Jake Timlin
In early afternoon action I like the Bluejays bury the Royals once again.
Fresh off their 9-3 win last night against Zack Greinke I fully expect for another easy win for Toronto this afternoon as Kansas City continue to suck big time.
Paving the way for the Bluejays today will be the poor play of Kansas City who with last night’s lost have dropped their last 8 games overall and 7 of their last 10 against Toronto. Also helping will be the awful pitching of Hochevar who is winless in three starts this season as the righty carries a 10 plus ERA into the Roger Center today. Richman will counter with his 4-2 record on the year which includes a 8-1 win against the Royals back in last April.
Staying true to what we know I say take the Bluejays minus the Run Line as they blast the Royals this afternoon.
3♦ Toronto Bluejays -1 ½
LT Profits
Tampa Bay Rays @ New York Yankees
C.C. Sabathia is starting to live up to his fat (no pun intended) contract for the New York Yankees, while David Price is handling his transition to a starting pitcher well, so look Under in the Bronx Friday evening.
After a slow start with his new team, Sabathia is again up to his old habits, reeling off five consecutive Quality Starts. Perhaps just as importantly, he has been a workhorse, pitching at least seven innings in those five starts, which takes the shaky Yankees middle relief out of the equation here. He has been brilliant vs. the Rays, tossing seven straight Quality Starts against them.
Price was a vital member of bullpen during the amazing Rays World Series run last season, even picking up s few saves. He has always been groomed to be a starter however, and after going just 3.1 innings in his first starts this season due to a high pitch count caused by six strikeouts and five walks (he still allowed only two runs and four hits), he was stretched out a bit vs. the Minnesota Twins last Saturday.
Price went 5.2 innings that day, allowing only one run and five hits with an impressive 11 strikeouts. Sure, he will probably not go beyond six innings until he is stretched out fully, but that is not necessarily a bad thing as the Tampa Bay bullpen ranks fourth in the American League with a 3.97 ERA.
Given that Sabathia should eat up enough innings to nullify the biggest threat to this Under, the New York long relief, Under looks like the play tonight.
Pick: Rays/Yankees Under 9
Jimmy Boyd
1 Unit on Milwaukee Brewers +145
Condensed writeups today. The Brewers took down the Braves 4-0 yesterday and I'll ride them again here. You have to like the chances of the Brewer bats against Vazquez, who is just 1-3 at home this season. The Brewers counter with Jeff Suppan, who is an impressive 3-1 on the road in the early going. The Brewers are 5-2 in their last 7 meetings in Atlanta, 5-1 in Suppan's last 6 starts as a road underdog, and 12-4 in their last 16 when their opponent scores 2 runs or less in their previous game. Take the Brew Crew showing solid value today.
ALEX SMART
Washington Mystics @ Connecticut
PICK: Connecticut Sun -8
Many WNBA pundits including myself look at the Connecticut Sun as contenders for a league championship this season, behind super star Lindsay Whalen, and last years leading scorer Ashya Jones. Meanwhile, the Washington Mystics after two straight losing seasons, are still non contenders under the tout ledge of new head coach Julie Plank. The Wizards are a decent team with a couple of good draft picks in the lineup, notably Marrisa Coleman (No.2 Draft pick out of Maryland) , but their overall cohesiveness should be in doubt , because of a new system and some off season player plug ins. Playing in Connecticut in front of a very knowledgeable Sun fan base is never an easy task for any team, especially vs side that must be considered to still be in lower tier of this league. With that said, lay the points with the superior Sun. ....Projected score: Connecticut 81 Washington 69
Tom Freese
Baltimore Orioles at Oakland Athletics
Prediction: Under
Oakland starter Trevor Cahill has allowed 3 or less runs in 9 of 11 starts this year. The A's are 11-2 UNDER their last 13 games and they are 9-2 UNDER at home vs. losing teams. Oakland is 7-2 UNDER their last 9 games vs. righty starters. Baltimore starter Jason Berken has allowed 3 runs total in his 2 starts this year. The Orioles are 5-0 UNDER after allowing 5 or more runs in their last game and they are 7-3 UNDER on Saturday. Baltimore is 5-1 UNDER off a loss. PLAY ON 'UNDER' (Cahill vs. Berken)
Jimmy The Moose
Los Angeles Angels at Detroit Tigers
Prediction: Under
The under is 5-1-1 in the Angels last 7 games when the total has been set between 9-10.5. The under is 4-1-1 in their last 6 games vs. a right-handed starter. The under is 40-17-3 in their last 60 games vs. an AL Central opponent. Escobar's on the mound tonight and the under is 20-8-1 in his last 29 road starts. The Tigers have played under the total in 9 of their last 10 home games. The under is 4-1 in their last 5 overall. The under is 8-3 in their last 11 games as a favorite. The under is 4-1 in Jackson's last 5 starts. The under is 5-1-1 in the Angels last 7 trips to Detroit. Play the under.
