Thu, 09/18/08 - 7:10 PMAndre Gomes | MLB Total
double-dime bet908 FLA / 907 HOU Over 8 Bookmaker
Analysis: Unfortunately the hurricane Ike didn't just cause damages on the social life of thousands of people, but also in the sports life of the city and the Astros were one of the victims. The Astros were the hottest team in the whole MLB until September, 11th. But then the hurricane Ike prevented the Astros from playing until September, 14th and then all the momentum was gone. The team lost 4 consecutive games, with the offense being awful with .000, .037, .152 and .182 of Batting average. For this game, I expect the team to improve a little bit in the offense and I'll explain why later, with the Marlins at the same time being in a great run and fighting for the postseason via wildcard. Yesterday's game ended with a Marlins win by 14-2 and for today, I expect an high scoring affair once again, but much closer.
The Astros will send Alberto Arias, who on his debut for the Astros against the Pirates went scoreless in 5 innings, allowing just 2 hits. Even though he had a great debut, I expect today's game to be much different, as first of all Houston was on-fire at the time of his debut, with an huge momentum, which gave a lot of confidence to Arias, while right now the team is currently on a losing streak and lacking confidence. And to make things even worse, they will face a team with a great momentum right now, with 7 wins in a row and when this team has confidence, they are extremely dangerous in the offense, with them being 19-9 Over after 3 or more consecutive wins over the last 2 seasons.
On the other side, the Marlins will send the southpaw Scott Olsen and this may be the solution for the offense of the Astros. Olsen comes from a quality start against the Nationals, where he allowed just 1 run in 6 innings, but he has been terrible lately, as he allowed 4-6-4-4-3-5 runs before this quality outing. So I wouldn't be surprised if he has another letdown today. That's good news for the offense of the Astros, which has been horrible lately, but we need to remember that they faced Zambrano, Lilly, Volstad and Nolasco, which didn't help them at all and today against Olsen, their task will be much easier.
Houston is 14-2 Over after allowing 12 runs or more over the last 3 seasons and I expect a good response from both offenses today. The line is at 8 runs, so it is accessible, having in account the scenario of this game. Take the over in here. Double Dime Pick!
Thu, 09/18/08 - 7:10 PMAndre Gomes | MLB RunLine
dime bet905 NYM -1.5 (-125) Bookmaker vs 906 WAS
Analysis: This play has as a basic fundament an important psychological analysis, which combined to a technical analysis makes the Mets an excellent option for this game. Yesterday's win over the Nationals was extremely important in psychological terms, as we all remember the collapse of the Mets at the end of last season, where the Mets didn't hold a decent lead over the Phillies and ended up out of the postseason. The team entered a similar situation lately, as the team before yesterday's game had lost 3 of their last 4 games and curiously the Nationals were the responsible team for the two previous losses of the Mets and coincidence or not, it was also the Nats the team which was the main responsible for the Mets' last season collapse. If we add the fact that the Mets were coming from yesterday's game with just 2 and 0 runs scored in their previous two games, their scenario for yesterday's game wasn't great. However the Mets won yesterday by 9-7 and this win was one of the most important of the season for them and the team will now come more confident for today's game. This was the psychological analysis of the team.
The technical analysis also gives an edge for the Mets today. Johan Santana will start and this means the bullpen will have some rest today, which is great news for the team. The Mets are 7-1 in Santana's last 8 starts and he has been awesome in the second half of the season, not allowing more than 3 runs in any of his last 10 starts.
On the other side, the Nationals will send Tim Redding, who comes from three outings where he struggled and had an ERA of 4.58. He has already beaten this season his record for most innings in a season and probably that's the reason why he has been struggling lately.
The Mets have a great chance to win today, with their ace in the field. The Nationals are 3-14 in their last 17 home games vs LHP, which is a good sign for the Mets, which comes to this game with their confidence back. I predict another struggle for Redding today, with the Mets being 5-1 in their last 6 games during a Game 4 of a series. I expect an easy win for the Mets today, so I'll take them on the runline in here
Thu, 09/18/08 - 7:10 PMAndre Gomes | MLB Money Line
dime bet909 STL (+124)Bodog vs 910 CIN
Analysis: Normally, one of my rules in handicapping MLB is to not try to guess when a losing streak of a team is going to end. Today the scenario for the Cardinals is exactly this one: the team is coming from 7 defeats in a row and they are getting too far from the Wildcard, which would give them a place in the postseason. On the other side, the Reds are in a good phase right now, having won 4 games in a row and 7 of their last 9 games. Today that's the spot we find for this game and I think the Cardinals are an excellent dog for tonight and with a great chance to win.
They will send Kyle Lohse, who has been doing a good season with a 13-6 and 3.80 ERA record, even though he had a better first part of the season than the second one. However this game has some special conditions for Lohse, whose last outing was exactly against the Reds and in that game there was an incident, which originated a suspension for Lohse of 5 games. The situation was considered to be unfair, as the Cards manager later told:
"The other guy threw two balls at guys' heads," La Russa said. "I don't know, I'm just shocked."
So, I expect Lohse to have an excellent performance today, having in account this will be a revenge game for him and he comes to this outing with 7 days of rest.
On the other side, the Reds will send Edinson Volquez, who has been doing a tremendous season with 16-5 and 3.22 ERA, however on his last 3 outings, he had very long outings and sooner or later, this will have its consequences. He had 4.82 ERA in those 3 starts and in each game, he threw 117, 119 and 121 pitches, with just 4 days off to rest between games. This very high number of pitches will make him struggle and already on his last outing against the D-Backs, he showed that, as he allowed 6 walks, something not usual for him.
For this game, I expect a good outing for Lohse, which will want to take revenge from what they did to him in the last game, while Volquez is due a letdown, so having in account the price of the Cardinals today, we have an excellent spot that we can't refuse, so take the Cards to win today.