Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs meet in Game 1 (8:05 PM ET, May 16, 2012) of the two game series at Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois. The Phillies have 18-19 home, 9-10 away record, while the Cubs have a 15-21 away, 9-10 home record. The Cubs have (1/25), while Phillies have (13/10) odds.

It is the bottom of the order that has kept them afloat lately, with so much being made of the injuries to the top and the heart of the Phillies’ lineup this season. In a brief two-game set that opens at 8:05 p.m. ET on Wednesday at Wrigley Field, the Cubs will look to try to stall the Philadelphia offense.

This year, Philadelphia has won three consecutive games for the first time after being stalled at two victories five times. Last year, the Phillies won at least three straight games 14 times. To the hitters filling the Nos. 5-8 spots in the batting order, much of the credit is owed to the hitters, who have combined to hit .359 (41-for-114) with three homers, 21 RBIs and 22 runs scored over the Phillies’ recent homestand.

To slow down those Philadelphia bats, the Cubs’ pitching staff might have just the right stuff. In 22 games since April 21, Chicago’s hurlers have a 3.22 ERA (72 earned runs in 201 innings pitched). Entering Tuesday, they had the third-lowest team ERA over that span. In four career regular-season starts against Philadelphia (18-19), Garza improved to 2-1 with a 0.96 ERA. In Game 3 of the 2008 World Series, the right-hander’s poorest outing against the Phillies came, when he surrendered four runs over six innings in a 5-4 defeat for Tampa Bay.

Ryan Howard and Chase Utley are out with injuries. Against current regulars Jimmy Rollins (2 for 14), Placido Polanco (2 for 14) and Shane Victorino (1 for 11), Garza has enjoyed success. Meanwhile, in three career appearances, Kendrick is 0-1 with a 1.80 ERA against the Cubs. After sweeping two games at home from Houston, the Phillies are looking to take advantage of another struggling NL Central team. In the bottom of the 10th inning of Tuesday’s 4-3 victory to atone for an error in the ninth that allowed the Astros to tie it, Hunter Pence hit his second homer of the game.

When they needed 51 games, this was the longest stretch of games (37) into a season without a three-game win streak for the Phillies since 1971. With Cubs slugger Bryan LaHair going 7 for 15 with a homer and four doubles, these teams split four games April 27-30. Going 5 for 13 with a homer, Ty Wigginton was the hitting star in that series for the Phillies. as Alfonso Soriano went deep for the first time, the Cubs completed a 2/3 road trip with Tuesday’s 7-6 defeat in St. Louis. They have won six of nine at home.

Chicago Cubs meet Miami Marlins at Marlins Park, Miami, FL (12:40 PM ET, April 19, 2012). Miami leads the three game series by 2-0. The Cubs have a (3-9, 1-4 away) record while the Marlins have a (6-6, 4-2 home) record. The best betting odds for this game have Florida Marlins (11/17) and Chicago Cubs (16/11).

Jeff Samardzija was not exactly pleased with his most recent outing, although has won both of his starts since earning a spot in the Chicago Cubs’ rotation out of spring training. On Thursday, the right-hander will try for a better performance when he faces hot-hitting Hanley Ramirez and the Miami Marlins.

Samardzija(2-0, 3.95 ERA) struck out eight while finishing one out shy of a complete game in a 4-3 win over Washi and had a solid season debut April 8. in St. Louis, he appeared on his way to another strong outing Friday when he kept the Cardinals scoreless over the first four innings. Samardzija managed to get enough run support in a 9-5 win, although he gave up five runs and six hits in his fifth and final inning.

Samardzija won his only one against the Marlins (6-6) on Sept. 19, 2010, in Miami. He has made seven career starts. He will help the Cubs (3-9) avoid their first three-game sweep there since Sept. 25-27, 2007, if he can earn another victory. Chicago also lost three straight at Wrigley Field to the Marlins from May 28-30, 2007.

against former draft pick Ricky Nolasco (1-0, 3.46); the Cubs will try to avoid a fifth straight loss by getting a breakout performance from their hitters. Nolasco has allowed three runs or fewer in his two starts this season. The Marlins bullpen blew a two-run lead in a 5-4 win in 11 innings, although the right-hander gave up two runs and four hits over five innings Friday against Houston.

In six career starts against the Cubs, Nolasco is 2-2 with a 2.70 ERA but lost his most recent one July 15 at Wrigley despite allowing two unearned runs over seven innings.

During Wednesday’s 9-1 loss on a ground, Ian Stewart drove in Chicago’s lone run. Donnie Murphy drove in three runs and Ramirez homered for the third straight game. Murphy is expected to miss Thursday’s game because of a sore groin. He was starting in place of Omar Infante.

Ramirez is 3 for 6 with a double in his career against Samardzija. He is 9 for 16 with nine RBIs over his last four games. He has also struck out three times.

The Marlins are seeking to move above .500 for the first time since they were 32-31 on June 11. They are the winners in three straight games.

The Philadelphia Phillies will play against the New York Mets this weekend. These teams are division foes within the National League East, but the Phillies have definitely had the upper hand this season.

