Oswalt Throws A Dud

That was not the type of performance the Phillies hoped to see from their newly acquired pitcher. Maybe the whole trade process affected in mentally, which was probably the case since he's been with the Astros for so long.

Portfolio: $755 (-18% return)
S&P 500: $1102 (19.7% return)

Today's Games

Philadelphia (-170) @ Washington (+150)
Florida (-140) @ San Diego (+120)

In the first game Cole Hamels is matched up against John Lannan. Hamels is having an average year and can't seem to turn the corner. His strikeouts are up but so are his walks. His hits are down so that also tells me his stuff is better this year. I like him to be strong down the stretch. Lannan was just called up since Strasburg was put on the DL. Lannan really struggled when he was up earlier this year and that does not surprise me. He can't miss bats. His strikeout rate was 2.88 per nine when he was sent down. That's not good when facing a hot Phillies lineup.

In the second game Josh Johnson is facing Jon Garland. Johnson is one of the leading CY young candidates in the NL and his indicators show it. He let up more than 2 earned runs (3) in his last start for the first time in a while. I look for his dominance to continue against a light hitting Padres team. Garland has put up some good numbers recently and very well could continue that. He is the ace of this staff so far and I expect this to be a good game, but I just don't think the Padres can score enough runs off Johnson.

Bets

$34 PHI -170
$14 FLA -140