RudyNYCSports MLB Plays of the Day - 4/5/2011

RudyNYCSports MLB Plays of the Day - 4/5/2011 Sunday 2-0, +3.42 units (Monday dark) Season 5-1, +5.925 units ---------------------------------------------- [U]For Tuesday:[/U] [B]LA Angels -106 (5Dimes) 2 units[/B] Today we have our first two unit play as we see the perfect opportunity for the unfortunate Angels to turn around their season. Having lost three of four in Kansas City, the Angels now move on to Tampa to face a team with an anemic lineup. Jered Weaver, 2010's MLB strikeout leader, who does not get enough accolades as he is still confused with his older brother (I hate when that happens!), won the opener in KC pitching six plus innings of no run ball. He now faces a team whose current players have hit .188 against Weaver. LA's hitting has done its job with a .302 BA so far. The bullpen has had its problems but it is not like they are a bunch of no names - that will come around soon enough although we do not see much of a need for relief tonight. On the other side of the plate, the Rays send out a decent pitcher in Jeff Niemann. But not so fast: this current Angels team has hit .259 in the past against Niemann and certain LA players seem to have his number (Kendrick .625, Hunter .571, Aybar .429). Again, the Angel bats are getting very hot as the Rays need a lot of help. Longoria is out, Ramirez (.083) should be tossed out, and Damon (.000) has more excuses than a virgin in a cheap hotel. Upton and Zobrist seem to be hitting but two players can not carry a team. We see the Angels having an easy time picking up two wins in this short series, especially with their #1 pitcher at this low price. (Consider playing UNDER too). [B]SF Giants -126 (5Dimes) 1 unit[/B] The short of it here is that the Giants will have a much easier time out of the spotlight of LA just a stone's throw away in SD despite this the Padres home opener. Today they get a decisive pitching advantage. Madison Bumgarner gets the nod for SF. Bumgarner fared well against the Padres in his only start last year against them despite getting the loss. No question the Giants are starting to hit as evidenced Saturday and Sunday in LA. Now the fun part. The Padres send out hometown-er Aaron Harang today. Why this guy is still "haranging" around the Majors is anybodies' question. Aaron has not pitched well since 2007 (5.32 ERA and 1.59 WHIP in 2010) and had a horrific spring). The Padres' sticks have over-performed but that was against a weaker team, the Cardinals. We know the Pods bettered the Giants 12-6 during last year's championship year but this is a new year and the Padres choose to start an old over-the-hill pitcher. (Consider a 5 inning play too). GL Rudy