Bob Akmens
PITTSBURGH -120 vs Detroit 3 units
THE FAT JACK
DETROIT +5½
Black Magic Sports
1 Unit on Minnesota Twins +138
Livan Hernandez continues to get no respect for Minnesota tonight listed as nearly a 1.5 to 1 underdog. The 33-year-old Hernandez tossed seven scoreless innings the last time he face the Royals, who are 0-2 against the former World Series MVP. Hernandez is 6-2 with a solid 4.22 ERA on the season. He will deliver another great outing against Royals’ team that has lost 9 straight games dating back to May 19th. The Twins are 5-2 against the Royals on the season. The Royals are 2-5 in Zach Greinke’s last 7 starts against Minnesota. Minnesota is 10-1 against the money line after 2 straight games where they committed no errors this season. Hernandez is 7-1 against the money line in all night games this season. You simply cannot beat the value you are getting on Minnesota tonight as my free play. Cash in with the Twins as the underdog.
Black Widow Sports
1* on Red Sox/Mariners U 8.5
The UNDER is 3-0 in Tim Wakefield’s last 3 starts against the Mariners. Seattle struggles against the knuckleball pitcher. But the Mariners have an Ace to throw at Boston tonight in Eric Bedard. Bedard flaunts a 1.69 ERA through 4 home starts this season. He has been virtually un-hittable in the friendly pitcher’s park in Seattle. Wakefield is 17-4 UNDER in road games in the first half of the season over the last 3 seasons. Wakefield is 19-6 UNDER in road games in night games over the last 3 seasons. Boston is 24-10 UNDER revenging a one run loss to opponent over the last 2 seasons. Cash in with the UNDER 8.5 runs.
Sean Michaels
25 Dimes Cubs Run Line
Ben Burns
Houston Astros @ St. Louis
PICK: St. Louis
REASON FOR PICK: Wandy Rodriguez has been great lately. That's not particularly suprising though, as his last few starts have all come at Houston and he's nearly always tough at home. However, for all his success at Houston, Rodriguez tends to really struggle on the road. He's only made one road start this season and it didn't go well. Rodriguez lasted only five innings, giving up eight hits (2 HRs) and four runs. While the Astros did manage to win that game, they're still just 6-14 in Rodriguez's last 20 road starts. Note that they're also 2-4 in Rodriguez's six starts vs. the Cardinals with Wandy owning a 5.00 ERA in those games.
Like his opponent, Adam Wainwright certainly prefers his home cooking. The Cardinals' right-hander is 3-0 with a 2.70 ERA in five Busch Stadium starts. The Cards won all five of those games, supplying Wainwright with a healthy 28 runs. It's also worth noting that Wainwrigh has been dominant in four career starts against the Astros going 3-0 with a 2.17 ERA and 1.103 WHIP. The Cards won those games by a combined score of 19-8. Look for Wainwright to continue his success vs. the Astros and in this ballpark as the Cards bounce back and even up the series. Consider a play on ST. LOUIS
LARRY NESS
Toronto Blue Jays @ Oakland Athletics
PICK: Oakland Athletics
REASON FOR PICK: The Blue Jays entered last night's game on a five-game winning streak, including wins in 11 of their last 14. However, the team had averaged only 4.5 RPG turn that stretch. It came as no surprise to me (used A's as my Oddsmaker's Error Play on Tuesday) when they lost 3-1 to Greg Smith and the A's The Blue Jays are one of the few teams averaging less than four runs per game on the season (3.87), a number that dips to 3.50 in their road games. Roy Halladay takes the mound tonight for Toronto and despite a solid 3.20 ERA and five complete games in his 10 starts, he enters the game with only a 5-5 record (can you say "lack of support?"). The win last night against Burnett ups Oakland's record to 21-12 this year vs right-handed starters and it also marked the team's fifth consecutive win (all here at home). Rich Harden will oppose Halladay and he seems fully recovered from the shoulder problems that kept in on the DL for most of April and the early part of May. Harden opened the '08 season with two games against the Red Sox (one in Japan and one in Oakland), allowing just seven hits and one ER over 11 innings (0.82 ERA), with 15 Ks. He didn't make his third start of the year until May 11 at Texas. He was not very good (3.2 IP / 8 hits / 5 ERs) but the A's won 12-6. However, in his last two starts, he's been very good. In wins at Atlanta and home to the Red Sox, Harden's allowed eight hits and three ERs over 13 innings (2.08 ERA) with 16 Ks! I'm not crazy about going against Halladay but the Blue Jays are not hitting and Harden will be a tough 'nut to crack.' Take the A's.
Matt Fargo
**BIG GAME ALERT** A.L. Dog of the Month
3* A.L. Dog of the Month tonight and you do not want to miss out on this one! Game of the Month releases are 5-2 (71.4%) in baseball for the season and we extend it tonight with this easy side Winner!
