Free MLB Predictions for August 5th 2009 from Steve Merril

Below are two free MLB predictions for Tuesday night, August 5th 2009 from Steve Merril, a featured sports handicapper on Touthouse.com

OVER 9 -110 (Orioles/Tigers) (Guthrie/Jackson) - 7:05 pm ET #921
The Tigers and Orioles take the field on Wednesday for game three of their four game series. So far the Orioles have hit around Justin Verlander and Jarrod Washburn in the series and hope to do the same to Edwin Jackson. Jackson is 7-5 with a 2.64 ERA on the season. He is coming off a struggling outing where he gave up eight hits and three runs in four innings of work in Cleveland. Jackson has already faced the Orioles shutting them down to the tune of two hits in eight innings in a 3-0 win. Before that he gave up 9 runs to them in 10.1 innings pitched while he was in Tampa Bay. Nick Markakis (5-9), Brian Roberts (2-6) and Ty Wigginton (1-3) have hit him the best in limited at-bats.

Jeremy Guthrie is 7-10 with a 5.37 ERA this season which becomes 3-5 with a 6.39 ERA on the road this season giving up 57 hits in 56.1 innings pitched. He has given up at least five runs in three of his last five starts. Guthrie faced the Tigers in Baltimore and gave up three runs and seven hits in six innings. Detroit batters are hitting .327 against him with Curtis Granderson (4-8), Magglio Ordonez (4-7), Brandon Inge (2-6) and Gerald Laird (1-3) hitting the best in limited outings.

CLEVELAND +1½ -160 (Laffey/Liriano) - 7:05 pm ET #924
Cleveland gets another crack at the Twins on Wednesday in game two of their series. The Indians send Aaron Laffey to the hill where he’s 4-3 with a 4.40 ERA. At home Laffey is 2-0 with a 2.57 ERA and has already beaten the Twins at home earlier this season giving up two runs and five hits in 6.1 innings. He faced the Twins at home in June of 2008 as well and in that one he gave up one run and five hits in six innings. Laffey has done good work against Alexi Casilla (0-10), Michael Cuddyer (1-8), Brendan Harris (0-8), Jason Kubel (2-8), Carlos Gomez (0-8), Joe Crede (1-6), and Nick Punto (1-4). Overall, the lefty is 7-4 with a 2.80 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP in 15 career starts at Jacobs Field.

Francisco Liriano takes the mound for the Twins after having his last start skipped. Liriano is 0-2 with a 5.94 ERA and a 1.62 WHIP over his last three starts. Liriano hasn’t seen the Indians since last season when he gave up eight runs and six hits in 2.2 innings pitched in a 12-9 loss in Jacobs Field. Jhonny Peralta (4-12), Kelly Shoppach (3-9), Andy Marte (1-2), and Asdrubal Cabrera (1-2) have done the best against him in limited at-bats. In general, you would like to see a pitcher perform well before backing him after dealing with an injury.