Stephen NoverFOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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Pittsburgh +140FOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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The Pirates are the only team that hasn't hit a home run yet. They are struggling offensively getting shut out the past two days. That can happen when playing the Dodgers on the West Coast and facing Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw in back-to-back games.
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But the Pirates' offense isn't this bad and now they get to face Hyun-Jin Ryu, a huge drop from Greinke and Kershaw. Ryu is mostly an unknown. He wasn't that impressive in his big league debut against San Francisco allowing three runs on 10 hits with five strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings. The key for Ryu is he induced three double plays. His changeup was impressive.
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Opponents now have some idea about Ryu now that he's made an appearance. The Pirates will be alert to his changeup.
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The Dodgers haven't exactly been tearing the cover off the ball either. They've scored 11 runs in five games. They draw southpaw Jeff Locke, who was Pittsburgh's most steady pitcher during spring training. Most of Locke's spring training starts, too, were against tough AL East clubs.
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Much of the Dodgers' tough bats come from the left side, including Adrian Gonzalez, Andre Ethier and Carl Crawford. Matt Kemp, the Dodgers' most feared right-handed batter, has one hit in his first 18 at bats.
SPORTS WAGERSFOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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New Jersey +106 over BUFFALOFREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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OT included. This line seems far too short and that’s usually a big red flag. The Sabres have won two in a row over Ottawa and Pittsburgh while outscoring that pair 8-2. They also come in rested, having been off since Friday and off since Tuesday prior to that. The Sabres also have a significant edge between the pipes with Ryan Miller against Martin Brodeur or Johan Hedberg.
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The Devils have dropped six in a row. They have not won a game since Ilya Kovalchuk was injured. New Jersey has fallen to 10th place in the East and has scored just four goals over its past four games. The Devils also played last night at home against the Maple Leafs and they played on Thursday at Boston. They scored once over those two games. Now the Devils will play their third game in four days and back end of successive games. With all this readily available information for everyone to see, why are the Sabres just slightly above a pick-em favorite against this tired and reeling guest? It’s a curious line to be sure and it screams that the Devils are going to snap out of it here.
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COLUMBUS -½ +143 over MinnesotaFREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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Regulation only. It’s do or die time for the Jackets. Columbus sits in 11th place in the West but they’re just three points out of a playoff spot with a three-game home stand up next beginning here. These are three games they have to pick up at least four or five points in for them to have any chance of making the post-season. The Jackets figure to play one of their best games of the year in front of what should be a packed and energized house to welcome Marion Gaborik and to get behind this extremely hard-working group. The Jackets are healthy, they’ve won three of their past four games and they’re also scoring some goals. Additionally, they have a significant edge between the pipes with Vezina candidate Sergei Bobrovsky opposing the declining Niklas Backstrom.
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Backstrom was lifted in his last start at Los Angeles after allowing two goals on the first two shots. The goals weren’t pretty either. Prior to that, Backstrom allowed four goals in back-to-back games against San Jose and St. Louis when he posted a save % of .879 and .833 respectively. Soft goals allowed are becoming a regular thing for this 35-year-old that could be suffering from having to play so many games in a short time span. His confidence is also low. Minnesota has now dropped three in a row and four of five. The Wild have also allowed three goals or more in seven straight games and four goals or more in four of those. The Wild have been outscored 11-3 over their past three games and will now play their third consecutive on the road after playing the previous two on the West Coast. The Wild have hit a major snag in the road and it’s mostly due to poor goaltending that completely deflates any momentum a club might have. Right now the Wild have no momentum and that’s unlikely to change here.
Bryan Leonard
Boston +122
Lester is healthy and has been untouchable going all the way back to Spring Training. The Sox are an improved team while the Jays are still learning to play together after all the off-season changes. We expect Dickey to struggle early as he gets used to the AL and the dome in Toronto. Nice plus price here on the Red Sox.
