DAVE MALINSKY 4*
Los Angeles Dodgers @ Detroit Tigers
PICK: Detroit Tigers
After cashing two easy tickets to open this series, with the Tigers producing 8*’s worth of wins by a combined nine runs, it should not come as any surprise that we are in the hunt again. It is a classic case of the marketplace being scorched so badly by over-rating the Tigers early in the season that no one wants them now. Yet what we have is a team that currently sports the longest winning streak in the Major League’s at basically no more than a home field advantage against a side that continues to struggle in so many different facets of play, including a current losing streak that is tied for the longest in the Major’s.
We will give the Dodgers a little credit - they finally showed some life on offense yesterday. But six of their seven runs came against rookie Eddie Bonine, so it does not signify any change to their pattern. Meanwhile the defense was slipshod and the pitching dismal at best. It was one thing for Brad Penny to get roughed up, but what Joe Torre hoped would be tune-ups for Takashi Saito and Scott Proctor both backfired. Saito needed the work, since save chances have been few and far between of late (he had not pitched since last Sunday night vs. the Cubs), but instead of getting back in rhythm he toiled through an ugly 22-pitch outing in which he allowed a run on three hits. It certainly did nothing for his confidence. Meanwhile Proctor’s two innings turned into a 46-pitch ordeal that will rule him out of this one, and the same can be said for Cory Wade, off of 37 pitches through the first two games of the series. That is a problem, because with Clayton Kershaw on the mound the bullpen is going to be needed - the rookie left-hander has only lasted 20 innings through his first four starts, averaging better than 19 pitches per frame, and the Tigers have the kind of veterans that can absolutely wear him out. While Keshaw’s 4.50 ERA is respectable, note that it has only come because of a ridiculously high strand rate - through his first 20 innings there have been 30 runners that have reached with a hit or a walk that did not come around to score. That is playing with fire.
Nate Robertson does not throw anything special, but he battles, and when he is on his game he battles well. He has worked into the seventh inning in six of his last nine starts, and because of the solid work from the rest of the rotation this week Jim Leyland actually has plentiful bullpen options. That is more than enough to lay this short price and ride the Tigers to another easy win (or should we say “the Dodgers to another easy loss”).
Terron Chapman
Philadelphia Phillies vs. St Louis Cardinals
Play: St Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals bounced back nicely after Friday night's massacre at the hands of the Philadelphia Phillies and now find themselves in position to win yet another series.
The Cardinals look to take their 15th series of the season in the rubber match this afternoon. They will send young right hander Mitchell Boggs to the mound for his second major league start. Boggs faired well in his first start, gettin the decision in a 7-2 win over the Reds.
The same cannot be said for Brett Myer's of the Phillies who continues to struggle. Myer's has dropped six of his last seven starts and 3-8 with a 5.34 ERA on the season. On the road, Myer's is 0-6 with a 7.32 ERA with his team going just 1-6 in his road starts. Expect him to struggle once again today against a Cardinals team that is hitting .289 against right handers at home this season. The Phillies are 0-9 in Myer's last 9 starts as a favorite of -110 to -150.
The Cardinals are 9-1 in their last 10 home games against a team with a winning record and 8-2 in their last 10 games as a home pup. Despite the Phillies 20 run explosion on Friday, they are only hitting .200 in their last five games. Play on the St. Louis Cardinals for 1 unit.
Sportsbettingstats
Boston Celtics at L.A. Lakers
In game 4 of the finals' series the Celtics came back and shocked the Lakers beating them 97-91. The Lakers have their backs against the wall, as they are down 3-1 and have to win 3 games in a row, 2 on the road in Boston, to win the title. No team has ever come back from a 3-1 deficit to win the title, but Kobe Bryant stated, "The series ain't over, It's far from over." In game 4 the Lakers led by 18 at the half and by 20 with only 6 minutes to go in the 3rd quarter but then fell apart, as the Celtics rallied for the win. The big gun in game 4 for the Celtics was Paul Pierce, who went for 20 points on 6/13 shooting. The key to the game may have been Ray Allen, who went for 19 points, as in the 2nd half he switched defensively and Pierce guarded Bryant, which allowed Allen to take over offensively in the 2nd half. For the game the Celtics shot 33/73 for a field goal percentage of 45.2%. For the Lakers the high scorer was not Kobe Bryant, as Lamar Odom went for 19 points on 8/11 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds. For the game the Lakers out rebounded the Celtics 41-40.
