Free Picks: Service Plays for Saturday June, 2

Hollywood Sports

Los Angeles Kings at New Jersey Devils
Prediction: New Jersey Devils

The Devils (60-33-4-4) have proven themselves too tough in the second half of the season as well as in the playoffs to not give them deference here that they will rebound to tie this series at one game apiece. New Jersey dominated the ice for much of the time in Game One -- it was a broken play that provided Anze Kopitar the opportunity to execute his breakaway goal to win this game for the Kings in overtime by a 2-1 score. Goalie Martin Brodeur was tremendous for the Devils and there is little reason to think he will not be just as good in Game Two. The forty-year old has generated a .920 save percentage since the second half of the season. The Devils' dynamic duo of Ilya Kovalchuk and Zach Parise were held pointless in Game One. In the playoffs, these two have combined for 14 goals and 32 points so it is highly doubtful that they will be shutout again from being involved in the scoring. New Jersey has won 6 of their last 7 games after failing to score more than two goals in their last game. The Devils have also won 10 of their last 13 games on their home ice. After what I saw in Game One, this looks destined to be a long series. That would most likely require New Jersey evening this series at 1-1 before traveling to Los Angeles. Take the Devils with the money line in Game Two.

Jim Feist

Atlanta Braves vs Washington Nationals
Pick: Atlanta Braves

Atlanta has been impressive away from home with a winning road record. The Braves are 5-2 in their last 7 games as a road underdog. Brandon Beachy has been exceptional with a 5-3 record and a 1.77 ERA allowing just 43 hits in 66 innings. The team is 6-3 in his last nine starts and he faces a Washington offense that is one of the worst in baseball, 26th in runs scored and 22nd in on-base percentage. An excellent spot for the road dog, Play the Braves.

Marc Lawrence

Los Angeles Dodgers at Colorado Rockies
Prediction: Los Angeles Dodgers

When the Dodgers send Aaron Harang to the mound against Juan Nicasio and the Rockies at Coors Field in Colorado Saturday afternoon Los Angeles will do so knowing Harang is in commanding KW form with 16 strikeouts and 3 walks in his last three starts. On the flip side Nicasio owns a 7.04 ERA at home and a 2.80 ERA away this season. With that we'll back the first place Dodgers as a dog here today. We recommend a 1-unit play on the Dodgers.

Charlie Scott

San Antonio Spurs vs. Oklahoma City Thunder
Play: San Antonio Spurs +4

Expect the Spurs to bounce back off a lackluster performance in game #3 Loss. I posted this play early, so You guys can jump get the best # on the Spurs. This Line will go down ! While OK has some talented players, The Spurs are a veteran playoff battle tested team, the better team, with a huge edge in Coaching. Interesting Stat from John Kelly's 5-29 Podcast @ Eog.com Teams that go up 2-0 in the NBA Playoffs, WIN the series 94% of the time. Take the Points & Play the Spurs !

Miami Marlins vs. Philadelphia Phillies
Play: Miami Marlins

The Phillies & Cole Hamels are overpriced Today because the Phillies have won the last 9 games that Hamels has started. Miami is a better team right now than the injury plagued Phillies. My Baseball Grind system works like this, we're basically betting that Miami won't get swept this weekend. (The Marlins lost Friday night). Play 1/2 a Unit today on Miami, if they win we're done. If Miami should lose Saturday, C'mon back & bet 1 Unit on Miami Sunday.

Rob Vinciletti

Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Milwaukee Brewers
Play: Milwaukee Brewers

The Brewers fit a solid system that has cashed 14 of 17 times and plays on certain home favorites with a total of 8 or less that are off a home favored loss by 5 or more runs at -140 or higher and scored 2 or less runs on 5+ hits. The Pirates are 4-30 on the road if they won their current starters last 2 appearances and that starter has less than a week rest. The Brewers have a nice pitching advantage with Marcum over Bedard and are the choice tonight.

