Vernon Croy
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Seattle Mariners vs. Detroit Tigers
Play: Under 8.5
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Jarrod Washburn (8-7, 2.95 ERA) has pitched solid overall this season and I look for him to have a good start against his old team Thursday afternoon. Ryan Rowland-Smith (2-1, 3.60 ERA) has allowed 6 hits or less in 3 straight starts and he allowed just 3 hits in his last start which was against a very potent Yankees line-up while lasting 7 innings. The O/U is 1-5 in the Mariners last 6 road games when facing a left hand starter and the O/U is also 7-16 over Washburn's 23 starts this season. The Mariners were averaging just 2.9 rpg over their last 7 games before last night's game while the Tigers were hitting just .225 as a team and averaging just 3.9 rpg. Take the Under as my MLB Free Play for Thursday afternoon since I look for a pitchers dual at Comerica Park.
Jeff Hochman
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Florida Marlins vs. Houston Astros
Play: Florida Marlins
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When Josh Johnson pitched at Dodger stadium I witnessed one of the best young hurlers to take the bump every fifth day. The Marlins are 18-6 when Johnson starts, and he has matched his career high for wins in a season with 12. He should be a household name by next year. His 140 K's, 40 BB in 161.1 innings pitched is stellar. Check out his career record---31-13 with a 3.28 ERA. The Marlins are hitting .308 vs. left-handed starters for the past two weeks and Wandy Rodriguez has a 6.68 ERA in his last 3 starts. Will the Marlins reach DD hits for the 16th straight time? I think so. Go Fish!
Frank Jordan
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Philadelphia Eagles vs. Indianapolis Colts
Play: Indianapolis Colts +3
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Philadelphia lost at home to New England by a tough margin of 27-25. Indianapolis also lost at home to the Vikings 13-3. These games are meaningless in every way except to those fans paying full price, the last few guys trying to make the roster and the people betting on the game. In this one look for the Colts first team offense to put some points on the board and getting three send the fans home relatively happy. Play Indy
Craig Trapp
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LAA Angels vs. Cleveland Indians
Play: LAA Angels
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The Angels are the hottest team on the planet and just can't stay away from them today. Also have hot pitcher Lackey going today as he has won 7 of his last 10 starts only giving up more than 3 runs once. On the other hand CLE has Masterson starting for them today. This will be his 4th appearance since coming to CLE and he has given up 7 runs in 10 innings. Not good news for CLE as LAA have been scoring in bunches for a month now. LAA have Vlad back healthy and he can only help them keep up their hot streak. EASY WINNER. SCORE: LAA 6 - CLE 2
Marc Lawrence
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Los Angeles Angels at Cleveland Indians
Prediction: Los Angeles Angels
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The Angels conclude their 3-game visit Thursday night when they send John Lackey to the mound against Justin Masterson and the Indians at Progressive Field in Cleveland. Lackey enters tonight fray with wins in each of his last 4 team starts against the Tribe. He's also cashed in 17 of his last 20 team starts on Thursdays. With Masterson 1-5 in his last 6 home team start with a 6.47 ERA, look for Lackey and the Halos to hang on on the Indians here tonight.
