The past two National League West champions open their season against one another on Friday night as San Francisco, the +150 Bovada favorite to win the division this year, hosts Arizona, which is +190 to repeat. This ESPN2 game will have live play-by-play betting at the book and the Snakes are -125 favorites on MLB odds.
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The Snakes were one of baseball’s big surprises a year ago, jumping from last in the division with just 65 wins in 2010 to 94 wins and a comfortable eight-game cushion over the Giants last year for Arizona’s first division title since 2007. The starting rotation was a major strength a year ago. That group in 2012 includes four pitchers who exceeded 200 innings last season. Three of them posted sub-4.00 ERAs and the fourth, newcomer Trevor Cahill from Oakland, received Cy Young votes the previous year.
Right-hander Ian Kennedy had a breakout season a year ago, going 21-4 with a 2.88 ERA. He finished fourth in the Cy Young voting and tied Cy winner Clayton Kershaw for the NL lead in wins. Kennedy gets the call on Opening Night and he totally owned the Giants a year ago, going 3-0 with a 1.22 ERA in five starts.
The Giants slipped to 86-78 a year ago off their 2010 World Series title largely because star catcher Buster Posey suffered horrific ankle and leg injuries in a play at the plate in May and missed the season. The 2010 Rookie of the Year might be the most important player to his team in all of baseball and is healthy now. The San Francisco offense was a major issue a year ago and the only significant newcomer is Melky Cabrera, who was acquired via trade from Kansas City for pitcher Jonathan Sanchez.
San Francisco ace Tim Lincecum, the Cy Young winner in 2008-09, gets the call for the Giants. He “slipped” to a 13-14 record last year but still had r a 2.74 ERA, 217 innings pitched and 220 strikeouts. Lincecum, like most Giants starters last year, didn’t get much run support. This will be his fourth straight Opening Day start and he is 1-1. Lincecum faced Arizona four times last year, going 0-3 with a 4.32 ERA.
The Giants and Diamondbacks split 18 meetings last season although Arizona outscored San Francisco by 13 total runs.
The Texas Rangers are the two-time American League champions, but they are only the 11/2 favorites (with Boston) on Bovada’s MLB baseball odds to win the Junior Circuit again. The Rangers probably prefer to be somewhat undervalued as they open the 2012 season on Friday afternoon by hosting the Chicago White Sox, with Texas a -175 betting favorite.
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With the L.A. Angels adding Albert Pujols and former Rangers ace C.J. Wilson, Texas isn’t even a favorite in its own division – it is +110 to win the AL West for the third straight year while the Halos are -125. With Wilson gone, the Rangers will give right-hander Colby Lewis, the 32-year-veteran of the staff, his first Opening Day start. Lewis has pitched over 200 innings each of the past two years for Texas, and went 14-10 with a 4.40 ERA last year. He gave up a whopping 35 homers during the season but was terrific during the playoffs. Lewis did face the White Sox once last season, pitching a complete game in blanking Chicago on just five hits.
This marks the fourth consecutive year that Texas has had a different opening day starting pitcher. After starting spring training with three wins in their first 14 games, the Rangers won seven of their last eight in Arizona. Ian Kinsler was hot this spring with five of the Rangers’ 25 homers.
The White Sox (35/1 to win the AL pennant) are expected to take a major step back this year with Mark Buehrle and Ozzie Guillen now in Miami and closer Sergio Santos and All-Star outfielder Carlos Quentin having been traded. Manager Robin Ventura, who has no managing experience at any level, will send out lefty John Danks in the opener.
Danks was rumored to be on the trade block this offseason but got a five-year extension. He is the new ace with Buerhle gone and this will be his first Opening Day start – he began his pro career with the Rangers. Danks was 8-12 last season (he started 0-8) with a 4.33 ERA. He started three times vs. Texas and was 0-1 with a 3.38 ERA.
Texas and the White Sox split eight games in 2011. The Rangers tied for the AL’s best home record last year at 52-29, while Chicago was 43-38 on the road.
Is there a closer controversy already in Boston? With expected closer Andrew Bailey out until at least the All-Star break after thumb surgery, Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine surprisingly named Alfredo Aceves for the job over Mark Melancon, who closed well for Houston a year ago.
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That move backfired on Thursday in Detroit as Aceves hit a batter and then gave up the game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the ninth as the Tigers won 3-2. Boston looks to avoid a 0-2 start for the second year in a row Saturday and there is live play-by-play betting on Bovada’s MLB odds for this game. The Red Sox are -115 favorites.
