Hump Day Hubris

Another day, another struggle. Both hurt and helped by bullpen inadequacy, we went a very mediocre 7-7 in Tuesday's action. This included our first ever split of a Two-For Tuesday pick. When the numbers were tallied, we watched as another $7 was lopped off the BAT. Updated figures look like this: 185-176 (51%) and a +$103 BAT.

Fortunately, we were not able to get a pick up in time for the Mets/Cardinals game today. We most certainly would have picked against the Pets who currently hold a 5-0 lead. Perhaps that is the sign that things are about to turn for the Locks. We'll accelerate into that turn by providing winners to today's two other day games.

San Francisco @ Houston - We stayed away from this game last night even though we were leaning toward the Giants. That is what happens when you get skittish and don't predict all the games. This game does nothing to alleviate the uncertainty we feel about these two teams. Top that off with a pitching matchup that features a guy we don't know (Joe Martinez) vs. a guy we wish we didn't know (Brian Moehler) and we're left scratching our head. In this instance, we're swayed to the home team for two reasons: (1) Joe Martinez has no track record at all. He'll more than likely get touched up by a scrappy Astros lineup; (2) Houston seems to win games when it really needs to, particularly at home. They need this one to win a pivotal series and stay in the NL Central race. I say this all despite the fact that the Giants have a few guys who hit Moehler at a better than .560 clip. Take the Astros (-133) to win 7-5. LOCK IT UP

Atlanta @ San Diego - The Braves finally broke out last night against the Padres pitching staff. That is what you would have reasonably expected for the entire series, not just one game. We'll bet that it continues today against Chad Gaudin. Plus, we're quickly becoming big fans of Tommy Hanson, especially away from Turner Field. We'll take the Bravos minus 1.5 runs (+115) to win handily, 6-3. LOCK IT UP

We'll be back with the night games later this afternoon.