John Ryan
Utah Jazz vs. Dallas Mavericks
Play: Over
Ai Simulator 3* graded play OVER Dallas/Utah. AiS shows a 72% probability that both teams will score 100 point s each and also a 74% probability that 200 or more points will be scored in this game. More or less a self fulfilling prophesy, but Utah is 30-5 OVER where both teams score 98 or more points in a game this season; 22-3 OVER where both teams score 98 or more points in a game this season. Point is that the AiS is projecting that both teams will score 100 or more points and that there is a foundation of support between the two teams supporting the OVER play. Dallas is a strong ball handling team and Utah is 33-19 OVER in road games versus good ball handling teams that are committing <=14 turnovers/game over the last 3 seasons. Take the OVER.
Cappers Access
Reds
White Sox
Nuggets
LT Profits Sports Group
Royals +140 over New York Yankees
The Royals are a surprising 6-2, and they have allowed just two runs while taking the first two games of this series vs. the Yankees. With Andy Pettitte’s teams 4-13 in April, dog the Royals at home again.
The surprising Kansas City Royals look to complete the three-game sweep of the mighty New York Yankees tonight, and at this price at home, they seem like a nice investment to do just that.
The Royals are now 6-2 after taking the first two games of this series, and since they were a slight favorite in one of their losses, they are an amazing 6-1 in this underdog role, upsetting the Detroit Tigers three times, the Yankees twice and the Minnesota Twins once.
The Royals are hitting .270 as a team, and when you combined that with their sparkling 2.25 team ERA, it is easy to see why they are off to their hot start. For comparative purposes, the Yanks are batting just .244 with a 3.99 team ERA. Now today’s Royals pitcher, left-hander John Bale, had probably the worst outing of any Royals starter this year, but he should be helped by the fact that the Bronx Bombers are batting just .225 vs. southpaws in the early going. He also has the support of what has been an outstanding Kansas City bullpen so far, with a collective 0.67 ERA and 0.85 WHIP over 27 innings!
The 4-5 Yankees have simply not been hitting, scoring three runs or less seven of their nine games and a grand total of two runs over the first two games of this series. Also, their starter Andy Pettitte did not pitch well in his seasonal debut, allowing five runs and 10 baserunners in just five innings of a 6-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. Unfortunately, slow starts are nothing new for Andy, as his teams are now 4-13 in his last 17 April outings.
We look for the Kansas City magic and for the lethargic Yankees play to continue for one more day with this nice underdog price tag on Kansas City.
Royals +140
Karl Garrett
Florida at WASHINGTON -130
Tonight in the National League, I am sticking with the Marlins-Nationals to once again play a high-scoring contest.
Last night it took a while for the bats to get cranking, but the hitters did indeed get it going, and the teams combined for 14 runs, and another OVER.
That makes both meetings this year in DC between the teams in the OVER column, and puts them on an overall OVER run of 15-4-1 the last 20 times these teams have faced each other in Washington!
For the season, the Marlins have played 4 straight OVERS, and are 7-1 for the season on the HIGH SIDE!
As for the Nats, they have landed OVER the closing price in 6 of 9 games this year.
Can't go against those numbers.
