Dr Baseball Guaranteed Selections
GRAND SLAM BASEBALL ANNIHILATOR
Milwaukee w/Sheets -133
VEGAS RUNNER
CHC / ATL Over 9.5 1* TOTAL
Mr. A's
Baltimore Orioles at Boston Red Sox
The Red Sox are 16-2 in its last 18 games at home, 27-7 this season and have beaten the Orioles, in 17 of the last 22 games in Beantown.
Baltimore will send Jeremy Guthrie (3-6, 3.40) to the mound. The right-hander is 1-3 with a 2.12 ERA in his last five starts and is 1-0 with a 2.61 ERA in five career starts versus Boston. The Orioles have dropped eight of Guthrie’s last 11 starts on the road.
Boston counters with Jon Lester (4-3, 3.50 ERA). The lefty is 3-0 with a 0.61 ERA in his last four starts at home and the Red Sox have won his last 4 home starts. Lester is 3-0 with a 3.41 ERA in five career starts against Baltimore.
Take the Red Sox in this evening rubber match at Fenway Park. Boston has won four of Lester’s last 5 starts versus Baltimore.
Boston Red Sox - 150
KELSO
10 unit Celtics
10 units Red Sox
10 units Phillies
10 unit par
Yankee Capper MLB Premium Plays
5 Units - New York Mets -155
5 Units - Boston Red Sox -160
4 Units - Chicago Cubs -145
4 Units - San Diego Padres -145
4 Units - Nationals/Pirates Over 9
3 Units - Milwaukee Brewers -135
3 Units - Pittsburgh Pirates -130
2 Units - Chicago White Sox +105
2 Units - Texas Rangers +110
PowerPlayWins
MLB
Boston Red Sox -145
Florida Marlins +110
NBA
Celtics / Lakers Over 191
THE GOLD SHEET'S LATE TELEPHONE SERVICE
BOSTON
Seabass Hoops
200* Under
100* Celtics
Bob Balfe
Lakers -7 over Boston
The Celtics have covered all three games so far in the NBA Finals and tonight I am expecting a good old fashion butt kicking. The Lakers found themselves down late in the game and staged a huge comeback in which they almost covered the spread. I think you are going to see a much improved Lakers team and Kobe will show you why he is the leagues MVP at home tonight. Look for a blowout. Take the Lakers.
Bob Harvey Sports
Boston Red Sox -150 over Baltimore Orioles
Jon Lester looks to win his fourth straight start at Fenway and help the Red Sox improve the best home record in baseball when they wrap up a three-game series with the Orioles. Lester is 4-3 with a 3.50 era and is 3-0 with a 0.61 ERA in his last four outings at Fenway. In two starts this season against the Orioles - both on the road - Lester is 0-0 with a 4.09 ERA. He is 3-0 with a 3.41 ERA in five career starts against Baltimore. In addition Boston is 6-2 on this nine game homestand and 27-7 at Fenway this season. Jerremy Guthrie has been the Orioles best starter this season going 3-6 with a 3.40 era. He's allowed three runs or fewer in eight of his last nine starts while pitching at least six innings 11 times in 14 appearances. Lifetime against the Red Sox he's 1-0, with a 2.61.
EZ Winners Night Card:
1* Minnesota (Action)
1* Oakland (Blanton Only)
1* Lakers
Ted Sevransky 3*
Cincinnati has been nothing short of awful in the first two games of their series, getting outscored 17-2 in a pair of ugly losses. Even with those two losses, the Reds are still 11-3 in their last 14 at home, and I’m willing to lay a short price to back them here as they look to avoid the series sweep.
At some point –namely, today – I expect the injury bug that has bitten the St Louis Cardinals to begin to bring them back down to earth. This is not the most potent lineup in baseball by any stretch of the imagination, and the loss of their top offensive threat, Albert Pujols, will affect the St Louis attack in a significant way. It’s not uncommon for a team to play well in their first game without their superstar, as the Cardinals did yesterday, then suffer from his loss in subsequent games.
Cardinals starter Joel Pineiro is making his first start back off the DL. Pineiro is not a dominant starter to begin with, but he’s been rushed back to the rotation because of the Cards cluster injuries in their rotation. He threw seven innings of one hit baseball against the Reds at home back on April 29th, but he’s never pitched at the hitter friendly Great American Ballpark. I expect him to struggle today.
