Tony George
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Saints -3
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Look at the offensive firepower in this one. Do you think the way the Chargers second and third QBs are playing that they will score late or be a spark plug for additional points in garbage time? Do you think the coaches will give Rivers ANY time in the second half with no backup in case of injury? Come on now, this is still preseason boys! Expect Pat Ramsey for the Saints to get a TON of time tonight after Brees tears up the Chargers. Looking across the depth charts and the board, and where this is played, and the depth at RB, the Saints are a clear choice, although the line seems obvious, I have no other way I can look based on what I have seen from the Chargers to date.
Dave Price
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1 Unit on Colorado Rockies -148
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With the way the Dodgers have struggled on the road, dropping 14 of their last 20 away from home, the Rockies get the nod with Jimenez on the hill tonight. Jimenez is a perfect 8-0 (10-1 against the money line) in 11 home starts this season. Plus, the Dodgers are 0-4 in Kershaw's last 4 road starts vs. a team with a winning record. Take the Rockies tonight.
Black Widow
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1* on Chicago White Sox +126
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Great value here with the White Sox as a home underdog to A.J. Burnett and the New York Yankees. Burnett is 9-11 witha 4.80 ERA and 1.473 WHIP this year in 25 starts. In his last start at Chicago, Burnett gave up 7 earned runs in 4.2 innings of a 4-14 loss to the White Sox. Freddy Garcia has welcomed the challenge of facing the Yankees throughout the years. Garcia is 6-5 with a 3.95 ERA and 1.136 WHIP in 14 career starts against New York. Burnett is 2-8 (-11.4 Units) against the money line in August games over the last 2 seasons. The Yankees are 1-7 in their last 8 during game 1 of a series and 0-6 in Burnett's last 6 starts during game 1 of a series. The White Sox are 20-6 in Garcia's last 26 starts with 5 days of rest. Take Chicago on the Money Line.
Ultimate Sport Picks
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San Diego Chargers vs. New Orleans Saints
Play: New Orleans Saints -3
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The Saints have looked very sharp this preseason, especially last week putting up 38 points in a blow out win over the Texans. This week the Saints host the Chargers who also have looked sharp and looked to be poised for a good season. The ball will be flying tonight, both teams love to spread you out and throw the ball down field. The real edge we see in the game will come in the second half, Phillip Rivers will not play any in the second half and some sources are saying he may only play one quarter. That will leave Jonathan Crompton and Billy Volek, which both have struggled so far this preseason. While very capable Patrick Ramsey will be taking most the snaps in the second half for the Saints. The Saints always play very well at home and tonight should be no different.
Chris Jordan
Now on a 9-3 run with MLB free plays, I'm taking a break from the MLB freebies and will play the Over in the Atlanta/Miami game tonight.
This total is based solely on the Miami Dolphins, who are hosting this game.
The Dolphins' offense is being labeled as one of the best the franchise has seen in nearly two decades, and tonight, at home, this will be a chance to see exactly what everyone is raving about.
Between Chad Henne, Ronnie Brown and Brandon Marshall, we could very well see some breakout performances tonight, and quite a bit of explosiveness throughout the first few quarters.
And on defense, well, this is an area of concern for the Fins, who ranked
25th in points allowed, 22nd in yards and struggled to stopthe passing game last season.
And there have been no signs this stop unit has gotten any better.
Safety Gibril Wilson, Joey Porter and Jason Taylor are all gone.
There's been the addition of rookies, there has been a shuffling of players into different positions and defensive coordinator Mike Nolan mist certainly has his hands full with a little more than two weeks left til the season begins.
Thus, a potent turf-style offense like Atlanta's will be able to challenge that defense and light up the scoreboard the same way Miami plans to tonight.
I like this total to land high.
4♦ ATLANTA/MIAMI OVER
Joel Tyson
Last night gave you the easy over in the Rams-Patriots game, and I think it is safe to assume that you will see another over this Friday night in the Philadelphia-Kansas City contest.
For one thing, Andy Reid has gone on record saying his starters will play well into the 3rd quarter of this game, and with Kevin Kolb looking to have a break out game, this could very well be the game he does just that.
Philadelphia usually plays them high in the preseason, as 8 of their last 9 preseason battles have ended up in the over column.
Kansas City is still learing their new defense under the guidance of new defensive coordinator Rommeo Crennel, and I expect the 40 points they have already allowed in a pair of preseason losses to get added to tonight.
On the other side of the ball, expect the Chiefs to try and get the fans excited about the opening of the new Arrowhead Stadium, and expect Matt Cassel and Brodie Croyle to have some success against this young Philadelphia defense.
