Wunderdog
Game: San Jose at Calgary
Pick: San Jose -125
San Jose got six penalty chances in a row for almost 10 minutes of power play time that resulted in one goal. Should Calgary be upset? Absolutely! However, the Sharks still came away with a win and will start to take control of the series tonight. The Sharks are 10-3 in their last 13 games on the road. Miikka Kiprusoff kept the score close in the last game at 2-0. Don't be fooled though, the Sharks are a bigger and better team. We like the Sharks on the road in this one tonight.
Texas Sports Wire
3* Reds
A-play Vip Play
Pirates Under
The Parlay King
Rangers -1.5 +175
Win Sports Now
Sonics ML +480
Guaranteed Sports Pick
Orioles +120
Jeff Alexander Sports
1 Unit on Kansas City Royals -109
(listing Liriano and Bannister)
After going down in back-to-back games to the Twins, I like the Royals to salvage a victory at home in game 3 of this series behind the red hot Bannister. The Royals are 10-2 in Bannister's last 12 starts vs. American League Central and 11-4 in Bannister's last 15 starts overall. The Royals are an impressive 5-1 in their last 6 games after losing the first 2 games of a series. The Twins are 0-4 in their last 4 during game 3 of a series, 2-5 in Liriano's last 7 starts vs. American League Central, and 2-7 in their last 9 games vs. a starter with a WHIP less than 1.15. Pound the Royals.
Maddux Sports
2 units on Toronto & Detroit Under 185
2 units on Chicago +4
2 units on Houston & Detroit Under 208.5
THE POWER INDEX
NBA
Detroit* 8 over Toronto
L.A. Lakers* 4 over San Antonio
Cleveland* 13 over Miami
Orlando 2.5 over Chicago*
Denver* 2 over Houston
Dallas 9 over Seattle*
The Fat Jack
TORONTO +5 1/2
Seabass
20 Cin
20 W Sox
20 Hou
20 KC
20 SD
NORTHCOAST COMPS
3* KC Rocketman
3* SA/LAL UNDER Accu Picks
KBHoopsFanatic
4* plays are now 26-10 after a 4-2 day yesterday
NBA
4* Detroit Pistons -5.5
MLB
4* KC Royals -109 Bannister
4* Los Angeles -141 Billingsley
4* Texas +1.5 -130 Fieldman
4* Chic W Soxs -131 Vazquez
Bob Akmens
3* Montreal Canadiens -125 / 3 units
ATS Lock
NBA
Lakers
Denver
Detroit
MLB
Yankees
Philly
San Diego
Game Day
2* Bulls
BEN BURNS
BASEBALL
CLEVELAND
Game: Oakland Athletics vs. Cleveland Indians
Prediction: Cleveland Indians Reason: I'm laying the price with CLEVELAND. Lee gets the call for the Indians and he was extremely sharp (0.00 ERA, 0.750 WHIP!) in his lone start. That came against these same A's, at Oakland last week. In that game, Lee was on the mound trying to save the Tribe from being swept. He did just that, allowing only four hits and one unearned run, through 6 2/3 innings. The Indians would go on to record a 2-1 victory. With that victory, Lee is now 3-1 with a 2.62 ERA vs. the A's. That includes a 2-0 mark with a stellar 1.32 ERA in five appearances here at Cleveland. Once again, Lee will be on the mound hoping to help his team avoid a sweep. Once again, I expect him to come through with a solid effort. Lee should get some run support as Chad Gaudin was roughed up in his lone outing and has never fared well vs. the Indians. Gaudin lasted just four innings while giving up six runs, five of them earned. During that 4-inning stretch, he gave up eight hits, two of them home runs. Gaudin also has an awful 6.28 ERA and 2.022 WHIP in three career starts vs. Cleveland, most recently suffering a 5-2 loss here last June. Look for Lee to build off his strong opening start and outpitch Gaudin, averting a sweep for the second time in a week.
