Los Angeles Dodgers at New York Mets – Who would have thought, before the season, that each of these teams would enter this late May/early June series without a winning record. While the Dodgers are right at .500 on the season and the Mets are a game under .500, it is quite clear who has the momentum heading into this series. The Mets have won three of their last five games and their big win on Wednesday night should certainly give them a boost in this series. The Mets tied their game in the bottom of the 9th with the Marlins on Wednesday. Then, after allowing a run in the top of the twelfth inning and seeming doomed for another frustrating loss, the Mets got a big two run triple to win the game in the bottom half of the inning. The Mets offense has now produced at least five runs in four of their last six games and they are catching the Dodgers while they are struggling. Los Angeles has lost five of their last six games and while they scored four runs in the one win they only scored a total of four wins in the five losses! Jeff Kent’s back spasms are also a cause for concern. Also, the Dodgers have missed Rafael Furcal, out with lower back problems, at the top of the lineup.

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Colorado at Chicago Cubs – You will be hard pressed to find many bettors putting down their hard earned money on the Rockies in this series! Colorado has fallen unbelievably fast after their solid season last year. After finishing last season on a red hot run and marching all the way through the postseason to make it to the World Series, the Rockies are now in the midst of a miserable first third of this season. The Rockies enter this series at 13 games below .500 and their road record is particularly of concern as they are just 8-19 on the road! Overall, the Rockies enter this series on a 5-12 skid and they have averaged only 3.5 runs per game in this stretch of 17 games. They’ll be facing a Cubs team that has been at the opposite end of the spectrum. The Cubbies are 13-6 their last 19 games and they’ve averaged about six runs per game during this solid stretch.

Keep an eye on some line value with the Cubs throughout this series!

Chicago White Sox at Tampa Bay – Just like the Rockies are a surprise so far this season, who would have thought the White Sox and Rays would be leading their respective divisions as we get ready to enter the month of June! Indeed these two teams have been pleasant surprises so far this season but the key in this series is it’s hard to ignore the home/road dichotomies of these clubs. Certainly the White Sox are a respectable road team with a 16-14 mark but, simply put, this just does not hold a candle to what the Rays have done at home this season. At Tropicana Field, Tampa Bay is now 21-9 on the season. Even though Troy Percival, the Rays closer, is going on the disabled list, Tampa Bay still has plenty of capable arms that can carry the load in the bullpen. It’s simply hard to fade the Rays right now as they have won 17 of their last 19 at home.

Pittsburgh at St Louis – Good NL Central battle here. Even though the Pirates and Cardinals enter this series in opposite areas of the standings they are only separated by five games in the loss column heading into Thursday’s action. The problem for Pittsburgh though is they just can’t get the job done on the road where they’re 9-17 this season. As for the Cardinals, they’re a rock solid 18-11 at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals have also won seven of their last ten games overall, heading into Thursday’s action, and it will be hard to fade them with a Pirates team that is just 3-6 their last 9 games!

However, the Pirates did take two of three games at Busch Stadium the middle of this month and they are worth a look with some of their talented, young pitching taking to the mound in this four game set.

Boston at Baltimore - We could see some good value in this series with Baltimore. A glance at the standings would lead one to believe that there is quite a disparity between these two clubs. However, the only true disparity that does exist here is the home/road disparity of these two clubs. Boston is fantastic at home but an awful 11-19 on the road this season. The Orioles are dreadful on the road but a rock solid 16-8 at home. As you can see, there could be some value in spots for the Orioles in this series this weekend. The first three pitchers that Baltimore sends out for this series (Cabrera, Olson, and Burres) are a combined 7-1 at home this season! The Red Sox first two starters in this series (Beckett and Lester) are a combined 3-6 on the road this season. The other two BoSox starters both have issues. We feel Bartolo Colon has seen his better days and doesn’t have much left in the tank while Daisuke Matsuzaka just had an MRI on his shoulder and appears fatigued right now.

New York Yankees at Minnesota – A couple of hot teams particularly on offense. The Yankees are 6-2 in their last 8 games and they’ve averaged nearly seven runs per game during this stretch. As for the Twins, they’ve been solid throughout the month of May as they’ve averaged 5.5 runs per game heading into Thursday night’s action. The Twins were 16-11 heading into their series finale with the Royals and we expect their sticks to remain hot as they head back home to take on the Yankees this weekend. The sides may be tough to call in this series but, based on the way these two offenses are going, we’ll be looking to potentially cash in on some overs in this series!