Tampa Bay looks to avoid being swept by the NL West-leading San Diego Padres.

San Diego Padres at Tampa Bay Rays – Day

San Diego hammered out three home runs in picking up a 5-4 road victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday night.  The victory moved the team’s record to 19-13 on the road (+1,060), giving them the top record in the National League away from home.  First baseman Adrian Gonzalez continued his red-hot month of June, as he ranks first in the National League in batting average in June (.428).  The rest of the league is starting to realize that the Padres are not a fluke this season, with the team recording a 75-54 record since August 1, 2009.  This series is the first for San Diego on artificial turf and it doesn’t seem to be bothering them with victories in the opening two games

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San Diego looks to push its record to a game above .500 this month and hold onto first place in the NL West.

Baltimore Orioles at San Diego Padres

Baltimore held a 2-1 lead on Friday night heading into the bottom of the ninth, only to see the Padres rally for a 3-2 victory behind 1B Adrian Gonzalez’s bases loaded single.  The club has converted just 47.8 percent of its save opportunities, the lowest percentage in the major leagues.  The Orioles have now lost 18 of their last 21 games, being outscored 127-50 over that span.  Friday’s loss also dropped the club to 2-8 in interleague play this year.  In facing a left-handed starter tonight, Baltimore’s offense will be paced by OF Nick Markakis, who leads all left-handed batters in baseball with a .375 batting average against them.  The club has been outscored 65-28 in their last 12 road games, as they are 8-37 in their last 45 games away from Camden Yards.

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The Phillies are 7-1 in the last eight meetings against the Padres, a team that has the National League’s best record coming into tonight’s contest.

San Diego Padres at Philadelphia Phillies

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San Diego comes into this weekend series winners of eight of its last 11 games, including a successful 6-3 homestand.  “We just want to keep plugging away,” Padres OF Tony Gwynn said.  The Padres dropped five of the seven games against the Phillies last season and look to gain revenge of being swept at Petco Park over that span.  This is certainly a different San Diego team, a unit that has posted a 29-15 record over its last 44 games.  The Padres have been especially good against winning ball clubs, compiling a 16-6 (+1,200) mark that’s far-different from the 74-97 (-590) record over the last three seasons.  When looking to play a total on Friday night, it’s interesting to note that the Padres have gone 7-14-2 O/U away from its pitcher friendly ballpark. 

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Needless to say, not all rotations in baseball are created equal. Some teams have five starting pitchers who are trustworthy and reliable to bettors, while others barely have one or two. You obviously need to handicap each pitcher separately – as opposed to betting on a team based on the strength or weakness of their rotation – but looking at the comparative strengths of the rotations from a betting perspective is still a useful and entertaining exercise. Here are my top four rotations in order:

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A pair of first-place teams square off at Petco Park in the opening game of a three-game series.

St. Louis Cardinals at San Diego Padres

St. Louis is set to begin its six-game road trip against the San Diego Padres, after completing a successful 5-2 homestand against Washington, Florida and the Los Angeles Angels (+194).  The Cardinals have produced a 26-19 overall record in large part to their strong pitching staff, raking second in the league with a 3.07 ERA, just behind tonight’s opponent.  The team has an even 11-11 record on the road this season (-240), including an even 3-3 mark against the NL West (-55).  Runs are tough to come by at Petco Park, which places even more pressure on star 1B Albert Pujols to break out of a slump.  The three-time MVP is 3-for-20 in his last six games and doesn’t have an RBI in his last nine.

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Today we spotlight a great matchup in each league before the focus turns to interleague baseball this weekend.

Minnesota Twins at Boston Red Sox

Minnesota is 2-4 on its current road trip, after dropping Wednesday night’s game, 3-2, to the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.  The Twins now have a 6-7 record against the American League East, their only losing record against a division this season (15-8 vs. Central, 3-1 vs. West).  Ending the current road trip in winning fashion may prove difficult, with the team now having lost six straight games at Fenway Park to the Red Sox.   However, they do find themselves in a favorable position on Thursday, facing a left-handed starter.  The Twins are 9-3 (+620) versus southpaws during the 2010 season and the opposing starter has yet to pick up a career win against them in his career.  Minnesota is batting .295 overall against left-handers – good for second in the majors to only the New York Yankees.  C Joe Mauer (.390) and Justin Morneau (.382) lead the way in that category.

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Wednesday MLB Handicapper Report

Baltimore Orioles
  • The Orioles are coming off a 4-4 homestand against Seattle (2-1), Cleveland (1-2) and Kansas City (1-1).  Baltimore is 11-11 in its last 22 games, after starting the year 2-16.
  • IF Ty Wigginton has set a team-high by hitting in nine straight games, going 14-for-36 (.389) with two homers and six RBI.
  • Team has posted a 3-9 record versus left-handed starters this season and 10-18 against righties.
  • In their last 15 games, the Orioles have been held to one run five times and were held scoreless once.  Overall, the team has had 12 games this year where they scored one run or fewer.
  • Defense has made just one error in the last 62.2 innings of play.  The Orioles are fifth in the AL in fielding percentage (.984).
  • After going 1-6 in their first seven one-run games, the O’s have won six of their last seven one-run games.
  • Three Orioles starters rank in the Top 26 in the AL in strikeout-to-walk ratio.  Kevin Milwood is 10th (3.20), Jeremy Guthrie is 11th (3.00) and Brian Matusz is 26th (2.17)
  • In five career starts against Texas, SP Jeremy Guthrie is 3-0 with a 3.16 ERA.  He has not started a game in Arlington since 7/6/07.
  • The right-hander snapped his career-high eight game losing streak on May 8 at Minnesota, outdueling Minnesota LHP Francisco Liriano.  He has won his last two starts since the skid.

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