San Francisco Giants at Los Angeles Dodgers (-130, 7.5)
The Giants didn’t let a blatantly-missed call at home plate that cost them the game Sunday halt momentum. San Francisco has won 10 of its last 12 games and moved into second place in the NL West after a 5-2 win over L.A. on Monday.
"After [Sunday’s] deal, we didn't let that affect us," reliever Jeremy Affeldt said.
Trailing the Padres by four games going into Wednesday, the Jints are one of the hottest teams in baseball. They added to their archrival’s recent misery with Monday’s victory.
The Dodgers have dropped five consecutive games and are 4-8 over a 12-game stretch. Los Angeles has only scored 11 runs during the losing streak.
"You get what you earn. Right now we've given a lot away and we have to find a way of getting back on track," manager Joe Torre said. "We've left a lot of men on base lately."
San Fran is 3-0 in Barry Zito’s last three starts and averaged just under seven runs per in those contests. Look for Zito to keep the Manny-less Dodgers bats cool in warm Southern California.
Pick: Giants
Toronto Blue Jays at Kansas City Royals (-175, 8.5)
Yunel Escobar is making the most of his fresh start in Toronto. After being run out of Atlanta, the 27-year-old shortstop is hitting .471 with two homers and seven RBIs in four games with the Jays.
There must be something in the water up in Canada because Escobar was homerless in 261 at-bats with the Braves before being traded.
"A lot of people were asking him about it…doubting whether he could hit [a home run] or not," Toronto bench coach Nick Leyva said. "He knows he can."
It was only a matter of time before Escobar starting heating up. And after being inserted into a free-swinging lineup that looks for the long ball, his production should stay on the rise.
The Jays lead the majors in home runs (141) but suffered a bad beat Monday when closer Kevin Gregg blew his fourth save of the season. He is awful and cannot be trusted while Wednesday’s starter, Mark Rzepczynski, is a reliever getting his second spot start of the season.
Toronto should be able to touch up Zack Greinke for at least a few runs and the Royals will get theirs in what should be a double-digit game when it’s all said and done.
Pick: Over
Streaking
Brett Myers (7-6, 3.35), Houston Astros
Myers is on the radar of many teams in the trade market looking for a quality starter. The guy isn’t going to pitch no-hit ball every night but he tends to be a bullpen’s best friend.
“He came here with a reputation of being an innings eater and I think now he’s gone and almost taken it to another level,” said Houston manager Brad Mills. “The way he’s gone about it is very special.”
Myers hasn’t given up more than two runs in three July starts, compiling a 2-0 record with a nifty 2.08 ERA. True to form, the right-hander worked no fewer than 6.0 innings in each of those outings and is the only pitcher in MLB to go at least six innings in every start this year.
The under is 3-0 in Myers’ last three starts and he’s 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA against the Cubs this season.
Gavin Floyd (5-8, 4.10), Chicago White Sox
Chicago’s turnaround has directly coincided with Floyd’s resurgence. After accruing a 2-6 record through June 3, the Sox righty has gone 3-2 since but the team won five of those eight starts.
Floyd has not surrendered more than one earned run in seven of his previous eight outings. The start that he gave up more than one was a two-earned run performance. Even more impressive, Floyd has not allowed a single long ball in eight consecutive starts while striking out 46 hitters.
Slumping
Tommy Hanson (8-6, 4.19), Atlanta Braves
The ace of the Braves staff has been far from good over his last five outings. Hanson has gone 1-3 in that stretch, allowing 39 hits and 22 runs (19 earned). He didn’t get past the fourth inning in two of those starts.
“The biggest thing today was, I was just inconsistent with all my pitches,” Hanson said after a 9-3 loss to Milwaukee last Friday. “The second inning, just getting behind too many guys kind of got me in trouble there.”
Some analysts feel that Hanson is playing through a knee injury that could be affecting his pitching. The righty has a career 2-0 record with a 2.25 ERA versus the Padres.
Ted Lilly (3-4, 3.22), Chicago Cubs
Chicago’s lefty is auditioning for a job on a contender but his trade value continues to plummet. Lilly put together a pretty good line in his last outing (7.0 innings, 3 earned) but that performance followed a couple of stinkers.
In July, the southpaw is 0-2 with an 8.95 ERA. Lilly was tagged for nine earned runs, including four homers, in first start of the month. He didn’t get out of the fourth inning in his next outing against L.A. when he gave up seven total runs.
Lilly definitely looked better last Friday after recording 10 strikeouts but this guy is too hot and cold to get behind from a betting perspective.
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