Oddsmakers have set a total for tonight’s Seattle Mariners-Tampa Bay Rays series opener, but it might not even get that high.
Not when Jeremy Hellickson and Felix Hernandez take the mound.
Both pitchers have been spectacular through the first month of the season and will battle Monday night at Tropicana Stadium. Hellickson has won five of his last six starts at The Trop, but Hernandez has won five of his last six on the road. Continue reading
Hard to imagine Justin Verlander with a bad track record anywhere. But the reigning AL MVP has some unfinished business to take care of against the New York Yankees tonight.
Verlander will go for his first win in Yankee Stadium in five years Friday as the Detroit Tigers open a weekend series in the Bronx. Verlander is riding a two-game winning streak and beat the Yankees in his most recent meeting – Game 3 of the ALCS. He struck out 11 hitters over eight good innings to pace the Tigers to a 5-4 win, and eventually the series victory. Continue reading
The American League has simply turned into a Nerf league with titanic home runs hit nearly every night and teams like the New York Yankees nearly averaging nine runs a game.
Its the opposite in the National League where teams like the Washington Nationals rarely give up a hit. The Nationals have a 1.71 ERA from their starters and just snapped a 26-straight scoreless inning streak last night.
There’s a reason why over 65-percent of bettors are going with the Nationals, according to Covers. Continue reading
The Los Angeles Angels made a big splash this off-season, acquiring top free agents C.J. Wilson and Albert Pujols.
Only one of them is playing like an All-Star right now.
Wilson looks to continue his impressive run to start the season, taking the mound against the Tampa Bay Rays Wednesday night.
Wilson has won two of his first three starts with an ERA below 2.40. He’s had trouble against Tampa Bay, most recently in Game 1 of the ALDS last year. But his track record at Tropicana Field is good, going 2-0 with a 1.23 ERA in 22 innings, while holding the Rays to a .141 batting average. Continue reading
The Boston Red Sox and Miami Marlins went for a total overhaul this past offseason, inserting two of the biggest personalities in baseball into their dugouts. But after three weeks of baseball, the honeymoon is over.
Bobby Valentine and Ozzie Guillen are a combined 13-19 with their clubs this year. And what’s worse, they’ve already been dragged into press conferences to answer questions about off-field issues.
Guillen was suspended five games earlier this year for negative comments about Cuban President Fidel Castro. Continue reading
The Los Angeles Angels already got their investment in Albert Pujols paid off when they got their new TV rights deal. Just by acquiring the superstar, the deal ballooned from $150 million to $300 million, plus other advertisement advantages. His deal has already made financial sense for the club.
And when the team inked him to a 10-year deal that will extend far past the twilight of his career, they knew his production would dip eventually. Continue reading
Who would have pegged this one to be a pitcher’s duel?
Barry Zito and Jonathan Niese square off Friday night in what’s bound to be a low-scoring game between the San Francisco Giants and New York Mets.
Zito has been uncharacteristically good this year, tossing two terrific outings to start the year. He started with a shutout against Colorado to start the year, and followed it up with seven good innings in a 4-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates last weekend. Continue reading
The Boston Red Sox will be honoring 100 years at Fenway all year long, but their first meeting with the New York Yankees doesn’t have much to be celebrated.
Both teams come limping into Fenway for another historic series Friday night, both trying to shake out of slumps.
The game will be played on the exact centennial anniversary of their first meeting at Fenway, where the Red Sox won in 11 innings on a Tris Speaker hit. Continue reading
Not a lot has changed in a year.
The Texas Rangers pounded the Detroit Tigers again with 19 hits and 10 runs in a 10-3 rout of Detroit Thursday night, and look to do it again as the series continues on Friday.
Mike Napoli gave bettors a huge MLB Player Props payout when he homered for the fourth-straight game, while Michael Young, Ian Kinsler and Nelson Cruz each had three hits. A similar storyline to last year’s ALCS when Cruz easily led the Rangers past the Tigers. Continue reading
Nelson Cruz is off to a cold start this year, but a date with the Detroit Tigers might just be the remedy. The right fielder torched the Tigers last year in the ALCS, hitting a whopping six home runs and 13 RBI – a record for the championship series.
The Rangers are hoping for a renaissance this week as they open a four-game set against Detroit on Thursday.
Cruz is hitting just over .200 with two home runs to start the year, but Texas has rolled to a 10-2 record and sits atop the AL West. A lot of that has to do with Josh Hamilton, who is 11 for his last 18 with three homers and nine RBI in his last four games. Continue reading