Weekend lineup includes pair of heated rivalries
by Mark Rothstein
Best power hitter
A couple of longtime rivalries will heat up this weekend in Major League Baseball when the Chicago Cubs visit the St. Louis Cardinals and the Baltimore Orioles travel to the Big Apple to take on the New York Yankees.
The Cubs will throw rookie Jerome Williams on Friday, Glendon Rusch on Saturday and ageless Greg Maddux on Sunday, while the Cardinals will counter with Mark Mulder, Sidney Ponson and Jason Marquis.
Chicago won the season series with division-champion St. Louis last season 10-6, while the over/under went 6-8-2.
The six games played at the new Busch Stadium in St. Louis thus far have averaged 9.5 runs, with the over/under going 4-2.
The Cubs have a .322 team OBP and are averaging 5.5 runs per game.
The Cardinals own a .335 team OBP and are scoring 4.5 runs a game. Much of that is Albert Pujols by himself. Pujols has 10 of the Cardinals’ 18 home runs, 20 of their 66 RBI and has drawn 14 of their 52 bases on balls.
For the record, Maddux just turned 40 years old. He also just held the Dodgers to one run on three hits in eight innings to up his record this season to 3-0.
For a couple of years now, the Baltimore Orioles have tried to build a team that can beat the New York Yankees. The O’s get their first chance this season to size themselves up when they visit Yankee Stadium this weekend.
The Yankees have started slowly for the third season in a row, but they (and baseball bettors) know they’re the class of the AL East.
Baltimore will send Kris Benson to the mound Friday night, Daniel Cabrera on Saturday and Bruce Chen on Sunday. New York will counter with Chien-Ming Wang, Shawn Chacon, and 42-year-old Randy Johnson on Sunday.
The Yankees took the season series vs. the Orioles last season 11-7, while the over/under went 11-6-1. New York won seven of nine games vs. Baltimore played at Yankee Stadium last year, with the over/under going 6-3.
The Oriole offense owns a .322 team OBP, which isn’t all that great, but they just scored 18 runs against Cleveland on Wednesday night.
Yankee hitters, thanks in large part to their willingness to work the count and take bases on balls, own a .383 team OBP and are averaging 6.1 runs per game.
Johnson is 2-2 this season and just gave up seven earned runs in 3 1/3 innings to Toronto on Tuesday.
For a complete list of the weekend odds, visit the baseball odds section.
Comments or Questions? Email FaceOff@BetUS.com.