Staff Pick: Kobe Bryant was only 6/19 from the floor in game 4 and has to shoot better and score more for the Lakers to extend this series. The Celtics Kendrick Perkins may be out with a sore shoulder, but as long as the Big 3 plays like they did in the 2nd half of game 4 that may not be a big loss. The Lakers struggled mightily in the 2nd half and need to bounce back with a strong 1st half in game 5. Boston's comeback in game 4 included a 21-3 run over the final five minutes and Bryant has to take control and score to make sure that does not happen again. Bryant insists that the Lakers have moved on since their Game 4 collapse, but if they come out flat in the beginning of game 5 that is not the case. The Lakers know that they have their work cut out for them, but they (especially Bryant) are not ready to go home just yet. If Odom plays another great game and Kobe plays like he should the Lakers will win this game and head back to Boston down 3-2. Look for Kobe to take over and not let the Celtics clinch the title in L.A., as the Lakers will win game 5.
Lakers 94 Celtics 89
PlusLineSports Daily Baseball Selection
Boston Red Sox -1.5
2-Minute Warning
NBA
LA LAKERS
BASEBALL
BALTIMORE ORIOLES
Jack Clayton
Cubs
AntonWins
Celtics
Global Handicapping
San Diego/Cleveland Under 8
Templer's Sports Picks
Cleveland
Bob Harvey Sports
LA Dodgers/Detroit Under 9.5
JerseySteveWins
Arizona
Paul Leiner
10* Min/Milw Over 9
Cappers Access
Celtics
W. Sox
Arthur Ralph
Nationals
Philly-Connection
CUBS
Frank Patron
Detroit Tigers -125
Computer Sports
DRays
Silver Key Play
BALTIMORE -135
Insider Sports Report
Pittsburgh +110
DONALD TRAN
Baltimore Orioles-130
Jennifer Barry
Diamondbacks -145
Chad Jordan
Indians -1.5 Runs
PlayByPlayInc.
BOSTON/LAKERS Under
Global Handicapping
San Diego/Cleveland Under 8
HE VEGAS STEAMLINE
BOSTON/CINCINNATI UNDER
TRACE ADAMS
NY Yankees
JAKE TIMLIN
Los Angeles Angels
DR VEGAS
Seattle -135
MIGHTY QUINN
Pirates
TOTALS 4 U
BRAVES/ANGELS UNDER
DARK HORSE
Arizona -145
Easy Money
DETROIT -125
#1 SPORTS
L.A. ANGELS - 135
BIG TIME SPORTS
WASHINGTON /SEATTLE UNDER
RAZOR SHARP
PITTSBURGH/BALTIMORE UNDER
MIKE WYNN
Seattle Cleveland -155
PLATINUM PLAYS
HOUSTON ASTROS + 115
PRIORITY SPORTS
Arizona -175
GLEN McGREW
White Sox
Stu Feiner
2,000,000 Dime Play 😀
LA Lakers
Psychic
Lakers -7
Arthur Ralph
Super Pick - Arizona Diamondbacks
900 - Best Bet on Chicago White Sox
Free play - Washington Nationals
BIG AL
SUNDAY AFTERNOON BASEBALL TOTALS WINNER.
