7월24일 best MLB bets

Tampa Bay Rays at Cleveland Indians (160, 8.5)

The Rays have not won in Cleveland since 2005, forcing manager Joe Maddon to resort to some voodoo to undo the curse of the Tribe.

"I'm sure there's some sort of negative spiritual influence that's been cast upon us," he told the Tampa Tribune. "We're going to look for the paranormal kind of activity, we'll get … the ghost meters out the next time we come here, and we'll see if we can eradicate it somehow."

A better solution might be to bring the same bats. The Rays are swinging a hot stick these days, scoring 38 runs in their last five outings and twice posting double figures during that span.

They also bring to the mound lefthander David Price, who is 1-0 with a 1.93 ERA in two career starts against the Tribe, who contrinue to struggle against lefties.

The Indians counter with righthander Mitch Talbot, who may be suffering from fatigue. He hasn't lasted more than 5 2/3 innings in his last three starts and is 0-2 in that stretch.

Ghosts or not, this streak is due end.

Pick: Rays

New York Mets at Los Angeles Dodgers (-130, 8.5)

Neither team has been playing well offensively, but they haven't faced opposing pitching as weak as they will today.

For the Mets, righthander Mike Pelfrey takes the hill for the first time since serving up seven hits and six runs in the first inning against the Diamondbacks in his last outing. In his two career outings against L.A., the Dodgers have hit him at a .341 clip.

The Dodgers counter by digging deep in their bullpen to fill out the fifth spot in the rotation. Righty Carlos Monasterios is allowing about four fewer runs per nine innings as a reliever as opposed to a starter so the Mets may finally find some offensive opportunities.

The Mets have been batting .221 against righties (as opposed to .185 vs. lefties) and the Dodgers are a full 15 points better against righthanders.

Streaking

Vin Mazzaro (5-2, 3.50 ERA), Oakland Athletics

Mazzaro started the season in the A’s rotation but was quickly moved over to a long relief role. He didn’t exactly flourish out of the pen, but he’s been sensational since rejoining the five-man starting unit.

The 23-year-old New Jersey native owns a 2.82 ERA in his eight starts since rejoining the rotation. Oakland is 4-4 in those eight games but the club has been an underdog in all but one of those contests.

Johnny Cueto (9-2, 3.39 ERA), Cincinnati Reds

Cueto continues to deliver for the upstart Reds. The young righty has given up two or less runs in each of his last six appearances. And he’s been a nice play for total bettors too. The under is 4-1-1 in his last six trips to the bump.

Slumping

Ubaldo Jimenez (15-1, 2.38 ERA), Colorado Rockies

Jimenez seemed like a lock for the NL Cy Young award but a recent stretch of average to poor starts over the last month has shaken things up a bit.

The Rockies don’t care what Josh Johnson or Adam Wainwright are doing. They just want to see their ace regain his top form. Jimenez’s ERA is 6.39 over his last five starts and the over is 4-1 over the same period.

His win-loss record hasn’t taken a hit thanks to some great run support from his teammates. The Rockies are still 8-2 in his last 10 outings, but bettors should know he’s not the same pitcher he was in the first two months of the season.

Scott Feldman (5-8, 5.48 ERA), Texas Rangers

Feldman is the weakest link in the Rangers’ revamped rotation. He’s given up five runs in four of his last five outings and Texas is 1-3 the last four times he’s taken the hill.