Weekend Series Previews

[Raji]

here are 13 series' going on this weekend in the bases that run from Friday through Sunday and there are two other series' that are four-gamers that end on Monday. The Rangers and Red Sox plus the Tigers and Blue Jays are the lucky ones who will battle it out for four games.

Let's take a quick look at each one and we'll point out any value we see as we go.

Detroit at Toronto – The Tigers are finally starting to hit the ball. Heading into Thursday’s action, the Tigers had won three straight and scored 30 runs in those games. However, the Tigers pitching, including their bullpen, is still a big problem. Toronto’s bullpen has been one of the better relief corps in the league so far but not all is well for Canada’s lone baseball team. The Blue Jays have lost three of their last four and their offense continues to be inconsistent.

Texas at Boston – The Rangers are now 5-3 on the road this season after another win on Thursday. They will have their hands full with Boston however. The Red Sox suddenly have their offense going. Heading into Thursday’s game, the Red Sox had scored 28 runs in their last four games. On Thursday night, the Boston offense was clicking again and note that Texas, with another win Thursday, has now scored at least four runs in five straight games. There could be a lot of runs scored in this series.

New York Yankees at Baltimore – The Orioles bullpen was a pleasant surprise early this season but they are now starting to fade. Baltimore’s relievers definitely overachieved early this season. The Orioles have now lost six of their last eight heading into Thursday’s action and there could be some favorable line value with the Yankees in this series since they are on the road. It’s something to look for here as the Yankees are starting to heat up.

Chicago White Sox at Tampa Bay – The White Sox and Tampa Bay should be an entertaining series. Both teams have solid bullpens and the Rays are better than their full season record indicates. There could be some good line value here with the Rays in this one. At home, we expect the Rays to continue scoring well. They’ve jacked up some runs in their last five games heading into this series and Tampa Bay is worth a look.

Cleveland at Minnesota – A couple of struggling bullpens and two offenses showing signs of heating up means the over could be the way to look in these matchups. The Indians enjoyed an offensive explosion on Thursday and the Twins offense has been heating up over their last five games. Cleveland will enjoy the climate controlled atmosphere of the Metrodome after some chilly early season games.

Seattle at Los Angeles Angels – These teams met last weekend in Seattle and each game had double digits in runs scored. The scoring could continue in Anaheim as both teams have some unsettled pitching issues and both teams have been hitting well.

Kansas City at Oakland – This is a matchup of two surprise teams that have both been getting the job done with pitching. Neither offense is performing well but the starting pitching and bullpens have been the real story for these teams. Now matching up in pitcher-friendly Oakland means some more tight, low-scoring ball games.

Washington at Florida – This is a ‘worst versus first’ matchup in the NL East and there really is only one way to look in this one. Even though the Marlins are overachieving so far, there is a lot to be said for confidence. Right now, Florida has it. The Nationals don't.

Milwaukee at Cincinnati – The Brewers have scored five runs or fewer in eight of their last nine games. The Reds had scored five runs or fewer in nine of their last 11 games before a rare offensive explosion on Thursday. In this divisional matchup, tight games are likely to be the rule and though a lean to the Brewers is appropriate, this one will largely come down to how the starting pitchers match up throughout the series. It is better evaluated on a game-by-game basis as the bullpens and lineups don’t rank as significant edges either way.

Los Angeles Dodgers at Atlanta – The Dodgers are just 2-4 on the road this season while the Braves are 3-2 at home. The home-field edge plays a role in this series as the Dodgers have played much better at home this season than they have on the road, while the Braves have been dreadful on the road but are happy to be back home for this series. At a quick glance it looks like the Dodgers' bullpen has been much better than the Braves based on ERAs. But a closer look shows that Atlanta’s relievers are only getting hit at a .230 clip. In other words, the Braves bullpen has simply been the victim of some big hits. That is certainly significant but the point is that the Braves bullpen is not as poor as their ERA might otherwise suggest.

Colorado at Houston – Both of these teams are struggling to score runs so far this season. The key here could be the Astros starting pitching. Wandy Rodriguez tends to pitch better at home and Shawn Chacon is coming off of a very impressive outing against the Phillies.

San Francisco at St Louis – The Giants just can’t score runs right now. It’s been a very poor start to the season for them in terms of their offense. Worse yet, they face a Cardinals team that has been a surprise so far this season with some of the best pitching in the major leagues.

Pittsburgh at Chicago Cubs – Take a look at the Pirates in this matchup. Snell goes Friday and with two southpaws that can prove tough on the opposition - Gozelanny and Duke going Saturday and Sunday - the Pirates could easily take two of three in this series.

San Diego at Arizona – San Diego’s bullpen has been a major source of concern so far this season and the Diamondbacks have been very strong offensively. As for the Padres' offense, they have some big issues. They don’t hit many homers and strikeout way too much. That’s not a good combo and the Diamondbacks should enjoy some success as the host in this series.

New York Mets at Philadelphia – Look for another fierce battle between these rivals. This is a tough series to call but the Mets' extra inning game on Thursday night didn’t help matters for them in terms of bullpen usage. With starting pitching, there is potential for a fantastic pitchers' duel between Hamels and Santana on Friday. That is just one example of why this series is tough to call between two evenly matched teams. This is likely a good series to just sit back and watch.

Raji