Washington/Seattle under
At 4:10pm our selection is on the Washington Nationals and Seattle Mariners 'under' the total. The two worst teams (arguably) in the Majors face off in this interleague battle of the basements, with the Nats taking the first two games of the series. The six runs scored by the Mariners in the Friday game were the most runs since they plated eight runs in Boston over a week ago, but last night, Seattle once again found scoring difficult, and only tallied two runs. Of course, this is not surprising, as neither of these teams is known for their offensive firepower. Nats veteran righthander Tim Redding is having what I guess you would call a career year so far in Washington, as he is on a pace to have between 12 and 15 wins (no small feat on this club), with an ERA in the low 4s and most importantly, his team has won eleven of his fourteen starts so far. Seattle's lefthanded veteran Jarrod Washburn has been one of the most inconsistent starters in the league in recent years, but he has pitched very well recently with a 3.63 ERA in his last three starts. Washburn also has been having major problems with run support, as have most of the Mariner pitchers this season. Tim Redding has gone 'under' the total in 16 of his last 21 as an underdog, and 30 of 44 vs. losing teams. The Nats have gone 'under' in 12 of 19 day games, while Seattle has gone 'under' in 12 of its 21 day games. Finally, Redding has pitched his best away from home this season, with a 3-0 record, 3.56 ERA and 0.98 WHIP in five road starts. Take the 'under'.
#1 NBA GAME OF THE WEEK -- 86% ATS SYSTEM
Los Angeles Lakers
At 9:05 pm, our selection is on the Los Angeles Lakers minus the points over Boston. After being on the Celtics to win the NBA Title the entire season, I switched to the Lakers at the start of this series (and feel not too good about that decision now). Still, if there is any team that can come back from a 3 games to 1 deficit in the NBA Finals, it's this team. They have the world's best player in Kobe Bryant, and have an experienced coach in Phil Jackson. And they also have the benefit of playing game 5 at home. Most teams down 3 games to 1 in a series play that fifth game on the road, and are quickly eliminated. But LA will be able to get its confidence boosted a bit with a less daunting challenge: to win a Game at Staples Center where they've lost just once (this past Thursday) in 15 games. A lot of folks will want to make a big deal out of LA's psyche after losing outright as a 7.5-point favorite, especially since it was up by 20 points, 70-50, midway thru the 3rd quarter. Clearly, Phil Jackson has his work cut out for him to get his troops mentally back on track. But I think it won't be as hard as it was for Gregg Popovich when his Spurs blew their 65-45 lead in Game 1 at Staples Center vs. these Lakers. The difference is that the Spurs had to go right back out to play another road game, while LA will be competing in front of its own cheering denizens. Also, I researched how teams do after losing outright as a favorite of 6.5 or more points in the playoffs. These teams are a losing proposition ON THE ROAD, but do quite well at home, going 37-4 straight-up and 26-14-1 ATS since 1991, including a solid 7-0 straight-up and 6-1 ATS the past two seasons. Look for the Lakers to win Game 5 handily. Lay the points.
Kelso Sturgeon
High Rollers Baseball
15 units Red Sox
Best Bets Baseball Club
5 units Yankees
4 units Royals
3 units A's
100 units Los Angeles Lakers
Michael Cannon
25 Dime
CELTICS
10 Dime
BLUE JAYS
5 Dime
YANKEES
Frank Rosenthal
NBA
510 LAKERS-6.5 SB
OVER 190.5 SB+
MLB
904 TRIBE-150 SB+
907 DODGERS+115 SB
912 REDS+135 SB
916 RAYS-155 SB+
918 CWS UNDER 9 SB+
920 BREWERS-125 SB
921 YANKS-125 SB
UNDER 9 SB+
925 KC+135 SB
UNDER 9 SB+
930 ANGELS-140 SB
OVER 8.5 SB+
Louie Mayo
MLB
(5*)35-38 -49.50 Toronto -118
(3*) 40-34 -5.77 Baltimore -132
(1*) 42-34 +1.09 Texas +152
NBA
(50*) Lakers -7
WNBA
(50*) Indiana -7
Greg Shaker
2 Units- SD/Cleve Under