Trev Rogers
Marlins/Brewers Over 9.5
Big Al
3* Detroit Pistons
Drew Gordon
200,000* Cavaliers
100,000* NY Mets
100,000* Astros
Rob House
1,000,000? San Francisco Giants W/ Cain
1,000,000? Cincinnati Reds W/ Arroyo
1,000,000? Detroit Pistons
Brandon Lang
15 DIME
Cleveland Cavs
5 DIME
Orioles
White Sox
Larry Ness
Las Vegas Insider
Seattle Mariners
-----------------------
Eastern Finals GOY
20* Detroit Pistons
----------------------
15* AL Total of the Week
Det/Cle Over
Hondo
Detroit Tigers
Vegas Experts
Los Angeles Dodgers at Washington Nationals
Dodgers not only won the first two games here but Washington is yet to score. Dodgers are 11-4 this year vs. LHPs and 71-36 against the money line when playing against a team with a losing record over the last 2 seasons. WASHINGTON is 0-9 against the money line in home games vs. a very good bullpen whose WHIP is 1.250 or better over the last 2 seasons.
Play on: Los Angeles
Mike Rose
Los Angeles Dodgers -1.5 (120)
Thu May 31 '07 7:05p
The Nats returned home feeling great about themselves after taking 5 of 7 from both the Reds and Cardinals on their 7-game road trip, and things looked to be on the up and up. That is until the Dodgers paid the nations capital a visit and gave the Nats a beating for the ages the last couple nights. The tally from the first two games of this series is quite simple....Dodgers 15 Nats zippo, zilch, nathan, nada!!! That's right, the dodgers pitching staff and defense haven't allowed the Nats one run thus far, and runs look to be few and far between again tonight with lefty Mark Hendrickson toeing the rubber. Washington is flat out putrid when it comes to hitting lefty pitching. They own a woeful batting average of .245 and an anemic slugging percentage of .348. Not the greatest of numbers at all, and I don't foresee them just blowing up against Hendrickson regardless of the fact that he hasn't been the sharpest his L/3 starts. I'm not a fan of relievers jumping up to the starters role, and Micah Bowie by no means will strike any fear into the hearts of the Dodger batters. His only two starts this season saw him up against a struggling Cards team at the time, and the soft hitting Orioles. This Dodger club is a completely different breed than what he's faced thus far, and I foresee an early exit this evening as the Dodgers role big here to cover the run line.
Florida Marlins (138)
Thu May 31 '07 8:05p
How can we not back the fighting fish in this spot. They enter this ballgame hot hot hot, and are coming off their first ever 3-game sweep at Wrigley Field as the "friendly confines" really lived up to its name for the South Florida natives the L/3 nights. Now they have to jump on a bus and head north to take on the slumping Brewers who are coming off one of their toughest losses of the season. They looked to have Wednesday's game against the Braves well in hand late in the game, but the bullpen imploded and turned a 2-1 Brewer lead into a 9-3 defeat after allowing eight runs in the last two innings of the contest. The Marlins are yet to win a road start for Wes Obermueller, but Miller Park could be considered his home away from home as he used to be a pitcher on the brewers pitching staff for a couple of years. He's familiar with the atmosphere and surroundings, and I believe he'll put forth his best road effort of the year because of that. Claudio Vargas has gotten off to a nice start this year, but I don't trust him whatsoever. He's way overdue to get blown up one of these days, and the Marlins are just the team to take it to him out of nowhere. He's been hit hard his last three starts, and this looks to be as good a time as any to fade him once again. After pulling to just one game under .500 last night, the Marlins will come out very eager looking to even up their record at 27 a piece. Look for them to barrage Vargas early, and continue to do so against the Brewers pen that simply imploded yesterday afternoon
Michael Cannon Goes 3-0 Wednesday, Has 40 Dimer on Spurs Tonight
Michael Cannon
Money Train
40 Dime
CAVALIERS
5 Dime
PADRES
METS
Thursday's Plays..
40 Dime –
CAVALIERS
Take the points with the Cavs tonight in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Pistons.
One thing to keep in mind when looking at this line is Cleveland could have very well swept Detroit and been at home getting ready for the NBA Finals.
That’s how lucky the Pistons are to be playing this game tonight. They haven’t done anything in this series so far that would make me feel comfortable laying this number.
Cleveland, on the other hand, has answered the bell after falling behind 2-0 in the series and their confidence seems to be growing with each game. They have received an unexpected boost from rookie Daniel Gibson, who has played an increased role because of the injury to Larry Hughes.
What’s more, he’s gained the confidence of LeBron James which has given the Cavs superstar another option on the offensive end. I told you in my write up before Game 4 that the injury to Hughes may wind up being a blessing in disguise for the Cavs because Hughes was struggling from the floor.
Now James can pass off to an open Gibson with the confidence that the rookie will either bury the shot or wind up making the right play.
One thing I’ve noticed in this series is the growing frustration of the Pistons, especially Rasheed Wallace. The Pistons forward was called for a critical technical foul late in Game 4 and it’s a direct reflection on coach Flip Saunders’ inability to keep Wallace calm in the face of adversity. When Larry Brown was coach Wallace never lost his cool no matter what the circumstances were.
I just don’t believe Saunders has the full respect of his team and we’re seeing the results of that in this series. Poor shot selections by the usually reliable Chauncey Billups and a fatigued Tayshaun Prince are two other factors directly attributable to Saunders.
With all that being said, I still think the Pistons are going to come out on top tonight, but I don’t think they’re going to be able to cover the number.
The last six meetings between these two have been decided by a total of 25 points, with the Cavs covering the spread in all six. Cleveland is on a 12-3 ATS roll against Detroit going back to last year’s seven-game playoff series.
Including the playoffs, Detroit is just 17-28-3 ATS, including 0-3 ATS against the Cavs and 2-4-1 ATS in this postseason.
The Cavs are 13-6 ATS in their last 19 games, including five consecutive spread covers. They are also on ATS runs of 20-5 as an underdog, 18-3 as a road dog and 20-6-1 on the road overall.
Take the points with Cleveland as they keep this game close until the end and stay within the number.
5 Dime –
PADRES (With Maddux and Chacon as listed pitchers)
Take the Padres again tonight in PNC Park for the win over the Pirates.
This pitching matchup heavily favors the Padres, yet we’re not being asked to lay that much juice. Greg Maddux should be able to duplicate what Chris Young was able to do last night against an inept Bucco offense.
Shawn Chacon will get the nod for the Pirates and he’s still trying to build up his pitch count as he makes just his second start of the season after pitching out of the bullpen to start the year. He was only able to go 3 2-3 innings in his first start on Saturday, walking five.
If his command is off again tonight the Buccos don’t stand a chance.
Maddux won’t have to do anything special to keep the Pirates in check tonight, so lay the juice and take San Diego for the road win.
METS (With Hernandez as listed pitcher)
Lay the juice with the Mets tonight at home over the Giants.
Orlando Hernandez gets the start for New York tonight and he’s been on fire recently. El Duque is 1-0 with a microscopic 0.45 ERA over his last three starts.
His mound opponent, Matt Cain, is just 2-4 on the year despite posting a fine 3.23 ERA. Cain has been the victim of poor run support and he probably won’t receive much help from his offense tonight against Hernandez.
The lack of run support has started to wear on Cain recently, as evidenced by his 1-3 record and 5.28 ERA over his last five starts. His WHIP is also an unacceptable 1.69 over that span.
Lay the juice with the Mets as they grab the home win behind Hernandez.
