Fresh off a three-game home sweep of the Rockies that allowed them to pull into a tie for the N.L. wild-card lead, the Giants open a six-game road trip at Citizens Bank Park, with Jonathan Sanchez (6-10, 4.27 ERA) set to oppose Phillies ace Cole Hamels (7-8, 4.52).
San Francisco outscored Colorado 16-8 over the weekend and finished a six-game homestand with a 5-1 record. Now the Giants hit the highway where they’ve lost three in a row and four of their last five, and they’re 10 games under .500 on the road for the season (28-38). Bruce Bochy’s bunch has also lost four in a row after a day off, but it has won four straight series openers and four of five on Tuesday.
The Phillies continued their stellar play with Sunday’s 3-2 home win over the Braves. The defending World Series champs are on hot streaks of 36-16 overall, 21-8 at home, 4-1 against lefty starters, 5-0 against the N.L. West and 7-2 versus teams with a winning record.
The Giants have won five of the last six meetings with Philadelphia – including three of four this year – but all were at home. They’re only 3-10 in their last 13 visits to Citizens Bank Park.
Sanchez has posted a 2.37 ERA over his last three starts, with San Francisco winning the last two. Despite that, the Giants are still on a bevy of losing skids behind Sanchez, including 10-24 overall, 3-15 on the road, 4-10 against winning teams and 2-6 versus the N.L. East. The southpaw is 2-8 with a 4.81 ERA in 14 road appearances (12 starts) this year, but he’s 1-0 with a 4.60 ERA in six career outings (two starts) against the Phillies, including a 7-2 home victory on July 30.
Hamels picked up his lone victory in August on Wednesday in Pittsburgh, scattering seven hits over eight scoreless innings in a 4-1 victory. In his first four August outings – all Phillies losses – Hamels went 0-3 with a 6.75 ERA. The left-hander is 4-3 with a 4.13 ERA in 12 home starts this year and 3-1 with a 5.03 ERA in five outings against the Giants, including a 7-3 loss in San Francisco on Aug. 2 when he got tagged for all seven runs (six earned) in five innings.
San Francisco carries “over” streaks of 4-0 on Tuesday and 5-1-1 when Sanchez faces N.L. East teams, but the under is 8-3 in its last 11 after an off day. For Philadelphia, the “under” is on stretches of 4-1 overall, 6-1 against winning teams, 36-17-2 after a victory, 5-2 on Tuesday, 4-1 after a day off, 3-0 in Hamels’ last three trips to the mound and 7-1-1 when Hamels starts on Tuesday. However, Hamels’ last four home starts have topped the total, and the “over” is 4-1 in his five career starts against the Giants.
ATS ADVANTAGE: PHILADELPHIA
Atlanta (69-62) at Florida (68-63)
The two squads battling it out for second place in the N.L. East and looking to remain in the wild-card hunt continue their four-game series at LandShark Stadium. The Braves’ Tim Hudson is scheduled to make his 2009 debut against the Marlins’ Anibal Sanchez (2-5, 4.96 ERA).
Atlanta knocked off Florida 5-2 in Monday’s series opener, getting to Marlins All-Star pitcher Josh Johnson after being no-hit through 5 2/3 innings. The Braves have followed up a 13-5 run by going 3-4 in their last seven games, including 1-4 against right-handed starters. The Braves are still 9-4 in their last 13 road outings and 8-1 in their last nine when playing the second game of a series.
The Marlins have now dropped four of their last five, but they remain on upticks of 23-12 at home, 8-4 against teams with a winning record and 5-1 on Tuesday.
The season series between these division rivals is now tied at 6-6, with the Braves winning the last three in a row and the visitor going 8-4.
Hudson went 11-7 with a 3.17 ERA in 23 games (22 starts) last year (3-6, 3.75 ERA on the road) before going on the shelf with an elbow injury that required surgery and sidelined him for the first five months of this season. Atlanta lost six of Hudson’s last seven road starts last year, but it has won nine of Hudson’s last 13 starts against the Marlins, including five of seven in South Beach. For his career, the former Cy Young Award winner is 7-2 with a 2.63 ERA against Florida, including a 9-4 victory in Miami last July 23 in his final start of 2008.
