From GamblersTelevision.com Best Bet World Series Game 5 Monday Tampa Bay (Kazmir) (+140) @ Philadelphia (Hamels) (-150) (8 ET) (FOX) Cole Hamels has been outstanding in the postseason. In 4 starts he sits with an ERA of 1.55 in 29 innings pitched. Teams are only hitting .178 against his during that span. Listen to this. Hamels has given 2 runs or less in his starts in 13 of his last 14 starts. Scott Kazmir had problems with his control in Game 1 allowing 4 bases on balls. Kazmir has allowed 12 walks in 4 post season starts. Kazmir has also has had games where hes given up the long ball and the ballpark is a very good hitters park in Philadelphia. Back Cole Hamels and the Phillies good bullpen and going against Kazmir is the way to go in Game 5. Take Philadelphia 150. Your Best Bet for Monday Major League Baseball is playing the Philadelphia Phillies at 150 in Game 5 of the World Series. Selection: Philadelphia -150

AP – Placido Polanco homered leading off the 11th inning, and the Philadelphia Phillies survived another poor offensive showing with a 2-0 victory that ended the St. Louis Cardinals’ eight-game winning streak and averted a four-game sweep on Thursday.

AP – Chris Carpenter worked eight dominant innings and the St. Louis Cardinals got home runs from Randy Winn and Matt Holliday, winning their seventh in a row with a 7-1 victory over the slumping Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday night.

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AP – Roy Halladay hit Marlon Byrd twice and gave up two-run homers to Geovany Soto and Alfonso Soriano after each errant throw, sending the Chicago Cubs to an 11-6 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday night.

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AP – Reds rookie Travis Wood took a perfect game into the ninth inning before giving up Carlos Ruiz’s leadoff double, and the Philadelphia Phillies stunned Cincinnati again by winning 1-0 Saturday night on Jimmy Rollins’ RBI single in the 11th.

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Two of the favorite teams to win the National league according to Sportsbook odds are the Phillies and Mets who will face each other in an interesting series this upcoming week in New York City.
Phillies LHP Heal Cormier gave up his first earned run of the season. After allowing a pair of inherited runners to score on a Prince Fielder’s double; Cormier gave up an RBI double to Corey Koskie that scored Fielder. Cormier has a 0.69 ERA in 13 innings after giving up the run.
OF David Dellucci, starting in left field for Pat Burrell, hit his first home run as a Phillie in the first inning Wednesday night; an opposite-field shot. After opening the season 2-for-18 Dellucci has six hits in his last 15 at-bats.
SS Jimmy Rollins snapped a 2-for-27 slump with a ninth-inning single Wednesday night.
1B Ryan Howard is making teams pay for bringing in mediocre southpaw relievers against him. His RBI single off LHP Brian Shouse on Wednesday night improved his average against left-handers to .311 (14-for-45).
INF Alex Gonzalez continues to falter as a bench player. He went 0-for-2 Wednesday to lower his average to .097 (3-for-31), and there is reason to wonder whether the Phillies will send OF Chris Roberson back to the minors when Aaron Rowand is healthy enough to return from the disabled list.
Mets LF Cliff Floyd was back in the starting lineup Wednesday after getting two hits the previous night. “I won’t say that I’m there,” said Floyd, who sat out the Saturday and Sunday games at Milwaukee because he was slumping, “but I feel a little better. If I keep swinging like that, I’ll be all right.”
RHP Brian Bannister will make a rehab start Thursday for Triple-A Norfolk against Toledo. Bannister threw 83 pitches in a simulated game last Saturday. Barring complications, Bannister could conceivably pitch next Wednesday against Philadelphia.
RHP Jeremi Gonzalez will make his second start since being brought up from Triple-A Norfolk on Friday against the Yankees. Gonzalez is 1-2 with a 4.30 ERA lifetime in seven appearances against the Yankees while pitching for Tampa Bay and Boston.
Mets chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon was is in St. Louis for the series to study the Cardinals’ new park and talk with club officials about any operating problems in the new Busch Stadium. The fact-finding trip is to prepare him for when construction of the Mets’ new park begins this summer.

The Brewers have come from behind in 14 of their 16 victories at home this season. The only home victories in which they did not trail were April 22 versus Cincinnati and May 4 versus San Francisco.
CF Brady Clark has raised his average from .204 to .250 by hitting .407 (11-for-27) over his last 10 games. In his past two games, Clark is 4-for-4 with two walks and a sacrifice bunt.
LHP Jorge De La Rosa has pitched six scoreless innings in his last four relief appearances. His best stretch since joining the Brewers last year. Manager Ned Yost said De La Rosa looked sharper after pitching for Mexico in the World Baseball Classic.
2nd B Rickie Weeks has committed errors in four of his last six games to run his major league high total to 14 for the season.
Closer Derrick Turnbow has appeared in six consecutive games with a scheduled off day for the club after the first three. He pitched in all three games of a weekend series against the New York Mets and all three games of a sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies who they will face again the next week. They will appear favorites according to some Sportsbook odds.
Phillies’ LHP Arthur Rhodes has been having problems with the first batter; he faces when he enters in relief. In his 16 appearances this season the first hitter he has faced has walked four times and gotten a hit four times — and that .500 leadoff on-base percentage means Rhodes spends many of his outings pitching out of trouble.
LHP Cole Hamels gave up a two-run homer Thursday to Milwaukee C Chad Moeller. In 195 1/3 innings in the minors, Hamels had surrendered just two homers.
SS Jimmy Rollins, who is hitting .196 in May and .158 against left-handers, was given Thursday off with the Phillies going against LHP Dana Eveland.
OF Shane Victorino, who was hitting .514 in May (18-for-35) entering Thursday, batted leadoff for the first time this season and went 0-for-5, ending a six-game hitting streak that coincided with CF Aaron Rowand going on the disabled list.