Bonus Play: INDIANS
Marc Lawrence
Texas Rangers vs Seattle Mariners
Seattle w/Baek over Texas w/Padilla Mariners Cha Seung Baek has very quietly won 11 of his last 14 team starts and is in solid current KW form (2 walks, 20 strikeouts last four starts). Meanwhile, Texas' Vicente Padilla is just 2-9 in his 11 team starts this season. Look for the Rangers to dip to 1-6 on Thursdays, their worst day of the week, here tonight.
Dave Cokin
Take "(907) FLA Marlins"
I won't waste much space trying to extol the virtues of Florida right Wes Obermueller. Fact is, he's a fringe big league pitcher and that's it. But this is Obermueller's first shot to face his former employers as he takes the mound for the Marlins at Milwaukee. More importantly, the Florida bats are hot, Brewers starter Claudio Vargas has cooled considerably and there's a good sized underdog price tag here that's worth grabbing, so I'll go with the Marlins at the price."
Jim Feist
Take "(903) SDG Padres"
You need good control when pitching in a hitter's park like Pittsburgh. Greg Maddux has it (and always has) with 8 walks in 60 innings this season. His opponent, retread starter Shawn Chacon, has walked 20 in 37 innings, a terrible ratio. San Diego is tops in baseball with the best bullpen ERA, while Pittsburgh is 20th. Excellent value with the visitors, who have the better team, bullpen and starter. Play the Padres!
comp play
MTI Sports
Game: Chicago White Sox at Toronto Blue Jays May 31 2007 7:05PM
Prediction: Toronto Blue Jays
Reason: The Blue Jays are 20-3 as a home favorite after allowing 6+ runs loss and the league as a whole 46-102 as a dog when they blew a lead and lost in each of their last three games. The Sox qualify for this play-against system. Take the Jays
Alex Smart
Game: San Diego Padres at Pittsburgh Pirates
May 31 2007 7:05PM
Prediction: San Diego Padres
Reason: The San Diego Padres will send 21 year major league veteran Greg Maddux( 337-206 3.08 ERA lifetime) to the hill to face the Pittsburgh Pirates this evening. Maddux is off a good outing, winning against Milwaukee last time out. The right hander has allowed 3 or less ERs in 6 of his L/8 starts, and if and when the old guy falters, he will be backed with what is in my opinion the best bull pen in baseball as is evident by a .233 ERA. His pitching opponent from the Bucks Shawn Chacon, remains one of baseballs most hittable throwers, having allowed 767 career hits in just 777 innings of work for a bloated 5.03 ERA. Bottom line: I know the Pirates have been playing some fairly good baseball of late winning, 4 of their L/6 overall, but I see them beginning to revert to their previous sub .500 form after being shut out in 2 of their L/3 games. With that said lets ride the momentum of a Padres team that has won 11 of their L/15 overall.
Play on San Diego
MIKE WYNN
Seattle w/Baek -150 Over Padilla
Jimmy The Moose
Game: San Francisco Giants at New York Mets
May 31 2007 7:10PM
Prediction: New York Mets
Reason: Cain 2-4 takes the mound for the Giants tonight. San Francisco is 2-8 in his 10 starts this season. Giants won last night and are now 1-4 in their last 5 games. Mets counter with Hernandez tonight. The Mets are 4-2 in games he's started. Over his last 3 starts Hernandez is 1-0 with an ERA of 0.45 and NY has won all 3 games. The Giants are 4-9 in their last 13 vists to Shea.
Play on the Mets
Marc Lawrence
Game: Texas Rangers at Seattle Mariners
May 31 2007 10:05PM
Prediction: Seattle Mariners
Reason: Seattle w/Baek over Texas w/Padilla:
Mariners Cha Seung Baek has very quietly won 11 of his last 14 team starts and is in solid current KW form (2 walks, 20 strikeouts last four starts). Meanwhile, Texas' Vicente Padilla is just 2-9 in his 11 team starts this season. Look for the Rangers to dip to 1-6 on Thursdays, their worst day of the week, here tonight.
Bryan Leonard
Tigers at Indians
Detroit played at Tampa Bay and now heads to Cleveland. Starter Justin Verlander has never liked playing this Indians lineup, with a 4.85 career ERA against them. Verlander plays at home in a great pitcher's park, but Jacobs Field is anything but. And the Cleveland offense is one of the best in baseball. Starter C.C. Sabathia is an ace and having a monster season, at 7-1 with a 3.54 ERA. Big C.C. has a sizzling 73-13 K/BB ratio. The Tribe fans will be pumped with another first place battle on the line. Detroit's banged up bullpen is second worst in the AL (only Tampa Bay is worse).
PLAY THE INDIANS
JIM FIEST
(903) SDG Padres
(904) PIT Pirates
Take "(903) SDG Padres"
You need good control when pitching in a hitter's park like Pittsburgh. Greg Maddux has it (and always has) with 8 walks in 60 innings this season. His opponent, retread starter Shawn Chacon, has walked 20 in 37 innings, a terrible ratio. San Diego is tops in baseball with the best bullpen ERA, while Pittsburgh is 20th. Excellent value with the visitors, who have the better team, bullpen and starter. Play the Padres
RAZOR SHARP
LA DODGERS/WASHINGTON OVER total of 9
VEGAS EXPERTS
Los Angeles Dodgers at Washington Nationals
Thursday, May 31st, 7:10 PM EDT
Dodgers not only won the first two games here but Washington is yet to score. Dodgers are 11-4 this year vs. LHPs and 71-36 against the money line when playing against a team with a losing record over the last 2 seasons. WASHINGTON is 0-9 against the money line in home games vs. a very good bullpen whose WHIP is 1.250 or better over the last 2 seasons.
Play on: Los Angeles
Totals 4 U
Texas/seattle Over 9
Paul Leiner
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Sport: MLB
Game: San Francisco/New York
Prediction: 5* Mets -140
BIG AL MCMORDIE
Baltimore Orioles (Burres) +190 over Anaheim Angels (Escobar
MATT RIVERS
For Thursday take the White Sox in Toronto.
Roy Halladay is obviously one of, if not thee, best pitchers in all of baseball but coming off of the DL like this I'll take my chances on the White Sox. Chicago has certainly not overachieved this season unlike a few years ago when they won the World Series but this team still has a huge upside and a potential to score a bunch of runs at the drop of a hat. Thome, Konerko, Dye and the Sox should hold their own today against the Toronto righthander in this spot.
Meanwhile Toronto is a club that is also talented but playing below themselves. They do boast righthanded pop which can cause problems for Mark Buehrle but the southpaw is still a quality hurler that has a Cy Young award to himself as well.
Halladay would not shock me to spin a gem in this first start back because he is a bona fide superstar but he also may be on a pitch count and or not be too sharp as he has not faced big league hitters in a few months now.
There is just nothing to lose here on Ozzie Guillen's Sox. They have the ability to beat anybody at anytime and especially a guy that is still possibly a little banged up.
TRACE ADAMS
Cincinnati-Houston OVER
SCOTT DELANEY
3? ANGELS RUN LINE
Big Al play for hoops tonight 3* Pistons
__________________
Larry Ness
Las Vegas Insider-MLB (ov 62% previous two years / 3-1 since Mid-May!)
