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A big series between the top two teams in the A.L. East starts on Friday night in Tampa Bay as the Rays host the Yankees. New York is sending the struggling Phil Hughes to the mound. He's 2-1 with a 5.19 ERA in his last three starts. The righty is sporting a 6.26 ERA over his last seven starts and he is struggling due to the increased innings he’s pitched. Hughes has given up at least six hits in five straight starts and in eight of his last nine starts overall. He hasn't started against the Rays since 2007 when he went 1-1 in two outings. B.J. Upton (2-6), Carl Crawford (2-5), Carlos Pena (2-3), Jason Bartlett (1-1), and Reid Brignac (1-1) all hit Hughes well. Tampa has won six straight games and seven of their last eight games overall. They are 25-13 against the A.L. East whom they score an average of 5.8 runs per game against. After a slow start, Wade Davis has bounced back big time for Tampa Bay. The righty is 3-0 with a 2.11 ERA giving up just five runs over his last 21.3 innings of work. Davis is 1-1 against the Yankees defeating them the last time they met. He held New York to two runs and seven hits in 5.7 innings of work. Mark Teixeira (1-7), Nick Swisher (0-4), and Juan Miranda (0-2) have poor numbers against Davis. The Yankees are hitting just .256 on the road, and since we expect Tampa Bay to hit Hughes well, we’ll recommend a play on the Rays in this game tonight.

Roy Oswalt will make his first start for the Phillies on Friday night as they begin a series in Washington D.C. against the Nationals. These two teams have played nothing but slugfests this season with all six games going Over the total. Oswalt is 6-12 with a 3.42 ERA in 20 starts this season. He's struggled with Washington over his last three starts. Already this season, he took a loss to Washington giving up four runs and four hits in 2.3 innings of work. Last year, he gave up seven runs and nine hits in 11 innings pitched against the Nationals. Adam Dunn (19-71), Josh Willingham (5-17), Cristian Guzman (6-16), Adam Kennedy (4-11), Ryan Zimmerman (3-10), Pudge Rodriguez (2-6), and Willie Harris (1-2) all have good numbers against Oswalt. The Phillies bullpen is 6-8 with a 4.43 ERA and six blown saves on the road this season. Washington’s Craig Stammen has faced the Phillies twice this season. He's sporting a 15.64 ERA over 6.3 innings of work against Philadelphia. That equates to 11 runs over those two outings. Placido Polanco (4-5), Ryan Howard (2-4), Jimmy Rollins (1-3), Jayson Werth (3-3), Ross Gload (1-1), and Greg Dobbs (1-1) all hit Stammen the hardest. Stammen is 2-4 with a 5.50 ERA in 17 overall starts this season. He has given up eight runs and 17 hits over his last 16.3 innings pitched. Both offenses are in good current form as the Phillies have gone Over the total in four of their last six games while Washington has scored three runs or more in eight of their last nine games. This game has all the makings of a slugfest which means we expect a high-scoring game tonight between the Phillies and Nationals.

Play OVER the total.

Houston's J.A. Happ makes his first start for the Astros on Friday night when they take on the Brewers. The Astros have won two straight games and three of their last four games. Happ is 1-0 with a 1.76 ERA in three starts this season. His last time out, he gave up three runs and four hits in five innings pitched against Colorado. He defeated the Brewers last season after striking out seven batters in 5.7 innings of work. Ryan Braun (0-3), Carlos Gomez (0-2), Alcides Escobar (0-2), and George Kottaras (0-1) are all looking for their first hits off of the lefty. Milwaukee is 14-18 against left-handed starters while hitting .250 against them. The Brewers have lost their last two games while giving up 22 runs in the process. Milwaukee’s Manny Parra is 0-2 with an 8.82 ERA in his last three starts giving up 18 runs and 24 hits in 16.3 innings pitched. On the road, the lefty is 1-2 with a 6.84 ERA. Parra gave up four runs and seven hits in five innings of work to the Astros already this season. He's 4-3 with a 5.18 ERA and a WHIP of 1.94 in eight career starts against Houston. Carlos Lee (9-17), Lance Berkman (5-14), Michael Bourn (5-14), Pedro Feliz (5-10), Jason Michaels (2-3), and Humberto Quintero (1-2) all have good numbers against Parra. Milwaukee's bullpen is 5-9 with a 4.78 ERA and seven blown saves on the road this season. Houston holds the pitching and hitting edges in this game so we expect them to get a solid home win tonight.

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