Free Picks: Premium Service Plays for Thursday, April 8,2010

BEN BURNS

10* TOR / TEX Under 9

I'm playing on Texas and Toronto to finish UNDER the total. After these teams combined for nine runs in Monday's opener, yesterday's game finished with 11. I expect this afternoon's "all southpaw" finale to be the lowest scoring of the bunch.

Romero gets the call for the Jays. He was 13-9 last season and that included a 7-2 mark with a 3.45 ERA in 11 daytime starts. He's made one start against the Rangers and that game finished with a score of 1-0. He allowed one run in 6 1/3 innings in that o~ne, suffering a hard-luck loss.

It should also be noted that Romero is coming off a very strong spring. Indeed, he posted a stellar 1.89 ERA in five starts. In his last start, he allowed one run through five innings - that run didn't come until the fifth. Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston said of his young left-hander: "Ricky did fine, he did great..."

CJ Wilson gets the nod for the home team and he should be highly motivated to deliver a strong performance. Wilson made 74 appearances out of the bullpen last season, posting an excellent 2.81 ERA.

He closed out spring training by throwing five hitless innings against the Royals, en route to a 2-1 Texas victory. He was quoted as saying: "I felt it was a pretty good tuneup..."

Note that Wilson had a stellar 2.25 ERA in five relief appearances against Toronto last season. With the UNDER at 23-15-3 the past couple of seasons, when the Rangers were favored in the -125 to -150 range, I'm expecting a low-scoring affair. *10 Getaway Day TOW

8* LOS / PIT Under 8.5

I'm playing on Pittsburgh and LA to finish below the total. After Monday's opener finished above the total, these teams combined for just seven runs in 10 innings yesterday. I'm expecting this afternoon's finale to also be relatively low-scoring.

Billingsley gets the call for LA and he's one of the league's bright young stars. He's had 47 victories through his first four seasons and has never had an ERA greater than 4.03. If he stays healthy, he should have a strong year. Billingsley admittedly didn't fare too well in his final spring start. However, he'd been very sharp before that. Before struggling against the Angels, he'd allowed a combined three earned runs in his previous four starts.

Note that Billingsley has allowed three earned runs or less in each of his last five April starts. He allowed two earned runs or less in four of those five starts. Also, note the Billingsley's ERA has been lower during the day than it has at night for three straight seasons. Additionally, note that opposing hitters batted just .219 against him on the road last year.

Maholm gets the call for the Pirates and he was a much stronger pitcher at home than he was on the road last year. Indeed, he was 4-3 with a very solid 3.50 ERA at home. However, he went 4-6 with a 5.54 ERA on road. Also, note that Maholm has allowed one earned run or less in five of his last seven April starts. Look for a well-pitched affair.

8* SEA / OAK Under 8

I'm playing on Seattle and Oakland to finish UNDER the total. Two of the first three meetings in the current series have finished above the total. However, if we look back further we find that the 'under' is typically profitable when these teams play each other. That said, I expect to see a well-pitched

Brett Anderson goes for the home team and he's coming off a terrific final start in spring training. He pitched five shutout innings and allowed just three hits. Opposing pitcher Matt Cain had this to say of Anderson: "Anderson looked really really good. The guys coming back to the dugout and saying, 'He's throwing the ball very lively. And his breaking ball was very good."

Anderson faced the Mariners five times last season. He allowed three earned runs or less in each of the last four of those, including just one in three of those game. Not surprisingly, three of those four games stayed below the total.

Doug Fister may not be exactly dominant but he did have plenty of success against Oakland. He's made two starts against the A's and has recorded an outstanding 1.50 ERA and 1.167 WHIP. Not surprisingly, both games stayed below the total.

Even including yesterday's result, the UNDER is still 10-6 the last 16 meetings in this series. With the UNDER also at 26-12-5 the last 43 times that the Mariners were listed as road underdogs in the +125 to +150 range, I'm expecting a low-scoring affair.