Investment Playmakers Guaranteed Selections
20* National League Game of the Night
St Louis Cardinals
Locksmith Sports
1 Unit on NY Mets -121
The Mets have had great success with Perez on the hill against Florida . They are 4-0 in Perez's last 4 starts vs. the Marlins and also 4-0 in Perez's last 4 road starts vs. the Marlins. The Mets have had Florida 's number on the road, winning 13 of their last 17 meetings in Florida . The Marlins have looked hungover following long road trips so it comes as no surprise that they are 0-4 in their last 4 home games following a road trip of 7 or more days. The Mets are 12-4 in their last 16 overall and a perfect 7-0 in Perez's last 7 starts vs. the National League East. Take the Mets.
Jimmy Boyd
New York Mets vs. Florida Marlins
Play: New York Mets
The Mets have had great success with Perez on the hill against Florida. They are 4-0 in Perez's last 4 starts vs. the Marlins and also 4-0 in Perez's last 4 road starts vs. the Marlins. The Mets have had Florida's number on the road, winning 13 of their last 17 meetings in Florida. The Marlins have looked hungover following long road trips so it comes as no surprise that they are 0-4 in their last 4 home games following a road trip of 7 or more days. The Mets are 12-4 in their last 16 overall and a perfect 7-0 in Perez's last 7 starts vs. the National League East. Take the Mets.
Mr A
Philadelphia Phillies at Chicago Cubs
Philadelphia has won eight of their last 11 games, but has not played well away from home, 2-6 in its last 8 road games and 2-4 in the last 6 games against the Cubs in Chicago
Philadelphia's Joe Blanton (1-0, 4.03 ERA) is 0-0 with a 5.06 ERA in his last three starts. The right-hander has posted a 3.00 ERA in his past five starts,4.03 ERA in his last seven.
Chicago's Rich Harden (4-1, 1.47 ERA) is 3-0 with a 0.47 ERA in his last three starts. The Cubs have won the right-hander's last five starts.
Look for highest scoring team in the league to outscore the Phillies. Chicago has won their last five games and the last five with Harden at the helm. Take the hot Cubs at Wrigley Field.
Chicago Cubs -250
SMU at Rice
Rice Owls -3½
JB's Computer Picks
Tampa Bay Rays -165
Los Angeles Angels -250
Colorado Rockies -170
David Malinsky
Chicago White Sox @ Boston Red Sox
PICK: Chicago White Sox 3*
Three starts back, we started getting behind Javier Vazquez, and here is how we started the sequence - ”Meanwhile Vazquez is not being treated well by the marketplace because he has been on a 1-5 slide over his last eight starts, but take a closer look. He has pitched seven full innings in three of four starts since the All Star break, and went six in the other, an easy road win over these Royals. We do not see anything wrong in his stuff at all, and the timing is right to start buying in behind him now for a late-season correction.” That was the prelude to an easy 9-0 rout with him on the Run Line that night, and we followed up with a 6* in his following outing, a 13-1 rocking chair at Oakland. And while we did not quite see the value to lay a price into Scott Kazmir in the last Vazquez outing, our timing was good and so was his performance – he carried a 3-1 lead into the 8th inning before getting tagged with an unfortunate loss. When you only allow four singles, a double and a walk over seven innings, you do not deserve an “L”.
That prelude out of the way, it is impossible to pass up a pitcher throwing this well (a 0.70 WHIP in his last three starts, with 22 strikeouts) in this price range with a quality lineup behind him. And the flip side is that Daisuke Matsuzaka may be over-rated for the same reasons that Vazquez has been under-rated – the bounces of the game have made him look better than he really has been. We dealt with some of that in cashing a Sunday Run Line ticket against him, and let’s go back to that one to also help set this up –
”But while Matsuzaka also gives the impression of great current form, take a closer look at those last two starts. Yes, he only allowed two runs over 12 innings. But that was as much a spin of the roulette wheel as it was good pitching – he allowed 12 hits and 10 walks in that span, laboring to the tune of 220 pitches. For only two of 20 base-runners to score in that span is a baseball pendulum swinging to the max, and that puts us in the right place at the right time in terms of having the peak value against him.” The timing was indeed right – Toronto got to him for five runs in six innings, including home runs from Vernon Wells and Lyle Overbay, and with the White Sox getting their second look at him in three weeks we can anticipate some good reads of his stuff.
PlusLineSports
Philadelphia vs Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs-1.5
Bookie Pays You - ???
Look how he spends so much time explaining why the team he picked lost and he does not
spend any time explaining why the team he picked today will win. 🙁
:- (
They state:
"O.K... N.C State could have very easily covered last night BUT,
1) Their starting Q.B got took to the cleaners!
2) Their second string Q.B was horrible!
3) They SUCKED a little more than South Carolina!
=========================
THEY ARE NOT EVEN HONEST IN HOW THEY DESCRIBE THE WIN BECAUSE
SC sucked to a 34-0 SHUT OUT. They sucked all the way to a 20 point cover.
=================================================================
O.K... N.C State could have very easily covered last night BUT, 1) Their starting Q.B got took to the cleaners! 2) Their second string Q.B was horrible! 3) They SUCKED a little more than South Carolina! All they had to do was simply run the ball, and they would've covered, but NO they decided to let their 16 year old second string Q.B lose the game for them. Bottom Line... South Carolina SUCKS, but N.C State sucked a little bit more last night. I am simply disgusted at the way N.C State performed, and downright embarrassed for ESPN to even have to show a game of that caliber. Now that I've got that off my chest, LETS GET BACK TO OUR WINNING WAYS TODAY. GET ON THE RED SOX TONIGHT! I'm not going through all the bullt, just take em' tonight as I see them getting past the White Sox fairly comfortably.* Thanks.
