MLB betting trends, odds and predictions for Monday, May 22nd, 2017 from various handicappers and websites
MLB Knowledge
National League
Rockies @ Phillies
Hoffman allowed three runs in 5.1 IP in his first ’17 start, a 10-7 win over the Dodgers.
Eickhoff is 0-3, 7.29 in his last four starts (under 4-3-1).
Rockies won five of last seven games, are 6-1 in road series openers. Over is 6-3 in their last nine road games. Phillies lost six of last seven games, are 2-4 in home series openers. Over is 8-4 in their last 12 games.
Pirates @ Braves
Cole is 2-3, 2.35 in his last seven starts (under 8-1).
Foltynewicz is 2-0, 3.00 in his last two starts; his last three starts went over.
Pirates won six of last eight games; they’re 2-6 in road series openers. Under is 14-8-1 in their road games. Atlanta is 7-3 in its last ten games, 3-3 in home series openers. Over is 7-2-1 in their last ten home games.
Giants @ Cubs
Blach is 1-0, 1.93 in his last two starts (under 4-1).
Lackey is 3-0, 3.86 in his last four starts (over 6-2).
Giants won nine of last 11 games, are 3-5 in road series openers. Three of their last four games went over. Cubs won four of last five games, are 2-5 in home series openers. Over is 14-1 in last fifteen games at Wrigley Field.
American League
Kansas City @ New York
Vargas is 5-2, 2.22 in eight starts this year (under 6-2).
Pineda is 1-1, 4.34 in his last three starts; over is 5-2 in his last seven starts.
Royals lost four of last six games; they’re 2-4 in road series openers. Over is 7-3 in their last ten road games. New York lost three of last four games; they’re 4-2 in home series openers. Over is 9-2 in their last 11 home games.
Twins @ Orioles
Gibson is 0-4, 9.28 in his last five starts; his last three starts went over.
Jimenez is 0-2, 8.84 in his last four starts (over 5-1-1).
Twins are 9-2 in last 11 road games, 5-1 in road series openers. Over is 6-2 in their last eight road tilts. Baltimore won eight of last nine home games; they’re 7-0 in home series openers. Over is 4-2-1 in their last seven games.
Angels @ Rays
Ramirez is 1-1, 2.78 in his last five starts (under 5-2).
Odorizzi is 2-1, 2.84 in his last three starts (under 5-2).
Angels won five of last seven games, are 2-5 in road series openers. Four of their last five games went over total. Tampa Bay won four of last five games; they’re 3-5 in home series openers. Over is 10-2-1 in their last thirteen games.
Tigers @ Astros
Fulmer is 4-0, 3.09 in his last five starts (over 4-0-1).
Peacock is making his first ’17 start; he is 13-17, 4.37 in 46 career starts, 2-0, 1.12 in 12 relief stints (16.1 IP) this season.
Tigers played at home last night; they’re 5-2 in road series openers. Detroit is 5-1 in game after its last six losses. Under is 4-1 in their last five road games. Houston lost their last three games; they’re 5-2 in home series openers. Under is 3-1 in their last four games.
Interleague
Indians @ Reds
Tomlin is 0-2, 4.15 in his last three starts (over 5-3).
Feldman is 1-2, 3.94 in five home starts (under 3-2).
Indians won six of last eight road games; they’re 4-4 in road series openers. Under is 13-2 in their last 15 road games. Reds lost eight of last nine games; they’re 3-5 in home series openers. Last seven Cincy games went over the total.
White Sox @ Diamondbacks
Gonzalez is 0-4, 7.54 in his last four starts; over is 4-1 in his last five outings. 5
Greinke is 4-0, 2.94 in his last five starts (over 4-1-1 at home).
White Sox won their last three games; they’re 2-6 in road series openers. five of their last six games went over the total. Arizona won five of its last six games; they’re 6-2 in home series openers. Over is 7-1 in their home series openers.
