Scott Delaney
1* DALLAS MAVERICKS
We play the Mavericks against the Hornets tonight, as New Orleans will come out flat after blasting the Clippers, and Avery Johnson's bunch will come in looking to gear up for what could be an Opening Round preview between these two. The Mavs are going to be either the seventh or eighth seed in the Western Conference. It's real simple: win tonight and head to New Orleans to start the postseason as the No. 7 seed; lose and you get the top-seeded Lakers. Dallas has won 12 straight at home against New Orleans by an average of 13.0 points, so I am banking on the first scenario. The Hornets roll into this one on a 1-5 ATS skid following an ATS win, while the Mavs, albeit having an off year, are 37-15 ATS in the their last 52 games in divisional clashes. As part of that 12-game run in the series, Dallas has covered seven of its last 10 hosting the Hornets.
Vernon Croy
DEVIL RAYS / TWINS UNDER 8½
The Tampa Bay Devil Rays and their hosts the Minnesota Twins will square of tonight in the Metrodome, as they send two quality hurlers to the hill to face each other. The Twins will show case veteran thrower Livan Hernandez (3-0, 2.57 ERA) who signed a free-agent contract with the team in the off season. The right-hander, has not disappointed, showing he is capable of being a work horse, going 7 innings each time to out, while allowing just seven runs and 21 hits, while walking only one in his three starts. His pitching opponent James Shields(1-1,3.00 ERA) is currently the Rays top man on the hill, statistically speaking, and is off a solid effort last time out in Tropicana Field debut, allowing 2 ERs in 6 quality innings of work. He is a solid contributor in this Rays rotation, and is ready for another fine effort. The Rays bullpen is also much improved, and will support Shields well , if need be. Considering the pitching matchup, and the two average batting orders, that will face them Im expecting a fairly low scoring game that will fail to eclipse the number. Final notes & Key Trends: The Twins have averaged 2.7 RPG at home this season. The under is 6-0 in Shields L/6 road starts. These teams have only eclipsed the total in 2 of their L/10 meetings. Play Under
Wolkosky Milan
10* PHILADELPHIA -1
10* NEW YORK +7
10* MILWAUKEE +7½
2-Minute Warning
Boston Celtics
Wunderdog
Detroit at Cleveland
Pick: Detroit +148
The Tigers have gotten off to a terrible start, but this is a good team that is showing signs of life again. They blasted four HRs last night and when the offense is on, is deep enough to outscore whatever pitching they get. The Tigers will send Armando Galarraga to the mound to face the Indians. Galarraga has been great in his two starts at Toledo where he has a 2.25 ERA, while walking just one with a WHIP of 0.67. The Indians have been ice-cold dropping five of six, and C.C. Sabathia has really been struggling allowing 14 runs in 14 innings along with 9 walks and three HRs. The Tigers were the best team in baseball last year against LHP and we like them in this one.
Mr A's
NBA
San Antonio Spurs -4
Phoenix Suns -12
MLB
Milwaukee Brewers (8-5) at St. Louis Cardinals (10-4)
(R) Carlos Villanueva (1-1, 4.76) (R) Adam Wainwright (1-1, 3.60)
The Cardinals will send right-hander Adam Wainwright to the hill. Wainwright went 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA in two starts last season against the Brewers and the Cardinals have won five of his last 6 starts at home. Milwaukee counters with Carlos Villanueva. The right-hander is 2-1 with a 2.70 ERA in eight career appearances (3 starts) against the Cardinals.
St. Louis has beaten Milwaukee in eight of the last 10 contests, 5-1 in its last 6 at home. Take the Cardinals at Busch Stadium for their seventh straight home victory.
St. Louis Cardinals - 130
FRANK ROSENTHAL
NBA HOOPS
503 76ERS UNDER 203.5 SB+
507 WIZARDS+6 SB
511 HAWKS-2.5 SB
UNDER 188 SB
514 SPURS-3 SB+
520 MAVS-9 SB
525 BLAZERS+12 SB
528 WARRIORS OVER 230 SB+
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
910 CUBS-180 SB
913 ROCKIES+130 SB
916 DODGERS-185 SB
922 YANKS-155 SB
UNDER 9 SB
929 SEATTLE+105 SB
Michael Cannon
20 Dime –
TWINS (With Hernandez as listed pitcher)
Take the Twins for the home win over the Rays.
It’s hard to argue with the results Livan Hernandez has posted. The right-hander is off to a 3-0 start with a 2.57 ERA through his first three starts. He’s only walked one batter and has pitched seven innings in each start.
The Rays will counter with James Shields and although I like his stuff, he’s going to be hard pressed to keep Twins sluggers Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer in check.
Morneau has hit .343 with seven homeruns and 23 RBIs in 25 games against Tampa Bay, while Mauer is hitting .358 with three homeruns and 14 RBIs in 19 games.
The way Hernandez is pitching right now, it won’t take much from those two to get the job done tonight.
Take the Twins for the home win.
10 Dime –
PHILLIES (With Oswalt and Kendrick as listed pitchers)
Take the Phillies for the home win tonight over the Astros.
Roy Oswalt will start for Houston and he’s been uncharacteristically bad to start the season.
The right-hander is 0-3 with a 9.00 ERA through his first three starts. He’s allowing just about two hits per innings and there are reports that his velocity is down. It’s really not surprising considering that Oswalt is not a very big man and he’s been an absolute horse in his career.
