KIKI SPORTS
2 Units San Diego -120
1 Unit Atlanta -145
1 Unit Baltimore +155
Rocketman
3* San Diego -120
JR O'Donnell
2* White Sox -1.5
Chi Sox -1.5 Runs -110 behind the Rock G Floyd who is 7-8 over all and 3.54 ERA will end B Showalter's nice run to the O's. The Chi Sox are the sharp side here as G. Floyd is 5-2 with a 1.00 ERA. On the flip side K. Millwood for the O's is terrible 2-7 with an 8.84 ERA. Millwood is 1-5 in 10 all-time vs the Chi Sox.. The White Sox are a torrid 38-14 73% since June 1st and they will be the sharp side from tonight.
The Asian Executive lock of the millenium Colorado
Email said wager 10x normal GOY play.
Michael Cannon
20 Dime Phillies
Dave Cokin
Baltimore
Fantasy Sports Gametime
1000* Play Winnipeg (+3) over Hamilton (EAST DIVISION GOY)
Hamilton has lost 13 of the last 15 games after having lost three of the last four games and they have also lost 14 of the last 18 games coming off an OVER the total. Hamilton has lost 3 of their first 4 games against the spread and they have also lost 20 of the last 29 games after playing the first month of the season.
100* Play NY Yankees (-185) over Boston
New York has won 11 of the last 13 games after having lost four or five of the last six games and they have also lost 16 of the last 19 games after batting .300 or worse in the last 10 games. CC Sabathia has won 12 of the last 13 games when pitching in the month of August and he is 7-0 at home this season with an ERA of 2.69.
50* Play Chicago White Sox (-160) over Baltimore
Chicago pitcher, Gavin Floyd has won 8 of the last 10 games as a favorite of -150 or higher and he is 2-0 over the last 3 starts with an ERA of 0.43. Baltimore pitcher, Kevin Millwood has lost 5 of the last 6 games vs. Chicago and he is 0-3 over the last 3 starts with an ERA of 7.79.
50* Play Florida (-180) over St. Louis
Florida pitcher, Josh Johnson has won 10 of the last 12 games as a favorite of -110 or higher and he has also won 8 of the last 11 games when pitching on a Saturday. Josh Johnson has won 24 of the last 37 games when pitching in the 2nd half of the season and he is 7-2 in home games this season with an ERA of 1.41.
Bob Balfe
Oakland Athletics -116
Oakland is a hot team at home and Gio Gonzalez has pitched pretty well this season. Texas is at the tail-end of a long road trip so I don't expect their offense to be at full throttle. Take Oakland today.
Rocketman
3* San Diego -120
San Diego is now 63-45 overall this year while Arizona comes in with a 42-68 overall record on the season. San Diego is 27-14 this year against teams with a losing record. Arizona is 10-29 this year against division opponents. San Diego bullpen has a 2.84 ERA overall this year and a 3.10 ERA on the road this season. Arizona bullpen has a 6.42 ERA overall this year and a 5.53 ERA at home this season. Clayton Richard is 9-5 with a 3.60 ERA overall this year, 4-2 on the road and 2-1 his last 3 starts. Rodrigo Lopez is 5-10 overall this year, 3-6 at home and 0-2 his last 3 starts. San Diego has won 7 of 10 meetings with Arizona this year. Richard is 1-0 overall vs Arizona since 1997 while Lopez is 0-2 overall vs San Diego since 1997. We'll play San Diego for 3 units tonight!
BIG AL
NL Central Game of the Month - Brewers
If it wasn't for bad luck in 2010, then Milwaukee Brewers lefthander Randy Wolf would be having no luck at all. After an up-and-down roller-coaster of a season that has been mostly down, Randy Wolf had a great start to end the month of July (although he took a no-decision in that win over the Reds) then he looked like he would make it two in a row when the wheels fell off of the roller coaster again. The veteran was cruising along in his last start against the Astros, with a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the seventh inning, when a line drive went off of his wrist and resulted in an infield single that knocked Wolf out of the game. The bullpen came in and promptly proceeded to completely implode and the game was lost. The two pieces of good news is that Wolf still got a quality start and no-decision in that one, and most importantly, he has been pronounced fine and ready to start this game tonight to try and get some revenge against the same Houston club. After a disastrous start to the season at home which saw them go 4-14 in their first 18 games at Miller Park the Brewers have started playing much better ball in front of the home faithful lately and are now 7-2 in their last nine home games heading into this series. Although he is only 5-5 in 15 career starts against the 'Stros, Wolf has pitched very well against them, putting up a very strong 3.49 ERA and 1.11 WHIP during that time. NL Central Game of the Month on the Brewers.
