One of baseball’s biggest rivalries kicks off the Memorial Weekend at Wrigley Field.

St. Louis Cardinals at Chicago Cubs

St. Louis avoided a sweep in San Diego on Thursday evening, picking up an 8-3 victory over the Padres at Petco Park.  The Cardinals had scored just one run in the first two games of the series, but broke out in a big way in the series finale, led by star 1B Albert Pujols.  He hit his first home run and picked up his first RBIs in 12 games, a slump that saw his average fall from .344 to .303 coming into the series.  “It’s always good when Albert’s hitting,” St. Louis manager Tony LaRussa said.  The team is now 12-13 on the road this season (-420) and 27-21 overall (-460).  Against division foes this season, St. Louis has compiled an 11-10 mark (-690) and is 93-85 against the NL Central over the last three years (-1,380).

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Saturday MLB Handicapper Report – (Complete)

Baltimore Orioles

  • Baltimore would capture its first road series victory of the year with a win today or tomorrow.  The Orioles are 0-9-1 in road series since September 11-13, 2009.
  • The Orioles are now 13-12 in the all-time series against Washington.  They won the season series in 2009, 4-2, taking two of three in D.C.
  • OF Adam Jones has hit safely in 13 of his last 14 games, going 18-for-53 and raising his average from .218 to .254.
  • Baltimore is 10-20 this year against right-handed starters (-710).  The team has compiled a .257 batting average against righties while scoring 3.7 runs per game.
  • Pitching staff has allowed at least one run in the eighth inning or later in 24 of their 43 games this season.  The Orioles have allowed the tying or go-ahead run to score in the eighth inning or later 10 times.
  • SP Brad Bergesen has allowed just 22 runners in 19.1 innings in his last three starts, compared to 27 runners in 10.1 innings of work in his first three starts of the season.
  • Bergesen is just 1-5 with a 4.45 ERA in his career away from Camden Yards.

Continue reading “Saturday MLB Handicapper Report”

Thursday MLB Handicapper Report – (Final)

Atlanta Braves

  • Since snapping a season-high nine-game losing streak on 4/30, the Braves have gone 12-6 and have evened their record at 20-20.  Atlanta is .500 for the first time since 4/23 (8-8).
  • Tied with the Brewers and Rockies for the fewest home games (18) in the National League so far this season.  Atlanta is 12-6 at home.
  • Tonight the Braves will depart on a six-game, seven-day road trip, opening a stretch in which they will play 17 of 23 games on the road.
  • INF/OF Eric Hinske is batting .464 with two home runs and 10 RBI in his last eight starts, spurring the Braves to pick up victories in six of those eight games.
  • Atlanta batters have collected a major-league-best 181 walks this season (NYY – 175), but rank just eighth in the majors with a .342 on-base percentage.
  • SP Tommy Hanson has just one career start against the Reds, picking up a victory while allowing just three hits.
  • The right-hander is 8-4 with a 3.35 ERA in 15 career starts at home, striking out 101 batters and walking just 28 over 94 innings.

Continue reading “Thursday MLB Handicapper Report”

Wednesday MLB Handicapper Report

Baltimore Orioles
  • The Orioles are coming off a 4-4 homestand against Seattle (2-1), Cleveland (1-2) and Kansas City (1-1).  Baltimore is 11-11 in its last 22 games, after starting the year 2-16.
  • IF Ty Wigginton has set a team-high by hitting in nine straight games, going 14-for-36 (.389) with two homers and six RBI.
  • Team has posted a 3-9 record versus left-handed starters this season and 10-18 against righties.
  • In their last 15 games, the Orioles have been held to one run five times and were held scoreless once.  Overall, the team has had 12 games this year where they scored one run or fewer.
  • Defense has made just one error in the last 62.2 innings of play.  The Orioles are fifth in the AL in fielding percentage (.984).
  • After going 1-6 in their first seven one-run games, the O’s have won six of their last seven one-run games.
  • Three Orioles starters rank in the Top 26 in the AL in strikeout-to-walk ratio.  Kevin Milwood is 10th (3.20), Jeremy Guthrie is 11th (3.00) and Brian Matusz is 26th (2.17)
  • In five career starts against Texas, SP Jeremy Guthrie is 3-0 with a 3.16 ERA.  He has not started a game in Arlington since 7/6/07.
  • The right-hander snapped his career-high eight game losing streak on May 8 at Minnesota, outdueling Minnesota LHP Francisco Liriano.  He has won his last two starts since the skid.

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Today we take a look at what should be 2 of the best games of the day.

Tampa Bay Rays at New York Yankees

Tampa Bay travels to the Bronx in an unfamiliar role this late in the season, carrying an MLB-best record of 28-11 (+1,014) into this series.  To put the current record in perspective, the Rays didn’t win their 28th game of the 2009 season until June 4 (56th game).   The Rays are 1-2 against the Yankees in 2010, losing the series at Tropicana Field in April.  Overall, the team has dropped 10 of the last 15 meetings, including seven straight at Yankee Stadium.  Their fortune may change in New York this time around, carrying an impressive 15-4 road mark (+1,050) into this division battle.

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I’ll write one more article about my tournament thoughts and reflections and so on in a day or two, but let me just sum up the final last night with three words – wow, oops, and yawn. Wow, as in wow North Carolina looked incredibly good. Oops as in, oops, I guess I was wrong when I repeatedly said that I thought North Carolina looked vulnerable coming into the tournament. Yawn as in that was a truly boring game to watch despite the Tar Heels’ laser precision. Ugly.

Continue reading “Tuesday Night Notes”

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