MLB Premium Play 08/23: Washington Nationals @ Kansas City Royals

MLB - 927 Washington Nationals @ 928 Kansas City Royals

(Starting Pitchers: G. Gonzalez vs B. Chen)

Washington is one of the worst teams on hitting against LH pitchers (#26), but they are hitting much better lately, as they were #30 not so long ago! They scored four runs against Travis Wood last night, they hit .389 BA against Chris Rusin, .283 BA against Matt Minor, .243 BA against Alex Wood and .290 BA against Madison Bumgarner! They will face another LH pitcher in Bruce Chen tonight, who allowed six earned runs in 5.1 innings against Detroit last Sunday. He is a flyball pitcher with fastballs at 80's mph and considering the fact that Washington is #3 in the league against LH pitchers over the last 14 days, I believe Chen will struggle tonight.

Gio Gonzalez will start for the Nationals, who allowed two runs in seven innings against Atlanta last Sunday. After a disastrous start at Detroit, where he allowed ten earned runs in 3.1 innings, he had three straight good starts in a good bounce back. Now against the struggling Royals' offense who is hitting just .200 BA against LH pitchers on their last 10 games, I expect Gonzalez to dominate them tonight. Washington is a clear SP and offense edge tonight, so I'll be taking the Nationals in here.

Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 927 Washington Nationals ML (w/ G. Gonzalez) @ -101 / 1.99 on 5Dimes

MLB Premium Play 08/14: Miami Marlins @ Kansas City Royals

MLB - 975 Miami Marlins @ 976 Kansas City Royals

(Starting Pitchers: J. Turner vs E. Santana)

Erwin Santana had a tough task against Boston, that exposed his main issue: the fact that he is HR prone. Thanks to that, he allowed six earned runs with one home run in just 3.2 innings. He was coming from four excellent outings in a row, so I expect him to bounce back today. He faced the #1 team on hitting versus RH pitchers this season and now he will face the dead last Miami, who is currently playing without their power hitter Giancarlo Stanton.

Jacob Turner allowed four earned runs in five innings at Atlanta, while showing a poor control once again with 5/3 K/BB. This has been the rule, as he has just a 2.00 K/BB and just 6.56 K/9! Over his last five games, his velocity has been down and he is posting a 4.13 ERA and a 1.8 K/BB ratio! He is struggling more and more lately and I expect the Royals to bounce back from last night's fiasco and score some runs today. Therefore, I expect an easy win for Kansas City in here and so, I'll be taking them on the runline.

Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 976 Kansas City Royals RL -1.5 (w/ E. Santana) @ -110 / 1.91 on Bookmaker

MLB Premium Play 08/10: Boston Red Sox @ Kansas City Royals

MLB - 971 Boston Red Sox @ 972 Kansas City Royals

(Starting Pitchers: F. Doubront vs J. Guthrie)

Felix Doubront will start for Boston tonight and his consistency has been incredible as of late. He had back to back quality outings against the best hitting team versus LH pitchers (Tampa Bay) and he is also coming from a nice outing against Arizona. Kansas City has been hitting very well against RH pitchers lately with .317 BA, but things have been much tougher for them against LH pitchers like Doubront with .220 BA. Therefore, I expect Doubront to have another quality start tonight. Kansas City will start Jeremy Guthrie, who is coming from three nice starts with 0, 2 and 1 earned runs allowed, but he keeps struggling against LH batters with .296 BA, .371 wOBA, 5.61 FIP and 4.96 xFIP allowed. Boston knows that and they will have a lineup full of lefties tonight:

1. Jacoby Ellsbury (L) CF

2. Shane Victorino (S) RF

3. Dustin Pedroia (R) 2B

4. David Ortiz (L) DH

5. Mike Carp (L) LF

6. Mike Napoli (R) 1B

7. Jarrod Saltalamacchia (S) C

8. Stephen Drew (L) SS

9. Will Middlebrooks (R) 3B

The Red Sox's roster is hitting .359 BA and 1.070 OPS in 192 AB's against Guthrie and I expect them to keep pounding him tonight. I'm taking the Red Sox in here.

Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 971 Boston Red Sox ML (w/ F. Doubront) @ -130 / 1.77 on Betonline

MLB Premium Play 08/04: Kansas City Royals @ New York Mets

MLB - 973 Kansas City Royals @ 974 New York Mets

(Starting Pitchers: E. Santana vs Z. Wheeler)

This will be the third game of this series, with the first two games going to extra innings. The Mets are also without their best hitter David Wright right now, so this is another problem for them. Both bullpens are also very used as the first two games of this series went to 11 and 12 innings and as the Mets will be starting Zack Wheeler, a pitcher that has only reached the 7th inning twice in eight starts, this will be a very tough problem for the Mets today.

Wheeler is coming from a nice start at Miami, but the Marlins just can't hit a ball these days. Kansas City might not be a great hitting team, but Wheeler is on regression mode with a poor 1.57 K/BB ratio, a 3.55 ERA, but a 5.17 FIP! On the other side, the Royals will start Erwin Santana today, who has been great lately, while allowing just 2, 1 and 0 earned runs on his last three outings, even though he faced Baltimore and Detroit in two of these games! With Santana dominating, Wheeler struggling and the with Royals having a bullpen edge, I expect Kansas City to pick up a comfortable win today.

Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 973 Kansas City Royals ML (w/ E. Santana) @ -146 / 1.69 on Betonline

MLB Premium Play 08/03: Kansas City Royals @ New York Mets

MLB - 921 Kansas City Royals @ 922 New York Mets

(Starting Pitchers: B. Chen vs J. Hefner)

Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 921 Kansas City Royals ML (w/ B. Chen) @ -142 / 1.70 on 5Dimes

MLB Premium Play 07/24: Baltimore Orioles @ Kansas City Royals

MLB - 925 Baltimore Orioles @ 926 Kansas City Royals

(Starting Pitchers: W. Chen vs E. Santana)

Baltimore's offense is a top team (#5) versus RH pitchers, but they are just #22 against LH pitchers. The good news is that they will face a RH pitchers tonight and they are hitting .306 BA against RH pitchers on their last 10 games! They will face Erwin Santana tonight, who, after three subpar starts, bounced back and dominated the Tigers with a stellar 7.1 shutout innings. However, the Orioles' offense is possibly the worst matchup possible for him. Santana struggles against home runs and his 12.4% HR/FB rate is mediocre and these are terrible news for him against the team that is #1 on ISO power with .179! Therefore, I expect Santana to struggle tonight.

Baltimore will start Wei-Yin Chen, who dominated the Rangers on his return from the DL. It's also tough to dominate teams on back to back spots, but the truth is that Chen faced Texas twice in a row and dominated them in both games! Kansas City's offense is struggling against LH pitchers with a subpar .203 BA on their last 10 games against LH pitchers, so I expect Chen to have another good outing tonight. With such SP and offensive edges in here for Baltimore, I believe they will win tonight's game.

Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 925 Baltimore Orioles ML (w/ W. Chen) @ -105 / 1.95 on 5Dimes

MLB Premium Play 07/13: Kansas City Royals @ Cleveland Indians

MLB - 971 Kansas City Royals @ 972 Cleveland Indians

(Starting Pitchers: J. Guthrie vs S. Kazmir)

***TRIPLE DIME PLAY - SPLIT THE WAGER***

Kansas City will start Jeremy Guthrie tonight, who is coming from a win at NY against the Yankees last Monday, where he allowed only one run in 6.2 innings. Even though Guthrie is coming from a good outing, the truth is that is pheripals are still bad. Even on his start against the Yankees, Guthrie still had a 4.57 FIP and 3.67 xFIP! According to my numbers, the truth is that Guthrie only had one good advanced start on his last six games: a start at Minnesota. Guthrie's numbers are absolutely terrible against LH batters with .286 BA and .374 wOBA allowed, while having a 6.27 FIP and 5.37 xFIP. Tonight's game is a rematch from last week's game where Guthrie allowed five earned runs to the Indians. Cleveland know very well that Guthrie struggles against LH batters and so, they will have eight batters hitting from the left side tonight:

1. Michael Bourn (L) CF

2. Asdrubal Cabrera (S) SS

3. Jason Kipnis (L) 2B

4. Nick Swisher (S) RF

5. Michael Brantley (L) LF

6. Carlos Santana (S) 1B

7. Jason Giambi (L) DH

8. Lonnie Chisenhall (L) 3B

9. Yan Gomes (R) C

On the other side, Scott Kazmir will start for Cleveland and he is coming from two runs allowed in 5.2 innings last Monday against Detroit. Kazmir had a super bad start against Washigton, but besides that he has been okay, with his last four starts being decent against Detroit, Kansas City, Baltimore and Minnesota. I clearly believe that Cleveland will have a clear SP edge in here, while the Indians' lineup will be a super tough matchup for Guthrie in here. Therefore, I'll be taking Cleveland tonight for an easy win for them. Triple Dime Play! Split the wager!

