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Texas lineup is built to produce runs, and they have not let down in that department. Just on Sunday their offense was enough to overcome three Miguel Cabrera home runs against Detroit.

Jarrod Parker heads to the mound for Oakland tonight, and has had recent success. Outings against Kansas City, Cleveland, and Seattle have been decent but look for his fortune to get back near his current ERA over six.

Take the over on ten runs tonight.

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Yesterday’s free play did not come through victorious, but sometimes even a loss can be critiqued properly. Especially in major league baseball where series are played. As I mentioned yesterday the Diamondbacks have been inept at producing runs as of late.

They got back on track yesterday thanks to sole producer in Paul Goldshmidt, who had two blasts and four RBI’s. His hot start sent the Marlins starting pitcher in Kevin Slowney back to the dugout in the third inning.

The Diamondbacks did have sixteen hits but I need to see more consistency from their offense before I’m sold. Take the under on eight runs today. If the oddsmakers had this more in the 9 to 9.5 range then it would be warranted. But with the Marlins failing to produce runs, and the Diamondbacks inconsistencies they have it right.

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Watching the Miami Marlins atrocious lineup goes down with some of the worst franchises a professional sports team has put out on display. Fans no it, the players know it, and the media knows that the team is purposely disastrous from their front office.

Today the Diamondbacks head to Miami to start their series against the Marlins. The Diamondbacks have not been all that impressive with their bats the last eight to ten games, but the Miami Marlins should be able to fix that. I just do not believe it will be the first game of the series.

The Diamondbacks had scored three runs or less in seven of their last eight games. Their five run outburst in their last game against Atlanta was the first game of the eight to break that barrier. Four of those runs came with two outs in the sixth inning off of Tim Hudson.

With yesterday off to soak in South Beach, you can expect the slumping of the Dbacks bats to continue for another game.

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It’s swing day in major league baseball which means you can catch more than just your average horse track bettor at your local book. Get that MLB lines sheet and grab wins mid-day and roll it over to tonight’s NBA playoff games.

Today’s free play comes in the total between the Braves and Diamondbacks. Tim Hudson heads to the mound against Ian Kennedy. Hudson started his first three games of the season with solid starts. Lately though he has been inconsistent, including two games of six earned runs allowed. One was on their last road trip against San Francisco.

Ian Kennedy is one of those pitchers that is crafty and gets out of jams inning after inning.

Look for both clubs to not extend either pitcher for a lot of innings this one, which means the bullpens will be called early. Grab the over in this one as innings seven thru nine will produce late runs over the total.

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KEVIN CORREIA’S LAST OUTING DID NOT GO NEARLY AS WELL AS HE WOULD OF LIKED. AGAINST CLEVELAND HE WAS ROUGHED UP RIGHT OFF THE BAT, ALLOWING TWO FIRST INNING SOLO HOME RUN SHOTS. ONE WAS TO NICK SWISHER DURING HIS FIRST AT-BAT SINCE COMING OFF THE DL. LOOK FOR CORREIA’S EARLY INNING WOES TO CARRY-OVER TODAY AT FENWAY PARK IN BOSTON.

TAKE BOSTON -1.5 FOR THE PLUS PAYOUT

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Boston’s Ryan Dempster has been terrific as a Red Sox starter. The savvy veteran has been ringing up opposing lineups at a high rate. Today though Dempster should come back down to Earth a bit. Toronto’s lineup has not lived up to their potential yet, but will shake up Dempster enough today. J. A. Happ will out pitch Dempster today and I do not believe Dempster will make it past the fifth inning.

Take the Blue Jays as the underdog for a plus payout today