#960 ASA PLAY ON San Francisco Giants -1.5 on the Run Line (+105) over Cincinnati, Friday at 10:15 PM ET - The Giants are back home after losing 3 of 4 @ Atlanta. However, all 3 losses in that series were by 1 run and San Francisco actually outhit the Braves and had more men on base despite coming up short in 3 of 4 games. Alex Cobb is on the hill for the Giants and he is pitching well above what his ERA might indicate. His ERA is 5.62 on the season yet his xERA is 2.25 and his xFIP is 2.64 which is the lowest of any starting pitcher on the slate for Friday. He’s been extremely unlucky with a BABIP of .381 and his overall numbers at home are much better than his road numbers. Cincinnati enters this game having lost 7 straight including 6 in a row in their recent home stand. They have allowed an average of over 7 RPG during that 7 games stretch and they’ve given up at least 5 runs in each of those games. Ashcraft gets the call for Cincinnati. The rookie has solid overall numbers but he’s on the decline right now. Over his last 2 starts he’s allowed 10 ER’s in just 9.2 innings on 17 hits. The Giants saw him in late May so they should have a good feel at the plate tonight. When Ashcraft exits, the Reds have the worst bullpen ERA in the Majors and the 2nd worst WHIP. The Giants also have an edge at the plate where they rank 4th in MLB in RPG and put up over 5 RPG at home. The Reds are a night and day difference home and away at the plate. At home they average 6 RPG and on the road just 3 RPG to go along with their 11-23 road record. Their road RPG differential is -2 on the season. On the season San Fran has a run differential of +42 while Cincinnati’s is -79. There is a reason this line opened -180 and jumped to above -200 despite Ashcraft having better ERA number than Cobb, who is drastically undervalued. Lay the -1.5 at home with the Giants.

ASA top play on 10* OVER 9 Washington Nationals @ Texas Rangers, 8 PM ET - Washington will start reliever Paolo Espino and then go with a bullpen mentality throughout this game. Espino has started two games and pitched 8.2 innings while allowing 7 total hits and 3 earned runs. The Nats bullpen is ranked 6th worst in the league with an 4.49ERA, 1.39 WHIP and they’ve give up the 3rd most homeruns on the season at 39 which is bad news facing Texas. The Rangers offensive numbers aren’t great as they rank 17th in runs/9 innings at 4.43 and have a team average of .236 but they are 7th in home runs at 1.23 p/game. Texas is sending right-handed Dane Dunning to the hill who is 1-5 on the season with a 4.38ERA. Dunning has allowed 5 earned runs in 3 of his last five starts, 4 or more four times. We should see the Nationals scoring gradually go up as they are 8th in team average at .252 but average just 4.17 runs/9 innings which is 22nd. In each teams last ten games they have combined with their opponents to average over 9.5 runs per game. We like Over 9 in this one.

#960 ASA TOP PLAY ON 10* San Francisco Giants -1.5 on the Run Line (-115) over Cincinnati Reds, Friday at 7:15 PM ET - We were on the Giants at home last night (-1.5 runs) and they lost to the Reds 4-2. Tonight we get them in a great spot, off a home loss, facing a poor pitcher, and SF has their top pitcher on the mound. Despite that, we’re getting a very similar price at -1.5 Runs (-115) when last night was right around even money at -1.5. Logan Webb has been outstanding for the Giants with an ERA of 3.26 and an xFIP of 3.15. At home he’s been even better with a 4-1 record and a 2.74 ERA. He’s facing a Cincinnati offense that struggles big time on the road with a batting average of just .211 while scoring only 3 RPG (the Reds average 6 RPG at home). On top of that, the Cincinnati lineup is very unfamiliar with Webb with only 11 total plate appearances (0 hits) giving Webb a big advantage especially early in the game. Despite last night’s win, the Reds have still lost 7 of their last 8 games and have a road record of 12-23. Cincy sends left hander Minor to the mound and he’s been poor this season. He has an ERA of 6.97 and opponents are hitting .271 vs him. The Reds are 1-3 in his 4 starts this season and he’s allowed 7 HR’s already in just 4 appearances for an average of 3 HR’s per 9 innings pitched which is terrible. He’s facing a SF offense that is 4th in MLB in RPG, 10th in HR’s per 9 innings, and 11th in OPS so this is not a good match up for Minor. When Minor is done for the evening, the Reds back him up with a bullpen that has the worst ERA and the 2nd worst WHIP in the Majors. The Reds road RPG differential is -1.9 on the season so laying 1.5 is not a stretch here. San Fran sits 6 games above .500 and has a run differential of +40 on the season while Cincinnati is 22 games below .500 and has a differential of -77. Lay the -1.5 at home with the Giants.

ASA top play on 10* UNDER 9.5 Oakland A’s @ Kansas City Royals, 4:10 PM ET - Two of the worst run producing teams in the Big Leagues face off Saturday and we don’t see either team scoring many runs here. The A’s produce just 3.15 runs/9 innings which is 2nd to last in MLB. They are the worst hitting team at .208, 30th in OPS and 29th in home runs. Kansas City isn’t much better averaging 3.92 runs/9 innings with the 21st worst team average at .237, 25th OPS ranking and rank 28th in home runs. In their last thirteen games the A’s and their opponents have scored more than 9.5 runs just three times. In the Royals last ten games they have combined for over 9 runs with their opponent just once. Oakland really struggles to hit right-handed starters with a .201 team average and 2.73 runs per game. The Royals starter Keller has pitched better than his 1-8 record would indicate and he’s coming off his best game of the season which was against this same A’s team. Keller pitched 7 strong innings versus the A’s allowing just 1 hit and 0 earned runs in the Royals 2-0 win. Jared Koenig will take the mound for the A’s with a 1-2 record on the season and a 6.59 ERA. Koenig has inflated numbers with two of his starts coming against the Red Sox and Braves who are 5th and 8th in runs scored per game. His best outing of the season came against this Royals team when he pitched 5.2 innings allowing 0 earned runs and just 2 hits. The numbers don’t add up and we can’t see either team scoring many runs in this setting.