SportSpies: Tuesday MLB Insider Report - Best You'll Find Anywhere!

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Pittsburgh Pirates

-The Pirates suffered a 10-2 loss last night after snapping their five-game losing streak with a 2-1 victory over the Mets on Sunday afternoon. Pittsburgh has lost 13 of its last 15 games and has gone 7-24 in their last 31 games.
-Among Pittsburgh’s 91 home runs this season, 54 have been clubbed by left-handed batters. That figure ranks fifth among NL clubs with the Phillies and Rockies hitting a league-leading 75 homers apiece by their left-handed batters. The Braves (60) and Diamondbacks (59) rank third and fourth respectively.
-The club has dropped nine of its last 11 games against St. Louis at PNC Park since winning five straight from 9/12/08 to 5/13/09.
-Pittsburgh has gone 2-6 thus far on this 10-game homestand.
-The Pirates have homered eight times in the first eight games of this 10-game homestand and have hit 17 homrs in the last 13 games played at PNC Park.
-SP Paul Maholm has lost five of his last six starts coming into tonight’s contest. During this stretch, he has posted an 8.07 ERA and has received two runs of support or less when he is on the mound five times.
-Six of Maholm’s seven wins in 2010 have come against the NL Central, combining to go 5-0 against the Cubs (3-0) and Reds (2-0), but has gone a combined 1-4 against Houston (1-2), Milwaukee (0-1) and St. Louis (0-1).

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Milwaukee Brewers

-3B Casey McGehee enters tonight’s game with 24 RBI in August, which leads the major leagues. He is looking to break the team record for RBI in the month of August (32).
-The bullpen has a 1.64 ERA over the last 11 games and has held opponents to a .154 batting average.
-Milwaukee is 30-52 all-time against the Dodgers, including 2-1 this season. The Brewers haven’t posted a winning mark versus Los Angeles since going 4-3 in 2000. The team is 15-24 all-time at home, including 10-16 at Miller Park.
-The Brewers are 30-32 at home and have gone 10-10-0 in series play.
-SP Dave Bush is 27-24 with a 4.18 ERA in 74 games (70 starts) in his career at Miller Park. He is 3-5 with a 4.62 ERA in 13 starts this season.
-Bush is an even 1-1 with a 3.56 ERA in four starts against the Dodgers and received a no decision in his only start this season on 5/6 at Dodger Stadium, as the Brewers took a 7-3 loss (5IP/3R).

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Detroit Tigers

-The Tigers defeated the Royals 12-3 last night at Comerica Park, the club’s seventh win in the last 10 games. Detroit has won the first four games of the current homestand by a margin of 31-6.
-Detroit finished with 12 hits last night, marking the 54th time during the 2010 season the club has finished with 10-or-more hits in a game. The Tigers have compiled a 39-15 record in the 54 games with a double-digit hit total.
-1B Miguel Cabrera enters tonight hitting .350 in his career versus the Royals with 14 home runs and 42 RBI in 47 games.
-Closer Jose Valverde has converted each of his last 24 save opportunities.
-The club is 23-25 versus the AL Central division this season.
-SP Rick Porcello has gone 8-5 with a 3.96 ERA over his last 17 starts at Comerica Park. He has allowed three earned runs-or-fewer in 13 of the 17 starts.
-Porcello has not allowed a home run in three consecutive starts after allowing nine home runs over his previous eight outings.

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Philadelphia Phillies

-The Phillies lost to the Astros, 3-2, at Citizens Bank Park. The team is now 14-6 in August, after going 15-13 in July.
-Philadelphia has been held to two runs or fewer in four (1-3) of their last five games. They are 2-3 in their last five games and have been outscored, 16-12, in that span.
-The team has hit only four home runs over their last 12 games.
-Over their last 30 games (22-8), the starting staff has posted a 14-7 record and 2.87 ERA.
-This season the Phillies have issued a NL-low 314 walks. Among all MLB teams, only Minnesota has walked fewer batters (278).
-Philadelphia is 19-15 against NL Central teams this season, as the pitching staff has posted a 3.69 ERA. Over the last three seasons at Citizens Bank Park, the Phillies are 37-16 against NL Central clubs.
-Since July 22, the Phillies are tied with the Minnesota Twins for the best record in the majors at 22-8.
-SP Cole Hamels has not received a run of support over his last three games while he is in the game (20.0IP). He is winless in his last seven starts despite posting a 2.87 ERA over that stretch. The Phillies have scored just 10 runs combined over that span.
-Hamels is 18-8 with a 3.21 ERA in 39 career starts against NL Central clubs, his best career ERA against any division.

[LordCC]

Good stuff as always!

