Dennis Macklin
Atlanta Braves vs. Milwaukee Brewers
Play: Milwaukee Brewers -115
Early in the bases you pretty much need to go with projection until there is enough data (15-20 games) to really get a true picture of what we have. We do know that Kyle Lohse is a dependable rock solid veteran who is 5-1 LT vs the Bravos (granted 4.17 ERA) and had a 1.57 ERA in his final three 2013 starts. Alex Wood would appear to be a stop-gap measure for Atlanta due to multiple injuries. The southpaw was 0-1 with a 10.13 ERA in September last year and never made it to the 5th inning. Short price and at Miller Park where the Brew Crew is 6-1 L7 in the series and a sweet price seals the deal.
Sam Martin
Clemson at SMU
Play: Clemson
NIT Semifinals will be played in Madison Square Garden, so both Clemson and SMU won't be able to rely on their home court advantage anymore. That loss of the home court edge is especially detrimental to the Mustangs, who seemed to get worse on the road as the season went on. They lost as a 9.5-point favorite in their first AAC Tournament game, and fell as big road favorites against bad teams in Temple and South Florida down the stretch.
Clemson has played extremely well statistically over their last four games, shooting at least 48% in all four games while allowing 40% shooting or less in all four games - and that stretch includes a one-point loss (as a 9.5-point dog) against Duke. SMU just 1-8 ATS as a neutral court favorite, and we don't trust them away from home whatsoever.
Joseph D'Amico
Colorado Rockies vs. Miami Marlins
Play: Miami Marlins +102
Miami opened their 2014 campaign with a 10-1 thumping over Colorado. The Marlins have Nathan Eovaldi at the bump. The RH finished strong LY as his team went 4-1 in his L5 starts. Brett Anderson gets the start for Colorado. The LH was 1-4 with an ERA of 6.04 last season. Miami's offense has shown improvement in both Spring Training and in their first game of the season. With 14 hits, 6 extra-base hits, and 10 runs in game 1, this is a different Marlins lineup. Colorado has never been a great team on the road and managed just 6 hits and 10 K's in their opener. They are 15-37 their L52 road games, 8-21 their L29 vs. the NL East, and 6-16 their L22 vs. RH starters. The Marlins are 4-1 in Eovaldis L5 starts, 5-0 their L5 games played at home, and 4-0 their L4 vs. LH starters. Take Miami.
Bob Balfe
Diamondbacks -105
I feel a bit bad for these Diamondbacks who opened in Australia and then lost late last night. No baseball team should have to go half-way around the world to promote the sport in the beginning of the season. The Diamondbacks are now 0-3 and the pressure is on. Matt Cain has not pitched well in spring ball and he was awful last year. Look for Arizona to get their first win at home tonight. Take the Diamondbacks.
Mike Rose
Indians at Athletics
Pick: Indians+130
After dealing with the mystifying Sonny Gray in the series opener, the Tribe are going to be salivating to step back in the batter’s box against a lefty. This time against former teammate Scott Kazmir who the franchise decided to not resign in the offseason and allow him to bolt to another team. Though the game was nip and tuck through the first 7+ innings last night, Cleveland simply just looked to be the better overall team. They outhit the A’s 8-5 with a couple of Oakland’s hits coming in the 9th against Axford making his Tribe debut. Cleveland was damn good against LHP last season (36-21 5.1 RPG) and it just has the look of a team on a mission from Spring Training through taking the opener last night. I’m very bullish on Kluber this season and believe he will be one of the main reasons why the Tribe gets back to the postseason and gives the Tigers a major challenge for division supremacy. He’s a K machine and has excellent control. With Hump Day’s series finale a total crapshoot, look for the Tribe to go all out here to snag the series win. They’ve dominated the AL West (26-7 L/33), won four of Kluber’s L/5 road starts and gone 6-2 in their L/8 skirmishes with the A’s.
Jeff Alexander
Tampa Bay Rays -166
With yesterday's 9-2 loss, Toronto is now just 11-29 in its last 40 road games against division opponents and 14-44 in its last 58 games in Tampa Bay. The Rays are 27-11 in their last 38 games as a home favorite, 53-25 in their last 78 games as a favorite of -151 to -200 and 122-60 in their last 182 games as a home favorite of -151 to -200. They are 25-10 in Cobb's last 35 starts, and Cobb is 2-0 with a 1.35 ERA in a pair of starts versus the Blue Jays. Tampa Bay gets the call.
Dave Price
Milwaukee Brewers -115
The Milwaukee Brewers have been a thorn in the side of the Atlanta Braves, and so has Kyle Lohse. The Brewers are 8-2 in the last 10 meetings overall and 9-1 in the last 10 meetings in Milwaukee. Lohse has won his last five decisions against the Braves while not allowing more than two runs in any of them. His teams have won four of his last five starts against the Braves, including his last two. He threw a complete-game shutout in his most recent start against the Braves last September. The Brewers are 9-3 in Lohse's last 12 home starts. The Braves are 1-6 in their last 7 games as a road underdog. Back the Brew Crew.
Tony Stoffo
Yale +1.5
CIT - SEMIFINAL Yale at VMI Reverse money action play goes here as the Bulldogs and Keydets match-up tonight - as the public on VMI here with 72% of all bets placed (17,000+) yet the odds makers have been looking for more VMI money all day long having lowered this line 3 times now. Meaning the sharps have landed on the Bulldogs in this spot tonight. So let's follow the money and release a solid play on Yale here this evening. Yale the play here.
