Monday's best MLB bets

Atlanta Braves at Houston Astros (100, 8.5)

There's no place like dome for the Astros, who return home having won five in a row at Minute Maid Park by a combined score of 30-4.

Of course, those lopsided wins came against struggling teams like the Cubs and Brewers, but the Braves may qualify as a lesser team in the series opener.

That's because they have called up 22-year-old lefthander Mike Minor to make his major-league debut in place of injured starter Kris Medlen.

Minor, who is 6-7 with a 3.44 ERA in Double-A and Triple-A this season, was the last to know about his last-minute promotion Saturday night.

"I was thinking they were going to go with a veteran guy, an experienced guy," he told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "My dad was saying that it was all over the internet, they are going to call you up. I still didn’t believe it until they told me."

Minor may be in for an even bigger surprise against the hard-hitting Astros, who are batting .316 against lefties in their last 10 games.

The Braves, who are batting just .242 against righties during that same span, face Bud Norris, who has won his last two starts and struck out a combined 13.

Welcome to the majors, Minor.

Pick: Astros

Chicago Cubs at San Francisco Giants (-160, 8)

The Cubs, frequent victims of the June swoon, have instead waited for the July slide and the August bust before falling to pieces this season.

The Loveable Losers have dropped 10 of their last 11 and scored three or fewer runs in seven of those defeats. The Cubs are next-to-last in hitting with runners in scoring position.

"I don't even want to talk about it anymore, truthfully," soon-to-be former Cubs manager Lou Piniella said of the lack of clutch hitting. "No sense re-hashing, what could have been, whatever. It's hard. It's frustrating is what it is."

The Cubs are feeling the same frustration and will likely start playing out the string. They will do so without their skipper, who is leaving the team to tend to his ailing mother.

They do get a shot of fire from Carlos Zambrano, who returns to the mound after his tirade last month, but even if he is effective he is on a 75-80 pitch count.

Put a disgruntled team on a plane without their manager for a West Coast road swing that starts in San Francisco, where the Giants are 9-3 since the All-Star break, and you get predictable results.

Pick: Giants