MLB Weekend Preview
Posted on September 2, 2009 | 2:58 AM ET Filed under:At this point in the MLB season many series involve teams chasing down playoff spots against teams relegated to the role of spoiler. And while the San Diego Padres, who host their SoCal rival Los Angeles Dodgers this weekend for three games, are definitely one of the latter, the Chicago White Sox, who welcome the Boston Red Sox to town Friday for four games, are still trying to avoid the label.
But have the White Sox thrown in the towel? Monday they traded DH Jim Thome to the Dodgers, and sent starter Jose Contreras to Colorado. This as Chicago has dropped eight of its last nine games, including the opener of a three-game series in Minnesota on Monday, to fall six back of the division-leading Detroit Tigers in the AL Central.
Boston capped off a 7-3 homestand with a 7-0 win over Roy Halladay and the Blue Jays Sunday. So going into the opener of a three-game series vs. the Rays in St. Petersburg Tuesday night the Red Sox sit in second place in the AL East, 6.5 behind the first-place New York Yankees. But more importantly for them at the moment, Boston leads the AL Wild Card race by four games over the second-place Texas Rangers.
In the only previous meeting this season between the two Sox, the Red took three of four games from the White last week in Boston. The totals split 2-2 in the series, even though the two teams combined to put up 48 runs.
In an effort to instill a little more punch into the lineup, the Dodgers picked up Thome Monday, just before the deadline for postseason eligibility. LA also acquired starting pitcher Jon Garland from division-rival Arizona.
Garland carries a 4.29 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP with him to LA. Meanwhile, Thome will likely take over a late-game, left-handed pinch-hitting role. The 39-year-old hasn't played in the field in two years.
After seeing their considerable lead in the NL West get whittled down to three games last week, the Dodgers have bumped their advantage back up to 5.5 games over both the Rockies and San Francisco Giants as of pregame Tuesday.
The Padres have been playing out the season for quite a while now. But after taking the opener of a three-game set from the Washington Nationals on Monday night 3-1, San Diego is 19-14 over its last 33 games, wining seven of its last 10 series. And while the Padres are 19 games under .500 overall this year, they're a .500 team, 34-34, at Petco Park.
So far this season the Dodgers have taken nine of 13 games from San Diego, with the totals going 6-7, as the games have averaged 7.6 runs per.
Just before this season started, Oddsmaker.com was listing Boston at +125 to win the AL East this year, +300 to win the American League pennant, and +500 to win the World Series for the third time in the last six seasons. As of Tuesday morning, Oddsmaker is offering the Sox at +2,000 to rally past the Yanks and win the East, -700 to win the AL Wild Card, +400 to win the pennant, and +600 to win the Series.
Oddsmaker.com had also posted Boston with a regular-seasons wins over/under of 94.5. So at 76-54, the Red Sox need to win 19 of their last 32 games to provide their “over” bettors with winning wagers.
Oddsmaker opened Chicago at +500 to win the AL Central this year, +2,500 to win the AL championship, and +5,000 to win its second World Series title in the last five years. As of Tuesday morning, the White Sox are getting +600 to come back and win the Central, +1,200 to win the league championship, and +1,500 to win the Series.
Chicago also got pegged with a wins total of 78.5, so at 64-68, they need to win half of their remaining 30 games to go over their number.
Oddsmaker.com opened the Dodgers at +150 to win the NL West this year, +800 to win the National League pennant, and +1,500 to win the World Series for the first time in 20 years. As of Tuesday morning, Oddsmaker is listing LA at -4,000 to hold on and win the West, +250 to win the pennant, and +600 to win the Series.
The Dodgers got pegged with a season wins total of 82.5, so at 78-54, they could go over their number this week.
And finally, Oddsmaker.com opened the season with San Diego listed at +800 to win the NL West, +4,000 to win the NL championship, and +8,000 to win its first-ever World Series title. As of Tuesday morning, Oddsmaker is offering the Padres at +100,000 to pull off the greatest comeback in history and win the West, +500,000 to win the pennant, and +1 million (1,000/1) to win the Series.
More realistically, San Diego was tabbed with a season wins O/U of 71.5. So at 57-76, the Padres need to win 15 of their last 29 games to go over their total.
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