jeff benton saturday....0-2 yesteday for MINUS 40 dimes OR $500..overall 70-81-3 MINUS A WHOPPING 165 DIMES.....GUYS HE HAS NOT ONE A GAME SINCE LAST SATURDAY...HE IS WINLESS THIS ENTIRE WEEK...NOT THE FIRST TIME HE HAS GONE WINLESS IN A WEEK...HOW CAN YOU NOT HAVE ONE WINNER?? UNBELIEVABLE.
Saturday's Winners ... 15 DIME selection on the CINCINNATI REDS over the Cubs. List Johnny Cueto as Cincinnati's starting pitcher. If Cueto doesn't start, this play is VOID
15 DIME selection on the Blue Jays-Yankees UNDER the total. Both Andy Pettitte and Ricky Romero must start or this play is VOID
15 DIME selection on the NEW YORK METS over the Nationals. List R.A. Dickey as the Mets' starting pitcher. If Dickey doesn't start, this play is VOID!
Reds
The Chicago Cubs are an abject disaster, and their season is spiraling down the toilet in a hurry. And for this to be a virtual pick-em game with red-hot Johnny Cueto on the mound for Cincinnati is a joke.
The Cubs have dropped the first two games by scores of 3-2 and 12-0. Going back to May 30, they have 10 wins against 20 defeats. They’ve been shut out five times in their last nine losses and scored one or zero runs 11 times in their last 20 losses; and they’ve scored three runs or fewer in 20 of their last 30 games, including 10 of the last 11 and the last five games in a row. Take away an 8-6 win at the White Sox on June 27, and Chicago has prodaced 12 runs in 10 games since June 22!
So how is an offense that is so inept – one that was batting .215 over a 10-game stretch PRIOR to yesterday’s 12-0 loss! – going to do anything today against Cueto? The Reds’ right-hander is 8-2 with a 3.74 ERA overall, including 2-1 with a 0.87 ERA in his last three trips to the mound (the one defeat was a 1-0 loss to Cliff Lee and the Mariners). In those three games, Cueto has held the Mariners (road), A’s (road) and Phillies (home) to 17 hits and six walks in 20 2/3 innings. What’s more, Cueto hasn’t given up a home run in five consecutive starts going back to June 7.
What about Cubs right-hander Randy Wells? He’s been below average and incredibely inconsistent. Going back to May 28, when he gave up five runs without recording an out in a home game against the Cardinals, he’s surrendered the following run totals: 5, 0, 6, 5, 2, 6 and 1. The Cubs’ record in those seven games? 1-6, including 1-3 at home. You know how much support Wells got in those seven games? 15 runs, and five of those runs came in a 10-5 loss to the White Sox. In fact, on Monday, Wells actually had a decent outing against the Pirates, giving up a run on three hits and four walks with six strikeouts in six innings. Yet Chicago lost 2-1 at home.
The Reds, who have won four straight against Chicago and six of eight on the season, are 9-2 in their last 11 games and come into today at 46-35 and in first place in the N.L. Central. The Cubs are a season-low 12 games under .500 at 34-46 (including 19-22 at Wrigley Field), and they’re 11½ games back of Cincinnati. Put it this way: Chicago is closer – MUCH closer – to last-place Pittsburgh (17 games behind) than first place.
Blue Jays-Yankees UNDER
Neither of those teams is hitting a lick right now, and I don’t expect that to change with two solid lefties on the hill in Toronto’s Ricky Romero and New York’s Andy Pettitte.
Romero has a 2.83 ERA overall and a 1.53 ERA in day games, and over his last three outings, Romero has given up just three runs (two earned) in 21 innings (0.86 ERA). Meanwhile, Pettitte has a 2.72 ERA overall and a 1.87 ERA in day games. Prior to his last start at the Dodgers on Sunday – he gave up five runs (four earned) in five innings – the veteran had held six straight opoonents to two earned runs or less while pitching at least seven innings in all six games.
For the season, Romero has given up two earned runs or fewer in 11 of 16 starts and only twice has he surrendered more than four runs in a game. Pettitte has allowed two earned runs or fewer in 12 of 15 starts and he hasn’t had back-to-back bad outings once all year.
Back to these two struggling offenses: Prior to Friday’s five-run outburst in the 11th inning, the Blue Jays had scored a total of three runs in 28 innings. And going back to June 18, Toronto has tallied three runs or fewer in eight of 14 games. Then again, aside from leading the majors in home runs, the Blue Jays have been pathetic on offense all season long, batting .237 overall and .225 on the road. Against left-handed pitching, those numbers drop to .205 (overall) and .201 (on the road).
As for the Yankees, they’ve scored just nine runs in their last four games, and despite the likes of Jeter, Swisher, Teixeira, A-Rod, Cano and Posada in the everyday lineup, New York has been held to four runs or fewer in 11 of their last 15 games. The team’s batting average over the past 10 contests? Under .240 overall and less than .200 against left-handed pitching.
Finally, Pettitte and Romero matched up against each other in Toronto almost exactly a month ago (June 5), and they combined to give up four runs in a game that ended 3-2. Pettitte lasted 7 2/3 innings in that one, while Romero went eight. And like today, that contest was a day game. In fact, the start time here is a BIG reason to love the UNDER. Why? Because these teams played a day game yesterday and were likely out of the stadium about the time happy hour started – meaning they had the entire night to roam Manhattan! Don’t be surprised if the early wake-up call for this morning doesn’t result in some real sluggish bats against two very good pitchers. Play this one low!
Mets
Stephen Strasburg has been absolutely as good as advertised since coming up to the big leagues, posting a 2.27 ERA with 48 strikeouts in just 31 2/3 innings. But after winning his first two starts against the lowly Pirates (5-2) and Indians (9-4), the Nationals have lost three in a row behind their phenom, scoring a whopping one run TOTAL in those three defeats.
Strasburg isn’t the only Nationals pitcher who isn’t getting offensive help. Washington has scored six runs in its last three games and 16 runs in its last six (and seven of those 16 runs came in one game at Atlanta on Tuesday). Take it back further and the Nationals are in a 5-15 slump, scoring three runs or fewer in 14 of those 20 games.
Meanwhile, New York’s offense is humming pretty good right now, producing five runs or more in 12 of 18 games, including eight of the last 11. Will the Mets maintain that pace today in their first look at Strasburg? I wouldn’t bet on THAT in particular. But I would bet on the fact they won’t need to score that much because Washington won’t force them to.
That Nats will be facing right-hander R.A. Dickey here. True, Dickey is coming off his worst start of the season (five runs allowed in five innings of 10-3 loss to the Marlins). However, I’m tossing that game in the trash because it was played in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and every single one of the Mets-Marlins games in that bandbox flew over the total (not a single starting pitcher put up good numbers). Prior to that game on Monday, Dickey had delivered six quality starts in his previous seven, going 4-0 with a 1.98 ERA in his previous four.
Finally, while Washington is in 5-15 slump, the Mets have won 18 of 26, including nine of 12 against the N.L. East, 13 of 18 against right-handed starters and seven of nine as an underdog (they’re also 5-0 in Dickey’s five starts as a pup).