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Weekend Series
April 18, 2008
By Scott Rickenbach
VegasInsider.com
There are 13 series going this weekend in the bases that run from Friday thru Sunday and, of course, all of these are 3 game series. The other two series (the Rangers and Red Sox plus the Tigers and Blue Jays) run from Friday through Monday and are four game series. We will write a very quick piece on each one as being concise here is the key in covering all the weekend series in one fell swoop! However, note the betting angle here; if we see any particular value we will point it out as something to consider. Now, "Let's Play Ball":
Detroit @ Toronto - The Tigers are finally starting to hit the ball some. Heading into Thursday's action, Detroit had won three straight and scored 30 runs in those games. However, the Tigers pitching, including their bullpen, is still a big problem. Toronto's bullpen has been one of the better relief corps in the league so far but not all is well for Canada's lone baseball team. The Blue Jays have lost three of their last four and their offense continues to be inconsistent.
Texas @ Boston - The Rangers are now 5-3 on the road this season after another win on Thursday. They will have their hands full with Boston however. The Red Sox have suddenly got their offense going. Heading into Thursday's game, the Red Sox had scored 28 runs in their last four games. On Thursday night, the Boston offense was clicking again and note that Texas, with another win Thursday, has now scored at least four runs in five straight games. There could be a lot runs scored in this series!
New York Yankees @ Baltimore -The Orioles bullpen was a pleasant surprise early this season but they are now starting to fade. Baltimore's relievers definitely overachieved early this season. The Orioles have now lost six of their last eight heading into Thursday's action and there could be some favorable line value with the Yankees in this series since they are on the road. It's something to look for here as the Yankees are starting to heat up.
Chicago White Sox @ Tampa Bay - The White Sox and Tampa Bay should be quite an entertaining series. Both teams have solid bullpens and the Rays are better than their full season record indicates. There could be some good line value here with the Rays in
this one. At home, we expect the Rays to continue scoring well. They've scored quite well in their last five games heading into this series and Tampa Bay is worth a look in this series.
Cleveland @ Minnesota - Couple of struggling bullpens and two offenses showing signs of heating up means the over could be the way to look in these match-ups. The Indians enjoyed an offensive explosion on Thursday and the Twins offense has been heating up over their last five games. Cleveland will enjoy the climate controlled atmosphere of the Metrodome after some chilly early season games.
Seattle @ Los Angeles Angels - These teams met last weekend in Seattle and each game had double digits in runs scored. The scoring could continue in Anaheim as both teams have some unsettled pitching issues and both teams have been hitting the ball well.
Kansas City @ Oakland - A match-up of two surprise teams that have each been getting the job done with pitching. Neither offense is performing well but the starting pitching and bullpens have been the real story for these teams. Now matching up in pitcher-friendly Oakland means some more tight, low-scoring ball games are likely to be on tap for these teams.
Washington @ Florida - This is a 'worst versus first' match-up in the NL East and there really is only one way to look in this one. Even though the Marlins are overachieving so far this season, there is a lot to be said for confidence and, right now, Florida has it and the Nationals do not as they've been mired in a slump.
Milwaukee @ Cincinnati - The Brewers have scored five runs or less in eight of their last nine games. The Reds had scored five runs or less in 9 of their last 11 games before a rare offensive explosion on Thursday. In this divisional match-up tight games are likely to be the rule and though a lean to the Brewers is appropriate this one will largely come down to how the starting pitchers match up throughout the series. It is better evaluated on a game by game basis as the bullpens and lineups don't rank as significant edges either way.
Los Angeles Dodgers @ Atlanta - The Dodgers are just 2-4 on the road this season while the Braves are 3-2 at home. The home field edge does play a role in this series as the Dodgers have played much better at home this season than they have on the road while the Braves have been dreadful on the road but are happy to be back home for this series. At a quick glance it looks like the Dodgers bullpen has been much better than the Braves based on ERAs but a closer look shows that Atlanta's relievers are only getting hit at a .230 clip. In other words, the Braves bullpen has simply been the victim of some big hits. That is certainly significant but the point is that the Braves bullpen is not as poor as their ERA might otherwise suggest.
Colorado @ Houston - Both of these teams are struggling to score runs so far this season. The key here could be the Astros starting pitching. Wandy Rodriguez tends to pitch better at home and Shawn Chacon is coming off of a very impressive outing against the
Phillies in his most recent start.
San Francisco @ St Louis - The Giants just can't score runs right now. It's been a very poor start to the season for them in terms of their offense. Worse yet, they face a Cardinals team that has been a surprise so far this season with some of the best pitching in the major leagues thus far.
Pittsburgh @ Chicago Cubs - Take a look at the Pirates in this match-up. Snell goes Friday and with two southpaws that can prove tough on the opposition, Gozelanny and Duke, going Saturday and Sunday, the Pirates could easily take two of three in this series.
San Diego @ Arizona - San Diego's bullpen has been a major source of concern so far this season and the Diamondbacks have been very strong offensively so far this season. As for the Padres offense, they have some big issues. They don't hit many homers and yet they strikeout way too much. That's not a good combo and the Diamondbacks should enjoy some success as the host in this series.
New York Mets @ Philadelphia -Look for another fierce battle between these rivals. This is a tough series to call but the Mets extra inning game on Thursday night didn't help matters for them in terms of bullpen usage coming into this series. In terms of starting pitching, there is potential for a fantastic pitchers duel between Hamels and Santana on Friday. That is just one example of why this series is tough to call as these teams are very evenly matched. This is likely a good series to simply sit back and watch.
Good luck this weekend as, in addition to enjoying the first weekend of the NBA Playoffs we also sit back and enjoy our time at the diamonds. Best of luck always - Scott Rickenbach
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