ANTHONY REDD
20 DIME Philadelphia Phillies
Bobby Maxwell
300-Unit SAN DIEGO PADRES
Chuck O'Brien
30 DIME: Rockies-Giants UNDER
Larry Ness
10* Daytime Dominator - Atlanta Braves
The Phillies limped into their series with Florida in a total FUNK, having lost FIVE straight games. More than that, the two-time defending NL champs (WS champs in 2008) had been shut out in FOUR of those games plus the Phils' lineup had been held scoreless in 46 of the previous 47 innings. The Phils were able to win the first two games of the series by rallying from a 2-0 deficit on Friday night (broke their 31-inning scoreless drought by scoring in the 4th inning), winning 3-2 despite just seven hits. Then Saturday night, the team's single run in the 3rd inning was enough to make it two straight wins, as Roy Halladay threw the 20th perfect game in major league history. However, the Phils were again shut out on Sunday, losing 1-0. That's SIX losses in Philadelphia's last eight games (FIVE shut outs!) while scoring a grand total of just SEVEN runs during that span. Philadelphia is batting .186 as a team in that stretch and hasn’t homered in a season-high 54 innings! As Memorial Day dawns, there's a real race in the NL East with the Braves a half-game back, the Mets three back, plus the Nats and Marlins four games back. The Braves are a ML-best 15-4 since May 10 and have won 10 of 12 to pull within that half-game of the Phillies. More good news comes Atlanta's way in that catcher Brian McCann is expected to make his first start in five games today vs Philly. Joe Blanton gets the call for the Phillies in this one. Blanton was a solid starter for the A's, winning 42 games from 2005-07. He really struggled in 2008 (5-12 with a 4.96 ERA in 20 starts) and was traded to the Phillies during that season. He pitched well for the Phillies down the stretch, going 4-0 with a 4.20 ERA in 13 starts (team was 10-3). He was then very good in the postseason (2-0 with a 3.18 ERA in three starts, all wins), as the Phillies won the World Series. Blanton was nothing special last year (12-8 with a 4.05 ERA in 31 starts (17-14 in his starts) but he's considered a strong back-of-the-rotation guy. He began 2010 on the DL with a strained oblique and finally made his season debut on May 3, allowing 10 hits and four ERs in 6.2 innings of a 6-3 home loss to the Cards. He really hasn't "found a groove," going 1-3 in five starts (team is 2-3) with a 5.62 ERA. He's made just two road starts, allowing five ERs in each outing while allowing 12 hits and five walks over 12.1 innings for a 7.30 ERA. Tommy Hanson starts for Atlanta. He was rocked for a career-worst eight ERs in 1.2 innings of a 10-9 win over Cincinnati on May 20 but rebounded by allowing just two ERs over six innings of a 7-3 win at Florida last Wednesday. He went 11-4 with a 2.89 ERA last season as a rookie and while he's a more modest 4-3 with a 4.06 ERA after 10 starts this year, the Braves have won SEVEN of his last nine starts! No reason to think the Phils will start hitting here and Blanton shouldn't be much of a problem for those Atlanta bats!
Lenny Del Genio
Play - Detroit -1.5 +125
The Tigers were in a slump as they went into yesterday’s game against the A’s on a four game losing streak and having won only once in the past seven games. During that stretch the Detroit bats were silent hitting only .235 and scoring 3.1 runs per game. However, they snapped out of it by pounding Oakland yesterday afternoon 10-2. They go at it again this afternoon and the Tigers have a chance to smash the series behind Verlander. They couldn’t have a better guy on the mound as the Tiger righty has a perfect 10-0 team start record pitching in his home park in the sunshine. The Tigers have won those 10 games by an average of 3.1 runs. The A’s start Cahill this afternoon and although the A’s righty has been pitching decent he is allowing more than one home run per start, a bad sign for Oakland as the Tigers are 11-1 against pitchers who give up too many long balls. Cahill has pitched only four times on the road this season and he hasn’t looked that sha€rp with a 4.56 ERA. Meanwhile, the last three times Verlander has pitched here in Detroit, against the Yankees, Angels and Twins, his line reads 20 and 2/3 innings allowing one earned run. Verlander faced these A’s once earlier this season out in Oakland and the A’s couldn’t tough him pitching a complete game and allowing only one run and four hits. The only time Cahill pitched here in Detroit was last season and his line read 2 and 1/3 innings allowing seven earned runs. It all points to an easy Tiger win this afternoon. At BetUS.com the Tigers on the run line are +125. Make a run line play on Detroit!
Ben Burns
10* Philadelphia/Chicago Under 6
I'm playing on Philadelphia and Chicago to finish UNDER the total. After a very high-scoring series opener, in my opinion, we're now getting excellent value with the 'under' here. The line has climbed from 5.5 to 6, which is definitely significant, and we don't have to lay much/any juice at all to play. Yes, Game 1 was a "goal-fest." In fact, it was the highest scoring game in the Stanley Cup Finals in more than 15 years. However, every game is unique and that certainly doesn't mean that this one will be the same.
Note that the Hawks are still only 2.3 goals per game in the playoffs while the Flyers are still allowing just 2.3. Also, note that the UNDER is still a profitable 11-5-3 the last 19 meetings between these teams.
