A decent weekend (6-1) for us and here's a look at Monday. For now - unsure if we'll have big 'uns on Monday or not, but there are long term options for the time being.
Jeff Hoffman makes his second appearance for Colorado. He was the centerpiece of the Tulowitzki trade to Toronto. He's a bit inconsistent at Albuquerque, so maybe tough to cap here. But, he gets the Phillies who aren't hitting coming back from a road trip, and the Rockies are hitting. Tough to take the Phillies with their recent bullpen issues.
All right, why is Gerrit Cole only -115 at Atlanta? I do know the Pirates are down, but I also know the Braves don't have Freeman. Foltynewicz, when he's on, keeps the ball down, so I have to think under is the play here.
The Giants couldn't hit with runners in scoring position in St. Louis on Sunday, and the Cubs are hitting (Sunday) so taking Lackey is just easy - or is it. Blach was great in his second start against the Reds, which you might expect,then held the Dodgers to one run on five hits in seven innings. Lackey seems to be regressing a bit, but he has owned the SF lineup. I could actually make a case for the Giants F5 here - it'd be tough to take their bullpen after all the use in St. Louis Sunday.
Vargas and Pineda met last week in KC in an 11-7 game. The Yankees fly home from Tampa, so not the best situation of all, and Betances threw quite a few pitches Sunday. KC plays two and won't have fresh arms if Vargas is the "bad" Vargas, so I could make a case for the over, although there will likely be some weather which might interrupt batting practice and/or delay the start of the game.
It would be easy to fade the Twins off a DH on Sunday, especially with Gibson coming off a two week vacation. It would also be easy to fade Ubaldo. I can't lay -160 on Baltimore and Jiminez. The Twins' pen has actually been better than Baltimore's lately - so I could conceivably make an in-game wager on Minnesota if they're only down a run or two after four innings, give or take.
The Angels finally hit the ball against the Mets and the Rays finally stopped hitting the ball against the Yankees. Ramirez is fairly unpredictable, but has gone 7 innings in his last two starts. Odorizzi doesn't get himself in trouble with walks - but can be had with the long ball - the Rays pen has been solid LATELY. I can make a case for the Angels especially if Pujols comes back, and not for his offense as much as what protection he might give the others in the lineup.
We'll have to see what the Tigers bring after playing late Sunday, but Fulmer tends to keep the ball down and in the park, which against Houston at that stadium could clearly be beneficial. Houston is starting to regress, perhaps - and McCann went on the DL. That leaves them a defensive liability if Gatties catches. Peacock has been great coming out of the pen, but as a starter he hasn't impressed. This one might be tougher than it looks to assume Houston will right the ship overnight.
Tomlin doesn't concern me if I were to bet against Cleveland, and remember that they won't have a DH. We know that their bullpen is terrific, and unless Tomlin is on we'll see them sooner rather than later in an NL game. Feldman always has a way about him - the Reds are perhaps a live home dog, or maybe a F5 bet to avoid Cleveland's bullpen.
I suppose Arizona will win, but I have to look at how they won't. Grienke has given up at least one bomb in his last four starts, and in three of them threw 107 pitches. But, the White Sox bullpen has fallen on hard times in Seattle, and it's not a short flight from there to Phoenix. I might be able to look at that over, or at least the D-Backs team total over - I do know I won't lay -190. Arizona couldn't hit Clayton Richard on Sunday - had some travelling to do, so it's far from an auto-bet for me.