[Sport Spies]

Los Angeles Angels

-Los Angeles has dropped three of its last four contests and six of the last eight games to fall two games under .500. The club is 9-11 this month and 15-20 since the All-Star break.
-The Angels went 1-for-12 with RISP last night and are batting .203 with RISP this month.
-The team holds an all-time home record of 41-17 versus Tampa Bay - the club’s best home record versus any opponent. The Halos are 14-1-1 in their last 16 series at Angel Stadium.
-Manager Mike Scioscia is 4-0 in all-time season series versus former disciple, Tampa Bay skipper Joe Maddon.
-Closer Brian Fuentes has had 19 of his last 20 outings being scoreless, lowering his ERA from 6.23 to 3.22. He has converted 17 of his last 18 save chances.
-SP Ervin Santana has won three straight starts and five of his last six. The Halos have scored six or more runs in 12 of his 13 wins this season and two runs or less in six of his eight losses.
-Santana is 13-6 with a 4.23 ERA in August during his career.

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San Diego Padres

-The Padres return from a 10-game road trip (7-3) and now begin a six-game homestand tonight with the first of three against the Diamondbacks.
-San Diego has not lost to the Diamondbacks at Petco Park this season, going 6-0 at home and 2-4 on the road.
-Team has stolen 106 bases this year, ranking second in the National League (NYM). The club has already stolen more bases that it did in any of the last three seasons.
-Closer Heath Bell has converted each of his last 24 save opportunities and now ranks first in the National League with 37 on the season.
-At 14-7 in August, the Padres need to win one of the remaining eight games in order to clinch a seventh straight month of winning baseball.
-The Padres are 14-11 this year when SP Clayton Richard starts this year. He is 4-0 with a 4.23 ERA over his last five starts.
-Richard has won each of his past three home outings since June 30 and has gone 5-3 with a 3.24 ERA in 12 starts at home this year.

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Atlanta Braves

-Last night’s 5-4 loss dropped the Braves to 19-20 in one-run decisions this season (16-5 at home, 3-15 on the road).
-The Braves have gone 43-32 at Colorado, including 31-31 at Coors Field (2-2 last season).
-In the last two games, the top two hitters of the Braves lineup (Infante and Heyward) have gone a combined 13-for-20 with nine runs, four home runs and eight RBIs.
-Atlanta is 2-2 on this six-game road trip to Chicago (2-1) and Colorado (0-1) and have won nine of their last 13 games.
-Pitching staff has posted a 3.10 ERA since the All-Star break, which is the best mark in the National League and the second-best mark in the majors in that span (Oakland - 2.74).
-SP Derek Lowe is 9-7 with a 4.37 ERA in 19 career starts versus the Rockies, including a 9-5 win at Turner Field on April 16.
-Lowe will be making his 13th road start of the season, where he is 3-6 with a 4.96 ERA. In 14 starts at home, he is 8-5 with a 3.81 ERA.

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New York Yankees

-The Yankees started their road trip with a 3-2 loss at Toronto, as RHP Ivan Nova made his first MLB start. Of the team’s 61 road games this season, 35 have been decided by three runs or less, including nine of the last 10 and 12 of the last 16.
-New York is 21-16 since the All-Star break and has won eight of its last 13 games and 29 of 46.
-With the bases loaded this season, the Yankees are batting .419 with 10 home runs and 162 RBI, leading the majors in each category.
-The club is 26-19 versus the AL East this season.
-New York is 14-5 in their last 19 games versus left-handed starters, winning the last four such contests. They are 26-17 this season overall against them, including a 12-9 mark on the road.
-Pitching staff owns the lowest road ERA in the majors this season at 3.57
-The Yankees are 1-3 at Toronto this year, making their second trip there this season, after going 6-3 at the Rogers Centre in 2009.
-SP Dustin Moseley made his second start as a Yankee against the Blue Jays on August 3, recording his first loss with the club, allowing five earned runs and going a career high 7.1 IP.

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Boston Red Sox

-With last night’s win, Boston improved to 18 games over .500 for the first time this season. At 72-54, the Sox have the seventh-best record in the majors and the fourth-best in the AL after the Yankees, Rays and Twins.
-The Red Sox have won 10 of 16 versus the Mariners since June 7, 2008 and 13 of 22 since the start of August 2007.
-Last night’s 6-3 win over the Mariners improved the team’s record in series openers this year to 25-16. Overall, Boston is a combined 52-29 in the first two games of a series, but just 20-25 in the third and fourth games of a set.
-SP Josh Beckett is making his second start of the season versus Seattle, not receiving a decision in his last start at Safeco Field on July 23, his first outing since being activated from the DL. He owns a 4-0 record with a 1.63 ERA over his five career starts against the Mariners as a member of the Red Sox since 2006.
-In that time, no other pitcher with at least 30 innings pitched as a starter against the Mariners has a better ERA than Becketts.

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