My Las Vegas Insider is on the Sea Mariners at 10:05 ET. May has not been a very good month for the Rangers. In fact, one more loss will make it the worst May in their history. The Rangers open a four-game series tonight against the Mariners at Safeco. After losing 15 of 25 games in April, the Rangers have matched the 1990 and 2001 teams for the worst May in club history by going 9-19. Overall, they are 19-34 (2nd-worst record in MLB) and a ML-worst 8-19 on the road! Vicente Padilla (2-7, 5.77 ERA) will try to get Texas into the win column, something he hasn't done often this season. Padilla is 0-4 with a 7.59 ERA in four road starts and the Rangers have lost nine of his 11 starts in '07. Padilla also has never fared well against the Mariners. That trend continued on April 14 when he gave up six runs and six hits in six innings of an 8-3 loss at Safeco Field. Padilla is 1-4 with a 5.79 ERA in seven career games against Seattle. The Mariners return home after a 6-4 road trip. While Texas is averaging 3.4 runs in eight games since scoring 14 in back-to-back contests May 20-21, Seattle owns the 2nd-best team batting average in MLB (.279) and averaged 8.14 RPG over the final seven games of its trip. Cha Seung Baek is on the mound for Seattle. He gave up one unearned run and five hits over seven innings last Saturday in a 9-1 victory at Kansas City, throwing 74 of his 98 pitches for strikes. Since struggling to a 4.65 ERA in his first three starts, Baek has allowed 10 total runs over 28.2 innings in his past four outings, for a 3.14 ERA. Baek is 3-0 with a 2.08 ERA in four career starts versus the Rangers.
Las Vegas Insider
Seattle Mariners
Larry Ness
20* Eastern Conference Finals GOY (Game 5: Cavs/Pistons)
My 20* play is on the Det Pistons at 8:15 ET. The Pistons missed their chance of making this a quick series, by losing BOTH games in Cleveland. Detroit had chances in both games but now find themselves in a 'war,' tied at 2-all (like last year). In last year's semis, the Cavs won in Detroit in Game 5 but the Pistons rebounded to take Games 6 and 7. I expect the Pistons to "take no prisoners" in this game. Detroit has yet to play a good game, as the Cavs have 'covered' all four games of this series. Detroit's great backcourt has yet to rise to the challenge, but I'm 'betting' they do tonight. Billups is averaging a 'quiet' 15.5 PPG in the series and made just 10-of-30 FG attempts in the two games in Cleveland. Hamilton, a career 20.5 PPG scorer in the postseason, has averaged just 13.0 PPG (16-of-43 shooting) the last three games, after a 24-point effort in Game 1. As for the Cavs, LeBron came up big in Cleveland, averaging 28.5-8.0-10.0, after averaging just 14.5 PPG on 12-of-34 shooting for the two games in Detroit. Remember, the Cavs scored exactly 76 points in EACH of the first two games, shooting 38.5% from the floor, including just 7-of-29 (24.1%) from the three-point arc. Also, don't expect another 21-point game from Daniel Gibson. The rookie from Texas entered Game 4 averaging 4.5 PPG in his first 13 playoff games but scored 21 points in Game 4, while making 12-of-12 free throws. Note he had attempted just NINE free throws in the first 13 games of this year's postseason. This game will be ALL Detroit!
Eastern Finals GOY
20* Detroit Pistons
Larry Ness
15* AL Total of the Week (7-1 with MLB totals in '07 / 44-11 with 15* GOW plays!)
My 15* play is on Det/Cle Over at 7:05 ET. I played this same matchup 'over' last Saturday and it just snuck over the 8 1/2 with a 6-3 final. The total figures to be just about the same in this one and I'll go over once again. While we have two excellent pitchers in this game, Verlander (5-1, 2.71 ERA in 10 starts) for the Tigers and Sabathia (7-1, 3.54 ERA in 11 starts) for the Indians, too many factors point to a higher scoring game than the 'number' indicates. The Tigers were last year's best road team, going 49-32 (plus-$1,700) and are once again playing well away from Comerica, at 15-11. Even more importantly, they average 5.27 RPG on the road. The Indians have been MLB's best road team in 2007, going 17-4, while averaging 6.03 RPG. Delving deeper, the Tigers, after going 35-20 against left-handed starters last year (averaging just under five RPG), are 9-3 (plus-$610) when facing a lefty this year, averaging 5.92 RPG. Meanwhile, the Indians are 'killing' right-handed starters in 2007, going 24-12 (plus-$1,065), while averaging 6.03 RPG.
AL Total of the Week
Detroit/Cleveland Over
__________________
JEFF ALEXANDER
Cincinnati Reds -125 (action)
We have to go against the Astros here today. Houston has now lost 10 straight games and 12 of its last 13. No team in baseball is struggling more. Houston can thank its bats for this terrible losing streak. It doesn't matter who they send to the mound, the offense won't support them. The Reds have won 3 in a row and 2 straight over Houston. They'll out hit the Astros again today. Take the Reds.
Mike Rose
Los Angeles Dodgers -1.5 (120)
Thu May 31 '07 7:05p
The Nats returned home feeling great about themselves after taking 5 of 7 from both the Reds and Cardinals on their 7-game road trip, and things looked to be on the up and up. That is until the Dodgers paid the nations capital a visit and gave the Nats a beating for the ages the last couple nights. The tally from the first two games of this series is quite simple....Dodgers 15 Nats zippo, zilch, nathan, nada!!! That's right, the dodgers pitching staff and defense haven't allowed the Nats one run thus far, and runs look to be few and far between again tonight with lefty Mark Hendrickson toeing the rubber. Washington is flat out putrid when it comes to hitting lefty pitching. They own a woeful batting average of .245 and an anemic slugging percentage of .348. Not the greatest of numbers at all, and I don't foresee them just blowing up against Hendrickson regardless of the fact that he hasn't been the sharpest his L/3 starts. I'm not a fan of relievers jumping up to the starters role, and Micah Bowie by no means will strike any fear into the hearts of the Dodger batters. His only two starts this season saw him up against a struggling Cards team at the time, and the soft hitting Orioles. This Dodger club is a completely different breed than what he's faced thus far, and I foresee an early exit this evening as the Dodgers role big here to cover the run line.
Florida Marlins (138)
Thu May 31 '07 8:05p
How can we not back the fighting fish in this spot. They enter this ballgame hot hot hot, and are coming off their first ever 3-game sweep at Wrigley Field as the "friendly confines" really lived up to its name for the South Florida natives the L/3 nights. Now they have to jump on a bus and head north to take on the slumping Brewers who are coming off one of their toughest losses of the season. They looked to have Wednesday's game against the Braves well in hand late in the game, but the bullpen imploded and turned a 2-1 Brewer lead into a 9-3 defeat after allowing eight runs in the last two innings of the contest. The Marlins are yet to win a road start for Wes Obermueller, but Miller Park could be considered his home away from home as he used to be a pitcher on the brewers pitching staff for a couple of years. He's familiar with the atmosphere and surroundings, and I believe he'll put forth his best road effort of the year because of that. Claudio Vargas has gotten off to a nice start this year, but I don't trust him whatsoever. He's way overdue to get blown up one of these days, and the Marlins are just the team to take it to him out of nowhere. He's been hit hard his last three starts, and this looks to be as good a time as any to fade him once again. After pulling to just one game under .500 last night, the Marlins will come out very eager looking to even up their
MATT F@RGO
MLB Los Angeles vs. Washington
Take Los Angeles Dodgers
Washington seems to be falling into a similar spot that the Royals are in. After a great run, it looks as though it’s over and a big downfall could be here as we speak. The Nationals were shut out for the second consecutive day by the Dodgers as the offense, which was hitting good, is now struggling. Los Angeles has won three straight and six of its last seven games to push its record to three games over .500 on the road. The Dodgers have won five straight in this series and get the sweep on Thursday. Mark Hendrickson looked to have revived his career this season with a very strong start but his last three outings have been anything but spectacular. After allowing three runs or less in his first four outings, he has given up four or more in his last three but he can come out of that funk by facing an offense that is down. Washington is hitting only .208 against left-handed pitching over its last 10 games and is hitting just .233 on the season at home against southpaws. Washington counters with Micah Bowie who has looked decent in both of his starts but he has not been able to log a lot of innings since they were his first big league starts since 1999 when he was with the Cubs. He brings in a career 6.27 ERA and 1.70 WHIP so we see what we are dealing with here. The Dodgers are hitting .275 against lefties on the season and also over their last 10 games. They are 11-4 against left-handed starters including a 4-1 record on the road. The Nationals are hitting only .237 on the year which is worst in the National League while their 191 runs scored are second worst. These struggles of the offense, especially of late, put the Dodgers into a solid situation. Play against National League home teams with a team batting average of .245 or worse on the season, with an on base percentage of .260 or worse over their last three games. This situation is 35-20 against the moneyline (63.6 percent) over the last five seasons.
