Ben Burns
Phillies / Giants Under
I'm playing on the Phillies and Giants to finish UNDER the total. The first two games of this series both finished with seven runs. With the series shifting to San Francisco and with yet another pair of highly capable pitchers on the mound, I expect an even lower-scoring affair. Yes, both Cain and Hamels have had longer layoffs than normal, which can sometimes have a negative effect. However, in this case, I feel that both starters will be just fine. These guys would be 'aces' on a lot of staffs. Both were excellent in their first round start and since then, both have been watching all these other outstanding pitching performances. They'll both be anxious to get back out there and show what they're capable of. Hamels was absolutely dominant in his lone playoff start vs. the Reds. In that game, he tossed a complete-game 5-hit shutout. He recorded 9 K's and 0 walks, en route to earning a 2-0 victory. Hamels, the 2008 World Series MVP, was quoted as saying: "Postseason is where it's at. It's the ultimate time to really show what kind of player you are, what kind of pitcher you are. These are the types of games and types of moments when you set foot in spring training it's the ultimate goal for the whole team to go out and enjoy." For the season, Hamels had a 2.94 ERA, including a very solid 3.02 ERA (1.15 WHIP) on the road. In 104 innings on the road, he had 109 K's with only 30 walks. The UNDER was 11-6 in his road starts and 22-12 overall. Like Hamels, Matt Cain was very tough in this season's lone playoff appearance. In 6 2/3 innings, he limited the Braves to a single unearned run. Cain was also very stingy at home all season. In 12 starts here, he went 8-4 with a 2.75 ERA and 1.032 WHIP. Cain was quoted as saying: "You just feel comfortable pitching at home. Just try to relax and try to almost enjoy it and soak it all in, to try to take the nerves off a little bit." True, its a low O/U line. However, when considering that the Phillies have seen the UNDER go 15-5-2 the last 22 times that they played a game with an O/U line of seven or less, including 10-3-1 on the road, it starts to seem a lot more reasonable. Look for those stats to improve here, as this one proves lower-scoring than many will be expecting.
Bobby Maxwell
200-Unit ALCS Smart Play - New York Yankees
It’s time for the Yankees’ A.J. Burnett to start earning some of that big money they are paying him. I’m banking on him bringing his best stuff to the park tonight and scoring the big win for New York and drawing even in this ALCS.
Burnett (10-15, 5.26 ERA) had a brutal regular season but he can make all the fans forget about that tonight with a big start in Game 4. Burnett did see the Rangers three times this season and pitched very well in his home start on April 17, allowing no runs and six hits in seven innings of the 7-3 victory. Since joining the Yankees, Burnett has not allowed more than three runs to the Rangers in six outings.
Tommy Hunter (13-5, 3.75 ERA) is scheduled to pitch for the Rangers tonight. Four of his five losses were on the road. He faced the Rays in the ALDS and allowed three runs on six hits over four innings and fell 5-2. The Rangers have dropped four of his last six starts, but he did get a crack at the Yankees on Sept. 11 and he held the Bombers to two runs over five innings of a 7-6 victory. One bad note for Texas is that they are 3-7 when Hunter starts on the road against a winning team.
New York comes in on several positive streaks, including 8-3 in the playoffs, 61-22 at home against right-handers and 8-3 in home playoff games.
The Yankees were embarrassed by the Rangers and starter Cliff Lee on Monday night and you’ll see a much different Yankees’ team tonight. I expect them to make contact tonight against Hunter and send some balls out of the park. Lay the chalk and play the Yankees at home tonight.
Rocketman
3* Carolina Hurricanes +180
Fantasy Sports Gametime
100* Play San Francisco (+110) over Philadelphia
San Francisco has won 3 of the last 4 games and they have also won 29 of the last 42 games after batting .200 or worse over a three game span. Matt Cain has won 8 of the last 10 games after giving up one run or less in his last outing and he has an ERA of 2.75 in home games this season.
50* Play Texas (+135) over New York Yankees
Yankees pitcher, AJ Burnett has lost 12 of the last 17 games when playing in the 2nd half of the season and he is 0-2 over the last 3 starts with an ERA of 7.94. Rangers pitcher, Tommy Hunter has won 14 of the last 18 night games and he has an ERA of 3.77 in all games this season.
NHL Hockey
25* Play San Jose (-210) over Carolina
25* Play Nashville (-160) over Calgary
Power Play Wins
Phillies -112
Teddy Covers
Rangers/Yankees Over
Mike Lineback
4* Phillies
Triple Threat Sports
3* Philadelphia/San Francisco Over
Both of the previous two series games went Over this total, and both sets of starters for those games grade out higher than Cain and Hamels do today. Note that Hamels has a 4.67 career ERA against the Giants while Cain (who is 0-3 against them) has a 6.23 ERA in his career against the Phillies. Look for this one to get Over the 6' run total.
Seabass
200* SF Over 6.5
100* SF
50* NY
50* NY Over 9.5
Jack Jones
25* NL Postseason GOY
Phillies
Larry Ness
8* NY Yankees
Rich Green
3* NY Yankees - 145
Chris Jordan
NLCS GOY
300* Philadelphia Phillies
ATS Lock Club
4 Units Philadelphia Phillies -110
3 Units Yankees/Rangers Over 9.5
Lenny Del Genio
NLCS GOY
Phillies