[G-men]

INSIDE THE LINES


TUESDAY, JULY 28


NATIONAL LEAGUE


L.A. Dodgers (62-37) at St. Louis (54-48)


The major league-leading Dodgers send ace Chad Billingsley (10-5, 3.72 ERA) to the Busch Stadium bump for the second game of a four-game set against the Cardinals, who are slated to trot out Adam Wainwright (11-6, 2.95).


St. Louis got another stellar pitching performance from Chris Carpenter en route to Monday’s 6-1 victory over Los Angeles, winning for just the third time in the last eight games. The Cardinals are on positive surges of 5-1 at home, 5-1 against the N.L. West, 16-4 against teams with a winning percentage above .600. In addition, the Redbirds have owned the Dodgers lately, going 42-20 in the last 62 meetings overall and 25-8 in the last 33 at home. This is the first series of the season between the two clubs.


Despite Monday’s setback, Los Angeles remains on several positive runs, including 6-3 overall, 5-1 against N.L. Central foes, 5-3 on the road and 10-5 against righty starters.


Los Angeles has followed up a three-game skid behind Billingsley by winning three of his last four starts, including Wednesday’s 6-2 home victory over Cincinnati, with the 24-year-old allowing two runs on seven hits and one walk while striking out seven in six innings. Billingsley is 3-1 with a 3.38 ERA in 10 road starts this year, with the Dodgers winning seven of those contests, and he’s 0-1 with a 3.18 ERA in four career appearances (three starts) against St. Louis.


St. Louis has won seven of Wainwright’s last nine starts, including four of the last five. On Thursday at Washington, he yielded one run on eight hits and a walk with seven strikeouts in six innings, as the Cardinals prevailed 4-1 in a rain-shortened contest. Wainwright, who has thrown at least six innings in 19 consecutive starts and gone seven innings or more 12 times, is 3-5 in 11 home starts this year despite a sturdy 2.37 ERA.


With Wainwright throwing, the Cards are on runs of 35-16 overall, 23-3 against winning teams and 19-8 at home. Against L.A., the right-hander is 1-2 with a 4.43 ERA in six career appearances (three starts).


The Dodgers are on “over” runs of 4-2-1 overall, 9-3 on the road, 11-6 against right-handed starters, 5-1-1 with Billingsley starting and 4-0 behind Billingsley on the highway. On the flip side, the Cardinals are on “under” streaks of 9-3 overall, 6-0 at home and 6-0 against the N.L. West, and with Wainwright taking the ball, the under is on rolls of 6-0 overall, 9-3 against the N.L. West and 5-2 at home.


Finally, the under has been the play in seven of the last 10 meetings in this rivalry, with Monday’s 6-1 contest barely staying below the posted price.


ATS ADVANTAGE: ST. LOUIS




AMERICAN LEAGUE


N.Y. Yankees (61-38) at Tampa Bay (54-46)


CC Sabathia (10-6, 3.67 ERA) leads the red-hot Yankees into the second game of their three-game series with the Rays, who are scheduled to counter with lefty Scott Kazmir (4-6, 6.69) at Tropicana Field.


New York cruised to an 11-4 victory in Monday’s series opener, improving to 10-1 in its last 11 games overall and 9-3 in its last 12 on the road. Additionally, the first-place Yankees are on a bundle of positive runs, including 46-21 overall, 7-1 in the A.L. East and 16-5 against winning teams.


Tampa Bay is still on a lengthy 88-36 streak at home dating to last season and is on further upticks of 5-2 in division play and 19-8 at the Trop against teams with a winning road record. However, the Yankees now hold a 5-4 lead in this rivalry in 2009, with the road team on a 6-2 run.


New York has won two in a row behind Sabathia for the first time since claiming three straight from May 8-19. Last Thursday, the veteran southpaw gave up three runs on nine hits with no walks over seven innings en route to a 6-3 home win over the Athletics. That followed a sterling 2-1 home victory over Detroit on July 18 when Sabathia delivered seven shutout innings.


Sabathia is 6-4 with a 3.33 ERA in 11 road starts this season, and he’s 7-1 with a 2.63 ERA in 12 career starts against Tampa. However, the Rays roughed up Sabathia on June 6 at Yankee Stadium, pounding out five runs (four earned) in eight innings, eventually prevailing 9-7.


Tampa had won two in a row and five of seven behind Kazmir before Thursday’s 5-0 road loss to the White Sox, in which Chicago’s Mark Buehrle threw a perfect game. Kazmir allowed all five runs on five hits and three walks in six innings. The lefty is 1-3 with a whopping 9.50 ERA in seven home starts this year, but he’s a much more respectable 5-4 with a 2.65 ERA in 13 career outings (12 starts) against the Bronx Bombers. In an April 13 home contest with the Yanks, he allowed three runs in 6 2/3 innings of a 15-5 Tampa Bay rout.


The under for New York is on runs of 7-3-1 overall and 8-4-1 against A.L. East foes, but the over is on streaks 5-0 on the road, 5-1-1 behind Sabathia and 4-0 with Sabathia hurling on the road. For Tampa, the under is on stretches of 35-17-1 overall, 9-3 in division play and 4-1 with Kazmir throwing, but the over is 6-1 in Kazmir’s last seven home starts and 16-5 in his last 21 outings against division opponents.


Finally, with last night’s high-scoring affair flying past the total, the over has now hit in six of the last seven Yanks-Rays clashes at Tropicana Field.


ATS ADVANTAGE: N.Y. YANKEES and OVER