TODAY'S PLAYS --
(MLB)
*2 UNITS* UNDER 7.5 CHICAGO WHITE SOX @ TAMPA BAY RAYS (-110)
These two teams failed to put much wood on the ball in yesterday's contest, as the two teams combined to whiff 25 times against the two starting pitchers. In fact, that was only the 3rd time in recent MLB history that two left-handed starters both had at least 10 K in one game against each other. Today should be much of the same as these two offenses should be
held below the 7.5 total here again today. Humber gets the nod for the White Sox today and the youngster is still in search of his first win since hurling his perfect game about a month ago. Humber has really struggled in his recent outings since then, posting a pathetic 8.22 ERA and 0-2 record in his 6 starts since that day of perfection. Although despite allowing 7 ER in
10.2 IP during his last two starts, the White Sox have managed to win the game, but the young righty has been tagged with 3 straight ND in games he has started. Humber also made 2 starts against the Rays last season and was decent in those two outings, posting a 1-1 record with a 3.97 ERA in those 2 starts. He allowed 5 ER and 10 H in his 11.1 IP against them, striking out 7 and holding the Rays to a .222 BAA against him. Humber was roughed up somewhat in his lone trip to the Trop last season, as he was roasted for 4 ER and 6 H in his 5.1 innings of work, ultimately being tagged with the loss in the 4-1 Rays victory. He was a little better in his only other appearance at
the stadium, which came in relief, but he allowed only 2 ER and 3 H in another round of work for about 5.1 innings. All in all, the youngster is 0-1 with a 5.06 ERA at Tropicana Field, although he has managed to keep the Rays to a paltry .214 BAA when facing them on their own home turf. Collectively, the Rays usual starting lineup of Upton, Zobrist, Joyce, Scott, Johnson, Rhymes, and Pena are hitting for a combined .320 average (8-for-25) against him, but that includes a measly .090 BA from the combined bats of Upton and Zobrist (1-for-11). Yes, that equates to the other 4 guys hitting for a combined .500 average (7-for-14) and have totalled 3 2B, an HR and 4 RBI against Humber. On the flip side, the Rays will counter with Shields in tonight's game and as usual, the big righty has jumped out to a great start for his 2012 campaign, as he has managed to go 6-2 with a 3.63 ERA already. Shields has been a tough guy to beat at home as well, as he has managed to post a 2-1 record in his 5 starts there this season, but the Rays have been even more impressive, posting a 4-1 record in those games. Shields has allowed 14 ER in those 5 starts, although 10 of those ER came in two of those games against the Atlanta Braves (4 ER) and the New York Yankees (6 ER) on opening day. Take out that opening day start, and Shields stats become even more impressive as he has
allowed only 8 ER in 27.1 innings of work, which means he has held a 2.63 ERA over his last 4 starts there, to go along with a respectable 1.20 WHIP in that same span. Shields also managed to keep the White Sox in check for the most part in his two outings against them last season, as he tossed 15 innings and allowed only 6 ER to post a 3.60 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and .226 BAA against them in 2011. Shields was dominant at home against the White Sox last season though, as he dominated them for a CG, 2-1 victory, allowing only 1 R, 4 H, 1 BB and 9 K in his last outing against the Sox in TB in 2011. The White Sox core of starters haven't had the greatest success against Shields either, as the
typical starting lineup of Konerko, Dunn, Hudson,Fukuodome, Ramirez, Pierzynski, and Rios have only managed to go 28-for-117 (.230) lifetime against Shields with only 5 2B, 3 HR, 10 RBI, 11 BB and 20 K. Beckham has had a little bit of success against Shields in his career though as he has managed to pick up 4 H in
8 career AB against him, with 3 of those hits coming in EB format (2 2B and HR) to go along with an RBI, BB and a K. These two teams have also combined to go 6-1 for the Under in their L7 meetings between them, with 4 out of the L5 games being played in Tampa Bay. The White Sox bats should have cooled down somewhat, as they were held to just 2 R yesterday, after plating 52 R in their previous 5 games before that. The Rays have also been held to 3 R or less in 5 of their L8 games played on their own home turf. Take the UNDER in today's battle as the starting pitching should be fairly dominant today........
