Jeff Alexander Sports
1 Unit on LA Dodgers -110
(listing Billingsley and Olsen)
The Dodgers continued their domination of the Marlins on the road, winning for the 6th time in 8 tries, last night. With the struggles Olsen has had with solid NL West lineups, I expect the Blue and White to drown the Fish again. The Marlins are 0-5 in Olsen's last 5 starts vs. the National League West and 5-17 in their last 22 vs. the National League West. The Dodgers are 4-0 in their last 4 overall and 6-2 in Billingsley's last 8 starts vs. the National League East. They are also 4-1 in their last 5 games vs. a left-handed starter. I look for Olsen to get shelled tonight. Take the Dodgers.
Wunderdog
Pittsburgh at New York Mets
Pick: Pittsburgh +160
Tom Gorzelanny pitched a bad team to an 8-9 record on the road last season, which means he keeps his team in games, and has posted an ERA under four over the last two seasons. The Mets have been in a lot of close games, which means the back of the pen has logged a lot of innings, and Wagner has pitched in the last three, blowing the save last night. Perez is not a pitcher that goes deep in games, as he has completed six innings just once this season. Perez has walked 15 in his last 21 innings of work, and the Pirates will have opportunities in this one. His lone appearance against the Pirates last year, at home, resulted in a loss and the Pirates have a good chance of stealing one here today.
Ferrall
Chicago W.Sox +115 on moneyline over Minnesota--Chicago evens up this series in the Twin Cities. They'll get to Blackburn at the Homerdome. His EAR over the last 3 games is 4.26 which isn't that bad. Massett has no results to speak of. Thus, TAKE THE OVER 9 RUNS
RANGERS -105 on ML over Royals--Kevin Millwood rights the ship after a couple of bad outings and beats Brian Bannister and the Royals. They've both struggled in last few starts. Bannister has cooled off after starting 3-0. He's lost his last two. Millwood gets the W at home.
ANGELS -155 on ML over Oakland--Santana improves to 5-0 and just doesn't lose at home in Anaheim. His ERA is 2.97 overall and 3.00 over last 3 starts with 18 K's. Eveland has been equally impressive for the A's. TAKE THE UNDER 9 RUNS
Cincy -115 on ML over Cardinals--Reds get it done for Harang, who's struck out 22 guys over last 3 starts. He's got a 2.76 ERA. The Reds haven't scored runs for him, but they will today at Busch 2 against Braden Looper.
DIAMONDBACKS -155 on ML over Houston--Randy Johnson dominates the Stros in the Desert. So far, the Big Unit has looked very impressive with a 2.70 ERA and 20 K's in his 2 starts. Chacon is the victim for Houston.
San Francisco -110 on ML over Colorado--I'm on Dirty Sanchez over Jimenez here. Sanchez has 18 K's over last 3 starts with 2 wins. His ERA over that span is 2.00. Jimenez gets lit every time out and has a 7.62 ERA over last 3 starts with one loss. He's given up 11 earned in those games.
Braves -110 on ML over Nationals--Jerrjens has won 2 of his last 3 with a 2.84 ERA. He's got decent stuff and has 17 K's over last 3 outings. TAKE THE OVER 9 RUNS
Brandon Lang
15 Dime - Yankees
10 Dime - Cavs
Free Pick - Angels Run Line
Locksmith Sports
1 Unit on Tampa Bay Rays -115
(listing Sonnanstine)
Tampa Bay lost game 1, but it won't be denied in game 2 with the 3-1 Sonnanstine on the hill. The Rays are 6-1 in their last 7 vs. the American League East, 4-0 in their last 4 during game 2 of a series, and 6-0 in their last 6 games vs. a right-handed starter. They are also impressively 5-1 in Sonnanstine's last 6 starts on grass. The Orioles are 2-8 in their last 10 Wednesday games which is another way of saying that the middle game of a series has been problematic for them. I like the red hot Rays to bounce back after enduring their first loss in 7 games. Take Tampa Bay.
