Run the Bases – Wednesday, Sept. 1

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Last Updated on Wednesday, 1st Sep 2010, 

Written by BetRepublic

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Manny Ramirez made his highly anticipated debut last night at Progressive Field in Cleveland and this guy has got so much mojo, he helped the White Sox win just by standing on-deck!

Okay, maybe that’s the story he’ll tell his grand kids.

But Manny did stand on-deck ahead of A.J. Pierzynski’s 3-run homer in the ninth, and that’s when Sox skipper Ozzie Guillen pulled Ramirez back into the stable.


Critics have called the Sox out for not giving the fans of Cleveland what the apparently deserve: A chance to see Manny being Manny. If I’m the owner of a franchise that’s a few games back of the division leader, I’ll tell you what’s more important to me than treating my opponent’s withering fan base to a five minute spectacle – its winning ballgames.

That’s what Guillen was hired to do and in case the critics didn’t notice, the three-run lead Chicago carried into the ninth on Monday was not enough to secure the win. It took extra innings and I bet its nice heading into OT knowing you have a bat like Manny’s waiting in the wings.

Cleveland did get two last night but Chicago won 4-3. And today it was the Indians blowing the three-run lead as Paul Konerko’s 41st homer in the eighth sealed the series sweep. Ramirez was 1-for-3 with a strikeout and a hit-by-pitch.

There ya’ go critics; happy now?

Washington Nationals at Florida Marlins (-150), 7:10 pm ET
(L) Scott Olsen (3-7, 4.91 ERA) vs. (R) Chris Volstad (8-9, 4.61 ERA)

For the fifth time in the past eight meetings, one of either the Nationals or Marlins walked away scoreless last night in game 2 of this three-game series. For much of the summer it’s taken Florida a few games to get its bats working following a road trip but they’ve had good success against the Nats, winning six of the past seven.

Volstad is going for a third straight win and he’s had good run support, getting six runs or more from his hitters in three of the past four games. Volstad has also allowed no more than three earned runs when pitching at home twice this year and the most recent game was June 19th against the Rays.

Florida is third in the majors hitting against lefties (.273) and the last time they faced Olsen (Aug. 11), the Marlins chased him with seven runs in the first two innings.

The run line is paying back (+140) and given the circumstances, we have Florida winning this game by at least two.
Pick: Take the Marlins

BARGAIN HUNTER ALERT! Detroit Tigers at Minnesota Twins (-150), 8:10 pm ET

Max Scherzer (10-9, 3.60 ERA) is on a roll the past couple weeks with three-straight wins and a microscopic 0.86 ERA. The big deal for Scherzer is that 2-of-3 wins have come on the road where through the first four months of the season he was just 1-6 in 11 starts.

The road team is 7-2 in home plate umpire Angel Hernandez’ last nine games and Detroit is 7-2 in its past nine against the division.

Of course, there is always going to be the Tigers’ ugly 22-42 road record this season getting in the way but that is way below the pace they set last year when they finished just 12 games below .500 away from Comerica. And worth noting, the Tigers road record in September last year was 8-7.

For an underdog play today we recommend looking at the Tigers (+130).

Lines provided by Sportsbetting.com