Naturally, the Flyers weren't at all happy with their defense or goaltending in the opener. I expect them to put a real emphasis on improving their defense here. All the post-game talk revolved around and getting better on that side of the puck, with Flyers coach Peter Laviolette summing it up simply: "We've got to be a little bit better defensively than we were."
Note that the UNDER is a profitable 19-9-2 the last 30 times that the Flyers allowed four or more goals in their previous game.
Chicago coach Joel Quenneville was as surprised about all the offense as anyone. He was quoted as saying: "...Certainly, I don't think anybody envisioned 5-5 heading into the third period..."
Quenneville also noted that: "Things settled down as the game progressed..." That was true, as there was only one goal scored in the third period. I expect that style of play, that we saw in the third period, to carry over into Game 2.
I mentioned that the line climbing from 5.5 to six was significant. That gives us the 'push' if a 3-2 game sees an empty net goal scored, which is more common than one might expect. Also, check this out. The Flyers have seen the UNDER go a profitable 27-13-3 the last 43 times that they played a road game of six or greater. Meanwhile, we find the UNDER at an extremely lucrative 50-22-9 the last 81 times that the Hawks had played a home game with a total of six or greater. I expect those stats to improve here. *10
Power Play Wins
Florida Marlins -120
David Banks
Braves -148
Brewers +113
Tigers -165
Royals -105
Blue Jays +126
Padres -106
Fantasy Sports Gametime
100* Play Houston (-180) over Washington
Houston pitcher, Roy Oswalt has won 3 consecutive games as a home favorite of -175 to -200 and he has also won 9 of the last 12 games when pitching on a Monday. Roy Oswalt is 3-1 vs. Washington over his career with an ERA of 3.03 and he has an ERA of 1.71 over the last 3 overall starts.
100* Play Atlanta (-150) over Philadelphia
Atlanta has won 10 of the last 12 games and they have also won 14 of the last 18 games as a home favorite of -110 or higher. Atlanta has won 9 of the last 11 home games when the total posted is between 8.5 and 10 runs and pitcher, Tommy Hanson has won 12 of the last 15 games when pitching in the 1st half of the season.
50* Play Chicago (-200) over Philadelphia
ATS Lock Club
4 Units Rockies Under
3 Units Padres
KIKI SPORTS
3 Units Minnesota -120
1 Unit Washington +180
1 Unit NY Mets -100
1 Unit LA Angels -110
Dave Cokin
Solid Gold Play
Matchup: Colorado at San Francisco
Time: 4:05 PM EDT (Mon)
Listed pitchers must go: (R) JIMENEZ, U vs. (R) LINCECUM, T
Play: Colorado (ML +100)
Talk about a marquee pitching duel! It can't get much better than Ubaldo Jimenez against Tim Lincecum. Obviously, both pitchers are entirely capable of completely shutting down any opponent. But right now Jimenez is the most dominating pitcher in the game, while Lincecum has been a little off his game recently, suffering through some bouts with his control. Beyond that, the idea of getting Jimenez against virtually any opponent at this kind of price is something that cannot be passed up by me, so I'm taking the Rockies to get the money tonight.
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Matchup: Minnesota at Seattle
Time: 10:10 PM EDT (Mon)
Listed pitchers must go: (L) LIRIANO, F vs. (R) FISTER, D
Play: Minnesota (ML -113)
It's Liriano vs. Fister tonight as the Twins open a series in Seattle with the Mariners. The home team comes limping back to Safeco after really letting one get away on Sunday against the beat up Angels. Considering how infrequently the Mariner bats score that many runs, this had to be a very tough pill to swallow. But the fact is that the Mariners bullpen is not really doing a very good job right now, and that could present problems late against a dynamic Minnesota attack. On the flip side, Fransicso Liriano hasn't really cooled off to a great extent. He's simply been facing the iron in AL East lately and shutting down those entries is might tough. But if you look at the Twins southpaw's ledger so far, he's done exceptionally well against the weaker offensive squads, and the Mariners absolutely qualify in that regard. Doug Fister continues to amaze for the M's, but I expect the Twins to touch him up for a few scores tonight, and I'll bank on Liriano to take care of business on his end. Mark me down for the play on the Twins.
Super Sports Group
8* Phillies/Braves Over 8.5
9* A's/Tigers Under 7.5
7* A's +160
8* Rays/Jays Over 8.5
7* Jays +125
9* Twins/Mariners Over 7
BEN BURNS
10* MARLINS
9* TWINS/MARINERS UNDER
8* BRAVES
Street Rosenthal
*200 Philadelphia Phillies +130
*200 Detroit Tigers -176
*200 Houston Astros -184
*200 LA Angels -105
SPORTBOOK GURU
10 units New York Mets +105
10 units Philadelphia +1.5 & 10 units Philadelphia +125
3 units Pittsburgh +1.5 & 3 units Pittsburgh +120
3 units Cincinnati +1.5 & 3 units Cincinnati +140
3 units Oakland/Detroit Over 7.5
KELSO
25 Units Dodgers -1.5 +120
15 Units Blue Jays +130
10 Units Mets +100
3 Units Twins -120