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Rounding the bases: This week's best MLB trends

Every week, we update you on who's hot, who's not and situational betting spots in Major League Baseball (All records and statistics through Saturday):

HOT TEAM: Boston Red Sox


THIS SEASON: 10-10.
LAST WEEK: 6-0.
THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE: Home to the Athletics for three, home to the Orioles for three.


THE SKINNY:
If you listen closely, you'll hear the sound of all of Boston taking its finger off the panic button.

It was a rough start for new manager Bobby Valentine, from his comments, to his rifts with players, to his team's effort on the field. But the Red Sox have stemmed the tide with authority and entered Sunday's action with a six-game winning streak intact.

A sweep of the Twins got it all started, and along the way, the Red Sox found their hitting sticks. In a four-game stretch bridging the Minnesota series with the White Sox one, Boston scored 38 runs.

And Jon Lester proved the Red Sox might be able to pitch a bit as well, on Saturday, when he recorded his first win by striking out seven, and allowing just five hits to the White Sox.

With Oakland and Baltimore on deck in Fenway this week, it might be time to jump on Boston.
 
COLD TEAM: Minnesota Twins


THIS SEASON: 5-15.
LAST WEEK: 0-5.
THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE: At the Angels for three, at the Mariners for three.


THE SKINNY:
The good news for Minnesota last week, is that Saturday's date with the Royals was postponed. For a day, at least, the Twins didn't lose.

Clearly, it's been a struggle for the Twins, who ran into the wrong teams at the wrong time last week: Tampa Bay and Boston. Minnesota entered Sunday's date with Kansas City, as a result, riding a six-game losing streak, and the Twins were held to two runs or less in three of those contests.
 
OVER TEAM: Milwaukee Brewers


O/U THIS SEASON: 14-7.   
O/U LAST WEEK: 5-1.
THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE: At the Padres for three, at the Giants for three.


THE SKINNY: Prince Who? OK, so the Brewers aren't exactly a better team without Fielder, who left for Detroit in the offseason, but they've found a way to keep scoring runs, which is good news for over players.

Saturday's 7-3 loss at St. Louis was Milwaukee's fifth straight over, and the Brewers combined with their opponents to reach double figures in all of those contests.

There has been balance in the lineup -- Corey Hart, Alex Gonzalez and Ryan Braun all have at least 11 RBIs -- and the league was hitting more than .300 against five of their pitchers through Saturday: Wily Peralta, Mike McClendon, Manny Parra, Randy Wolf, and Yovani Gallardo.

If that's not an over recipe, we don't know what one is.
 
UNDER TEAM: Miami Marlins

O/U THIS SEASON: 9-10-1.
O/U LAST WEEK: 0-5.
THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE: Home to the Diamondbacks for one, at the Giants for three, at the Padres for three.


THE SKINNY:
You know what they say about the best laid plans, right? Well, marquee free-agent signee Jose Reyes hasn't been able to rescue the new-look Marlins.

Though it's still early, surely Miami wasn't expecting to enter Sunday's action at 8-12 after shelling out all of those offseason millions and opening a new ballpark. But that's their problem.

For under players, their struggles are your reward. In the five-game under streak that was put on the line Sunday, Miami scored two runs or less in all of those contests.

Reyes -- who should not be unfamiliar with the pitchers he's seen so far, given he came from the Mets and the same National League East -- was hitting .213 with three RBIs. More importantly, his speed, thanks to a .286 on-base percentage and just four steals, is suffering.

He's not alone in the offensive struggles, though. Only Hanley Ramirez (13) had a double-digit RBI total, and five players -- Ramirez, Emilio Bonifacio, Giancarlo Stanton, Gaby Sanchez and John Buck -- had at least 12 strikeouts. The uniforms and the new stadium might be pretty, but the numbers aren't.

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Posted by ncdcbag
1 year ago

Hey covers, I don't know how much money you all wasted changing the match-up pages but these new pages suck and you guys, for the most part took away the trends in depth, please change it back because this new page is weak to say the least.
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Posted by powerplayer063
1 year ago

The whole page is disjointed and does not flow. What the hell was wrong with the old style???
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Posted by DDH420
1 year ago

Balty is playing pretty good ball and Hammel is throwing well. The YANKS do usually beat up on the O's but I think the line is a lil inflated from where it should be so I'm backing the birds in this one................................................................................................................................Like I was saying last week I'm not a big fan of Volstad at all. Conversely this Worley kid has been great since he jumped on the scene full time last year...............................................................................................................................................I can't believe KC is actually playing better than DET. KC has 3 wins L5 and 3 L10 while the Tigers have just a single win L7 and 2 L10. Still at only -130 I'm not sure if thats enough +$ to get me backing the Royals....................................................................................................................................With the way the Braves bats were going I'm a lil nervous about taking an under with them. But they have no overs and 4 unders L4 and so do the Buccos who are under machines this year with just 3 overs,17 unders and a push in their 21 games this year.
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Posted by DDH420
1 year ago

Drabek has looked great and I've backed him a few times this year. But he still can have control issues and if that happens tonight chances are the Tex_rags will make him pay for it. Also Darvish is looking better and better with each start,especially after that gem against the YANKS. I just hope Hamilton plays and stays in the game. Him leaving last nights game so early blew and took most of the wind outta a pretty fired up crowd...............................................................................Not a huge fan of betting knuckle-ballers but the MUTS are solid at 13-9 and have more road wins (54-) than HOU has home wins. Plus the have the edge in starter so -115 seem well worth a poke to me.........................................................................................Last season Niasco well deadly at home and horride on the road. This year thats totally flipped. And since Ethier and Kemp are a combined 6-10 with two longballs against him make me like the 16-6 Doyers at nice +$ all the more..........................................................................King Felix is a special pitcher but theres a reason why even with ridiculous personal numbers this year (like usual) he's only 2-1 whereas his counterpart who has solid number but not nearly as good is 3-0 and thats bats and knowing how to run the bases. I would have loved this line at -120 but even up to -135 I think a red-hot TB is the play.
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Posted by DDH420
1 year ago

MLB(1)BAL ML +165 (2)KC ML +130 (3)PIT/ATL U 7 pick (4)TEX ML -140 (5)NYM ML -115 (6)LAD ML +120 (7)TB ML -135 (8)OAK ML +130 (9)PHI -1.5 to ATL -1.5 +440..................................................................................NBA(1)MIA FH -5.5 (2)NYK/MIA U 185.5 (3)OKC FH -3.5 (4)MIA -9.5 to OKC ML +155
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Posted by DDH420
1 year ago

Last Call:NBA(1)OKC SH ML to the O 94.5 +205
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Posted by MTFN50
1 year ago

they failed to mention the Pirates .they have to be one of the top 3 under teams for the whole season Last 3 against Braves all under
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Posted by RapeStove
1 year ago

Every one of those streaks ended Sunday!!
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Top Response

Posted by ncdcbag
1 year ago

"Hey covers, I don't know how much money you all wasted changing the match-up pages but these new pages suck and you guys, for the most part took away the trends in depth, please change it back because this new page is weak to say the least."