Pick: 3 units on 972 Cleveland Indians ML (w/ S. Kazmir) @ -139 / 1.72 on 5Dimes

Pick: 2 units on 972 Cleveland Indians RL -1 (w/ S. Kazmir) @ -101 / 1.99 on 5Dimes

MLB Premium Play 07/09: Kansas City Royals @ New York Yankees

MLB - 967 Kansas City Royals @ 968 New York Yankees

(Starting Pitchers: J. Shields vs C. Sabathia)

James Shields will start for the Royals tonight and I took the Under on his last outing against Cleveland, but he was very erratic in that game. Shields allowed five runs in 5.1 innings in that outing and the truth is that he has a 6.48 ERA over his last three games! He has been quite hittable, his command has been poor as well and so, his advanced numbers are consequently also suffering a lot. The Yankees may not be hitting well right now, but they should still be able to do some damage against the struggling Shields tonight.

The NY team will start C.C. Sabathia tonight and I believe he has been having an underrated season. He is coming from allowing just two runs on seven innings against the Twins and I believe that the main reason why he has been struggling a bit this season is due to his very tough schedule: @MIN; @BAL; vs TB; @LAA; @OAK; vs CLE! The Royals won't be such a tough opponent for him and I believe Sabathia will have another good performance tonight. Kansas City won yesterday's game, so this is a nice bounce back spot for the Yankees to pick up a comfortable win on a revenge spot for them. I'm taking the Yankees tonight.

Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 968 New York Yankees ML (w/ C. Sabathia) @ -137 / 1.73 on 5Dimes

MLB Premium Play 07/05: Oakland Athletics @ Kansas City Royals

MLB - 975 Oakland Athletics @ 976 Kansas City Royals

(Starting Pitchers: T. Milone vs W. Davis)

Oakland will start Tommy Milone tonight, who has been terrible as of late with five straight non-quality starts! Things get even worse when I mention that only one of these five teams are top ranked offenses according to my numbers: St Louis! Thanks to that, Milone ended June with a 4.42 ERA and an outright horrible 5.55 FIP and 5.29 xFIP! Milone is a flyball pitcher (48.2%) and he is protected at home on Oakland's pitcher-friendly park, but his 5.07 ERA on road games say how much he struggles outside Oakland. Milone was able to have a nice start against the Royals at home with one earned run allowed in six innings, but now at Kansas City and with the Royals coming from two good offensive series against Minnesota and Cleveland, I believe Milone will get pounded tonight against a Royals team that has the 4th best .BA (.272) in the league versus LH pitchers.

On the other hand, Wade Davis will start for the Royals and he had been on a nice run while facing some tough matchups like Minnesota, Detroit, Tampa Bay and the White Sox, until he exploded on his last start with six earned runs allowed in just one inning against Minnesota. I believe Wade will bounce back today from this terrible outing, as everybody can have a bad day. He has a very interesting 7.95 K/9 this season and his 19.3% K% in June are also very good. I believe the Royals will have a SP edge tonight, while their offense is also carrying some momentum right now. Looking at the current line, the Royals have a lot of value as a home dog tonight and so, I'll be taking them in here.

Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 976 Kansas City Royals ML (w/ W. Davis) @ +110 / 2.10 on 5Dimes

MLB Premium Play 07/04: Cleveland Indians @ Kansas City Royals

MLB - 913 Cleveland Indians @ 914 Kansas City Royals

(Starting Pitchers: U. Jimenez vs J. Shields)

We have a tremendous spot for a low scoring game in here. Yesterday's game ended at 1:00AM local time and these two teams will face each other again at 1:00PM! Ubaldo Jimenez will start for the Indians today and he has been dealing with a problem with his pitch count: 22.4, 18.6, 20.1, 20.2 and 28.3 P/IP on his last five games! Thanks to that, he couldn't even get out of the fifth inning in any of those starts! Jimenez allowed three runs in five innings last Saturday against the White Sox. He has been struggling with walks, as he has walked 4, 2, 4 and 4 batters on his last four games, with one of these starts being against Kansas City at home, where he allowed two earned runs in 5.2 innings, while having a 4/4 K/BB ratio. However, the Royals are one of the least patient teams in the league and their BB% is just 6.1% over the last two weeks (#24). On this terrible spot for the offenses, I believe Jimenez will be able to have a positive outing, especially with the Royals missing Alex Gordon, who got injured last night.