MATT FARGO
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Minnesota Twins @ Texas Rangers
PICK: Over 10
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The first two games of this series flew over the total while Wednesday resulted in a push and this is probably the best opportunity to see even more runs. We have seen an average of 12.3 rpg through the first three games and with the output of this series, the ‘Over’ is 10-5-1 in the last 16 meetings with those winners producing 13.7 rpg. Both teams have been hitting the ball very well of late as Minnesota is hitting .299 over its last 10 games while the Rangers are hitting .301 over that same span. Both bullpens have been fairly solid this season but both have been logging a lot of innings over their recent games so anything after the subpar starters could even cause more problems. For the Twins, no starter has gone past 5.1 innings over the last five games and for the Rangers, the bullpen has been called in prior to the end of the seventh inning in seven consecutive games. Minnesota sends Anthony Swarzak to the hill and he has had a rough season with a 5.87 ERA and 1.60 WHIP in his 11 starts. His numbers are actually better on the road but those are offset with his nighttime starts as he is 1-4 with a 7.80 ERA and 1.87 WHIP in seven starts. He has a putrid 18.00 ERA and 3.25 WHIP over his last three outings. He will be opposed by Derek Holland who has been up and down this season and while that has been mostly up of late, he has struggled at home for the majority of the year. He has a 6.14 ERA and 1.66 WHIP in seven starts at Ranger Ballpark with only two of those starts being quality outings. His numbers at night rival those of Swarzak as he has a 5.35 ERA and 1.47 WHIP in 11 starts under the lights. The ‘Over’ is 11-1-1 in the Twins last 13 road games and they are hitting a solid .291 against left-handed pitching over the last 11 games.
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3* Minnesota Twins/Texas Rangers Over
Rob Vinciletti
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Atlanta Braves vs. New York Mets
Play: New York Mets
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The Mets qualify in a big system which has not been active all that much.However it has cashed at an extremely high rate.What we want to do is play on certain home favorites off a home loss as a dog of +140 or higher if they scored 2 or less runs and tonight's opponent scored 10 or more runs on 10+ hits.These home favs hit the ground running after getting blown out the night before.The Mets were done in on Wednesday early when B.Parnell allowed 8 runs in the second inning.The Mets were able to get by in this one without blowing out any of their better relievers as the long men finished up.Tonight the Mets have their ace going in J.Santana.He is the best pitcher statistically in the second half over the last seven years.The Mets have a solid chance in any game he pitches regardless of who is on the field behind him.Santana has a solid 2.32 home era this year and has allowed 2 earned runs in over 20+ innings vs the Braves,good for a 1.96 era.The Braves send K.Kawakami to the mound tonight and he has a 4.92 road era which is over 2 full runs higher than Santanas home era.The Mets have performed well at home off a loss with Santana on the hill since aquiring him.Look for the Mets to bounce back and get the win here.
Sports Gambling Hotline
Atlanta at NY METS
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Winner on the Cards-Dodgers UNDER the total last night. Now 20-8-1 the last 29 days for free.
Normally, we would take the UNDER with Johan Santana on the hill, but the way the runs have been piling up at Citi Field in this Braves-Mets series, we have a feeling this small total is going to be eclipsed before tonight's 9 innings are through.
Both games in this 3 game set have landed in the OVER column, and Atlanta has now played HIGH in each of their last 3 games, while the Mets have also played OVER in 3 in a row, and 5 of their last 7.
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Series numbers show 4 of the 5 meetings this year in New York landing in the OVER column, and both Kawakami and Santana did allow a few runs to score in their last assignments.
Kawakami gave up 3 runs in his 6 frames of work, while Santana has allowed 9 runs in his last 15 innings at home.
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Very small total tonight, and with the way the hitters have been ruling the roost through the first 2 games in this series, we must side with the percentages, and play the OVER yet again tonight.
Braves-Mets land HIGH.
2♦ OVER
Bobby Maxwell
Atlanta at N.Y. METS -125
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Tonight's FREE winner comes from the Big Apple as I love the Mets in this one, hosting the Braves.
Don't pay any attention to the 15-2 loss the Mets suffered on Wednesday, that won't keep left-handed ace Johan Santana (13-8, 3.10 ERA) from going out and delivering a gem for them tonight.
Even in this disaster of a season for New York, Santana has been a bright spot. He's 8-2 at home with a 2.32 ERA and the team has managed to win four of his last seven. The southpaw has looked dominant against the Braves twice this season, allowing a combined two runs (zero earned) in 13.1 innings against Atlanta.