Since returning from a 2½-month stint on the disabled list, Sanchez has allowed five runs (three earned) in 9 2/3 innings, beating the Braves 5-3 on Aug. 21 before losing 10-3 to the Mets at home on Thursday. Florida has dropped five of Sanchez’s last seven starts overall and 10 of his last 14 against N.L. East rivals, but they’re still 12-5 in his last 17 home efforts, where the right-hander is 0-2 with a 3.86 ERA in four starts this season.
Including the 5-3 win in Atlanta two weeks ago, Sanchez is now 3-3 with a 4.54 ERA in seven career starts versus the Braves.
The under is 10-4-1 in Hudson’s last 15 road starts, 13-6-2 in Atlanta’s last 21 on Tuesday, 7-2-1 in Sanchez’s last 10 starts overall, 5-1-1 in his last six against the N.L. East and 5-2 in Florida’s last seven games on Tuesday. Conversely, the Marlins are on “over” stretches as a team of 20-8-1 overall, 17-6 at home, 4-1 against right-handed starters, 10-4-1 against division rivals and 4-0 when facing Hudson.
ATS ADVANTAGE: NONE
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Boston (76-54) at Tampa Bay (71-59)
The Red Sox look to put more distance between themselves and the rest of the A.L. wild-card contenders when they send Jon Lester (10-7, 3.60 ERA) to the hill opposite the Rays’ Andy Sonnanstine (6-7, 6.61) in the opener of a three-game series at Tropicana Field.
Boston capped a 10-game homestand with a three-game sweep of Toronto, ending with Sunday’s 7-0 beat-down of Roy Halladay. The Sox won six of their last seven on their homestand, and they’re 10-3 in their last 13 contests in opening up a 3½-game lead in the wild-card race. Terry Francona’s squad is on additional positive runs of 7-0 against right-handed starters, 11-5 on Tuesday and 41-14 after an off day, but it has lost 17 of its last 25 to teams with a winning record, going 1-12 in the last 13 on the road versus winning clubs.
The Rays ended a seven-game road trip with Monday afternoon’s 11-7 victory over the Tigers in Detroit, but they remain five games behind Boston. Tampa Bay is 10-5 in its last 15 games overall and it has won 11 of last 15 at home. Going back further, the Rays are on a 37-14 roll at Tropicana Field, and they’re on additional streaks of 8-3 against southpaw starters, 6-2 in A.L. East action and 7-1 on Tuesday.
The Rays are 8-4 in the 12 clashes with Boston this season and they’ve taken 16 of the last 21 meetings at Tropicana Field, including last year’s American League Championship Series, which Tampa Bay won in seven games.
Lester has allowed three earned runs or fewer in 15 of his last 16 starts, including all five starts in August, in which the southpaw posted a 2.41 ERA but had just one win to show for it. With Lester on the Hill, the Red Sox are on runs of 35-16 overall (3-0 last three), 6-3 on the road, 11-4 in series openers, 22-8 against winning teams and 25-12 versus A.L. East rivals.
Lester is 5-4 with a 3.77 ERA in 14 road starts this season, including an 8-1 rout at the White Sox 12 days ago. However, Boston has lost five straight games to Tampa Bay behind Lester (playoffs included), and he’s 4-4 with a 4.74 ERA in 12 career starts (10 regular season) against the Rays.
Sonnanstine spent the past two months in Triple-A Durham after getting off to a sluggish start with the big-league club. The right-hander, who went 5-3 with a 4.40 ERA in Durham, had all of his success at home this year, going 5-0 with a 4.54 ERA in six starts before his demotion, including a 6-2 victory over Boston on May 1.
Tampa Bay is 16-5 in Sonnanstine’s last 21 starts at the Trop, 10-2 in his last 12 at home against winning teams and 4-0 in his last four starts against the Red Sox (playoffs included). For his career, Sonnanstine is 3-1 with a 5.21 ERA in eight career starts (one playoff) versus Boston.
The Rays carry “under” trends of 4-1 overall, 5-1-1 at home, 7-1 on Tuesday, 17-8 against A.L. East foes and 5-1 when Sonnanstine faces division rivals. Also, the Red Sox are on “under” stretches of 8-3-1 after an off day, 9-3-1 when Lester faces winning clubs, 6-2 when Lester starts on Tuesday, 4-1-1 when he faces the A.L. East and 10-2-3 when he opens a series.
Inside the lines 9/1
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