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MLB Daily Line Drive: Sunday's picks, betting odds and analysis
Double-Play Picks
Kansas City Royals at Minnesota Twins (-140, 9.5)
Let's hope the Minnesota Twins didn't blow their entire wad Saturday when they properly honored the first Saturday of college football season by putting up a football number, in a 17-0 victory against the visiting Royals.
The struggling Royals will run Ian Kennedy out to the mound on Sunday afternoon and he has been horrible for most of the season, but especially over his last six starts. An ERA of 9.57 and a WHIP of 2.013 is not what the Royals are looking for to avoid another two touchdown effort from the Twins today.
Veteran right-hander Ervin Santana will get the ball for the Twinkies and, despite a rough first half of the season, he has been throwing great over the last month. The Twins have won five of his last six starts and in those six outings he owns an ERA of 2.95 to go along with a WHIP of 1.109.
The Twins have won eight of their last nine home games and are averaging 8.44 runs per game during that span. It might be a tough task for Mr. Kennedy to hold down the young Twinkies today.
Pick: Twins -140
Atlanta Braves at Chicago Cubs (-235, 9.5)
The Cubs will look to complete a four-game sweep of the visiting Atlanta Braves today at Wrigley Field.
There are quite a few red hot, playoff bound teams across Major League Baseball at the moment, and the defending World Champions are right there alongside any of them. The Cubs have now won six games in a row and a very impressive nine in a row at home.
Not only have they been winning, but they been winning convincingly. During their current nine-game home winning streak they are averaging 7.33 runs per game as a team, and over their last six games (all wins) they have covered -1.5 each time - even though they tried their best to give away the runline in Saturday's messy 14-12 win.
Mike Montgomery will get the balls for the Cubs today. "Monty" may not be the most exciting pitching option on the board, but he has been sensational as a spot-starter for the Cubs this season. In Montgomery's last three starts, the Cubs are 3-0 and he owns an ERA of 0.95 to go along with a WHIP of .074.
Lefty prospect Max Fried will make his first major league start for the Braves and they aren't exactly giving him a cookie for his first opponent. Fried has made four relief appearances this season with mixed results. In only 6.2 innings of work at the big league level his ERA is 5.40 with a 1.94 WHIP and a .424 opponent's on base percentage.
The kid does throw a lot of ground balls, which is a good trait when pitching at Wrigley Field for the first time, but the Cubs hitters love pounding lefties with a batting average 20 points higher and an average of 5.56 runs per nine innings versus left-handed pitching this season.
Pick: Cubs -1.5 (-115)
Yesterday's Picks: 2-0
Season To Date: 133-121-13
Streaking and Slumping Starting Pitchers
Streaking: Alex Wood, Los Angeles Dodgers (14-1, 2.41 ERA, $993)
What more can we say about lefty Alex Wood's 2017 season that hasn't already been said?
A team win/loss record of 18-4, and ERA of 2.41, a WHIP of 1.01, an opponent's on base percentage of .261, and only 30 walks allowed in 22 total starts.
Wood and the Dodgers are -235 favorites on the road in San Diego today against Jhoulys Chacin and the Padres.
Slumping: Chris Tillman, Baltimore Orioles (1-7, 7.91 ERA, $-497)
Chris Tillman has had a terrible season for the Orioles, but his last four starts have produced some of the worst numbers we've seen over a four game span in quite some time (Bartolo...we're looking at you).
Although split by a pair of bullpen appearances, Tillman's last four starting assignments have produced an 0-2 win/loss record, a 12.18 ERA, and a WHIP of 2.117. Over his last two starts he has handed out 10 walks and has allowed four home runs in only 10.2 innings of work.
Tillman and the Orioles are -135 favorites at home against Brett Anderson and the Jays this afternoon.
Sunday's Top Trends
* The Cleveland Indians have won 10 in a row & are 14-2 in their last 16 road games. -200 today at Tigers.
* The Houston Astros are 12-3 in their last 15 vs. National League East. -250 today vs. Mets.
* The Colorado Rockies are 9-0 in German Marquez's last nine home starts. -115 today vs. D-Backs.
* Under is 7-0 in Chris Sale's last seven starts vs. American League East. Red Sox/Yankees Total: 7.
Weather To Keep An Eye On
Somewhat surprisingly, the only precipitation to worry about in the MLB forecast today is in San Diego where there is a 35 percent chance of rain this afternoon.
There are three games today that will feature double-digit hitter's winds:
Indians at Tigers (total: 9.5) - 12-14 mile per hour wind blowing out to left field.
Reds at Pirates (total: 9) - 12-14 mile per hour wind blowing out to left-center field.
Dodgers at Padres (total: 8) - 10-13 mile per hour wind blowing out to right-center field.
Ump Of The Day
Lance Barksdale is one of baseball's top homer umpires and he will be calling balls and strikes today in Miami where the Marlins will take on the Phillies. Home teams are 18-8 in Barksdale's 26 games behind the dish this season and a $100 wager on the hosts in each of those contests would net a $909 profit.
