Tonight’s game between the Philadelphia Phillies and San Francisco Giants is supposed to be stingy. An epic showdown between pitchers who have won three of the last four National League Cy Young awards.
Leave your bat in the dugout kind of game.
But if the first two weeks of the season is any indication, it’s going to be a one-sided blowout in about two innings. Continue reading
Chipper Jones returns for his swan song season, and it couldn’t be at a better time.
The Atlanta Braves are on a mini-streak, winning their last two games and return to Turner Field for their home opener against the Milwaukee Brewers. A season that started with four straight losses seems to be taking a turn after the Braves took the last two against the Houston Astros.
“Road trips get longer and longer,” Jones told the Associated Press. “Especially when you lose the first four, you miss home at lot. It will be good to get back to Atlanta and play in front of the home fans, who we haven’t seen in a long time. The home opener is always a special occasion no matter when it comes.” Continue reading
When Albert Pujols signed with the Los Angeles Angels this offseason, a lot of attention was directed towards the back end of his 10-year contract, when his production will sure dip.
But after one week of baseball, it’s his current performance that’s concerning. The All-Star first baseman has yet to live up to his billing in this young season, batting just 3-for-14 with zero homers in his first four games with the club. Tuesday he went hitless in four at-bats.
What’s worse is he and teammate Vernon Wells, two of the team’s highest-paid players, are a combined 5-for-28. Continue reading
So much for that riveting entrance we saw last week by the Miami Marlins.
Their player introductions, and tour of Marlins Park turned out to essentially be the only thing the team has going for it.
Since last Wednesday’s season opener, the Marlins have been mired by a slow start and now controversy from new manager Ozzie Guillen.
Guillen’s comments criticizing Cuban President Fidel Castro resulted in a five-game suspension and a difficult press conference to watch. So what now? Continue reading
Few would have picked the Philadelphia Phillies and Miami Marlins at the bottom of the NL East standings this early in the year, but after three combined blown saves, the preseason favorites are a combined 2-5 and looking to get out of a big hole.
The Phillies return for their home opener on Monday, and are favored by 1 1/2 runs according to the latest Marlins Phillies betting line with Cole Hamels returning to the mound.
The lefty, who is the only pitcher on staff with a World Series ring, World Series MVP and NLCS MVP, blushed when manager Charlie Manuel chose him for the home opener. Continue reading
The St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series in 2011, but return as just a shell of their former selves after losing demi-god Albert Pujols to free agency and manager Tony LaRussa to free agency.
The Milwaukee Brewers know a little something about that. After one of the most successful seasons in over 20 years, the Brewers let slugger Prince Fielder walk, taking with him the heart of the lineup and 230 career homers. Not long after, All-Star Ryan Braun was the center of the biggest PED scandal baseball has seen since Barry Bonds. The Brewers dodged a huge bullet when Braun’s suspension was lifted keeping the team from losing an average of 112 RBI a season. Continue reading
The Tampa Bay Rays are hoping a tough April schedule will leave them battle-tested and prepared for the rest of the regular season.
They’ll find out soon enough as the Rays host the New York Yankees in their season opener on Friday afternoon. Of their first 22 games, 16 come against legitimate playoffs contenders before things ease up in May.
The Yankees, relatively quiet this past off-season, know the feeling. They also front-loaded their schedule with 15 playoff contenders through April. Continue reading
Baseball is here-ish!
Yesterday morning, the Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics technically kicked off the regular season but it wasn’t considered “Opening Day”-day because the game was played in Japan and didn’t start til before 6 a.m. The two players who benefitted most was Oakland catcher Kurt Suzuki and Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki, who got a chance to play in front of their homeland. Ichiro snacked on Athletics starter Brandon McCarthy most of the game, opening with a single en route to a 4 for 5 day batting in the three hole.
For Game 2 this morning, odds of his total hits, runs, and rbi’s being over 2.5 according to bovada are +135, while odds of him under that are -165. Continue reading