Tom Freese
Oakland Athletics at Seattle Mariners
Prediction: Seattle Mariners
Seattle is 3-1 in 4 starts made by Jarrod Washburn this year. The Mariners are 8-2 at home vs. losing teams and they are 11-2 their last 13 games vs AL West teams. Seattle is 7-0 their last 7 games vs. the A's. Oakland is 1-3 in 4 starts made by Trevor Cahill this year and they are 16-37 their last 53 road games. The A's are 2-12 their last 14 games vs. lefty starters and they are 3-10 after allowing 5 or more runs in their last game. PLAY ON SEATTLE - (Washburn vs. Cahill)
Gina
Chicago Bulls at Boston Celtics
This has been a great series and Game 7 should be another hard fought fight to the closing minutes. Take the points! The Bulls have covered the spread in their last five road games.
Chicago Bulls +6
Colorado Rockies at San Francisco Giants
San Francisco is 8-2 in their last 10 games and right-hander Matt Cain is 5-2 with a 1.95 ERA in eight career starts versus Colorado at AT&T Park. Go with the Giants at home. The Rockies have dropped six of their last 7 games on the road, while the Giants have won six of its last seven at home.
San Francisco Giants -135
Ben Burns
Pittsburgh Penguins at Washington Capitals
Prediction: Washington Capitals
While this one didn't quite make the cut as one of "guaranteed" selections, there are a few things that I like about Washington in this spot.
I like the fact that the Capitals were tested in their first round series, showing the heart to rally back from a 3-1 deficit to defeat the Rangers. I also like the fact that they last played on April 28th. That gives him them some rest, but not too much. The Penguins, on the other hand, weren't seriously tested in their first round matchup and they've been sitting around since April 25th. That may be a little too much of a "cooling off period," particularly for a team which was playing so well.
I like the fact that the Caps are playing on home ice, where they were 29-9-3 this season. I also like the fact that the line has fallen from its opening number. Consider backing Washington.
LT Profits
Philadelphia Phillies -115
Oliver Perez is off to an awful start for the New York Mets, and while the ageless Jamie Moyer of the Philadelphia Phillies does not have good number either, at least he is heading in the direction.
Moyer is 3-1, but with a high 5.09 ERA and 1.57 WHIP. He did break through with a Quality Start last time out though, when he allowed just one run and seven hits with an uncharacteristic six strikeouts in six innings. Remember also that he was masterful the last time he faced the Mets last September, tossing seven scoreless innings while allowing only two hits.
Meanwhile, Perez is simply a total mess right now. In his last start vs. the normally punchless Washington Nationals, Perez was lit up for seven earned runs and nine hits with three walks added in for good measure in only 4.1 innings of work. Now the Phillies may be predominantly left-handed, but they actually have a higher team batting average vs. southpaws so far this year (.275) than they do vs. right-handers (.266), and they are hitting .299 vs. lefties here at home.
The Mets won the series opener 7-4 last night, but look for Philadelphia to even things up here today.
Pick: Phillies -115
Dave Price
1 Unit on Phillies -117
Have to take the Phillies at home in this bounce back spot with the more solid pitcher on the hill. Grandpa Moyer is a perfect 3-0 in his last 3 starts while Perez has struggled his way to a 9.31 ERA this season. Consider that Moyer is a ridiculous 70-25 against the money line in home games when playing against a team with a losing record since 1997 and 27-9 against the money line against division opponents over the last 3 seasons. The Mets are only 3-10 in their last 13 games following a win and the Phillies are 9-1 in their last 10 games vs. a left-handed starter. Take Philly Saturday.
ALEX SMART
Chicago Blackhawks @ Vancouver Canucks
PICK: Chicago Blackhawks
Vancouver gain the inititive having won game one of the series. That win came mainly due to the Blackhawks taking some poor penalties. The hawks made it a game coming out with some high intensity in the third quarter to erase a three goal deficit. That third quarter three goal outburst has given Chicago some momentum as they now believe they have the personnel to score goals on the Cannucks Netminder Roberto Luongo who had only allowed five goals in the four games that it took the Cannucks to dump out St Louis.
Chicago's young squad has tremendous depth to score goals while Vancouver rely heavily on the Sedin brothers.
The underdog has played a prominant role in this series having won four of the last five and I look for the underdog Blackhawks to come out of Britsh Columbia with the series tied 1-1.
Final notes & Key Trends: Chicago is 10-3 SU on the road after playing a game with 7+ total goals while Vancouver is 1-6 SU at home after playing a game with 8+ total goals.
Play on the Blackhawks
Yankee Capper
NHL
Pittsburgh/Washington Over 5.5
Vancouver Canucks -140
MLB
Toronto Blue Jays -125
Boston Red Sox -115
Seattle Mariners -130
Wunderdog
Houston at Atlanta
Pick: Atlanta -120
Roy Oswalt may have the name in this pitching matchup, but Jair Jurrgens is the name to come in the National League. Jurrgens is plowing through lineups with a 1.72 ERA so far this season. He will get to show that great stuff against the weakest lineup in the major leagues, as the Astros punch 'n Judy lineup is scoring a major league worst 3.5 runs a game, which becomes an even more pathetic 2.9 on the road. Roy Oswalt hasn't exactly solved this Atlanta lineup, where he has yet to win in his career and features a 6.41 ERA against them. Doesn't look like a mismatch by name, but it is by results, and I'll go with Atlanta here.
