Boston/ Toronto- Under 8 (-105) one unit. I know AL East games are usually slugfests, but nowadays it's a weaker hitting division. I'm seeing a lot of unders in both leagues. The Red Sox are retooled but are missing Drew and Ortiz. Many young guys playing. Toronto is missing Lawrie and maybe Bautista. Mostly this looks good because either starter could pitch a very sharp game. Lester has been his old self, and pitched very well in Yankee Stadium in the opener. Dickey has much to prove to Met fans, and his new club who is paying him nicely. Both bullpens are decent enough to keep this low. Another shutout?
GL FRED Braves sweep time? Looks doubtful Huddy getting old.
Houston/ Oakland under 4.5(-125)First 5. One unit. I saw Anderson pitch the Oakland opener. Nasty stuff and can't see Houston touching him. Luke Farrell is also very tough at home, and the A's are slow starters.
Colorado -1/2(-110). One unit (First 5). SD has the much better bullpen, but with Volquez's control issues, the Rockies should get some early runs. Chacin is looking like the one Rockies pitcher that could be an ace… or at least competent.
Colorado -1/2(-110). One unit (First 5). SD has the much better bullpen, but with Volquez's control issues, the Rockies should get some early runs. Chacin is looking like the one Rockies pitcher that could be an ace… or at least competent.
Cubs ML(+128). One unit- First 5. This one begs for a First 5 IP bet. The Cubs are sending out their best starter, but their bullpen once again is awful. Hudson is looking very average, or worse. Samardzija was masterful in the Cubs' opener, with Pittsburgh hitting only 2 balls out of the infield over 8 IPS. He throws a mid 90s fastball with a change-up that has a great downward break.
Best of luck to you, o fred. I'm with you on OAK/HOU u4.5 -120 and took Cubs +0.5 -115.
Harrell has been really good @Minute Maid Park like you said & so far OAKs offense hasn't really produced much, Cespedes is key to that offense and now even is banged up, not even sure if they might opt to keep him out today. Anderson actually surprised me in the opener vs SEA, thought he might need a bit more time, but looked like in the past, when he was already on his way to becoming one of the more dominating young LHP in the game. Should keep the bad Astros offense in check, also very good defense, that OAK sends out. Would be surprised to see either team score more than 3 here, expected a line of 4.0.
And even though I would take Samardzija's 1st start with a grain of salt because it was just the Pirates, he already showed his skills last year and during a dominating spring, shut down the Braves twice in 2012 (2* 7IP, 1R) and Braves now miss one of their best/hottest hitters in Freeman. Hudson also great stats vs Cubs, but doesn't look like the same pitcher anymore, seems to be declining, decreasing velocity with less movement.
Also love to see Alfonso Marquez behind home for that game because his notorious small strikezone should just help the Cubs even more since Samardzija's stuff produces swings & misses and Hudson nowadays needs to extend a large zone and nibble the corners even more than he did in the past...
Harrell has been really good @Minute Maid Park like you said & so far OAKs offense hasn't really produced much, Cespedes is key to that offense and now even is banged up, not even sure if they might opt to keep him out today. Anderson actually surprised me in the opener vs SEA, thought he might need a bit more time, but looked like in the past, when he was already on his way to becoming one of the more dominating young LHP in the game. Should keep the bad Astros offense in check, also very good defense, that OAK sends out. Would be surprised to see either team score more than 3 here, expected a line of 4.0.
And even though I would take Samardzija's 1st start with a grain of salt because it was just the Pirates, he already showed his skills last year and during a dominating spring, shut down the Braves twice in 2012 (2* 7IP, 1R) and Braves now miss one of their best/hottest hitters in Freeman. Hudson also great stats vs Cubs, but doesn't look like the same pitcher anymore, seems to be declining, decreasing velocity with less movement.
Also love to see Alfonso Marquez behind home for that game because his notorious small strikezone should just help the Cubs even more since Samardzija's stuff produces swings & misses and Hudson nowadays needs to extend a large zone and nibble the corners even more than he did in the past...
o fred, any opinion on the Rays game? I really like TAM -0.5 (1st 5 Inn) -117: Price wasn't too sharp in his 1st outing, but usually bounces back strong after a mediocre outing and has dominated vs CLE in the past and especially at the Trop (3 GS, 20IP, 0.00ERA with a unearned run). I know their lineup changed a bit, but other than Swisher they don't have good numbers vs him and are struggling offensively so far. Masterson on the other hand looked really good @TOR, but once again walked 4 and TAM is a patient lineup, walked 9 times in 8IP yesterday alone. Also since he came to the league, every year his numbers vs TAM are horrific, constantly some of the worst numbers he puts up against any team. Last year in 2 starts over 8.2IP he gave up 12 runs on a whopping 16H and also walked the Rays an incredible 11 times in that span.
Also in all 6 starts as an Indian vs TAM in the last 6 years (thanks to those numbers) CLE was trailing after 5 innings.
Also in all 6 starts as an Indian vs TAM in the last 6 years (thanks to those numbers) CLE was trailing after 5 innings.
The juice is about -200, which is a little high, but it's a decent play at -1. Masterson gets really hammered by Luke Scot(10-21), but he's not playing today. Also, Masterson has pitched well in the spring, while Price has been okay. Tampa doesn't seem to hit well at their own park. I had this as a one unit play, then dropped it.
o fred, I also like the under 7 @SF -135 (despite the high juice):
In pops thread they put up some pretty nice stats related that game: 2-7 o/u last year @SF in April, 10-21-1 o/u in April games in the NL with a line set at 6.5 or less (bought this one up to 7). And Eddings, the homeplate ump, 9-24 o/u on sundays. Usually I don't put too much stock into these type of stats, but in this case imo it just adds up nicely: AT&T is a pitcher's park, no doubt. April's cool temperature and the "heavy" sea air should be "under"-weather and Eddings is known to have one of the biggest strikezones in the Majors.
Also makes kind of sense that an umpire might tend more towards calling the borderline pitches strikes the day the teams most of the time need to travel (and likewise the ump & his crew), so no need to drag these games out, even less with a guy known for his big zone.
Either way two top tier pitcher's like Cain/Wainwright should take advantage of the park, the big zone and the great defense behind them and keep that game under. Cain also looked great in his outing @LA, dominated STL in their last encounter (although overall had mixed results vs STL) and the current Cards offense is weaker imo thanks to guys like Kozma/Descalso and missing the likes of Freese. SFs offense so far has been pretty quiet, so just don't see either team scoring more than 4 in 9 innings here.
In pops thread they put up some pretty nice stats related that game: 2-7 o/u last year @SF in April, 10-21-1 o/u in April games in the NL with a line set at 6.5 or less (bought this one up to 7). And Eddings, the homeplate ump, 9-24 o/u on sundays. Usually I don't put too much stock into these type of stats, but in this case imo it just adds up nicely: AT&T is a pitcher's park, no doubt. April's cool temperature and the "heavy" sea air should be "under"-weather and Eddings is known to have one of the biggest strikezones in the Majors.
Also makes kind of sense that an umpire might tend more towards calling the borderline pitches strikes the day the teams most of the time need to travel (and likewise the ump & his crew), so no need to drag these games out, even less with a guy known for his big zone.
Either way two top tier pitcher's like Cain/Wainwright should take advantage of the park, the big zone and the great defense behind them and keep that game under. Cain also looked great in his outing @LA, dominated STL in their last encounter (although overall had mixed results vs STL) and the current Cards offense is weaker imo thanks to guys like Kozma/Descalso and missing the likes of Freese. SFs offense so far has been pretty quiet, so just don't see either team scoring more than 4 in 9 innings here.
