A trip to the minors hasn't helped Charlie Morton so far this season. The Pirates righty gave up eight runs and nine hits in 3.3 innings pitched to the Milwaukee Brewers his last time out. The loss in that game moved Morton to 1-10 with a 10.03 ERA on the season. He's 1-3 with a 5.68 ERA in four home starts; Morton took a loss against the Nationals last year in Pittsburgh. Despite losing three of their last four games, the Nationals have broken out the lumber scoring 24 runs in those games combined. Washington is 4-1 against the Pirates this season. Morton is backed by a Pittsburgh bullpen that has an ERA right around 3.80 at home. Washington’s Jason Marquis has suddenly discovered what made him a successful pitcher in the past. Marquis has given up just five runs over his last three starts picking up his first win in his last time out against Florida. Andy LaRoche (2-16), Chris Snyder (2-8), John Bowker (1-6), Delwyn Young (0-5), and Garrett Jones (0-3) have poor numbers against the Nationals starter. Washington's bullpen has an ERA right around 4.00 on the road. They'll face a Pirates team that is just 12-25 in daytime games while hitting just .237 as a team in those games. Washington holds the pitching and hitting edges here so we’ll back the road team this afternoon.

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The Tigers have won three straight games and they can sweep the Royals with a win on Sunday afternoon. They'll face a pitcher that they absolutely dominate. Kyle Davies is 2-7 with a 6.09 ERA in 10 career starts against the Tigers. Davies has split two outings against Detroit this season, but he has given up 10 runs and 19 hits overall. Davies is 0-2 with a 5.31 ERA in his last three starts as he has given up 29 hits over that span. The list is long of hitters who smack Davies around and it includes Miguel Cabrera (9-31), Gerald Laird (5-17), Jhonny Peralta (8-14), Ryan Raburn (5-11), Austin Jackson (2-4), Brennan Boesch (2-3), Will Rhymes (2-3), and Alex Avila (1-2). Detroit has scored 25 runs during their current three game winning streak. The Royals bullpen is now 10-12 at home with an ERA near 4.60. On the other end of the spectrum is Detroit’s Armando Galarraga who is 2-0 with a 1.88 ERA in six starts against the Royals. He gave up one run and five hits in 6.3 innings pitched against them on August 25th. In his last 19.3 innings of work, the Tigers starter has given up just three runs. Kansas City batters are 19 for 81 against him with Mike Aviles (1-13), Josh Fields (1-9), Mitch Maier (1-9), Yuniesky Betancourt (1-4), and Gregor Blanco (0-3) doing the worst. The Royals are now 30-37 at home and 4-8 in their last 12 games. Since Detroit is in better current form and facing a pitcher they hit well, we expect them to get a solid road win this afternoon.

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Los Angeles looks to win this three-game series versus the Giants on Sunday night. Despite trailing 4-3 in the ninth inning last night, the Giants pulled out the 5-4 win, but they are still batting just .192 as a team during the past eight games. They are facing a pitcher tonight with whom they've had limited to no success against. Kuroda is 2-1 with a 3.60 ERA in six starts against the Giants. In two starts towards the end of last season, Kuroda gave up just three runs and nine hits in 14.3 innings of work. San Francisco hitters are 11 for 72 against Kuroda with Cody Ross (4-15) and Freddy Sanchez (2-12) providing the most hits of the group. Los Angeles' bullpen has an 3.86 ERA and 1.283 WHIP at home and they haven’t been as toxic with Broxton no longer in the closer’s role. Jonathan Sanchez is looking for his first win against Los Angeles. He's 0-5 with a 6.25 ERA in nine career starts against the Dodgers. He has already taken a loss against them this season after giving up five runs and six hits in five innings of work. Sanchez has given up 14 runs over his last 13.6 innings pitched against this Dodgers lineup. Matt Kemp (9-20), Jamey Carroll (2-7), and Ryan Theriot (1-2) have good numbers against Sanchez. The Dodgers are 41-30 at home and 31-19 against the N.L. West. They'll face a Giants’ bullpen that has an 4.02 ERA and 1.534 WHIP on the road this season. We’ll back the home team here, especially since Sanchez has had no success against them in his career.

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These two teams appear to be heading in opposite directions for the 2010 season. Neither team should resemble what they looked liked a season ago as Tulsa should be much improved after going 5-7 in 2009 while East Carolina should regress off their 9-5 campaign last year. While the pointspread may look a tad high based on what these teams have accomplished in the past, the reality is that the oddsmakers set this game just right with the projection of each team this season rather than setting a number based on the team’s past. Tulsa is in their fourth year under head coach Todd Graham. He had his first losing season at Tulsa last year after winning just five games; Graham led the Hurricane to a 21-7 record in his first two seasons. But there was a reason for losing last year. Tulsa scheduled aggressively as they played Oklahoma and Boise St out of conference; two games they obviously lost. Under Graham, Tulsa comes out of the gate firing on all cylinders. Over the last three years, Tulsa has opened with a road game and they are a perfect 3-0 SU/ATS in those games winning by 18, 23, and 24 points. With 9 starters back on offense including quarterback GJ Kinne, we expect more of the same from the Hurricane this afternoon. East Carolina figures to regress sharply in 2010. The Pirates have won the last two Conference-USA titles, but they’ll be hard-pressed to have a winning season this year. Skip Holtz has moved on to be the head coach at South Florida, and his loss is huge for ECU. Also gone are 14 starters, and since they are revamping their offensive and defensive schemes under new head coach Ruffin McNeill, the Pirates will struggle mightily early in the season. Tulsa is in much better shape for this game, and with Graham’s history of fast starts, we expect them to get a solid road win this afternoon.

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J.A. Happ continues to be a great acquisition for the Astros. The lefty is 4-2 with Houston and he’s coming off a complete game two hitter at home against the Cardinals. Happ has given up just 15 runs in those seven starts as an Astro. He has faced Arizona just once and he gave up two runs and three hits in six innings pitched against the Diamondbacks last season. Only Kelly Johnson (1-7), Stephen Drew (1-3), and Justin Upton (2-3) have hits against Happ. Upton is questionable for the game and he would be a big loss to the Arizona offense. Arizona is 15-23 against southpaws this season hitting just .255 against them. They are just 11-26 in daytime games as well. We have faded Rodrigo Lopez time and time again. He's 0-1 with an 8.78 ERA over his last three starts. The righty has given up 13 runs and 25 hits over his last 13.3 innings of work. He faced Houston back in May and gave up two runs and three hits in a seven inning no-decision. Hunter Pence (3-6), Tommy Manzella (1-3), and Geoff Blum (1-2) hit Lopez well in limited at-bats. Houston has won four of their last five games and 10 of their last 13 games overall. They are hitting over .275 as a team over their last eight games. Houston will face an Arizona bullpen that blew last night's contest for the Diamondbacks. We’ll recommend a play on the Astros this afternoon since they are in good current form and facing a pitcher we like to play-against.