Nick "BookieKiller" Parsons
OAK (-125) vs BAL
It took two months, but the Oakland Athletics are finally starting to hit and pitch well at the same time. The A?s look to extend their season-high winning streak to five games Saturday night while trying for a seventh consecutive victory over the visiting Baltimore Orioles. Trevor Cahill(notes) (2-5, 4.33 ERA) hopes to continue Oakland?s success. Though the 21-year-old rookie looks to avoid a fourth straight losing decision while making his first appearance versus the Orioles, Cahill hasn?t pitched poorly as he?s gone 0-2 with a 2.84 ERA in his last three starts. Look for OAKLAND to improve to 5-1 in June!
Free Selection from Totals4U
Saturday's free selection:
Texas Rangers/Boston Red Sox over 10
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Free Selection from Arthur Ralph Sports
273 - 178 run 60 % 17-7 run here
Sat Pitt Pirates !
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EZWINNER'S FREE SELECTION
Game: Pittsburgh Pirates @ Houston Astros
(955) Houston Astros -$157
(Listing Oswalt and Maholm)
The Astro's ace Roy Oswalt is starting to show signs
that he is rounding into form and the Astros bats are
starting to heat up. The Pirates just traded away their
best player and their starting pitcher Paul Maholm has
an ERA of almost five in his last three starts. The Astros
should pick up the win here.
2009 Free Selections Record 83-69 (54.6%)
8)
Mr. A
New York Yankees -200
Detroit Tigers -145
MLB Computer Picks
New York Yankees -200 * * *
New York Mets -135
Chicago Cubs -130
*** Best Bet
Gina
Texas Rangers at Boston Red Sox
Go with the Red Sox! Boston is 10-2 in its last 12 games against Texas and has won won eight of the last nine meetings at Fenway Park, including Friday's 5-1 defeat. The Red Sox have lost four of Jon Lester last five starts, but the lefthander pitched outstanding in his last start on Sunday, allowing just one run and three hits while striking out 12 in six innings of an 8-2 win over the Blue Jays. The Red Sox's are 23-5 in Lester’s last 28 home starts.
Boston Red Sox -200
Chris Jordan
N.Y. Mets at WASHINGTON +125
Seems too easy to me, to take the Mets against Washington tonight so I’m going to play the home pup and list both pitchers. John Lannan may be 2-5 on the year with a 4.21 ERA, but he’s pitched well enough to win in several starts and just might need some run support.
After all, In his past nine starts, Lannan has a 3.23 ERA with five quality starts. As for the run support, it shouldn’t be much to ask against John Maine, who has a 4.04 ERA in 10 career starts against Washington.
He’s never pitched in Nationals Park, and may I remind everyone that prior to his last outing against Washington (which was a strong performance) he was 0-2 with a 7.47 ERA in his first three starts of the season. Washington is due for an offensive outburst, and I’ll bank on today to be the game it happens.
1♦ NATIONALS
Karl Garrett
Cubs -125 at CINCINNATI
12-5 the last 17 days with my FREE selections!
NL baseball tonight, and the G-Man rolls strong with the Cubs over the Reds.
Chicago edged Cincy last night, and despite a dormant offense, the Cubs have been able to win their last pair, 4 of 6, and 6 of their last 9 overall. Cubs hurler Ryan Dempster is fresh off 7 shutout innings in a win over Los Angeles, and Dempster is 2-1 the last 3 times he has faced the Reds as well.
Cincy will go with Matt Maloney making his season debut tonight in front of the home fans.
The Reds have been slumping of late, losers of 6 of their last 8, and the G-Man will go against Cincinnati once again tonight to drop their 7th in their last 9 games.
Take the Cubbies!
3♦ CUBS
Michael Cannon
Cleveland at CHICAGO WHITE SOX -125
Take the White Sox for the home win over the Indians this afternoon.
The Tribe will start Jeremy Sowers and he’s had no success against the White Sox in his career. The left-hander is 0-3 with a 6.87 ERA in four lifetime games against Chicago, including a 7-4 loss on May 12 when he allowed seven hits and five runs in four innings.
The White Sox will counter with Gavin Floyd, who is coming off a solid start on Tuesday when he was pushed up in the rotation to switch places with Bartolo Colon. The right-hander pitched seven innings and gave up two runs on four hits. Floyd has allowed just five earned runs in his last three starts covering 25 innings. He has 24 strikeouts during that span.
Take the White Sox as they grab the home win.
3♦ CHICAGO WHITE SOX
Sports Gambling Hotline
Baltimore at OAKLAND -125
We will come right back tonight with the A's over the O's once again, as Oakland is playing their best baseball of the year right now, and we all know Baltimore stinks on the road.
The Athletics have now won 4 in a row, and 5 of their last 6, while the Orioles loss last night drops them to just 8-18 away from Camden Yards this year.
Jason Berken is making just his 3rd start at this level, and while he has pitched well, you have to wonder how his last start will affect him, as he went 7 innings and allowed just 1 earned run in taking the loss against Detroit.
Trevor Cahill is still looking for some traction, as he is 2-5 for the season, but the fact Oakland is now 6-0 against the Orioles since last year has us on the A's to extend their winning ways.
4♦ OAKLAND
Blade, I thought maybe something "came up" because usually a
"service plays" thread appears before the Premium thread and so
I thought I would help out by posting the plays you usually post
since you seemed to be away and not here as usual. But it looks
like you are not away and so what I assumed was not correct.
Good to see you here as always and your work is much appreciated,
Undefeated77 8)