Kansas City will start James Shields, whose outing was pushed up a day to get an extra start in before the All-Star break. He allowed three runs on 6.1 innings against the Twins last Friday. He was coming from subpar games at Cleveland and against the White Sox, but he bounced back against Minnesota. He faced three above average offenses on these four starts (Minnesota, Cleveland, Detroit), something that explains his struggles lately. However, Shields allowed just one earned run at Cleveland in six innings, on a great outing. He has some excellent numbers versus LH batters and that's the main reason why he is able to dominate the Indians. Looking at the spot, I expect both SP's to be able to have good outings today, turning this game into a low scoring affair. Therefore, I'll be taking the Under in here.

Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 913/914 Under 8,5 (w/ U. Jimenez & J. Shields) @ -120 / 1.83 on Bookmaker

MLB Premium Play 07/03: Cleveland Indians @ Kansas City Royals

MLB - 973 Cleveland Indians @ 974 Kansas City Royals

(Starting Pitchers: S. Kazmir vs J. Guthrie)

Kansas City is starting Jeremy Guthrie tonight, who has been slumping lately, even though he had a somewhat decent start at Minnesota on his last game with three earned runs allowed on 6.1 innings. But the truth is that his numbers have been horrible lately: 15.0% HR/FB rate, 4.38 K/9, 1.36 K/BB ratio and terrible numbers versus LH batters with .389 wOBA, 6.40 FIP and 5.60 xFIP! Cleveland will have six players hitting from the left side tonight, so I expect them to pound Guthrie in here:

1. Michael Bourn (L) CF

2. Asdrubal Cabrera (S) SS

3. Jason Kipnis (L) 2B

4. Nick Swisher (S) 1B

5. Michael Brantley (L) LF

6. Carlos Santana (S) DH

7. Mark Reynolds (R) 3B

8. Ryan Raburn (R) RF

9. Yan Gomes (R) C

On the other hand, Scott Kazmir will start for Cleveland tonight, even though he has been struggling with a back injury. Kazmir is very inconsistent, but he is coming from two good outings in a row, where he allowed 0 and 1 earned runs at Baltimore and against Minnesota at home. However, the best hitters of these two teams are left-handed and this helped Kazmir a lot. Kansas City's lineup is full of RH batters, so Kazmir will have a tougher matchup tonight:

1. Alex Gordon (L) LF

2. Alcides Escobar (R) SS

3. Eric Hosmer (L) 1B

4. Billy Butler (R) DH

5. Salvador Perez (R) C

6. Lorenzo Cain (R) CF

7. Miguel Tejada (R) 3B

8. Johnny Giavotella (R) 2B

9. David Lough (L) RF

The Royals are #13 in the league versus LH pitchers and just #27 versus RH pitchers. Kazmir has a great 2.06 FIP versus LH batters, but a terrible 5.98 FIP versus RH batters! I don't trust both pitchers tonight, so I believe tonight's game will be a high scoring contest. Therefore, I'll be taking the Over in here.

Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 973/974 Over 8,5 (w/ S. Kazmir & J. Guthrie) @ -120 / 1.83 on Bookmaker

MLB Premium Play 07/02: Cleveland Indians @ Kansas City Royals

MLB - 917 Cleveland Indians @ 918 Kansas City Royals

(Starting Pitchers: C. Kluber vs L. Mendoza)

***TRIPLE DIME PLAY***

Cleveland's offense is back at their best and they are #1 in the league over the last 14 days! They will start Corey Kluber tonight and he is coming from an outing where he allowed seven runs (six earned) in 4.2 innings against Baltimore. Still, Kluber had a fairly solid month of June with 3.64 FIP and 3.00 xFIP! He struggled a bit against Minnesota and a lot against Baltimore on his last two starts, however these two teams have been hitting the ball extremely well as of late. Kansas City isn't at this level on offense at all and the truth is that Kluber dominated the Royals earlier on the season with just two earned runs allowed on seven innings, while having a 6/0 K/BB ratio.

