Big Al
Our Monday night MLB selection is on the Tampa Bay Rays on their home turf at Tropicana Field over the Oakland Athletics.


How well have the Rays been playing on this current home stand? So well that they can even afford to bat a pitcher in the third spot in their lineup. In a bizarre situation on Sunday, Tampa manager Joe Maddon made an error on his lineup card when he listed both Evan Longoria and Ben Zobrist as third basemen with no DH in the lineup.

That error was pointed out after Zobrist took the field (and Longoria did not because he thought he would be the DH), so it meant that Longoria (who normally bats third) had to be replaced in the lineup by starter Andy Sonnanstine. After going hitless in his first two at-bats, Sonnanstine actually provided an RBI double in the fourth inning which helped his team win the game and enabled Tampa to take three of the four vs. Cleveland.

Oakland has been having no such offensive luck lately. In fact the A's were embarrassed in a three-game sweep at the hands of the Tigers this weekend, with the combined score for the series 34-8.

Oakland's dreadful road record now stands at 5-11. Despite taking two of three against the Rays in the Bay Area earlier in the season, Oakland has lost five of the last six games in this series when playing at Tropicana Field. And it doesn't help its chances that it sends righthander Sean Gallagher to the mound this evening. He's a spot starter with a career 6-8 record and 5.45 ERA. Take the Rays.

Free Pick: Rays -135




Totals4U

Monday's free selection: Oakland/Tampa Bay over 9 1/2




The Vegas Steam Line

Free Winner for Monday: Take MINNESOTA (Perkins) +150 over NY Yankees




Matt Fargo Free Play
GAME: LOS ANGELES ANGELS @ SEATTLE MARINERS MAY 18, 2009 10:10PM
SPORT: Major League Baseball Picks
PICK: Los Angeles Angels

REASON FOR PICK: The Angels were swept in Texas over the weekend which halted a very solid run of 12-4 in their previous 16 games leading up to that three-game series. The Rangers are playing great right now so the sweep cannot be considered all that surprising. Los Angeles now gets to face a team that is going the opposite directions. Despite a series win against the Red Sox, the Mariners have cooled off considerably following a very hot start. Seattle is just 6-14 over its last 20 games and it has not won back-to-back games since April 24th and 25th as it has gone 0-6 in its last six games following a victory. The Angels send John Lackey to the hill who will be making his first start of the season. He did toss two pitches on Saturday before getting ejected for throwing at Ian Kinsler but that certainly does not constitute a real start. Lackey had spent six weeks recovering from a strained right forearm before making a couple rehab stats prior to getting back with the big club. He is 10-8 in his career against the Mariners with a 3.90 ERA in 22 starts and he is 7-5 at Safeco Field with a 2.79 ERA in 13 starts. He did not face the Mariners last season and that actually helps his situation here. He faces off against Jarrod Washburn who has been solid for the most part in the early part of the season. He has a very good 3.11 ERA and 1.14 WHIP though seven starts but the Mariners are just 3-4 in those games. Seattle is averaging 3.6 rpg so that is part of the problem for a lack of wins. His worst start this season came against the Angels which was no surprise as he has struggled against his former club. He is 5-6 with a 4.62 ERA and 1.34 WHIP in 12 starts including allowing six runs in 5.1 innings back on April 26th. The Angels are 24-8 in Lackey’s last 32 road starts against a team with a losing record while the Mariners are 5-14 in Washburn’s last 19 home starts. The Angels are 6-0 in Lackey’s last six starts against the Mariners and they have won eight of the last 11 meetings in Seattle. 3* Los Angeles Angels





Joe Wiz Free Play
Pirates




Cappers Access
Blue Jays (RL)
Brewers



Golden Contender Free Play
MLB | May 18
Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Florida Marlins Total 8½ un-120

On Monday the free play is on the Under in the Arizona-Florida game.Rotation numbers 903/4 at 7:10 eastern.Taking a look at some of the trends for this game we see that Arizona is 2-10 under on the road this year and has gone under 3 of 4 times when playing with a day off.Florida has gone under 3 of 4 times as a home dog in this range.The Marlins are hitting just .215 over there last 7 games and are now under 500.Fortunately they have Ricky Nolasco starting tonights game.In his home starts against the Diamondbacks he has been lights out allowing 2 runs in over 15 innings work and has a career 2.12 era vs Arizona.The last 3 years theses teams have played under 6 of 8 times here.Low scoring once again here tonight.Those lloking for 2 MLB SYSTEM pounders check out Mondays card.Bases is white hot right now with another late phone winner on KC on Sunday.Tonight there are 2 system plays.One is an 11-2 beauty,the other 12-4 with a 100% subset that wins by an average 7 runs per game.Jump on now and start cashing.Back the UNDER Arizona-Florida for the free play on Monday bol