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On the other side, erratic Kenshin Kawakami (5-9, 4.13) is going for the Braves. He is just 3-5 away from home with a 4.92 ERA and the Braves have lost four of his last six outings. He's faced New York twice this season and given up a combined four runs on 13 hits in 11.2 innings as the Mets have won both games, 4-3 and 5-1.
New York is on runs of 14-6 when Santana pitches at home, 13-6 when he's a home favorite and 5-0 when he goes on Thursday. Meanwhile the Braves are just 19-43 on the road against teams with losing records and 2-7 when Kawakami faces a team with a losing record.
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Go ahead and lay the chalk and play Santana and the Mets in this one.
4♦ N.Y. METS
Karl Garrett
Florida -115 at HOUSTON
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G-Man is on a 23-18 comp play run heading into Thursday's action.
Tonight, look for the Marlins to handle their business with the Astros, and leave Minute Maid with another series win over Houston.
Last week, Florida won 3 of the 4 meetings against the Astros, and a win tonight will make it 2 of 3 in this series.
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Expect it to happen, as Josh Johnson is a candidate for the NL Cy Young award, and does bring in a 12-2 record with a season ERA of 2.85.
Johnson has won back-to-back starts, allowing just 2 earned runs in his last 13 innings of work.
His counterpart Wandy Rodriguez has emerged as the Houston "ace' this year, but is fresh off a puzzling 10 runs allowed in just 4 innings of work in a home loss to Milwaukee.
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Florida is still 10-3 their last 13 games, and they have also won 7 of the last 9 meetings against Houston.
Take the Marlins behind the strong pitching of Johnson to get the win.
3♦ FLORIDA
Jeff Benton
St. Louis at SAN DIEGO
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It wasn’t easy, but we squeaked out a freebie winner on the Giants over the Reds on Wednesday, so I’m now on a 27-16 run with my complimentary selections. For Thursday, I’ll play the streaking Cardinals on the run line (-1½ runs) over the Padres.
I scored a 15 Dime winner with St. Louis, which beat the Dodgers 3-2. The Redbirds are now on a 16-5 roll, going 6-2 on the road. Last weekend, they swept the Padres at home, winning all three games by multiple runs. That included a 7-4 victory on Saturday with Joel Pineiro beating San Diego’s Tim Stauffer (I backed Pineiro and the Cardinals with a 15 Dime Best Bet). Tonight, those same two pitchers go at it again, and even though the venue has switched, nothing has changed my opinion about this matchup.
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Pineiro has given up three earned runs or fewer in 12 of his last 13 starts, with 11 of them being quality outings. More importantly, the Cardinals are 8-0 in the right-hander’s last eight starts, with six of them being multiple-run wins. On the other hand, even though he’s pitched decently (3.50 ERA), Stauffer can’t get any run support from his team, which is 1-6 in Stauffer’s seven starts, including 0-3 at home (with the Padres scoring a total of five runs). In their last four defeats with Stauffer on the hill, San Diego has lost by scores of 13-1 (road), 9-2 (home), 5-1 (road) and 7-4 (home).
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Finally, Pineiro has a 2.79 ERA in his last three starts against the Padres, while Stauffer has allowed 11 runs in 8 1/3 career innings against St. Louis (11.88 ERA). And then there’s this: The Cardinals have won 11 of the last 12 meetings with the Padres (including the last eight in a row) and they’re 57-20 – 57-20! – in the last 77 against San Diego. Easy call, guys: Lay the 1½ runs with the visiting Redbirds.
5♦ ST. LOUIS -1.5
Dominic Fazzini
Minnesota at TEXAS
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The Rangers lost leads of 5-0 and 4-0 Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, in dropping two straight games to the Twins, so Texas should be especially fired up in its attempt to salvage the last game of this series in Arlington.
Rangers rookie Derek Holland (6-7, 4.88) has been sharp lately, going 3-1 with a 1.88 ERA in his last four starts. He gave up two runs and seven hits in 6 2/3 innings Saturday in Texas' 7-2 victory over Boston.
