Sunday Baseball Stuff

[jtsneaks]

Phillies Vs Sox Preview

In another case of an A.L. team dominating an N.L. one the Boston Red Sox will go for a sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies Sunday afternoon. Going into Saturday's action the A.L. had a record of 86-54 in interleague play and the Red Sox helped the cause by rallying to beat the Phillies 5-3 in 10 innings.


When the home side wins by more than a run in extra frames you know there was a walk-off home run. And when the Red Sox are involved you have a pretty good idea it was David Ortiz doing the damage. Ortiz hit his seventh career walkoff homer Saturday afternoon after Jonathan Papelbon pitched 2 1-3 innings of clutch relief and the Red Sox beat the Phillies for the second straight game.

The Red Sox ran their win streak to eight games with the victory and put themselves in position to sweep the Phils Sunday and run their interleague record to 11-1. There was no drama in Friday night's opener as the Red Sox (44-28) won 10-2. Josh Beckett carried a perfect game into the sixth inning and Manny Ramirez homered twice, doubled and drove in a season-high five runs. Chase Utley hit a two-run homer for the Phillies who lost their third in a row.

They made that four Saturday and fell to 35-39 on the season. The Phillies grabbed the early lead off Curt Schilling when Jimy Rollins led of the game with a single, Utley singled him to third and Bobby Abreu doubled both home.

Boston cut the lead to 2-1 in the first on a sacrifice fly by Ramirez after singles by Mark Loretta and Ortiz. The Red Sox then tied it on a leadoff homer in the second by Mike Lowell who matched his output for all last season with his eighth homer. Gonzalez then singled and was forced out at second on Kevin Youkilis' grounder. But Youkilis stole second and scored on Loretta's single for a 3-2 lead.

The Phillies tied the game 3-3 with a run in the seventh. Aaron Rowand led off with a single, breaking a streak of nine batters retired by Schilling. A single by Daivd Dellucci and a walk to David Bell loaded the bases with no outs.

Manny Delcarmen replaced Schilling and set down Shane Victorino on a soft liner to Gonzalez. But Rollins singled in the tying run before Javier Lopez relieved Delcarmen and ended the threat by getting Utley to ground into a double play.

Then came Papelbon's clutch pitching and Ortiz' clutch blast off ex-Red Sox and Yankees' reliever Tom Gordon (2-3). Papelbon waved a towel over his head at home plate as the excited players awaited Ortiz's arrival.

Boston won its season-high eighth straight game as Ortiz produced a win this month for the second time on the last at-bat of the game. He also did it in the opener of a doubleheader against Texas on June 11.

Brett Myers started and went five innings for Philadelphia, one day after being arrested and charged with hitting his wife in the face on a street near Fenway Park just after midnight. He was freed after his wife posted $200 bail and faces a court date of Aug. 4.

Papelbon (2-1) got the Red Sox out of two big jams and matched his longest outing of the year. He likely won't be available to pitch Sunday when the Red Sox send knuckleballer Tim Wakefield (5-8, 3.82) to the hill. Wakefield is 3-3 in eight home starts with a 2.97 ERA and 3-1 in his career vs. the Phillies with a 2.93 ERA.

He will be opposed by Philadelphia's Corey Lidle who is 4-6 this year in 15 starts with a 5.00 ERA. He has made just five starts on the road, going 1-1 with a 3.60 ERA. In his career versus Boston he is 2-2 but with a high 6.46 ERA.

Despite the two losses Philadelphia is still over .500 on the road at 17-16. But it has lost 9-of-11 overall, is 3-8 in interleague play and 2-9 versus the Red Sox the past three seasons. That includes a 1-4 mark at Fenway.


JT Sneaks

[jtsneaks]

Trends

National League:

Pittsburgh at LA Dodgers, 4:10 EST
Kip Wells (R) vs. Brad Penny (R)
Wells: Pittsburgh 5-21 SU in day games
Penny: Dodgers 21-10 SU off BB home games

Interleague Play:

NY Mets at Toronto, 12:05 EST
Steve Trachsel (R) vs. Josh Towers (R)
Trachsel: Mets 10-2 SU away in June
Towers: 1-11 TSR as a home underdog of +125 or less

Cincinnati at Cleveland, 1:05 EST
Elizardo Ramirez (R) vs. Jeremy Sowers (L)
Ramirez: Cincinnati 17-6 Over off a combined score of 4 runs or less
Sowers: Cleveland 7-14 SU in June

St. Louis at Detroit, 1:05 EST
Sidney Ponson (R) vs. Jeremy Bonderman (R)
Ponson: St. Louis 23-8 SU in day games
Bonderman: 3-12 TSR at home pitching off a win

Florida at NY Yankees, 1:05 EST GAME ONE
Dontrelle Willis (L) vs. Mike Mussina (R)
Willis: 9-1 Under as a road underdog
Mussina: Yankees 17-8 SU in day games

(TC) Washington at Baltimore, 1:35 EST
Livan Hernandez (R) vs. Daniel Cabrera (R)
Hernandez: Washington 11-24 SU after losing 4 or 5 of their last 6 games
Cabrera: Baltimore 20-7 SU as a favorite

Atlanta at Tampa Bay, 1:15 EST TBS
Chuck James (L) vs. Mark Hendrickson (L)
James: Atlanta 3-19 SU in June
Hendrickson: Tampa Bay 9-2 SU in interleague games

Philadelphia at Boston, 2:05 EST
Corey Lidle (R) vs. Tim Wakefield (R)
Lidle: 14-7 TSR as a road underdog of +150 or higher
Wakefield: 8-17 TSR in interleague games

(TC) Houston at Chicago White Sox, 8:05 EST ESPN
Roy Oswalt (R) vs. Javier Vazquez (R)
Oswalt: Houston 0-6 SU vs. White Sox
Vazquez: White Sox 18-3 SU at home off 3+ home games

Milwaukee at Kansas City, 2:10 EST
Rick Helling (R) vs. Mark Redman (L)
Helling: Milwaukee 12-2 Over off a loss by 2 runs or less
Redman: Kansas City 15-8 at home with a total of 10 runs or higher

Chicago Cubs at Minnesota, 2:10 EST WGN
Sean Marshall (L) vs. Brad Radke (R)
Marshall: Cubs 13-26 SU in day games
Radke: Minnesota 16-6 SU at home off a win

Texas at Colorado, 3:05 EST
Vicente Padilla (R) vs. Byung-Hyun Kim (R)
Padilla: Texas 10-4 SU away off a loss
Kim: Colorado 19-33 SU at home off a win

Seattle at San Diego, 4:05 EST
Joel Pineiro (R) vs. Mike Thompson (R)
Pineiro: 4-17 TSR as a road underdog of +150 or less
Thompson: San Diego 6-1 Over after hitting 4+ home runs

Oakland at San Francisco, 4:05 EST
Esteban Loaiza (R) vs. Matt Cain (R)
Loaiza: 1-12 TSR away in interleague games
Cain: San Francisco 13-3 Over at home in day games

LA Angels vs. Arizona, 4:40 EST
Kelvim Escobar (R) vs. Miguel Batista (R)
Escobar: 13-1 Under away on Sundays
Batista: Arizona 0-8 SU in interleague games


Added Game:

(TC) Florida at NY Yankees, 8:00 EST GAME TWO
Anibal Sanchez (R) vs. Shawn Chacon (R)
Sanchez: Florida 14-5 SU in June
Chacon: 15-5 Under in night games

** (TC) Denotes Time Change


JT Sneaks

[jtsneaks]

I am going with the Reds for the early slate and may have something at 4est.

JT Sneaks