HOUSTON
Game: Florida Marlins vs. Houston Astros
Prediction: Houston Astros Reason: I'm laying the price with HOUSTON. Rodriguez continues to be a 'cash cow' at home, yet the price on him remains reasonable. He was superb in this season's lone home start, blanking the Cards through 7+ innings, allowing only three hits (0 walks) while striking out six. The Astros are now 3-0 his last three starts here and 12-3 his last 15. Rodriguez allowed one earned run or less in 10 of those starts! Burke Badenhop makes his major league starting debut - he had pitched one inning of relief. While his numbers in the minors were solid, its a long jump from Double-A and he pitched in single-A for much of last season. The Astros cooled off the Marlins yesterday and with that victory are now 7-2 the last nine times they were a host in this series. Behind another quality home effort from Wandy, look for them to string together consecutive victories.
TAMPA BAY
Game: Baltimore Orioles vs. Tampa Bay Rays
Prediction: Tampa Bay Rays Reason: I'm laying the price with TAMPA BAY. Baltimore's starter Brian Burres has significantly more major league experience than Tampa Bay's Jeff Neimann, who makes his major league debut. That doesn't mean he's a better pitcher though. While Burres fared well in his lone start this season, let's not forget that he recorded a 5.95 ERA and 1.700 WHIP in 120+ innings last season. Note that he's also got a terrible 11.37 ERA in nine games - one start - vs Tampa Bay. Neimann, the fourth overall pick in the 2004 amateur draft, is a major prospect for the Rays. For starters, he's about 7-feet 300 pounds. I'm exaggerating, but he is big, somewhere in the 6'9, 280 range. He's been pitching well at Triple-A and he was 2-0 with a suberb 1.50 ERA in four spring training games for Tampa. He'll have the advantage of facing the Orioles hitters for the first time and I look for him to make the most of this opportunity, outpitching Burres en route to a TB victory.
METS
Game: Milwaukee Brewers vs. New York Mets
Prediction: New York Mets Reason: I'm laying the price with NEW YORK. Ben Sheets and the Brewers beat one of the toughest southpaws (Santana) in the game yesterday. This afternoon's pitchers aren't the team aces but they're both pitching very well. Suppan gets the call for the Brewers and he's been strong in both outings. He hasn't been as tough as his opponent though, as Perez hasn't allowed an extra-base hit in 11 2/3 shutout innings in his two starts this season. Perez has compiled his 0.00 ERA against a couple of pretty good lineups too. In his first start, he held the powerful Phillies to just five hits through six complete innings, striking out eight while walking one. He followed that up by limiting the Marlins to a mere three hits through 5 2/3 innings. Note that the Marlins entered the weekend as one of the top three offenses in the National League while the Phillies are certainly among the most lethal. The last time that Perez faced the Brewers, here at New York, he came within two outs of a complete game, allowing just one run and a mere two hits, en route to a 9-1 Mets victory. The last time that Suppan pitched here, two days prior to Perez's big win, the Brewers lost by a score of 5-4. Suppan allowed four runs in six innings, including two home runs, and took the loss. Like his entire team, Suppan tends to fare better at home. While he did beat the Cubs at Wrigley in his first start, the Brewers are still just 5-10 the last 15 times that he pitched on the road. As a team, despite yesterday's victory, the Brewers are an awful 62-105 on the road since the start of the 2006 season. During the same stretch, the Mets are 98-75 at home. The Mets are also still a healthy 68-45 in day games over that span. Behind another well-pitched game from Perez, look for them to grab this afternoon's rubber game, improving to 5-2 the last seven times they were a host in this series. *Annihilator
BOSTON
Game: New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox
Prediction: Boston Red Sox Reason: I'm laying the price with BOSTON. Consider how dominant "Dice-K" has been and considering that the Yankees are without Derek Jeter, I feel that this evening's price on Boston is more than reasonable. In three starts, Matsuzaka has struck out 22 batters over 18 1/3 innings through three starts, while holding opposing hitters to a mere .131 average. Not surprisingly, the Red Sox won all three of those games, most recently a 5-0 victory in which Matsuzaka tossed 6 2/3 shutout innings. The Red Sox are now 12-4 his last 16 home starts. While Dice-K comes off a dominant start, Phil Hughes comes off a poor one. Facing the lowly Royals, he failed to pitch four innings, allowing six hits and four walks in just three innings. With his confidence shaken, he now travels to Boston to face a significantly more potent Red Sox lineup. Including yesterday's result, the Red Sox are 14-6 their last 20 home games played in the month of April while the Yankees are 7-13 their last 20 road games played in April, including a 3-11 mark their last 14. Look for more of the same this evening as Matsuzaka outpitches and outlasts Hughes en route to a Red Sox victory. *Personal Favorite.