On the other side, the Royals will start Luis Mendoza, who is coming from a game against Atlanta, where he allowed two runs and five hits on 6.2 innings. Even though Mendoza hasn't been terrible this season, he isn't pitching at the level of Kluber neither. More important than that are the struggles that Mendoza has versus LH batters, with .352 wOBA allowed, 5.12 FIP and 4.55 xFIP! Mendoza played at Cleveland earlier on the season, on an outing where he allowed four runs in five innings, with a 3/3 K/BB ratio. The Indians inserted 7 players hitting on the left side against Axelrod and I expect something similar tonight, in order to take advantage of Mendoza's struggles against LH batters. 

Cleveland has a clear SP edge in here, they have a much better offense, they are coming from an off day, so I expect the Indians to dominate tonight's game. Therefore, we have massive value on Cleveland in here and so, I'll be taking the Indians in here on a Triple Dime Play!

Pick: 5 units (Triple Dime Play) on 917 Cleveland Indians ML (w/ C. Kluber) @ +101 / 2.01 on Betonline

MLB Premium Play 06/27: Kansas City Royals @ Minnesota Twins

MLB - 965 Kansas City Royals @ 966 Minnesota Twins

(Starting Pitchers: J. Guthrie vs S. Deduno)

Jeremy Guthrie will start for the Royals tonight and he got completely pounded on his last start, where he allowed six runs on just 2.1 innings at home against the White Sox. His command has been plain horrible lately (1/3, 3/3, 0/3 and 4/3 K/BB on his last four games), while having a 6.93 FIP and 6.95 xFIP in June! Guthrie had two starts against Minnesota and he had worse advanced numbers than his ERA, something that tells us that he was lucky in both outings. With him struggling so much right now, Minnesota should be able to pound him in here.

Minnesota will start Samuel Deduno, who had a nice outing at Cleveland, but got "betrayed" by the Twins' bullpen. After allowing two baserunners to start the 7th inning, Deduno turned things over to the bullpen which proceeded to add fuel to the fire by allowing both to score. He has been constantly giving quality outings to his team and with a 2.76 FIP and 3.64 xFIP in June, he is definitely pitching quite well right now. Deduno has a problem with walking batters, but the Royals are just #27 on BB% with 6.7% and a brutal 5% over the last week, so Deduno won't have problems with this tonight. With the Twins having a clear SP edge in here, besides a matchup edge on hitting, as Kansas City has been very poor this season versus RH pitchers, I expect Minnesota to pick up a comfortable win today.

Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 966 Minnesota Twins ML (w/ S. Deduno) @ -129 / 1.78 on Betonline

MLB Premium Play 06/16: Kansas City Royals @ Tampa Bay Rays

MLB - 917 Kansas City Royals @ 918 Tampa Bay Rays

(Starting Pitchers: W. Davis vs R. Hernandez)

Tampa Bay finally won a game against Kansas City yesterday. The Rays will start Wade Davis today, who is coming from a last start against Boston, where he threw 122 pitches, and he had just 4 days of rest for today's game. So, I don't expect Hernandez to be fully fresh for today. He has the changeup as his strong pitch and he has indeed some excellent numbers against RH batters (2.47 FIP and 2.45 xFIP), however his numbers are really poor against LH batters (6.03 FIP and 4.30 xFIP)! Kansas City may have five lefties on the lineup today, so they will be a tough matchup for him, on an outing where Hernandez won't be fully rested. This is the recipe for disaster in my opinion.

On the other hand, Kansas City will start Wade Davis, who has been inconsistent as of late with three bad starts on his last ten games, where he allowed 8, 7 and 6 runs! However, he looked good on his last two starts against Minnesota and Detroit! This will be Davis's first start against his former team, so he will surely be fired up for today. Considering the fact that Hernandez is on a poor spot and the Rays' bullpen will be tired as well, I believe Davis with a decent outing and the Royals' in-form lineup have a great chance of turning this game into a very competitive one at least.

Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 917 Kansas City Royals RL +1 (w/ W. Davis) @ -108 / 1.93 on 5Dimes

MLB Premium Play 06/15: Kansas City Royals @ Tampa Bay Rays

MLB - 969 Kansas City Royals @ 970 Tampa Bay Rays

(Starting Pitchers: J. Guthrie vs A. Cobb)

Kansas City keeps winning and they are already 32-33 on the standings! His great pitching continues to be the key for that, combined with some clutch hitting in some innings. Jeremy Guthrie will start for them today and after three poor outings, where he allowed 6, 6 and 5 runs, he has bounced back with three straight good outings, where he allowed just 2, 1 and 2 runs! Two of those starts were against Detroit and St Louis, two top offenses! His performance against Detroit was impressive, as he didn't have a single strikeout in that game!