5* OVER
BuckShotBoys
Toronto/Shaun Marcum -1.5
RAZOR SHARP
MINNESOTA (Hernandez) +130
TOTALS 4 U
TIGERS/RED SOX OVER 10
TV HOTLINE
NY METS
RED ZONE
CINCINNATI REDS
BIG TIME SPORTS
LAKERS/CLIPPERS OVER 208
Must Win Sports Picks
Montreal
USA Sports Consulting
FLORIDA MARLINS 115
The Fall Miracle
Under 240
#1 SPORTS
PHILLIES + 145
DARKHORSE
MLB - Seattle +120
VEGAS STEAM LINE
St Louis (Wainwright) -130
MIGHTY QUINN
Braves
MIKE WYNN
Cubs -130
HUDDLE UP
Utah/Dallas under 200'
ARTHUR RALPH
Marlins
LANCE'S LOCK
Marlins +120
PRIORITY SPORTS INFO
Red Sox -145
MADDUXSPORTS
LA Clippers +15.5
BOB DONAHUE
Royals
GLEN McGREW
Cubs
Paul Leiner
5* Reds
Donald Tran
Colorado Rockies
Jennifer Barry
St. Louis Cardinals
Chad Jordan
Denver/Golden State Over 240 Points
Jimmy Boyd
Lakers -15.5
Guaranteed Sports Pick
Braves
BRAD DIAMOND SPORTS
Play on: Washington (Perez)over Florida
The Nationals started the season 3-0, but have faltered in six straight as their pitching staff has collapsed. Add in some tough road losses, the D.C. contingent seems out of sync. Still, I'll back the Nats with Perez (2-1, 4.15 ERA vs. Florida)as the Marlins are 4-11 L15 after scoring 5+ plus runs. Lefty Hendrickson is 1-1 with a 6+ ERA vs. Washington over the last three season. Huge bounce back day for the suffering Nationals
Ross Benjamin
Minnesota (L.Hernandez) @ White Sox (Contreras)
Play On: Minnesota +125
Since the start of the 2005 season the Minnesota starting pitcher Livan Hernandez is 38-30 in his team starts as an underdog for a +17.75 wagering units. Hernandez has been sharp in his first 2 starts of 2008 posting a 1.00 WHIP while not walking anyone. The White Sox starter Jose Contreras has been the model of inconsistency over the last couple of seasons. He had a very shaky 2008 debut start allowing 10 hits, 4 earned runs, walking 4, and striking out just 2 in 5.0 innings. Play on the Minnesota Twins
Sports Gambling Hotline
Tonight in the NBA we think the scorer's table is going to be very, very busy in this Denver-Golden State meeting.
We are playing the OVER in this game, as both Denver and Golden State haven't yet met a shot they didn't like!
True, the last pair of series meetings have held UNDER the posted price, but we are staring at too many supporting numbers for an OVER play in this baby tonight.
Denver comes into Oaktown having eclipsed the posted price in 4 of their last 5 games, and 19 of their last 26 overall.
Golden State has played OVERS in 10 of their last 13 Thursday night affairs, and 10 of the last 14 meetings between the teams have also sailed OVER the posted price.
Have to look for the offense to put that ball through the hoop with regularity this evening.
Play on the OVER.
4* OVER
Drew Gordon
While we should expect the Braves will be highly motivated to avoid the sweep here, doing against Jeff Francis may prove easier said than done. Yes, I know the Rockies southpaw is struggling a bit, but let's not get carried away, its still very early and we all know what he's capable of.
If Francis' last start against the Braves is any indication, we should expect a strong effort this afternoon, as back on August 3rd of last season, he limited Atlanta to 1 run on 6 hits over 6 innings, striking out 8! Braves offense did show signs of life yesterday, but it was Colorado's batting order that exploded for 12 runs on on 13 hits! That's bad news for Tim Hudson if you ask me.
Unlike Francis, Hudson started the season well, but all signs point to trouble today at Coors, where he's 0-2 with a ridiculous 13.00 ERA. In those 9 innings pitched in Colorado, he's allowed 13 runs on 19 hits, while walking 8 batters... Numbers like those are hard to ignore, especially after the Rockies efforts at the plate yesterday.
Bottom line, not only has Tim Hudson been awful at Coors, but under the circumstances, we're getting the Rockies at a bargain price. Much like the first two games of this series, expect a relatively close contest here, but in the end, the Rockies can and will get the W.
Take Colorado behind Francis over Altanta and Hudson in afternoon MLB action.
2* COLORADO
LT Profits Sports Group
Utah Jazz @ Dallas Mavericks u199.5
It must be NBA Playoffs time, because both the Utah Jazz and the Dallas Mavericks have been stressing defense lately.
The Under is 4-1 in the last five Dallas games, with the Mavericks holding three of those opponents under 90 points and the run-and-gun Phoenix Suns to 98. In fact, the Mavs have looks more like the San Antonio Spurs defensively lately, uncharacteristically limiting those last five opponents to just 41.6 percent shooting from the floor.
As for the Jazz, all that they have done is hold their last two opponents in the 60s on a combined 51 for 140, 36.4 percent shooting. Most impressive is that fact that it was the normally potent New Orleans Hornets that the Jazz held to a season-low 66 points on Tuesday. We look for a third straight concerted defensive effort tonight, as Utah has yet to wrap up home court advantage in the first round despite already clinching their division.
Now the Mavericks may not be held below 70 tonight, but we still look for a safe Under here with this game being played in the 180s.