BEN BURNS
NHL
UNDER Caps/Flyers
Game: Philadelphia Flyers vs. Washington Capitals
Prediction: under Reason: I'm playing on the Capitals and Flyers to finish UNDER the number. The opening game of this series resulted in an extremely high-scoring affair, which has created some additional line value here. Despite the Game 1 result, the Flyers have still seen the UNDER go 67-40-13 their last 120 April games. During the same stretch, the Caps have seen the UNDER go 49-27 when playing in the month of April. Its not all that common to see back-to-back high-scoring games in an NHL playoff series and I expect that we'll see both better defense and better goaltending this afternoon. The Flyers entered this series, coming off back to back shutout (2-0 and 3-0) victories while the Capitals had allowed a mere three goals in their previous four games. All four of those games finished below the total, each with scores of five or less. Look for this afternoon's game to be much lower-scoring than most are expecting. *Blue Chip
LARRY NESS " Situational Game of the Week "
Maybe that season-opening two-game series against the Red Sox in Japan was good for the A's? They were just 36-45 on the road last year but have opened 2008 with a 5-0 start away from home (Japan games were considered home games for the A's), after beating the Indians in the first two games of this three-game series in Cleveland. The A's "lit up" CC Sabathia on Friday and then were very patient at the plate as Carrmona Fausto walked eight A's in just 3.1 innings of a 7-3 Oakland win last night. However, sweeping Cleveland will not be an easy task. Chad Gaudin (Sunday's starter) began the year on the DL (had hip surgery in the off-season) but made his first start of '08 this past Tuesday in Toronto. He was far from sharp, allowing eight hits and six runs (five ERs) in just four innings, although the A's did win 9-8. In his first four seasons, Gaudin made just 10 starts in his 101 appearances but LY was a full-time starter, going 11-13 with a 4.42 ERA (team was 18-16 in his 34 starts). He made 18 road starts in '07, posting a 4.84 ERA and off Tuesday's performance in Toronto, he's not off to a strong start on the road TY. Let's remember that although the Indians are just 2-3 at home TY, they were 52-29 at home in '07. Gaudin has made nine lifetime appearances against Cleveland with a 5.47 ERA. That includes three starts, in which he's posted a 6.26 ERA. Cliff Lee starts for the Indians and the lefty was one of the team's best starters from 2004-06, going 46-24 (4.50 ERA), with Cleveland going an impressive 59-39 in his starts. He was hurt for a good portion of last season (strained abdominal muscle), making just 20 appearances (16 starts), going 5-6 with a 6.29 ERA (team was 7-9 but 5-3 at home). Lee's 2008 debut came last Sunday in Oakland where he limited the A's to one unearned run and four hits in 6.2 innings of a 2-1 win. He retired 10 of the last 12 batters he faced, helping the Indians avoid a three-game sweep. The Indians are counting on him to do the same thing today, as once again Cleveland is looking to avoid getting swept by the A's, this time at home. Expect Lee to "lead the way," as he owns a 2.62 ERA in eight career appearances against the A's (seven starts in which the Indians are 5-2) and that includes a 1.32 ERA in five appearances against them here in Cleveland.
Situational Game of the Week 15* Cle Indians.