ASA
9* NY Mets
KELSO
25 Units Phillies -135
15 Units Diamondbacks +105
10 Units Royals +110
10 Units BYU -2
Northcoast
Marquee - BYU
O.C. Dooley
2 Units Red Sox / Yankees Under 9
The epic free-fall of Boston (5-16 this month) is well documented and one of the biggest problems has been an injury-ravaged starting rotation who collectively (6.82 ERA) have been battered. Earlier this week there was controversy surrounding former Boston star hurler Curt Schilling (current ESPN analyst) who claimed that the Red Sox would not make the playoffs or should not be eligible for the postseason. One of the main factors that Schilling harped on is the fact that neither Josh Beckett or Jon Lester have taken the mental attitude that they cannot be beaten when taking the mound including in pressure situations. Not only is it imperative for Boston to come through with a much needed victory tonight against a bitter rival, an exhausted bullpen that has been trucking out the same personnel every night desperately could use a break and certainly Lester has the physical tools to be dominant. The oddsmakers had no choice but to inflate tonight’s total since the Yankees are coming off an extremely high-scoring 15-8 loss even though the lineup was laden with reserves after clinching the American League East the prior evening. Veteran Freddy Garcia has shown signs of fatigue in three assignments this month (10.95 ERA) which is another reason why we are looking at an inflated over/under figure. For the entire season to date the mighty Yankees are 18-8 UNDER the total when off a game where the offense put 8+ runs on the scoreboard. But the big news is that in the past three years Boston is a resounding 13-3 UNDER/ROAD following an “off day”. In this situation Red Sox pitchers have permitted on average only 3.8 runs per contest and with the urgency of this MLB Network national telecast odds are that trend will continue
The Duke's Sports
UCF / BYU Under (44') for 1.5 Units
BYU, a veteran team with 19 returning starters from last year's bowl winner, has underachieved thus far. Their offense, under new OC Brandon Doman (14-2 as QB for BYU in 2000/2001), has been painfully sluggish. Their run game, which they depend on to open up the pass game for QB Jake Heaps, has been stuck in neutral. UCF, which has had solid defenses under O'Leary, won't make it any easier. And BYU's veteran defense should bring a solid effort here under defensive minded Mendenhall. BYU is 0-5 O/U after allowing 200+ rush yards. The Cougars are notorious for low scoring outputs early in the year at 1-6 O/U in September; moreover, BYU is 0-5 O/U on Fridays and 5-11 O/U in non-conference action. With the Knights at 1-4 O/U as a road dog in this spread range, we still see value with the "Under".
The Consensus Pick
Pick of the Day: UCF +2
WAYNE ROOT
MILLIONAIRE - BYU -2
Sports Bank
400 BYU
Maddux Sports
10 Units Central Florida +2