JEFFERSONSPORTS
EARLY RELEASE MLB FOR FRI
ATLANTA-130
Matt Fargo
Cleveland Indians vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
Play: Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers are back home after a sweep in Cincinnati while the Indians remain on the road following getting swept in Colorado. Cleveland is now 13-22 away from home and we catch some decent value in this line because of the perception of the pitching matchup and that perception is skewed. The Indians have been down all season and it has been a combination of poor pitching and hitting. They are batting just .245 on the season which is last in the American League while its .240 road average is third to last.
The series sweep for the Dodgers against the Reds was big for momentum and confidence. Los Angeles had dropped five straight games prior to that three-game sweep and now head into a big homestand with nine straight home games. The Dodgers are no doubt struggling this season but it is hard to grasp why as both the pitching and hitting are in the top third of the league. Los Angeles is hitting .283 on the season against lefties including .273 at home.
Cliff Lee is having a dominant season but most of that domination came early on as now it has been a struggle of late. Last time out against San Diego, he threw 105 pitches but only 67 of those were for strikes. Amazingly, he issued no walks but his command is becoming an issue. After posting a 0.67 ERA through his first seven starts, he has an ERA of 5.45 over his last six starts. The latter also includes a WHIP of 1.73 as he is putting a lot of men on base.
It hasn’t been the best of starts for Clayton Kershaw but it certainly has not been the worst either. He has not put up a quality outing in any of his last four starts but he is coming off what could have been his best game of the season. A rain delay cut his last start short after allowing just two hits in four innings in Detroit. He has a 3.27 ERA in his two home starts and he will be facing an offense that is hitting just .216 on the road against lefties and is 1-6 in its last seven roadies against southpaw starters. Play Los Angeles Dodgers 1.5 Units
ARMVIN SPORTS
MARINERS/ATLANTA BRAVES Over 8.5
FLORIDA MARLINS +174
VEGAS SPORTS PICS
Chicago Cubs -125*
Pittsburgh +150*
Philadelphia -110*
New York Yankees -135**
STEVE JANUS
Oakland Athletics
Rich Harden has been a beast since coming off the DL. He's now 4-0 on the season with a 2.53 ERA. It's clear that Harden likes pitching in Oakland, which is evident by his 26-9 record their in his last 35 home starts. Harden's rival Friday will be Mark Hendrickson. Hendrickson hasn't had a good run lately, he's 0-2 with a 8.10 ERA in his last 3 starts. The Marlins are a decent team on the road, but that's a lot to overcome. The value here is in the runline to reduce the juice on the heavily favored A's.
SCOTT SPREITZER
25* Tampa Bay Rays
SCOTT DELANEY
Baltimore played a late game at home last night, and then had to travel to Milwaukee, where the Brewers have been all week and will be ready to embark on a successful weekend. I will have to admit, Milwaukee's bullpen has been put to the test the past couple days, and I haven't seen anything good take place. Nevertheless, because of Baltimore's itinerary, I like our chances with Milwaukee in this one, especially with Jeff Suppan on the bump. The right-hander, who is 2-0 in six home starts this season with a 1.67 ERA, has pitched well this month in three outings. He's given up six earned runs over 19 innings of work and is 1-0 in June.
Looking deeper inside the number with this team, the Brewers are 16-6 in their last 22, 10-3 the last 13 times they've been installed as the chalk, 10-2 the last 12 home games, 8-2 in Suppan's last 10 home starts, 8-3 the last 11 times he's been installed as the chalk. I'm going to stay away from the run line with this team, given the bullpen's recent failures, but I will lay the chalk and list Suppan.
3* BREWERS
DUNKEL
Texas at Washington
The Nats return home after being swept in Minnesota and look to build on their 9-6 record as a home underdog between +100 and +125.Washington is the underdog pick (+105) according to Dunkel, which has the Nationals favored straight up by 1.Dunkel Pick: Washington (+105).Here are all of today's games.