The Red Sox offense was completely shut down by Justin Verlander in the opener, managing just two hits in eight innings and was down 2-0. But Boston got to Tigers closer Jose Valverde for two runs on three hits in the top of the ninth to tie it. Valverde blew a save for the first time in 52 chances, a streak that included 49 in a row last season, but would end up with the win after Detroit rallied in the bottom of the ninth off Melancon, who was credited with the loss after allowing two hits to start the ninth, and Aceves. New Tiger Prince Fielder was 1-for-3 with an RBI in his debut.
The Red Sox turn to Josh Beckett on Saturday. His start was in question earlier this week when he visited two specialists because of his own thumb problem, but he says it’s no big deal and he actually has been dealing with it for 18 months. Beckett says he expects to pitch through the discomfort all season. He was 13-7 with a 2.89 ERA last season but struggled big time in September when Boston collapsed. Beckett made two starts last year vs. the Tigers, going 0-1 with a 2.25 ERA.
The Tigers counter with righty Doug Fister, who was brilliant in Detroit after coming over in a deadline deal from Seattle. He was the Tigers’ best pitcher this spring, going 4-0 with a 1.86 ERA. Last year, Fister was 8-1 with a 1.19 ERA in 10 starts as a Tiger. He was a Mariner when he made his lone start against Boston last year, shutting out the Red Sox for 5.2 innings and getting the win.
The Los Angeles Angels will get their first chance to show off their offseason purchase on Friday as they play host to the Kansas City Royals in the MLB betting season opener for both teams.
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The Angels missed the playoffs altogether last season after posting a record of 86-76, so over the winter they went out and spent some big money – most notably signing free-agent first baseman Albert Pujols to a 10-year, $250 million contract.
So Pujols will be in the heart of the Angels' lineup on Friday as they take on the Royals; Pujols hit .299 for the Cardinals last season with 37 home runs and 99 RBI in 147 games.
Los Angeles also signed starting pitcher C.J. Wilson in the offseason, but the Opening Day start on Friday will go to Jered Weaver. The right-hander went 18-8 for Los Angeles last season, posting a 2.41 ERA with 198 strikeouts over his 235.2 innings of work.
The Royals will counter with Bruce Chen on the mound on Friday night, with the left-hander going 12-8 last season with a 3.77 ERA and 97 strikeouts in his 155 innings pitched.
Kansas City went 71-91 last year in yet another rebuilding campaign for the club, and they're well back at 80/1 on the World Series odds at Bovada entering the season. The Royals also sit at 40/1 to win the AL Pennant and at +1000 to win the AL Central.
The Angels are set at 15/2 to win the World Series, which has them behind only the Phillies and Yankees. Los Angeles then has 4/1 odds to win the AL Pennant and they're the -125 favorites to win the AL West division title this season.
CHICAGO -- Major League Baseball ticket prices are flat for the first time in two decades.
The average is $26.92 this year, up 1 cent from last season and the smallest increase in the survey's 21-year history, the Team Marketing Report said Friday. That's a 1.5% increase in 2010 and 1.2% last year.
The average was $77.36 in the NFL last year, and $57.10 in the NHL and $48.48 in the NBA in their current seasons.
Boston has the highest average for a nonpremium ticket at $53.38, followed by the New York Yankees at $51.55.
Moving into their new ballpark, the Miami Marlins had the highest rise, a 36.5% increase to $26.02. Pittsburgh's average increased 15.3% to $17.74 and Kansas City's went up 15.2% to $21.84.
The Chicago White Sox cut their average 28.7% to $29, and the Los Angeles Dodgers slashed theirs 24.1% to $23.22 after seeing attendance drop last season under owner Frank McCourt, who is in the process of selling the team to Magic Johnson's group.
Chicago: The White Sox have signed veteran right-hander Kip Wells, their former No. 1 draft pick, to a minor league deal. Wells hasn't pitched in the major leagues since 2009 for Cincinnati. Miami: Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen apologized for telling a magazine that he loves Fidel Castro, a comment that prompted to team to issue a statement denouncing the Cuban dictator.
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On Sept. 12, 1901, right-hander Joe (Iron Man) McGinnity started both ends of a doubleheader against the Philadelphia Athletics. McGinnity's mound opponent in the first game of the twin bill was southpaw Eddie Plank, who was on his way to finishing his rookie season with 17 victories.
A decade later, on Aug. 20, 1911, Plank made a start against St. Louis Browns lefty Earl Hamilton, and he helped lead the eventual World Champion A's to one of their 101 victories on the season.
