Total Domination Fuels Two MLB Matchups

Baltimore and Pittsburgh have been two of the weakest franchises in baseball for a number of years. The Orioles haven’t had a winning season since their division title in 1997 and Pittsburgh is on historic sports streak, as their last winning campaign came in 1992. When you are this bad, everyone has a shot to beat you, however certain teams can really put the hurt on you and both clubs face a nemesis that just doesn’t let up this evening.

Thank you sir may I have another

It was just four years ago, despite being a horribly run franchise, Baltimore (29-63, -20.8 units) always had the cushion of Tampa Bay (56-36, +2.8) below them to at least have a little dignity, keeping them out of last place in the AL East. No more, as the Rays figured out how to put together a farm system and Baltimore, they are still trying to work that point out.

The O’s came into the season believing they had turned a corner, with the development of a few of their younger players, despite the fact they were on a streak of the next season being worst than the prior since 2004.

This quickly turned into a futile campaign with abysmal 2-16 start. Enter Tampa Bay. The Rays are 6-1 vs. the Orioles this year, including 4-0 at Camden Yards, where the teams will meet again. Over the past three seasons, Tampa Bay is 15-7 where crapcakes are plentiful and 31-13 overall.

Sports betting online outlets have Baltimore as +180 home underdogs, after their 8-1 shellacking last night and the Birds are 2-19 after scoring one run or less this season. They will send potential sacrificial lamb Jake Arrieta (3-2, 4.62 ERA) to the mound and Baltimore is 11-36 off three straight losses against division rivals the last three seasons.

Tampa Bay will start Matt Garza (10-5, 4.05) who is 8-1 with a 2.48 ERA in 10 career starts against the Orioles and is 2-0 this season, permitting two earned runs in 16 innings and striking out 14. For this 7:05 Eastern contest, the Rays are 14-4 on the division road this season.

Oh that’s going to leave a mark

Prosperity and abundance are two words seldom associated with the Pittsburgh Pirates (32-60, -12.3). After scoring 21 runs on 36 hits in last two contests in taking the series against Houston, the Bucs must have been arm and leg weary and could only muster a lone run and six base-knocks against renowned Chris Capuano and other bullpen pitchers from Milwaukee (43-51, -7.8) in 3-1 defeat (Capuano’s first win in three years).

Pittsburgh losing to the Brewers is as predictable Lindsey Lohan and Mel Gibson being in the news, after awhile you hardly even notice.

The Pirates have fallen to the Brew Crew in nine of 12 matchups this year (5 of 6 at PNC Park) and they are 8-32 vs. Milwaukee since 2008. The latest slump has Pittsburgh losing nine of 11 and they are 8-27 with double revenge against opponent this season.

Betting on sports participants will note the Bucs are +117 underdogs with their best young pitcher Brad Lincoln (1-3, 5.14) taking the ball. Lincoln has mid-90’s heat, a curveball with a hard break and improving changeup. His problems have come leaving the ball up against big league hitters and has been tagged for four homers in last two starts. Pittsburgh is 50-101 after batting .250 or worse over a 20-game span.

Milwaukee counters with Dave Bush (4-7, 4.07), who has pitched his best baseball of the season of late, with 2.45 ERA in his last trio of starts. Half of Bush’s wins in 2010 have been at the expense of Pittsburgh and the Brewers are on 7-1 streak as a road favorite in the -110 to -150 range. The Crew is 7-0 against Pitt. when Bush is the starting pitcher since July 5, 2008.

What we learned from MLB Interleague Play

As per usual, the American League once again showed their superiority over their union partners from the National League in interleague play with a 134-118 edge. This marks the seventh straight time the junior circuit has been victorious, however for those thirsting for the 16-team league to finally win this event, this year was the closest the National League has been since this rein began in 2004. (AL won that year 126-125)

One of the humorous aspects each year is the managers that end up with a tougher draw, whine like Oksana Grigorieva (Mel Gibson’s soon to be ex) about what misfortune they have encountered.

Joe Torre was lightly complaining his team had to face the Angels six times, plus the Yankees, Red Sox and Detroit, which led to 4-11 record this year. Torre might have a slight argument, since his team faced better clubs than either San Francisco or San Diego, who are ahead of them in the standings. Nonetheless, the Dodgers always play terrible against AL, thus this isn’t news and besides, who had the Padres in first place on July 1 in the NL West this season unless they were taking on Triple-A teams.

Over the course of a 162-game slate, there is going to be ups and downs and if a team is in one situation or the other, that more than anything will affect how they play and more likely determine their outcome.

The biggest benefactor of the interleague play was the Chicago White Sox, who single-handily accounted for 75 percent of the difference in the two leagues with their 15-3 record. The White Sox did have any easier draw, having to play Florida, Pittsburgh, Washington and taking on their sinking cross-town rivals the Cubs, didn’t hurt either. However, manager Ozzie Guillen’s club also swept first place Atlanta on the south side during their 11-game win streak and is right back in contention in the AL Central race with Minnesota and Detroit.

Texas and Boston were two other teams that improved their status whipping their National League counterparts. The Rangers contingent of opponents might already be out of the pennant chase, yet you have to tip your cap for franchise best 8-1 road trip, that included stops in Milwaukee, Florida and Houston. Texas returned home and swept Pittsburgh, to make win streak 11 and they start series with Los Angeles on 16-2 roll, 4.5 games ahead of the Angels.

The Red Sox were 13-5 in their interleague adventure and faced three solid clubs from the NL West and went toe to toe six times with the two-time National League champion Phillies. Their success moved them up to second place in the AL East standings, surpassing Tampa Bay and closing in on the Yankees.

With the Dodgers swimming into the interleague black hole with teams like Washington (5-13 interleague play), Pittsburgh (2-13) and Houston (3-12), somebody from the NL had to emerge victorious.

The biggest winner was the New York Mets at 13-5. Their 6-0 record over Baltimore and Cleveland could hardly be described as taxing, yet for a team that is 9-20 on the road everywhere else, that six-pack of visiting triumphs sure came in handy. The Metropolitans again had to face the Yankees six times and manager Jerry Manuel didn’t whine once, keeping his lips closed tight also facing division contenders like the Tigers and Twins.

Of the National Leaguer’s that were 9-6, division leader San Diego was most impressive with 4-2 road mark.

One final note, it would be a complete oversight not to mention the Pirates. Pittsburgh now holds the record for baseball futility with 17 consecutive losing seasons since Barry Bonds left town in 1992 as a free agent for San Francisco. Barring an unprecedented comeback, No. 18 just needs 32 more losses in the final 86 games. Their aforementioned pitiful interleague record of 2-13, saw them outscored by 2.8 runs per game, quite an accomplishment.