Seabass
Insider...100* Twins
SAPKOWSKI
Best Bet
Washington vs. Atlanta over 5 in 1st 5IN
Premium
Pittsburgh vs. Cincinnati over 5 in 1st 5IN
Oakland vs. Kansas City over 4 in 1st 5IN
Charlies Sports
Giants / Redskins Under 41½ (500*)
Redskins +4½ (30*)
Vanderbilt +10 (20*)
Couth Carolina @ Vanderbilt Over 41 (20*)
Reds -130 (10*)
Minnesota +105 (10*) free play
LAS VEGAS TECH REPORT
SOUTH CAROLINA vs VANDERBILT
SELECTION: VANDERBILT +10.5
Squares are jumping on the fave as expected. They got their tease as most big favorites covered in week 1 as well as the Overs. It's still in the unknown territory as we hit week 2, but the sharps and the dogs will slowly take over the party as Vegas isn't going to hand out free money on big faves much longer. This line opened at -9 and is now at 10.5 and could quite possibly go to 11 once the 9 to 5 crowd get off work but at worst it will settle at 10 which is a good number to work with and a generous number as we have a home dog that will be under the national lights on ESPN. Both teams found stars in their QB's last week. SC had no choice as Beecher threw 4 int's and got a concussion. SC switched it over to Sophomore Chris Smelley who was instrumental in three touchdowns. Chris Nickson who QB's for Vandy adds the dimension of mobility as he ran for 166 yards last week vs Miami-Ohio. Both offenses are going to have it tough tonight as both defenses played very well last week and really should be the focal points in tonight's match-up. Expecting to see some good defense that should keep the margin of victory close and that means a cover for our big dog tonight with Vanderbilt.
COMP
WASHINGTON REDSKINS vs NY GIANTS
PLAY: WASHINGTON REDSKINS +4.5
We're not expecting much offense from either team. Both defenses are injured but this is the black and blue division of the NFC, so don't expect a blowout. With that said, a +4.5 line is more than generous for a dog. It is the first game of the season and this is a free play so don't go overboard because it's opening day. Sunday is around the corner and there's a full card of better games to play. Play it conservative and lets start the season with a dog to bark at +4.5
CASH & PROFIT EXPERTS
South Carolina vs Vanderbilt
Play: Vanderbilt +10.5 (POD)
Bobby Esposito
20,000 Dime Opening Season Lock
New York Giants -4
Wildcat
New York Giants
Lee Kostroski
Minnesota Twins @ Toronto Blue Jays
PICK: Toronto Blue Jays
The Blue Jays have had the Twins number with back-to-back late inning victories and confidence in the Minnesota bullpen is at an all-time low with even Joe Nathan struggling in the past two weeks. The Jays are 5-0 against the Twins this season and Minnesota is 1-7 in Toronto the past three seasons. This will be the 14th straight road game for Minnesota and it has clearly had an impact as Minnesota is just 3-8 in the last eleven games.
Kevin Slowey has been pitching extremely well but the Blue Jays defeated him earlier in the year and also hit him hard in a start last season. Toronto has won four straight games and in the last ten games the offense has come alive, scoring an average of five runs per game. Toronto is hitting .287 in that span and the Jays also maintain a strong home record at 39-29.
Jesse Litsch has allowed just three runs over his past three starts, spanning nearly 20 innings. At home this season Litsch is 5-2 with a 3.18 ERA and he has beaten the Twins the last two times he faced them. As evident in the first two games of this series the Blue Jay have a significant advantage in the bullpen as Toronto has the MLB’s best bullpen ERA at 2.82. Minnesota relievers have really struggled in road games and it will be tough for Minnesota to fend off the sweep.
Stephen Nover
Washington Nationals @ Atlanta Braves
PICK: Over
The combination of two hot-hitting teams, a September call-up making his major league debut and Jo-Jo Reyes puts me on the 'over.'
It sure seems that Atlanta and Washington can reach double-digit scoring in this matchup.
The Nationals have reshuflled their pitching rotation. Shairon Martis gets his first big-league start. He'll face a Braves squad that is averaging 6.8 runs in their last five games.
Washington also is swinging the bats well, hitting .313 in its past nine games. The Nationals have gone 'over' in seven of their last eight games.
Reyes has been dreadful in his last 10 starts. He's 0-6 during this span with a 6.75 ERA. He's allowed 29 walks in his last 45 1/3 innings. In two appearances versus Washington this year, Reyes has been tagged for 10 earned runs and 15 hits in just 6 1/3 innings. That's a 14.21 ERA.
Gerry Davis, the scheduled home plate umpire, has been an 'over' ump with 60 percent of his games going above the total during the past two years.