By 1921, Plank was out of the Majors and in the record books as the winningest left-hander in Major League history, with 326 victories, but Hamilton was still twirling a baseball. On Aug. 22 of that season, Hamilton picked up his 96th career win, beating the Boston Braves, 10-8. The final pitcher for the Boston team that day was southpaw Johnny Cooney, who would go on to claim 34 victories in a career that began on the mound and ended in 1944 as an outfielder.
On April 19, 1942, Cooney was in center field for the Braves, affording him an interesting perspective as a southpaw named Warren Spahn made his Major League debut and pitched two-thirds of an inning of scoreless relief.
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In what can only be described as perfect timing, Shelton officially welcomed Hirschbeck's Sports Bar & Grille to the community in a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday, the evening before Major League Baseball's Opening Day.
The new bar, located in Stop & Shop plaza at 882 Bridgeport Ave. in Shelton—a city that's widely known as birthplace and home of The Wiffle Ball—is a family-owned operation from Mark and John Hirschbeck. They're the first brothers in MLB history to umpire at the same time.
Mark worked in the National League from 1987 to 1999, and both major leagues from 2000 until his retirement in 2003, while John worked in the American League from 1984 to 1999 and the major leagues through 2011, according to baseball stat website Retrosheet.
Mark said he was particularly thankful for Tuesday's ceremony given his brother's ongoing battle with cancer.
"John recently went through chemotherapy so this opening means a lot to me and to him. We're so thankful. I wish he was here right now to be a part of this," Mark said.
Patrons and staff alike say much of the bar's appeal lies in its authenticity. "A lot has to do with people like Mark being a national umpire—being there, seeing things, having stories and real facts about what happened," said Joe Petrucelli shortly before the ribbon-cutting.
The Hirschbecks said they wanted to bring the meaning of a "real" sports bar to the area by adding three 80-inch TVs to the numerous other TVs throughout the restaurant so that missing a game is nearly impossible. And should you get bored with what's currently happening in the sports world, the restaurant walls are lined with signed jerseys and memorabilia, accumulated over 30 years from players and managers. In fact, the first thing you'll notice when walking into Hirschbeck's is the Yankees' home plate from 1984.
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Yes it’s very early, but one of the big surprises so far this baseball season is the New York Mets. Most thought the Mets would be a mess this year after shaving tens of millions of dollars in payroll this offseason and watching players like Jose Reyes walk away. But the Mets are the only 4-0 team in the National League and they are -115 favorites on Bovada’s MLB baseball odds to make that 5-0 on Tuesday night against the visiting Washington Nationals.
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New York won the opener of this series 4-3 on Monday thanks to Daniel Murphy’s walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning. It was the second walk-off hit of his career (last in August 2009). The Mets, who trailed 3-0 entering the bottom of the third, had one of the majors’ worst bullpens last season but had a 0.90 bullpen ERA entering Monday (fourth in ML😎. And that number will shrink as the relievers held Washington hitless and scoreless in 3 1/3 innings. Third baseman David Wright continued his hot start with a hit and RBI – he’s batting .583, which leads the NL. It’s New York’s first 4-0 start in five years.
The Mets turn to Dillon Gee for his first start. In four starts against the Nats last season, Gee finished 2-0 with a 3.60 ERA. He was also 7-3 with a 3.17 ERA in 15 games at Citi Field. Washington goes with lefty Ross Detwiler in his first start. He beat out John Lannan for the No. 5 spot in the Nationals’ rotation with a 3.06 spring ERA but likely will be headed to the bullpen sooner rather than later. Detwiler is 1-1 with 4.50 ERA in his career vs. New York.
Wright has had success against Detwiler, batting .500 with a homer and four RBIs. The Mets will sit starting first baseman Ike Davis because the Nats are starting a lefty; plus Davis is 0-for-15 so far this year. Justin Turner will get his first-ever start at first base in place of Davis. The Mets are liking the new shorter fences at Citi Field. They have now out-homered opponents 2-0 in balls that would have remained in play under the old Citi Field dimensions.
The American League’s two most impressive teams this early season, the Tampa Bay Rays and Detroit Tigers, open a three-game set Tuesday afternoon at Comerica Park. It’s the only series featuring unbeaten teams early this week and also the only one that has two clubs from last year’s playoffs. The Tigers are -190 series favorites with Tampa Bay at +155 on Bovada’s MLB baseball odds.
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Detroit swept the Boston Red Sox in Motown over the weekend. The Tigers put up 26 runs and hit .345 against Boston. Reigning AL batting champion Miguel Cabrera looks even better this year with Prince Fielder hitting behind him now; Cabrera leads the AL with three homers (tied with Oakland’s Yoenis Cespedes) and eight RBIs while hitting .455. Fielder also is off to a fast start, hitting .417 with two homers. Yet they aren’t even the hottest Tigers – leadoff hitter Austin Jackson is hitting .571 with an AL-high eight hits.