Play Los Angeles Dodgers 1 Unit
GOLD KEY GAMES:
3 Units (Bonus Play): Pittsburgh Pirates +1.5 -145
2 Units (Bonus Play): Cleveland Cavaliers +6
Silver Key (Bonus Play): LA Angels -185
Gold Key (Paid Play): UNDER 172.5 Pistons / Cavs
The Cavaliers under Head Coach Mike Brown came through late to win Game Three at Home, and then again to take Game Four at Home. Their Offense has been sporadic all Series, but their Defense has played well throughout. The Cavs will need to win one on the Road if they are to take the Eastern Conference Finals. Trends favoring the Under involving Cavs games include 19-4 Under Against The Spread in this Series, 41-17 Under ATS in Division Play, and 78-46 Under ATS versus winning teams.
The Pistons under Head Coach Flip Saunders failed late in Game Three, and then again in Game Four. They need only to protect their Home Court to prevail in this Series. The Pistons have been lame on Offense lately, but they continue to play strong Defense. Trends favoring the Under in Pistons events include 17-6 Under ATS when tied in a Playoff Series, 20-7 Under ATS in the Conference Finals, and 91-61 Under ATS versus winning teams.
The Totals line overnited at 172.5. We'll go with the Under here tonight in a Gold Key Play.
Dave M@linsky (Bonus Play) (he's on the Tribe along with everyone else)
REASON FOR PICK: 3* CLEVELAND over DETROIT
After reaching a peak in the marketplace this morning we are now seeing this line settle back down again, and that means time to hit the "play" button. For while it is easy to imagine money showing up for Detroit in a payback setting after being swept by the Indians last weekend, especially with Justin Verlander on the mound, the truth is that Jim Leyland’s hands are tied in a major way for this one. His team is simply over-matched.
Being over-matched by the Tribe would be nothing new, of course – they were out-scored by eight runs in that humbling 0-3 collar at Comerica Park last weekend. But now things only go from bad to worse. With both members of the starting left side of the infield expected to sit out, Brandon Inge because of a broken toe and Carlos Guillen with a strained left groin, Leyland is down to Omar Infante and Neifi Perez, which is particularly bad news against C. C. Sabathia. Those two have combined to go 6-33 lifetime against him, with nine strikeouts, and Perez in particular is not hitting much of anyone right now. But the problems are not limited to the lineup.
What has been one of the best bullpens in the Major’s the last two seasons is wafer thin tonight. Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney are on the DL; Jason Grilli has been sidelined since taking a line drive on the knee against Cleveland last Saturday and is questionable at best; and key set-up men Zach Miner (45 pitches last night) and Wilfredo Ledezma (42 pitches on Wednesday) are both in need of a night off. Not having Ledezma is a particular issue against all of the left-handers in the Indian lineup. And as for Verlander, as electric as his stuff can be this is a quick second look for a team that just faced him on Saturday, working him to 105 pitches over six innings. After facing Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett and Daisuke Matsuzaka the last three nights, dealing with his stuff has been made much easier.
Cleveland is 10-1 when Sabathia takes the mound this season, with the wins coming by an average of 3.4 runs, and it has been a perfect 6-0 at home. Behind their ace lefty the Indians do not have a single bad fatigue rating in the bullpen. It all adds up to an easy win at a price that does not properly incorporate the Detroit issues for this game
Thursday's Comps
Sebastian-Mets
Marc Young-UNDER Baltimore
Computer Boys-Colorado
OTM-Texas
Winner Line-Seattle
Kevin Kennedy-Anaheim
Feiner-OVER Reds
All these Touts have clev(nba) as there top play,
bobby maxwell 400 unit
b.lang 15 dime
chris jordan 500 unit
karl garrett 40 dime
drew gordon 200,000
rob house
has 1,000,000 trifecta with det (nba),
san fran,
cincy
Drew Gordon
200,000* Cavaliers
100,000* NY Mets
100,000* Astros
Brandon Lang
15 DIME
Cleveland Cavs
5 DIME
Orioles
White Sox
Rob House
1,000,000? San Francisco Giants W/ Cain
1,000,000? Cincinnati Reds W/ Arroyo
1,000,000? Detroit Pistons
Cal Sports=
5*AL GOM INDIANS
WILL COVER
4*DODGERS
3*Cavs Over
Rocketman
FREE MLB PLAY THURSDAY (111-77 59% run with freebies)
Baltimore @ LA Angels 10:05 PM EST
Play On: 1* LA Angels -1 1/2 -105
Baltimore is 15-35 last 3 years when the total is 8 to 8 1/2. Baltimore is 5-14 last 3 years after shutting out their opponent. Baltimore is 68-127 last 3 years when playing against a team with a winning record. Baltimore is scoring only 4.5 rpg overall, 4.3 rpg on the road and 4.1 rpg against Right Handed Starters this year. Baltimore bullpen has a whopping 5.53 ERA on the road this year. Angels are batting .304 at home this year as a team. Angels bullpen has a 3.55 ERA at home this year. Escobar is 6-2 with a 2.64 ERA overall this year, 4-1 with a 1.76 ERA at home and 2-1 with a 3.64 ERA his last 3 starts. LA Angels are 7-2 at home against Baltimore last 3 years. Escobar is 11-3 with a 3.63 ERA overall vs Baltimore since 1997. We'll recommend a small play on the LA Angels on the runline tonight! Thanks and good luck, Rocky
FPBE Free Picks
Marc Lawrence - SEA -147
Matty O'Shea - STL/COL over 9.5
Ben Burns - NYM -136
Larry Ness - NYM -136
Bryan Leonard - CLV -145 (MLB)
Rocky Atkinson - LAA -1.5, -105
Jeff Bonds - CLV +5.5 (NBA)
SCOTT SPREITZER
4* San Diego
TRIPLE CROWN SPORTS
3* Baltimore/LAA under 8.5
Bobby Maxwell
400-Unit NBA Playoff Pushover - CAVALIERS
100-Unit AL Rivalry Release - TIGERS
Karl Garrett
40 DIMER - CLEVELAND CAVALIERS....
20 DIMER - CAVS-PISTONS OVER....
10 DIMER - SAN DIEGO W
Bob Balfe
YTD = 64-54
NBA
Detroit - 5.5
MLB
Totonto -150
---------------------------------
Proffit Plays
Triple Plays = 94-87
MLB
LA Dodgers
Seattle
LAA
Daily Best Bets
YTD = 28-31
NBA
Cleveland +5.5
----------------------------------
Professional Plays
YTD = 31-13
Plays rated 1-5 Units
MLB
2 units on LA Dodgers -138
1.5 Unit on Cleveland -145
----------------------------------------
Hank Best-
10.5* Cleveland Indians RL
Marlins/Brewers Over 9.5
Big Al
3* Detroit Pistons
Drew Gordon
200,000* Cavaliers
100,000* NY Mets
100,000* Astros
Rob House
1,000,000? San Francisco Giants W/ Cain
1,000,000? Cincinnati Reds W/ Arroyo
1,000,000? Detroit Pistons
Brandon Lang
15 DIME
Cleveland Cavs
5 DIME
Orioles
White Sox
Larry Ness
Las Vegas Insider
Seattle Mariners
-----------------------
Eastern Finals GOY
20* Detroit Pistons
----------------------
15* AL Total of the Week
Det/Cle Over
Hondo
Detroit Tigers
Vegas Experts
Los Angeles Dodgers at Washington Nationals
Dodgers not only won the first two games here but Washington is yet to score. Dodgers are 11-4 this year vs. LHPs and 71-36 against the money line when playing against a team with a losing record over the last 2 seasons. WASHINGTON is 0-9 against the money line in home games vs. a very good bullpen whose WHIP is 1.250 or better over the last 2 seasons.