J. R. Miller
We have these plays today
National Football League:
REDSKINS +4.5 at Giants
Major League Baseball:
REDS -119 over Pirates
RAYS -171 over Yankees
Comments
REDSKINS +4.5 -101 at Giants
We're expecting the Redskins to score between 17 and 24 points while the Giants score between 16 and 23 points. We expect one or the other team to win this game by maybe 3 or 4 points, but we don't know which team.....The Redskins' defense may be able to stop the Giants' running attack, but Manning's passing may be able to overcome his team's rushing problems. (Remember, the Giants' DEFENSE won the Super Bowl by holding the Patriots to only 14 points. Offense makes headlines, but defense wins football games.) We're guessing that the Redskins could win tonight, 21-20, but be sure to get a pointspread of at least 4 points. We'd probably pass this play at +3.5. (Too many possible 4-point total scores: 10-6, 13-9, 14-10, 17-13, 20-16, 21-17, 24-20.....Even 27-23 and 28-24.)
BEN BURNS
MAIN EVENT NFL
I'm laying the points with NEW YORK. Wagering on the defending Super Bowl champion typically doesn't offer much value and I likely won't back the Giants too often this season. That being said, I feel that they are providing us with solid value for Thursday's opener. Additionally, I've noticed that recent Super Bowl champions tend to have no problem "getting up" for their opening game. In fact, they have been downright dominant in their first regular season game. Let's take a look at how the defending champions fared in their seven opening games this millennium. Last season, the defending champion Colts began their season by smashing the Saints by a score of 41-10. Two years ago, the Steelers (-1.5) defeated Miami by 11 points, despite playing without starting quarterback Ben Rothlisberger. The previous season, the Patriots (-7.5) defeated Oakland by double-digits. The Patriots also beat the Colts the year before that but "pushed" as three point favorites. Prior to that, Tampa Bay (+3) traveled to Philadelphia and "upset" the Eagles 17-0 on Monday Night. The Patriots crushed the Steelers by a score of 30-14 the previous season while Baltimore (-9.5) beat up on Chicago by double-digits the year before. That's 7-0 SU and 6-0-1 ATS the last seven seasons! While I don't typically place a whole lot of importance on preseason results, it is worth mentioning that the Redskins enter the regular season on a real down note. After winning their first three preseason games under new coach Jim Zorn, the Redskins were absolutely horrible in the Week 3 'dress rehearsal' game, getting crushed by a score of 47-3. The defense couldn't stop anything and the starting offense did absolutely nothing. Campbell was 6-for-10 for only 39 yards, held onto the ball too long and was sacked four times. The Redskins' first-team offense played eight series, finishing with five three-and-outs, two turnovers and the end of the half. Of course, the play of the defense in that game wasn't helped by the injury to Jason Taylor. Still, as defensive coordinator Greg Blache noted: "I don't want to make excuses. We stunk pure and simple. If Jason got hurt, if Jason didn't get hurt, our job is to go play the next snap and play it as best we can. We came to the snaps after Jason got hurt and we didn't take care of what was important at that point in time..." After the Week 3 thrashing, in the hopes of getting rid of that bad taste and building some positive momentum, Zorn decided to play his starters a bit longer than normal in the preseason finale. That didn't help though as the Redskins lost that one by a score of 24-3 vs. Jacksonville. The Washington defense struggled again and the Jaguars held the Redskins' starting offense to a mere 14 total yards in three first-quarter drives! The Redskins are 7-10-2 ATS (6-13 SU) the last 19 times that they were underdogs of four points or less. On the other hand, the Giants are 13-6 ATS (14-5 SU) the last 19 times that they were favored by four points or less. Look for the defending champs to pick up where they left off, earning the win and cover on Thursday. *Main Event
LENNY STEVENS
10* NY Giants
Mr A
San Diego Padres at Milwaukee Brewers
Milwaukee Brewers have won nine of their last 13 home games and are 41-27 at home this season. Contrary, San Diego Padres have lost their last 5 road games and are just 21-47 on the road this season. The Padres have dropped six of the last 9 meetings versus the Brewers in Milwaukee.
San Diego's Shawn Estes (1-1, 3.33) is 0-1 with a 3.63 ERA in his last three starts. The lefthander is 5-6 with a 6.01 ERA in 14 career starts against Milwaukee.
Milwaukee's Jeff Suppan (10-7, 4.49 ERA) is 2-0 with a 4.05 ERA in his last three starts. The right-hander is 5-3 with a 5.66 ERA in 10 career starts against San Diego.
Take the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park. The Padres have played awful on the road and will be facing right-hander Jeff Suppan, who has won five straight decisions. The Brewers have won five of Suppan's last 6 starts, 10-4 in his last 14 at home.
Milwaukee Brewers -240
New York Giants -4½
New York has won three of the last four meetings versus Washington. Take the defending Super Bowl Champions at home. New York is the superior team with more talent then the Redskins.
Youngstown Connection Guaranteed Selections
NFL OPENING WEEK 6 POINT TEASER
NY GIANTS +2 with PITTSBURGH STEELERS PICK
Lenny Del Genio
KAN (-110) vs OAK
Kansas City at 8:10 ET. This is the second game of today?s doubleheader between the teams. We were on the Royals in Tuesday?s opener and they responded in kind with a pretty easy 5-2 win. We noted that day that Oakland is one team that Kansas City matches up well against because the A?s have an abundance of lefties in their starting rotation and the Royals sport a winning record vs. southpaws this season (26-20). Oakland?s Dan Meyer still has no wins in 16 career starts and the A?s have been outscored 30-10 in his last three starts. Take Kansas City.