SPORTS WAGERS also known as RANDALL THE HANDLE
San Francisco +1.05 over ARIZONA
Pinnacle
The D-Backs are just 7-14 against lefties and will face one here that they’ve never seen (other than 5 career AB’s combined) in Madison Baumgarner. Bumgarner has a nifty 2.41 ERA and 1.10 WHIP with a 24:7 K:BB ratio over 33.2 innings and that’s with four of his five starts coming on the road. In fact, his worst start came at home in his season debut but his last four starts have all been on the road and they include games in Colorado and Milwaukee. He has a 1.69 ERA on the road to go along with a BAA of .248. Furthermore, the Giants are 13-3 over its last 16 and remain one of the hottest teams in the league. Ian Kennedy is having a decent year and could have success here. However, the D-Backs are watching him very closely and they’re being very cautious with him so it’s rare to see him go past six innings (or even five) even if he’s pitching well. An aneurysm in his shoulder limited him to just 23.2 innings last season and he has already reached 116.1 innings this year. In his last game against the Mets, Kennedy was pulled after five and he was in complete control, having only thrown 86 pitches and allowing four hits and one ER. The D-Backs are going to continue to be cautious with him because this season is a wash and thus, the Giants advantage becomes even bigger. Play: San Francisco +1.05 (Risking 2 units).
San Diego –1½ +1.01 over PITTSBURGH
Pinnacle
The Padres love playing against this host, as do most teams, but SD is now 19-7 over its last 26 games vs the Pirates. Mat Latos was given a few extra days rest here because of a heavy workload thus far but damn, is this guy the good or what? Latos has had 16 days off between starts so he should be ready and raring to go here and his numbers are just plain sick. He’s allowed just 75 hits in 106 innings for a BAA of .193. On the road his numbers are even better. How about 41 hits in 62 frames for a BAA of .181. Overall he’s walked 28 while striking out 99 and his WHIP of 0.97 is tops in the league. Over his last four starts, Latos has three shutouts and in the other game he allowed one run. The man is gold and the Pirates have never faced him. Ouch. For the Pirates, Jeff Karstens has been pretty good since being inserted into the rotation. Still, he’s just a fourth of fifth starter and nothing about his skills stand out at all. Karstens has a 4.84 ERA, a BAA of .291, a low groundball rate of 38.7% and a high strand rate of 75.4%. He’s also allowed 18 jacks in just 83.2 innings and that works out to about 1.9 HR’s per nine innings. Padres should score at least four (probably more) and that should be more than enough to cash this ticket. Play: San Diego –1½ +1.01 (Risking 2 units).