Fezzik
Brooklyn -3
While Houston is off a two-game homestand this is their 13th road game in their last 21 contests and they're a thin team without Dwight Howard and Pat Beverly in the lineup tonight. Nets are in decent form and playing with revenge from 3 straight double digit losses to the Rockets since the start of last season. Tough to see how tired Houston has a lot of focus on this game, especially since they likely enjoyed the nightlife of NYC on their off night last evening with a flight to Toronto immediately following this game. The Nets take their home pointspread record to 60% with a big win in this spot. Go with the Brooklyn Nets
River City Sharps
VMI -2
Pretty intriguing matchup here tonight in the semifinals of the CIT as Yale travels to take on high-scoring VMI. We are pretty sure that the Bulldogs have not seen an offense as potent as VMI all season long and we think tat can be very difficult to prepare for and play against. VMI has proven to be very difficult to beat at home, going 14-2 on the season and they are 4-1 SU and ATS in their last five games. They have beaten several good teams already in this tournament, knocking off IUPU-Ft. Wayne and capturing a road win at Ohio University. Yale's road here has also featured good road wins over Holy cross and Columbia. VMI is averaging 89 ppg for the season and their defense is allowing 78.4 ppg. The Bulldogs are much more traditional in their approach, but if you look at their overall numbers, they are scoring 67 ppg and giving up over 68 ppg. VMI has really cranked up the offense in this tournament and is shooting the ball very well. That will continue tonight against a Bulldog team that just can't keep up.
Jeff Scott Sports
3 UNIT PLAY
Clemson/ SMU Over 119: Let's break a tendency and go with the Over in this one. Both teams play excellent defense and Clemson loves to slow the pace, but these teams have also been playing higher scoring games than normal of late. Clemson's last 5 games have averaged 128.6 ppg, while their games on neutral courts have put up 129.2 ppg on the year. SMU's last 5 games have averaged 131.6 ppg, while their neutral site games have averaged 131.8 ppg for the year. Clemson has averaged 68.8 ppg on neutral courts this year, while SMU has averaged 70 ppg on those courts. I just see a bit more scoring here, especially late as there is no tomorrow for these teams so fouling at the end should be plentiful. I look for at least 125 points in this one.
Harry Bondi
HOUSTON (+3) over New Jersey
Classic case of the better team catching points and we will take advantage. Houston comes in off a loss so we can expect a fully focused effort here tonight. The Rockets also own this series winning 13 straight with an 11-1-1 record at the betting window. Take the points!
Craig Davis
My free play for Tuesday is the Brooklyn Nets.
Folks, there's a reason the Rockets have dominated the Nets over the past five years and yet Brooklyn checks in today as a 3-point favorite.
It's partly because Vegas knows how good the Nets have been at home lately and partially because you have to assume the law of averages is going to catch up and the Nets are going to win one.
It's pretty amazing what the Nets have done the second half of the season when you consider the injuries they've had and the awful start to the season they encountered.
This team hasn't encountered a home loss since the OKC Thunder, on pure revenge, came to Brooklyn and thumped the Nets, 120-95. That was back on January 31!!!
So if I've done my math correctly, that's 13 straight home victories for the Nets... and some of those victories were against teams like San Antonio, Chicago, Memphis, Toronto, Phoenix, Boston, and Minnesota.
Houston is still probably the better overall team, but it's not by much and now they find themselves in the middle of a beehive tonight.
Take Brooklyn as your free play of the day.
3♦ BROOKLYN
Jeff Benton
Your Tuesday freebie is the Pacific Tigers plus the points at Murray State.
After a 1-5 run straight up to end their season at 15-15, the Tigers have suddenly caught fire and have reeled off 3 straight wins and 2 straight covers heading into this meeting with Murray State for a right to play in the CIT Final this week,
Murray State has been as steady as they come, now 21-11 for the year, and I cannot knock their 10-3-1 spread mark their past 14 games, but I get the feeling they may be just a little over-confident coming into this home game tonight.
Combine that with the fact the Tigers are playing with house money and should be very loose, and I think you have a dengerous underdog with Pacific.
Go ahead and take the points in this one, as Pacific keeps it close.
1♦ PACIFIC
Gabriel Dupont
My free play for today is going to be in Major League Baseball, as I like the Over in tonight's American League clash between the New York Yankees and Houston Astros. Pitchers are always auto-listed with totals, but I want you to be sure the pitchers of record in this game are C.C. Sabathia for the New York Yankees and
Why the Yankees will hit the ball well - The farewell tour begins, as The Captain - Derek Jeter - steps to the plate at Minute Maid Park and begins his final 162-game trek. It'll be special all year, but this is his last Opening Day, and there's a surreal feeling about how this lineup will react today. I expect the Bombers to each 'try to' get one for Cap somehow in this game.
Why the Astros can contribute to this total - C.C. Sabathia hasn't been himself over the past couple of seasons. That's not to say he isn't dominating during certain stretches, but I don't know if he is still the same 2 or 3 earned-run guy every outing. Those are every 2 or 3 starts, and every five you might get a shutout. But look for Sabathia to be a regular 4 or 5-ER per game pitcher over the first month.
In conclusion, why the OVER is my SMART PLAY in this game - Both teams feel they've made a change for the better, and there's no time better than the opener to show what you've got. The Yankees have Carlos Beltran, Brian McCann and Jacoby Ellsbury in the lineup, and that could spell trouble for Feldman early. I mean, kudos for being named the ODS for the Astros, but this guy was the No. 4 starter for the Cubs a year ago.
As for the 'Stros, we have a young roster looking to feast on Opening Day at home, and there's no reason to dream big. Hitting is contagious, and that doesn't just mean from one dugout. Once the Yankees' bats get going, expect some offense from Houston's lineup.
1♦ OVER