This one goes over the posted total!
3♦ OVER
Bobby Maxwell
Tonight I have a FREE gridiron winner for you as I'm laying the chalk with the Saints at home against the Chargers.
New Orleans has seemingly picked right up where they left off last year, scoring points at will in the preseason. The Saints shouldn’t have any trouble scoring at home tonight against a very suspect Chargers’ defense and with the starting offense playing at least the entire first half.
Drew Brees and the starters scored 14 quick points last week against the Texans at home and then third-team QB Chase Daniel performed very well, leading the Saints to three more TDs. Daniel likely won’t see the field tonight though as the Saints have to get primary backup QB Patrick Ramsey ready for the season. So tonight expect to see Brees for the first half and maybe into the third quarter, then Ramsey should get most of the remaining snaps.
New Orleans put up 28 first-half points last week and that’s with the starters only playing a little more than a quarter. Tonight they will likely get that, if not more, again.
San Diego’s defense didn’t look good against the Bears in the exhibition opener and they had a late safety do them in against the Cowboys last week. I say they didn’t look good against the Bears because they gave up 10 first-half points against a team that will struggle offensively this season.
This game will likely be close to even through the first half and with the main players on the field, but it’s in the second and third-teamers that New Orleans will dominate. San Diego hasn’t done much with the backups on the field all exhibition campaign, while the Saints have continued to score.
It could be a high-scoring affair on the track inside the Superdome. But you can expect to see the Saints on top by 10 when this thing is over. Lay the points and play New Orleans.
4♦ NEW ORLEANS
Chuck O'Brien
Friday’s complimentary selection comes in baseball action from Citi Field, as I’ll take the Astros as a road underdog against the Mets.
Why not take a shot with Houston? They’re coming off an incredibly impressive four-game road sweep of the Phillies, putting a serious dent in the two-time defending N.L. champ’s postseason run. Just as astounding as the victories themselves, the Astros held Philadelphia’s potent offense to total of seven runs in the four games. Throw in a 2-1 win at Florida on Sunday, and the Astros have won five in a row – all as an underdog – with the pitching staff limiting the opposition to 1, 2, 2, 2 and 1 run.
No reason to think the Astros won’t get more quality pitching tonight. Right-hander Nelson Figueroa is 3-1 with a 2.98 ERA this season, including 3-0 as a starter. Since rejoining the rotation 10 days ago, Figueroa has made two starts and given up a combined three runs (two earned), eight hits and four walks with 11 Ks in 11 innings. He beat the Mets at home 4-3 on Aug. 17 and edged the Marlins 2-1 at Florida on Sunday (kicking off the team’s five-game winning streak).
New York starter Mike Pelfrey certainly is back on his game (1.64 ERA last three starts), but his team is just 2-7 in his last nine starts (1-4 at home). Overall, the Mets have been mediocre at best lately, going 16-25 since July 7, including 9-11 at home. On the other hand, the Astros not only have won five in a row, but they’re 10-4 in their last 14 games, including 6-2 as an underdog.
2♦ HOUSTON
Michael Cannon
I’m on a 6-3 run with my last nine overall free plays!
Take the Pirates as the road dog over the Brewers.
All the numbers point to a Milwaukee win here. The Brewers have dominated the Pirates, particularly at Miller Park, and Pittsburgh has the worst road record in the majors.
But the young Buccos enter this series on the heels of consecutive wins over the Cardinals, a team that is challenging in the NL Central.
A lot of the damage the Brewers have done against the Pirates came against players that aren’t around anymore. The Buccos actually have a promising young nucleus of Jose Tabata, Neil Walker and Pedro Alvarez. Walker comes into tonight’s game having driven in six runs in the last two games. Tabata has hit consistently and has great speed at the top of the order. Alvarez is the power hitting No.1 draft choice that can hit a mistake pitch out of the park at any time.
James McDonald starts for the Bucs and when his control is on he can shut down anybody. The Brewers don’t have a big report on him so he has the potential of shutting this lineup down.
Milwaukee has lost four straight, all at home. The Brewers offense is struggling and that’s a bad omen with Chris Narveson starting.
Narveson has a 5.69 ERA on the year.
Take the Pirates as the big road dog for the win.
3♦ PITTSBURGH
Karl Garrett
Who would have guessed the Phillies would be heading into this weekend set with the NL West front-runners fresh off losing ALL 4 home games to the Houston Astros? Go Figure!
