Chicago at St. Louis: The NL Central race heats up Saturday afternoon when the Cubs and Cardinals square off. Chicago holds a 3 ½-game lead over St. Louis but Lou Pinella's team has been in a bit of funk. Fortunately for Sweet Lou and company, Carlos Zambrano returned Friday and earned a 2-1 victory over their divisional foe.

The Cubs are concluding a 10-game road trip this weekend, which has watched the team go 3-5 in the first seven games. The club has averaged 3.6 runs per game, while allowing 4.8 runs. The ‘over’ has gone 5-3 during this stretch. This will be the Cubs second trip to St. Louis this season. The first go ‘round watched the Cubbies lost two of the three battles. The ‘under’ went 2-1.

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The Cardinals have been playing better ball of late, winning four of their last six games before Friday's setback. The pitching staff just got roughed up by the Mets though, allowing 26 runs in their recent four-game set. The ‘over’ went 3-1 in the four games.

St. Louis will send Kyle Lohse to the hill and he’s been the ace of the staff this year with a 10-2 record and 3.67 ERA. However, he did get touched up by the Cubs on May 3 for nine hits and eight earned runs in six innings.

For more stats and trends on this matchup, check out a detailed preview from our friends from SBG Global.

Boston at New York: After losing five straight games, the Red Sox have bounced back strongly with back-to-back wins over the Yankees. Boston will send Justin Masterson (4-2, 3.75 ERA) to the mound against Mike Mussina (10-6, 3.87 ERA). After winning his 10th game on June 14 against Houston, Mussina has suffered two losses in a row despite decent outings. Moose dropped a 4-2 decision to Cincinnati and a 2-1 setback to Texas more recently.

The Yankes’ offense better step up Saturday considering Mussina is 0-2 vs. Boston this year, giving up 15 hits and nine earned runs in less than nine innings in the two outings. Speaking of the attack, it’s been missing in action lately. If you take away the 18-run outburst on Wednesday against Texas, the Yanks have been held under three runs or less in six of the last seven games. The ‘under’ is on a 6-3 run.

Pitchers Duel – Toronto vs. Los Angeles

It’s not often that you see totals listed at 7 runs in the American League, but Saturday’s matchup between Toronto’s Roy Halladay (9-6, 2.95 ERA) and Los Angeles’ John Lackey (6-1, 1.44 ERA) definitely warrants the low number.

Halladay hasn’t faced the Angels this season but fared well in his two starts last year. He posted a 1-1 record, scattering 17 hits over 17 innings to go with just four earned runs. Halladay is off a 2-0 complete game victory over Seattle on June 30, giving up four hits while striking out six.

Even though Lackey only has nine starts this year, the hurler has completely dominated anybody he’s faced. He’s won five straight decisions, giving up just five earned runs over this stretch. To maker matters worse for the Blue Jays, Lackey has posted a 2-0 mark this year versus them. The ‘under’ has gone 8-2 in his 10 starts this year.

The Angels won their third game in a row Friday by defeating the Jays 8-2 behind the arm of Jered Weaver. The defeat for Toronto was its third straight.

Mismatch on Paper – Detroit (-140) at Seattle

Saturday’s slate features 15 games and only two of the contests have the road team listed as a favorite. Detroit (43-43) and San Diego take the honors and while the Padres have a tough battle against the Diamondbacks, it looks like the Tigers should have their way with Seattle (34-52).

For starters, the Tigers have won six of the first eight meetings against the M’s this year and the pitching matchup really favors the road team in this spot. The Tigers’ Armando Galarraga has been lights out away from home this year, posting a 5-1 record over seven road starts to go with a sizzling 2.23 ERA. The youngster has given up just 31 hits in 44 innings outside of Detroit as well. The Tigers have gone 11-2 on the year when Galarraga takes the rubber.

Seattle hasn’t been as fortunate with R.A. Dickey, who has been blasted at Safeco Field. He's allowed 14 earned runs and 23 hits in 11 2/3 innings in his three starts. The M’s are 1-4 when he takes the hill, including 0-3 at home.

Sometimes things look too good to be true, but laying wood on the road doesn’t seem like a bad choice. If you’re looking to limit your risk, then back Detroit on the run-line at a premium price (+125).

Lefty Luck

Ten lefthanders take the hill on Saturday. Here are the matchups showing how teams have fared against the southpaws and who they’ll be facing.

National League

New York at Philadelphia (Moyer): Mets are 15-10 and average 4.8 runs per game
Milwaukee vs. Pittsburgh (Maholm): Brewers are 16-8
Houston at Atlanta (Reyes): Astros are 11-13 with 4.7 runs scored
Florida at Colorado (De la Rosa): Marlins have gone 11-12 vs. lefthanders
San Diego at Arizona (Davis): The Padres have struggled to a 7-20 ledger
Los Angeles at San Francisco (Zito): Dodgers have gone 12-12

American League

Texas at Baltimore (Burres): Rangers have averaged 4.5 vs. lefties en route to a 9-17 mark (1-8 on road at night)
Chicago vs. Oakland (Smith): White Sox are 19-13, including 12-5 at home
Minnesota vs. (Cleveland): Twins have gone 9-13, but 7-4 at home

Saturday Special

Some clubs have performed better on the weekend, while others have failed. Here is a look at a handful of the top and bottom clubs for Saturday:

Good

St. Louis: 10-3
Tampa Bay: 9-4
Baltimore: 9-5
Boston: 9-5

Bad

Washington: 2-11
Cleveland: 4-9
Philadelphia: 4-9

Chris David can be reached at cdavid@vegasinsider.com