The Rays will try to capture their first-ever four-game sweep of the Tigers at Tropicana Field.
Detroit Tigers at Tampa Bay Rays
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).
The San Francisco 49ers have been a popular darkhorse pick the last couple years, but it’s put up or shut up time now for head coach Mike Singletary’s squad. Singletary has anointed Alex Smith the unquestioned starter at QB this season, and he already has the second-most snaps under center in the division behind Seattle’s Matt Hasselbeck. With Arizona’s Kurt Warner retired, this seems to finally be the year for the 49ers to strike gold and return to the playoffs.
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.
The Green Bay Packers showed a lot of promise last season under the leadership of second-year starting QB Aaron Rodgers on their way to an impressive 11-5 record and playoff berth. Unfortunately, it was their former QB Brett Favre who kept them from winning the NFC North and will lead the defending division champs if he decides to come back yet again this year. Favre’s Minnesota Vikings are expected to be the only major divisional roadblock for the Packers, who are +125 to win the NFC North, 6/1 to win the NFC and 12/1 to win Super Bowl XLV.