Philadelphia is currently the top favorite in MLB Betting to win the 2011 World Series, at 3-1 odds.

The Phillies are currently 9 games over the .500 mark and they are in first place in the NL East. The Mets are 2 games under .500 at 22-24 and they are 6.5 games behind Philadelphia this season. The Mets will be the home team in this game. They are 10-12 at home this season. The Phillies are 12-9 on the road to this point in the season.

The Mets have a lot of drama circling their franchise after the comments made by their owner. Their owner recently called out Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes and David Wright and questioned their value to the Mets’ organization. It will be interesting to see if these players respond and play better, or if they shut down and stop performing for the Mets.

The Phillies will send Oswalt, Hamels and Worley to the mound this weekend. Their pitching has been fantastic this season and it has been the reason behind the success of the Phillies this season.

While their offense has been up and down all season, the Phillies have some help coming back to the lineup in the form of Chase Utley. Utley was formerly one of the best hitters in the league, but was a victim to tendinitis in his knees. It appears that he is rehabilitated and he should be able to step in and offer a big bat for Philadelphia.

This weekend, the Philadelphia Phillies will battle against the Texas Rangers. In what should be one of the best matchups in the interleague play that s scheduled to take place this weekend, the Phillies will be the home team.

After losing their ace pitcher, Cliff Lee, during the offseason, the Rangers have surprised everyone by staying in contention. As Cliff Lee decided to head to Philadelphia instead of staying and pitching for the Rangers, this will be an interesting matchup. As Lee’s team will be playing at home, fortunately for him he will not have to go in front of the potentially angry Texas fans this weekend.

To the mound, Philadelphia will send their best three pitchers. What we have seen since the days of the amazing pitching staffs from the Atlanta Braves, Halladay, Lee and Oswalt represent the most feared top of the rotation.

Even though the Rangers will struggle to hit against these pitchers, they have a great offense. So far this season, Philadelphia has allowed fewer runs than any other team in the majors. As the Phillies sometimes struggle to give the run support they need to their starters, Texas still does have a chance to win this game though. This season, the Phillies have scored fewer runs than all but one team in their division.

While playing on the road, the Rangers need to get over their struggles that they’ve had. This season, they are just 6-10 away from their home stadium. Even though Adrian Beltre appears to be coming back to life, he went through a bit of a slump for the Rangers. The entire offense plays better when he is hitting well, that’s what seems.

For this matchup, get MLB Odds at online sports betting sites.

The Los Angeles Angels will take on the Texas Rangers this weekend.  This should be an exciting series as these teams are fighting for the top spot in a crowded American League West Division. The Rangers will be the home team in this series.

MLB Odds have the Angels at 20-1 to win the World Series, while the Rangers are at 30-1.

The home field advantage could prove to be the difference in this series for the Rangers. They have been a very poor team playing away from their home field, but they have posted a 12-7 record while at their home field. This being said, the Angels are a solid road team. They have already collected 12 wins on the road this season. They are atop the division with a 20-15 record. The Rangers are tied for 2nd place at 18-17 on the season.

The Angels have had so much success on the road this season because of their stellar starting pitching. They have two of the best pitchers in the Major Leagues between Jered Weaver and Dan Haren. Each time that these pitchers take the mound, they have a shot at going the distance and shutting out their opponents.

The Angels will be fortunate to have both of these pitchers take the mound in this series. The Rangers will need to jump on both of these pitchers early in their starts. They tend to get stronger as they go deeper into games.

This will be a matchup of a dominant offense against a dominant defense. The winner of this series could end up as the top team in the division when the series is over.

On Friday the New York Mets will head to Philadelphia to play the Phillies in a 3 game series. These teams are division rivals and it should be a solid series.

The Phillies are among the top favorites to win the World Series at 3-1 in baseball betting Odds.

The Mets have definitely struggled to start the season, but they have shown signs of resurgence recently. After starting the season 5-13, the Mets have bounced back and they have now won 4 games in a row.

Much of the turnaround for the Mets has been centered around the fact that their team finally is getting healthy. The Mets had been without Carlos Beltran and Jason Bay at full strength. Beltran is finally playing every day again and Bay is activated from the Disabled List and both hitters have looked fantastic since their return. Their return has given more protection to David Wright in the lineup and he has certainly looked great since they’ve been back.

The Phillies are atop the National League with a 15-7 record and it is no secret that their success is based on their pitching staff. They are tied with Oakland for the fewest amount of runs allowed this year at 73. The Phillies have 3 ace-caliber pitchers and another solid pitcher in Cole Hamels that allows them to throw a top notch player in almost every game.

The Phillies are scheduled to have Blanton, Halladay and Lee on the mound for this series. The Mets will need to jump on Blanton and try to get momentum in the series before two of the Phillies’ aces take the mound.

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The New York Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles will square off this Friday in the first game of their series. These two teams are division rivals in the AL East and it should be a solid series as these two teams have had decent starts to the season.