Dave Cokin

Boston Red Sox vs Toronto Blue Jays
Pick: Boston Red Sox

The Red Sox are rolling and Toronto righty Kyle Drabek is back to racking up massive early pitch counts with his terrible control. I like Boston to pick up another win against the Blue Jays today.

SPORTS WAGERS

Los Angeles +105 over NEW JERSEY

For the second straight game money is coming in on the Devils and that gives us another opportunity to take back a tag on the Kings. All L.A. has done this postseason is win 13 of 15 games and they’ve yet to lose on the road. They’ll play this game with no pressure whatsoever, as all the pressure is on the Devils to avoid traveling to California down 0-2. Remember, the Kings weren’t as sharp in game 1 as they had been in their previous playoff games and much of that can be attributed to their long eight-day layoff after knocking off the Coyotes on May 22. Despite the layoff, the Kings were certainly not outplayed in game 1 and you can expect them to be much sharper here. Marty Brodeur didn’t have to be sharp in game 1 but the first goal was a softie and he’s going to have to be very sharp tonight. Without trying to sound redundant and contrary to what the media reports, Brodeur is a big liability in net and he will be exposed in this series as such. The Devils are obviously a good team but for them, there will be no game with more pressure than this one because a loss here and it’s all over. The better team, the looser team, the superior goaltending and a price to boot easily gets our money. Play: Los Angeles +105 (Risking 2 units).

SPORTS WAGERS

CHICAGO -1½ +127 over Seattle

The White Sox offense is running on all cylinders lately. Only Texas (167 runs) has scored more than Chicago’s 156 runs in the month of May. At home, the South Side owns a fine .779 OPS and have scored 8.6 runs per game since May 14 over eight games. The now-first-place White Sox swept Seattle in April, they took the opener last night by scoring seven more runs against King Felix and they’ve nine in a row. This is a team that can’t get to the park soon enough. One can only imagine what’s in store for Hector Noesi. In 59 innings, Noesi has a poor BB/K ratio of 20/34. He also has an unfavorable groundball/fly-ball split of 37%/46% to go along with an ERA over 5.00. He won’t be helped by Safeco here and is 0-3 on the road with an ERA of 6.67. Gavin Floyd goes for the Chisox but does it really matter who toes the rubber? We think not. Play: Chicago -1½ +127 (Risking 2 units).

DETROIT +107 over N.Y. Yankees

Baseball is a funny game and we look no further than Rick Porcello’s 2012 campaign for just how whacky it can get. Porcello comes in with a 3-4 record and a 5.21 ERA. Porcello has one win over the Royals but here’s the funny part. Porcello has two wins against the Chicago White Sox in which he’s thrown 14 innings and allowed two earned runs. That’s how good this guy can be and he has the skills to support it. His high ERA is a direct result of bad luck and his numbers are sure to improve. A 51% groundball rate and 15 walks in 57 innings does not line up to a 5.21 ERA. Porcello’s 68% strand rate has done him in but he’s had good success against the Yanks in the past with a .244 BAA and just one jack allowed in 86 AB’s against current Yankee hitters. Hiroki Kuroda is not benefitting from pitching at Chavez Ravine anymore, nor is he thriving against AL opposition. His strikeout rate has dipped dramatically, he’s 1-4 on the road with a 4.55 ERA with his only road win coming at pitcher-friendly Oakland where the A’s are hitting .210. Play: Detroit +107 (Risking 2 units).

James Patrick Sports

Braves vs. Nationals

Atlanta Braves Manager Fredi Gonzalez has to be happy as both Freddie Freeman and Brian McCann return from injuries and his Braves won two of three from defending World Series champion St. Louis this week. Braves starter Minor is in need of a solid outing as his spot in the rotation is in serious jeopardy. The Braves are (4-1) in Minors last (5) road starts and (5-2) in their last (7) games as a road underdog. This will be a rematch of last Saturday's Nationals (8-4) victory. The Nats Stephen Strasburg has a (1-2) record and a (5.28) ERA in his career starts against the Braves. Big Game James Patrick's Saturday Major League Baseball complimentary selection is Atlanta Braves as Atlanta scalps Strasburg in nation's capital.

