MLB Info 8/25/08

MLB
Write-up


Monday, August 25

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Hot Pitchers
-- Lilly is 2-1, 3.04 in his last four starts. Karstens is 2-2, 2.57 in four starts; Pirates scored six runs in the four games.
-- Billingsley is 3-0, 2.43 in his last six starts. Myers is 3-1, 1.72 in his last five starts.
-- Astros won Moehler's last four road starts. Mets won seven of last eight Pelfrey home starts.
-- Arizona won seven of Haren's last eight road starts.
-- Cain is 3-1, 2.03 in his last six starts.

-- Tigers are 7-2 at home when Galarraga starts.
-- Royals won last six times Meche started at home.
-- Liriano is 4-0, 2.31 in his last four starts.

Cold Pitchers
-- Peavy is 1-3, 3.96 in his last four starts.
-- Francis is 0-2, 7.48 in his last five starts.

-- Richard is 0-2, 14.00 in two road starts. Waters has an 8.56 RA in his last three starts.
-- Jackson is 0-0, 6.00 in two starts.
-- Texas lost seven of last nine Feldman home starts.
-- Braden is 1-3, 4.91 in his last five starts. Weaver has a 6.45 RA in his last four starts.
-- Batista is 0-5, 9.71 in his last eleven starts.

Hot Teams
-- Cubs won thirteen of their last seventeen games.
-- Phillies won six of their last eight games.
-- Mets won ten of their last thirteen games. Houston is 12-6 in its last eighteen road games.
-- Arizona won nine of its last thirteen games.
-- Rockies won seven of their last nine games. Giants won eight of their last ten games.

-- White Sox won nine of their last twelve games.
-- Indians won twelve of their last fifteen games. Tigers won five of last seven road games.
-- Twins won twelve of their last seventeen games.

Cold Teams
-- Pirates lost eight of their last ten games.
-- Dodgers lost eight of their last ten road games.
-- Padres lost eight of their last nine games.

-- Orioles are 4-11 in their last fifteen home games.
-- Royals lost ten of their last twelve games. Rangers are 3-13 in their last sixteen games.
-- Angels lost six of their last ten games. Oakland is 8-28 in its last 36 games.
-- Mariners lost twelve of their last fifteen games.

Totals
-- All four Karstens starts stayed under the total.
-- Under is 6-2 in Billingsley's last eight road starts.
-- Under is 8-2-1 in last eleven Moehler starts.
-- Over is 5-1 in Haren's last six starts; under is 7-1-1 in Peavy's last nine outings.
-- Under is 6-3 in last nine Colorado road games.

-- Three of four Richard starts went over the total.
-- Four of last five Galarraga starts went over the total.
-- Over is 3-1-1 in Feldman's last five starts.
-- Four of last five Weaver starts went over the total.
-- Over is 10-2-1 in last thirteen Batista starts.

Chicago Cubs at Pittsburgh Pirates (+180, 8 1/2)



As the Cubs won their eighth straight series and are the first team to 80 wins, the risk is usually high when investing on the Northsiders, even on the road. Thankfully, with Yankee castoff Jeff Karstens (2-2, 2.25) throwing well since being traded, the Cubs find themselves with a respectable number tonight considering they're playing the lowly Pirates. With all the pitching problems they last few seasons for the Yankees, you have to think their scouts saw something they were not enamored with in the 25-year-old, while Chicago should be looking for revenge after he opened his Buco career by shutting them out in six innings of work. Speaking of Lou's boys, with the Brew Crew continuing to pull out the magic rabbit, they can not afford to lose focus as home-field means more to them than most in the postseason. While Ted Lilly (12-7, 4.25) has had his struggles against Pittsburgh this season (three starts – 5.63), he opened August against them and looked much better with Nady and Bay gone (6.1 innings, one earned run). Through August he's sporting a 3.04 ERA with opponents only hitting .235. Too many youngsters looking for time and too many proven vets trying to out slug each other for the Cubbies to look flat this Monday.



Pick: Chicago Cubs



Arizona Diamondbacks at San Diego Padres (+100, 6 1/2)



These two aces, Dan Haren (14-6, 3.12) and Jake Peavy (9-9, 2.84), just met Wednesday in what was supposed to be a classic pitchers duel only to see both men get shelled and chased early. They will be psyched for a little redemption and play in pitcher-party Petco tonight (MLB overall ERA 4.28 – MLB ERA in San Diego 3.60), Haren is coming off his lowest pitch total of the season while Peavy's count was his lowest since May. And it's not like we're talking about two offensive juggernauts here. Both teams rank in the bottom six of MLB in batting average and are built for low-scoring affairs. Especially starting a new series on pitcher-friendly Monday, tough not to think we see a 3-2 contest this evening.



Pick: Under

Streaking & Slumping Starters 8/25

Streaking

Armando Galarraga, Detroit Tigers (12-4, 3.17)

Galarraga is 3-0 and has a 2.75 ERA in his last three starts and has not surrendered more than four earned in any of his last 10 overall.

In his last home start, a victory over the Toronto Blue Jays, Galarraga relinquished just one earned run in eight innings and had six strikeouts against two walks. He is also is 3-0 and has a 3.57 career-ERA against the Cleveland Indians.

The Tigers are 5-1 in Galarraga’s last six home starts and are 14-1 in their last five home meetings with the Tribe.

Slumping

R.A. Dickey, Seattle Mariners (3-8, 5.55)

Dickey has just two wins in his last 10 and is 0-2 in his last three with 12.21 ERA. He has relinquished 10 earned runs on nine hits in that period in just four IP.


Dickey, who is winless at home, is 0-2 in his last three at Safeco Field and has relinquished 13 earned runs and four homers in that stretch. He also has a 6.43 career-ERA against the Minnesota Twins.

The Mariners are 2-5 in Dickey’s last seven starts and are 3-7 in their last 10 home games against the Twins.