*2 UNITS* OVER 7.5 NEW YORK YANKEES @ LOS ANGELES ANGELS (-105)
These two offenses exploded for 17 R in yesterday's meeting and we expect not much to be different today. The Yankees come into this one having scored 6 or more R in 4 of their L5 games, with 3 of those games totalling 8 R or more. The Angels on the other hand have pretty much done the same, as they too have scored 4 R or more in each of their L4 games as well, with 3 of those games totalling 5 R or more.
TORONTO BLUE JAYS (-130)
Ricky Romero takes the hill again tonight and that is always a good sign for the Blue Jays. The stud left-hander is putting together a monster start so far this season, posting a 5-1 record to go along with a respectable 3.86 ERA. But the youngster has been deadly when facing the Orioles in recent seasons, as he posted a 3-1 record against Baltimore last season, to go along with a superb 2.25 ERA, an even 1.00 WHIP and a lowly .193 BAA in 32 IP and 4 starts against them last season. Romero was even better in his final 3 starts against them as he tossed 24.1 IP and allowed a mere 3 ER in that span,
for a miniscule 1.10 ERA in those 3 starts. He was dominant in each of those 3 starts, going for at least 8 innings in each of those games and allowing 2 ER, 0 ER and 1 ER in those 3 starts. He was virtually unhittable in his 2 starts against them at Rogers Centre, as he tossed 16.1 IP and allowed only 1 R with only 7 H, 7 BB and 21 K in that span. All of that awesomeness
equates to a 0.55 ERA, 0.85 WHIP and a tiny .130 BAA in that span. In fact, the Blue Jays have only lost 1 game in which Romero has started against the Orioles at home in his career, as they have posted a 5-1 record in his 6 starts at home against them since 2009. They are a perfect 5-0 in his L5 outings at home against them in the L2 seasons, and Romero is an equally tough 4-0 in that same span, after posting a 2-0 record in his 3 starts against them in 2011. In 2011, he tossed 21.2 IP against Baltimore at home and allowed only 6 ER (2.49 ERA) while holding the Orioles to a 1.29 WHIP as well in that span. The Orioles starters really struggled to hit Romero last season, as the combination of Hardy, Jones, Markakis, Reynolds and Wieters hit .240 (14-for-58) against Romero with 3 2B, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 6 BB and 19 K against him. Reynolds provided most of that power though, as he had all 3 of the HR and 6 of the 7 RBI against him, but Reynolds was 0-for-6 against him at Toronto last season and holds a career .162 BA with 6 H in 37 AB in his career when playing at the Rogers Centre. Arrieta has also pitched well against the Jays in his young career, posting a 3-1 record with a 3.80 ERA in 4 lifetime starts against them, although he comes into tonight's meeting having lost 3 straight decisions and posting a 1-5 record in his L6 decisions in 2012. He has also allowed 27 ER in 40.2 IP in that span for a lofty 5.97 ERA and has not helped his teammates in any sense of the word, as the Orioles are a measly 2-5 in their L7 contests in which Arrieta has started. Arrieta has also struggled at the Rogers Centre in his young career, as he is an average 1-1 in his 2 outings there, but has been rocked for a bloated 5.40 ERA, as he has
allowed 7 ER and 14 H in a mere 11.2 innings of work there. Roll with the TORONTO BLUE JAYS for the win at home in tonight's
match-up.........
CINCINNATI REDS (-120)
KANSAS CITY ROYALS (+130) AND OVER 8.5 KANSAS CITY ROYALS @ CLEVELAND INDIANS (-110)
OVER 8.5 PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES @ NEW YORK METS (-110)
ATLANTA BRAVES (-110)
(NBA)
*2 UNITS* OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER (+5) AND *1 UNIT* OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER 1ST HALF (+3) AND *0.5 UNITS* OVER 101 OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER @ SAN ANTONIO SPURS 1ST HALF AND *0.5 UNITS* OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER MONEY LINE (+185)
There you have it!! That is our action for this TUESDAY night!!
Best of luck to all tonight!! Let's get that money!!
Jeff Porter
PORT PORT SPORTS