When Baltimore played as an Underdog - During Last 2 Years - With 1 Under or Less - Lost Last Game by 3 Runs or Less - With a SU Record of 1 Win 2 Lost in L3 Games; The OVER is 9-4-0 for the Orioles in this underdog role the L2Y.

-After more than five weeks on the DL, Kazmir returned last Saturday & held Florida (who CRUSH left-handed starters) to two runs and four hits in five innings in a 3-2 Rays win-

-Tampa Bay is 31-20 vs right handed starters this season, averaging 5.8 runs per game-

-Tampa Bay is playing great ball right now, as they are 6-1 thier L/7-

-Tampa Bay has a definite bullpen edge tonight IMO...as their Team bullpen ERA is 3.33 with a WHIP of 1.251. Texas on the other hand has a Team bullpen ERA o 4.34 & a WHIP of 1.417-

-Scott Kazmir is 4-0 (Rays are 7-0) when facing the Rangers during his career, with a 2.09 ERA & a poultry .201 batting average against-

-Here are some career #'s for KEY Texas hitters tonight vs Kazmir: Kinlser (2-13, 1 HR) Young (2-13) Murphy (1-6) Byrd (2-6) A. Jones (0-0) N. Cruz (0-3) C. Davis (0-4) Blalock (0-6 prolly wont start) Saltalamacchia (0-5)-

-Texas starter Tommy Hunter has made 5 big league apperarnces, and he has a 9.93 ERA & a .356 batting average against...and leftys hit .385 off him-

 -I hope all of this INFO helps some of you make your own decicsion on who you like in this matchup.....I persoanlly will back the Rays in this spot tonight-

The Rangers broke out of an offensive slump in winning the final two games of their early-week series with the Angels. Texas lost 5-2 to the Angels on Monday, falling 2 1/2 games behind LA in the AL West. However, after averaging just 3.6 RPG in losing EIGHT of the previous 11 games while batting only .207 (remember, the Rangers led MLB in 2008 in runs scored!), Texas rebounded with consecutive 9-5 and 9-7 wins. With 10 days to go before the All Star break, the Rangers are one game behind the Angels in the AL West, after finishing 21 games back of LA in 2008. The Rays, the defending AL champs, have their work cut out for them in 2009, battling the Red Sox (48-30), Yankees (45-33) and even the Blue Jays (42-38) in MLB's toughest division (AL East). Tampa Bay enters this series 44-36, having won 15 of its last 20 games. Scott Kazmir gets the start for the Rays vs the untested Tommy Hunter for the Rangers. Hunter made just three starts in 2008, getting shelled for 23 hits and 20 ERs in only 11 innings (16.36 ERA). He's been better in two starts this year, allowing 14 hits and only five ERs in 11.2 innings for a 3.86 ERA. However, the righty will face a Tampa team which 'killed' righties last year (71-41 averaging 5.1 RPG) and has been strong vs right-handers again in '09, going 31-20 (5.8 RPG). His mound opponent Scott Kazmir is coming off a season in which he went 12-8 (team was 19-8 in his starts) and led all Tampa Bay starters with a 3.49 ERA. The Rays struggled to open this season and Kazmir's lack of effectiveness was a contributing factor to those woes. He gave up at least six ERs in five of his first nine starts before going on the DL May 22 with a right quadriceps strain. However, after being sidelined for more than five weeks, Kazmir returned last Saturday and held Florida to two ERs and four hits in five innings of Tampa Bay?s 3-2 win. I'm a big fan of Kazmir and here's why. While the Rays (then devils!) were going 194-292 (.399) from 2005-07, Kazmir was 33-26 (.559) in 90 starts (team was 46-44 / .511). Doing the math during that three-year span, the Rays were 33-26 (.559) when Kazmir got a decision and 161-266 (.377) when he didn't. With Kazmir on the mound, the Rays were 46-44 (.511) and when he wasn't, they were 148-248 (.374). Now that's a "difference-maker!" The clincher is that Kazmir is 4-0 with 2.09 ERA in seven career starts vs Texas, all being Tampa Bay wins. Take Kazmir and the Rays over Hunter and the Rangers.

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Friday, July 3rd (All times eastern)

Atlanta Braves (38-40) at Washington Nationals (22-54), 6:35 p.m.

Probable Starting Pitchers: Atlanta - Kenshin Kawakami (4-6, 4.25) Washington - Ross Detwiler (0-4, 5.24)

5 Units on Atlanta Braves

The Braves scored three runs in the eighth inning to defeat the Phillies 5-2 for a sweep of the three-game series on Thursday, as -140 favorites. The game's seven runs went UNDER the posted over/under (8).

Casey Kotchman went 2-for-2 at the plate with a two-run homer. Mike Gonzalez earned the win in relief, and Rafael Soriano collected his seventh save.

The Nationals were defeated 5-3 by the Marlins last time out, as +150 underdogs. That game's eight runs went as a PUSH against the posted over/under (8).

Josh Willingham had two hits and drove in two runs, while Julian Tavarez gave up two runs in relief and suffered the loss.

Play AGAINST WASHINGTON using the money line in All games against division opponents

The record is 6 Wins and 30 Losses this season (-22.20 units)


WASHINGTON is 9-27 (-16.6 Units) against the money line vs. NL teams scoring 4.3 or less runs/game on the season over the last 2 seasons.

KAWAKAMI: ATL 20-10 AWAY on Friday

DETWILER: WAS 6-30 against division opponents

Head-to-Head Series History

ATLANTA is 4-2 (+1.3 Units) against WASHINGTON this season

4 of 6 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL this season . (Under=+1.6 Units)

Braves are 4-0 in their last 4 vs. National League East.

Braves are 4-0 in Kawakamis last 4 starts during game 1 of a series.

Atlanta has won four of its six matchups with the Nats this season.

Nationals are 10-41 in their last 51 vs. National League East.

Nationals are 1-4 in Detwilers last 5 home starts.

Nationals are 0-4 in Detwilers last 4 starts during game 1 of a series.

Nationals are 0-6 in Detwilers last 6 starts following a team loss in their previous game.

Baseball plays are based on both probable starting pitchers going. If there is a pitching change the game becomes a no play. Always specify both pitchers.