Stan Sharp
Double-Dime Bet
KAN (+115) vs CWS
Stan notes that Buehrle has had trouble on the road all year for the White Sox and couple that with the Hot Streak of Kansas City who has won 7 in a row spells UPSET for the Royals. TAKE KANSAS CITY as STAN'S BASEBALL UNDERDOG BIG BET OF THE MONTH and make them a DOUBLE DIME PLAY.
Boston Blackie
5* Pittsburgh +100 GOW
has anyone got brandon langs write up?
Andre Gomes
Double-Dime Bet
TEX / 975 ANA Under 11
Divisional game between the Angels and the Rangers, but this doesn't mean much right now, as the Angels are miles in front of the Rangers right now. This game has a line of 11 runs, being the highest line of the day! However I think we are in presence of a game which will have few runs scored, with the under being a good option in here. The Angels have their fate solved: postseason! That's something what gives some tranquility to the team. However there is an important aspect, which can't be forgotten. The team has 5 good starting pitchers, with great records, but the rotation will just have 4 pitchers in the postseason. This means someone will be out of the rotation and neither of their pitchers will take it easy in the next 10 days.
Today it will be Jon Garland who will start and he is coming from a slump of 4 games, where he allowed 5 runs in each game. However he bounced back in the following two games, which can be explained what I've mentioned previously. After those four non-quality starts in a row, he allowed just 2 and 1 run in those two outings against the Mariners and the Yankees, showing that he is once again at a good level. He has faced the Rangers twice this season and he had poor outings by allowing 5 and 7 runs, however he was on his worst part of the season when he had those two non-quality outings and today I expect him to be much better.
On the other side, the Rangers will send the southpaw rookie Matt Harrison, who is coming from a tremendous quality start on his last outing against the A's, where he had a shutout in a complete game, allowing just 5 hits in the process! In normal conditions, I wouldn't like this spot, after all it's not everyday we see a rookie pitching a complete game and then having to face the best team of the AL in his following start. In this simple scenario, a letdown was likely to happen. Harrison had a natural very high count pitches with 118, however he had 6 days off to rest, which is much different than having just 4 days for example. He has already faced the Angels this season and he had a stellar performance, allowing just 2 runs in 7 IP.
The Angels hasn't been capable of being powerful on the offense and the truth is that they are 16-5-1 in their last 22 road games vs LHP. Today the spot for them doesn't seem to be great. The line is pointing for a game where necessarily the pitchers would need to have terrible performances and I think the opposite will happen, so the under is a great option, as don't forget the Angels are 4-1 Under in their last 5 games following a win. Take the under in here. Double Dime Pick.
COL / ARI Over 9
Dime Bet
The D-Backs chose the worst time of the season to struggle, as with the end of the regular season, the team is behind the Dodgers in the fight for the NL West. However the team is now coming from four wins in a row, in a sweep against the Giants and so, not everything is bad news for the team. That's where I'm going to start this play: the momentum the D-Backs are bringing to this game. I expect an high scoring affair in here and I'm counting with the D-Backs offense for that, as the team has lost their last 10 road games and so, today this game will be extremely important for them. In this type of conditions, the momentum helps the teams in overcoming their struggles and the D-Backs, besides having won their last four games, also defeated yesterday one of the best pitchers in the league (Lincecum), in a game where they rallied back to get a 3-2 win. So, the team will be motivated for today.
The Rockies will send the southpaw De La Rosa, who is once again in a slump. He managed to get three quality starts in a row, but he had another letdown in the last two starts, allowing 4 runs in each game and having as much walks as strikeouts and that's not a good sign. So, I expect him to struggle today. However I also expect problems for the pitchers of the D-Backs today. First of all, this is what a player of the Rockies said about how the team feels about this series:
"We want to beat up on Arizona," outfielder Ryan Spilborghs told the Rockies' official Web site. "They've been beating up on us all year. It's a chance to get them back. If that means knocking them out of a chance to go to the playoffs, that's great."
Max Scherzer will start for the D-Backs today, who has an ERA of 2.08 on his five starts for the team, but has just started twice for Arizona this month, where he allowed 1 and 3 runs against the Dodgers and the Reds. He showed that he is a good pitcher, but he will have a tough spot for today. On his last game against the Reds, he had a quality outing, but he also had a maximum pitch count of 102 pitches and after that game he had just 4 days off to rest, while he had 6 days between his starts against the Dodgers and the Reds, which is a big difference for a pitcher, which still lacks the necessary endurance for this type of spot.
So, I expect both pitchers to struggle and with the game having some runs. The Over is 4-1 in the D-Backs last 5 road games vs a team with a losing record and the line is even at an accessible valor (9 runs), having in account what I'm expecting for this game. Take the over in here
King Creole
Double-Dime Bet
ARI (+105) vs COL
A 4* Best Bet on a pitcher that has yet to WIN a game this year? You BET (pun intended!)..... As is our case, we'll gladly ride an Underdog pitcher in obviously BETTER current form that his favored counterpart. And our icing on the cake is that we get to ride a HOT team that has a very clear SERIES HISTORY advantage as well.
As Arizona continues to chase the Dodgers for the NFL West title, they are coming off a 4-0 SWEEP over the San Francisco Giants. They also get a huge statistical advantage in this game based on the Righty vs Lefty pitching matchup. Colorado is hitting only .216 vs righties in their last 10 games while the D'Backs are hitting 66 points higher vs southpaws (at .282). ARIZONA comes in with a 'last 10 games' STARTING PITCHER advantage ERA of only 1.89.... while the favored Rockies have seen starting pitchers come in with an ERA of 5.03 in the same time span.