Anyway, the G-Man will take a shot with the Phils tonight, as it is probably a good thing they are playing 3,000 miles from home right now.
Roy Oswalt has come on strong in his new uniform, as the righty has won his last 3 starts with just 3 runs allowed in 21 innings of work. Oswalt is also 3-0 his last 5 starts against the Padres.
Mat Latos is now 13-5 on the season after beating the Cubs his last time out, but one of his losses this year did come against the Phillies back in June when he only worked 5 innings and allowed 3 earned to score.
The teams have split 4 games this season, but Philadelphia is 5-1 their last 6 at Petco Park, and 21-8 overall their last 29 games played in San Diego.
Hard to envision the defending National League champs losing a 5th in a row, so mark the G-Man down for the road dog play on Oswalt and the Phillies.
1♦ PHILADELPHIA
Stephen Nover
I am now on a 60-40-2 run with my baseball free picks. I'm going with an underdog on the Friday night card taking Baltimore against the Los Angeles Angels.
The Angels have been overrated since the beginning of the season and nothing has changed. They are 3-7 in their last 10 games and just plodding along with no urgency and talent to make any kind of move.
Record-wise Baltimore is the worst team in the American League. But since Buck Showalter has taken over as manager, the Orioles have gone 13-10. They aren't the dead team they were before.
Orioles starter Brad Bergesen doesn't get much respect in the marketplace with a 5-9 record and 5.84 ERA. I'll take him over Angels starter Trevor Bell, though.
The Orioles are 4-0 in Bergesen's last four outings. He's 2-0 during this span with a 3.18 ERA. The Angels have never faced him, which puts them at a disadvantage.
Bell is in his second big-league season. His lifetime record is 2-5. He's pitched 63 innings and given up 98 hits and 28 walks.
The Angels decided to give Bell a shot following the All-Star Game. In three starts, he went 0-2 with a 6.43 ERA. Then he was banished to the bullpen for two appearances only to be given another chance this past Saturday against Minnesota. The Twins got to him for three runs on four hits in 4 1/3 innings.
Is there any reason to trust Bell now making his fifth start? I sure don't think so and I'm willing to take a nice price on the Orioles to fade him.
4♦ BALTIMORE
Derek Mancini
Whether you want to believe it or not, this is a good spot for the Orioles. Their road record is tough to stomach, but based on the pitching match up, and the recent poor play of the Angels, there's plenty of value to be found with the O's tonight.
While they've stumbled a bit since their hot start under Showalter, the Orioles are still playing much better baseball, going 13-10 overall. A lot of bettors are hesitant to bet them after getting shutout 8-0 at the Cell last night, but that was a tough one against Edwin Jackson, who pitched brilliantly. They get a much easier match up tonight against Trevor Bell (1-3, 5.48 ERA), who's 0-2 with a 6.38 ERA in his 4 starts for the Angels this season.
Bradley Bergesen (5-9, 5.84 ERA) has been great this month, going 2-0 with a 3.18 ERA in his L4 starts, with the Orioles winning all four games. He's never faced the Angels (advantage to the pitcher), and despite coming off a sub-par effort against Texas, I'm confident he can lock down an Angels offense that's been inconsistent at best.
Orioles swept the Angels in the opening series of the Showalter era, and while repeating that effort will be difficult, they have all the right match ups in this 1st game of the 3-game set. Take Baltimore (Bergesen) over the LA Angels (Bell) Friday.
3♦ BALITMORE
BRETT ATKINS
I am on an 8-2 run with my last 10 freebies. Tonight, I have a nice plus-money winner on the board as I go with the Phillies to get the job done in San Diego against the Padres.
Great pitching matchup tonight in San Diego as the Phillies send veteran Roy Oswalt to the mound opposite the Padres’ young star Matt Latos.
Oswalt has been sensational in his last three starts for Philadelphia, giving up three runs in 21 innings. He shut out the Nationals on Sunday, giving up five hits in seven innings of a 6-0 victory.
Against the Padres, Oswalt has been very dominant as the Astros won eight of his last 10 outings against San Diego. Back on July 2 Oswalt was in Petco Park in San Diego and held the Padres to no runs and just three hits while striking out seven.
Latos has only seen the Phillies once, back on June 4, when he allowed three runs in five innings of a 3-2 loss.
The Phillies have owned this series of late, winning seven of the last nine meetings and 21 of 29 in San Diego. Over the last two seasons, Philadelphia has won five of six in Petco Park. Grab the plus-money and go with the Phillies behind Oswalt.
2♦ PHILADELPHIA