leadoffsauce

Detroit Tigers at Seattle Mariners

Doug Fister vs Aaron Harang Odds: DET -135 SEA +125, O/U: 7

Harang just signed with Seattle and this will be his season debut and hasn’t logged an inning since spring training. I get a strong feeling that facing the Detroit offense who’s stroking it right now is not the greatest of spots for him. Fister on the other hand for Detroit, will be pitching in very familiar country. As a former Mariner, he’s compiled a 3.32 career ERA in 235 innings pitched at Safeco. He’s coming off a dominant performance against the Jays. Detroit -135 

Toronto Blue Jays at Kansas City Royals

Brandon Morrow vs Ervin Santana

Odds: KC -115 TOR -105, O/U: 8.5

Morrow got ripped by the Tigers in his last outing. When you have 3 pitches and you’re still working on your changeup/splitter combo, and you can’t locate your 2ndpitch slider, hitters like to tee off on the ol’ number 1, it’s going to be a long afternoon. Until he finds it, trust the status quo. Morrow could be happy to oblige as he is a part of a starting staff that has the worst ERA in the league at 7.55. Ervin Santana led the Majors with 39 homers allowed last year and is a thing of the past and is coming off a stellar outing. Joey Bats is the only one that sees him well and we think he can avoid serious damage from him being only 1 game removed from the Golden Sombrero. KC is 6-3 (+325) on the year and we anticipate that winning trend to continue. Royals -115

Tampa Bay Rays at Boston Red Sox

Alex Cobb vs Clay Buchholz
Odds: BOS -137 TB +127, O/U: 8.5
We were all over Cobb two days ago against Doubront until the rainout. He’s allowed 3 runs or fewer in 14 of his last 15 starts. He doesn’t rely on a power arm and barely touches 90 mph on his two seam, but his command is on keeping the ball down in the zone. He had a 2.81 in the spring and has carried it over to the big show, shutting down the Indians over 7 1/3 and only 4 hits in his last start. Buchholz owns a 2.76 lifetime vs the Rays and has completely shut down Longoria, Jennings, and Zobrist to name a few. He has a sparkling 2-0 record and a 0.64 ERA on the year. All 5 of his pitches he’s throwing for strikes and will continue to rely on his fastball, cutter, curveball

combo here. Under 8.5

Tampa Bay Rays at Boston Red Sox

Alex Cobb vs Clay Buchholz
Odds: BOS -137 TB +127, O/U: 8.5
We were all over Cobb two days ago against Doubront until the rainout. He’s allowed 3 runs or fewer in 14 of his last 15 starts. He doesn’t rely on a power arm and barely touches 90 mph on his two seam, but his command is on keeping the ball down in the zone. He had a 2.81 in the spring and has carried it over to the big show, shutting down the Indians over 7 1/3 and only 4 hits in his last start. Buchholz owns a 2.76 lifetime vs the Rays and has completely shut down Longoria, Jennings, and Zobrist to name a few. He has a sparkling 2-0 record and a 0.64 ERA on the year. All 5 of his pitches he’s throwing for strikes and will continue to rely on his fastball, cutter, curveball

combo here. Under 8.5

Toronto Blue Jays at Kansas City Royals

Brandon Morrow vs Ervin Santana

Odds: KC -115 TOR -105, O/U: 8.5

Morrow got ripped by the Tigers in his last outing. When you have 3 pitches and you’re still working on your changeup/splitter combo, and you can’t locate your 2nd pitch slider, hitters like to tee off on the ol’ number 1, it’s going to be a long afternoon. Until he finds it, trust the status quo. Morrow could be happy to oblige as he is a part of a starting staff that has the worst ERA in the league at 7.55. Ervin Santana led the Majors with 39 homers allowed last year and is a thing of the past and is coming off a stellar outing. Joey Bats is the only one that sees him well and we think he can avoid serious damage from him being only 1 game removed from the Golden Sombrero. KC is 6-3 (+325) on the year and we anticipate that winning trend to continue. Royals -115

Tampa Bay Rays at Boston Red Sox

Alex Cobb vs Felix Doubront Odds: BOS -120 TB +110, O/U: 9

Alex Cobb was solid in his last outing, shutting down the Indians over 7 1/3rd and allowing only 4 hits. Cobb was fantastic down the stretch last year for the Rays as he allowed 3 runs or fewer in 14 of his last 15 starts. Cobb doesn’t rely on a power arm as he barely touches 90 mph on a two seam, but his command is on and is keeping the ball down. The 25 year old looked in mid season form in the spring, posting a 2.81 ERA in 25 innings and will look to induce ground balls against a Boston club that recorded 18 GB outs yesterday. Felix Doubront on the other hand owned a 2.00 WHIP in 2011, and a 1.45 in 2012. Until this kid can consistently locate his stuff and get ahead of hitters, we will be looking to fade his ball club on the day he pitches. Boston was up 5-3 2 days ago and everybody was toasting how what a difference a season makes. Hanrahan went out to blow the 9th and lost to Baltimore on Wednesday, and got beat again by them yesterday. Here come the Rays. TB +110

Washington Nationals at Cincinnati Reds

Ross Detwiler vs Mike Leake Odds: Cin -112 Was +102, O/U: 8.5

MLB’s best 5th starte in Detwiler toes the rubber for the Nats a day after they got pounded 15-0. The Nats, no doubt will be reiterating short term memory in the clubhouse and will be facing a pitcher in Leake who pitched poorly last season at home (5.54 ERA) and rocked a 6.65 in April. Washington is a great dog to get on today!