The Rays will be starting Alex Cobb, who is coming from his worst start of the season against Boston, where he allowed six runs in four innings. He is coming from two outings against Detroit and Boston, two of the toughest opponents that he can face. Now against the less dangerous Royals, I expect Cobb to bounce back, as Kansas City is just #28 in the league against RH pitchers with just .253 BA on their last 10 games! Cobb struggled at Kansas City earlier on this season, but that was poor luck, as he had a .429 BABIP on that outing. 

I expect both Guthrie and Cobb to dominate today, turning this game into a low scoring contest, unlike what happened on the first two games of this series, due to a big inning by the Royals in each game. Therefore, I'll be taking the Under in here.

Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 969/970 Under 7,5 (w/ J. Guthrie & A. Cobb) @ -105 / 1.95 on Bookmaker

MLB Premium Play 06/14: Kansas City Royals @ Tampa Bay Rays

MLB - 917 Kansas City Royals @ 918 Tampa Bay Rays

(Starting Pitchers: L. Mendoza vs M. Moore) 

Kansas City has been winning games due to some great pitching from both their starting pitchers and bullpen. They are coming from a big win against the Rays yesterday, where not only their pitching was great, as they also had some great clutch hitting with eight runs on a single inning! The Royals will face Matt Moore tonight, whose luck has ran out on his last two outings with eight and six runs allowed. Curiously, these two poor outings were after a sequence of four games where he pitched well. The problem for Moore is that Kansas City is currently very confident and they are hitting much better versus LH pitchers this season than against RH pitchers.

The Royals will start Luis Mendoza, who has been solid lately with 0, 3, 1, 1, 2, 3 and 3 runs allowed on his last seven outings. However, it's important to note that his command has been poor with 3/1, 1/3, 5/3 and 2/4 K/BB ratios on his last four outings! Mendoza faced the Rays earlier on this season and he got pounded with six runs allowed in just four innings. Tampa Bay's offense is a bad matchup for him, as they are a patient team, so they force a lot of walks, while they are also good in avoiding getting struck out. With Mendoza having command issues, the Rays will certainly take advantage of that. Mendoza throws 67% fastballs and 28% curveballs and the Rays are #8 and #6 respectively in hitting against these pitches. 

With both Mendoza and Moore likely to struggle tonight, I expect this game to be a high scoring one and so, I'll be taking the Over in here.

Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 917/918 Over 8 (w/ L. Mendoza & M. Moore) @ -110 / 1.91 on Bookmaker

MLB Premium Play 06/13: Kansas City Royals @ Tampa Bay Rays

MLB - 963 Kansas City Royals @ 964 Tampa Bay Rays

(Starting Pitchers: E. Santana vs J. Hellickson)

We have in here a good edge in terms of offense and starting pitcher favoring the Rays tonight. Erwin Santana has been solid lately, but he has been alternating great quality starts that have been happening against teams that aren't good versus RH pitchers like Houston (#28) and Oakland (#15), with the exception being a good start at Texas. The problem for Santana is that he has been struggling against power lineups, where he has been struggling by allowing some homeruns, a clear problem for him: 3 HR's vs St Louis; 4 HR's vs LA Angels; 2 HR's vs NY Yankees. Tampa Bay's offense is a power lineup and they are #10 in the league versus RH pitchers and #7 on ISO (Isolated Power) with .166 this season and .184 over the last 14 days! If we add to this the fact that the Rays' hitters know Santana very well (.286 BA and .875 OPS against him on 126 AB's), we can be sure that Santana will struggle tonight.

On the other side, Kansas City has been playing well and they are coming from a nice home span, where they went 7-2 on those games. However, those wins were mostly due some great pitching. Their starting pitchers never allowed more than three runs to their opponents on these games, but offensively wise, the Royals has been struggling, especially against RH pitchers, with just .219 BA over the last 10 games and a poor .653 OPS (#29) for the season. Jeremy Hellickson struggled heavily early in the season, but he has been pitching much better lately. He has faced Baltimore (#3 vs RHP), Cleveland (#12 vs RHP) and Toronto (#8 vs RHP) in three of his last four outings, but he allowed just 0, 3 and 2 ER on these outings respectively! Hellickson faced Kansas City in early May and he struggled with four runs allowed in five innings, but now that he is living his best moment of the season so far, I expect him to dominate the Royals tonight, helping the Rays in getting an easy win in here.

Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 964 Tampa Bay Rays ML (w/ J. Hellickson) @ -142 / 1.70 on Bovada

MLB Premium Play 05/28: St Louis Cardinals @ Kansas City Royals

MLB - 967 St Louis Cardinals @ 968 Kansas City Royals

(Starting Pitchers: T. Lyons vs E. Santana)

I liked what I saw from Kansas City yesterday against one of the best pitchers in the league in Adam Wainwright. They had 12 hits in eight innings was good for the Royals, even though they weren't able to be clutch. Kansas City may be struggling, but they hit .270 and .351 BA on their last two games, so they are coming to this game with some fire on their bats. The fact that they will be facing a LH pitcher tonight will only help them, as the Royals have been much better this season in hitting against LH pitchers where they are #11 in the league with .740 OPS, while they are just #26 against RH pitchers. Tyler Lyons had a good start at San Diego, but that's a pitcher-favorable park. I expect things to be much tougher for him tonight.

Erwin Santana will start for Kansas City and he has been solid this season. He had problems on his last start against the Angels due to homeruns, where he allowed four runs, but he still had a 8/0 K/BB ratio on that outing. He simply had the bad luck of facing the best offensive team in the league right now. I expect him to bounce back tonight and help the Royals in getting the win tonight.

Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 968 Kansas City Royals ML (w/ E. Santana) @ -112 / 1.89 on Betonline

MLB Premium Play 05/23: Los Angeles Angels @ Kansas City Royals

MLB - 909 Los Angeles Angels @ 910 Kansas City Royals

(Starting Pitchers: J. Blanton vs E. Santana)

If we look at how the Angels are hitting right now, they are close to immediate value every time they are underdogs. They will face Erwin Santana and the Royals tonight and as a former Angel, Santana won't have any kind of surprise factor going on for him tonight. He has been pitching quite well this season, but honestly looking at the Angels' hitting form right now, I expect Santana to end up getting in trouble sooner or later tonight.

So, it's up to know what Joe Blanton will be able to do tonight. He is coming from a poor outing against the White Sox, where he had already allowed 10 hits in 4 innings, even though no run was scored in all those hits! In fact, Blanton has allowed 11 and 12 hits on his last two starts. However, it's also important to mention that his command was impeccable in those starts with 6/2 and 7/0 K/BB ratios! Unfortunately for him he had .611 and .632 BABIP in those outings, but I expect him to be a bit more lucky tonight. Kansas City has been slumping a bit on their hitting lately and they are just #24 in the league with .683 OPS this season versus RH pitchers. Therefore, I expect Blanton to have a decent outing tonight, while the Angels' lineup have another nice game, so I see good value on the Angels as underdogs in here.

Pick: 4 units (Double Dime Play) on 909 Los Angeles Angels ML (w/ J. Blanton) @ +117 / 2.17 on Betonline

MLB Premium Play 04/09: Kansas City Royals @ Baltimore Orioles

MLB - 909 Kansas City Royals @ 910 Baltimore Orioles

(Starting Pitchers: J. Guthrie vs F. Garcia)

On the first two games of this series, Kansas City has some chances to win, but Baltimore was able to seal the deal in both contests. For tonight, I believe the Royals have a great spot to win a game on this series. They will start Jeremy Guthrie and it will be the first time that he will pitch against his former team at Baltimore, so we can expect him to be fired up tonight. He has been pitching really well this season, in order to continue the excellent form that he had already showed at the end of the past season. He was really impressive over his last two outings by shutting down both the Indians and the White Sox.

On the other hand, Baltimore will start Freddy Garcia tonight and he had a nice debut at LA against the Angels. Still, his advanced numbers don't impress me with 2.70 ERA. 4.78 FIP and 4.14 xFIP! His inability to striking out batters is also worrying. He lives from the groundballs, but the Royals's offense is #6 in the league in GB% rate, so Kansas City will be a bad matchup for him. Therefore, I see the Royals having some nice value as underdogs tonight and so, I'll be taking them in here.

Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 909 Kansas City Royals ML (w/ J. Guthrie) @ +109 / 2.09 on 5Dimes