Jeff Benton
20 DIME - OAKLAND A’S
10 DIME - NEW YORK YANKEES -1½
OAKLAND A’S
Gio Gonzalez is one of the better pitchers in the American League that you DON’T know about. Although his record is just 9-7, he’s posted a 3.69 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP with a 120 strikeouts (vs. just 59 walks) in 134 innings.
Gonzalez has taken advantage of the cavernous Oakland Coliseum, where he’s 5-3 with a 3.27 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP (he’s allowed just four home runs in 63 1/3 innings at home). And more specifically, his stuff is very difficult to figure out in day games, as evidenced by the fact that he’s 5-1 with a 2.40 ERA under the sun, allowing just 33 hits (two home runs) and 12 walks in 48 2/3 innings. In those 48 2/3 innings, opponents are batting just .189 against the southpaw. Throw in a no-decision, and the A’s are 6-1 when Gonzalez pitches in day games.
That’s not a fluke, folks. That’s a solid trend. And I’ll tell you why it’s even more solid today against the Rangers. First off, Texas is not hitting left-handed pitching right now, as it entered this series batting just .245 vs. southpaws over the previous 10 games. Additionally, the Rangers today reach Game #8 of a nine-game West Coast road trip (L.A. to Seattle to Oakland). And with this being a short turnaround after a late game last night, I think we can safely assume that Texas manager Ron Washington will rest some of his big boppers.
After all, Texas has three HUGE series coming up against the Yankees (two games at home), Red Sox (three at home) and Rays (three on the road), at least one of whom the Rangers are likely to see come the playoffs.
Finally, while I’ve sung the praises of Oakland’s starting pitcher tonight, allow me a few words about Rangers right-hander (and ex-A’s hurler) Rich Harden. He was VERY impressive a week ago tonight at the Angels, returning after a seven-week stint on the DL and allowing one run in seven innings, leading Texas to a 2-1 win. But even with that effort Harden has a 5.25 ERA overall and a 6.12 ERA on the road. And while Gonzalez has given up just four home runs in 63 1/3 innings at home, Harden has been taken deep 10 times in 42 2/3 innings on the road.
Bottom line: The A’s have the better starting pitcher going in this one; they’ve played very well at home all season (32-23); and not only is Gonzalez tremendous in day games, his entire team is, as Oakland has the best daytime winning percentage in baseball at 25-11 (vs. 29-42 night). Texas, meanwhile, is 13-15 in day games (50-30 at night).
NEW YORK YANKEES -1½
Yes, CC Sabathia is coming off consecutive losses on the road to the Indians and Rays. But it wasn’t exactly the hefty lefty’s fault. He allowed just five earned runs total in the two starts, going seven innings at Cleveland and 6 2/3 at Tampa Bay. Problem is the Yankees scored a grand total of one run in those contests.
Prior to those two defeats, Sabathia had been on a 9-0, 10-game tear (New York also prevailed in the one no-decision) that stretched to the beginning of June. And even if you include the two recent losses, since June 1, Sabathia has delivered 12 consecutive quality starts while going 9-2 with a 2.39 ERA and 73 strikeouts in 86 2/3 innings. And he’s been ridiculously good at home this year, going 7-0 with a 2.69 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP in 10 starts.
Opposing batters have a .218 batting average against Sabathia at Yankee Stadium, and with the makeshift lineup Boston manager Terry Francona is being forced to field these days, I fully expect that opponents batting average to actually go down today. See, while Sabathia has struggled in three starts against the Red Sox this year (4.76 ERA), he also had to face Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis – Boston’s two best hitters who are both on the shelf (Youkilis for the season).
As for Red Sox right-hander John Lackey, I just do not trust him, as he’s easily been one of the five most inconsistent pitchers in all of baseball. For instance, he’s bookended a solid three-start stretch (3-0, 1.61 ERA) with two horrific losses to the Blue Jays and Indians (13 runs allowed in 10 innings). And with this being a day game in the Bronx, it must be noted that Lackey has a 6.75 ERA in six day games, five of which Boston has lost.
Finally, even though the Red Sox rolled to the 6-3 win last night, New York has been owning this rivalry, winning 14 of the last 19 meetings overall, including eight of 10 at Yankee Stadium. Also, 18 of the last 19 meetings have been decided by multiple runs and 56 of New York’s 67 wins have been by more than one run, including 13 of 15 wins behind Sabathia.