Twins
Chris Jordan
300* CARDINALS (LIST Wainwright and Rodriguez)
Alright, so the Astros caught the Redbirds last night with a huge win. Even furthers my argument for the Cardinals and Adam Wainwright, who has never lost to the Astros in his career. Wainwright is 3-0 with a 2.70 ERA in five starts at Busch Stadium - all wins – and making matters better for us in this one, he’s 3-0 with a 2.17 ERA in four career starts against Houston. On the flipside, Wandy Rodriguez is 1-4 with a 5.25 ERA in seven career games against the Cardinals. Lay the run and a half in this one, as the Cardinals turn the tables on this team.
100* PISTONS
Thanks to his good friend Antonio McDyess, Pistons veteran guard Chauncey Billups was given some time to heal for what will continue to be an exhausting series, which is guaranteed to go until Friday. That will be Game 6 back in Motown, where the Pistons would love to hold serve with a 3-2 advantage. And while Billups continues to nurse the hamstring that’s been sore for nearly a month – he missed nine of his 12 attempts, and appeared to have no lift on his jump shot in most of Game 4 – the rest of the Pistons, including a red-hot McDyess, will put it all on the line in this pivotal contest tonight. Look at their point of view: the Pistons pull off a win tonight and they put themselves in a position to not have to return to Beantown. If they lose, a win back home sets up the elimination game back here. I honestly saw the Celtics making their move in the second half of Game 4, and there was something about Detroit that showed me a lot of heart and plenty of determination to keep the momentum flowing into this game. Take the points.
Bob Harvey Sports
Take Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons UNDER 173
If there's been one constant in both the Eastern and Western Conference it's scoring or the lack thereof. All four games in West have played UNDER the total while three of the four games in the East have also stayed below the total. My educated guess tells me we're looking at another low scoring game tonight in Boston.
What's the reason for the low scores Certainly part of it is style. The Pistons like to grind it out and that usually makes for an ugly game. We've seen plenty of those in the playoffs and tonight will probably be another one. On the other hand, the Celtics are capable of better offensive production than they've shown. However I think fatigue is setting in on Kevin Garnett and company. After going to seven games in both of their previous playoff series, the Celtics have now played 16 games in 31 days and that circuitous route to the conference finals seems to have started taking a toll. Fatigue usually manifests itself most visibly on the defensive end and the normally stout Boston defense has given up an average of 93 points in the last three games. Even Celtics coach Doc Rivers admits that playing two seven game series leading up to this one is taking it's toll.
Monday's Game 4 fell short of the 176-point total, running the under streak in this rivalry to 10-2 in the last 12 clashes, including 7-1 in the last eight contests (3-1 in this playoff series) and 6-1 in the last seven clashes at the Garden. I'd be leading you astray if I didn't take the UNDER tonight. There's just no other logical choice.
Marc Lawrence Underdog Game of The Week
Toronto
Arthur Ralph
Super Pick: Detroit Red Wings
900 Blue Ribbon: Boston Celtics
Free Play: Arizona Diamondbacks
Sports Monitor
Detroit Tigers at Los Angeles Angels
TRENDS
The Angels are 16-11 at home this season. The Tigers are 9-17 on the road. The Tigers have lost 11 of their last 12 road games. The Angels have won 41 of the last 55 against the Tigers.
GAME SUMMARY
The AL West-leading Angels look to complete a three-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday when the two close the series in Anaheim.
SPORTS MONITOR PREDICTION
Angels 6 Tigers 4
The Duke's Sports
NBA
Boston -6 for 2 Units
We'll look for a zigzag here after the Celtics took it on the chin in Detroit. Boston showed signs of quality play Monday by getting to the free throw line frequently, but couldn't close. We'll look for the Celtics to close in their comfortable confines on their home floor tonight. Detroit has not been a "step on the throat" team in Conference Finals under Saunders and we'll bet they come up on the short end tonight.
Detroit Under 173½ for 1 Unit
MLB
Los Angeles Angels -128 Saunders over Galarraga for 2 Units
We'll look for the Angels to sweep this three game set with Joe Saunders on the hill. Saunders, who sports a terrific 8-1 mark with a 2.31 ERA for the season, is locked in good form (1.66 ERA over last 3 games). Saunders is 2-0 with a 2.84 ERA vs Detroit. And Saunders sports a strong 27-8 mark when the 'total' is set between 8' to 10. Moreover, Saunders is backed with a well rested bullpen that hasn't seen a lot of work because of outstanding starting pitching. On the other hand, the Tigers have been horrible on the road when the 'total' is set between 9 to 9' at 2-14. Armando Galarraga has done some good road work but is coming off a sluggish outing last Friday. We'll look for him and the shaky Tigers' bullpen to implode here.
Bob Balfe
NBA Basketball
Detroit/Boston Over 173.5
Both teams play great defense, but I have not seen them yet play to their ability in this series. Boston is tough to beat at home so expect them to increase the pace a little bit. The Pistons have enough experience to get to the foul line and get points any way they can. This game comes down to whom makes the least mistakes. Both teams are so unpredictable in this series to pick a side tonight. Look for both teams to push this over the total.
Major League Baseball
A's -120 over Bluejays
Harden/Halladay
Savannah Sports
2 units on NY Yankees -130