MLB Betting News - Tuesday 9/27

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Rangers, Angels Continue Series In Anaheim
By: Evan Abrams

The Los Angeles Angels play Game 2 of their divisional series Tuesday night against the playoff-bound Texas Rangers. The game is scheduled to start at 10:05 p.m. (ET) from the Angel Stadium in Anaheim.

The Rangers went into Monday's series opener with a 9-7 lead in the season series and have won five of their last seven meetings dating back to the beginning of August.

The Angels were three games back of the Boston Red Sox (two games back of Tampa Bay) for the lead in the American League Wild Card going into Monday evening’s action.

Los Angeles wasted a pivotal opportunity Sunday night by blowing a late three-run lead against the Oakland Athletics, which would have trimmed the wild card deficit to two.

Game 1 of this series is scheduled for Monday night with C.J. Wilson (Texas) and Dan Haren (Los Angeles) scheduled to start in the opener. The MLB odds listed the Halos as 125-130 favorites.

Starting for Texas in the second game of the series will be right-handed pitcher Colby Lewis (13-10, 4.45). Lewis has allowed a total of seven home runs in his last six starts and has seven strikeouts in each of his last three starts.

Lewis has faced the Angels a total of three times this season with the Rangers winning two of those games and the righty posting a 4.50 ERA.

His last road start versus the Angels was one of his best road starts of the year. Lewis pitched seven innings, allowed four hits, no earned runs, two walks and struck out seven.

Pitching for the Angels in this American League West showdown will be Ervin Santana (11-12, 3.38). The Angels have lost each of Santana’s last four starts, with Ervin picking up the loss in three of the four games. Los Angeles is 7-3 in Santana’s last 10 home starts versus the Rangers.

Santana’s faced the Rangers four times already this season, with this home start being his fifth and final start of the year. The Angels are 1-3 in the Dominican's four starts versus Texas, with only one of those starts coming in Anaheim (a 4-3 loss).

The ‘over’ is 5-1 in Lewis’ last six starts, while the ‘under’ is 4-1 in Santana’s last five starts.

Los Angeles first baseman Mark Trumbo is questionable for Tuesday’s game versus the Rangers. Trumbo left Sunday’s game with a sore right ankle and could miss the rest of the season.

Tuesday’s weather forecast for Anaheim looks to be a perfect night for late-September baseball with clear skies and temps in the mid-to-upper 70s at game time.

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LA Dodgers Close Year At Arizona Diamondbacks
By: Jeff Grant

The Arizona Diamondbacks have already clinched the National League West Division, but remain focused on gaining home-field advantage in the NL Divisional round if they can catch the Milwaukee Brewers, who hold a one-game advantage.

Tuesday night's first pitch against the Los Angeles Dodgers inside raucous Chase Field is scheduled for 9:40 (ET).

Arizona entered this series off a three-game sweep of the San Francisco Giants, boosting its record to 42-27 versus the division. The club is in the final stretch of playing 28 of its final 31 games against such opponents, producing an 19-6 mark thus far.

The Diamondbacks hold a 9-6 series advantage over the Dodgers coming into the final three meetings of the season, including an even 3-3 mark at tonight’s venue.

Success since the All-Star break has directly led to the team’s run to the division title. The Diamondbacks lead all major league teams with 27 home wins since that point. Arizona is also one of three teams in the league that is undefeated when leading after eight innings, posting an 84-0 record, joined by the Boston Red Sox (75-0) and Detroit Tigers (79-0).

Outfielder Justin Upton could miss some time in the final games of the regular season after getting hit in the helmet by San Francisco’s hard-throwing Tim Lincecum on Sunday. Upton is listed as day-to-day.

Jarrod Parker is expected to make his first MLB start in this contest. The ninth overall pick of the 2007 draft underwent Tommy John surgery in 2009 and missed the entire 2010 season. It’s expected that he will be a serious candidate to join the starting rotation during the 2011 campaign.

Parker tallied an 11-8 record and 3.79 ERA at Double-A Mobile this year, helping to lead the squad to the Southern League championship.

Bettors will find that the Diamondbacks are 35-17 at home versus right-handed starters.

Los Angeles has plenty to play for in trying to end the season with a record above .500. The team has won seven of its last nine games and has gone 43-27 since July 7.

Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp is also getting plenty of media attention as he makes a run at the NL MVP award, while also staying in the conversation of possibly winning the Triple Crown. The All-Star entered the series tied with St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols with 37 home runs, leading the league RBIs, while sitting seven points behind Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun with a .324 batting average.

Hiroki Kuroda (13-16, 3.17 ERA) will make his 32nd start of the season, coming in off two consecutive home wins over the Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants. He allowed four runs (three earned) and 10 hits over 13 innings over that span.

The right-hander has registered an even 7-7 mark and 3.05 ERA in 14 road starts, issuing 25 free passes and compiling 75 strikeouts.

Los Angeles is 1-4 in Kuroda’s last five road starts versus the Diamondbacks, while the ‘under’ is 4-1 in the last five meetings overall in the desert.

With temperatures still reaching the century mark in Phoenix, the roof is likely to be closed at Chase Field for the entire series.

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Tuesday's Streaking and Slumping Starting Pitchers


Streaking

Jeanmar Gomez, Cleveland Indians (5-2, 3.52 ERA)

Gomez has won five straight starts and hasn’t allowed more than two runs in an outing since July 17. He pitched the Indians to an 11-2 win over the White Sox last week, allowing two runs over six innings while striking out three and walking two. The youngster hasn’t thrown 100 pitches in a start this season with his longest outing going 6 2/3 innings.

Javier Vazquez, Florida Marlins (12-11, 3.77 ERA)

The beat goes on for the veteran as he hasn’t allowed a run in 25 consecutive innings, a Marlins franchise record. Vazquez has allowed only 10 hits and three walks while striking out 20 batters over that span. However, he’s still considering retirement in the offseason.

“[Vazquez] has been a professional and a quiet leader his whole career,” Marlins manager Jack McKeon said. “I hate to see him think about quitting because he’s so good with the younger pitchers and teaching them what it takes to have a long career.”

Slumping

Bartolo Colon, New York Yankees (8-10, 4.02 ERA)

The 38-year-old is showing his age lately and hasn’t won a start since July 30. He has lasted just seven combined innings over his last two starts, giving up 11 total runs. He was drilled for seven hits and five earned runs in just three innings in a 15-8 loss to Tampa Bay last week, putting his playoff rotation spot in jeopardy.

"When we went into this year we weren't sure how many innings we could get out of him, so there is some concern there.'' Yankees manager Joe Girardi told reporters. "It's location, it's movement and it's velocity. That's why were concerned about him. We’ll just continue to evaluate him.''

Derek Lowe, Atlanta Braves (9-16, 4.92 ERA)

Lowe is 0-4 with a 8.24 ERA this month, but seemed to make progress in his last start with a new delivery he’s been working on. He held the Marlins to three runs in 6 1/3 innings while keeping his hands down to slow down his move to the plate.

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Tuesday's Best MLB Bets


Los Angeles Dodgers at Arizona Diamondbacks (n/a)

Matt Kemp has some work to do if he’s going to pick up the first Triple Crown baseball has seen since Carl Yastrzemski turned the trick back in 1967.

He went into Monday’s action leading the NL with 119 RBIs and was tied with Albert Pujols in home runs (37), but was nine points back of Ryan Braun’s .333 batting average.

"If I have any chance at getting there, my mindset, my approach can't change," Kemp told reporters. "I'm not going to be trying to hit home runs or worrying about hits. Once I start to do that, that's when I lose my focus and I won't be successful. I have to stay focused and do the same things that have gotten me to where I am at right now."

He is a career .304 hitter at Chase Field and will be up against rookie starter Jarrod Parker, who makes his first big-league start.

Pick: Dodgers

Cleveland Indians at Detroit Tigers (-165,9)

It’s been a tough year for Grady Sizemore and the Cleveland Indians. Sizemore has battled injuries for most of the season and the Indians could never really keep it together long enough to stay in the playoff race.

They finish up the season in Detroit without Sizemore, who has been shut down to avoid more damage to his knees.

"There's no need for Grady to play," said manager Manny Acta. "The knee is not 100 percent. It's still an issue for him."

Meanwhile, playing in Detroit – and against the Tigers in general – has been a major issue for the Tribe all season long. They had lost seven straight against the Tigers and 20 of their last 26 games in the Motor City heading into Monday’s series opener.

But while they won’t have Sizemore, they will have Jeanmar Gomez on the hill and he deserves some respect. Gomez hasn’t allowed more than two runs in any of his last five starts – all wins.

Pick: Indians