SPORTSPIES.COM: Tuesday MLB Handicapping Report - Winning Information!

[SportSpies]

Pittsburgh Pirates
-The Pirates are 1-3 after the first four games of their seven game road trip to Cincinnati (1-2) and New York (0-1). Pittsburgh has gone 3-4 in its last seven games and 8-12 in their last 20 games after losing five in a row.
-Pittsburgh has used a club record 50 different players this season (26 pitchers/24 position players).
-SP Zach Duke owns a 4-1 record and 2.91 ERA in seven career starts against the Mets. Each of his last two victories against New York has come against Johan Santana.
-Scored nine of their 10 runs in the last four games from the eighth inning on.
-Looking for its first win at Citi Field after being swept in a three game series in its first visit to the new home of the Mets last year from May 8-10 and after last night’s loss.
-Starting pitchers have posted a 2.55 ERA in the last seven games. The staff has recorded a quality start in six of those starts.
-Surrendered just one home run in the last seven games (65.1IP).
-Duke has gone 4-5 in 11 starts since coming off the disabled list during the All-Star break.
-Duke is 0-2 in his last three road starts since beating the Rockies on July 27. He is 3-6 in 10 starts away from PNC Park, but has allowed two earned runs or fewer five times.

 

[SportSpies]

Detroit Tigers
-The Tigers scored five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to rally for a 6-2 win over the Orioles on Sunday afternoon. Detroit begins a five-game road trip with the first game of a two-game series at Texas.
-Starting pitchers have registered a quality start in 17 of the club’s last 23 games dating back to August 20. During the 23-game stretch, Detroit’s starting pitchers have compiled a 12-2 record and 2.63 ERA.
-Hitters are batting .289 with 137 runs scored and 24 home runs over the club’s last 24 games dating back to August 19.
-1B Miguel Cabrera leads the American League with 21 home runs on the road this season.
-SP Jeremy Bonderman has won both of his last two decisions, compiling a 2.95 ERA over the three-start stretch. A win tonight at Texas would give him a three-game winning streak and it would mark a season-best streak.
-Bonderman enters tonight’s start at Texas looking for his first win over the club since June 1, 2005, a stretch of five starts against the Rangers without a win.
-Bonderman enters tonight with a 6.61 ERA in 11 starts on the road this season.

 

[SportSpies]

Minnesota Twins
-The Twins started this six-game road trip by winning two of three at Cleveland. Minnesota is now 37-35 on the road this season.
-Minnesota is 9-2 this month and has a 40-20 record against AL Central opponents.
-2B Orlando Hudson (.374) and C Joe Mauer (.373) have the two highest first inning batting averages in the American League.
-OF Delmon Young owns a career .349 average versus the White Sox. His .349 average is the second highest among all active players versus Chicago.
-Minnesota is a Major League-best 39-16 since the All-Star break.
-Twins SP Francisco Liriano is making his eighth career start and 11th career appearance against the White Sox. He came into the season 0-3 versus the Sox, but has won each of his two decisions (four starts) in 2010.
-Liriano’s 2.22 ERA since the All-Star break ranks fifth in the American League with a minimum of 50.0 innings pitched. He is the only pitcher in the Majors with at least seven wins and no losses.

 

[SportSpies]

Get weekly/monthly subscriptions at www.sportspies.com

Chicago Cubs
-SP Jeff Samardzija tossed 5.2 scoreless innings in his first major league start in nearly a year, as the Cubs picked up a 5-1 win in the series opener versus St. Louis.
-The Cubs have won three of their first four games during their current 10-day, nine-game, three-city trip through Milwaukee (2-1), St. Louis (1-0) and Florida.
-Including a 7-4 mark this month, the Cubs boast a cumulative 36-28 (.563) within the month of September the last three seasons starting in 2008.
-Starters boast a 2.21 ERA in the club’s last 12 road games dating back to August 14.
-Chicago is 12-7 in 19 games since Mike Quade took over for manager Lou Piniella.
-On the year, the Cubs have a .261 batting average, tied for fourth in the NL, with Milwaukee and Atlanta behind Cincinnati (.272), Colorado (.266) and St. Louis (.263).
-SP Randy Wells is 1-2 with a 5.40 ERA in four games (three starts) versus the St. Louis Cardinals. He is 1-1 with a 6.43 ERA in two starts.
-Wells has allowed three or fewer runs in nine of his last 14 and 10 of his last 16 starts.

