Michael Cannon
20 Dime
YANKEES
Take the Yankees as the small road favorite today in Game 1 of their ALDS over the Indians.
New York will send Chien-Ming Wang to the mound and the right-hander turned in another impressive season, going 19-7 with a 3.70 ERA. He should be able to give manager Joe Torre at least six strong innings tonight, and unlike recent seasons it shouldn’t be an adventure once the bullpen takes over.
That’s because the biggest key in this series, as far as I’m concerned, is the emergence of Yankee setup man Joba Chamberlain.
The rookie right-hander gives the Yankees their most deadly bridge to the closer since Mariano Rivera was setting things up for John Wetteland.
Chamberlain has been virtually unhittable since his promotion to the big leagues, pitching 24 innings and allowing just one earned run on 12 hits, while striking out 34. His emergence gives the Yankees the opportunity to shorten the game to six innings. If the Bronx Bombers have the lead after that point, you can chalk up the win.
As far as the potential for the Yankees hitters to come up short, you can forget about that tonight.
That’s because the Indians will start C. C. Sabathia. Although the burly left-hander is a Cy Young candidate, he has struggled big time against New York in his career.
Sabathia is just 1-7 with a 7.13 ERA in eight career starts against the Yankees.
New York as a team dominated the Tribe in the regular season, winning all six games. They batted .348 as a team and outscored Cleveland 49-17. Overall the Yankees have won the last eight meetings between the clubs.
Take the Yankees as the small road chalk as they grab the win in Game 1.
10 Dime
SOUTH CAROLINA (Buy the ½ point if your line is -3 ½)
Lay the small number with South Carolina tonight when they host Kentucky.
I know Kentucky brings the best player into this game in Andre Woodson. The Wildcats quarterback is a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate and is one of the nation’s most accurate passers.
But he’s not going against some run-of-the-mill secondary in South Carolina.
The Gamecocks have a veteran laden defense and sport the No. 1 pass defense in the country. The home crowd will add to that advantage by making it difficult for Woodson to call out his signals.
South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier absolutely owns Kentucky, going 14-0 SU in his career against them. The ‘Ol Ball Coach is 33-12-1 ATS playing an SEC opponent off a win and the Gamecocks have won seven in a row against Kentucky (5-2 ATS).
It also helps that South Carolina has already faced two of the SEC’s top teams in Lsu and Georgia, and covered the number in both games.
I’m just not convinced that Kentucky is worthy of its Top 10 ranking, as they haven’t faced the caliber of competition that South Carolina will bring tonight. Sure the Wildcats 40-34 victory over Louisville was impressive at the time, but that win was tempered after the Cardinals lost at home to Syracuse two weeks ago.
The coaching edge definitely goes to South Carolina in this one and it’s hard to go against Spurrier at home laying just a field goal.
Lay the points with South Carolina and remember to buy the ½ point if your line is -3 ½.