DUNKEL
MLB
Chicago Cubs at Cincinnati
The Cubs send Ryan Dempster (4-0, 3.16) to the mound against a Cincinnati team that has lost five straight. Chicago is the underdog pick (+105) according to Dunkel, which has the Cubs favored straight up by 1. Dunkel Pick: Chicago Cubs (+105). Here are all of today's games.
MONDAY, MAY 5
Game 951-952: Chicago Cubs at Cincinnati
Dunkel Ratings: Cubs (Dempster) 15.797; Cincinnati (Cueto) 14.755
Dunkel Line: Chicago Cubs by 1; 8 1/2
Vegas Line: Cincinnati (-115); 9
Dunkel Pick: Chicago Cubs (+105); Under
Game 953-954: St. Louis at Colorado
Dunkel Ratings: St. Louis (Pineiro) 15.673; Colorado (Jimenez) 14.667
Dunkel Line: St. Louis by 1; 11
Vegas Line: Colorado (-125); 10
Dunkel Pick: St. Louis (+115); Over
Game 955-956: Philadelphia at Arizona
Dunkel Ratings: Philadelphia (Moyer) 15.040; Arizona (Scherzer) 15.138
Dunkel Line: Arizona by 1/2; 10
Vegas Line: Arizona (-140); 9 1/2
Dunkel Pick: Arizona (-140); Over
Game 957-958: NY Mets at LA Dodgers
Dunkel Ratings: NY Mets (Firgueroa) 14.467; LA Dodgers (Billingsley) 16.748
Dunkel Line: LA Dodgers by 2 1/2; 9 1/2
Vegas Line: LA Dodgers (-130); 8 1/2
Dunkel Pick: LA Dodgers (-130); Over
Game 959-960: Boston at Detroit
Dunkel Ratings: Boston (Matsuzaka) 15.244; Detroit (Bonderman) 16.707
Dunkel Line: Detroit by 1 1/2; 8
Vegas Line: Detroit (-105); 9
Dunkel Pick: Detroit (-105); Under
Game 961-962: Chicago White Sox at Toronto
Dunkel Ratings: White Sox (Vazquez) 15.008; Toronto (McGowan) 15.072
Dunkel Line: Toronto by 1/2; 7
Vegas Line: Toronto (-110); 8
Dunkel Pick: Toronto (-110); Under
Game 963-964: LA Angels at Kansas City
Dunkel Ratings: LA Angels (Santana) 16.378; Kansas City (Tomko) 14.656
Dunkel Line: LA Angels by 1 1/2; 8 1/2
Vegas Line: LA Angels (-145); 9 1/2
Dunkel Pick: LA Angels (-145); Under
Game 965-966: Baltimore at Oakland
Dunkel Ratings: Baltimore (Olson) 15.017; Oakland (Eveland) 16.760
Dunkel Line: Oakland by 2; 8
Vegas Line: Oakland (-130); 8 1/2
Dunkel Pick: Oakland (-130); Under
Game 967-968: Texas at Seattle
Dunkel Ratings: Texas (Millwood) 14.512; Seattle (Washburn) 15.003
Dunkel Line: Seattle by 1/2; 8 1/2
Vegas Line: Seattle (-130); 9
Dunkel Pick: Seattle (-130); Under
NBA
Orlando at Detroit
The Pistons held Orlando to 72 points in the opener and come back tonight with a 22-10 ATS record after allowing an opponent 85 points or less. Detroit is the pick (-6) according to Dunkel, which has the Pistons favored by 8 1/2. Dunkel Pick: Detroit (-6). Here are all of today's games.
MONDAY, MAY 5
Game 709-710: Orlando at Detroit
Dunkel Ratings: Orlando 120.659; Detroit 129.019
Dunkel Line & Total: Detroit by 8 1/2; 181
Vegas Line & Total: Detroit by 6; 185
Dunkel Pick: Detroit (-6); Under
Game 711-712: San Antonio at New Orleans
Dunkel Ratings: San Antonio 124.200; New Orleans 128.824
Dunkel Line & Total: New Orleans by 4 1/2; 187
Vegas Line & Total: New Orleans by 2; 182
Dunkel Pick: New Orleans (-2); Over
MONEY LOCK OF THE DAY
JUNIOR'S PICK
Cubs -105
A great situation to make some money vs a struggling pitcher and a struggling team! This line would normally by around the -130 mark if it wasn't for the Cubs playing a night game yesterday and having to travel over night! Take advantage of the low line and cash in with the Cubs! Ryan Dempster wanted a shot at the starting rotation and he has taken full advantage going 4-0 while posting a 3.16 ERA. Besides the great numbers the Cubbies have won 5 of the 6 games he has started. Facing him will be a Reds team that just got destroyed by Atlanta over the weekend giving up 25 runs in those 3 games. Cincinatti has lost 5 straight while Johnny Cueto has lost 3 staright. The Reds are only 1-5 in games Cueto starts and I see them going 1-6 after tonight. Cueto has a great strikeout to walks ratio 33/6 but he leaves a lot of pitches over the plate that the hot hitting Cubs should be all over!