Play on: Los Angeles
Mike Rose
Los Angeles Dodgers -1.5 (120)
Thu May 31 '07 7:05p
The Nats returned home feeling great about themselves after taking 5 of 7 from both the Reds and Cardinals on their 7-game road trip, and things looked to be on the up and up. That is until the Dodgers paid the nations capital a visit and gave the Nats a beating for the ages the last couple nights. The tally from the first two games of this series is quite simple....Dodgers 15 Nats zippo, zilch, nathan, nada!!! That's right, the dodgers pitching staff and defense haven't allowed the Nats one run thus far, and runs look to be few and far between again tonight with lefty Mark Hendrickson toeing the rubber. Washington is flat out putrid when it comes to hitting lefty pitching. They own a woeful batting average of .245 and an anemic slugging percentage of .348. Not the greatest of numbers at all, and I don't foresee them just blowing up against Hendrickson regardless of the fact that he hasn't been the sharpest his L/3 starts. I'm not a fan of relievers jumping up to the starters role, and Micah Bowie by no means will strike any fear into the hearts of the Dodger batters. His only two starts this season saw him up against a struggling Cards team at the time, and the soft hitting Orioles. This Dodger club is a completely different breed than what he's faced thus far, and I foresee an early exit this evening as the Dodgers role big here to cover the run line.
Florida Marlins (138)
Thu May 31 '07 8:05p
How can we not back the fighting fish in this spot. They enter this ballgame hot hot hot, and are coming off their first ever 3-game sweep at Wrigley Field as the "friendly confines" really lived up to its name for the South Florida natives the L/3 nights. Now they have to jump on a bus and head north to take on the slumping Brewers who are coming off one of their toughest losses of the season. They looked to have Wednesday's game against the Braves well in hand late in the game, but the bullpen imploded and turned a 2-1 Brewer lead into a 9-3 defeat after allowing eight runs in the last two innings of the contest. The Marlins are yet to win a road start for Wes Obermueller, but Miller Park could be considered his home away from home as he used to be a pitcher on the brewers pitching staff for a couple of years. He's familiar with the atmosphere and surroundings, and I believe he'll put forth his best road effort of the year because of that. Claudio Vargas has gotten off to a nice start this year, but I don't trust him whatsoever. He's way overdue to get blown up one of these days, and the Marlins are just the team to take it to him out of nowhere. He's been hit hard his last three starts, and this looks to be as good a time as any to fade him once again. After pulling to just one game under .500 last night, the Marlins will come out very eager looking to even up their record at 27 a piece. Look for them to barrage Vargas early, and continue to do so against the Brewers pen that simply imploded yesterday afternoon
Michael Cannon Goes 3-0 Wednesday, Has 40 Dimer on Spurs Tonight
Michael Cannon
Money Train
40 Dime
CAVALIERS
5 Dime
PADRES
METS
Thursday's Plays..
40 Dime –
CAVALIERS
Take the points with the Cavs tonight in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Pistons.
One thing to keep in mind when looking at this line is Cleveland could have very well swept Detroit and been at home getting ready for the NBA Finals.
That’s how lucky the Pistons are to be playing this game tonight. They haven’t done anything in this series so far that would make me feel comfortable laying this number.
Cleveland, on the other hand, has answered the bell after falling behind 2-0 in the series and their confidence seems to be growing with each game. They have received an unexpected boost from rookie Daniel Gibson, who has played an increased role because of the injury to Larry Hughes.
What’s more, he’s gained the confidence of LeBron James which has given the Cavs superstar another option on the offensive end. I told you in my write up before Game 4 that the injury to Hughes may wind up being a blessing in disguise for the Cavs because Hughes was struggling from the floor.
Now James can pass off to an open Gibson with the confidence that the rookie will either bury the shot or wind up making the right play.
One thing I’ve noticed in this series is the growing frustration of the Pistons, especially Rasheed Wallace. The Pistons forward was called for a critical technical foul late in Game 4 and it’s a direct reflection on coach Flip Saunders’ inability to keep Wallace calm in the face of adversity. When Larry Brown was coach Wallace never lost his cool no matter what the circumstances were.
I just don’t believe Saunders has the full respect of his team and we’re seeing the results of that in this series. Poor shot selections by the usually reliable Chauncey Billups and a fatigued Tayshaun Prince are two other factors directly attributable to Saunders.
With all that being said, I still think the Pistons are going to come out on top tonight, but I don’t think they’re going to be able to cover the number.
The last six meetings between these two have been decided by a total of 25 points, with the Cavs covering the spread in all six. Cleveland is on a 12-3 ATS roll against Detroit going back to last year’s seven-game playoff series.
Including the playoffs, Detroit is just 17-28-3 ATS, including 0-3 ATS against the Cavs and 2-4-1 ATS in this postseason.
The Cavs are 13-6 ATS in their last 19 games, including five consecutive spread covers. They are also on ATS runs of 20-5 as an underdog, 18-3 as a road dog and 20-6-1 on the road overall.
Take the points with Cleveland as they keep this game close until the end and stay within the number.
5 Dime –
PADRES (With Maddux and Chacon as listed pitchers)
Take the Padres again tonight in PNC Park for the win over the Pirates.
This pitching matchup heavily favors the Padres, yet we’re not being asked to lay that much juice. Greg Maddux should be able to duplicate what Chris Young was able to do last night against an inept Bucco offense.
Shawn Chacon will get the nod for the Pirates and he’s still trying to build up his pitch count as he makes just his second start of the season after pitching out of the bullpen to start the year. He was only able to go 3 2-3 innings in his first start on Saturday, walking five.
If his command is off again tonight the Buccos don’t stand a chance.
Maddux won’t have to do anything special to keep the Pirates in check tonight, so lay the juice and take San Diego for the road win.
METS (With Hernandez as listed pitcher)
Lay the juice with the Mets tonight at home over the Giants.
Orlando Hernandez gets the start for New York tonight and he’s been on fire recently. El Duque is 1-0 with a microscopic 0.45 ERA over his last three starts.
His mound opponent, Matt Cain, is just 2-4 on the year despite posting a fine 3.23 ERA. Cain has been the victim of poor run support and he probably won’t receive much help from his offense tonight against Hernandez.
The lack of run support has started to wear on Cain recently, as evidenced by his 1-3 record and 5.28 ERA over his last five starts. His WHIP is also an unacceptable 1.69 over that span.
Lay the juice with the Mets as they grab the home win behind Hernandez.