The Rays, meanwhile, swept the New York Yankees at Tropicana Field over the weekend. Tampa Bay took first-inning leads in all three games and third baseman Evan Longoria leads baseball with a .600 average. First baseman Carlos Pena, brought back after a season with the Cubs, is hitting .500 with two homers and seven RBIs. It’s the first time since 2002 that the Rays have started with three straight wins. By the way, Tuesday’s game starts a unique stretch of seven straight day games for the Rays.
The Tigers opened as a slight -115 favorite at Bovada for Tuesday’s opener. Righty Rick Porcello makes his 2012 debut as does Tampa Bay rookie lefty Matt Moore. Porcello is 1-1 with a 3.46 ERA in his career vs. Tampa Bay. But Porcello is 4-7 with a 6.04 ERA in 14 career April starts. Moore is considered the top pitching prospect in baseball and dominated the Texas Rangers in his ALDS start a year ago. He hasn’t faced the Tigers.
Detroit won six of the seven meetings between the two clubs last year, outscoring the Rays, 26-16, in the season series.
After managing to finish ahead of the New York Mets in the NL East last season, the Washington Nationals will begin an MLB betting series against their division rival on Monday at Citi Field.
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On Monday the Nationals are expected to give the ball to Edwin Jackson as he makes his first regular-season start for the club. The right-hander split last season between the White Sox and the Cardinals, posting a 12-9 record over 31 starts.
Slated to start for the Mets on Monday is Mike Pelfrey, who sported an ugly 7-13 record for New York last season. The right-hander posted a 4.74 ERA in 2011, up over a run from his 2010 level (3.66), and his WHIP increased from 1.38 to 1.47.
Looking ahead, on Tuesday the pitching matchup is expected to be Ross Detwiler for the Nationals against Dillon Gee of the Mets, with Stephen Strasburg pencilled in to start for Washington on Wednesday against New York's Johan Santana.
The Nationals paid off for their supporters more than they have in the past last season, winning 80 games compared to the Mets' 77-victory total. And, with several developing stars on their roster, the Nats are ahead of the Mets on the MLB futures right now as well.
Heading into their series on Monday the Nationals were at 30/1 at Bovada on the odds to win the World Series this season and at 15/1 to win the NL Pennant this year. The Mets, meanwhile, sat back at 75/1 and 40/1 on those two odds lists.
Mets outfielder Andres Torres went on the disabled list last week after straining his calf in the team's season opener. Nationals slugger Michael Morse (strained lat) is also on the DL but is expected to be able to return to action at some point this week.
The Minnesota Twins won only 63 games last year, their fewest since the 1999 season. But the Twins expected to contend this season for a wild-card spot at worst with the healthy returns of Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and Denard Span.
Things haven’t started well, however, as at 0-4 Minnesota is the American League’s only winless team. And to get that first W, the Twins will have to beat Angels pitcher and 2011 AL Cy Young runner-up Jered Weaver on Wednesday night in Minneapolis. The Halos opened as -155 favorites on Bovada’s MLB baseball odds.
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Minnesota has lost it first four games for the first time since 1969 – they would win their division that year -- and they haven’t been close as the Twins have been outscored 20-6. Clearly the offense has been a major problem. Minnesota ranks last in the AL in runs, on-base percentage (.252) and slugging percentage (.240), and second to last in batting average (.165) and home runs (2). The Twins have used a different lineup in each of their four games.
Morneau is doing OK by hitting .308 but is without an RBI. Mauer is now arguably the most overpaid player in baseball and is hitting just .143. The team’s best player thus far has been new addition Josh Willingham, who is hitting .385 with both of the team’s homers and four of its six RBIs. The pitching staff hasn’t been much better, ranking 12th in the AL with a 5.18 ERA and without a quality start thus far.
Minnesota turns to presumed ace Carl Pavano on Wednesday night. Pavano (0-1, 5.14) surrendered four runs on five hits in seven innings of an Opening Day loss to the Orioles. The Halos counter with Weaver, who was the best pitcher in the AL last year not named Verlander. Weaver was 18-8 with a 2.41 ERA. And Weaver (1-0, 0.00) was brilliant in his first start of 2012, striking out 10 and allowing just four hits in a win over Kansas City. In 10 career outings against the Twins, Weaver is 5-2 with a 3.90 ERA.
After taking two of three games against the mighty Phillies at home and paying out on the MLB betting lines to start their season the Pittsburgh Pirates will next begin a series in Los Angeles against the Dodgers on Tuesday.
