Bring out the brooms tonight as the Dodgers look to capitalize on home field advantage yet again and sweep the Friars in game three tonight.

Tonight’s game will be played at Dodger Stadium at 10:10 ET. With the Dodgers being a great home team and the Padres being a less than mediocre road team, tonight’s game should be an easy win for the Blue Crew. The only road block in this win is Pads' star pitcher Jake Peavy who has a season ERA of 2.77. However, Peavy has continued to struggle on the road with an on the road ERA of 4.20 and a WHIP of almost 1.50. He is only 4-6 on the road and is 0-2 in his last three outings, one of those loses coming from the dismal San Francisco Giants.

With home field advantage, veteran righthander Greg Maddux and the Dodgers know how to perform. When Maddux gets the rock tonight for Los Angeles with a home ERA of 3.17 and a WHIP of 1.024, it almost doesn’t matter who San Diego put on the hill. The Dodgers have outscored the Padres the last two nights by an astonishing 22-5. The Padres are a struggling team and their struggle turns into crippled when they hit the road. They are 27-52 in road games this season, having lost 15 of their last 20 games on the road. They are 1-6 in their last seven games against the dodgers and have already lost the first two games of this three-game series.

On the flip side of the coin the Dodgers are 18-5 in their last 23 games, 10-2 in their last 12 games at home, 7-1 in their last eight games when playing the Friars and 6-1 in their last seven games when playing at home against San Diego.

Watch tonight as the Dodgers continue to show why they are the leaders in the AL West and beat up on the San Diego Padres. I recommend a 2-unit play on the Dodgers at -122.

New York's Oliver Perez has covered the run line in four of his last five starts. Watch tonight as he and the Mets continue to cover the run line at -1½.

Carlos Zambrano is taking the hill this evening for the Cubs. The right hander is a very streaky pitcher as we have seen in his last few games. We all saw his epic no-hitter against the weak Astros, followed directly by 1.2 innings against the Cardinals in which he gave up six hits and eight earned runs with three walks.  Look for the hot bats of David Wright, Carlos Delgado, Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes, who have just eaten apart right handed pitchers this season, to light up the shaky righty tonight and put big numbers on the board for the Mets.

With Oliver Perez (10-7, 4.10) getting the rock tonight for the Mets and having won four of his last five games, look for the southpaw to keep the Cubs score down and give the Cub’s power offense a chance to light up the scoreboard.  The bookies want action on the Mets side of the run line (-1½), so let’s give it to them at a price of +150 or better.

Free Pick: Mets -1½ (+150)

The smart money tonight is on Cliff Lee and the Cleveland Indians. The Indians are on fire right now, having won seven in a row and only look to get hotter with their ace on the mound.

The AL Cy Young contender will be taking the hill tonight looking to take Game 2 of this four-game series. With the Indians upset win last night, look for Lee to carry that momentum into tonight’s game.  Lee has completely dominated the AL this season compiling 22 wins with only two loses.  Coming off a nine-game winning streak, the southpaw leads the league with a 2.41 ERA, and has a staggering WHIP of 1.09. His strikeout-to-walk ratio is almost unbelievable at 162-31. The numbers that Lee has put up are even more impressive considering that the Indians are barely above .500 this year as a team.

Veteran knuckler Tim Wakefield will be getting the start for the Red Sox tonight, having lost two of his last three outings. The 42-year-old is coming into tonight’s game sporting a mediocre ERA of 4.18, going only 9-11 for the season.

Watch tonight as Lee completely shuts down the Red Sox and slams the lid on his Cy Young contention.  Take the Indians for a two-unit play.

With the scent of first place in the air, the Boston Red Sox look to take the Tampa Bay Rays again tonight in game two of a pivotal three game series in Tampa.

The Red Sox will be giving the ball to 28-year-old Josh Beckett (12-9, 4.10 ERA) this evening. In Beckett’s last outing since Aug. 17, prior to landing on the disabled list with right elbow inflammation, he allowed four hits while striking out seven in five scoreless innings of an 8-1 victory at Texas on Friday. The right-hander is 2-1 with a 2.57 ERA versus Tampa Bay this season, with both wins coming at Fenway. He is 5-3 with a 3.59 ERA lifetime against the Rays. Beckett has always shut down Tampa’s All-Star catcher Dioner Navarro, who has a career batting average of .176 against Beckett.

Tampa Bay counters this evening with Andy Sonnanstine (13-7, 4.66), who failed to hold an early two-run lead and allowed four runs with five hits in six innings of a 6-4 loss to Roy Halladay and Toronto on Friday. The right-hander is meager 1-1 with an 8.85 ERA in four starts versus Boston this season.

The Red Sox will be coming on the field tonight with the best offense in their division. They have averaged over 10 hits per game, and have capitalized on those hits to bring almost 6 runs a game.

Prior to last night the Rays had not lost one to the Red Sox at their home stadium this season. Having snapped the Tropicana curse, look for the Red Sox to carry this momentum into tonight’s game and take game two.

Free Pick: Red Sox -134 (2-unit play)

From the outside, it may look as if the New York Mets are in danger of drowning again, just as they did last season, when they threw away a seven-game lead with 17 games to play and missed the postseason.  But watch tonight as the Mets get back on their winning track and continue their push towards clenching the NL East.

With Pedro Martinez taking the mound this evening for the Mets with an ERA of 5.40 and having only won five of his last 10 starts, and lefty John Lannan, who is 8-13 on the season with an ERA of 4.09, getting the rock for the Nationals, this game is going to be anything but a pitchers duel.
 
The Mets' power offense is what is going to win this game.  This season against southpaws, the Mets power three (David Wright, Carlos Delgado, and Carlos Beltran) have batted an astounding .309 with an overall record of 32-17. The numbers that these guys have put up this season since Delgado’s return from elbow surgery have been staggering. The Mets are the only team in baseball with three players with 100 or more RBIs. Wright hit for a phenomenal .483 on the homestand against the Braves and has not made an error in his last 34 games and just one in his last 65. Beltran’s 11-game hitting streak ended Sunday, but he has scored 21 runs and knocked in 20 in his last 18 games.

But, the biggest weapon in the Mets arsenal is Carlos Delgado who has introduced himself into the MVP conversation after a dreadful start to his season. On June 27, Delgado had a two-homer, nine-RBI night in Yankee Stadium, and has been prolific ever since, averaging nearly an RBI a game (69 RBIs in 70 games) while hitting 24 home runs and batting .308. Oh yeah, don’t forget about leadoff man Jose Reyes who stole his 50th base this weekend meanwhile batting .299 and hitting 14 dingers on the season.
 
Watch tonight as the Mets offense carries them into a decisive defeat of the Washington Nationals. Take the Mets on a two-unit play at -162.

Free Pick: Mets -162