Bobby Maxwell
Big plus-money we're jumping on with this one and all the numbers point to the Royals to get the job done in Anaheim.
Kansas City has won the last six matchups with the Angels, including Wednesday's 3-2 victory. They've won their last four games played in Anaheim and they've got a great shot to get this one tonight. Brett Tomko (1-1, 2.08 ERA) goes for the Royals against the Angels' Jon Garland (1-2, 5.50).
Tomko has been spectacular in his first two starts of the season, blanking the Twins on six hits for five innings in Minnesota and then allowing two runs through six innings at home against the Twins.
On the complete opposite end, Garland has been horrible for the Angels. he gave up seven runs on eight hits in five innings of a 10-4 home loss to the Rangers on April 6 and then gave up six runs on 12 hits in five innings of an 8-3 loss at Seattle on Saturday.
The Royals are 8-3 in their last 11 games as a 'dog and for some reason really like playing in the Angels' stadium. Grab the plus money and take a shot with Kansas City in this one.
3* KANSAS CITY
Drew Gordon
With Seattle heating up, and Oakland unable to produce, there's no question you've got to like the Mariners in this one. Got to like what you've seen from this Mariners club over their last 6 games (4-2 over that span), with their only poor outing coming against the Royals surging Zach Greike. Ibanez, Beltre, and Suzuki (among others) are all swinging the bat well of late, and that's bad news for the A's Lenny DiNardo in this one.
Speaking of DiNardo, he has no record against Seattle, but has posted an ugly 5.52 ERA in 5 career appearances (2 starts) against them. In his last start against them, back on July 29th of last season, he got massacred for 7 runs over just 3 innings in one of his worst starts of 2007. Again, with Seattle's batting order starting to heat up, DiNardo will find himself in trouble once again tonight.
Opposing DiNardo is the Mariners Carlos Silva, who's not only pitched well in his 3 starts this season (2-0, 3.27 ERA), but also had plenty of success against the A's, going 3-2 with a 3.12 ERA in 9 career appearances (8 starts). He was rock-solid in his last one against them (as a member of the Twins), limiting the A's to 3 runs over 6 2/3 innings back on July 14th of last season.
Bottom line, the way Oakland is swinging the bats right now (batting .246 L10 games), there's little hope of keeping pace with a Seattle offense that crushed DiNardo the last time they saw him. Let's not forget the Mariners have taken 15 of the last 20 games from Oakland, and there's little reason to believe that's going to change tonight.
Take Seattle behind Silva over Oakland and DiNardo in this MLB match up.
3* SEATTLE
TONY WESTON
Were sticking with the National League and focusing on some NL Central action as the Cincinnati Reds play at the Chicago Cubs.
The Cincinnati Reds are mired in a five-game losing streak, including two straight against the Chicago Cubs.
But that streak will come to an end today and that?ll be due to Cincinnati Reds up-and-coming stud Edinson Volquez. While most of the attention this season has been on Reds gem Johnny Cueto, Volquez has been very overlooked.
Hes pitched in the big leagues the last four seasons, but only this year has he broken out.
In two games this year Volquez is 1-0 with one no decision. He?s given up only eight hits in 10 1/3 innings pitched and allowed only one earned run in those two games.
Volquez will get the Reds back on the winning track and shut down the Cubs.
Take Volquez as your starting pitcher and take the Reds to win on the road.
3* REDS (1* to 5* Scale)
Brandon Lang
20 Dime - Indians
10 Dime - Red Sox
Free Pick - Twins
John Fina
Selection: San Diego Padres -1.5 Runs +135
Today the Colorado Rockies will be on the road as they take on the San Diego Padres. We will lay 1.5 Runs with the San Diego Padres. The San Diego Padres will be sending to the mound the much superior pitcher. The Colorado Rockies send to the mound Jeff Francis. In two starts, Jeff Francis has only pitched 11.1 innings and has given up 12 runs (9.53 ERA). Jeff Francis has also been known to struggle against the San Diego Padres. This is shown by the Colorado Rockies (when Jeff Francis is starting) being 3-8 in their last 11 meetings against the San Diego Padres. On the other hand, the San Diego Padres will send to the mound star pitcher Jake Peavy. Jake Peavy is a Perfect 3-0 on the season with a solid 1.64 ERA (giving up only 4 runs in 22 innings pitched). In addition to having the better starting pitcher on the mound, the San Diego Padres also have the better offense and defense. Since this is the case, we will gladly lay the 1.5 runs with the San Diego Padres. Take the San Diego Padres -1.5 Runs!