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Holland is 5-2 with a 3.54 ERA in 10 games (seven starts) since the beginning of July. The left-hander pitched in relief against Minnesota on July 19, allowing three runs and five hits in four innings.
Twins starter Anthony Swarzak (3-6, 5.87) has been struggling. The rookie right-hander has lost his last three outings, allowing 18 runs and 25 hits in just eight innings (an 18.00 ERA). He gave up five runs and eight hits in four innings Saturday against Cleveland.
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Minnesota has lost its last four games against southpaws and is 18-24 this year vs. lefties. Meanwhile, Texas is 4-0 in Holland's last four home starts, and 5-2 in his last seven overall.
The Rangers need this win after failing to close the deal the past two nights. With Holland on the mound today, that shouldn't be much of a problem. Take Texas on the run line.
3♦ TEXAS -1.5
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BOSTON RED SOX / TORONTO BLUE JAYS
Take TORONTO BLUE JAYS
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Granted, Jon Lester is a fine pitcher, and he's also in super form, with a 2.37 ERA over his last three games, with a 1.00 WHIP. But he'll be opposing a tough, young hurler in Brett Cecil, who has a 3.44 ERA over his last three games, to go along with a 1.20 WHIP. Boston has also been scuffling along in the 2nd half of the season, with just a .500 win percentage, and it has a poor 15-29 record on artificial turf since the 2008 season. Take the Blue Jays.
JIM FEIST
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ST. LOUIS CARDINALS / SAN DIEGO PADRES
Take Under
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San Diego, the worst offense in baseball, was on a 6-0 run over the total. That was all on the road, however. When they came home, what happened? A game going under the total, 4-1 against the Cubs. Petco is a huge park, tough to score runs in. St. Louis comes to town on a long road trip and each starter this game knows how to throw strikes. Joel Pineiro has just 16 walks on the season in 155 innings, and only 1 his last three starts! Tim Stauffer of San Diego has a 3.50 ERA and a solid 31-12 K to walk ratio. Don't look for many runs, play the Cardinals/Padres under the total.
DUNKEL
Florida at Houston
The Marlins look to build on their 7-2 record in Josh Johnson's last 9 starts as a road favorite. Florida is the pick (-115) according to Dunkel, which has the Marlins favored by 1/2 a run. Dunkel Pick: Florida (-115)
Game 951-952: San Francisco at Cincinnati
Dunkel Ratings: San Francisco (Cain) 15.418; Cincinnati (Harang) 14.657
Dunkel Line: San Francisco by 1; 9
Vegas Line: San Francisco (-130); 7 1/2
Dunkel Pick: San Francisco (-130); Over
Game 953-954: Arizona at Philadelphia
Dunkel Ratings: Arizona (Davis) 13.828; Philadelphia (Blanton) 16.855
Dunkel Line: Philadelphia by 3; 10
Vegas Line: Philadelphia (-180); 9
Dunkel Pick: Philadelphia (-180); Over
Game 955-956: Colorado at Washington
Dunkel Ratings: Colorado (Hammel) 16.185; Washington (Mock) 15.619
Dunkel Line: Colorado by 1/2; 8 1/2
Vegas Line: Colorado (-145); 9 1/2
