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Brett Anderson has been very quietly having himself a solid season. Feliz Hernandez is one of the best pitchers in the American League but his team cannot score any runs and rarely provides him with adequate run support. It has to be frustrating for Hernandez, who in his last two starts (both losses), did not get one single run from his team. This should be a pitchers duel, but if your team cant score, you can't win. Take Oakland.
This is a key series in the American League Central Divisional battle and it all starts tonight when Scott Baker and Freddy Garcia square off. After what seemed like an atrocious stretch this season, Scott Baker has finally settled in and has tossed three solid consecutive outings for the first time this season. He is coming off of his best start of the season whre he tossed eight innings of shut out ball against Tampa Bay while striking out seven batters. Over his last three starts he has a 2.21 ERA and a 0.93 WHIP. Granted two of the teams he faced were Baltimore and Seattle but as I just said he did shut down one of the best hitting teams in baseball. The Twins are 6-1 in his last seven starts against the White Sox. In a visit to Chicago earlier this season he tossed 7 innings of one run ball for the victory. Baker seems to step up against the competition, as he is 5-1 in his last six starts against a team with a winning record. The Twins are hot 12-3 in their last 15 and 17-5 in the last 22 meetings. Freddy Garcia is 1-2 this year against the Twins who I feel are the better team. Take the dog price with Minnesota.
The Reds are in good position to bounce back in this spot: Cincinnati has been resilient for most of the year and currently sports a 4-1 mark off their last 5 losses. We're going to look for the Reds' lineup to get the best of Jaime Garcia, who is coming off a horrible start vs Houston. The Reds are 16-5 at home vs lefty starters; Cincinnati is batting a healthy .278 at home vs lefties and should give Johnny Cueto the needed run support. Cueto has had success vs St. Louis; moreover, the Reds are 5-0 with Cueto in game 2 of a series, and they're 7-1 with him vs the NLC. The Cardinals, on the other hand, are 9-20 on the road vs righty starters. Furthermore, the Cardinals' bullpen has shown vulnerability over the last few weeks. Reds the call.
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