FRIDAY, JUNE 20
Game 951-952: NY Mets at Colorado
Dunkel Ratings: NY Mets (Maine) 15.742; Colorado (Cook) 14.942
Dunkel Line: NY Mets by 1; 9 1/2
Vegas Line: Colorado (-110); 10 1/2
Dunkel Pick: NY Mets (+100); Under
Game 953-954: Chicago White Sox at Chicago Cubs
Dunkel Ratings: White Sox (Danks) 14.817; Cubs (Lilly) 15.816
Dunkel Line: Chicago Cubs by 1; 8
Vegas Line: Chicago Cubs (-135); No Run Line
Dunkel Pick: Chicago Cubs (-135); N/A
Game 955-956: Toronto at Pittsburgh
Dunkel Ratings: Toronto (Halladay) 14.615; Pittsburgh (Duke) 13.089
Dunkel Line: Toronto by 1 1/2; 9 1/2
Vegas Line: Toronto (-150); 8
Dunkel Pick: Toronto (-150); Over
Game 957-958: St. Louis at Boston
Dunkel Ratings: St. Louis (Lohse) 16.198; Boston (Wakefield) 15.636
Dunkel Line: St. Louis by 1/2; 9
Vegas Line: Boston (-160); 9 1/2
Dunkel Pick: Boston (-160); Under
Game 959-960: LA Angels at Philadelphia
Dunkel Ratings: LA Angels (Santana) 15.791; Philadelphia (Eaton) 14.762
Dunkel Line: LA Angels by 1; 8 1/2
Vegas Line: Philadelphia (-115); 9 1/2
Dunkel Pick: LA Angels (+105); Under
Game 961-962: Cincinnati at NY Yankees
Dunkel Ratings: Cincinnati (Volquez) 13.844; NY Yankees (Mussina) 16.569
Dunkel Line: NY Yankees by 2 1/2; 10
Vegas Line: NY Yankees (-135); 9
Dunkel Pick: NY Yankees (-135); Over
Game 963-964: Houston at Tampa Bay
Dunkel Ratings: Houston (Oswalt) 13.590; Tampa Bay (Garza) 15.838
Dunkel Line: Tampa Bay by 2 1/2; 8 1/2
Vegas Line: No Line
Dunkel Pick: N/A
Game 965-966: Texas at Washington
Dunkel Ratings: Texas (Millwood) 13.916; Washington (Redding) 14.808
Dunkel Line: Washington by 1; 9 1/2
Vegas Line: Texas (-115); 9
Dunkel Pick: Washington (+105); Over
Game 967-968: Seattle at Atlanta
Dunkel Ratings: Seattle (Bedard) 13.381; Atlanta (Campillo) 15.602
Dunkel Line: Atlanta by 2 1/2; 7 1/2
Vegas Line: Atlanta (-120); 8 1/2
Dunkel Pick: Atlanta (-120); Under
Game 969-970: Baltimore at Milwaukee
Dunkel Ratings: Baltimore (Liz) 14.571; Milwaukee (Suppan) 15.731
Dunkel Line: Milwaukee by 1; 10
Vegas Line: Milwaukee (-140); 9
Dunkel Pick: Milwaukee (-140); Over
Game 971-972: Arizona at Minnesota
Dunkel Ratings: Arizona (Johnson) 15.694; Minnesota (Baker) 14.801
Dunkel Line: Arizona by 1; 9
Vegas Line: Arizona (-110); 8 1/2
Dunkel Pick: Arizona (-110); Over
Game 973-974: San Francisco at Kansas City
Dunkel Ratings: San Francisco (Cain) 15.235; Kansas City (Hochevar) 15.125
Dunkel Line: San Francisco by 1/2; 9 1/2
Vegas Line: Kansas City (-110); 8 1/2
Dunkel Pick: San Francisco (+100); Over
Game 975-976: Detroit at San Diego
Dunkel Ratings: Detroit (Bonine) 15.352; San Diego (Maddux) 15.648
Dunkel Line: San Diego by 1/2; 9 1/2
Vegas Line: San Diego (-120); 8 1/2
Dunkel Pick: San Diego (-120); Over
Game 977-978: Florida at Oakland
Dunkel Ratings: Florida (Hendrickson) 14.767; Oakland (Harden) 16.262
Dunkel Line: Oakland by 1 1/2; 8 1/2
Vegas Line: Oakland (-185); 8
Dunkel Pick: Oakland (-185); Over
Game 979-980: Cleveland at LA Dodgers
Dunkel Ratings: Cleveland (Lee) 15.777; LA Dodgers (Kershaw) 14.271
Dunkel Line: Cleveland by 1 1/2; 8 1/2
Vegas Line: Cleveland (-110); 8
Dunkel Pick: Cleveland (-110); Over
Tony Karpinski
Cincinnati Reds vs. New York Yankees
Play: New York Yankees
