Posted On Thursday, July 29th, 2010 By admin
The Arizona Diamondbacks are reeling and look to avoid yet another sweep as they visit a Philadelphia Phillies team that has already taken two of three from them. First pitch is at 7 PM ET. The Philadelphia Phillies (55-46, 33-18 home) looked like the season was going to be a disappointment coming out of the All-Star break. Picked by many to win the division, they dropped seven of their first eight to start the second half and were in danger of falling out of striking distance in the division. Then they turned everything around with an 11-inning 2-0 win over the Cardinals. They look to complete their second straight sweep tonight and extend their season-long winning streak to eight after taking two from the Diamondbacks. Phillies offense has come alive over the winning streak averaging six runs per game, but they will be hard-pressed to continue their offensive output thanks to a spate of injuries. Chase Utley is joined by Jamie Moyer and Shane Victorino on the DL while Jimmy Rollins has been out with a foot injury. In contrast to the Phillies, the Arizona Diamondbacks (37-64, 13-35 away) are on a six-game losing steak surrendering 29 scores over that Continue Reading
Posted On Tuesday, July 27th, 2010 By admin
Two teams within striking distance of top spot in their respective divisions meet today as the Tampa Bay Rays host the Detroit Tigers. First pitch is at 7 PM ET. The Tampa Bay Rays (60-38, 27-20 home) took the first game in this four-game series 5-0 with Matt Garza registering a no-hitter. Garza becomes the first pitcher to throw a no-hitter in franchise history. The Rays are currently on a seven game home stand and sit three games back of the New York Yankees for top spot in the AL East. The Yankees and Twins will also pay visits during this home stand giving them a chance to make up ground in the division and pull ahead of one of their main wildcard rivals. The Detroit Tigers (51-47, 16-30 road) are on a 3-9 skid coming out of the All-Star break and have dropped to three-games back in the AL Central race. Justin Verlander (12-5, 3.76 ERA) gets the start for Detroit. Verlander is coming off of an eight-inning, two earned run outing in a 5-2 victory over the Blue Jays. In his last five starts, he has a 3.24 ERA and four victories. On the mound for Tampa Bay Continue Reading
Posted On Monday, July 26th, 2010 By admin
The Los Angeles Angels host the Boston Red Sox with both teams needing wins to move back in to a playoff spot. First pitch is at 10 PM ET. The Boston Red Sox (55-44, 25-24 away) were looking pretty good at the beginning of the month. They were just 1.5-games out of the AL East lead as recently as July 3 as their offense brutalized pitchers. Since then, they have won just six of their last 18 and are back in third place trailing the Yankees by eight games. The reason Boston is struggling is a spate of injuries. Victor Martinez, Dustin Pedroia and Mike Lowell will all be out of the lineup. When these teams met in a four-game series earlier this season, those three accounted for 13 RBIs on their way to a series sweep. The Los Angeles Angels (52-49, 27-21 home) dropped three of four games against the Texas Rangers to fall seven games back of them in the AL West race. The Angels signaled to their backers that they don’t believe they are out of it yet when they acquired pitcher Dan Haren. “It’s too early to quit now,” said Hideki Matsui. Haren won’t be starting Continue Reading
Posted On Friday, July 23rd, 2010 By admin
The San Diego Padres look to make up ground in the race for top spot in the NL as they begin a three-game series with the Pittsburgh Pirates. First pitch is at 7 PM ET. The San Diego Padres (55-39, 25-20 away) have the best road record in the National League, but they’ve been struggling on the road of late. They have just three wins in their last nine road games. They will need to get back to form if they are to catch the Atlanta Braves who sit 1.5-games ahead in the race for top spot in the NL. The good news is that the Braves haven’t lost a series in Pittsburgh in the last decade. The Padres strength is in their pitching. Their 3.30 team ERA , .239 opposing players’ batting average and 750 strikeouts all rank in the top three in the majors. The Pittsburgh Pirates (34-61, 23-23 home) will have a really tough time dealing with the Padres pitching. The Pirates hitting is the exact opposite of the Padres pitching: bottom three in hitting, runs and batting average. The Pirates offense has looked a little better of late. They are 4-3 since the all star break Continue Reading
Posted On Tuesday, July 20th, 2010 By admin
Two teams headed in opposite directions meet as the struggling Philadelphia Phillies visit a streaking St. Louis Cardinals team looking to extend their lead in the NL Central. First pitch is at 8:15 PM ET. Coming out of the All-Star Break, the St. Louis Cardinals (52-41, 32-15 home) were hoping to build on a single win after a losing seven of eleven heading in to the break. They did exactly that sweeping the Dodgers in a four-game series before taking the first of four from Philly. At the opposite end of the spectrum are the Philadelphia Phillies (48-44, 21-26 away). The defending NL Champions haven’t been able to find their road mojo and the All-Star Break didn’t help any as they have dropped four of five on the road. The Cardinals managed four home runs in last night’s 8-4 victory over the Phillies. Albert Pujols looked particularly good while picking up a two-run homer. St. Louis will send Chris Carpenter (10-3, 3.16 ERA) to the mound. The right-hander is coming off of a monster one run, eight inning performance against LA. In eight career starts versus the Phillies, he is 4-2 with a 5.73 ERA, but his last start came Continue Reading