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The Pirates dropped a 1-0 decision to the Phillies and stud pitcher Roy Halladay in their opener last Thursday, but bounced back with 2-1 and 5-4 victories over the weekend.
Now they'll turn to starting pitcher Kevin Correia on Tuesday afternoon as they try to run their winning streak to three games. Righthander Correia, who will be making his season debut, went 12-11 for Pittsburgh last season with a 4.79 ERA and 77 strikeouts over his 154 innings of work.
In his career against the Dodgers Correia is 5-4 with a 4.41 ERA over 25 appearances.
Correia, though, will be up against Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw on Tuesday afternoon, with the defending NL Cy Young award winner looking to bounce back after leaving his first start of the season against the Padres after only three innings with an illness.
Lefthander Kershaw held the Padres to two hits in those three scoreless innings before exiting the contest. Last year Kershaw went 21-5 with a 2.28 ERA and 248 strikeouts in 233 1-3 innings;he's 0-1 with a 3.60 ERA in four career appearances against Pittsburgh.
Erik Bedard (0-1, 1.29 ERA) is scheduled to get the ball for Pittsburgh in the second game of this series on Wednesday night, with Chad Billingsley (1-0, 0.00 ERA) penciled in to start for Los Angeles. On Thursday the probable pitchers are the Pirates' Jeff Karstens (0-0, 1.50 ERA) and the Dodgers' Chris Capuano (0-0, 7.71 ERA).
On the MLB futures board at Bovada this week both the Dodgers and the Pirates are listed as longshots to win the NL Pennant; Los Angeles sits at 18/1 on that list, with Pittsburgh even farther back at 35/1.
After a day off on Tuesday the Miami Marlins will continue their three-game road series against the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday looking for a repeat of Monday's result. Get your MLB odds at Bovada.
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Miami rolled over Cole Hamels and the Phillies 6-2 in the opener of the series on Monday, knocking around the lefthander for four runs (three earned) on eight hits in his 5 1-3 innings of work. Hamels did, however, manage to strike out nine batters in that contest.
Omar Infante blasted a pair of home runs for the Marlins in Monday's win, with Austin Kearns adding a solo shot while filling in for Giancarlo Stanton – who missed the game with a sore knee. Jose Reyes had two hits to bring his season average up to .318.
Anibal Sanchez earned the win for the Marlins on Monday, lasting 6 1-3 innings while giving up just two runs on six hits and fanning four batters. Freddy Galvis drove in both runs for the Phillies in the losing cause.
The Marlins will really have their work cut out for them on Wednesday, though, as they'll be up against Phillies ace Roy Halladay – who is coming off a dominant win in his first start of the season. The righthander faced the Pirates in his first outing, allowing just two hits and no walks while fanning five in eight shutout innings.
Josh Johnson is the probable pitcher for Miami on Wednesday, and he was tagged with a loss by the Cardinals in his first start of the season after allowing three runs on 10 hits in six innings of work. Johnson struck out four and walked two in that contest.
Miami will need better outings from Johnson this season if they're going to be able to pay off on the MLB futures at Bovada; at last update they were at 22/1 to win the World Series this season, and at 10/1 to claim the NL Pennant. The Phillies were the 6/1 favorites to win the World Series to go along with their 9/4 NL Pennant odds.
First pitch for Wednesday's game is set for 7:05pm ET in Philadelphia, and the teams will close out the series at the same time on Thursday night; Miami's Mark Buehrle (0-1, 3.00 ERA) is set to take on Philly's Joe Blanton (0-1, 13.50 ERA) in the series finale.
It’s probably too early to panic for Boston Red Sox fans even though the team is 1-5 – after all, the club went 0-6 last season and was destined for the playoffs before a historic collapse in September. But in between that start and the season’s final month, Boston was the best team in baseball. Still, there is no doubt some pressure for the Red Sox to win their home opener on Friday afternoon against the Tampa Bay Rays. Boston is a -125 favorite at Bovada’s MLB baseball odds.
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Dating to the start of last September, Boston is 8-25 in its past 33 games. And the Sox haven’t won back-to-back games since a doubleheader sweep of the Oakland Athletics last Aug. 27, a span of 35 games.
Certainly the schedule-makers didn’t do Boston any favors to start 2012 as the Sox had to open at Detroit, which might be the best team in baseball, and then play three at what looks like an AL East contender in the Toronto Blue Jays. But that doesn’t excuse the fact Boston’s 6.40 ERA is the worst in baseball and that hitters are batting .283 against Red Sox pitching (third-worst in ML😎. The team’s top two healthy relievers, set-up man Mark Melancon and closer Alfred Aceves, have ERAs of 27.00 and 36.00, respectively. Melancon has two losses and Aceves has one blown save.
