Who will cover
Florida at ATLANTA (-130) By Sports Gambling Hotline, Featured Handicapper
Both Florida and Atlanta off to good starts, but the Braves have been just a little better in the early going, and we will back them as the home favorite tonight with Javier Vazquez on the hill.
Vazquez pitched decent in his first Atlanta start, working 6 innings while allowing 3 runs in a no decision at Philadelphia. Look for Florida to have some problems in the early going figuring him out since he has been in the American League for the past few seasons.
Carl Volstad counters, and he did record a win in his first start of the year, dumping the winless Nats. Against Atlanta last season, he went 0-1 in 2 starts, allowing 6 runs over his 12 frames of work.
Atlanta did double up Florida at the Ted, going 6-3 at home versus the Marlins, and they are 11-7 overall against the Fish in Hot-lanta the last 2 season's.
Play on the Bravos in this one.
4♦ ATLANTA
Cincinnati (+125) at MILWAUKEE By Drew Gordon, Featured Handicapper
Great spot to nab some of that plus money on the Reds tonight! Not only have they won 3 of their last 4 games, but they've proven to be a tough customer in Milwaukee, going 7-2 in their last 9 meetings there! Factor in a small, but solid edge on the mound, and the play here falls squarely on Cincy.
Speaking of the pitching match ups, are you really that impressed with Manny Parra? Sure, he was great in his first 16 starts last season, but since then has gone just 2-6 with a 4.73 ERA in his last 13. If his first start of this season was any indication, its clear he's not out of the woods yet, getting hammered for 5 runs in just 4 1/3 innings against the Giants! Also of note, Parra went 0-1 with an ugly 7.30 ERA in 2 starts against the Reds last season.
Opposing Parra is the Reds Bronson Arroyo, who also got knocked around in his season opener, but still earned the win over the Mets. Plenty of reason to believe Arroyo will bounce back strong here, including the fact he posted a solid 3.65 ERA in 4 starts against the Brew Crew last season. He's also 7-5 with a 3.59 ERA in 16 career outings versus Milwaukee. Brewers just haven't gotten it going yet, and Arroyo and the Reds can take full advantage of that in this one.
Finally, you have to like the importance Dusty Baker is putting on road wins this season, naming it as the Reds # 1 problem last year. I'm not saying we see a huge improvement, but you can expect Cincy to come out focused for this one. A nice win yesterday means nothing if they can't beat a pitcher they owned last season in Parra. In the end, althouth Parra should be better at Miller Park, I still believe Arroyo and the Reds take care of business here. Grab that plus money with Cincy Tuesday night!
Take Cincinnati behind Arroyo over Milwaukee and Parra in this MLB match up.
2♦ CINCINNATI
Cincinnati at MILWAUKEE (-135) By Karl Garrett, Featured Handicapper
G-Man giving you an easy OVER for FREE last night on Baltimore and Texas. Now 14-6 the last 20 days with my comp plays.
Another OVER tonight, this time in the senior circut, as the Reds and Brewers keep the sticks cranking on Tuesday.
Last night, Cincy and Milwaukee combined for 13 runs, and we could be seeing at least that many tonight when Bornson Arroyo and Manny Parra hit the bump.
Arroyo allowed 5 runs in 6 innings in his first start of the season, while Parra allowed 5 runs in 4 innings in his season debut.
Parra's last 2 starts against the Reds have seen 10 runs cross in just 12 innings of work, while Arroyo's last start against Milwaukee saw 5 runs cross in 6 innings. As you can see, these 2 hurlers aren't fooling too many batters of late.
9 of the last 15 meetings at Miller Park between the teams have gone OVER the total, and this one will as well.
3♦ OVER
Cincinnati (+120) at MILWAUKEE By Bobby Maxwell, Featured Handicapper
Got a winner on the pro hardwood Monday night when the Bulls went to Detroit and scored the outright upset. Today we'll score a comp winner on the Reds as they take on the Brewers in Milwaukee.
Cincinnati squeaked out a 7-6 victory on Monday in Milwaukee and today they will get it done again behind the pitching of Bronson Arroyo who went six innings in an 8-6 win over the Mets in his first start of the season.
The Reds have scored seven or more runs in three of their six games this season and they've won three of their last four. Plus look at what they've done in Milwaukee, winning seven of their last nine visits to Wisconsin.
Milwaukee has dropped three straight and their pitching has been brutal, allowing 21 runs in their last three games and giving up six or more in five of their seven games to start the season. Manny Parra is on the hill for the Brewers and in his first outing he gave up five runs through 4 1/3 innings in a 7-1 loss to the Giants. The Brewers have lost his last five starts dating to last season and eight of his last 10.
Parra faced the Reds twice last year and lost them both, givin up 11 runs in 12 1/3 innings. Look for Arroyo to deliver a solid outing and the Brewers pitching staff to surrender a lot of runs like they've done all season.
Get the plus-money and play Cincy on the road in this one.
3♦ CINCINNATI
St. Louis (-135) at ARIZONA By Michael Cannon, Featured Handicapper
A bad call on the Yankees yesterday but I’ll get us back on the winning tracks tonight.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
<o> </o>
Take the Cardinals as the road chalk over the Diamondbacks.<o></o>
<o> </o>
I always hesitate to lay this high of a number on a road team, but as good as Chris Carpenter looked in his first start of the season I would actually consider this price a bargain.<o></o>
<o> </o>
The right-hander allowed one unearned run and one hit over seven innings against the Pirates last Wednesday, and he only threw 92 pitches in the 2-1 Cardinals win.<o></o>
<o> </o>
When Carpenter is on and healthy he’s absolutely one of the best in the game. It could be argued that his performance was enhanced by facing the lowly Pirates, but the Diamondbacks aren’t mashing the ball right now themselves, so look for another stellar outing from Carpenter.<o></o>
<o> </o>
<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1:State><st1lace>Arizona</st1lace></st1:State> has scored a total of four runs during its current three-game losing streak, and lost 2-1 yesterday in this series opener.<o></o>
<o> </o>
Take the Cardinals as they grab the road win.
3♦ ST. LOUIS
Baltimore at TEXAS (-140) By Jeff Benton, Featured Handicapper
Three straight free-play winners, all on the baseball diamond as the Cardinals eked out the win against the DBacks on Monday. I’m now on a 12-6 roll with freebies over the last 18 days, and we’ll look to build on that with another baseball winner Tuesday as we take the Orioles-Rangers game OVER the total.<o></o>
<o></o>
For starters, both of these squads have been involved in a slew of shootouts already this year, with the Rangers going 4-1-2 “over” the total in their first seven games and Baltimore going 5-2 “over” in their first seven. That includes Monday’s 10-9 slugfest won by the Orioles in Texas.<o></o>
<o></o>
So far, the Rangers have played four home games, and the combined run totals in those four contests were 10, 13, 20 and 19. Even though we’re still two months away from summer, the ball is flying out of the Rangers’ home ballpark, with a whopping 17 home runs hit in those four games!<o></o>
<o></o>
Not only are there a ton of quality hitters on both of these squads, but both pitching staffs have been shaky (and that’s being kind). Even before last night’s 10-9 outburst, Baltimore had a 5.67 overall team ERA and an 8.34 bullpen ERA, while Texas had a 6.00 ERA overall and a 9.19 ERA from its relievers.<o></o>
<o></o>
Throw in the fact that the two starting pitchers in this game – Baltimore’s Alfredo Simon and Texas’ Brandon McCarthy – combined to allow seven earned runs in just 10 innings of work in their first two starts, and the only way to look in this game is OVER the total.
4♦ Orioles-Rangers OVER the total
<!- End Component display block ->