Bobby Maxwell
200-Unit N.L. Wildcard E-Z Winner - S.F. GIANTS
The National League wildcard race could get a lot more interesting if the Giants can dominate the Rockies in this series and expect San Francisco to get Game 2 tonight behind the pitching of lefty Barry Zito (9-12, 3.99 ERA).
The Giants won Monday night 9-1 and have moved to within 3 1/2 games of the Rockies in the wildcard race. Colorado has gone into a funk after its eight-game winning streak, now losers of three in a row, the Rockies have been a disaster on the road lately, going 1-6 as a visitor, 0-4 on the road against southpaws and 0-6 against winning teams.
In this rivalry, the home team has won seven straight and nine of 10, giving the Giants a distinct advantage in this one. Something Zito has not been known for is consistency, but this season he's been the model of consistency. He's held each of his last 10 opponents to three runs or less and he's gone at least six innings in nine of his last 10 starts.
Zito has dominated the Rockies this season in three outings, allowing a combined two runs (one earned) in 21.1 innings of work. In fact, he hasn't allowed more than two earned runs in an outing to the Rockies since May of 2007.
Ubaldo Jimenez (13-10, 3.32) goes for Colorado for the fifth time this season against San Francisco. The Rockies are 2-2 in the first four outings, losing both times he's started in San Francisco, and they are just 4-10 in his last 14 roadies overall.
The Giants are 4-1 in Zito's last five at home and 21-7 when they are at home against a team with a winning road record. San Francisco is definitely the play in this one. Go with the Giants and the plus-money.
Charlie
Brewers / Cubs Under 9, Marlins / Cards Under 8' & Toronto @ Yankees under 8' (500*)
Toronto -130 (30*)
Tampa Bay -140 (20*)
Arizona -135 (20*)
Brandon Lang
You take it like a man.
No excuses. No lamenting.
There are many definitions of success. One of my favorites is, "Success is failure after failure, you don't lose your enthusiasm."
I failed miserably the last 3 days. No way around it. After the 15 dime winner on the Titans over the Steelers on Thursday and the 10 dime winner on the Dodgers Friday, I was ready to roll.
Then the roof caved in Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The floor fell out underneath me. Somebody pulled the carpet from underneath my feet.
I've learned you just have to get up, brush yourself off, get back to work like you never have before and turn this thing around as quickly as possible. Only one way to do that. A winning week.
Can't keep me down. Nothing has ever been able to keep me down. No matter how bad things go at certain times in my life, I always bounce back. ALWAYS.
And I will bounce back from this. I always have and I always will.
10 DIMER - LA ANGELS - All about John Lackey tonight.
Since he started the season on the DL, it's been an uphill battle for Lackey to get into the form we all know him for. He finally has it going now.
Over his last 3 starts he is 2-0 with an ERA of 0.35 and what is even more impressive is what he has done in his last 2 starts.
I'm talking back to back 9 inning efforts in which he just beat the Mariners with a complete game 6-hit shutout, and before that he allowed a run on 5 hits in a no decision over the Royals, a game the Angels won 2-1 in 10 innings.
All told he is on a run of 1 earned over his last 26 innings and the Angels have won all 3 of those starts.
Dice K's last start was back in June and he was torched for 6 runs, on 8 hits in 4 innings. He has battled shoulder problems all year long and truth be told, he hasn't been right and the numbers show.
He has made 8 starts here in 2009 and here are the numbers.
How about 32 runs in 34 innings and in 6 of those 8 starts he has given up 4 earned or more and he has made it to the 6th inning only twice.
You can throw as many bullpen sessions as you want, and you may look good doing it, but as a big league pitcher when you are not right you are not right but you take the mound anyways because you are getting big dollars to do so.
I feel that is the case with Dice K this year and the patience of the Angel hitters will get to him and Lackey will stay hot on the other end for a nice Angel win.
LOS ANGELES ANGELS (Lackey over Matsuzaka)
FREE SELECTION - SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
HalfBets
7* Tampa/Baltimore OVER 9.5
8* Padres +125
9* Giants +135
Fantasy Sports Gametime
25* Play Houston (-155) over Cincinnati
Cincinnati has lost 6 of the last 8 games and they have also lost 16 of the last 22 games vs. Houston on the road. Roy Oswalt has won 30 of the last 41 games when playing in the 2nd half of the season and he is 22-1 vs. Cincinnati over his career with an ERA of 2.53.
25* Play Detroit (-165) over Kansas City
Kansas City has lost 10 of the last 15 games when playing with a day off and they have also lost 25 of the last 35 games when allowing two runs or less in the last game. Detroit has won 9 of the last 11 games after having lost five or six of the last seven games and they have also won 37 of the last 54 games when playing as a favorite of -110 or higher.
