Free MLB Baseball Betting Picks: August 5th 2009: ATS Consultants

Below are Free MLB Picks for August 5th from ATS Consultants. Do you want to receive more free expert MLB predictions on a daily basis, be sure to sign-up for the ATS Consultants Newsletter.

UNDER 7.5 Atlanta Braves/San Diego Padres:
Rookie Tommy Hanson (5-2,3.25) has wasted no time becoming a factor in the Braves future plans. He’s been a highly touted prospect for a very short time and has already proven he belongs in the major leagues. Atlanta has a history of developing young pitchers into superstars, and this kid may be the next in line. He’s been very consistent of late, with a 3.94 ERA in his last 34 innings pitched. The Braves sometimes struggle to score runs, so he’ll have to be at his best this afternoon at Petco Park.

Veteran righty Chad Gaudin (4-9, 4.76) goes to the hill for the Padres. He’s been great recently, except for one start where allowed 3 earned runs in 1 2/3 innings. Even with that outing, Gaudin has a 3.08 ERA in his last 26 innings. Eliminate the one really bad outing, and he’s been really strong recently. San Diego also really struggles to score, so Gaudin, like Hanson will have to be extra careful in this one.

UNDER 8.5 Washington Nationals/Florida Marlins:
Pretty good matchup tonight in DC as the Marlins try to bounce back from a shocking loss last night. Florida led Washington 4-0 in the bottom of the eighth when the Nats exploded for 6 runs and the 6-4 win.

Florida will send Rick Vandenhurk to the mound tonight. Vandenhurk is 1-1 with a 2.65 ERA. He’s a youngster that the Marlins have high hopes for. Florida has had some success with young pitchers recently, but needs to be careful with Vandenhurk, so to avoid some of the inuries that have plagued their young starters in recent years. He has 16 K’s in 17 innings, which is always a good sign for a young pitcher.

Washington counters with their ace, John Lannan (7-8, 3.41). Lannan has been very consistent all season, a pleasant change for the Nats, who always seem to be swimming upstream as they battle to find a winning formula. Lannan is as steady as they come, as he’s pitched to a 3.28 ERA in his last 35 innings pitched.

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