Dunkel Pick: Colorado (-145); Under
Game 957-958: Atlanta at NY Mets
Dunkel Ratings: Atlanta (Kawakami) 15.092; NY Mets (Santana) 15.290
Dunkel Line: NY Mets by 1/2; 6
Vegas Line: NY Mets (-130); 7
Dunkel Pick: NY Mets (-130); Under
Game 959-960: Florida at Houston
Dunkel Ratings: Florida (Johnson) 15.263; Houston (Rodriguez) 14.928
Dunkel Line: Florida by 1/2; 9
Vegas Line: Florida (-115); 7 1/2
Dunkel Pick: Florida (-115); Over
Game 961-962: St. Louis at San Diego
Dunkel Ratings: St. Louis (Pineiro) 15.823; San Diego (Stauffer) 13.638
Dunkel Line: St. Louis by 2; 7
Vegas Line: St. Louis (-160); 7 1/2
Dunkel Pick: St. Louis (-160); Under
Game 963-964: Chicago Cubs at LA Dodgers
Dunkel Ratings: Cubs (Gorzelanny) 15.226; LA Dodgers (Weaver) 14.993
Dunkel Line: Chicago Cubs by 1/2; 7 1/2
Vegas Line: No Line
Dunkel Pick: N/A
Game 965-966: Seattle at Detroit
Dunkel Ratings: Seattle (Rowland-Smith) 15.434; Detroit (Washburn) 14.884
Dunkel Line: Seattle by 1/2; 7 1/2
Vegas Line: Detroit (-160); 8 1/2
Dunkel Pick: Seattle (+150); Under
Game 967-968: Boston at Toronto
Dunkel Ratings: Boston (Lester) 15.169; Toronto (Cecil) 15.385
Dunkel Line: Toronto by 1/2; 10
Vegas Line: Boston (-170); 8 1/2
Dunkel Pick: Toronto (+160); Over
Game 969-970: Baltimore at Tampa Bay
Dunkel Ratings: Baltimore (Matusz) 15.030; Tampa Bay (Shields) 14.260
Dunkel Line: Baltimore by 1; 7 1/2
Vegas Line: Tampa Bay (-300); 9 1/2
Dunkel Pick: Baltimore (+270); Under
Game 971-972: LA Angels at Cleveland
Dunkel Ratings: LA Angels (Lackey) 16.543; Cleveland (Masterson) 15.797
Dunkel Line: LA Angels by 1; 7 1/2
Vegas Line: LA Angels (-150); 9 1/2
Dunkel Pick: LA Angels (-150); Under
Game 973-974: Minnesota at Texas
Dunkel Ratings: Minnesota (Swarzak) 16.793; Texas (Holland) 15.742
Dunkel Line: Minnesota by 1; 11
Vegas Line: Texas (-200); 10
Dunkel Pick: Minnesota (+180); Over
NFL
Philadelphia at Indianapolis
The preseason continues Thursday night with the Colts hosting the Eagles. Indianapolis is the pick (+3) according to Dunkel, which has the Eagles favored by just 1 1/2. Dunkel Pick: Indianapolis (+3)
Time Posted: 2:00 p.m. EST (8/18)
Game 401-402: Cincinnati at New England
Dunkel Ratings: Cincinnati 116.684; New England 121.687
Dunkel Line: New England by 5; 41
Vegas Line: New England by 7; 37
Dunkel Pick: Cincinnati (+7); Over
Game 403-404: Philadelphia at Indianapolis
Dunkel Ratings: Philadelphia 120.164; Indianapolis 118.508
Dunkel Line: Philadelphia by 1 1/2; 32
Vegas Line: Philadelphia by 3; 36
Dunkel Pick: Indianapolis (+3); Under
WNBA
San Antonio at Atlanta
The Dream look to build on their 5-1 ATS record in their last 6 home games. Atlanta is the pick (-2 1/2) according to Dunkel, which has the Dream favored by 8. Dunkel Pick: Atlanta (-2 1/2)
Game 651-652: San Antonio at Atlanta
Dunkel Ratings: San Antonio 109.233; Atlanta 117.197
Dunkel Line & Total: Atlanta by 8; 164
Vegas Line & Total: Atlanta by 2 1/2; 166
Dunkel Pick: Atlanta (-2 1/2); Under
Game 653-654: Indiana at Sacramento
Dunkel Ratings: Indiana 115.454; Sacramento 108.962
Dunkel Line & Total: Indiana by 6 1/2; 144 1/2
Vegas Line & Total: Indiana by 6; 149
Dunkel Pick: Indiana (-6); Under