This is an NL West series in which the Diamondbacks have DOMINATED so far in the 2008 season. Arizona is 10-2 vs Colorado so far this year... and that includes 5-1 in all games played "In THIS park". Average score in this series so far this season is: Arizona 6.5 / Colorado 3.7.
As mentioned, pitching phenom Max Scherzer has YET To win a game so far in 2008. But he comes in to tonight's game in outstanding current form. ERA in his last 4 starts is only 1.63. He's allowed 1 or less earned run in THREE of those 4 starts.... and ZERO earned runs in half of 'em (2 starts). Hi K/BB ratio is in prime "play on" form at 31-9 in those 4 starts. As today's game will be at 6:05pm local time in Colorado, Scherzer will get most of his work done while the sun's still out. And he is a much better pitcher in DAYTIME starts (1.55 ERA) than his is at night (5.06 ERA). He'll be taking on a favored opponent in De La Rosa that has almost as many walks (7) than strikeouts (8) in his last 2 starts. He's off a couple of poor performances in a row, with an ERA of 6.96 and a record of 0-2. His ERA for the entire year is 5.38 and has pitched quality starts only 30% of the time in 2008. Opponents are hitting .359 vs him for the entire season. Also, De La Rosa is a PERFECT 0-2 in his career vs the D'Backs. That includes 0-1 already this season as he lost back in May. In that start, he lasted less than 5 innings and allowed 4 earned runs (ERA of 7.71 / WHIP of 2.14).
Mike Rose
5* MIL –103
3* BAL/NYY OVER 10½
2* WSH +130
Marc Lawrence
*3 Toronto
Marco D'Angelo
Double-Dime Bet
TOR (-150) vs 9BOS
Tonight I am Betting TORONTO as they look to derail the Red Sox. The Red Sox have struggled this year when playing on artificial surfaces. In fact they are just 4-15 when on turf which means playing against them makes you 15-4. This is my TEAM MISMATCH GAME OF THE MONTH.
Tommy Rider
Triple-Dime Bet
Connecticut -12.0 vs Baylor
This game is a total mismatch. Not much of a write-up here. Everyone is excited about Baylor because they beat up on Washington State at home. The Cougars could be the worst BCS Conference team in America right now. Freshman QB Griffin can run but he's far from a polished player. Plus, the Huskies view him similar to Pat White, so they are looking at this matchup as an opportunity to prepare for White later in the year. Art Briles will get this Baylor program headed in the right direction but it won't be tonight. They get blown out on the road at UConn. Huskies run for 250 yards here and their defense shuts down the Bears offense. Easy winner. 3 UNIT PLAY
Matty O'Shea
Double-Dime Bet
Connecticut -12.0 vs Baylor
Baylor's strength offensively (passing) plays right into UConn's strength defensively (pass defense), which will prove very difficult for the Bears in their first road game of the season. Baylor is 3-14 ATS in its last 17 games against a team with a winning record and will be visiting a very hostile environment where the Huskies have outscored two opponents by a combined socre of 80-13 this season. UConn is 18-6 ATS in its last 24 games on grass and should win this one easily in front of a nationally televised audience, so bet the Huskies as my Double Dime NCAA TV Play O' the Week.
Wunderdog
Minnesota at Tampa Bay
3 units Tampa Bay -1.5 runs +161
The Tampa Bay Rays are still disregarded by the oddsmakers despite putting together one of the best teams in baseball. The Rays are 55-23 at home, and consider the price of this game if it were the Yankees in a similar position. Another overlooked value-added stat is the Rays have pounded right-handed pitching this season to the tune of a 66-40 mark. The Twins have been 0-4 in Nick Blackburn's last four road starts. His last time out on the road he allowed six runs while lasting just four innings against the Orioles. I like the value on the Rays here on the runline.
Los Angeles Angels at Texas
3 units Los Angeles Angels -101
The Angels have added value here as the oddsmakers are treating them as a team that has clinched a playoff spot and are just playing out the string. This team has an 18.5 game lead, but has still gone out and won six of their last eight. They are in a race with the Rays who trail the Angels by just two games in the loss column for home field advantage throughout the playoffs. This one is chock full of value especially against a mediocre lefthander in Harrison, who enters with a 5+ ERA for the Rangers. The Angels have been a gold mine all season against lefthanders where they have posted a 31-15 mark. The Rangers have really tanked against .500+ teams as they have put up a 3-12 mark in their last 15. I'll back the Angels in this one.
San Francisco at Los Angeles Dodgers
3 units Los Angeles Dodgers -1.5 runs +113
When the Dodgers went on an eight-game skid it appeared they would fade out of the NL West race and pack it up at the end of September. Things have dramatically changed as this team has caught fire. The Dodgers have since gone 15-3 and have the offense in high gear, and the pitching has been masterful. The 18-game stretch has shown the Dodgers doubling up their opponents on the scoreboard, outscoring them 103-52. Barry Zito sure has been a free agent bust for the Giants. The $18 million a year investment crashed last season and this season Zito has again disappointed with a 5.49 ERA. The Dodgers’ hot offense should have no trouble plating runs here as they have been a solid investment all season against lefthanders with a 29-19 record. I'll back the Dodgers here on the runline.
Oscarxena Sports
San Francisco/LA Dodgers Over 8 (3 Unit Play)
SportsKingz
White Sox -130
U CONN -12
Seabass
20* Mets
20* Tor
20* Orioles/Yanks Over
20* UConn
10* Hou
Insider Hou/Pitt Under
NSA
20* UCONN
10* Baylor/UCONN under
10* Rays
10* White Sox
10* Jays
10* Hou/Pitt Under