Bronson Arroyo is poised for a bounceback effort here after failing to last through five innings in each of his last two starts, both on the road. Arroyo pitched well in five straight starts previous to his last two outings, and he’s had success against this St Louis lineup before, beating them back on April 28th and dominating them repeatedly in nine starts against the Cards in ’07 and ’06. Look for the Reds to avoid the sweep tonight. 3* Take Cincinnati.
Ted Sevransky 3*
To say that Jamie Moyer has dominated the Marlins is something of an understatement. Moyer has eight career starts against Florida, and he’s 8-0 in those games. In three starts down in Florida, Moyer’s got a 1.83 ERA against them. The crafty 45 year old isn’t just beating Florida – the Phillies are 5-0 in his last five trips to the mound; 9-4 in his 13 starts this season.
Scott Olson has no similar success against the Phillies. In two starts against them last year, Olson lasted only 9.1 innings, allowing eleven hits and eight runs, giving up three homers in the process. The Phillies have been destroying left handed pitching all year long, 13-5 in their last 18 games against southpaws. Dating back to the beginning of May, Philadelphia has scored a whopping 95 runs in 13 games against lefties, scoring five runs or more on ten different occasions.
Philadelphia has also performed extremely well off back-2-back losses – they’ve only lost three straight games once all year long, going 6-1 following two consecutive defeats. The Phillies are one of only three teams in the big leagues with a winning record on the highway in 2008 and they haven’t been swept on the road all year. Look for that trend to continue tonight as the Phillies avoid the sweep down in Marlin country. 3* Take Philadelphia.
Ted Sevransky 4*
The betting marketplace has adjusted the Lakers significantly downward after their 0-3 ATS start to the NBA Finals, leaving us with a relatively cheap price to lay with LA in a game that I expect them to win.
The Celtics are a very banged up team right now. Paul Pierce finally showed the effects of his knee injury in Game 3, held to a miserable 2-14 shooting night after Phil Jackson adjusted his defensive rotations, putting first team All NBA Defensive Team Kobe Bryant on Pierce. Kendrick Perkins still isn’t back to 100% either. The latest Boston injury is to point guard Rajon Rondo, who turned his ankle in Game 3.
Rondo sparked the team with 16 assists in Game 2; neither Eddie House nor Sam Cassell provides Rondo’s defensive acumen. Boston head coach Doc Rivers: “Rondo’s value is extremely important to the team. We understand that. He gives us speed; he gives us great point guard play. He has the ability to pressure the ball. …He’s the one pure point guard on our team that has the ability to make plays….I’m concerned because if Rondo can play but he doesn’t have speed, then that’s a concern.” To call the Celtics offense ‘stagnant’ without Rondo in the game is something of an understatement – their 34% shooting performance in Game 3 was no accident.
Yes, Rondo is expected to play in Game 4, but he will not be at 100% and cannot be expected to play as much as normal. Considering that Cassell is shooting 33% for the series with a grand total of four assists, while House is shooting 25% for the series with two assists, the short turnaround time between Games 3 and 4 is problematic for Boston.
Boston’s injuries are only one part of the equation here. A bigger part is the performance of the Lakers supporting cast in Game 3. LA is in the NBA Finals for two reasons: the play of their superstar, Kobe Bryant, and the consistent play of Bryant’s supporting cast. In Game 3, Kobe showed, but the rest of the Lakers (other than Sasha Vujacic) did not. Derek Fisher, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Vladimir Radmonovich, Luke Walton and Ronnie Turiaf combined to shoot 7-32 from the field, with as many turnovers (nine) as assists (also nine).
Kobe dished exactly one assist in Game 3, unable to get his teammates involved on the offensive end. Remember, Kobe has dished six assists or more a dozen times already in these playoffs, after averaging 5.4 assists in his MVP season. LA won the game, but they only scored 87 points.
The Lakers have scored 90 points or less only five previous times this season. Following each subpar effort, LA responded by winning and covering their next game, with the lone exception of Game 2 here in the Finals, when Boston played out of their minds for the first 40 minutes of the game. Even in that game, the Lakers cracked the century mark, putting up 102 points, a total that should be more than enough to win and cover on Thursday night.
LA is 9-0 SU, 6-3 ATS at home here in the playoffs, while the Celtics are just 2-8 SU, 3-7 ATS. This is not a ‘must win’ game for Boston; it is for LA. We’ve seen teams that ‘give one away’ like Boston did in Game 3 consistently come up short in their next outing throughout the 2008 playoffs. If there’s one game in this series where the Lakers are going take care of business, this one is it. 4* Take the Lakers.
JEFFERSONSPORTS
Lakers -7½