ARMVIN SPORTS
MLB
TAMPA BAY RAYS +105
NHL
CALGARY +182
Scott Rickenbach
Houston Astros @ Philadelphia Phillies
PICK: Philadelphia Phillies
REASON FOR PICK: This is a FREE Star Rated Pick. The detailed analysis for this selection will be posted here by 11 AM ET. However, we get our plays up as early as possible for all you early players and so we post it first without the write-up. This way you can make your play early and then please check back after 11 AM ET for the full details on this match-up. Thanks and best of luck.
Hot Lock sports
Houston Astros vs Philadelphia Phillies Under 9.5 -111
Two Righties go at it today in an afternoon game. Combined, these two are 2 Over and 4 UNDER in 6 starts total in 2008. Backe is 7-1 to the Under in his L 8 road starts. The Stros are also 8-1 to the Under following a win. The Phillies have gone Under their last 4 games following a loss and the Under is 7-1 in Myers L 8 starts following a quality start in his last appearance. The last two meetings, this year went 2-1 and 4-3. Neither offense has found a consistent groove yet. I like the Under today for 2 units!
Nick Parsons
Play ON Minnesota Wild Money Line (-) vs Colorado
The Wild got pummeled in Game 4 as they lost 5 to 1 at Colorado. However, setting an all-time franchise record for penalty minutes certainly had a lot to do with that! The Wild basically lost their cool and ended up giving the game to the Avs in the form of a Colorado blowout win. Give some credit to the Avalanche for that win but also note that the Wild are going to be much better prepared for this crucial Game 5 match-up at home in Minnesota. The Wild were 25-11-5 at home in the regular season while the Avs won just 17 of their 41 road games this season. Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom finished up the regular season on a phenomenal run at home and the Minnesota netminder was not the only one to blame for the Avs five-goal barrage on Tuesday. Keep in mind that much of that had to do with all the penalties as well as some defensive lapses from a Minnesota defensive corps that has had to make some adjustments due to injuries among the blue liners. After a very poor defensive effort in Game 4, the Wild will bounce back with a very strong effort on home ice in Game 5. Minnesota coach Jacques Lemaire went so far as to call out some players for their poor performances in Game 4 and the Wild players will undoubtedly come up with a strong response on Thursday as a result. Minnesotas power play efficiency at home ranked third in the Western Conference while their penalty kill on home ice ranked fourth in the entire league! Note that while Colorados penalty kill on the road was solid it was their power play away from home that ranked as the worst in the league with a paltry 11.6% conversion rate. The Wild should roll here at home as, despite a poor effort Tuesday, Minnesota knows they still have home ice heading into tonights swing game that is going to affect the momentum the rest of the way! Momentum resides with the Wild after tonights game!
LT Profits
Washington Capitals @ Philadelphia Flyers Under 5.5
The Washington Capitals and the Philadelphia Flyers have gone Over in two of the first three games of this series, but we expect tonight’s game to closely resemble Game 2, which was won by Philadelphia 2-0.
Game 3 got out of hand early when the Flyers scored three goals in the first period, putting the Capitals in an offensive posture in the early stages. With their playoff lives virtually on the line here, we look for Washington to be more defensive at the outset, knowing they could ill afford to fall behind early with a possible 3-1 series deficit staring them in the face.
It is not as if the Capitals can’t play defense, as they allowed three goals or less in each of their last seven regular season games including allowing two goals or less in five of them, and they were certainly stingy in that 2-0 loss in Game 2. In fact, the Under is surprisingly 45-37 in all Washington games this year, as the presence of Alexander Ovechkin has probably in inflated their totals a bit.
