Mammoth Blog

San Diego Padres at San Francisco Giants (-120, 8.5) odds provided by betjamaica

San Francisco Giants pitcher Barry Zito wishes he could just hibernate through April and start his season in May.

The left hander has lost his first two starts to fall to 3-12 in the first month of the schedule over the past four seasons. For his career, Zito is 13-25 with a 5.28 ERA in April.

Zito is fresh off a poor effort against the rival Los Angeles Dodgers Thursday. He allowed six runs on four hits in five innings of work. That has blown his ERA to an even 10.00 heading into Wednesday's start against the Padres.

"I'm going out and fighting, and I'm in the right place in where I have to be, but the results don't show that," Zito told reporters after the game. "Sometimes you get results and you're not where you have to be. Ultimately, you're judged on results. For me, I'm eager to get out there the next time and prove myself."

Zito has respectable numbers in his 11 career appearances versus San Diego, posting a 3-3 record with a 3.98 ERA. However, he lost his first game of the season to the Padres April 10. Zito allowed four runs on seven hits in just four innings.

San Diego gets a second look at the southpaw and has been knocking the cover off the ball in recent games. The Padres have won three of their last four games, averaging 6.5 runs during this stretch. They also send towering righty Chris Young to the bump, who has pitched well in his first outings of the season.

Young is 2-0 with a 4.86 ERA in three starts and bouncing back from a rough appearance in Philadelphia Friday. One of his wins came on April 12 when he held the Giants to seven shutout innings.

Pick: San Diego -120

Oakland Athletics at New York Yankees (-260, 9) odds provided by betjamaica

Construction error or brilliant marketing tool?

The new Yankee Stadium is getting a lot of attention, especially its right field since opening last Thursday. Twenty home runs carried past the outfield walls during the Yankees' series with the Cleveland Indians, 14 of them over the wall in right.

Three of the four games against Cleveland played over the total including Saturday's 22-4 flogging in which eight total home runs were hit. Even Sunday's game, which played under the total, tallied 10 runs and three big flys.

The organization says the new stadium is set up in a similar manner as the old one, but AccuWeather's Gina Cherundolo believes the different seating isn't blocking the breeze like in the old stadium and could be creating a wind-tunnel into right field.

''It's not something that I want to see a lot, unless it's all ours. But it was an interesting four days,'' Yankees manager Joe Girardi told reporters. ''I didn't think the ball carried yesterday. I thought it was different yesterday than it was the first three days. So who knows what's going to happen? I mean, it's a small sample.''

New York hosts Oakland for two games starting Tuesday. Heading into the opener, the over/under was 3-13 the past 16 times these teams meet in the Big Apple. Oakland is coming off two straight under paydays against Toronto.

Wednesday's probable starters C.C. Sabathia and Brett Anderson are coming off solid showings. Sabathia has allowed just one earned run in his last two starts and Anderson was sharp against Boston, giving up just two runs in seven innings before his bullpen blew the win.

Pick: Under 9 source>>>