Bonus Play: INDIANS
Marc Lawrence
Texas Rangers vs Seattle Mariners
Seattle w/Baek over Texas w/Padilla Mariners Cha Seung Baek has very quietly won 11 of his last 14 team starts and is in solid current KW form (2 walks, 20 strikeouts last four starts). Meanwhile, Texas' Vicente Padilla is just 2-9 in his 11 team starts this season. Look for the Rangers to dip to 1-6 on Thursdays, their worst day of the week, here tonight.
Dave Cokin
Take "(907) FLA Marlins"
I won't waste much space trying to extol the virtues of Florida right Wes Obermueller. Fact is, he's a fringe big league pitcher and that's it. But this is Obermueller's first shot to face his former employers as he takes the mound for the Marlins at Milwaukee. More importantly, the Florida bats are hot, Brewers starter Claudio Vargas has cooled considerably and there's a good sized underdog price tag here that's worth grabbing, so I'll go with the Marlins at the price."
Jim Feist
Take "(903) SDG Padres"
You need good control when pitching in a hitter's park like Pittsburgh. Greg Maddux has it (and always has) with 8 walks in 60 innings this season. His opponent, retread starter Shawn Chacon, has walked 20 in 37 innings, a terrible ratio. San Diego is tops in baseball with the best bullpen ERA, while Pittsburgh is 20th. Excellent value with the visitors, who have the better team, bullpen and starter. Play the Padres!
comp play
MTI Sports
Game: Chicago White Sox at Toronto Blue Jays May 31 2007 7:05PM
Prediction: Toronto Blue Jays
Reason: The Blue Jays are 20-3 as a home favorite after allowing 6+ runs loss and the league as a whole 46-102 as a dog when they blew a lead and lost in each of their last three games. The Sox qualify for this play-against system. Take the Jays
Alex Smart
Game: San Diego Padres at Pittsburgh Pirates
May 31 2007 7:05PM
Prediction: San Diego Padres
Reason: The San Diego Padres will send 21 year major league veteran Greg Maddux( 337-206 3.08 ERA lifetime) to the hill to face the Pittsburgh Pirates this evening. Maddux is off a good outing, winning against Milwaukee last time out. The right hander has allowed 3 or less ERs in 6 of his L/8 starts, and if and when the old guy falters, he will be backed with what is in my opinion the best bull pen in baseball as is evident by a .233 ERA. His pitching opponent from the Bucks Shawn Chacon, remains one of baseballs most hittable throwers, having allowed 767 career hits in just 777 innings of work for a bloated 5.03 ERA. Bottom line: I know the Pirates have been playing some fairly good baseball of late winning, 4 of their L/6 overall, but I see them beginning to revert to their previous sub .500 form after being shut out in 2 of their L/3 games. With that said lets ride the momentum of a Padres team that has won 11 of their L/15 overall.
Play on San Diego
MIKE WYNN
Seattle w/Baek -150 Over Padilla
Jimmy The Moose
Game: San Francisco Giants at New York Mets
May 31 2007 7:10PM
Prediction: New York Mets
Reason: Cain 2-4 takes the mound for the Giants tonight. San Francisco is 2-8 in his 10 starts this season. Giants won last night and are now 1-4 in their last 5 games. Mets counter with Hernandez tonight. The Mets are 4-2 in games he's started. Over his last 3 starts Hernandez is 1-0 with an ERA of 0.45 and NY has won all 3 games. The Giants are 4-9 in their last 13 vists to Shea.
Play on the Mets
Marc Lawrence
Game: Texas Rangers at Seattle Mariners
May 31 2007 10:05PM
Prediction: Seattle Mariners
Reason: Seattle w/Baek over Texas w/Padilla:
Mariners Cha Seung Baek has very quietly won 11 of his last 14 team starts and is in solid current KW form (2 walks, 20 strikeouts last four starts). Meanwhile, Texas' Vicente Padilla is just 2-9 in his 11 team starts this season. Look for the Rangers to dip to 1-6 on Thursdays, their worst day of the week, here tonight.
Bryan Leonard
Tigers at Indians
Detroit played at Tampa Bay and now heads to Cleveland. Starter Justin Verlander has never liked playing this Indians lineup, with a 4.85 career ERA against them. Verlander plays at home in a great pitcher's park, but Jacobs Field is anything but. And the Cleveland offense is one of the best in baseball. Starter C.C. Sabathia is an ace and having a monster season, at 7-1 with a 3.54 ERA. Big C.C. has a sizzling 73-13 K/BB ratio. The Tribe fans will be pumped with another first place battle on the line. Detroit's banged up bullpen is second worst in the AL (only Tampa Bay is worse).
PLAY THE INDIANS
JIM FIEST
(903) SDG Padres
(904) PIT Pirates
Take "(903) SDG Padres"
You need good control when pitching in a hitter's park like Pittsburgh. Greg Maddux has it (and always has) with 8 walks in 60 innings this season. His opponent, retread starter Shawn Chacon, has walked 20 in 37 innings, a terrible ratio. San Diego is tops in baseball with the best bullpen ERA, while Pittsburgh is 20th. Excellent value with the visitors, who have the better team, bullpen and starter. Play the Padres
RAZOR SHARP
LA DODGERS/WASHINGTON OVER total of 9
VEGAS EXPERTS
Los Angeles Dodgers at Washington Nationals
Thursday, May 31st, 7:10 PM EDT
Dodgers not only won the first two games here but Washington is yet to score. Dodgers are 11-4 this year vs. LHPs and 71-36 against the money line when playing against a team with a losing record over the last 2 seasons. WASHINGTON is 0-9 against the money line in home games vs. a very good bullpen whose WHIP is 1.250 or better over the last 2 seasons.
Play on: Los Angeles
Totals 4 U
Texas/seattle Over 9
Paul Leiner
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Sport: MLB
Game: San Francisco/New York
Prediction: 5* Mets -140
BIG AL MCMORDIE
Baltimore Orioles (Burres) +190 over Anaheim Angels (Escobar
MATT RIVERS
For Thursday take the White Sox in Toronto.
Roy Halladay is obviously one of, if not thee, best pitchers in all of baseball but coming off of the DL like this I'll take my chances on the White Sox. Chicago has certainly not overachieved this season unlike a few years ago when they won the World Series but this team still has a huge upside and a potential to score a bunch of runs at the drop of a hat. Thome, Konerko, Dye and the Sox should hold their own today against the Toronto righthander in this spot.
Meanwhile Toronto is a club that is also talented but playing below themselves. They do boast righthanded pop which can cause problems for Mark Buehrle but the southpaw is still a quality hurler that has a Cy Young award to himself as well.
Halladay would not shock me to spin a gem in this first start back because he is a bona fide superstar but he also may be on a pitch count and or not be too sharp as he has not faced big league hitters in a few months now.
There is just nothing to lose here on Ozzie Guillen's Sox. They have the ability to beat anybody at anytime and especially a guy that is still possibly a little banged up.
TRACE ADAMS
Cincinnati-Houston OVER
SCOTT DELANEY
3? ANGELS RUN LINE
Big Al play for hoops tonight 3* Pistons
__________________
Larry Ness
Las Vegas Insider-MLB (ov 62% previous two years / 3-1 since Mid-May!)
