The Blue Jays look to finish the month with the most home runs in baseball and pick up a fifth-straight victory on their current homestand.
Cleveland Indians at Toronto Blue Jays
Cleveland has lost six of seven games and the starting rotation has given up 16 runs over 10 innings during a current three-game skid. The Indians’ offense managed to collect just five hits, while allowing a six-run fourth inning in a 8-1 loss to the Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre last night. “I think the night belonged to Shaun Marcum,” said manager Manny Acta. “He was fantastic.” Today’s game will be the second of a seven-game road trip that has the club traveling to Toronto and Boston. The Tribe is 19-34 in road games this year (-530) and the total is 24-26 O/U in those contests. Cleveland is also 12-21 against the AL East division, while having a winning 20-18 mark against their own division. The club has been very successful playing on Saturdays, notching a 10-7 record (+660).
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Detroit has lost 13 of its last 16 games and has fallen into third place in the AL Central race. “We’re in emergency mode,” manager Jim Leyland said after Thursday’s loss in Tampa. “When I say that, I’m saying we just have to fight our tails off every day.” This three-game series at Fenway will cap an 11-game stretch against the AL East foes for the club. The Tigers are currently 2-6 in that span and 10-8 against the division this season. Detroit may find itself as a +225 to +250 road underdog for just the second time in three years, while they are a dismal 16-33 overall away from Comerica Park (-1,750). The team has lost 22 of its last 30 games in Boston and has dropped 10 straight overall on the road.
Los Angeles managed to win Tuesday’s opener despite being held to five hits and only collected four in Wednesday’s 6-1 loss to the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. “Unfortunately, when you are not scoring a lot of runs, you’re putting a great deal of stress on the pitching,” manager Joe Torre said. The Dodgers have still won five of seven contests and sit six games back of the Padres in the division. The club is a dominating 25-9 against NL West opponents (+1,630), which is by far the best intra-division mark in baseball. Los Angeles made a move just before last night’s game, acquiring outfielder Scott Podsednik from the Kansas City Royals. He’s among the major league leaders with 30 steals and batting .379 during a current 15-game hitting streak. The Dodgers are an even 13-13 in day games (-190) this season and the total is 10-14 O/U in those contests.
Detroit will look avoid its first 10-game losing streak away from home since it ended the 2005 campaign in that fashion. The club has dropped 12 of its last 15 games overall. One good thing going for the Tigers is the fact that the Rays have never swept them in a four-game series at Tropicana Field. Detroit is currently in a stretch of playing 11-straight games against AL East opponents, producing a 10-7 record versus the division so far this season. The Tigers have also managed to still win eight of their last 14 games in Tampa Bay despite dropping the first three games of this series. In 27 games against southpaw starters this year, the team is a solid 17-10 (+730) and the total is 15-12 O/U in those contests.
St. Louis is set to play the second game of this three game series this evening, as part of a six-game, seven-day road trip. The Cardinals fell 8-2 in defeat on Tuesday evening at Citi Field and the team is now 8-4 since the All-Star break. The club is batting .294 and averaging 6.0 runs per game in its 55 wins, while hitting just .223 and scoring 2.5 runs a game in 45 losses. Surprisingly, the team picked up a loss with starting pitcher Adam Wainwright on the hill, as they are 40-23 in games involving the right-hander, Chris Carpenter and tonight’s starter. It was the fifth time in 11 road starts this season that the Cards have scored no runs or one run while Wainwright was in the game. The lineup went 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position and stranded 10 runners on the night. St. Louis has posted a 2-3 mark as a road underdog of +100 to +125 this season (-90) and an even 29-29 the last three years (+250).
Chicago continued to offer little to no run support for starting pitcher Ted Lilly on Tuesday night, as he’s received the lowest run support of any hurler in the Major Leagues. Coming into last night’s 6-1 loss against the Astros at Minute Maid Park, he had received just 2.43 runs of support per start. “Lilly’s been a model of consistency,” manager Lou Piniella said. “He gives you a very reasonable chance of winning a baseball game when he goes out there.” The Cubs had averaged 5.93 runs per game in their last 14 contests before being shutout in the second game of this series and the club’s .300 average since July 9, was by far the highest in the National League over that span. Chicago is 24-27 in day games this season (-1,100) and the total is 23-25 O/U in those contests.
Chicago moved its record to 7-4 since the All-Star break after picking up a 5-2 win over the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park. “With this offense we have and the pitching staff we have, we can do some damage,” last night’s starting pitcher Carlos Silva said. Monday’s game was the first of a six-game, seven day road trip, as the club looks to win consecutive series against its own division for the first time since winning seven-straight series last season from July 24-September 13. The Cubs are 4-6 against the Astros this season despite outscoring by four runs, 51-47, in those contests. Chicago has dropped three games to Houston by a single run and another by two runs this season. Against divisional opponents, the team is 19-28 (-2,050) and the total being 19-24 O/U in those meetings.
Atlanta enters this series with the second-biggest division lead in the majors, leading the Phillies by 4.5 games, while having a 15.5 game advantage on tonight’s opponent. The Braves have alternated wins and losses over the past six games and managed to lose just its second series since May 10th in dropping two of three games against the Florida Marlins over the past weekend. The club left 11 runners on base in a 5-4 defeat on Sunday. “You led the other team off the hook that many times, eventually they’re going to cash in and beat you,” said third baseman Chipper Jones. From an offensive standpoint, catcher Brian McCann has been doing his part since being named the All-Star Game MVP, hitting three home runs and driving in 14 runs in his last 10 games. Atlanta is 7-4 when playing with a day off this year (+280) and the total is an even 4-4 O/U in those contests.
