Brad Wilton
Free play for Wednesday will be the Under in Game One of the World Series.
Gonna be a cold and wet night at Fenway Park, so right there is advantage number one to the pitchers.
First game jitters could also be in the chilly October air in this one, also giving the pitchers the advantage.
Adam Wainwright has allowed just 4 postseason run in 23 innings pitched, while striking out 20. I think you can expect the St. Louis ace to be right in that price range again tonight.
Jon Lester counters with 5 earned runs allowed in his 19-plus postseason innings pitched, and he is 8-2 at Fenway Park this year with a 2.93 ERA.
These teams have not played each other since the 2008 regular season, so look for there to be a "feeling out" process before the offense gets on track.
Under in Game One between the Cards and Red Sox.
2♦ ST. LOUIS-BOSTON UNDER
Who2Beton Sports
St. Louis Vs Boston
Pick : Under 7
The St. Louis Cardinals continue to do everything right. They mix and match players from their farm, replace Hall of Fame coaches and trade Hall of Famer players at the right time... this organization. This Fall Classic is their fourth in 10 years
The Cards lost the championship to Boston nine seasons ago and St. Louis’ lone holdovers from that 2004 World Series is bench boss Mike Matheny and Yadier Molina, the starting catcher and backup respectively, in that clash.
Cardinals RH Adam Wainwright (2-1, 1.57 ERA) recorded 19 wins during the regular season and was spectacular during the NL playoffs, striking out 20 batters while issuing one walk in 23 total innings. Red Sox LH Jon Lester (2-1, 2.33) allowed two or fewer runs in each of his three postseason starts and 10 of the last 13 going back to the regular season. There is at least a .40 point swing in each of the important offensive categories when looking at the splits making Boston the -165 chalk tonight and getting them at a -120 price.
While the Cardinals hammered the Dodgers ace Kershaw in their last contest against a starting lefty their numbers this season against southpaws were dismal.
Boston is in the World Series because of the damage done to Detroit's bullpen. Eleven of Boston’s 19 runs were plated with a reliever on the mound, including both the grand slams hit by David Ortiz and Shane Victorino. But this isn't the Cardinals Achilles, the bullpen that is, and St Louis can hold leads. They likely won't have one tonight but Boston isn't going to put up crooked numbers either against Wainwright and the pen. The St Louis bull pen is stacked and all of them throw smoke. The average fastball velocity for some of the St. Louis relievers is as follows.
Carlos Martinez 97.6 mph
John Axford 95.3 mph
Kevin Siegrist 95 mph
Seth Maness 90.4 mph
Trevor Rosenthal 96.4 mph
So far in the postseason, the Cardinals bullpen has allowed only six earned runs in 19 innings, with 23 strikeouts.
NHL Predictions
Boston Bruins -1.5 +180
The Bruins enter this game 5-2 on the season and a perfect 3-0 on the road, while the Sabres are just 1-8-1 and 0-5-1 at home. Boston has won 3 of their last 4 games and three straight road games vs Columbus, Florida and Tampa Bay. In 4 of Boston's 5 wins they've won by 2+ goals. The Sabres have lost two straight at home, both by 2+ goals. Buffalo ranks last with just 1.20 goals per game, and they are giving up 2.80 against. The Bruins are scoring 2.86 against and giving up just 1.43 against (2nd in the NHL). Buffalo is averaging just 26.7 shots per game, while the Bruins are averaging 32.7. Right now Boston has the league's 2nd best penalty kill, which isn't good for Buffalo who has the league's 2nd worst powerplay. This is a big mismatch with one of the East's best teams vs maybe the worst. I like the odds we're getting on Boston by 2 or more tonight.
OC Dooley
Buffalo Sabres +155
For those who follow nationally-televised hockey on NBC Sports Network cable all of the Wednesday matchups come with the tag of “rivalry” night. Since this is a long term rivalry one can basically throw the current 1-8-1 record (worst start franchise history) out the window. One year ago Buffalo managed to win 3 of 5 clashes against Boston and in the history of the series (117-111-40) the Sabres also hold the edge. Arguably this will be the last season of goaltender Ryan Miller in Buffalo who is about to hit free-agency. But the big news this evening is reports that Boston will be going with RESERVE goalie Chad Johnson which opens the door for an upset. Following pure statistics the Bruins have the edge going 3-0 in “road” games so far outscoring the competition by an 11-to-3 overall counts. While the Bruins are allowing just 1.4 goals per game, the Sabres offensive are averaging a league-low 1.2 goals per contest. But the bottom line is that Buffalo has been competitive in most outings even though they have lost 48 “man games” already to injury. As mentioned above “rivalry night” in the NHL changes the dynamic of this particular nationally-televised wager