Cleveland and the pitching matchup in this one is rather interesting.  Sidney Ponson – Yes, that Sidney Ponson – is now with the Royals, his seventh major league team, and he's actually pitched pretty well in his two starts so far this season.

He faced Cleveland in his second and latest start less than a week ago and turned in a quality outing, giving up only two earned runs in six innings.  Everytime we thought we'd seen the last of Ponson, he pops up on somebody's roster and more often than not he makes a positive contribution at some point in the season.

Indians' young lefthander Aaron Laffey was frustrated that he didn't get the last spot in the rotation as the team broke spring training, but an early injury to No. 5 starter Scott Lewis has opened the door for Laffey, and the southpaw has already taken advantage, ironically in the same game that featured Ponson last Wednesday.

Laffey had almost an identical line to Ponson's and although he got a no-decision in that one, the Tribe have to be pretty happy with the way he performed.  Take the Under.

Free Pick: Royals-Indians Under 10 (-105)

Our Monday night MLB selection is on the San Diego Padres and the Philadelphia Phillies Over the total at Citizens Bank Park.

Lefthanded veteran starter Jamie Moyer has not pitched particularly well this season (1-1 with a 6.55 ERA), and takes to the mound tonight to battle the Padres and righthander Kevin Correia.  After promising seasons in 2006 and 2007, mostly as a long reliever/spot starter, San Diego decided to give Correia the chance to be a full-time starter in 2008, and the results were not good as he went 3-8 with an ERA of 6.05 and a horrific WHIP.

But the Padres coaches seem to be determined to make Correia a full-time member of their rotation so they are giving him another chance this season.  After two starts, the latest experiment has not been a total disaster, but there are signs that he could implode again at any time.  Take the Over.

Free Pick: Padres-Phillies Over 10 (-105)

It hasn't been the kind of start that the Philadelphia Phillies or their fans had hoped for as they defend their World Series title. 

Not only are they hovering around the .500 mark early on, but they have what appears to be two much-improved teams in the division this year in the Marlins and Braves, both of whom seem to have made major strides in improving their pitching (something the Phillies can't say at this point). 

Consider that the player who came out of Spring Training as the winner of the five-spot in the Philly rotation is none other than Chan Ho Park. Park teased the Phils by having a fantastic spring training, looking like he did when he pitched for the Dodgers. 

But in his first regular season start against the Rockies, Park didn't last four innings and got hammered for seven hits and five earned runs. At least the Phillies' bats are heating up quite a bit lately, and the San Diego Padres are actually scoring quite a few runs this season too, as they are sixth in the NL in runs scored (compared to 2008 when they finished last in the Majors in runs scored with only 637). 

Take the Over.

Free Pick: Padres, Phillies Over 10 (+100)

Our Saturday NBA playoff selection is on the Boston Celtics at home minus the points over Chicago, as Boston falls into a 35-13 system of mine as well as a 30-8 ATS angle.

Granted, the Celtics will be hard-pressed to win the title this season without Kevin Garnett on the floor (though I'm certain he will attempt to suit up at some point in the postseason).   But they're certainly good enough to win at home in Game 1 of the Playoffs vs. these Baby Bulls.

After all, this is the same Chicago team that in a game it sorely wanted to win on Wednesday vs. Toronto, was blown out by the Raptors.  And that game was on Chicago's home court.

Boston won and covered both meetings at home against the Bulls this season, winning 96-80 as 10-point chalk when the two teams met on Halloween at TD Banknorth Garden and following that up with a 126-108 triumph Dec 19 as 12-point favorites.

Look for an old-fashioned blowout in Beantown this afternoon.  Lay the points.

Free Pick: Celtics -8½ (-110)