EZWINNERS
5 STAR: (901) PHILADELPHIA (+$220) over Chicago
(Listing Blanton only)
(Risking $500 to win $1100)
2 STAR: (910) WASHINGTON (+$139) over Atlanta
(Action)
(Risking $200 to win $278)
2 STAR: (912) HOUSTON (+$123) over St. Louis
(Listing Wolf only)
(Risking $200 to win $246)
2 STAR: (905) SAN FRANCISCO (+$167) over Cincinnati
(Listing Zito only)
(Risking $200 to win $334)
WINNING POINTS
College
PREFERRED
Rice* over S.M.U. by 14 (Friday)
Pro
BEST BET
Oakland over Seattle* by 8
Tony Matthews
We will side with the Chicago Cubs -1.5 Runs as they face-off against the Philadelphia Phillies in Friday's MLB contest. The Philadelphia Phillies will use starting pitcher Joe Blanton. Joe Blanton has struggled as of late. In fact, Joe Blanton has a 5.06 ERA in his last 3 starts. We see Joe Blanton pitching another bad game today. The Chicago Cubs will use starting pitcher Rich Harden. Rich Harden has been pitching great as of late. In fact, Rich Harden has a 0.47 ERA in his last 3 starts. We see Rich Harden pitching another great game today. The bottom line, the Chicago Cubs should be able to get a blowout win today. Take the Chicago Cubs -1.5 Runs!
WILD BILL
Arizona -3 (5 units)
Broncos-Cardinals Over 38 (5 units)
Phillies + 225 (5 units)
Pirates +160 (5 units)
Mariners +105 (5 units)
Blue Jays -115 (5 units)
Royals +180 (5 units)
Giants +165 (5 units)
Mets -120 (5 units)
Orioles +160 (5 units)
Nationals +150 (5 units)
Astros +125 (5 units)
D-backs +105 (5 units)
Rockies -170 (5 units)
Athletics +155 (5 units)
Rangers +230 (5 units)
Rice-Smu Over 69 (5 units)
Matt Foust
Baltimore Orioles +156
The Baltimore Orioles take on the red hot Tampa Bay Rays tonight at Tropicana Field. The Rays sit in first place in the AL East and show no signs of slowing down, while the Orioles occupy last place with a 63-70 mark. So, naturally, we are going to with the Orioles in tonight’s game.
Baltimore sends hurler Jeremy Guthrie to the mound tonight and he has been proving all season long that last year was not a fluke season for him. Guthrie is 10-10 on the year but he has an impressive 3.28 ERA and an outstanding 1.17 WHIP. Of late, he has been nothing short of masterful on the road. He has allowed just five earned runs in his last 36 innings pitched (last five away starts) and the Orioles are 3-2 in that stretch. He has had just one bad start in his last seven outings and he still struck seven batters in that game. Against the Rays in Tampa, the Orioles are 1-2 when Guthrie has started but he had them in all three games when he departed, allowing just six earned runs in total.
Countering Guthrie is the incredible lefty Scott Kazmir. Kazmir has the best ‘stuff’ of any Rays pitcher and is an amazing talent, but he has fallen on harder times recently (at least by his standards) and his numbers are not as good as Guthrie’s. The Kaz’ has allowed 14 earned runs in his last 26 innings pitched (last five starts), and, while striking out 29, has also walked 17 batters. His last five home starts feature almost the same identical numbers: 14 earned runs, 26 innings pitched, 29 strikeouts, and 19 base-on-balls.
It is Kazmir’s recent penchant for walking hitters that I think will help lead to an Oriole victory this evening. Baltimore, despite their record, can hit the ball and hit it well. In their last five contests they have averaged 5.4 runs per game and they have averaged 5.5 runs per game against left handed starters. Amazingly, they have averaged 9.4 runs per game in their last five road games. Contrast this with Tampa Bay’s production, just 2.89 runs per game over their last five home games.
I am not proposing that Baltimore will humiliate Kazmir, but I think they will score some runs on him. And with Guthrie on the other side, I don’t think they will need to score that many to steal this game. Tampa Bay is 3-2 in their last five home games and their three wins were by a combined four runs. They have not been blowing people out at home of late, and Baltimore will be in this game with a chance to win. The +156 makes them a great value.
Take the ORIOLES +156.
Rocketman Sports
SMU @ Rice
1* Rice -3.5
Rice is 12-4 ATS last 3 years against conference opponents. SMU was 1-11 SU last year including 0-6 SU on the road. SMU allowed 39.7 points per game overall and 36 points per game on the road last season. Rice is 8-0 SU and 5-1 ATS at home vs SMU since 1992. Home team is 10-2 ATS in their last 12 meetings. We'll recommend a small play on Rice.
Michael Cannon
NY Mets -120 at FLORIDA
Take the Mets for the road win over the Marlins.
The Mets have been making it an adventure lately, mostly because of a shaky bullpen, but I like them behind Oliver Perez tonight.
Perez has been money against the Marlins this year, going 3-0 with a 2.16 ERA in four starts. In 25 innings the left-hander has racked up 28 strikeouts and has allowed only 16 hits.
The Marlins will counter with rookie Chris Volstad. The right-hander is 4-3 on the year with a 3.42 ERA. But his ERA over his last three starts is 4.96 and the Mets are certainly capable of making him pay for any pitches he leaves out over the plate.
Take the Mets as they grab the road win.
3♦ NY METS