Tony Karpinski
Detroit Tigers vs. Toronto Blue Jays
Play: Detroit Tigers
Detroit faced one of the best opening day starters yesterday and Halladay got the best of them. The Tigers will bounce back tonight with a powerful offense and upgraded the infield defense significantly for this season. Miguel Cabrera will play first base after beginning last season as the Tigers’ third baseman (he could handle it). 2B Placido Polanco is a sure-handed second baseman, along with SS Adam Everett. Moving Brandon Inge to third base is a terrific move. He reads the ball correctly and quickly off the bat, and rarely is betrayed by his footwork, plus his arm is strong and accurate.Toronto doesn’t have as strong an offense and starter David Purcey is off a 3-6 season with a 5.54 ERA last yr. The visitors get the win at a great price. Play the Tigers on Tuesday night.
DAVID MALINSKY
Pittsburgh Pirates @ St. Louis Cardinals
PICK: Over 8.5
The line has dropped in the early markets, to the point at which 8’s are becoming available, or at worst 8.5’s or no vig or a plus return. That is a very low bar for this setting, and we will take full advantage.Although it took a big ninth inning from the Pirates to push last night’s game over the Total, when the counting was done the teams combined for 21 hits, eight walks, two batters hit by a pitch, and three errors, with 22 runners being left on base. We can expect more of the same tonight – neither Ian Snell nor Kyle Lohse bring any kind of dominating stuff to the table, and both the bullpens and the defenses rival the worst in the National League.It is the defensive play that is not being factored properly here. The Pirates were 28th in the Major Leagues on our best set of ratings LY, with little reason to expect improvement, and while the Cardinals were actually a little better than average these are much different gloves now. A genuine case could be made that St. Louis currently sports the worst defensive lineup in The Show, especially if Skip Schumacher (six spring training errors) makes his debut at 2B tonight. That is going to cause problems for Lohse, who needs every bit of that defensive support to be successful, since he is not going to throw the ball by many hitters (only 5.35 K’s per 9 LY). And even more problems for Tony LaRussa’s “bullpen by committee”, which already saw Jason Motte implode in last night’s disaster in the 9th.We do not need an offensive explosion here – if each team scratches out four runs it is mission accomplished, and that is not asking for much at all in what should be a sloppy affair.
Jeff Alexander
1 Unit on Philadelphia Phillies -113
Expect the Phillies to bounce back in game 2 of this series tonight and here's the key: Philly is 21-6 against the money line revenging a loss where the team scored 1 run or less over the last 3 seasons, winning by an average score of 6.1 to 3.4 in these spots. In addition, you have to like Moyer on the hill considering he is is 25-8 against the money line against division opponents over the last 3 seasons. Bet the Phillies.
Black Widow
1* 76ers/Bobcats Over 184.5
The Charlotte Bobcats are finally starting to really score the basketball with little problem, something that wasn’t the case in the first half of the season. The Bobcats have scored 92 or more points in 7 straight games now. Their defense has been suspect over their last 3 games against teams not known for scoring the basketball, giving up 111 to Boston, 97 to Miami and 104 to Detroit. Philly had gone 10 straight games scoring 95 or more points before their worst offensive output of the season last time out against New Jersey. But don’t think one bad shooting performance is going to slow this team down. The OVER is 7-1-1 in 76ers last 9 games following a S.U. loss. The OVER is 5-1 in Bobcats last 6 games following a S.U. loss. The OVER is 5-1 in the 76ers’ last 6 road games. Take the OVER 184.5 points here.
Wunderdog
Dallas at Minnesota
Pick: OVER 5 -120
The Wild has become more offensive lately as they have averaged three goals a game over their last six, with 18 put through the net - something it took them none games to achieve previously. Dallas has suddenly produced 17 goals in their last five games - something it took them 10 games to achieve previous to the offensive run. This one is set low, based on what these teams have done on the season, but they are not playing that way now. It is a good spot to catch the oddsmakers sleeping, and make OVER the call in this one.