Billy Coleman
5* T Bay-140
3* Minn -1.5
3* Chi/Sea Under 9
Red Dog Sports
3* Angels
Robert Ferringo
1.5-Unit Play. Take Atlanta (-1.5, -110) over N.Y. Mets
1.5-Unit Play. Take St. Louis (-1.5, -115) over Florida
1.5-Unit Play. Take L.A. Dodgers (-1.5, -110) over Pittsburgh
1.5-Unit Play. Take Seattle (-105) over Chicago White Sox
1-Unit Play. Take Detroit (-155) over Kansas City
1-Unit Play. Take Houston (-155) over Cincinnati
0.5-Unit Play. Take Oakland (+170) over Texas
Today’s Totals
2.5-Unit Play. Take ‘Over’ 7.5 Pittsburgh at L.A. Dodgers
1.5-Unit Play. Take ‘Under’ 9.5 Tampa Bay at Baltimore
1-Unit Play. Take ‘Over’ 9.5 Oakland at Texas
1-Unit Play. Take ‘Under’ 9.0 Chicago White Sox at Seattle
1-Unit Play. Take ‘Under’ 9.5 L.A. Angels at Boston
1-Unit Play. Take ‘Under’ 8.5 N.Y. Mets at Atlanta
1-Unit Play. Take ‘Under’ 9.0 Kansas City at Detroit
1-Unit Play. Take ‘Under’ 9.0 Washington at Philadelphia
0.5-Unit Play. Take ‘Under’ 8.5 Houston at Cincinnati
Indian Cowboy
4 Unit Play. Take Under 8.5 NY Mets @ Atlanta Braves
Patrick Misch comes off a tough loss to Florida where he gave up five runs in 6 innings at home in a division game. I expect Misch to pitch much better against another division foe in Atlanta today to redeem himself. Misch had given up just 3 runs in 18 innings prior to that start. Hanson pitched brilliantly in his last start at Houston and gave up 0 runs in 8 innings and yet the Braves still managed to lose the game 1-2. Hanson is 9-3 with a 2.83era this season and he continues to pitch regardless. Hanson has pitched 8 of 9 quality starts coming into this game and I look for Hanson to seek his first win in his last 3 starts. The Under is 5-1 in the Mets last 6 games when the total is set at this margin and the Under is 9-4-1 for the Braves in the last 14 games at home.
4 Unit Play. Take Under 8.5 Houston @ Cincinnati Reds
Oswalt had one of his worst performances of his career giving up 6 runs in just 2 innings in his last effort against the Braves. The ace coming into that game had given up just 7 runs in four starts in a total of 26 innings to put the last start in perspective. I expect Roy to bounce-back here on the road against the Reds. In fact, I expect both pitchers to pitch well as Wells comes off a rough start at Coors Field giving up 5 runs in 5 innings. Kip had given up just 2 runs in 12 innings prior to that. The Under is 4-1 for Oswalt when he is a favorite by this margin, the Under is 4-0 in Wells' last 4 starts overall and the Under is 9-2 for the Reds overall.
4 Unit Play. Take the Colorado Rockies -130 over the San Francisco Giants
Ubaldo has come a long way as a starter. He has 13 wins on the year and an era of 3.32. He has put together 10 plus quality starts and I like him here facing San Fran as he fell short to this team the last time he faced them. Ubaldo gave up 2 runs in 7 innings and still fell short to the Giants and I expect him to exact a little bit of revenge today. Ubaldo did not pick up a win in his last start and I look for him to see his 14th win of the year today. Zito comes off a home loss to the Padres as he looks to help the Giants reach the playoffs. Zito has dominated the Rockies of late giving up just 1 run over the last 14.1 innings. But, I expect the Rockies to get to Zito today. They had 8 hits as compared to 3 hits over the last 2 starts by Zito. This time around, I expect them to pick up the win as they look to bounce-back from the beating they took yesterday at the hands of the Giants. The Rockies are 7-0 when Ubaldo is a favorite and the Giants are 11-24 as an Underdog by this margin.
igz1 sports
3* LA Angels -110
Tim Trushel
20* Twins Under
Tony Salinas
24* Giants (+140) over Rockies
Mostly clear. Winds blowing out to right field at 5-15 m.p.h. Game-time temperature: Around 60.
Doc's Sports
4-Unit Play Take San Francisco Giants over Colorado Rockies
2-Unit Play Take Cincinnati Reds Houston Astros UNDER 8 ½ RUNS
2-Unit Play Take Seattle Mariners Chicago Sox UNDER 9 RUNS
Kiki Sports
2* Mets +1.5
ALATEX
REG: LA Dodgers Under 8