And on offense, the power has been non-existent as Boston is tied for the fewest homers with two (one each by Dustin Pedroia and Adrian Gonzalez). Ryan Sweeney has been a pleasant surprise, hitting a team-leading .444. But Jacoby Ellsbury his hitting just .130, Kevin Youkilis .100 and Jarrod Saltalamacchia .077.
Perhaps a return to Fenway will help as Boston was 45-36 at home a year ago. The Red Sox go with Josh Beckett on Friday against Rays lefty David Price.
Beckett (0-1, 13.50) was rocked for seven runs and five home runs in 4 2/3 innings in his first outing by Detroit. This will be the fifth time in seven years Beckett will start the home opener. He was 2-0 with a 0.78 ERA in three starts vs. Tampa Bay last year. Price beat the Yankees in his first start, allowing two runs on five hits in 6.1 innings. He was 3-1 with a 2.93 ERA in five starts vs. Boston in 2011.
After a bit of a panic-inducing 0-3 start, the New York Yankees look right again as they are on a four-game winning streak heading into Saturday afternoon’s home game against the Los Angeles Angels. New York is a -120 favorite on Bovada’s MLB baseball odds and there will be live play-by-play betting at the book for the nationally televised game on Fox.
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New York won its home opener 5-0 on Friday afternoon over the Halos behind eight shutout innings from Hiroki Kuroda. Alex Rodriguez hit his first homer of the season, a solo shotrun leading off the third. It was A-Rod’s 630th dinger of his career, tying him for fifth on the all-time list with former teammate Ken Griffey Jr. On the day Joe Girardi announced that he and Robinson Cano would switch lineup spots – Rodriguez hit third and Cano fourth -- A-Rod also had two singles and went 3-for-4, raising his average from .174 to .259.
The Angels, who have lost three straight, have been mostly punchless this season as they have just three home runs so far, the second-fewest in the American League. Albert Pujols was 1-for-4 in his first game in the new Yankee Stadium on Friday but is hitting just .222 and has yet to go deep. Vernon Wells was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts (he leads the team in whiffs) and is down to .192. The Angels have played seven games and their No. 3 and 4 hitters have combined for two RBIs.
The pitching matchup for this one is Angels lefty C.J. Wilson (1-0, 1.29), the team’s big pitching free-agent acquisition this offseason, against New York’s Phil Hughes (0-1, 3.86). Wilson is 0-3 in his career against the Yankees. Last season with the Rangers, Wilson faced the Yankees once and got a no-decision despite allowing just two runs and striking out 10 in eight innings. Hughes didn’t face the Angels in 2011.
The Los Angeles Dodgers take Major League Baseball’s best record into their toughest road test of this early season as L.A. begins a three-game road trip at defending NL Central champion Milwaukee on Tuesday night. And L.A. is actually a +115 underdog for Game 1 on Bovada’s MLB baseball odds.
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It’s probably fair to question the legitimacy of the Dodgers so far. Sure they are 9-1 for their best start since 1981, but they have only played the San Diego Padres and Pittsburgh Pirates so far, which are two of the worst teams in the National League. Still, L.A. is just the 11th team since 1990 to start 9-1. Just two of those clubs finished the season under .500. Four of them reached the World Series, with two – 1992 Blue Jays and 1990 Reds – winning it.
What you can’t question the legitimacy of is L.A. outfielder Matt Kemp, the runner-up to Ryan Braun last year for NL MVP. Kemp leads the majors in home runs (six), RBIs (16) and batting average (.487). Also in slugging percentage (1.026), hits (19) and runs (13). On Monday, Kemp was named NL Player of the Week for the second week in a row. He is first NL player to win the back-to-back honor to start a season and the first to win three consecutive awards (dating back to the last week of 2011) since the award’s inception in 1974. Kemp is fourth player and first since 1994 with at least six homers, 16 RBIs and a .450 average in his team's first 10 games since RBIs became official in 1920.
The Dodgers start right-hander Chad Billingsley (2-0, 0.63) on Tuesday night. He has allowed just one run in 14.1 innings and has struck out 15 batters while walking just one. But, again, he has faced to terrible offenses in the Padres and Pirates.
The Brewers (4-6) were swept over the weekend by the Atlanta Braves. Corey Hart has been the team's best hitter as he is batting .321 with four homers and eight RBIs. Milwaukee's pitching hasn’t been good, with a team ERA of 5.65 that’s 29th in the bigs and an opponents’ batting average of ,283 that is also second-to-last in MLB. Tonight's starter Yovani Gallardo (1-1, 5.91) was destroyed by the Cardinals in his first start but was better last time out vs. the Cubs, allowing just a run on five hits in seven innings for the win. Kemp has had good success vs. Gallardo, batting .333 with two RBIs in 12 at-bats.