Jeff Scott Sports
3 UNIT PLAY
Kansas City +118 over CHISOX
The Royals are 9-2 in Meches last 11 starts with the total set at 7.0-8.5 and 12-3 in their last 15 games vs. a left-handed starter, while the White Sox are 1-7 in their last 8 games with the total set at 7.0-8.5. The Royals are also 21-10, the last 3 years as a road dog of +100 to +125. KC may just be the most improved team in baseball after upping their payroll by 20% over last year and bringing in some solid players like Coco Crisp and Mike Jacobs, plus they bolstrered an already solid bullpen with the signing on Kyle Farnsworth. Today the Royals will send Gil Meche to the mound and he has had some good success vs the White Sox, going 7-3 with a 4.04 ERA in 14 starts vs them, plus Gil would like to get the bad taste of last years 1-4 7.22 ERA he had in the month of April last year. Mark Buehrle has pretty much owned the Royals in the pas, but this is a new Royals team with a better attitude that fnished last year on an 18-8 run in the month of September, which was their best month of baseball since 1994. KC will be in the Mix for the central title this year and what better way to get their quest going than an opening day win over a ChiSox team that has been at or near the top of the Central standing for years now. KC in a mild upset here.
2 UNIT PLAY
BOSTON -140 over Tampa Bay
Josh Beckett is a solid 31-13 with a 3.67 ERA in day games over his career, plus he is 14-4 with a 3.04 ERA the last 4 years in the month's of March/ April. Josh is also 6-3 with a 3.91 ERA in 10 career starts vs the Rays, including a 5-1 mark with a 4.30 ERA in 7 home starts vs them. James Shields had a fine year last year, but he has not pitched well vs Boston in his career going 2-6 with a 4.80 ERA vs them, including an 0-3 mark with a 10.12 ERA in 3 career starts at Fenway. The Rays shocked the Sox last year, by knocking them out in the ALCS, but Boston is ready for this rematch as they seek revenge for last year. Beckett will shine as Shields will once again struggle in Fenway.
Free Selection from Totals4U
Tuesday's free selection: Knicks/Bulls over 218
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Free Selection from Arthur Ralph Sports
240 - 159 run 60 %
5-1 last 6
S F Giants TUESDAY
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EZWINNER'S FREE SELECTION
Date: Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Game: Orlando Magic @ Houston Rockets
Sport: NBA
Time: 7:35PM CST
(663) Orlando Magic (PICK)
This is a nice revenge spot for Orlando who lost at home to the Rockets back in
November. In fact the road team has dominated this series, winning six out of the
last seven meetings straight up. I look for that trend to continue as Orlando cashed
in once again on the road.
2009 Free Selections Record 53-42 (55.8%)
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Undefeated's pick of the day now on a 9 wins and 2 losses run.
Today's pick: New Orleans and Miami OVER the total of 189
Nelly
Milwaukee (Suppan) +
Milwaukee beat Tim Lincecum last season the only time they faced off against him, scoring five runs in six innings against the eventual Cy Young winner. The Brewers went 6-0 against the Giants last season and although San Francisco played well late in the year, Milwaukee has been a great early season team in recent years. The Brewers won 18 more games than the Giants did last season and as Cliff Lee proved yesterday, last year’s Cy Young award does not mean much on opening day, although it does create a favorable go-against price.San Francisco finished seven games below .500 at home last season while Milwaukee was one of the few teams with a winning road record in the National League. The Brewers lost some pitching but the lineup remains one of the better units in the league and the bullpen should be improved. Jeff Suppan had an up-and-down season last year but he was a great April pitcher last season with four quality starts including a win in his first start of the season. Suppan was sharp this spring with 17 strikeouts and only six walks while posting a very respectable 3.54 ERA.Lincecum had very average numbers this spring and he faces a steeper line that all but a few games all of last season. Last season Lincecum was actually a superior pitcher away from home and the Giants have a lot of question marks with unproven players in several key spots and a suspect bullpen. Lincecum is being turned into a big-name star player but he still plays for a lousy team while the Brewers were a playoff team last year and feature a great lineup that can produce runs in a hurry.
Scott Rickenbach
Portland Trail Blazers (-)
Yes, the Grizzlies have finally been winning some games again but they’ve been helped tremendously by facing a weak schedule. Now they must face a Blazers team that dominated them by 20+ points the last time they saw them which, by the way, was right before the Grizzlies current four game run. As for Portland, they are coming off of a loss at Houston on Sunday that came by a double digit margin. They certainly were not happy with that result and that means a special effort with extra intensity and focus will be brought to the arena in Memphis tonight. For the Grizzlies, that means it’s “reality check” time and they’re quickly returned to their losing ways as they face an opponent that is much tougher than the ones they’ve been facing. Consider a small play on Portland minus the points on Tuesday night.
Vegasflyer sports
Mike Hillin
free play
Boston Redsox-145 look for the Redsox to avenge the series loss last year.