Top over teams in baseball

[Raji]

The Texas Rangers may have their fingerprints on a game boasting 33 runs this week, but they actually tend toward the under. The franchise with the likes of the mighty Jarrod Saltalamacchia actually owns a sleepy 9-12-1 over/under record this month.

Skip Texas for fireworks. If you want an over team that's lighting it up in August, look to these score-hungry squads.

1) Cincinnati Reds (over/under record all season: 72-50-2)

Cincy’s 16-5 over/under record in August catapults the New Big Red Machine to the top of the list.

Cincinnati’s arms are what’s really driving the trend. The pitching staff has allowed a 6.06 ERA this month going into Saturday’s game, and the pitchers are getting away with it. Despite their leaky defense, Reds hitters have been good enough to help the team win 13 in their last 21 games heading into Saturday.

Friday’s 5-3 win over the Florida Marlins was only the second under in the Reds' last 10 contests.

2) New York Mets (61-60-1)

The Walking Wounded of Shea are somehow staying on top in the NL East.

Dayn Perry, of FOXSports.com, points out that New York’s starting pitchers have spent over 200 days on the DL. This is not the kind of thing that promotes unders.

Just as many Mets sluggers have spent time on the injury list as good pitchers, but young talents like Lastings Milledge have filled in with timely hits. That's helped make Mets games over machines.

The team’s over/under record is 16-5 in August.

3) Pittsburgh Pirates (66-53-8)

It’s all in the bats in Steeltown. Pittsburgh hitters have 56 doubles in August alone, nearly two dozen more doubles than was hit in the same period by that quaint little ballclub called the New York Yankees.

Over bettors also benefit from the Bucs’ ordinary pitching staff, which is allowing an average of five earned runs a game this month, 23rd in the majors.

It adds up to a 16-7 over/under record in August.

4) Atlanta Braves (71-53-5)

Mark Teixeira’s bat may have initially given Atlanta a big-scoring image, but the recent record shows the Braves growing tame in the over/under department.

Heading into Saturday’s action, Atlanta’s games had missed the number eight times in the last 16 games, a drop-off from the blistering start to August when Braves games went over six straight times.

5) Milwaukee Braves (69-51-8)

Fourteen overs in their last 21 games is part of what you get for having the worst team ERA in the major leagues in August. Opposing hitters are feasting on the Brewers, hitting a league-high .311 against slumping Milwaukee.

The slide might have something to do with right-hander Ben Sheets' absence from the rotation. MLB.com now says the injured ace is aiming to return against the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday or Thursday.


Raji