Cincinnati Reds at NY Yankees (Baseball action) 7pm ET When the Yankees get rolling it doesn’t matter who they are playing they will hit and now winners of 7 in a row. This is a team that is finally clicking. In fact to be perfectly honest they still a few players that aren’t playing great yet. Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano have not hit a hot streak yet. Both of these players are capable of hitting .400 for a month at a time. In fact Derek Jeter has hit over .350 twenty two different months in his career. Maybe more impressive than that is the fact that last year Robinson Cano hit over .400 for a two month stretch. The Yankees are now a season high seven games over .500. They also have won seven straight games. I know everyone wants to think that Mike Mussina is a fluke but that is not the case. This guy knows how to win and knows how to get batters out.. Play the NY YANKEES
Vegas Experts
San Francisco Giants at Kansas City Royals
The Royals, once again, are not having a good year. Yet they certainly seem to be enjoying interleague play as they've gone 7-2 vs. the Senior Circuit thus far, including a three-game sweep of geographic rival St. Louis. Tonight's opponents, San Francisco, has not had an enjoyable IL experience, having lost 8 of 9 to their AL counteparts and starter Matt Cain has a terrible 4-16 team start record in the underdog role.
Play on: Kansas City
Tom Freese
Cleveland Indians at Los Angeles Dodgers
Prediction: Cleveland Indians
Cleveland starter Cliff Lee is 13-6 his last 19 June team starts and the Indians are 12-3 in the last 15 interleague starts by Lee. The Tribe is 7-1 in the last 8 road starts made by Lee are 5-1 their last 6 games in Game 1 of a series. The Dodgers are 15-36 their 51 interleague games and they are 3-13 their last 16 interleague games vs. lefty starters. Los Angeles is 3-14 vs. AL Central teams. PLAY ON CLEVELAND w/Lee
SPORTS KINGZ
MILWAUKEE -140
COLORADO -125
CUBS -135
ATLANTA -145
CLEVELAND -105
Carlo Campanella
Los Angeles Angels at Philadelphia Phillies
Prediction: Los Angeles Angels
The Angels ended their series against the Mets with a 4-5 loss and now head to Philadelphia to open a 3 game series against the Phillies. We'll back this road Dog, knowing that they're 21-12 on the road this season and a perfect 8-0 following a 1 run loss this season.
7* Play On LA Angels
BIG AL
81% INTERLEAGUE TOTAL OF THE WEEK!
At 8:10pm our selection is on the Arizona Diamondbacks and Minnesota Twins 'under' the total. As Randy Johnson makes the rounds this season, pitching at various visiting ballparks, one has to wonder if it's not a bit of a farewell tour for the 44 year-old lefthander and certain future Hall-of-Famer. Johnson has not been at his best lately but he is still performing well above average for starters when he is on the road this season. Johnson is 3-2 with a 6.23 ERA at home but 1-2 with only a 2.79 ERA on the road. The fact that he only has one win away from Arizona despite such a low ERA indicates that the D-Backs are not giving Johnson much run support. The Twins will start righthander Scott Baker who has pitched very well lately, but like Johnson, has not been getting any run support. In his last four starts, the Twins have only scored a total of eight runs and each of those games has gone 'under' the total. Thanks to some strong play lately, including a series sweep at home against the hapless Nationals, the Twins have gotten their record over .500 at 37-36. The 'under' is 13-3, 81%, in Johnson's last 16 road starts. Take the 'under'.
WINNERS EDGE
Chicago Cubs - 130 , 2 units
SF Giants Even , 2 units
LA Dodgers - 115 , 4 units ( Game of Week)