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May, 08 2008 12:35pm EST
MONEYLINE: Pittsburgh Pirates -123
WIN for +4.07 unit(s)

San Francisco Giants at Pittsburgh Pirates

At 12:35pm ET our selection is on the Pittsburgh Pirates over the San Francisco Giants. If you have 25 year-old lefthanded starter Paul Maholm on your fantasy team you have obviously figured out by now that you need to activate him when he pitches at home and put him on your bench when he goes on the road. Maholm may have the most lopsided home-away stats of any starter in baseball right now. Maholm's six starts are split evenly between Pittsburgh and away venues and in the three PNC Park outings he is 2-0 with a 0.89 ERA while in the three road starts he is a disasterous 0-3 with a 9.60 ERA. Matt Cain is also a very inconsistent starter, but unlike Maholm, there is seemingly no pattern to his off vs. on days. Sometimes he pitches lights out at home and sometimes he gets lit up and that's pretty much the case for his road starts as well. These two teams certainly have plenty of things in common. They have almost identical won-loss records, team batting averages, and both teams are about .500 at home and much worse on the road. Young Pirate outfielder Nate McLouth is one of the biggest surprises of the season so far with a .333 batting average, nine homers, 28 RBI, and 30 runs scored. Oh yes, and he's stolen three bases on top of that and is capable of stealing many more except for the fact that Pirates have dropped him down in the order so he can produce more runs. Maholm had two great starts (at home, of course) before getting rocked in his last start Saturday on the road at Washington. But he may have had a legitimate excuse for that one as his wife gave birth to their first child earlier that week and he was not with the team much in the days after that and can certainly be excused if his head was not in the game. Expect a quality outing this afternoon. Getaway Day Game of the Month on the Pirates. As always, good luck...Al McMordie.

Big Al McMordie Past Picks

MLB Baseball

Florida Marlins @ Atlanta Braves Wednesday August 27, 2008 7:10 pm
At 7:10 pm our selection is the Florida Marlins over the Atlanta Braves.  Whether or not the Marlins can continue their improbable run this season and take the National League East division, one ... read more

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Boston Red Sox @ New York Yankees Wednesday August 27, 2008 7:05 pm
At 7:05pm our complimentary selection is on the New York Yankees over the Boston Red Sox.  Two pitchers that probably no one would have expected to see in Red Sox and Yankee uniforms prior to the ... read more

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Milwaukee Brewers @ St. Louis Cardinals Tuesday August 26, 2008 8:15 pm
At 8:15pm our complimentary selection is on the Milwaukee Brewers over the St.  Louis Cardinals.  The Brewers must be looking forward to this two-game series against the Cards for several reasons.  ... read more

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MLB Baseball

Cleveland Indians @ Detroit Tigers Tuesday August 26, 2008 7:05 pm
At 7:05pm our selection is on the Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers 'under' the total.  Detroit will use this game to give 25-year-old righthander Chris Lambert his first appearance in the Major ... read more

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MLB Baseball

Colorado Rockies @ San Francisco Giants Monday August 25, 2008 10:15 pm
At 10:15pm our selection is on the San Francisco Giants over the Colorado Rockies.  Matt Cain is one of the most underrated starters in baseball.  If he pitched for a contender that could go ... read more

Big Al McMordie Bio and Picks | Articles By Big Al McMordie

MLB Baseball

Tampa Bay Rays @ Chicago White Sox Saturday August 23, 2008 3:55 pm
At 3:55pm our selection is on the Chicago White Sox over the Tampa Bay Rays.  It's been a roller-coaster ride of a season for Chicago's 32-year-old righthanded ace Javier Vazquez.  Vazquez started ... read more

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MLB Baseball

Cleveland Indians @ Texas Rangers Friday August 22, 2008 8:05 pm
At 8:05pm our selection is on the Texas Rangers over the Cleveland Indians.  What a difference a year makes.  Around this time in 2007, the Indians were the surprise team in the American League, ... read more

Big Al McMordie Bio and Picks | Articles By Big Al McMordie

MLB Baseball

Atlanta Braves @ New York Mets Thursday August 21, 2008 7:10 pm
At 7:10pm our selection is on the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets 'under' the total.  Two oft-injured veteran pitchers, Atlanta's 35-year-old Mike Hampton and New York's 36-year-old Pedro Martinez ... read more

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MLB Baseball

New York Yankees @ Toronto Blue Jays Wednesday August 20, 2008 7:07 pm
At 7:05pm our complimentary selection is on the New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays 'under' the total.  Two lefties will go to the mound in this Wednesday night divisional matchup.  One is ... read more

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MLB Baseball

Kansas City Royals @ Cleveland Indians Wednesday August 20, 2008 7:05 pm
At 7:05pm our selection is on the Kansas City Royals over the Cleveland Indians.  Both Kansas City and Cleveland are merely playing for pride at this point of the season.  And nothing would ... read more

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