Free MLB Baseball Picks for September 18th 2008

Pittsburgh Pirates (115) - Thu September 18th ‘08 12:35p
The Pittsburgh Pirates erupted for 15 runs while shocking the Los Angeles Dodgers last night, and we look for a second straight upset today with Paul Maholm on the mound. Maholm has been the best pitcher on the Pittsburgh staff and he has been great here at home, where he is 7-2 with a 3.32 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP. This while pitching for a team that is 24 games under .500 overall. Remarkably, Maholm has allowed two runs or less in six of his last seven starts overall and eight of his last 10. Clayton Kershaw has not pitched that great on the road for Los Angeles, as he is just 2-3 with a 5.93 ERA and a horrendous 1.80 WHIP in nine starts away from Dodgers Stadium. He is facing a Pittsburgh lineup that is batting a commendable .295 vs. left-handed pitching over the last 10 games. Look for Maholm to key the upset here. MLB Free Pick: Pirates +115 - Courtesy of LT Profits

Chicago White Sox @ New York Yankees u8.5 - Thu September 18th ‘08 7:05p
The Yankees are trending heavily to the Under right now, cashing six Under tickets in their last eight ballgames. It’s no surprise, really – this is a team that is used to tuning up for the postseason right about now, not a team that is used to playing out the string of a disappointing season. And there’s little reason to think that this run of Unders ends tonight against the White Sox, after the first three games in the series have all stayed Under the total. Javier Vasquez has been dominant of late. He threw 7.2 innings of three hit, shutout ball against the Tigers in his last outing, his third consecutive quality start. Mike Mussina has been the Yankees staff ace all season long. He held Chicago to four hits and two runs in seven innings of work in his lone appearance against them this year. Both bullpens are in good shape behind the starters, and the wind is expected to blow in from left field tonight, bad news for the hitters against a pair of right handed starters. Take the Under. - Courtesy of Ted Sevransky

Los Angeles Angels (-115) - Thu September 18th ‘08 3:35p
LA Angels are 28-11 this year in day games. LA Angels bullpen has a 3.65 ERA overall this year and a 3.63 ERA on the road this season. Oakland is scoring only 4 runs per game overall this year, 4 runs per game at home and 3.5 runs per game against left handed starters this season. Saunders is 15-7 with a 3.65 ERA overall this year, 9-3 with a 2.74 ERA on the road and 1-0 with a 3.48 ERA his last 3 starts. Saunders has won 4 of 6 against Oakland since 1997. I can’t see the Angels getting swept by Oakland in this series. We’ll recommend a small play on the LA Angels today! - Courtesy of Rocketman Sports