Larry Cook
7* Tigers +110
Jeff Benton
20 Dime Broncos
10 Dime Patriots
Dom Chambers
60 Dime Broncos
30 Dime Patriots / Dolphins Over
Brandon Lang
20 Dime Dolphins
Steve Budin
25 Dime Broncos
Super Sports Group
10* Tigers +102
10* Angels +128
8* Cubs +149
8* Padres +127
Joe Gavazzi
Tampa Bay -142
Playing in a Division with the Yankees and Red Sox is never easy. But the Rays have matched those 2 win for win in the last 7 weeks. They enter this game at Baltimore on positive runs of 28-14 and 16-8 to pull within 3½ games of Boston in the Wild Card race. With full focus, these Rays, who are 39-31 away, will easily whip a Baltimore team just 33-39 on this field. Since an early season surge left Baltimore near the .500 mark after 60 games, they have responded by going 28-56, a .333 clip. Run line players take note: for Tampa Bay 34/39 road wins have been by 2 or more runs, for Baltimore, 32/39 home losses have been by 2 or more runs. Must continue to ride the momentum of the Rays 4 game win streak.
Gary Olshan
Patriots at Dolphins
Pick: Over 44.5
With Miami going with a more vertical attack this season, this game should go over the total. New England attack is simply loaded with weapons, and QB Brady should have field day in the ideal weather conditions in Miami. Dolphin QB Henne should have breakout season in 2011, and Patriot secondary can be burned with some deep balls.
The Duke's Sports
Oakland (+3') for 1.5 Units
The Raiders have had the Broncos' number at 8-2 ATS in this series, including the sweep last year. Sure, Denver's defense should be much better this year with new HC Fox overseeing the operation; however, the Raiders' offense, which improved dramatically last year with the now HC Hue Jackson, coordinating it, should continue to rack up points with added weaponry and in the second year of a successful system; consequently, that offensive stability overrides the new Broncos' defensive system input by Fox and company. Simply put: new overhauls with new personnel take time to implement and gell. The Raiders play well as a road dog (5-2 ATS) while Denver has had trouble at home (11-25-2 ATS). Raiders the call.
Ben Burns
10* Oakland / Denver Under 40.5
I'm playing on Oakland and Denver to finish UNDER the total. These teams played a pair of extremely high-scoring games against each other last season. The game here at Denver was particularly high-scoring, as the teams combined for a whopping 73 points. Oakland scored 59 of those. This is an entirely different season though and I expect a vastly different result on Monday night. Both teams have new coaches. The Raiders promoted offensive coordinator, Hue Jackson. The Broncos, on the other hand, brought in former longtime Carolina coach, John Fox. Fox knows one of the reasons that he's been brought in is to bring improvement to the defense. One way that he'll attempt to bring this improvement is by having the Broncos run the ball more regularly. This, of course, helps to keep the clock moving, something we obviously want when selecting an 'under.' I expect an overall better effort from the defense here, too. They were embarrassed by the Raiders last season and they haven't forgotten. As Denver middle linebacker Joe Mays noted: "It was just terrible. It's one of those things where you want to forget it, but it's still in the back of your head." The Raiders have seen the UNDER go 16-8 the last 24 times that they were listed as road underdogs of three or fewer points. They've also seen the UNDER go 5-3 the last eight times that they played a road game with an O/U line in the 38.5 to 42 range. During that stretch, the Broncos have seen the UNDER go 4-1 when playing a home game with an O/U line in the 38.5 to 42 range. I expect them to start the Fox era off by improving on those stats here.
KELSO
50 Units Patriots -7
10 Units Broncos -3
Lines2Win
Pats/Dolphins Over 46 (3 Units). The line has moved up a bit over the past week but Miami is going with a more pass oriented offense and these two teams tend to keep it close. 46 points is alot in the NFL, but we think this game will exceed the total easily.
Tigers -105 (3 Units) - Tigers are hitting .324 and have scored 53 Runs over their last 7 games. Couple that with the fact that They have won 9 in row and have won the last 4 Porcello starts means doom for the Whitesox.
OC DOOLEY
3 Units Houston Astros +175
Yesterday Houston lost at Washington against phenom Stephen Strasburg and in the process tied an all-time franchise record for most setbacks (97) in a single campaign. Tonight the Astros attempt to avoid hitting an all-time low as they have a chance to delay the inevitable for one more night and ruin the hopes of their opponent. Statistically this evening Philadelphia (20-6 tear on the road) has a chance to officially clinch a playoff spot and also stay undefeated in the season series versus the National League’s bottom-feeder. One of the best ways of cashing a winning underdog ticket in baseball is to have a starting pitcher capable of keeping his inferior team in the game until the late innings when anything can happen. That is the situation we have this evening with veteran Brett Myers who spent eight long seasons wearing a Philadelphia uniform. The last pair of times that tonight’s Houston starter has faced the mighty Phillies lineup he has held them down to the tune of a 1.93 ERA. For those reading this analysis that are diehard baseball fans you will remember when Myers was called up to the majors in the same season as Mark Prior and both were top-notch prospects that were expected to dominate. Due to a myriad of injuries the career of Prior came quickly to a relative end, but Myers has at the very least proved to be serviceable and in 2010 he actually led the National League in most complete games pitched. The big news regarding tonight’s contest is actually the return of a pair of players who used to star in Houston until getting dealt by the Astros in separate deals. Outfielder Hunter Pence was among the house cleaning that Houston performed at this year’s trade deadline, while veteran pitcher Roy Oswalt (7-8) was sent packing to the Phillies back in 2010. Even though it comes as a relative shock due to Vance Worley’s shocking dominance (Phillies 14-1 tear with the rookie), Oswalt just happens to be the weakest link in the vaunted Philadelphia starting rotation which sets us up for an upset. The visiting Phillies are NOT healthy up the middle as secondbaseman Chase Utley (concussion) is sidelined while shortstop Jimmy Rollins (hamstring) rushed back from the disabled list and essentially is not ready to reassume a starting role. Turning to the database here is a 60-PERCENT SYSTEM (68-44 past five years) which plays AGAINST road favorites like Philadelphia who are on a solid fielding streak of 15+ games with one-or-less errors, when off consecutive contest where the bullpen permitted no earned runs. That system favors Houston who have WON 8 of the past 11 games at HOME and are a .500 club at Minute Maid Park (12-12) since the All Star break. I will wrap this up with a shocking UNDEFEATED database angle that takes advantage of Houston’s Brett Myers (4-13) having a rough season. In the past three years mighty Philadelphia is actually “0-6” when facing an opposing starting pitcher who has won less than 30% of his outings
Great Lakes Sports
4* Miami Dolphins
4* Arizona Diamondbacks
3* San Diego Padres
3* LA Angels
Northcoast
2* New England
Marquee - Denver Over