Friday’s MLB Tip Sheet
Published on June 1 at 12:20 a.m. Eastern.
By Brian Edwards
Gamblers have a stacked card Friday night after just three games were on docket Thursday. Let’s take a look at one game from each league and then touch on a few other topics.
**Marlins at Phillies**
–As of early this morning, most betting shops had this game as a pick ‘em (minus-110 either way). The total is 8 ½ ‘under’ (minus-115). Gamblers can back the Phillies on the run line (minus 1 ½ runs) for a monster plus-190 payout (risk $100 to win $190).
–Miami (29-22, +187) went 21-8 in the month of May to leap into second place in the National League East, one-half game back of division-leading Washington. Ozzie Guillen’s team just completed a three-game sweep of the Nationals, including Wednesday’s 5-3 win as a minus-155 home ‘chalk.’ Josh Johnson went six innings and picked up the win to up his record to 3-3. Heath Bell collected his 10th save. Hanley Ramirez went 3-for-4, while Giancarlo Stanton blasted his 13th homer.
–Philadelphia (27-25, -518) has won six of its last eight games and returns home in this spot after a successful 5-2 road trip. Charlie Manuel’s club is in the NL East cellar but is just three games back of the Nats.
–Manuel will give the starting nod to Kyle Kendrick, who is 1-4 with a 4.10 ERA. But those stats don’t indicate the way the right-hander is throwing right now. Kendrick is coming off his first career shutout at St. Louis and he hasn’t given up more than two runs in five straight outings.
–Guillen will counter Kendrick with veteran LHP Mark Buehrle (5-4, 3.26), who went 4-0 with a 3.19 ERA in five starts in the month of May. The Fish prevailed in each of those five contests.
–Philadelphia is 5-9 against lefties.
–The Phillies are 11-13 at home, while the Marlins are 13-12 on the road.
–The ‘over’ is 30-21 overall for the Phils, going 6-1 in their last seven contests.
–The ‘over’ is 26-23 overall for the Marlins, cashing at an 8-2-1 clip in their last 11 games.
–The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Eastern.
**Rangers at Angels**
–Texas (31-20, -1) comes to California with a 5 ½-game lead on the second-place Angels in the American League West. The Rangers are coming off back-to-back defeats in which their pitching staff gave up an astounding 31 combined runs against Seattle in 10-3 and 21-8 losses.
–Los Angeles (26-26, -919) saw its eight-game winning streak snapped in Wednesday’s 6-5 home loss to the Yankees. Mark Trumbo, who is now batting .348, went 3-for-4 in the losing effort. He uncorked his 10th homer of the season and had three RBIs.
–Jerome Williams (5-2, 3.81) will get the nod for L.A., which is 5-3 in his eight starts. The ‘under’ is 5-3 in his eight assignments.
–Colby Lewis (4-3, 3.58) will take the ball for the Rangers, who are 6-4 in his 10 starts. Totals have been an overall wash (5-5) when Lewis toes the rubber.
–The Angels are 13-11 at home, 19-16 against righties and 17-17 in night games.
–Texas is 16-9 on the road, 22-13 versus right-handers and 22-15 in games played under the lights.
–The ‘over’ is on a 6-1 run for the Rangers to improve to 24-24 overall.
–The ‘under’ is a lucrative 33-18 overall for the Angels.
–When these squads met in Arlington May 11-13, Texas won two of three with the ‘over’ cashing twice.
–Most books opened the Rangers as minus-125 favorites with a total of 8 ½ ‘over’ (minus-120). They are plus-130 on the run line (risk $100 to win $130).
**B.E.’s Bonus Nuggets**
–Detroit avoided broom treatment Thursday night at Fenway Park when it captured a 7-3 win over Boston as a plus-120 underdog. Max Scherzer won his third straight game to improve to 5-3 for the season. Delmon Young went 3-for-5 with a homer. The Tigers remain five games back of the White Sox in the AL Central.
–Speaking of the White Sox, they will try to extend their win streak to nine games tonight vs. Seattle in a great pitching matchup between Chicago’s Jake Peavy and the M’s Felix Hernandez.
–The ‘under’ is an MLB-best 33-14 overall in Pittsburgh games.
–The ‘over’ is on an incredible 11-0-1 run in Colorado’s last 12 games. The Rockies completed a four-game sweep of the slumping Astros with Thursday’s 11-5 home win as to hook up run-line backers with a plus-160 return (risk $100 to win $160).