 

[SportSpies]

Washington Nationals
-The Nationals lost last night’s series opener at Atlanta by a 0-4 score, marking the 12th time they have been shutout this season (7th road) and extending their losing streak to six games.
-Washington is 5-6 this season in games following a shutout loss.
-Team is 0-1 on its current six-game, seven-day road trip to Atlanta and Philadelphia. The teams they will face on this trip have a .627 combined winning percentage.
-Washington is 25-48 on the road this season and are coming off their first road series win in four months, after going 0-15-2 in their previous 17 road series.
-Last night, Washington dispatched five rookies in the starting nine, matching a season-high. The Nationals record for most rookies in the starting lineup is six.
-In 10 games dating back to September 3, the Nationals’ bullpen has posted a 0.80 ERA with 34 strikeouts and a .230 batting average against.
-Employed an MLB-leading 14 different starting pitchers this season.
-SP Livan Hernandez is just 6-16 in 31 games (30 starts) versus Atlanta during his career, but 3-1 with a 3.28 ERA in six starts this season. He has won four of his last six decisions against the Braves.

 

[SportSpies]

Get weekly/monthly subscriptions at www.sportspies.com

Philadelphia Phillies
-Philadelphia beat the Marlins, 11-4, at Sun Life Stadium. Jayson Werth, Chase Utley and Greg Dobbs all hit solo shots while Carlos Ruiz belted a two-run homer.
-The Phillies have two games remaining on their six-game road trip through New York and Florida. Overall this season, the Phillies are 39-34 on the road.
-The club has won 15 of its last 18 games on the road after losing 12 of their previous 15. Philadelphia has won each of its last five series on the road.
-The Phils have won 16 of their last 21 contests against NL East opponents and have won each of their last six series against them.
-On the mound, Phillies pitchers have posted a 3.67 ERA, which is the 2nd-lowest among NL EAst teams and a .244 opponent batting average which is 2nd-lowest among the East teams.
-Over the last four seasons, the team leads all of baseball in wins and National League in winning percentage in the month of September at 61-35 (.635)
-This season they are 10-3 in September which among all MLB teams is tied for the most wins in ML with Colorado (10-3).
-Since being held to one run in Game 1 of their doubleheader on September 6 versus Florida, the Phillies have hit .337 and scored 50 runs (7.1 rpg) over their last seven games (6-1). They are hitting .346 with RISP in that span.
-SP Cole Hamels has a career-best 25-inning scoreless streak. It’s the longest for a Phillies starter since 2002.

 

[SportSpies]

Baltimore Orioles
-The Orioles trail in the season series 1-12 versus the Blue Jays and have been outscored by a 73-27 margin and out-homered 24-5.
-Baltimore is 24-16 in August and September this year with 18 games to play. The team went 16-37 from August 1 through the end of the 2008 season and 19-40 over the same span last year.
-The team is 26-19 in one-run games this year (9-3 under Buck Showalter), including a 19-5 record in one-run games at Camden Yards.
-OF Nick Markakis has hit safely in nine straight games, but has just one extra-base hit during the nine game streak.
-SP Jake Arrieta has never faced the Blue Jays. In eight starts at Oriole Park, he is 1-3 with a 5.40 ERA, including an 0-1 mark and 2.79 ERA in his last three.
-In Arrieta’s last five starts, the Orioles have scored just 14 runs, with 12 of those coming in his last two outings.

 

[SportSpies]

Los Angeles Angels
-Open up a six-game road trip to Cleveland and Tampa Bay. The club closed out a 4-2 home stand on Sunday by completing a three-game sweep of Seattle.
-Current four-game win streak is the longest since winning six straight, June 2-7. The club is 23-29 since the All-Star break.
-Starters have compiled a 2.25 ERA since August 29th, the best ERA in the majors over a 13-game stretch. In that same stretch, the bullpen has posted a 4.97 ERA.
-Batters have homered in eight straight games (10 total home runs), which is their second longest streak of the season.
-DH Hideki Matsui is batting .400 since August 14th, the second-highest average in MLB over the last month.
-Team is averaging 4.3 runs per game after posting 5.5 runs per contest in 2009.
-The Angels are 39-30 on weekend games and 31-43 Monday-Thursday.
-SP Scott Kazmir has allowed 16 earned runs in the last seven starts combined (3.72 ERA) after allowing 35 earned runs in previous seven starts (8.51 ERA).
-Kazmir owns a 2.81 ERA over the first two innings pitched compared to a 7.81 ERA from the third inning onward.

 

[SportSpies]

Atlanta Braves
-The Braves and Nationals play the second game of a three-game series and play the 14th of 18 meetings between the two clubs this season.
-Atlanta leads the season series 7-6 and owns a 296-264 edge in the all-time series, including a 72-44 advantage at Turner Field.
-Team is a major league-best 52-21 at home this season.
-A win tonight would improve the Braves overall series record to 30-13-5. The Braves own a 19-1-3 series mark at home and have lost just one series at home this season.
-SP Jair Jurrjens is 6-1 with a 3.17 ERA in nine starts at Turner Field this seaosn. For his career, Jurrjens stands at 20-12 with a 3.17 ERA in 43 starts.
-Bullpen owns the second-best ERA (3.07) trailing only San Diego (2.69).
-Jurrjens is 7-2 with a 4.02 ERA in 14 starts since being activated from the 15-day DL on June 30.