Teddy Covers
Angels / Tigers Over 9
Chicago Rush
Wayne Root
Billionaire - Phillies
Master Sports
3* Florida Under
Scott Rickenbach
10* Baltimore / Chicago White Sox Over
8* Toronto / Tampa Bay Over
Yesterday’s game was a low-scoring 2-1 pitchers duel. We love coming back with the over after a game like that when the other variables line up properly and we certainly feel that is the case here. James Shields gets the start for the Rays and he comes into this outing off of a great start against the Yankees. However, prior to that, things hadn’t exactly been going well for the Rays right-hander. His ERA had gone from 2.99 in late May to a 4.79 prior to the solid start against the Yanks. Shields had allowed 49 earned runs on 83 hits in his last 66 innings of work. As you can see, those are not the numbers you would expect from a projected “ace” like Shields. The bad news for him is that this start comes on the road where he’s struggled throughout his career. In other words, look for Shields so to resume the struggles that have been going on for the better part of two months. He’s 24-26 on the road in his career and has compiled a 4.69 ERA away from home in his career. Shields has allowed 8 homers in his 4 career starts at the Rogers Centre and has recorded just one win in Toronto in his career. The Blue Jays are the top home run hitting team in the league so look for more “long ball action” today.
As for the Jays pitching situation, it’s Brad Mills that gets the start. This is because Jesse Litsch is now out for the season. Though Mills impressed in his only start this season (about 10 days ago), the young southpaw is still very inexperienced. He made only two starts last season and this will be just his second start this season. Mills has compiled an ugly 7.36 ERA at the MLB level and we’re not going to put too much weight into just one start (though he did impress) against the Orioles on July 28th. The Rays are 24-17 to the over this season in divisional games. They are also 30-21 to the over this season when they are facing a team with a winning record. Additionally, the Rays are 3-1 to the over in Shields last 4 road starts. Tampa Bay is 13-8 to the over this season when they are on the road and the total is 9 or 9.5 runs. Though yesterday was the Blue Jays second straight under, they previously had recorded just two unders in their last nine games! They are a powerhouse hitting team at home and we look for them to get back on track against Shields. As for the Rays, they are 16-10-1 to the over in their last 27 road games and we look for them to resume their hot hitting against a rookie who ran into a dysfunctional Orioles team in his first start this season. Keep in mind, that was before the O’s made their managerial change and got hot. Now Mills must deal with a confident and talented Rays lineup. Play OVER the total in Toronto as an *8* Regular Play selection.
7* NY Yankees / Boston Over
Yesterday’s game was a disappointing push for over players. The total was a 9 and the game had 9 runs heading to the bottom of the 6th. Unfortunately not a single run crossed the plate in the final 3.5 innings and we were saddled with a frustrating top play push. We won’t hesitate to come right back with the over in a match-up that features a pair of teams that are 7-1 to the over this season when they are matched up with each other. The Red Sox are 11-6 to the over this season when they are on the road and the posted total is 8 or 8.5 runs. Although this total is moving to a 9 in many spots, note that Boston is 24-16 to the over in divisional games this season. Additionally, the Yankees are 24-15 to the over in divisional games this season. The Yanks are also 30-21 to the over in home games this season and they are 11-5 to the over on Saturdays this season.
CC Sabathia gets the start for the Yankees and, though he certainly has some put together some impressive numbers this season, note that he’s really not pitched well over the last 3 or 4 weeks. The big southpaw has allowed 15 runs (11 earned) on 36 hits and 14 walks in 27 innings of work! As you can see that’s an average of nearly two base runners per inning and the fact that Sabathia has a low ERA during what has truly been a rough stretch for him is helping to give us line value with the over here. The Yanks southpaw will be opposed by John Lackey of the Red Sox. The big right-hander is 5-7 with a 4.40 ERA in his career against the Yankees and they’ve hit him at a .283 clip. Lackey has been on a bit of a roller-coaster of late as he’s allowed at least four runs (most have been earned) in five of his last nine starts. Also, other than a two-hitter at Seattle recently, note what he’s done in the other eight starts that comprise this nine game up and down stretch. In these eight outings, Lackey has given up 65 hits in 48.1 innings of work. As you can see, he’s been very hittable and we expect the Yankees to have no trouble connecting early and often against Lackey. Note that Lackey has just 1 win in his 6 road starts this season and he’s compiled a 6.75 ERA under the sun while getting rocked at a .322 clip in day games! Look for more of the same here as he faces a potent Yankees lineup here. Play OVER the total in the New York Yankees game as a *7* Regular Play selection.