Jazz, Mavericks Under 199.5
Carlo Campanella
Utah Jazz at San Antonio Spurs
Utah is only 17-22 SU on the road this season & 16-23 ATS. They play their second of back-to-back road baatles on Thursday night after winning in New Orleans, 77-66. They' ll get their 4 game streak snapped tonight in Dallas, as we know this Jazz team is a horrible 2-11 ATS following a game which both teams scored 90 points or less! Lay it as the Mavs own a 3-1 SU record in this series the last four as hosts
Play on: Dallas
Tom Freese
Game: Los Angeles Lakers at Los Angeles Clippers
Prediction: Los Angeles Lakers
Reason: The Clippers are in a 86-47 ATS Play Against System that says to go against home teams with revenge from a road loss of 20 or more points if they are playing a team that is off a loss as a favorite in their last game. The Clippers are 0-9 ATS with revenge from a road loss of 20 or more points. The Lakers are 23-12 ATS vs. losing teams and they are 28-11 ATS vs. teams that allow 99 or more points a game. Kobe and company are 26-13 ATS on the road this year and they are 19-8 ATS off a game where this was a combined score of 215 or more points scored.
PLAY ON LA LAKERS
Matt Fargo
Florida Marlins vs Washington Nationals
Florida Marlins +112
There is no reason to hop off this train just yet. I went with Florida both Monday and last night in this series and I will be backing the Marlins yet again at a price that is just wrong. Florida has won four of its last five games after dropping two of three in the opening series against the Mets. The common mistake for novice baseball bettors is to go against the road team thinking that the home team will not get swept but it is just the opposite and we play for that sweep.
This is almost verbatim from last night. I talk a lot about streaks in baseball and they are important like no other sport. Washington has dropped six straight and this goes in line with the baseball streaks and how to play them early in the year based on the lines. The Nationals are favored with the public behind them to break out of it yet again making it a double win in our favor. That is great for us as we will continue to ride that streak and watch Washington dump another game while getting a solid number with the Marlins.
I have never been a big fan of Mark Hendrickson but the lanky lefty looked very good in his last outing. After getting shelled by the Mets in his first start of the season, he regrouped and tossed a very good game against the Pirates as he allowed just one earned run on five hits in 5.1 innings. It doesn't come as a big surprise as he has been much stronger in the first half. Last season, he posted a 4.02 ERA before the break compared to a 7.31 ERA after.
I?m an even worse fan of Odalis Perez. How this guy won the number one spot in this rotation is beyond me. He tossed only 16.1 innings in the spring and posted a 4.96 ERA and that lack of work didn't show in his first regular season start. He allowed just one run in five innings against the Braves but next time out, he was hammered by the Cardinals for five runs on eight hits and four walks in just four innings. Bad outing are contagious with Perez and with the Marlins bats on fire, that trend continues here. Play Florida Marlins 1 Unit
Jeff Benton
3* OAKLAND ATHLETICS
This may seem like an odd play, as Oakland is going for the road sweep – and road sweeps are always tough to get, especially for mediocre teams against the A’s. However, for whatever reason, Oakland has enjoyed its recent journeys to Canada, as they’ve now won six straight games in Toronto going back to 2006. Last night, they needed a four-run, ninth-inning rally to pull out a 6-3 victory after scoring late on Monday to win 9-8. Tonight, Oakland sends young, but talented, lefty Dana Eveland to the mound. When last we saw Mr. Eveland, he was outdueling one C.C. Sabathia on Saturday, allowing the potent Indians just a run on six hits over seven innings, walking just one while whiffing seven in a 6-1 home victory. Obviously, one start does not a season make, but that’s very impressive. Speaking of impressive, that was Blue Jays starter Shawn Marcum in his debut six days ago against Boston, as he held the Sox to three hits and three runs in seven innings with a walk and eight strikeouts en route to a 6-3 win. That performance aside, though, it’s still difficult to ignore the fact that Marcum was a much better pitcher on the road last year (7-2, 2.72 ERA) than at home (5-4, 5.66). And one of those poor home outings came against the A’s, when Marcum lasted just three innings after allowing six runs and nine hits, losing 6-4. Add in the fact that Eveland is the first left-handed starter Toronto has faced all year, and I’ll back the A’s at a nice plus price as they go for their eighth straight win in Canada.
WINNERS EDGE
NBA:
Utah Jazz + 4 , 2 units
MLB:
Atlanta Braves -115 , 2 units
Kansas City Royals + 135 , 1 unit