Posted On Monday, July 19th, 2010 By admin
The Cleveland Indians look to extend their four-game winning streak as they visit the Minnesota Twins in the first game of three between these AL central rivals. The Cleveland Indians (38-54, 17-32 away) have disappointed through the first half of the season and sit last in the AL Central with some of the worst hitting and pitching numbers in the league. Their first series back from the All-Star break has given them some cause for hope sweeping the Tigers in a four-game series. The sweep wasn’t enough to move them up the standings, but they looked better than they have at any time in the season. While the Indians were sweeping the second team in the division, the Minnesota Twins (49-43, 29-18 home) were doing themselves a favor by taking three of four from the division-leading Chi-Sox and are now just a game and a half back. Starting for the Twins will be Scott Baker (7-8, 4.87 ERA). Heading in to the All-Star break, the right-hander was hampered by an elbow injury that caused him to lose three of four starts while posting a 6.56 ERA. Twins backers are no doubt betting on the All-Star break being enough to heal Continue Reading
Posted On Friday, July 16th, 2010 By admin
Playing their first games back after the All-Star break, the Colorado Rockies look to continue where they left off as they visit a Cincinnati Reds team that is looking to reverse a slow period ahead of the break. First pitch is at 7:10 PM ET. The Cincinnati Reds (49-41, 27-19 home) lost four in a row heading in to the All-Star break and are now under .500 in July. They need to turn things around as their lead in the NL Central has dwindled to just a half a game. The Cardinals play the Dodgers tonight and a Cardinals win combined with a Reds loss would drop the Reds out of first place. The Colorado Rockies (49-39, 18-23 road) have been tearing up the National League in July. They have won eight of ten games this month and are now just two games back of San Diego for top spot in the NL West. The Rockies have played all of their games at home this month where they have a .660 winning percentage. They are a much different team on the road where they have a .439 winning percentage. This will be the first of a five-game road trip. Jason Continue Reading
Posted On Thursday, July 15th, 2010 By admin
The Chicago White Sox look to extend a hot streak as they visit a struggling Minnesota Twins team. This will be the first in a four-game set between the teams. The game starts at 8:10 PM ET. The Minnesota Twins (46-42, 26-17 home) struggled mightily as they went in to the All-Star break. After dropping seven of their last ten games, the Twins are now in third place in an AL Central division race that they led for most of the season. Going in the opposite direction of the Twins are the Chicago White Sox (49-38, 22-19 away). Their eight game winning streak has put them on top of the AL Central. Nobody would have believed you a month ago if you said the Chi-Sox would lead the division as they were 9.5 games back on June 8. The starting pitcher for the White Sox will be John Danks (8-7, 3.29 ERA). The left-hander has played really well his last few starts giving up no more than three runs in five of his last six. His last outing was a complete game shutout of the Los Angeles Angels. Kevin Slowey (8-5, 4.64) will be starting for the Twins. Slowey has Continue Reading
Posted On Friday, July 9th, 2010 By admin
The Orlando Predators host the Alabama Vipers in a crucial battle for playoff positioning between two South Division rivals. When these teams faced each other in Week 7, the Predators defense held the Vipers to a season-low 31 points winning by a final score of 48-31. The Orlando attack was led by Nick Hill who threw for 273 yards, but only managed four touchdowns. The Orlando Predators (5-7) sit one-game back from the Vipers who currently hold the last wildcard spot with three games left in the schedule. They haven’t done themselves any favors of late losing two straight coming in, but a win tonight would tie the two teams with the Predators holding the tie-breaker. Hill had 291 yards and threw for 7 touchdowns last week, but is wasn’t enough as they fell to the Cleveland Gladiators in overtime 77-70. The Alabama Vipers (6-6) have been struggling down the stretch with three losses in their last five games. Not only did they lose their game last week 62-47 to the Jacksonville Sharks, they also lost starting quarterback Kevin Eakin. Tom Hicks drew in with the injury and managed a very solid 288 yards and five touchdowns. Despite not getting Continue Reading
Posted On Friday, July 9th, 2010 By admin
The Los Angeles Dodgers host a Chicago Cubs team riding high after a three-game sweep in the first of a three-game set at Dodger Stadium. First pitch is at 10 PM ET. The Los Angeles Dodgers (46-38, 25-17 home) come in to this game struggling. They have won just two of their last nine at home and couldn’t manage a single point at home against Florida. However, the Dodgers have had a ton of success against the NL Central this season. They have lost just three times in twelve games against the division and are winners of six straight. The Chicago Cubs (38-47, 18-24 away) have been going in just the opposite direction of the Dodgers. Their 8-3 win last night in Arizona gave them a sweep over the Diamondbacks and they are winners of four of their last five games. Aramis Ramirez was the hero last night blasting a three-run homer in the ninth to add to his two-run homer on Tuesday. The Cubs offense exploded for 23 runs in the three-game series. Clayton Kershaw (8-4. 3.02 ERA) expects to give the Cubs a much harder time at the plate. Kershaw has played well at home of late winning Continue Reading