Ross King

Texas Rangers vs. Los Angeles Angels
Play: Los Angeles Angels

We can throw away all the trends and stats in this one as the Angels are playing some great baseball being 9-1 in their last 10.Angels also 6-2 on Saturdays.Wison looks to get some revenge against his former team and considering Texas sliding at the moment this should be as good time as any for the Angels to take advantage of the slumping Rangers and make this race closer than anyone ever imagined just a few weeks ago.A closer look reveals Darvish has some control issues with his 35 walks this season which is third highest in baseball.On the otherside you have wilson who ranks in the majors with the third lowest holding opponents batting average to only .185.Take the Angels to gain another game on their division leaders with another solid performance as your freeplay winner.

Rocketman

San Antonio Spurs vs. Oklahoma City Thunder
Play: San Antonio Spurs +3.5

The Spurs finally lost a game after winning 20 straight. San Antonio is now 10-1 SU in the playoffs this year. San Antonio is 60-17 SU and 50-24 ATS this year in all games. San Antonio has won 10 of 13 SU against Oklahoma City the past 3 years. San Antonio is 21-5-1 ATS last 27 games playing on one days rest. San Antonio is 40-13-4 ATS last 57 games overall. Oklahoma City is 3-9 ATS last 12 home games vs a team with a winning road record and the Spurs have been very good away from home with a 26-12 SU record this season. San Antonio has covered five of the past seven meetings in Oklahoma City. San Antonio gets back to their winning ways here. The Thunder have a very good team again this year but this Spurs team is on a mission. We'll recommend a small play on San Antonio tonight.

David Chan

Diamondbacks @ Padres
PICK: Over 6.5

I bet value where I see it and expect this one to sail above the posted number.

The Diamondbacks' (23-29) Daniel Hudson (1-1, 5.48 ERA) is set to square off against the Padres' (18-35) Edinson Volquez (2-5, 3.46 ERA) on the mound this evening.

Hudson returned from the DL on Sunday vs. the Brewers and gave up two runs off seven hits over five frames of work; he'd strike out three and walk one.

Volquez gave up five hits and two runs, striking out five and walking three in a 2-0 loss to the Mets on Sunday. The feisty right-hander has now lost three straight starts as he continues to be plagued with control issues.

It's interesting to note that Arizona has seen the total go "over" the number in nine of its 16 "day" games this season, while San Diego has seen it sail above the number in 11 of 19 in the same position.

With these "shaky" starters going head to head on Saturday night, you may want to consider a second look at the "over" in this one!

Dave Price

Colorado Rockies -135

In a matchup between teams heading in opposite directions, I'll grab the club on the upswing. The Rockies have won 5 in a row while scoring 11 runs or more in 3 consecutive games. The Dodgers have dropped 5 in a row while failing to score more than 3 runs in any game during their skid. The Dodgers have lost 5 of their last 6 in Colorado and they'll have their work cut out for themselves against Nicasio. The Rockies are 10-3 in Nicasio's last 13 home starts and 5-1 in his last 6 starts as a favorite. Take the Rockies.

Jimmy Boyd

Philadelphia Phillies -148

One thing you haven't wanted to do is go against the Phillies with Hamels on the hill. The Phillies have won each of his last 9 starts with those wins coming by an average of 3.6 runs. He has held the opposition to 2 earned runs or less in 7 of those wins. Philly took Game 1 of the series yesterday, improving to 24-8 in its last 32 games against the Marlins, including 13-3 in its last 16 at home against the Fish. The Phillies have won 7 of their last 9 and I like them to keep right on rolling at home.