L.A. was 2-4 vs. Milwaukee last year (1-3 at Miller Park) with each team totaling just 11 runs.
Off to rough start to the season, the Minnesota Twins will be in tough early this week as they take on the New York Yankees in a four-game series on the road starting Monday. Get your MLB odds for the set today.
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Getting the ball for the Twins in the series opener on Monday will be righthander Carl Pavano, who has struggled in both of his starts so far this season. Pavano was tagged with a loss by the Orioles in his first start (four runs over seven innings of work), then settled for a no-decision against the Angels last time out (five runs over 6 2-3 innings of work).
That has Pavano at 0-1 with an ugly 5.93 ERA this year, and he's fanned just four hitters.
The Yankees, though, have had trouble on the mound so far as well, with Freddy Garcia (5.79 ERA), CC Sabathia (6.75 ERA), and Phil Hughes (9.00 ERA) all struggling. Garcia and Hughes in particular are in danger of losing their rotation spots to veteran Andy Pettitte, who is getting back into Major League form with some Minor League outings.
New York is also waiting for the bulk of its hitters to break out, with Robinson Cano, Alex Rodriguez, Russell Martin, Curtis Granderson, and Mark Teixeira all batting below .230 heading into Sunday's action.
Minnesota has been getting good production from new starting outfielder Josh Willingham (.444 average, four home runs heading into Sunday), but is looking for more from star hitters Justin Morneau (.233) and Joe Mauer (.258).
Heading into the week the Yankees sat at 7/1 on the World Series futures at Bovada, and at 7/2 to win the American League this season. The Twins are 100/1 longshots to win the World Series to go along with their 60/1 AL Pennant odds.
First pitch for Monday's contest is set for 7:05pm ET at Yankee Stadium, with that same start time scheduled for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday as well. The Twins then head down to Tampa Bay for a weekend series against the Rays, while the Yankees go to Fenway Park for a three-game set against the rival Red Sox.
It’s a matchup of two-time Cy Young winners on Monday night in San Francisco but only Roy Halladay is pitching like one right now as his Philadelphia Phillies visit the Giants and Tim Lincecum. Philly is a -116 favorite on Bovada’s MLB baseball odds and there will be live play-by-play betting at the book. The total is a miniscule 6 for the game.
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Halladay won his Cy Youngs in 2003 while with the Blue Jays and 2010 in his first season as a Philllie – he was second in the Cy Young voting last season behind Clayton Kershaw. Lincecum won the Cy Young in 2008 and 2009. The two faced off twice during the 2010 NL Championship Series but will meet for the first time in a regular-season game. Lincecum earned the win and Halladay took the loss in Game 1 of that series in 2010, with the situations reversed in Game 5.
Halladay (2-0, 0.60) has been brilliant in 2012 despite struggling in the spring. Last time out Halladay tossed seven innings giving up one run while striking out three and walking one in Wednesday's 7-1 win over the Marlins.
Lincecum (0-1, 12.91) has been knocked around in his two starts. Last time out he couldn't get out of the third inning Wednesday in Colorado, surrendering six runs on eight hits and two walks in just 2.1 innings of work. He has allowed 11 runs, all earned, in just 7.2 innings this season and his velocity is way down. Lincecum won both of his outings against the Phillies in 2011 and is 5-2 with a 2.71 ERA in 12 games vs. Philadelphia including the postseason.
The Giants also are without closer Brian Wilson, who has been lost for the season. For now, left-hander Javier Lopez and right-handers Sergio Romo and Santiago Casilla will share the closing duty, manager Bruce Bochy said.
The Phillies outscored the Giants 15-6 in taking three of four in San Francisco last season.
The Texas Rangers will take their AL-leading 8-2 record into Boston on Tuesday to open a short two-games series against the Red Sox at Fenway Park. Get your MLB betting lines for the day's set of games at Bovada.
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The Rangers have won four games in a row heading into Tuesday's matchup, sweeping the Minnesota Twins on the road over the weekend and getting Monday off to travel to the northeast. That stretch pushed the Rangers to the top of the Junior Circuit standings and kept them ahead of the highly-touted Los Angeles Angels in the AL West.
On Tuesday night Texas will hand the ball to probable starting pitcher Colby Lewis, who is 1-0 with a tiny 1.42 ERA through his first two starts of the season. The righthander beat the White Sox in his first trip to the mound this year (two runs over six innings), then settled for a no-decision against the Mariners last time out (6 2-3 shutout innings).