Speaking of Ovechkin, the Flyers have done an amazing job of shutting him down this series, and tonight may be another struggle for him as Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen will be playing after leaving Game 3 early with a shoulder injury. Besides shutting down Ovechkin, the Flyers have gotten some nice goaltending from Marty Biron in this series, whose shutout in Game 2 was his sixth of the year.
Thus, we look for both teams to be defensive-minded for at least the first period, and probably longer for the Flyers as they continue to concentrate of stopping Ovechkin. Thus, as long as the Flyers don’t get any cheap early goals, we do not see these teams exceeding five combined goals tonight.
Pick: Capitals, Flyers Under 5.5
Insider Sports Report
4* Chicago White Sox (Floyd) -105 over Baltimore (Guthrie) Range +115 to -120
3* Minnesota (Bonser) -125 over Tampa Bay (Hammel) Range -110 to -145
3* St. Louis (Lohse) -125 over Milwaukee (Parra) Range -110 to -140
WILD BILL
Braves -165 (5 units)
Rockies +175 (1 unit)
White Sox +110 (1 unit)
Red Sox -125 (5 units)
Tigers +120 (1 unit)
Royals +150 (1 unit)
Over 9 Royals-Angels (1 unit)
PAUL LEINER
10* Rays +110
5* Cubs -135
Larry Ness' 15* Getaway Day Game of the Week (8-1 run since April 7!)
My 15* play is on the StL Cards
Lenny Del Genio's 20* Getaway Day GOM (7-2 MLB Run)
Play on St. Louis
Ben Burns' MLB Getaway Day Total of the Month (EARLY START)
I'm playing on Philadelphia and Houston to finish OVER the number.
Scott Spreitzer's Thurs Night MLB Divisional Game of the Week! (2-0 thus far)
I'm playing the Seattle Mariners on Thursday night.
Jack Clayton
Mariners
HotLocksports
Houston/Philadelphia u 9.5
Global Handicapping
Red Sox
BuckShotBoys
Toronto -1.5
lasvegassportsadvisors
San Jose
PRIORITY SPORTS INFO
St Louis -125
ARTHUR RALPH COMP
Seattle Mariners
PHILLY CONNECTION
Toronto
Totals4u
Nats/ Mets Over
Scott Spreitzer
Cubs
Cappers Access
Reds
Indians
Razor Sharp Sports
Rockies/ Padres Over
Glen Mcgrew
Mets
Joe Wiz
Braves
Orioles
Huddle Up Sports
Royals
Bob Donahue
Rockies
BeatYourBookie
Milwaukee +1.5
TOTALS 4U
NATIONALS/METS OVER 9 RUNS
RAZOR SHARP
COLORADO/SAN DIEGO OVER
VEGAS STEAMLINE
Texas/Toronto UNDER
TV HOTLINE
DETROIT +120
#1 SPORTS
COLORADO ROCKIES + 180
MIKE WYNN
NY Mets -160
PLATINUM PLAYS
WASHINGTON CAPITALS + 115
NEVEADA SHARPSHOOTER
FLORIDA +150
DR VEGAS
Angels -150
BIG TIME SPORTS
RAYS/TWINS OVER 9
SCOUT
Kansas City +140
DARK HORSE
Cincinnati +110
MIGHTY QUINN
Brewers
Frank Patron
Chicago Cubs -130
Paul Leiner
5* Cubs -135
TRACE ADAMS
Texas-Toronto Under
HeadWaiter Sports
SAN DIEGO PADRES -1.5
Sharp Sports Advisors
SEATTLE MARINERS
Big Dons World Class Handicapping
Chicago White Sox -101
Platinum Sports Investing Club
San Diego Padres -167
Silvas Sports
Houston Astros +1.5
LT's Lock
INDIANS -125
Baseball Totals
Texas/Toronto Over 9
Global Handicapping
Boston