Ala Hann Sport picks

Many baseball fans are betting that MLB umpires were glad to hear that this is Lou Piniella’s last season managing in the majors. It can sometimes look like you are involved with NFL betting the way that Lou would physically accost umpires all over the field.

True to his nature, Sweet Lou is not going out as a lame duck. He is still trying to find the pieces that will help the Cubs become a winning team. The Cubs are way out of the NL Central pennant race and the NL wild card as well. Chicago is 17 and a half games out of first in the division and 17 games out of the wild card. Judging by the actions Lou has taken in recent games, he is looking to the future for the Cubs and has pretty much written off this season.

If you do any college football betting online then you know how seriously Californians take their sports betting. Every game in every sport is competitive, and the betting lines are followed religiously. That may be why the San Diego Padres are the talk of Southern California even as the San Diego Chargers prepare for football betting action.

The Padres are four games in front of the San Francisco Giants for the NL West pennant, and the wheels are starting to come off a bit in San Francisco. The Padres just keep rolling along as they have won seven of their last 10 including their last two in a row. San Diego also won the first game of this series with the Cubs, and the Padres are definitely looking to try and sweep this series to put more room between them and the Giants.

The Cubs are using the rest of this season to take a look at the players that could make a difference next season. Piniella has seen enough of pitcher Thomas Diamond in the starting rotation, and has pulled Diamond as a starter completely. In Diamond’s place, Lou will start Casey Coleman. This will be Coleman’s first-ever start in the majors, but he does have four game appearances from the bullpen. In his four appearances Coleman has not logged a win or a loss, but he does have an 8.64 ERA.

The Padres keep rolling along with Clayton Richard on the mound for this game. Richard has a 10-5 record and a 3.80 ERA. In his last eight decisions Richard is 6-2, but he has allowed his ERA to balloon from 2.70 to 3.80. The Padres are hoping that Richard can regain his control and be ready to contribute to the Padres run towards the NL West pennant.

The Cubs are on automatic pilot for the rest of the season, and Cubs fans can expect to see a lot of players they have never heard of on the field for the Cubs. Lou does not want to leave the team in complete disarray when he leaves, and he would like to be able to present the next Cubs manager with some components to a winning team. Those components, however, won’t be contributing to any winning this season.

Pick: San Diego Padres 7-1