Record with this pitcher starting
National League
Col-Phil: Hoffman 1-0; Eickhoff 1-7
Pitt-Atl: Cole 4-5; Foltynewicz 2-5
SF-Chi: Blach 1-4; Lackey 5-3
American League
KC-NY: Vargas 5-3; Pineda 6-2
Minn-Balt: Gibson 2-4; Jimenez 5-2
LA-TB: Ramirez 4-3; Odorizzi 4-3
Det-Hst: Fulmer 6-2; Peacock 0-0
Interleague
Clev-Cin: Tomlin 3-5; Feldman 2-7
CWS-Az: Gonzalez 4-4; Greinke 6-3
Pitchers allowing a run in first inning:
National League
Col-Phil: Hoffman 0-1; Eickhoff 2-8
Pitt-Atl: Cole 1-9; Foltynewicz 1-7
SF-Chi: Blach 1-5; Lackey 5-8
American League
KC-NY: Vargas 1-8; Pineda 4-8
Minn-Balt: Gibson 1-5; Jimenez 3-7
LA-TB: Ramirez 5-7; Odorizzi 3-7
Det-Hst: Fulmer 3-8; Peacock 0-0
Interleague
Clev-Cin: Tomlin 3-8; Feldman 2-9
CWS-Az: Gonzalez 3-8; Greinke 0-9
Armadillosports.com
Monday's Diamond Notes
By Joe Williams
VegasInsider.com
Hottest team: Indians (5-2 past seven overall, 6-2 past eight road games)
The Indians dropped two of three in a series against the mediocre Rays at home last week, but the Tribe quickly bounced back for an impressive road sweep against the playoff-hopeful Astros. Cleveland used the triumvirate of Trevor Bauer, Mike Clevinger and Danny Salazar to pitch their way past Houston, outscoring the 'Stros by a 16-9 count. The Indians head to Cincinnati looking to stay hot on the road against right-handed starting pitchers. They're 4-0 in their past four road games vs. RHP and 9-4 in their past 13 against National League Central Division foes. Cleveland has also won four straight in Great American Ball Park, and six in a row against their Interstate 71 rivals.
Coldest team Orioles (3-7 past 10 overall)
Many bettors might look at the 3-7 record over the past 10 games and think to avoid the O's. However, while they have struggled on the road recently, going 1-6 in a seven-game road journey from May 10-17, they took two of three from the Blue Jays this past weekend, improving to 8-1 over their past nine outings in Oriole Park at Camden Yards. It won't be easy against the Twins, however, as Minnesota is 7-3 in Kyle Gibson's past 10 assignments on the road. The Twins have also fared rather nicely against right-handed starters, going 11-5 in their past 16 vs. RHP.
Hottest pitcher: Zack Greinke, Diamondbacks (5-2, 3.09 ERA)
Greinke takes the mound looking to stay hot. He enters with a 3-0 record and 2.91 ERA over three outings in the month of May and he hasn't tasted defeat since April 19, a span of five outings. The veteran hasn't faced the White Sox since the June 22, 2012 when he tossed a three-hit shutout at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago when he was a member of the Milwaukee Brewers. The last time he lost to the White Sox, it was Aug. 19, 2009. However, the sample size is very small since then, and the lineup for the ChiSox has obviously changed dramatically. More importantly, the White Sox are just 3-7 in their past 10 road games, and 0-5 in their past five tries against winning teams while they're just 3-9 in Miguel Gonzalez's past 12 assignments on the road.
Coldest pitcher: Mike Tomlin, Indians (2-5, 6.86 ERA)
While the Indians might be having a measure of success lately, that certainly hasn't been the case for Tomlin. The Lone Star State native hasn't won in three starts dating back to April 30, and he hasn't record a win and a quality start in the same outing since April 18 in Minnesota. Cleveland has handled its business against Cincinnati in recent seasons, and they're 18-6 in Tomlin's past 24 road outings. However, the Indians have dropped six of the past seven when Tomlin works in the opening game of a series, although they're a perfect 7-0 in Tomlin's past seven road starts against a team with a losing overall mark.
Biggest UNDER run: Tigers (6-3 past nine games)
The 'under' hit in two of the three games at home against the Rangers as the Tigers allowed just 13 total runs in the series. The 'under' is 5-1 in Detroit's past six against American League West Division foes while going 4-1 in the past five road games for the Tigers. However, the 'over' is 4-1 in Michael Fulmer's past five road outings, 4-1 in his past five starts overall and 5-2 in his past seven against teams with a winning overall record. The good news is the 'under' is 6-2 in his past eight against AL West teams and 4-1 in his past five against teams with a winning overall mark.