Fenway Park

Ortiz, Mike Lowell and Jason Varitek homered to lead the Boston Red Sox to a 5-3 victory over the suddenly struggling Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night. Matt Clement pitched 6 2/3 solid innings, helping the AL East-leading Red Sox to their ninth win in 12 games. The Phillies have lost fourth straight after a 13-1 stretch.

Clement (4-3) allowed three runs and five hits. He left after allowing consecutive two-out singles in the seventh. Keith Foulke entered and allowed Utley’s two-run double into the right-field corner before striking out Bobby Abreu to preserve a two-run lead.

The Boston Red Sox are showing why they have so much history in baseball. Boston is currently 24-15 and holds one of the best records in the league just behind the White Sox and the Tigers in the American League.

Lineup

1. Trot Nixon, RF. 2.Mark Loretta, 2nd B. 3. David Ortiz, 1st B. 4. Manny Ramirez, LF. 5. Jason Varitek, C. 6.Mike Lowell, 3rd B. 7. Wily Mo Pena, CF. 8.Alex Gonzalez, SS. 9.Matt Clement, P.

Aubrey Huff 10th-inning home run gave the Tampa Bay Devil Rays a 5-4 victory Friday night over the Florida Marlins and also gave him the added satisfaction of helping his former minor league manager get his first big league win.

Bill Evers, in his first season as a major league coach, is filling in during the first two games of the interleague series while manager Joe Maddon is attending his girlfriend’s graduation from law school in California.

“I haven’t hit that many balls hard. It’s good to get something going and contribute,” said Huff, who also had a RBI double and went 2-for-4 after beginning the night batting .123 with no homers.

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays ended a seven-game losing streak in an intrastate rivalry that’s never really taken off with fans in the Sunshine State. Attendance at Tropicana Field was announced as 10,017 — lowest ever for a home game against the Marlins.

The D’Rays really needed to end their losing streak because they don’t exactly have one of the best records in the league and if they want to have something better than the last place they need to play more focus and not commit as many mistakes ad they have in the past.

Interesting series to watch, surely most sportsbooks will have the Red Sox as big favorites; but if Tampa Bay can win at least one game it’ll be a good thing for people who like to bet on the underdog, you just have to find out when it will happen.

Lineup

1. Julio Lugo, SS. 2. Carl Crawford, LF. 3. Jonny Gomes, DH. 4. Aubrey Huff, 3rd B. 5. Ty Wigginton, 2nd B. 6. Travis Lee, 1B. 7. Toby Hall, C. 8. Damon Hollins, RF. 9. Joey Gathright, CF.

Phillies‘ Chris Coste has spent 11 years playing minor league ball, waiting for the call he received Sunday morning. Coste finally had his first day in the majors when he was called up from Triple-A to replace infielder Alex Gonzalez, who abruptly retired before Sunday’s game.

The phone call came out of nowhere for Coste, who was thinking at the other end of the spectrum when he heard a voice message left by Scranton-Wilkes-Barre manager John Russell. “That I was coming to the big leagues was a zero-percent thought,” said Coste, who hit .177 with two home runs and 14 RBIs at Scranton and only recently began to snap out of a long slump. “His voice was serious on the message, and he said, ‘We need to talk,’ so I was thinking, ‘What did I do? Fail a drug test?

“I was lying in bed and I wasn’t sure if it was a dream, because I’ve had dreams that I’m in the big leagues, and then I wake up mad.” Coste got a warm welcome from several players and coaches in the dugout. “I’m pumped to see him here,” pitcher Cory Lidle said. “When I came in after warming up I gave him a hug and congratulated him.”I saw him in the dugout. He was having a blast.”
The Nationals‘ pitching staff has been so devastated by injuries, it’s gotten to the point where the club can barely get through a nine-inning game anymore and their chances to make the playoffs this year are getting worst day by day according to some Sportsbook odds.

Zach Day became the latest pitcher to go down when he had to depart Monday night’s game with right shoulder tendonitis. He immediately was placed on the disabled list, where he joins five other injured Washington hurlers: John Patterson, Brian Lawrence, Luis Ayala, Pedro Astacio and Ryan Drese.

Desperate for help, the Nationals will promote right-handed relievers Saul Rivera and Santiago Ramirez from Triple-A New Orleans on Tuesday. They’ll still need to find a No. 5 starter to fill Day’s spot before it comes up again, with minor-leaguer Shawn Hill the likely candidate.

All the injuries have done a number on a ball club that following Monday’s loss to Houston is 16-29. “Check the record, and that will show you the toll,” general manager Jim Bowden said.

AP – Roy Halladay pitched his major league-best seventh complete game this season, Greg Dobbs hit a two-run homer and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Atlanta Braves 3-1 on Monday night.

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