Tom Scott
Orlando Magic at Detroit Pistons
You all saw how difficult it was for Orlando to get points yesterday. Today will be no different. The Pistons have the perfect matchups defensively for every one of Orlando's weapons and, truth be told, the same applies to the Magic defense against the Detroit arsenal. This will be a series in which neither team puts triple digits on the score board in any game. In fact, the 91 Detroit put up yesterday may be the high water mark for this whole set. Look for another power defensive game from both sides here.
Play on: Under
Alex Smart
Oakland Athletics -131
The Oakland As starter tonight, Dana Eveland ( 3-2, 3.67 ERA) has won 2 consecutive starts here in McAfee Coliseum, having garnered a stingy 1.42 ERA , in those titls. He is a good bet to continue his current good fortunes , against a Baltimore Orioles team, that are hitting just .239 as a team, while in the visitors role this season. When and if Eveland falters, the southpaw hurler, will be backed with one of the strongest looking bullpens in baseball at the moment, as is evident by a 2.17 ERA and minuscule 0.81 WHIP in home tilts. Note: The Orioles have lost 18 of their 26 games here. Add one more loss to that list. Play on the Athletics
LT Profits
Toronto Blue Jays -110
There is the potential of a pitching duel when Dustin McGowan and the Toronto Blues Jays host Javier Vazquez and the Chicago White Sox tonight, but we will give the Jays the edge at this cheap home price.
McGowan is certainly due for some luck from the gambling gods, considering that he has five Quality Starts in six outings this season and he allowed just four earned runs in the other performance, yet he is just 1-2 and Toronto is 1-5 as a team in his starts! What makes that record even more incredible is the fact that the Toronto bullpen ranks fifth in the majors with a 2.96 ERA, so it is not as if the pen has been blowing leads for him.
Rather, the problem has been that the Blue Jays offense has only managed three runs or less in each of his six starts. As tough as Vazquez is, that could change tonight however. The Jays have taken the first three games of this four-game weekend wrap-around series, and they are showing signs of snapping out of their funk, pounding out 18 hits in the last two games.
It may not be easy, but look for Toronto to scrape up just enough runs to give McGowan a much-deserved victory.
Pick: Blue Jays -110
Orlando Magic +6.0
While we have little doubt that the Detroit Pistons are better than the Orlando Magic, the Pistons have the annoying habit of taking some nights off while the Magic will be in desperation mode tonight.
Several Pistons players have said publicly that they get “bored” very often and they like to play down to the ability of the opposition. They have been getting away with this for several years because they have so much talent that they have indeed been able to flip the switch when they have wanted too, and we saw more evidence of this in the Philadelphia series before their wake-up call at halftime of Game 4.
They were down 0-1 in that series, and now that they are actually up 1-0 in this one, we strongly suspect that they will be less than motivated tonight. Besides, this has been a visitors’ series anyway, with the road team going 15-6-3 against the spread in the last 14 meetings, even with Detroit’s home cover in Game 1.
The Magic have been one of the better road teams in the NBA this season, going 28-16 both straight up and ATS away from home. They did win quite handily in their last regular season appearance here in Detroit 103-85 in February, so they have already proven they could compete in this building when Detroit does not bring their “A” game.
We look for another such occurrence tonight, and we would not be shocked if Orlando evens this series with an outright upset.
Pick: Magic +6
Tony Karpinski
Texas Rangers vs. Seattle Mariners
Play: Texas Rangers
Kevin Millwood and Jared Washburn take the mound tonight as the Rangers open a set with the Mariners in Seattle. Millwood has been pretty good on the road in the early going and also getting a lot of run support. Washburn got off to a decent start, allowing 20 baserunners in his first 18 innings. But in his last three starts, Washburn has been knocked around, permitting just under two baserunners per inning. I think Texas will be the fresher team with the M's having to make the cross country jaunt after getting swept by the Yanks. The Texas Rangers 3-4-5 batters in the lineup also went a combined 0-12 yesterday, so I beleive they'll get some hits tonight.
Locksmith Sports
1 Unit on NY Mets +124
I like the series victory over the D-Backs to give the Mets a big boost tonight. The Mets have won 5 of the last 7 meetings with the Dodgers and I feel great about NY's chances tonight since they are 6-2 in their last 8 during game 1 of a series. I also like their sticks against Billingsley. The Dodgers are 0-4 in Billingsley's last 4 starts during game 1 of a series and 1-4 in Billingsley's last 5 starts period. The Mets are 8-2 in Perez's last 10 road starts and 7-3 in Perez's last 10 road starts vs. a team with a winning record. Take the Mets tonight.
