Free MLB Baseball Betting Picks: August 7th 2009: ATS Consultants

Below are Free MLB Picks for August 7th 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.

Kansas City Royals -125 over Oakland Athletics:
Not the most exciting weekend series, but we’re looking for betting opportunities, and this one looks too good to be true. Brian Bannister takes the mound for Kansas City, while Vin Mazzaro goes for the A’s.

Mazzaro (2-8, 5.73) won his first two decisions but has been awful since. Actually, awful is too nice of a word. He simply hasn’t been able to get anyone out with any consistency. He’s 0-4 with a 9.64 ERA in his last 5 starts, including three starts where he allowed at least 6 runs. Oakland feels he’s a part of their future, so they’ll stick with him for now, but he has to be on a short leash.

Bannister (7-7, 3.59) has had a nice bounce back season after a miserable 2008 that saw him back in the minors he was so awful. He’s solidified himself as a part of the Royals future, which looks pretty good, at least pitching wise. He’s 1-1 with a 2.78 ERA in his last 5 efforts. This looks like a no brainer tonight, especially at only -125.

UNDER 8 Tampa Bay Rays/Seattle Mariners:
Two teams looking to get back into the playoff hunt in the American League begin a weekend series in Seattle tonight. Very good pitching matchup between Jeff Niemann and “King” Felix Hernandez.

Niemann (10-5, 3.62) has been a huge surprise for the Rays in 2009 and has clearly become a big part of their plans going forward. He began the seaosn as the fifth starter only due to an injury to Scott Kazmir, but has surpassed Andy Sonnanstine as the #5 starter. Expect another good effort tonight in Seattle.

Hernandez (12-4, 2.78) is having a fantastic year, and is in the running for the American League Cy Young Award. Seattle had many offers for him at the deadline, but decided not to move him, which was a smart move. He’ll be a force for years to come at the top of that rotation. He’s 3-1 with a 3.77 ERA in his last 5 starts, but that’s a little skewed because of one bad start on July 27. In that one, he allowed 7 runs on 11 hits in 5 2/3 innings. Besides that one, he’s only allowed 4 runs in 22 innings pitched. We expect a low scoring game tonight at Safeco.

ATS Consultants is a featured sports handicapping firm on Touthouse.com