At 8:05pm our NL Central Game of the Month is on the Chicago Cubs over the Milwaukee Brewers. Cubs righthanded veteran and scheduled starter for tonight's game, Ryan Dempster should be happy to be back home pitching in Wrigley Field against National League opponents once again. Four of his last five starts have been on the road and Dempster has been without a win since his home start way back on May 30 against the Dodgers (which means that Dempster went winless for the entire month of June). In fact, Dempster has not won on the road since April 12, and he's 1-4 with a 4.06 ERA away from Wrigley this season. Although his ERA is about the same at home, Dempster has a 3-1 record in six starts and generally feels more comfortable pitching there. If Chicago is going to go anywhere this season, it has to have a good series against the division-leading Brewers, who have been having their own troubles at the plate recently. Looking at their lineup, once you get past the #3 and #4 hitters, Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder, the rest is pretty much a cake-walk, as you're looking at the likes of Corey Hart (.249 BA), Joe Crede (.233 BA), JJ Hardy (.224 BA), and Jason Kendall (.226 BA). There's just not a whole lot to be concerned about in the bottom-half of Milwaukee's lineup these days. Take the Cubs. As always, good luck...Al McMordie.

At 12:35pm our complimentary selection is on the Cincinnati Reds over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Righthanded veteran Aaron Harang is usually one of the Reds most reliable starters and that has been true for most of this season as well. Although, in Harang's last start on June 26, he had his second-worst start of the year when he went into Cleveland and gave up seven runs (five earned) on 10 hits in just 4 2/3 innings. A start at home against the Diamondbacks may be just what the doctor ordered for Harang and the Reds. Tonight's Arizona starter, veteran Doug Davis epitomizes exactly what's wrong with this team. Davis has actually been one of the better starters in the NL this season, but you'd never know it from his record. Despite a 3.28 ERA and quality starts in 10 of his 16 outings this season, Davis has a pathetic 3-8 record. Arizona combines that deadly combination of a very weak hitting lineup with extremely poor defense which usually results in a loss (hence its 31-46 record, the third-worst in the Majors). The Diamondbacks are the worst defensive team in baseball, leading all others with 71 team errors through last weekend. Cincinnati's on a bit of a roll having moved into third place in its division, ahead of the Cubs, only four games back and flirting once again with the .500 mark. Take the Reds. As always, good luck...Al McMordie.

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At 12:35pm our selection is on the New York Mets and Pittsburgh Pirates 'under' the total. There was a "Reyes sighting" in the Mets infield at the shortstop position. Unfortunately, the bad news for the Mets is that it was Argenis Reyes, not all-star Jose Reyes. Who is Argenis Reyes, you ask? Good question. After Monday's game the 26-year-old Dominican switch-hitter is batting .083, so it's safe to say that he's a far cry from the other Reyes, who is still out nursing a hamstring injury and will not be back to the team until after the all-star break. Pittsburgh must be breathing a sigh of relief as its top starter this season, Paul Maholm, just had a quality start at home after throwing back-to-back clunkers on the road. When Maholm pitches at home, runs seem to be hard to come by. In Maholm's last three starts at PNC Park, none of the games have gone more than eight runs, and a total of only 15 runs have been scored. The Mets will send journeyman Tim Redding to the mound and although the veteran righthander is 1-3 with a 6.35 ERA this season, Redding is 2-2 with a 3.79 ERA in 11 career starts against the Pirates. Take the 'under.' As always, good luck...Al McMordie.