Craig Trapp
San Diego Padres vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
Play: Los Angeles Dodgers
Short and sweet today as Craig is shifting his focus to the Kentucky Derby and the Pacqueo Fight tonight. Love just a few MLB and NBA plays today. Craig's free MLB National League Play will win easy. Check out records, trends, and breakdown.
Records
San Diego 11-12 Chris Young 2-1 (5.74 ERA)
LA Dodgers 16-8 Randy Wolf 1-1 (4.31 ERA)
Betting Trends
-Padres are 1-5 in their last 6 games as an underdog
-Padres are 2-5 in Youngs last 7 Saturday starts
-Dodgers are 13-3 in their last 16 vs. National League West
-Dodgers are 6-2 in Wolfs last 8 starts as a favorite.
-Padres are 1-7 in the last 8 meetings in Los Angeles.
Lets make this short and sweet LA is 8-0 at home and SD is only 5-8 on the road. If that is not enough Young was 0-2 and allowed 10 earned runs in two starts last season at Dodger Stadium. This is going to be a high scoring affair which favors the better hitting line up which is without a doubt the LA Dodgers. Not a close one LA puts a 10 spot up in this game. SCORE LAD 10 - SD 4
Larry Ness
BOS (-120) vs TAM
The Rays opened a four-game home series with Boston on Thursday, having lost 11 of their previous 15 games. Matt Garza took a perfect game into the seventh inning of Thursday's 13-0 and last night, Evan Longoria's grand slam lifted Tampa Bay to a 6-2 victory. The Rays have won by the combined scores of 19-2 in the first two games of this series and have now taken 11 of the last 14 regular-season matchups with Boston and 10 of the last 11 played at Tropicana Field. You may also remember that the Rays beat the Red Sox in the ALCS last season in a seven-game series. As for the Red Sox, they entered this series having won 12 of their previous 13 games, while averaging 7.5 RPG. However, after almost getting no-hit on Thursday (did get shut out!), the Red Sox stranded 10 runners in Friday night's loss. Tampa Bay will start rookie Jeff Niemann (2-2, 4.43 ERA), who has never faced Boston. Niemann beat out super-prospect David Price for a rotation spot this spring, so Niemann better have more outings like his last three, in which he's posted a 2.65 ERA and picked up wins in the last two. Niemann has had trouble pitching deep into games and Tampa's bullpen will most likely be called on tonight. Boston veteran Tim Wakefield, like his team, hasn't had much success against the Rays as of late. He's 0-3 with an 8.10 ERA in his last five regular-season starts vs Tampa Bay but Wakefield does own a 19-5 career mark vs them. More importantly, Wakefield delivered another excellent performance in his last outing, this past Monday against Cliff Lee and the Indians. However, Lee was just as good and Wakefield left the game after seven strong innings tied at zero. Wakefield allowed just one hit in seven scoreless but got a no decision in a game Boston eventually won, 3-1. Wakefield is 2-1 this season with a 1.86 ERA. After pitching well but losing his first start of 2009 at the Angels, he's been "lights out" since, posting two straight wins before Monday's no decision. I'm backing the vet over the rookie in this one. Take Boston.
Southcoast Sports
Los Angeles Dodgers -160
I am not quite sure what to make of Chris Young this season. The Padres pitcher has pitched well at times, then not so well at other times. He has two games where he went 7 innings deep without allowing a single run, then he has two games that didn't see him make it past the 3rd inning, allowing 15 earned runs in the two combined starts. Most of his troubles have come when pitching on the road, where he has a 9.88 Era in 3 road starts. To complicate matters , he has pitched better in his day starts vs his night starts. When pitching at night this season, he has a 12.08 Era to go along with 21 hits in 12 innings of work. Bad news Chris, this is a night game! Randy Wolf gets the start for the Dodgers. Although, no power horse so far this season, he has pitched respectably, keeping his team in the games he has pitched. He has given up 4 or less runs in his five starts this season, while getting to the 6th inning in all but one game. I would like for the Dodgers to have better numbers against right handed pitching, but a .281 batting average and 5.29 runs a game vs righties over their last 10 games doesn't seem so bad as compared to how bad the Padres are hitting lefties. The Padres are hitting .213 and scoring 1.70 runs a game vs lefties this year, despite the success they have had so far. The Dodgers are a perfect 5-0 their last 5 games at home, and will be facing a Padres team that is 1-6 over their last 7 games over all, as well as 1-7 over their last 8 when playing on the road against the Dodgers.
Jimmy Boyd
Chicago(Bulls)
Pittsburgh(Pirates)
Cleveland(Indians)