My Las Vegas Insider is on the Sea Mariners at 10:05 ET. May has not been a very good month for the Rangers. In fact, one more loss will make it the worst May in their history. The Rangers open a four-game series tonight against the Mariners at Safeco. After losing 15 of 25 games in April, the Rangers have matched the 1990 and 2001 teams for the worst May in club history by going 9-19. Overall, they are 19-34 (2nd-worst record in MLB) and a ML-worst 8-19 on the road! Vicente Padilla (2-7, 5.77 ERA) will try to get Texas into the win column, something he hasn't done often this season. Padilla is 0-4 with a 7.59 ERA in four road starts and the Rangers have lost nine of his 11 starts in '07. Padilla also has never fared well against the Mariners. That trend continued on April 14 when he gave up six runs and six hits in six innings of an 8-3 loss at Safeco Field. Padilla is 1-4 with a 5.79 ERA in seven career games against Seattle. The Mariners return home after a 6-4 road trip. While Texas is averaging 3.4 runs in eight games since scoring 14 in back-to-back contests May 20-21, Seattle owns the 2nd-best team batting average in MLB (.279) and averaged 8.14 RPG over the final seven games of its trip. Cha Seung Baek is on the mound for Seattle. He gave up one unearned run and five hits over seven innings last Saturday in a 9-1 victory at Kansas City, throwing 74 of his 98 pitches for strikes. Since struggling to a 4.65 ERA in his first three starts, Baek has allowed 10 total runs over 28.2 innings in his past four outings, for a 3.14 ERA. Baek is 3-0 with a 2.08 ERA in four career starts versus the Rangers.
Las Vegas Insider
Seattle Mariners
Larry Ness
20* Eastern Conference Finals GOY (Game 5: Cavs/Pistons)
My 20* play is on the Det Pistons at 8:15 ET. The Pistons missed their chance of making this a quick series, by losing BOTH games in Cleveland. Detroit had chances in both games but now find themselves in a 'war,' tied at 2-all (like last year). In last year's semis, the Cavs won in Detroit in Game 5 but the Pistons rebounded to take Games 6 and 7. I expect the Pistons to "take no prisoners" in this game. Detroit has yet to play a good game, as the Cavs have 'covered' all four games of this series. Detroit's great backcourt has yet to rise to the challenge, but I'm 'betting' they do tonight. Billups is averaging a 'quiet' 15.5 PPG in the series and made just 10-of-30 FG attempts in the two games in Cleveland. Hamilton, a career 20.5 PPG scorer in the postseason, has averaged just 13.0 PPG (16-of-43 shooting) the last three games, after a 24-point effort in Game 1. As for the Cavs, LeBron came up big in Cleveland, averaging 28.5-8.0-10.0, after averaging just 14.5 PPG on 12-of-34 shooting for the two games in Detroit. Remember, the Cavs scored exactly 76 points in EACH of the first two games, shooting 38.5% from the floor, including just 7-of-29 (24.1%) from the three-point arc. Also, don't expect another 21-point game from Daniel Gibson. The rookie from Texas entered Game 4 averaging 4.5 PPG in his first 13 playoff games but scored 21 points in Game 4, while making 12-of-12 free throws. Note he had attempted just NINE free throws in the first 13 games of this year's postseason. This game will be ALL Detroit!
Eastern Finals GOY
20* Detroit Pistons
Larry Ness
15* AL Total of the Week (7-1 with MLB totals in '07 / 44-11 with 15* GOW plays!)
My 15* play is on Det/Cle Over at 7:05 ET. I played this same matchup 'over' last Saturday and it just snuck over the 8 1/2 with a 6-3 final. The total figures to be just about the same in this one and I'll go over once again. While we have two excellent pitchers in this game, Verlander (5-1, 2.71 ERA in 10 starts) for the Tigers and Sabathia (7-1, 3.54 ERA in 11 starts) for the Indians, too many factors point to a higher scoring game than the 'number' indicates. The Tigers were last year's best road team, going 49-32 (plus-$1,700) and are once again playing well away from Comerica, at 15-11. Even more importantly, they average 5.27 RPG on the road. The Indians have been MLB's best road team in 2007, going 17-4, while averaging 6.03 RPG. Delving deeper, the Tigers, after going 35-20 against left-handed starters last year (averaging just under five RPG), are 9-3 (plus-$610) when facing a lefty this year, averaging 5.92 RPG. Meanwhile, the Indians are 'killing' right-handed starters in 2007, going 24-12 (plus-$1,065), while averaging 6.03 RPG.
AL Total of the Week
Detroit/Cleveland Over
__________________
JEFF ALEXANDER
Cincinnati Reds -125 (action)
We have to go against the Astros here today. Houston has now lost 10 straight games and 12 of its last 13. No team in baseball is struggling more. Houston can thank its bats for this terrible losing streak. It doesn't matter who they send to the mound, the offense won't support them. The Reds have won 3 in a row and 2 straight over Houston. They'll out hit the Astros again today. Take the Reds.
Mike Rose
Los Angeles Dodgers -1.5 (120)
Thu May 31 '07 7:05p
The Nats returned home feeling great about themselves after taking 5 of 7 from both the Reds and Cardinals on their 7-game road trip, and things looked to be on the up and up. That is until the Dodgers paid the nations capital a visit and gave the Nats a beating for the ages the last couple nights. The tally from the first two games of this series is quite simple....Dodgers 15 Nats zippo, zilch, nathan, nada!!! That's right, the dodgers pitching staff and defense haven't allowed the Nats one run thus far, and runs look to be few and far between again tonight with lefty Mark Hendrickson toeing the rubber. Washington is flat out putrid when it comes to hitting lefty pitching. They own a woeful batting average of .245 and an anemic slugging percentage of .348. Not the greatest of numbers at all, and I don't foresee them just blowing up against Hendrickson regardless of the fact that he hasn't been the sharpest his L/3 starts. I'm not a fan of relievers jumping up to the starters role, and Micah Bowie by no means will strike any fear into the hearts of the Dodger batters. His only two starts this season saw him up against a struggling Cards team at the time, and the soft hitting Orioles. This Dodger club is a completely different breed than what he's faced thus far, and I foresee an early exit this evening as the Dodgers role big here to cover the run line.
Florida Marlins (138)
Thu May 31 '07 8:05p
How can we not back the fighting fish in this spot. They enter this ballgame hot hot hot, and are coming off their first ever 3-game sweep at Wrigley Field as the "friendly confines" really lived up to its name for the South Florida natives the L/3 nights. Now they have to jump on a bus and head north to take on the slumping Brewers who are coming off one of their toughest losses of the season. They looked to have Wednesday's game against the Braves well in hand late in the game, but the bullpen imploded and turned a 2-1 Brewer lead into a 9-3 defeat after allowing eight runs in the last two innings of the contest. The Marlins are yet to win a road start for Wes Obermueller, but Miller Park could be considered his home away from home as he used to be a pitcher on the brewers pitching staff for a couple of years. He's familiar with the atmosphere and surroundings, and I believe he'll put forth his best road effort of the year because of that. Claudio Vargas has gotten off to a nice start this year, but I don't trust him whatsoever. He's way overdue to get blown up one of these days, and the Marlins are just the team to take it to him out of nowhere. He's been hit hard his last three starts, and this looks to be as good a time as any to fade him once again. After pulling to just one game under .500 last night, the Marlins will come out very eager looking to even up their
MATT F@RGO
MLB Los Angeles vs. Washington
Take Los Angeles Dodgers
Washington seems to be falling into a similar spot that the Royals are in. After a great run, it looks as though it’s over and a big downfall could be here as we speak. The Nationals were shut out for the second consecutive day by the Dodgers as the offense, which was hitting good, is now struggling. Los Angeles has won three straight and six of its last seven games to push its record to three games over .500 on the road. The Dodgers have won five straight in this series and get the sweep on Thursday. Mark Hendrickson looked to have revived his career this season with a very strong start but his last three outings have been anything but spectacular. After allowing three runs or less in his first four outings, he has given up four or more in his last three but he can come out of that funk by facing an offense that is down. Washington is hitting only .208 against left-handed pitching over its last 10 games and is hitting just .233 on the season at home against southpaws. Washington counters with Micah Bowie who has looked decent in both of his starts but he has not been able to log a lot of innings since they were his first big league starts since 1999 when he was with the Cubs. He brings in a career 6.27 ERA and 1.70 WHIP so we see what we are dealing with here. The Dodgers are hitting .275 against lefties on the season and also over their last 10 games. They are 11-4 against left-handed starters including a 4-1 record on the road. The Nationals are hitting only .237 on the year which is worst in the National League while their 191 runs scored are second worst. These struggles of the offense, especially of late, put the Dodgers into a solid situation. Play against National League home teams with a team batting average of .245 or worse on the season, with an on base percentage of .260 or worse over their last three games. This situation is 35-20 against the moneyline (63.6 percent) over the last five seasons.