The Yankees are an 8-1 favorite to win the World Series in MLB Futures.

The AL East is definitely one of the tougher divisions in Major League Baseball as they have a lot of talent in the division. The Yankees are atop the division with a 9-6 record on the season. They are the only team in the division with a record better than .500.

The Orioles are at 7-9 on the season, but that is actually a better start than many people thought they’d have. With so many talented teams, most people thought they would be in the cellar of the division, but they are still 2 games ahead of the Red Sox in the standings.

The Orioles have a number of veteran hitters that have been stars in the past and may have the potential to be good again. Vlad Guerrero, Andruw Jones and Derrick Lee are all former all-stars and could find their place again with the Orioles. If they do, they’ll be a tough match for any team they face this season.

The Yankees have played 11 of their 15 games at home this season and they’ll have to show that they can win on the road against the Orioles. They are just 1-3 on the road to this point in the season and they may struggle as they head out to Baltimore.

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A rematch of last year’s American League Championship Series is set for this weekend in Yankee Stadium as the Texas Rangers are set to travel to New York and take on the New York Yankees. Last season’s playoff matchup was a memorable one that saw the Rangers beat the Yankees in six games and earn their first World Series birth in franchise history.

Texas is at 20-1 and New York is at 5-1 in MLB Betting to win the World Series.

The weekend series between these two teams is one of the better matchups of the young MLB season. Texas has been one of the hottest teams in the league getting off to a 9-2 start while the Yankees have also performed quite well compiling a 5-4 record.

For baseball fans the pitching matchups for all three weekend games are something to look forward to. Friday will showcase Ivan Nova against Colby Lewis, Saturday will pit C.C. Sabathia against Matt Harrison, and Sunday is likely to be Freddie Garcia against Derek Holland. Sunday’s game will also be ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball broadcast, making it the second consecutive week the Yankees have played the feature game of the week.

In addition to some quality pitching, baseball fans can also expect a lot of runs to be score in this three game set. Currently, the Yankees are seventh in all of baseball in runs scored despite having played only nine games. The Rangers are also no offensive slouch either having already scored sixty four runs in just eleven games, which is good for the major league lead in runs scored. If you are a true baseball fan, the Rangers Yankees series should get you excited as the season starts to round into full gear. In basketball picks, the Texas Rangers are favorites win this match.

On Monday in Cactus League play, the Chicago White Sox defeated the San Diego Padres, 8-5. Greg Paiml clubbed a two run home run in a four run eighth inning to help the White Sox win this match. The White Sox are just 9-14 overall.

Even after the San Diego Padres‘ opening day starter gave up three earned runs, Mat Latos felt good. Latos, who has a 9.00 ERA this spring, said he didn’t feel the weight of his expectations during a four plus inning outing on Monday night. It’s those expectations he believes have hindered him this spring. Latos earned a no decision in the Padres’ 8-5 loss to the Chicago White Sox.

Bud Black, Padres manager said he saw a “crisp” delivery and good signs from Latos. Black also understands why his 22 year old ace could be feeling pressure after a breakout season.

Because of rainy, wet weather on Monday in the Phoenix area, White Sox starter Mark Buehrle was a late scratch. The sky was clear and it was a crisp 52 degrees as Jeff Marquez started for Chicago, by game time. On Tuesday, Buehrle will start instead in a Minor League game against the Reds in Goodyear, Ariz.

The White Sox scored three runs before recording an out as Juan Pierre led with a double and scored on Gordon Beckham’s single. Rios then hit his fourth homer of the spring.

The White Sox are down to the final couple of roster decisions before breaking camp, and two of those players on the bubble will be on display Tuesday in Peoria against the Mariners. The Padres play the Brewers at 3:05 CT at Maryvale Ballpark on Tuesday with left hander Clayton Richard starting for San Diego and right hander Marco Estrada going for the Brew Crew in a matchup available on Gameday Audio.

After winning the National League West last season, the San Francisco Giants will prepare for the upcoming season. In a division that had 4 teams that won 80 or more games on the season, the Giants went 92-70. With 80 wins last season, only the AL East had at least 4 teams.

In MLB Odds, San Francisco is at 12-1 to repeat as World Series champions.

On a solid pitching staff, the Giants rely heavily. In Major League Baseball, the Giants were one of just two teams that surrendered fewer than 600 runs on the season. Second only to the San Diego Padres, who allowed 581 runs, they allowed 583 runs.

The Giants were World Series Champions as they rode their pitching staff through the playoffs. Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain, two young pitchers that have as much potential as any duo in the league are leading the team. Lincecum has a bright future ahead of him as he is already a Cy Young Award winner. He should be able to reestablish himself as one of the best pitchers in Major League Baseball as he finished the season particularly well.

At the plate the concern for the Giants will come. It is difficult to see where their runs will come from during the regular season as the Giants do not have any outstanding hitters. They will need to find a way to manufacture runs if they hope to stay on top of the game while their pitching staff still has the potential to carry them through stretches.

The Giants should be able to make another run towards the World Series this year if they can solve some of their offensive problems.