Rob VenoFOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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Memphis at SacramentoFOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
Play: MemphisFREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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This matchup has been more than favorable to the Grizzlies who have gone 3-0 straight up and 2-1 against the spread versus Sacramento this season. Not only did Memphis win those contests by 22, 16, and 7 points, their lackluster offense and vice grip defense have been well above average at times. Offensively, the Grizzlies have had outings of 108 and 113 points with shooting percentages of 54.7% and 48.8% while defensively they’ve limited the potent Kings offense to 69 and 81 points in two of the meetings. Sacramento let go of any defensive pride long ago as they’ve allowed 101 points or more in 21 of their last 26 games and now internal problems have again overflowed. Kings head coach Keith Smart chose Friday night to send a disciplinary message to starting center and leading scorer DeMarcus Cousins by benching him for all but nine minutes vs. Dallas. Smart also kept high scoring guard Marcus Thornton on the pines for 42+ minutes of that game. While Smart is dodging all the questions with generic, coach speak type answers, it’s clear that team morale is low. There’s nothing as of now to indicate that Cousins and Thornton won’t play today but even if they do, their desire can be questioned and their matchups against Marc Gasol and Tony Allen are tough. Prefer the cohesive, defensive minded group whose collective heart is still into playing hard and winning games down the stretch. Aside from also having the Kings number this season, Memphis is also looking to bounce back from a difficult 86-84 loss Friday night to the L.A. Lakers. All indicators point to them doing so by more than the -5.5 point spread.
Wunderdog
New York Knicks at Oklahoma City
Pick: Under 195.5
A marquee matchup and while everyone thinks of these teams as flashy offensive ones, both defenses are great. New York allows 95.2 ppg, eighth best in the NBA, and they can turn it up against good teams: The UNDER is 4-0 in the Knicks last four games against a team with a winning record. They come off a 101-83 win over the Bucks and the UNDER is 12-5 after scoring 100 points or more in their previous game. Oklahoma City can also play great defense, 12th in the NBA in points allowed and second in field goal shooting defense allowing .425% -- that's also No. 1 in the West. We saw that defense the last game, holding Indiana to 75 points on their home court. They are on a 7-1-2 run UNDER the total and the UNDER is 3-0-1 in the Thunder's last four home games. And when these teams meet the UNDER is 4-0 in the last four meetings, including 5-0 UNDER the total in the last five in Oklahoma City. Play the Knicks/Thunder UNDER the total.
John Ryan
Washington Nationals at Cincinnati Reds
Prediction: Cincinnati Reds
The simulator shows a high probability that the Reds will win this game. Supporting this graded play is a proven system posting a 31-14 mark for 69% winners and has made 22.6 units per one unit wagered since 1997. Play against road favorites with a money line of -110 or higher (WASHINGTON) and is a top-level team (>= 62%) playing a good team (54% to 62%), in April games. Here is a second system that has gone 62-31 for 67% winners and has made 31.3 units per one unit wagered since 2007. Play on home teams when the money line is +125 to -125 (CINCINNATI) and is an excellent fielding team averaging <=0.5 errors/game on the season and after a one run loss. The Reds hammered Washington in Game 1, 15-0, and marked my third straight 25* winner for the season. Yesterday, Washington eked out an extra inning one-run win after leading in the game and blowing a save opportunity. Washington is just 6-27 (-18.8 Units) against the money line in road games after a game they hit 4 or more home runs since 1997. Moreover, the Reds are 19-3 (+15.4 Units) against the money line in home games revenging a loss to current opponent as a home favorite over the last 2 seasons. It is still early, but I believe one thing is a near certainty. Washington will struggle to find an offense, especially against elite starters like Cueto. In five games, they are batting an anemic .222 with a .297 OBP. The Reds will have a strong offense and are averaging 6.4 RPG through 5 games. Moreover, the Nationals bullpen, who did not allow an ER to the Miami Marlins, has been hammered by the Reds. Strasburg did not allow a run, but only struck out three batters in his seven inning 1-0 win over the Marlins. Cueto allowed three hits and one ER, but struck out nine Angels in a 1-0 no decision team loss. I fully expect Cueto to strikeout at least 10 batters today and with Strasburg still mysteriously on an 80 pitch limit, the Nast will again struggle in the bullpen. Take the Reds.
Joe Gavazzi
Arizona +105
Multiple Milwaukee injuries to Braun Ramirez and Hart have left Milwaukee Brewers a shell of its former self. And the bullpen has shown no signs of improvement since their horrendous season last year. Even today's starting pitcher Gallardo showed kinks in his armor when he allowed 3 runs in 10 hits in 5 IP in Milwaukee's only victory of the year, 5-4 vs. Colorado. The Brew Crew has now lost 4 straight. Arizona counters with Kennedy who pitched a very solid opener allowing 2 runs on 5 hits in 7 IP of a 6-2 victory vs. St. Louis. Lone detractor is Gallardo's history against the DBacks which finds him 7-0 with a 1.09 ERA. But current form dictates otherwise giving us an opportunity to back Kennedy as underdog. In 7 starts against Milwaukee, he has a solid 3.38 ERA.