MR EAST
NBA FRIDAY WEEKEND JUMP START
PHOENIX SUNS @ OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER
3 UNITS: OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER -3
The Phoenix Suns have been great all season at home, and although they are 21-18 on the road a closer look becomes rather revealing. The Suns vs teams under .500 on the road have gone 14-4, but playing teams with a winning record they are 6-13. The 13 losses show 8 of them by 9 points or more. The Thunder meanwhile has improved tremendously, and are 9-4 in their last 13 at home vs a winning team. The Thunder have also posted a 40-16 ATS mark after an ATS loss. Suns have struggled on the road vs the Thunder covering just 1 of the last 7. I'll go with Oklahoma City in this one.
Freddy Wills
Rays +105 (3-Dime Play)
Today I really like the Rays with David Price on the hill against Javier Vazquez. NO question Vazquez had one of the best seasons of any pitcher last year with a 2.87 ERA, but that was in the National League. He returns to the American League where he spent many seasons struggling with ERA's over 4.00 and I think that happens again here. TB has a lot of experience against Vazquez with 164 total AB's and a .293 average. Leading the way is Carl Crawford who has a .423 average and behind him is BJ Upton who is 6-12. In 2008 when he was a part of League A, he had a 5.10 ERA on the road and opponents had a .295 average and he was 1-2 vs. the Rays.
David Price will start his sophmore year with the Rays although he pitched in 2008 when the Rays got to the World Series he was still considered a rookie last year as he had just 14IP in 2008. Price was extremely convincing at home last year with an 8-3 record and a 2.93 ERA at Tropicana Field. He actually had three starts against the Yankees in which he pitched 18.2 innings giving up just 7 hits and 4 ER for an ERA below 2.00. In October he pitched at home and went 7 strong giving up 2 hits and 1 ER. Why is he so successful against the Yankees? The Yankees will run into this several times with that heavy hitting lefty line up. While Price gave up 16 HR to RH hitters last year he gave up only 1 to lefties who had an OPS 90 points lower than LH hitters. It is an advantage that continues today and although there are new faces in this Yankee lineup to deal with I'm confident that Price can continue to battle. Add in that the Rays are an amazing 80-30 at home in their last 110 games vs. a RH starter.
Rated Picks
10 Units Detroit Tigers -147
Kiki Sports
1 Unit Atlanta -1.35
1 Unit LA Dodgers -1.20
1 Unit Arizona -1.35
BEN BURNS
AFTERNOON ANNIHILATOR - ORIOLES
BLUE CHIP - FLYERS/RANGERS UNDER
Tom Freese
10* Utah -7
Anthony Redd
40 Dime - Phillies/Astros Under
Red Dog Sports
5* Spokane +1
Spokane played last week and lost at home to a good Milwaukee Iron team. Now they go to Utah to play a team that opens their season tonight and are not sure who will start for them at QB. Read this article:
Blaze fans surely remember prolific receiver Aaron Boone, who will pair with Wendall Williams to form an experienced and dangerous 1-2 receiving corps. But who will be throwing them the ball is a game-time decision, said first-year coach Ernesto Purnsley. The quarterback race is between former University of Utah gunslinger Brett Elliott and former Utah State quarterback Michael Affleck.
Of the 19 players on the active roster for Utah, only six have ever suited up in the AFL. But even with such youth, Purnsley expects to be competitive and likes the talent on the roster. Many Blaze players took the field in college for teams in premier conferences in front of tens of thousands of fans on a weekly basis. Some have been on National Football League rosters and practice squads.
"With the younger players, you also have a lot of eagerness and willingness to learn the game," Boone said. "I think that's what we're going to bring to the field."
ATS Lock Club
5 Units Colorado Over
4 Units Texas
ATS Financial
4 Units Baltimore
3 Units NY Yankees
DB SPORTS CONSULTANTS
3* Detroit -1.5 +130
2* LA Dodgers -116
2* Dallas +4
Cajun Sports
Utah Jazz @ New Orleans Hornets
4* Utah Jazz -6.5
The NBA’s Western Conference is still up in the air for the most part as playoff teams two through eight could actually be turned upside down by the end of the regular season. This is important to only one team on this floor tonight and it’s not the Hornets they have not been a part of the playoff discussion in weeks. The Jazz on the other hand are a half-game behind the Mavs, Nuggets and Suns and desperately need a first round home court advantage. The Jazz certainly didn’t help their cause as they lost to the Rockets in Houston on Wednesday night. The good news for Utah backers is the fact the Jazz are 20-7 ATS coming off a loss in their last game and 15-4 ATS when coming off a road loss. A check of the database also reveals a powerful league-wide system that tells us to Play ON NBA road favorites in this price range when they have averaged outscoring their opponents by three or more points per game and are coming in off a loss of fifteen or more points in their last game. These road favorites are 38-9 against the spread for 80 percent winners the last five seasons. The Jazz have also been successful in the Big Easy winning seven of their last nine visits including winning and covering the last three and eight of the last ten overall. New Orleans has been without their team leader Chris Paul for the better part of two months and he is now sidelined with a torn ligament in his finger. The Hornets are just 5-14 ATS since early March and have lost their last four in a row. New Orleans is 7-17 ATS versus teams averaging 103 or more points per game during the second-half of the season and 9-20 ATS off a home loss the last 2 seasons. With the Hornets having tossed the towel on the 2009-10 campaign we will back the better team here as the Jazz continue their winning ways in the Big Easy and help secure their playoff position on Friday night.
PROJECTED FORECAST: 4* Utah Jazz 114 New Orleans Hornets 93
Seabass
200* Steam - NJ Nets
Rocketman
5* GOY - Spurs
4'* Giants
3* Cardinals
MTi Sports
4* Florida +111
4* Dal/Port Under 192
Kevin Rogers
Cubs at Reds
Pick: Over 9.5
The Reds and Cubs are both coming off low-scoring victories on Thursday, so many will think that this keeps up tonight. I don't see it that way with the pitchers taking the mound. Former Mariner Carlos Silva makes his Cubs debut, coming off a dreadful 8-15 record in Seattle over the last two seasons while compiling an ERA in the 7's. Homer Bailey improved towards the end of last season, but still saw the OVER hit more times than not in home starts. The Reds did provide Bailey with plenty of support as the lineup gave him five runs or more in nine starts. The pitching isn't convincing, and each of these teams saw solid pitching in their previous series so tonight runs will be scored. I'll take the OVER between the Cubs and Reds.