San Diego Padres (135) MLB Odds – Sat July 19 ’08 3:55p
Randy Wolf of the San Diego Padres and Todd Wellemeyer of the St. Louis Cardinals have been equally bad as of late, but that automatically gives value to the underdog Padres at this generous price. After all, Wellemeyer has a 7.16 ERA and a brutal 1.71 WHIP in his last three starts, which does not exactly inspire confidence in a rather big favorite like this. In fact, Wellemeyer has now gone five consecutive starts without recording a Quality Start, so it appears he is revering to his normal level after he has an abnormally hot start to this season. Now granted, Wolf has not been much better as of late, but at this price, it may be worth the risk that Wolf could turn in one of his occasional sparkling efforts. After all, he has allowed two earned runs or less in eight of his last 11 starts, but that gets lost in the fact that he has allowed six earned runs or more in two of his last three outings. The good Wolf would be good enough to pull the upset here. Finally, the Cardinals are batting a modest .256 at home vs. left-handed pitching this season as opposed to .281 vs. right-handers, which should also give the southpaw Wolf a leg up. MLB Free Pick: Padres +135
 
Chicago Cubs @ Houston Astros u8.5 MLB Odds (-120) – Sat July 19 ’08 7:05p
Carlos Zambrano certainly earned his All-Star berth for the Chicago Cubs this season, while Wandy Rodriguez is a completely different pitcher at home for the Houston Astros, so runs should be hard to come by in Houston tonight. Zambrano is 10-3 with a 2.84 ERA in 120.1 innings, and he has maintained his raging form, allowing two runs or less in three of his last four starts. He has also allowed one run or less in three of his last four starts in Houston, including two scoreless outings. Now the reason why Rodriquez is so much better at home than on the road is a great mystery, as he has now had the most severe home/away splits in baseball for two years. The fact remains though that he has a 2.72 ERA and an excellent 1.07 WHIP in this ballpark this season, and the last time he faced the Cubs here, he allowed just one run on four hits in eight innings of a 2-1 Astros victory. Finally, the Under is 57-36-3 in all Houston games this year, and we expect nothing different tonight with this pitching matchup. MLB Free Pick: Cubs, Astros Under 8.5 (-120)

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