Time catches up with everyone and it could be catching up to Oswalt right now.
The Phillies have the lineup to make life miserable for Oswalt tonight, and this ballpark will magnify any mistakes the Astros’ right-hander makes.
Take the Phillies for the home win.
5 Dime –
YANKEES (With Wang as listed pitcher)
Take the Yankees as the big home chalk tonight for the win.
Boston took two of three over the weekend with the Yankees, but that one loss came at the hands of tonight’s starter, Chien-Ming Wang.
Wang tossed a two-hitter at Boston last Friday, walking none in New York’s 4-1 win. He has now allowed just three runs and 12 hits in 22 innings this season while posting a perfect 3-0 record.
If Wang keeps posting numbers like those you’re looking at the 2008 Cy Young winner in the American League.
Boston will counter with rookie Clay Buchholz, who has never pitched in Yankee Stadium.
The Red Sox were just 3-6 at Yankee Stadium last year and lost their last four games there.
Take the Yankees as they grab the win
Rocky Atkinson
Atlanta vs. Florida
Atlanta is scoring 5.6 runs per game overall this year. Florida is scoring only 3.5 runs per game at home this season. Tim Hudson is 2-0 with a 2.14 ERA overall this year and 1-0 with a 1.20 ERA on the road this season. Hendrickson has a 6.10 ERA at home this year. Hudson is 6-1 with a 2.47 ERA overall vs Florida since 1997. Hendrickson is 0-2 overall vs Atlanta since 1997. We'll play Atlanta for 3 units tonight!
Nick Parsons
Play ON Pittsburgh Penguins $ Line (-) @ Ottawa
This line is up into a little pricier range so rather than use it as a premium pick tonight, we are using it right and we are expecting a big win. Short and sweet on this write-up today. The Penguins have not just snuck by in accumulating this 3-0 series lead, they have totally dominated the Senators. Ottawa has some injury issues, even though Daniel Alfreddsen is trying to play through his. The Senators have been totally dominated in this series and that is a lot of self-doubt and questioning going on with this hockey club right now. They know they face an insurmountable challenge and we can say with utmost certainty that, inside their own minds, this team does not expect to be heading to Pittsburgh for a Game 5. Its been a total disaster for the Senators and they cant right the ship in this short turnaround time. Injuries have taken their toll and the Penguins just have so much offensive firepower that its exposed the goaltending weakness of the Sens. The Senators have lost the first three games of this series by a combined score of 13-3 and there is no reason to expect any miracle bounce back tonight. It looks like more Pittsburgh domination the way we see it! Lay the price with Pittsburgh on the money line!
JB's Computer Picks
Arizona Diamondbacks - 175
Toronto Blue Jays - 135
New York Yankees - 155 * * *
Seattle Mariners - 110
Johnny Guild
Los Angeles Clippers (23-58) at Houston Rockets (54-27)
The Houston Rockets needs tonight game against the La Clippers to keep home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Houston won their first two games against Los Angeles this season, 105-79 on November 26 and 88-71 on April 6, both in Los Angeles.
Both teams are hurting with injuries, but the Rockets should have no problems outscoring Los Angeles. The Clippers are averaging a league low 94 points per game. Take the Rockets. The line is hefty, especially when the Clippers have covered the spread in the last 4 meetings in Houston, but the Rockets will play tough for the benefit of playing on their home court. Houston has won 19 of their last 20 games at home and 7 of the last 9 against the LA Clippers at Toyota Center. The Clippers have played horrendous away from home, dropping 11 of their last 12 road games, 10-30 this season.
Houston Rockets - 14
Wunderdog
Milwaukee at Minnesota
Pick: Minnesota -7.5
Safe to say that Milwaukee has packed it in and there is certainly nothing to get excited about heading to Minnesota for the season finale. The Bucks are just 1-11 on the road in their last 12, and have dropped seven straight overall, the last four by double-digits. The T-Wolves have more than held their own against the sub-.500 teams at home this season, compiling a 9-4 record. At least being at home where they have done well against these caliber teams should be enough to fuel a big win over a team that has shown no desire to play over the last few weeks.
Locksmith Sports
1 Unit on Indians -1.5 +127 (listing Sabathia)
The Indians and Tigers are both off to surprising slow starts. I like the Tribe to get one win closer to the .500 mark here against the struggling Tigers behind their Ace tonight. I don't think this one will even be close with as dominant as the Indians have been against the Tigers so we'll take the Tribe on the run line to make this one a better value play. The Tigers are 0-5 in the last 5 meetings in this matchup and 0-4 in the last 4 meetings in Cleveland. The Indians are 6-0 in Sabathia's last 6 starts vs. the American League Central and 20-6 in Sabathia's last 26 home starts vs. a team with a losing record. The Tigers are a terrible 3-9 in their last 12 road games and a pathetic 59-128 in their last 187 games as an underdog of +151 to +200. Take the Tribe at home.
MLB
GAMETIMEDECISION Toronto Blue Jays
USA Sports Consulting San Francisco Giants
KM Sports Computer Sheet Philadelphia Phillies
Keith Martin La Angels
NBA
seeyouinthewinnerscircle Minnesota Timberwolv
NHL
CM Million Dollar Picks Penguins