MLB Games of the Week: (6-16 through 6-22)

Written by Red Coffman on June, 17th 2008 | 0 Comments

Week 12 MLB Betting Tips

This is a great week in interleague play, and I have a couple games that shouldn’t fail to impress. A couple lefties face off in my second game while one hell of a rookie hurler tries to dice up the vaunted Yankee lineup in New York. Check out my games of the week!

Cincinnati Reds @ New York Yankees:
7:05pm EST: 6-20-2008

Probably Starters: Edinson Volquez (R) vs. Mike Mussina (R)

Records/Recent Action: The Reds are just 5 games under .500, but that hasn’t kept them out of the cellar in the NL Central. At 33-38 they are 12.5 games back of the Cubs and a half game back of the Astros for last in the division. They hold a money line of -673, the only negative number in the Central. They are 32-33-5 O/U on the season. They are just brutal on the road (12-24). The Reds have lost 6 of their last 10 games, losing series to the Cardinals and the Red Sox after splitting a four game set with the Marlins. The Yankees are back to their winning ways, taking 7 of their last 10 contests and are 37-33 on the season. They have a 26-41-2 O/U record, making them a pretty nice bet to finish under the total so far this season. However, beware of the runs this offense can put up, I don’t expect them to be anywhere close to 15 games Under the total at season’s end.

Significance: The Yankees are back, and they really need to start winning to catch the Red Sox. Naturally, they have time, I mean this is baseball. However, they will have some trouble with this young righty in Cincinnati. Edinson wasn’t the highest rated prospect on the Cincinnati staff, but he’s been the most successful - that’’s for sure. Nobody’s been able to hit this kid, and while he’ll definitely be tested by a recently hot Yankees lineup - I wouldn’t expect too many fireworks in New York. Mike Mussina has also been pitching well, but all eyes will be on the young ace on the mound for the road club.

Hot Bats: While the Reds have 4 hitters with 11 or more HRs, they don’t have a single hitter (with 220+ plate appearances) batting better than .275 - that’s Joey Votto, the rookie first baseman. Jay Bruce, the rookie just up from AAA, started hot, but has cooled to a .342 average. Adam Dunn leads the club with 18 HRs. Jason Giambi has been swinging a hot bat of late, and his 15 HRs leads the club. Despite being out for a pretty good stretch, A-Rod has 12 dingers and is batting .326. Johnny Damon has the best batting average on the club at .328.

Cleveland Indians @ L.A. Dodgers:
3:55pm EST: 6-21-2008 on FOX

Probably Starters: C.C. Sabathia (L) vs. Clayton Kershaw (L)

Records/Recent Action: The Dodgers have dropped 7 of their last 10 games and have really fallen on hard times. At 31-38 this team is definitely a candidate for one of the seasons most disappointing clubs, especially after getting swept by the previous “biggest disappointment” the Detroit Tigers. The Dodgers are still second in a pathetic NL West, just 5.5 games back of the recently struggling Diamondbacks. The Indians have taken 6 out of their last 10 and sit at 33-37 on the season. Despite being 12th in runs scored and 14th in ERA the Indians just can’t seem to get it all together. The Indians are 13-19 on the road this season, and a disappointing -1462 on the money line this season. After splitting a four game set with the Tigers early last week, the Indians took 2 of 3 from the Twins and Padres.

Significance: This is a great lefty match-up if I’ve ever seen one. Sure, C.C. hasn’t been awesome this year, but you don’t have to look far to see that he still has it. He’s being courted by a couple big spenders right now, one of them being the Yankees, so he might not pitch many more games for the Indians. On Saturday he goes up against one of the more talented young lefties in the game, Clayton Kershaw. Kershaw hasn’t been untouchable since being called up, but he has some deadly stuff and has a bright future ahead of him. The way these teams have been hitting, this could be one heck of a low scoring affair. A pitchers dual to say the least.

Hot Bats: Jeff Kent hasn’t been there with his average, but his 8 HR pop leads the power deprived Dodgers in L.A. Russell Martin leads the Dodgers with a .311 average while Matt Kemp has 39 RBI to top the club. Grady Sizemore is having a down year hitting for average but his 17 HRs leads his team, and is just 11 away from his career high. His .266 average, pathetically, leads the team.

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