Overall Lewis has fanned 15 batters and walked just one through his 12 2-3 innings. However, Lewis has had his troubles against Boston in the past, going 2-3 with a 5.01 ERA over 11 appearances (seven starts) against them.
Taking the mound for Boston on Tuesday will be Jon Lester, who is 0-1 with a solid 2.40 ERA through two starts this season. The lefthander gave up one run over seven innings against Detroit in his first outing of 2012, then allowed three runs over eight innings in a loss to the Blue Jays in his most recent start.
First pitch for Tuesday's game is set for 7:10pm ET, with the series coming to a close on Wednesday night in another 7:10pm ET start. Rangers lefthander Derek Holland (1-0, 3.38 ERA) is expected to face Red Sox righthander Josh Beckett (1-1, 5.68 ERA) that night.
On the MLB futures heading into the week the Rangers were listed at 8/1 on the odds to win the World Series at Bovada, with Boston at 12/1. Texas also held down 9/2 odds to claim the AL Pennant, with Boston at 13/2 on that list.
By now all sports bettors know what Texas Rangers outfielder and leading AL MVP candidate Josh Hamilton did on Wednesday night, becoming just the 16th player in Major League Baseball history to hit four home runs in a game as Texas blasted Baltimore 10-3. Presuming Hamilton is in the lineup again tonight, what can we look for? Bet on MLB player props at Bovada.
Hamilton took Orioles starter Jake Arrieta deep in the first and third innings, Zach Phillips in the seventh and Darren O'Day in the eighth. Hamilton also doubled, giving him 18 total bases to set the American League record. The major league record is 19 total bases, set by Shawn Green of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who hit four home runs, a double and a single in a game in 2002. The last player with four homers in a game was Toronto's Carlos Delgado late in the 2003 season.
Hamilton, who can be a free agent after this season, moved ahead of the Dodgers’ Matt Kemp for the major-league home run lead with 14, and he's now batting .406 with a major league-leading 36 RBIs. Hamilton’s four-homer night came just 17 days after Philip Humber of the Chicago White Sox tossed a perfect game in Seattle. It’s the first time in MLB history there has been a perfect game and a four-homer game in the same season.
A four-homer game is one of the rarest feats in baseball. By comparison there have been 21 perfect games and 252 no-hitters. Arguably the rarest feat is a 20-strikeout game for a pitcher, which has been accomplished five times. There have been 15 unassisted triple plays in MLB history.
The Rangers are solid -130 favorites on Bovada’s odds for tonight’s game in Baltimore as Texas starts Colby Lewis (3-1, 2.97) against Baltimore lefty Wei-Yin Chen (2-0, 2.76), whom Hamilton has never faced. Left-handed hitters, as Hamilton is, have yet to homer off Chen this season. Texas has won seven in a row against the Orioles.
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The Snakes were one of baseball’s big surprises a year ago, jumping from last in the division with just 65 wins in 2010 to 94 wins and a comfortable eight-game cushion over the Giants last year for Arizona’s first division title since 2007. The starting rotation was a major strength a year ago. That group in 2012 includes four pitchers who exceeded 200 innings last season. Three of them posted sub-4.00 ERAs and the fourth, newcomer Trevor Cahill from Oakland, received Cy Young votes the previous year.
Right-hander Ian Kennedy had a breakout season a year ago, going 21-4 with a 2.88 ERA. He finished fourth in the Cy Young voting and tied Cy winner Clayton Kershaw for the NL lead in wins. Kennedy gets the call on Opening Night and he totally owned the Giants a year ago, going 3-0 with a 1.22 ERA in five starts.
The Giants slipped to 86-78 a year ago off their 2010 World Series title largely because star catcher Buster Posey suffered horrific ankle and leg injuries in a play at the plate in May and missed the season. The 2010 Rookie of the Year might be the most important player to his team in all of baseball and is healthy now. The San Francisco offense was a major issue a year ago and the only significant newcomer is Melky Cabrera, who was acquired via trade from Kansas City for pitcher Jonathan Sanchez.
San Francisco ace Tim Lincecum, the Cy Young winner in 2008-09, gets the call for the Giants. He “slipped” to a 13-14 record last year but still had r a 2.74 ERA, 217 innings pitched and 220 strikeouts. Lincecum, like most Giants starters last year, didn’t get much run support. This will be his fourth straight Opening Day start and he is 1-1. Lincecum faced Arizona four times last year, going 0-3 with a 4.32 ERA.
The Giants and Diamondbacks split 18 meetings last season although Arizona outscored San Francisco by 13 total runs.