MLB: Games for Tuesday

Phillies at Cubs: Or better known today as the battle of the H’s. What? Yeah, it was a stretch, but the pitching matchup is J.A. Happ vs. Rich Harden. Happ is 7-2 with a sweet 2.97 ERA and impressive 1.16 WHIP. He’s throwing well, but the Phillies have lost 4 of the last 6 he started. Still, he seems to get the job done when he’s on the mound. Harden is having a very un-Ace-like year with a 7-6 record and 4.5 ERA, not great numbers at all for the NL. Add in a 1.35 WHIP to that and you wonder what spot he really should be pitching in for this Cubs rotation. This should be a great series. Both teams are atop their division with very similar records (although they took wildly different roads to get there this year). The Cubs are still 13th in the NL in batting average, but they’ve at least improved from 15th in the last few weeks. If they can just get a closer in there they can rely on, the pitching would be their saving grace. The Phillies, well I still don’t know exactly how their doing it, with a baseball betting average of .260 and 4.4 team ERA they must be redefining the term “timely hitting and pitching” because they’re sure not exhibiting “consistent” pitching and hitting. I think the Cubs get the edge here, despite Happ’s record. Chicago is playing really well at home, they’re healthy and they need a series like this to kick them into overdrive for that expected postseason run. They’ll be the favorites, and I’d go with the experts and bet them fairly heavily. A $200 wager wouldn’t be too risky. Cubs -135, Phillies +120.

Rays at Angels: The Rays aren’t dead in the water yet, but if they hope to stay in contention for either the AL East title or the Wild Card (and they both kinda go hand-in-hand right now – thanks New York and Boston), they need to string together more than two or three wins at a time, especially against their division rivals. However, in this game they have to contend with one of the hottest teams in baseball in neighboring AL division out West. The Angels offer up Ervin Santana, who really hasn’t recovered from his slow start this year, slumming it with a 3-6 record and ERA above 7. He’s been one of the dark spots during an otherwise bright couple months for the Angels as they climbed back to elite status. The Rays’ David Price isn’t much better with a .500 record an 5.1 ERA. For games like this, it’s going to come down to momentum. The Angels will have finished up series at Chicago and against Texas Rangers, both teams that can hit, so they might be looking at a depleted and tired bullpen for this series. And if there’s one area the Rays can beat you, it’s with persistence and hammering away with quality at-bats. Even given those conditions, though, the Angels are the better bet. The line won’t be huge, but significant enough that you might want to bet the over, even if it’s at 12 or 13. I can see this being an 8-7 game or higher. Angels -150, Rays +140. Take the Angels and the over.