Ben Burns
Minnesota Twins -127 / 4 units
Fairway Jay
4* Best - Braves -110
Bob Akmens
Pirates / Mets Over 8.5 / 4 units
Alex Smart
New York Mets 3 units
EZWINNERS
MLB
5 STAR PARLAY: (924) BOSTON (-$166) and (930) LA ANGELS (-$139)
(Listing Matsuzaka and Santana)
(Risking $500 to win $878)
2 STAR: (918) MINNESOTA (-$129) over Chicago
(Listing Blackburn and Masset)
(Risking $258 to win $200)
2 STAR: (907) COLORADO (+$101) over San Francisco
(Listing Jimenez only)
(Risking $200 to win $202)
2 STAR: (910) WASHINGTON (+$101) over Atlanta
(Listing Hill only)
(Risking $100 to win $202)
1 STAR: (901) PITTSBURGH (+$159) over NY Mets
(Listing Gorzelanny and Perez)
(Risking $100 to win $159)
NBA
1 STAR: (502) BOSTON (-14) over Atlanta
(Risking $110 to win $100)
Larry Ness
San Diego Padres @ Philadelphia Phillies
PICK: Philadelphia Phillies
REASON FOR PICK: Chris Young was coming off an 11-5 season in 2006 (3.46 ERA) and opened the 2007 season by going 9-3 with a 1.82 ERA through his first 20 starts. However, in late July he was placed on the DL because of a strained left oblique and when he returned in early August, he was NOT the same pitcher. He made 10 more starts the rest of the way, going 0-5 with a 5.96 ERA, as the Padres lost EIGHT of those 10 starts. He's had only one poor outing in 2008 (in five starts) and that was at Dodgers Stadium on April 12, when he allowed seven hits and six ERs in three innings. However, the Padres have lost each of his last four outings, despite some solid efforts. It's not easy being a starting pitcher for the Padres these days, as since the team won back-to-back shutouts at LA on April 13 (1-0) and home to Colorado on April 15 (6-0), SD has gone 2-11, getting outscore 81-41! The 10-17 Padres are 29th in scoring (3.26 RPG) and last in batting average (.225), while batting only hitting .177 during their current 13-game slide. In comparison, the Phils (No. 1 in runs scored last year in the NL with 892) are averaging 5.67 RPG and batting .275 while winning SEVEN of their last nine (all without last year's MVP, Jimmy Rollins). The ageless Jamie Moyer (he's actually 45) takes the mound for Philadelphia tonight, coming off arguably his best start of the '08 season last Thursday at Milwaukee. In a 3-1 Philadelphia win, he allowed only one run in six innings. The left-handed Moyer has to like the fact that San Diego is just 1-6 vs lefties this year, including a 1-5 mark at night, where they've averaging a pathetic 2.3 RPG. Take the Phillies.
Dave Malinsky
Atlanta Braves @ Washington Nationals
PICK: Washington Nationals
Not only has that marketplace changed the favorite’s for this one, it is now swinging so far that we are getting Shawn Hill and the Nationals at a plus price. That gets us involved here against an over-rated Atlanta team with a struggling bullpen that will continue to find life difficult on the road when you can not get outs in the late innings (4-10 away from Turner Field so far).
We got a lot of mileage out of Shawn Hill last year and we believe in his stuff. While the markets did not take full notice of his 3.42 ERA because of the advantages of pitching in RFK Stadium, the ballpark was not all that essential to his bottom line - he throws strikes and keeps the ball down in the zone, which leads to a lot of ground balls. That gets you outs in any park, and note that his road ERA of 3.31 in 2007 was actually better than the 3.55 in RFK. And while a 5.40 over his first two starts this campaign may only elicit yawns, the key numbers are where they need to be - 11 strikeouts vs. only three walks through 10 innings, and 13 ground ball outs vs. six in the air. His rhythm should only get better with each passing start. And there could not have been a better sign for the Washington offense last night than the slumping Ryan Zimmerman/Dan Johnson tandem going 5-8, each hitting a home run, and a combined three runs scored and four driven in.
Jair Jurrjens commands some respect for Atlanta, and he has earned it with a 3-2/3.45. But not nearly enough to be in the road favorite’s role, especially considering just how weak that bullpen behind him is. That is why the 4-10 road record means so much to us - three of those wins were worked by John Smoltz and Tim Hudson, and two of them were shutouts. There has been one road save all season, that a generous one for Peter Moylan, who took over with a three-run lead in the bottom of the 9th. Moylan, of course, is on the DL, along with Rafael Soriano and Mike Gonzalez, leaving Bobby Cox with only muddled options for the late innings. And since he does not want Jurrjens going more than seven at this stage of his career, it means plenty of opportunities for the Nats to eventually get the job done.
SportsKingz
MLB
BOSTON R/L -1.5 -105
CLEVELAND -190
CHI CUBS -130
L.A. ANGELS -150
NBA
CLEVELAND -4.5
Paul Leiner
50* NBA Over 187 Bos/Atl
10* MLB Yankees -130
5* MLB Reds -110
Ben Burns
San Jose vs. Dallas
Today's Pick: SAN JOSE SHARKS
I've watched the Stanley Cup playoffs for enough years to know that anything can (and will) happen. That being said, I'll admit to being quite surprised that the Sharks find themselves down three games to none. They're still an excellent team though and this series could look completely different, if the Sharks had gotten a couple of bounces, rather than the Stars. As goalie Nabokov had to say: "There's no quit in this room. All the games have been pretty close. It's been little bounces here and there. … We have to regroup and forget these games."
The fact that the teams are playing their second game in two nights doesn't figure to bother San Jose. The Sharks were 12-5 (Stars were 8-8) when playing the second of back to back games on the season and they're a highly profitable 32-13 (+16.8) in that situation since the start of the 2006 season. As most are anticipating another Dallas win, we're getting great value on a talented and desperate Sharks team, which hasn't been swept in the playoffs for more than a decade and which has an excellent shot at extending the series. Consider grabbing the attractive price with the vistors. Take the Sharks.