Play Los Angeles Dodgers 1 Unit
GOLD KEY GAMES:
3 Units (Bonus Play): Pittsburgh Pirates +1.5 -145
2 Units (Bonus Play): Cleveland Cavaliers +6
Silver Key (Bonus Play): LA Angels -185
Gold Key (Paid Play): UNDER 172.5 Pistons / Cavs
The Cavaliers under Head Coach Mike Brown came through late to win Game Three at Home, and then again to take Game Four at Home. Their Offense has been sporadic all Series, but their Defense has played well throughout. The Cavs will need to win one on the Road if they are to take the Eastern Conference Finals. Trends favoring the Under involving Cavs games include 19-4 Under Against The Spread in this Series, 41-17 Under ATS in Division Play, and 78-46 Under ATS versus winning teams.
The Pistons under Head Coach Flip Saunders failed late in Game Three, and then again in Game Four. They need only to protect their Home Court to prevail in this Series. The Pistons have been lame on Offense lately, but they continue to play strong Defense. Trends favoring the Under in Pistons events include 17-6 Under ATS when tied in a Playoff Series, 20-7 Under ATS in the Conference Finals, and 91-61 Under ATS versus winning teams.
The Totals line overnited at 172.5. We'll go with the Under here tonight in a Gold Key Play.
Dave M@linsky (Bonus Play) (he's on the Tribe along with everyone else)
REASON FOR PICK: 3* CLEVELAND over DETROIT
After reaching a peak in the marketplace this morning we are now seeing this line settle back down again, and that means time to hit the "play" button. For while it is easy to imagine money showing up for Detroit in a payback setting after being swept by the Indians last weekend, especially with Justin Verlander on the mound, the truth is that Jim Leyland’s hands are tied in a major way for this one. His team is simply over-matched.
Being over-matched by the Tribe would be nothing new, of course – they were out-scored by eight runs in that humbling 0-3 collar at Comerica Park last weekend. But now things only go from bad to worse. With both members of the starting left side of the infield expected to sit out, Brandon Inge because of a broken toe and Carlos Guillen with a strained left groin, Leyland is down to Omar Infante and Neifi Perez, which is particularly bad news against C. C. Sabathia. Those two have combined to go 6-33 lifetime against him, with nine strikeouts, and Perez in particular is not hitting much of anyone right now. But the problems are not limited to the lineup.
What has been one of the best bullpens in the Major’s the last two seasons is wafer thin tonight. Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney are on the DL; Jason Grilli has been sidelined since taking a line drive on the knee against Cleveland last Saturday and is questionable at best; and key set-up men Zach Miner (45 pitches last night) and Wilfredo Ledezma (42 pitches on Wednesday) are both in need of a night off. Not having Ledezma is a particular issue against all of the left-handers in the Indian lineup. And as for Verlander, as electric as his stuff can be this is a quick second look for a team that just faced him on Saturday, working him to 105 pitches over six innings. After facing Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett and Daisuke Matsuzaka the last three nights, dealing with his stuff has been made much easier.
Cleveland is 10-1 when Sabathia takes the mound this season, with the wins coming by an average of 3.4 runs, and it has been a perfect 6-0 at home. Behind their ace lefty the Indians do not have a single bad fatigue rating in the bullpen. It all adds up to an easy win at a price that does not properly incorporate the Detroit issues for this game
Thursday's Comps
Sebastian-Mets
Marc Young-UNDER Baltimore
Computer Boys-Colorado
OTM-Texas
Winner Line-Seattle
Kevin Kennedy-Anaheim
Feiner-OVER Reds
All these Touts have clev(nba) as there top play,
bobby maxwell 400 unit
b.lang 15 dime
chris jordan 500 unit
karl garrett 40 dime
drew gordon 200,000
rob house
has 1,000,000 trifecta with det (nba),
san fran,
cincy
Drew Gordon
200,000* Cavaliers
100,000* NY Mets
100,000* Astros
Brandon Lang
15 DIME
Cleveland Cavs
5 DIME
Orioles
White Sox
Rob House
1,000,000? San Francisco Giants W/ Cain
1,000,000? Cincinnati Reds W/ Arroyo
1,000,000? Detroit Pistons
Cal Sports=
5*AL GOM INDIANS
WILL COVER
4*DODGERS
3*Cavs Over
Rocketman
FREE MLB PLAY THURSDAY (111-77 59% run with freebies)
Baltimore @ LA Angels 10:05 PM EST
Play On: 1* LA Angels -1 1/2 -105
Baltimore is 15-35 last 3 years when the total is 8 to 8 1/2. Baltimore is 5-14 last 3 years after shutting out their opponent. Baltimore is 68-127 last 3 years when playing against a team with a winning record. Baltimore is scoring only 4.5 rpg overall, 4.3 rpg on the road and 4.1 rpg against Right Handed Starters this year. Baltimore bullpen has a whopping 5.53 ERA on the road this year. Angels are batting .304 at home this year as a team. Angels bullpen has a 3.55 ERA at home this year. Escobar is 6-2 with a 2.64 ERA overall this year, 4-1 with a 1.76 ERA at home and 2-1 with a 3.64 ERA his last 3 starts. LA Angels are 7-2 at home against Baltimore last 3 years. Escobar is 11-3 with a 3.63 ERA overall vs Baltimore since 1997. We'll recommend a small play on the LA Angels on the runline tonight! Thanks and good luck, Rocky
FPBE Free Picks
Marc Lawrence - SEA -147
Matty O'Shea - STL/COL over 9.5
Ben Burns - NYM -136
Larry Ness - NYM -136
Bryan Leonard - CLV -145 (MLB)
Rocky Atkinson - LAA -1.5, -105
Jeff Bonds - CLV +5.5 (NBA)
SCOTT SPREITZER
4* San Diego
TRIPLE CROWN SPORTS
3* Baltimore/LAA under 8.5
Bobby Maxwell
400-Unit NBA Playoff Pushover - CAVALIERS
100-Unit AL Rivalry Release - TIGERS
Karl Garrett
40 DIMER - CLEVELAND CAVALIERS....
20 DIMER - CAVS-PISTONS OVER....
10 DIMER - SAN DIEGO W
Bob Balfe
YTD = 64-54
NBA
Detroit - 5.5
MLB
Totonto -150
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Proffit Plays
Triple Plays = 94-87
MLB
LA Dodgers
Seattle
LAA
Daily Best Bets
YTD = 28-31
NBA
Cleveland +5.5
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Professional Plays
YTD = 31-13
Plays rated 1-5 Units
MLB
2 units on LA Dodgers -138
1.5 Unit on Cleveland -145
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Hank Best-
10.5* Cleveland Indians RL