Biggest OVER run: Rays (11-2 past 13 games, 12-5 past 17 home games)
The 'under' cashed in Sunday's series finale against the Yankees, but that has been a rarity lately. That under slapped the brakes on an eight-game 'over' run from May 12-20. The 'over' is 45-22-1 in Tampa Bay's past 68 against a right-handed starter, and 25-10 in their past 35 at home vs. RHP. However, Jake Odorizzi is also a huge challenge to the over. The 'under' has cashed in nine of their past 11 starts overall and 4-1 in his past five outings at 'The Trop'.
Matchup to watch: Diamondbacks vs. White Sox
The White Sox and Diamondbacks kick off an interleague set in the desert. Miguel Gonzalez will be looking to turn around his fortunes, as he lost a fourth straight outings at L.A. Angels on Wednesday. He coughed up five runs and six hits with a season-high five walks over 5 2/3 innings. Gonzalez has also dropped each of his past three starts o nthe road, so the Arizona batters will be licking their chops looking to jump in him early and often.
Betcha didn’t know: The Astros have dropped three in a row after being swept by the Indians this past weekend. They are looking to avoid a season-worst four-game losing streak when they send Brad Peacock to the bump against Michael Fulmer and the Tigers. The bad news for the Astros is that the Tigers are 23-7 in Peacock's past 30 tries on grass, 6-2 in his past eight aginst AL West foes and 13-5 across his past 18 road outings. While the Tigers have dropped five of the past seven in Houston, they're 4-1 in their past five meetings against the 'Stros.
Biggest public favorite: Diamondbacks (-190) vs. White Sox
Biggest public underdog: Twins (+125) at Orioles
Biggest line move: Angels (+130 to +110) vs. Rays
Red-hot Giants, Cubs meet
By: StatFox.com
The Giants will be going for their eighth win in 10 games when they face the Cubs on Monday.
San Francisco has gotten going in recent weeks, as the team has won three straight series heading into this meeting with Chicago. The Giants still have plenty of work to do in order to get back into the postseason hunt, but if they can keep taking series after series then they should be fine. The Cubs, however, are also playing their best ball of the season entering this series. Chicago has won four of its past five games, and the defending World Series champs desperately needed to get back on track as well. The Cubs know that they have the talent to repeat, but they need to get back towards the top of the standings sooner rather than later. The starters in this Monday night matchup are going to be LHP Ty Blach (1-2, 4.15 ERA, 11 K) for San Francisco and RHP John Lackey (4-3, 4.37 ERA, 49 K) for Chicago. The Cubs will be feeling good about this game, though. They are 9-1 against the Giants when playing at Wrigley Field over the past three seasons, and they are also 27-6 against the money line over the past two seasons when playing at home against an NL starting pitcher with a WHIP of 1.250 or better.
The Giants are rolling right now and it’s really about time for this team. San Francisco had hoped that it would be in contention for a World Series this season, but the team is now working its way back into the playoff picture. After winning three straight series, it’s clear the team is playing the way it wanted to. The Giants will just need to keep it up for a long period of time, as they still have plenty of work to do. If they are going to find a way to win on Monday then Ty Blach will need to give them some good innings in this one. He has been great in his last two starts, allowing just three earned runs in his last 14 innings of work. If he can give San Francisco another quality start then he will have done his job. Offensively, the Giants will need some bats to wake up for this one. Despite the recent winning, this offense can get cold at any moment. The team will need somebody like C Buster Posey (.362 BA, 7 HR, 11 RBI) to come through. He has been consistent this season, but the Giants need him to produce more runs. That, however, is on his teammates too. They are not putting themselves in scoring position for when Posey gets up.
The Cubs have finally started playing like the team that won the World Series last year, and a big part of that has been 3B Kris Bryant (.303 BA, 10 HR, 22 RBI) finding his groove. Over the past seven games, Bryant has seen his average rise from .295 to .303 and he has homered four times as well. He hit two bombs against the Brewers on Sunday and the Cubs will be hoping that he can keep it up moving forward. 1B Anthony Rizzo (.226 BA, 8 HR, 24 RBI) has also been hitting a bit better lately. It has been a miserable season for him in terms of average, but Rizzo has gotten hits in five straight for Chicago. He’ll need to stay hot moving forward in order to get closer to his career average of .265. As for the pitching, the Cubs can definitely use a solid performance from Lackey. The righty has, however, allowed three or fewer earned runs in each of his past three starts. He should be good to go on Monday.