Hot Lines: Today's best MLB bets
Baltimore Orioles at Toronto Blue Jays (-175, 9.5)
Fans of high-scoring games should probably avoid this matchup of AL East cellar dwellers.
Baltimore is a horrendous 17-37 on the road this season. The team’s away over/under record of 29-23-2 is impressive, but the group hits a horrendous .243 in opponent’s parks. The inflated number has much more to do with the squad’s terrible pitching.
But it’s not like Toronto is swinging a big stick these days. The Blue Jays are 19th in the majors in home batting average, smacking at a below-modest .257 clip. Toronto’s home over/under record is 23-27-4 overall, with six of its past 10 games at Rogers Centre falling below the total.
Entering the weekend, seven of Baltimore and Toronto's nine meetings finished under the number, including two of the three played so far in Canada.
Pick: Under
Oakland Athletics at Kansas City Royals (-136, 8)
Royals pitcher Zack Greinke may have found exactly what he needs to get back on track with a visit from one of the more mediocre lineups in the majors.
Oakland is averaging slightly over four runs per game on the road this season with the team floundering to a disasterous, 21-33 road mark. Greinke also has allowed only one earned run in each of his past two home starts, lasting seven innings each time.
In the other dugout, the Royals have one of the better home lineups in baseball, averaging .264 with a major league-leading 26 triples in their own park.
The Royals have struggled in the second half, but should have enough with Greinke on the mound to pick up the victory.
Pick: Royals
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Streaking and Slumping Pitchers
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Streaking
Adam Wainwright (St. Louis Cardinals)
Let us introduce you to the NL wins leader.
Wainwright (12-7, 2.79 ERA) has gone eight straight starts giving up two or fewer earned runs and lowering his ERA each time out. The right-hander also leads the league in innings (158 1-3) and is fifth in strikeouts (140).
In his most recent outing, he gave up only two earned runs over seven innings against the Astros. The key to Wainwright’s success has been his ability to induce ground-ball outs. He's gotten more groundouts than flyouts six times during his eight-start hot streak. He was 3-1 with a 1.16 ERA in the month of July.
Barry Zito (San Francisco Giants)
The 31-year-old won’t be confused with a Cy Young candidate, but his performance down the stretch will be crucial to San Francisco’s playoff hopes.
Right now, those hopes look as solid as Zito’s past four starts. Zito (7-10, 4.47 ERA) has earned a quality start in three of his past four outings, allowing two or fewer runs each time during that span. In his past 25 innings, he’s allowed a total of just six earned runs.
Zito still has a long way to go to earn his astronomical contract, but with the light-hitting Reds in town, he should pad his stats and keep his team in the thick of the postseason race.
"Early in the season he had trouble getting the ball where he wanted, but he settled down and pitched some really nice games," Giants manager Bruce Bochy told the Associated Press. "We just had some trouble getting run support for him. He is a different pitcher now and his stuff has definitely picked up."
Slumping
Jered Weaver (Los Angeles Angels)
The right-hander picked up his first win in four starts last week. But it was in spite of his pitching. Weaver (11-3, 3.79 ERA) has given up at least four runs in seven straight starts.
Also during that stretch, he has allowed nine home runs and worked seven innings just twice. In his most recent start, a win over the Twins, he gave up four earned runs on four hits and two walks, including two home runs, in just 6 1-3 innings.
In two outings against the Rangers in mid-June, Weaver gave up a combined 11 runs on 15 hits over 12 1-3 innings.
Dan Haren (Arizona Diamondbacks)
A little more than a week ago, Haren looked like a leading NL Cy Young candidate. What a difference three starts makes.
In easily his worst stretch of the season, Haren (11-6, 2.38 ERA) has allowed 12 earned runs in his past 17 innings. Twice in his past three starts he has been yanked after just five innings. In his most recent start against the Mets, he made it through seven, but yielded five earned runs on eight hits.
"My command wasn't as good as it has been,” Haren told reporters. “But that’s the way it has been [lately].”
