Sunday MLB Handicapper Report

Sunday MLB Handicapper Report (Complete)

Baltimore Orioles

The Orioles and Nationals meet in the rubber game of their three-game series. With a win, Baltimore would capture its first road series victory since 9/11-9/13/09 at New York.
Baltimore is 5-8 in daytime games this season (-80). The Orioles are also just 4-9 against left-handed starters (-320).
SP Kevin Millwood has a 3.22 ERA in three afternoon starts this season. Since the start of 2009, Millwood has a 2.95 ERA in 13 daytime starts. At night since the start of the ’09 season, the right-hander has a 4.01 ERA.
Millwood has received just 27 runs of support in his nine starts and the Orioles have scored just 16 runs while he is in the game (4-5 O/U).

Boston Red Sox

Despite last night’s win, the Red Sox have dropped seven of their last 10 on the road, after winning six of their first nine road contests in 2010. Boston hasn’t been a road underdog of +200 or higher in the last three years. They have gone 5-5 in this role since the 1997 season (+560).
The Red Sox are 83-45 (.648) in interleague play since the 2003 season, which falls as the second-best record over that time (Minnesota, 84-44).
1B Kevin Youkilis is hitting .390 (23-for-59) in 20 games this month, second in the AL behind Minnesota 1B Justin Morneau (.394).
Boston SP Tim Wakefield has not started a game since 5/12 against Toronto. He makes his first interleague start of the year, after tying the MLB-lead with three interleague wins in 2009. He went 3-0 with a 4.01 ERA in four games. The Red Sox are 13-2 in his last 15 interleague starts beginning on 6/24/05 at Philadelphia.

Colorado Rockies

The Rockies sport the best interleague record among NL teams since the 2006 season, going 40-25 (.615). That mark is 11 wins better than the next team (NYM, 29-33).
Colorado has hit at least one home run in five straight games.
Offense has not scored more than four runs in the last eight games, but is 4-4 over that span (2-5-1 O/U).
SS Troy Tulowitzki has hit safely in 10 consecutive road games, compiling a .389 (14-for-36) in the process.
The Rockies are 10-7 during the day this season (+240), while posting a losing 11-15 mark at night. Bettors will take notice of the total being 3-13-1 O/U in those games.
SP Aaron Cook is winless in his last eight road starts, while the Rockies have won all three of his home starts in 2010.
Cook is 25-21 with a 4.55 ERA during the day in his career, including a mark of 14-6 with a 4.41 ERA in his 23 day starts from 2008-09.

Houston Astros

Houston will face just its eighth southpaw starter this season. The Astros are 3-4 in those games (-100). Over the last three seasons, the team is 46-45 against left-handers (+780).
The Astros are 2-2 in home day games this season and 6-8 overall in the daytime (+160).
Team may have an even 3-3 record this year when playing on Sunday, but they’ve posted a brilliant 35-23 mark over the last three years (+1,920).
Produced a 13-3 (.813) record when scoring four or more runs this season. This may be a tough mark to achieve with Tampa Bay’s David Price not allowing more than three runs in any start this year.
SP Bud Norris is making his fifth career outing in May, as the right-hander is 1-3 with a 7.71 ERA in 21 innings.

Philadelphia Phillies

Philadelphia has managed to produce a 14-6 record this month, after going 17-11 in May during the 2009 season. Over the last three years, the Phillies are 48-29 during the second month of the season (+1,260).
Pitching staff has posted an NL-leading 2.88 ERA this month. Only Tampa Bay has posted a lower mark among all MLB teams (2.41). This has produced a 7-13 O/U mark for the Phillies this month.
The Phillies have managed a 97-122 all-time record in interleague games. At home, they have an all-time record of 49-63, which includes a 40-61 mark at Citizens Bank Park.
With a win today, the Phillies would earn their first series win in a home interleague series since, June 11-13, 2007. Philadelphia has lost each of their last seven home interleague series.
Currently 9-6 in day games so far this season (-90), including a 5-3 mark at home. The Phillies are hitting an NL-best .286 during the day. The total is 9-5-1 O/U in those games.
SP Roy Halladay is 17-8 with a 3.02 ERA in 35 games (31 starts) during interleague play, with all of those games coming as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays.

San Francisco Giants

San Francisco dropped a 1-0 decision to Oakland on Saturday and now has dropped four-straight, tying the longest losing streak of the season.
The Giants have gone hitless in 12 at-bats with runners in scoring position in the first two games of this series and are batting .161 (10-for-62) in those situations in their last seven games. San Francisco enters today ranking last in the NL with RISP (.234).
SP Jonathan Sanchez ranks second in the league in terms of lowest opponents batting average at .192, just behind Colorado SP Ubaldo Jimenez (.171).
Sanchez has received just 2.52 runs of support this season, which ranks last among San Francisco’s starting rotation. The next-lowest figure is Matt Cain at 3.49. The offense is providing ace Tim Lincecum 6.31 runs per game.
San Francisco has a 15-20 losing mark during interleague play the last three seasons (-450).

Tampa Bay Rays

The Rays are 19 games over .500, matching their season high for 2010 (+1,474). Tampa Bay has had sole possession of first place in the AL East for the past 31 days.
Tampa Bay’s 18-5 road record is the best by a major league team since 2002 when the Red Sox went 19-4. The Rays have outscored opponents 134-63 on the road (+1,230).
Pitching staff’s 2.80 ERA is the only sub-3.00 ERA in the majors and is 1.10 runs per game lower than the next AL team (NYY, 3.90).
Ben Zobrist is hitting .377 (26-for-69) in May, fifth-best mark in the AL, while his teammates are hitting .230 for the month. OF Carl Crawford is the only other Rays’ player over .300 this month.
SP David Price is allowing opponents to hit just .135 (5-for-37) with runners in scoring position this season, lowest mark in the AL.
Since the All-Star break, Price is 13-5, good for the third-most wins in the majors behind New York’s C.C. Sabathia (15-4) and Detroit’s Justin Verlander (14-7).

Washington Nationals

The Nationals are 6-1 in rubber games this season, including a 3-0 mark in DC, picking up wins over the Dodgers, Braves and Marlins at Nationals Park in those games.
Washington has gone 17-15 (.531) this season when facing right-handed starters. The Nationals went 49-80 against right-handed starting pitching last season. Only Kansas City (45), Pittsburgh (44) and Baltimore (40) won fewer games in 2009 when facing righties.
Tied for first in the majors in having scored the game’s first run 28 times in 44 games this season. Texas, Minnesota and San Diego have also drawn first blood 28 times this season.
SP John Lannan is 2-1 with a 3.66 ERA in three career starts against Baltimore, taking the loss in his only start against them in DC.
Lannan looks to end a winless stretch of six starts, posting a 5.45 ERA over this current span.

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