A lot of guys are probably going to pick up Oakland LHP Brett Anderson against the Padres tomorrow. I mean he torched the Minor Leagues, which is essentially what San Diego is at this point, but don't be fooled. This is a guy who allowed 6 Earned Runs to the Giants last week. That's like a week's worth of Runs for San Francisco! I shouldn't be that critical. Anderson may be a decent start tomorrow at PETCO, but let's see if I can't find someone a bit better, eh?
Clayton Richard (L), CHW (14 % Owned) @ Johnny Cueto (R), CIN
So what makes me like a guy who hasn't been overly great in a ballpark that likes allowing balls to fly out of it? Good question. Maybe it's Richard's 3.17 Road ERA in 31.1 IP. Maybe it's the 5 scoreless innings he went in Milwaukee last time out. Maybe it's Cincinnati's 26th ranked Team OPS (.704), and the fact that Jay Bruce has bat .159 vs LHP this season, and Joey Votto's still not playing. But, the icing on the cake is this: maybe it's Cincinnati's June team OPS of .578, by and far the worst in Major League Baseball. These guys are making the Padres look like Tom Emanski's back-to-back-to-back AAU National Champions with the lumber in June. As a team they're batting under .200 (.197)!
So, all that said, yeah I'll roll some dice on Clayton Richard going into the Great American Ballpark and throwing up something like five innings of one or two run ball, with three or four strikeouts, even if it will be hard to pick up a W against Cueto. He is a +140 underdog, but there's -120 juice on Under 8.5 Total Runs, so I like this to be low scoring all around.
Full steam ahead! Until tomorrow...
You know who has been pretty good lately? Jason Hammel. He's going against the Pirates at Coors, and I could see him putting up a QS. He has four in his last six starts, and while his last outing wasn't one, 5.1 innings of one-run ball with six Ks and no walks at home is a great line all around.