The host Marlins are -195 favorites today.
Double-Play Picks
Kansas City Royals at Minnesota Twins (-140, 9.5)
Let's hope the Minnesota Twins didn't blow their entire wad Saturday when they properly honored the first Saturday of college football season by putting up a football number, in a 17-0 victory against the visiting Royals.
The struggling Royals will run Ian Kennedy out to the mound on Sunday afternoon and he has been horrible for most of the season, but especially over his last six starts. An ERA of 9.57 and a WHIP of 2.013 is not what the Royals are looking for to avoid another two touchdown effort from the Twins today.
Veteran right-hander Ervin Santana will get the ball for the Twinkies and, despite a rough first half of the season, he has been throwing great over the last month. The Twins have won five of his last six starts and in those six outings he owns an ERA of 2.95 to go along with a WHIP of 1.109.
The Twins have won eight of their last nine home games and are averaging 8.44 runs per game during that span. It might be a tough task for Mr. Kennedy to hold down the young Twinkies today.
Pick: Twins -140
Atlanta Braves at Chicago Cubs (-235, 9.5)
The Cubs will look to complete a four-game sweep of the visiting Atlanta Braves today at Wrigley Field.
There are quite a few red hot, playoff bound teams across Major League Baseball at the moment, and the defending World Champions are right there alongside any of them. The Cubs have now won six games in a row and a very impressive nine in a row at home.
Not only have they been winning, but they been winning convincingly. During their current nine-game home winning streak they are averaging 7.33 runs per game as a team, and over their last six games (all wins) they have covered -1.5 each time - even though they tried their best to give away the runline in Saturday's messy 14-12 win.
Mike Montgomery will get the balls for the Cubs today. "Monty" may not be the most exciting pitching option on the board, but he has been sensational as a spot-starter for the Cubs this season. In Montgomery's last three starts, the Cubs are 3-0 and he owns an ERA of 0.95 to go along with a WHIP of .074.
Lefty prospect Max Fried will make his first major league start for the Braves and they aren't exactly giving him a cookie for his first opponent. Fried has made four relief appearances this season with mixed results. In only 6.2 innings of work at the big league level his ERA is 5.40 with a 1.94 WHIP and a .424 opponent's on base percentage.
The kid does throw a lot of ground balls, which is a good trait when pitching at Wrigley Field for the first time, but the Cubs hitters love pounding lefties with a batting average 20 points higher and an average of 5.56 runs per nine innings versus left-handed pitching this season.
Pick: Cubs -1.5 (-115)
Yesterday's Picks: 2-0
Season To Date: 133-121-13
Streaking and Slumping Starting Pitchers
Streaking: Alex Wood, Los Angeles Dodgers (14-1, 2.41 ERA, $993)
What more can we say about lefty Alex Wood's 2017 season that hasn't already been said?
A team win/loss record of 18-4, and ERA of 2.41, a WHIP of 1.01, an opponent's on base percentage of .261, and only 30 walks allowed in 22 total starts.
Wood and the Dodgers are -235 favorites on the road in San Diego today against Jhoulys Chacin and the Padres.
Slumping: Chris Tillman, Baltimore Orioles (1-7, 7.91 ERA, $-497)
Chris Tillman has had a terrible season for the Orioles, but his last four starts have produced some of the worst numbers we've seen over a four game span in quite some time (Bartolo...we're looking at you).
Although split by a pair of bullpen appearances, Tillman's last four starting assignments have produced an 0-2 win/loss record, a 12.18 ERA, and a WHIP of 2.117. Over his last two starts he has handed out 10 walks and has allowed four home runs in only 10.2 innings of work.
Tillman and the Orioles are -135 favorites at home against Brett Anderson and the Jays this afternoon.
Sunday's Top Trends
* The Cleveland Indians have won 10 in a row & are 14-2 in their last 16 road games. -200 today at Tigers.
* The Houston Astros are 12-3 in their last 15 vs. National League East. -250 today vs. Mets.
* The Colorado Rockies are 9-0 in German Marquez's last nine home starts. -115 today vs. D-Backs.
* Under is 7-0 in Chris Sale's last seven starts vs. American League East. Red Sox/Yankees Total: 7.
Weather To Keep An Eye On
Somewhat surprisingly, the only precipitation to worry about in the MLB forecast today is in San Diego where there is a 35 percent chance of rain this afternoon.
There are three games today that will feature double-digit hitter's winds:
Indians at Tigers (total: 9.5) - 12-14 mile per hour wind blowing out to left field.
Reds at Pirates (total: 9) - 12-14 mile per hour wind blowing out to left-center field.
Dodgers at Padres (total: 8) - 10-13 mile per hour wind blowing out to right-center field.
Ump Of The Day
Lance Barksdale is one of baseball's top homer umpires and he will be calling balls and strikes today in Miami where the Marlins will take on the Phillies. Home teams are 18-8 in Barksdale's 26 games behind the dish this season and a $100 wager on the hosts in each of those contests would net a $909 profit.
The host Marlins are -195 favorites today.
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