WILL SYKES 5* GEM
SAN ANTONIO SPURS +ML
Winners Edge
NBA
SA SPURS +2 , 2 units
MLB
K.C ROYALS + 125 , 1 unit
Texas RANGERS + 110 , 1 unit
Ross Benjamin
Tampa Bay (Kazmir) @ Boston (Lester)
Play On: Tampa Bay +120
The Rays were very careful to bring back Scott Kazmir too soon from the disabled list especially in light of the surprising start of the ball club. There is a good chance that Kazmir will be on a strict pitch count in his first start of 2008 however that is already factored into the selection. Statistically Tampa has the #1 bullpen in MLB with an ERA of 2.42 and in the last 10 games they have been even better posting a cumulative 1.60 ERA. Kazmir has not been intimidated by starting versus the mighty Red Sox in his young career as a matter of fact in 15 starts since 2005 versus Boston he has posted a sterling 2.93 ERA. Kazmir is 6-2 in his last 8 team starts on the road versus a team with a win percentage of better than .500 and 12-5 in his last 17 overall team starts versus winning teams. The Boston starter Lester has posted a lofty 5.56 ERA in 4 starts versus Tampa since 2005. Lester is 0-4 in his last 4 team starts versus teams with a win percentage of better than .500. With the Rays winning 8 of their last 10 and with all considered that has been already mentioned we are getting a very good underdog value in this spot.
Play on Tampa Bay
John Fina
St. Louis Cardinals +110
Today the St. Louis Cardinals will be on the road as they take on the Colorado Rockies. We will side with the St. Louis Cardinals. This game features two starting pitchers who are going in opposite directions. The St. Louis Cardinals Starting Pitcher (Joel Pineiro) has a 1.77 ERA in his last 3 starts, while Colorado Rockies Starting Pitcher (Ubaldo Jimenez) has a 7.42 ERA in his last 3 starts. As you can see, the St. Louis Cardinals will be sending to the mound the much better starting pitcher. In addition, the St. Louis Cardinals have been a solid road team. In fact, the St. Louis Cardinals are 11-5 in their last 16 road games. The St. Louis Cardinals are 13-5 in their last 18 meetings against the Colorado Rockies, and should be able to get another win tonight! Take the St. Louis Cardinals!
TONY WESTON
Were focused in on LaLa Land as the New York Mets continue this West Coast trip in Los Angeles against the Dodgers.
Despite a 7-2 loss at Colorado yesterday no team is hotter than the Dodgers, who are 8-1 their last nine games and are 10-3 their last 13. Leading Los Angeles surge has been its bats, which have produced 7.2 runs per game in that 13-game stretch and have averaged 8 runs a game over its last nine.
On the other side, even though the Mets took two of three from the Diamondbacks, the team with the best record in the majors, New York is still only 6-7 its last 13 games, including a 3-5 mark on the road.
For the year New York is only 6-8 on the road, while the Dodgers are 9-5 at home.
Los Angeles offense is too hot right now and itll keep up the production tonight and get an easy win over the Mets.
Take the Dodgers at home.
4* DODGERS
Sports Gambling Hotline
Tonight we back another low-scoring game at the Palace of Auburn Hills, as the Magic and Pistons played well UNDER the posted price in Game One.
More of the same tonight, as the last pair of series meetings have stayed UNDER the total.
Orlando comes into this game on a 4 game UNDER streak, and the Magic has now played UNDER the posted price in 12 of their last 15 games.
Detroit meanwhile, has played UNDER in 4 of their last 5, and 8 of their last 11 overall.
Yes, the total is a little on the low-side, but with good reason.
Play on the UNDER in Game Two tonight.
2* UNDER
Chuck Franklin
The Pistons are clicking on all cylinders, having won four games in a row. They will carry that momentum into this game, facing a Magic team they easily beat on Saturday. Detroit swept Orlando last season in the playoffs and may do so again.
The Pistons are 9-2 ATS the last 11 games played as the favorite and 6-1 ATS the last seven home games. This is an experienced playoff team that is 6-2 ATS the last eight Conference Semifinal games and on a 28-11 ATS run with only one days rest. The Magic have only covered the spread twice in the last eight games versus a team with a better than .600 record.
3* DETROIT
Bobby Maxwell
The Tigers have Jeremy Bonderman (2-2, 3.86 ERA) on the hill today and he's already beaten the Red Sox once, so he should have the gameplan to do it again.
Bonderman gave up two runs (just one earned) on five hits in five innings of a 7-2 win in Boston back in early April and the Tigers have won four of their last six against the Red Sox. And in Comerica Park in Detroit, the Sox are just 1-4 in their last five visits.
Detroit is 6-0 against Boston with Bonderman on the hill the last few seasons and he's allowed just two earned runs in three straight outings, including Wednesday's 6-2 win over the Yankees in the Bronx. Against the Red Sox, Bonderman has allowed three runs or less in seven of his last eight starts against them.
Diasuke Matsuzaka (4-0, 2.52 ERA) goes for Boston and his only trip to Comerica in Detroit he got shelled, giving up six runs on 10 hits in five innings of a 6-5 loss.
The Tigers are 6-2 at home and 12-4 when Bonderman opens a series. Let's play Detroit to get this one.
3* DETROIT