Daily Sports Roundup April 28
Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: The Hawks play host to the Bucks, the Jazz try to close out Denver, and the Habs and Capitals play Game 7 in Washington.
Tipping off on the hardwood . . .
There are two games on the NBA's playoff schedule for Wednesday, with Milwaukee at Atlanta and Utah at Denver. The Bucks and Hawks are tied at two wins apiece in their best-of-seven set as Milwaukee won Game 4 111-104 at home on Monday night. Brandon Jennings had 23 points for the Bucks in that game, while Joe Johnson led the Hawks with 29 points. The Jazz are up 3-1 on the Nuggets and can close out their first-round set on the road on Wednesday night. Utah won Game 4 of the series 117-106 at home on Sunday, with Carlos Boozer pouring in 31 points. Carmelo Anthony scored 39 points for the Nuggets.
Meeting up on the diamond . . .
The American League schedule for Wednesday has Seattle at Kansas City, the Yankees at Baltimore, Minnesota at Detroit, Cleveland at the Angels, Boston at Toronto, Oakland at Tampa Bay, and the White Sox at Texas. Jake Peavy (0-1, 7.66 ERA) will take on Rich Harden (0-1, 4.58 ERA) in that last matchup. Righthander Peavy was pounded by the Rays in his last trip to the mound, giving up seven earned runs on seven hits over 4 1-3 innings. Righthander Harden took a no-decision against the Tigers last start, giving up two runs over 4 1-3 innings.
Meanwhile, the National League on Wednesday offers up San Diego at Florida, Pittsburgh at Milwaukee, the Dodgers at the Mets, Washington at the Cubs, Arizona at Colorado, Cincinnati at Houston, Atlanta at St. Louis, and Philadelphia at San Francisco. Cole Hamels (2-2, 5.11 ERA) will take on Tim Lincecum (4-0, 1.00 ERA) in the Phillies/Giants game. Lefthander Hamels is coming off back-to-back losses to the Marlins and Diamondbacks; against Arizona last time out Hamels gave up six runs over six innings of work. Righthander Lincecum has won each of his four starts this season, allowing three runs over his 27 innings.
Taking a trip around the rink . . .
Finally, the first round of the NHL playoffs concludes on Wednesday night with Montreal at Washington in Game 7 of their best-of-seven series. The Canadiens forced a deciding contest with a 4-1 home win in Game 6 on Monday night. Michael Cammalleri scored twice for Montreal in that win, while Maxim Lapierre and Tomas Plekanec (into an empty net) had one goal apiece. Habs netminder Jaroslav Halak was the game's First Star after stopping 53 of 54 Washington shots. Eric Fehr had the only Caps goal, and Semyon Varlamov made 18 saves.
Wednesday's Wagering Tips
Lines off the board
Los Angeles Dodgers at New York Mets – These two teams played a doubleheader on Tuesday and some starters might be in line for rest during Wednesday’s matinee.
The total in the Nationals-Cubs game is OTB because the wind speed and direction at Wrigley Field is unknown.
Lines to keep an eye on
St. Louis surfaced as a -144 home favorite over the Braves but that number can be found as high as -160 in some markets now. An opening total of 8 has also been hit hard, jumping to its current number of 8.5.
The total in the Diamondbacks-Rockies game has moved upward a half run from its lofty opener and now stands at 11.
Weather report
The forecast calls for a 50 percent chance of rain in the Phillies-Giants game Wednesday. A wind of 12 mph will be blowing straight out to center field. San Francisco had played to seven straight unders going into Tuesday.
A strong, 22 mph wind will be swirling across the diamond from third base to first in the Dodgers-Mets matchup. New York has played to four straight unders.
Balls won’t be flying out of left field easily in the Yankees-Orioles game as a 20 mph wind will be blowing in from that direction.
Who’s hot
Utah is 3-0 ATS versus the Nuggets in the last three games of the series.
The over is 9-1 in the last 10 games between the Bucks and Hawks.
The Mets are 8-2 SU over a 10-game span.
Who’s not
Pittsburgh had dropped seven straight heading into Tuesday’s game.
The Blue Jays have compiled a 3-7 SU mark in the team’s last 10 outings.
Key stat
19 – Number of consecutive games Tigers center fielder Austin Jackson has recorded at least one strikeout. Jackson leads big league rookies with a .325 batting average which is amazing considering he has 32 strikeouts in 83 at-bats. His streak is a MLB rookie record.
Injury that shouldn’t be overlooked
Only two players are hitting for the Rangers right now and the team just put one of them on the disabled list. Texas placed right fielder Nelson Cruz on the 15-day DL with a strained right hamstring prior to Tuesday's game against the Chicago White Sox. Cruz, who is batting .328 with seven home runs and 17 RBIs this season, will be replaced by David Murphy in the field the majority of games but Vladimir Guerrero started in right field Tuesday.
Games of the Day
Utah Jazz at Denver Nuggets (-7, 215)
Montreal Canadiens at Washington Capitals (-330, 6)
Notable quotable
"It looked like some kind of Nazi rally. So lily-white is what I’m trying to say. Yeah, Stepford Wives."
-- Boston sports radio talk-show host Fred "Toucher" Toettchers said when describing the celebratory scene after Tim Tebow was selected No. 25 overall by the Denver Broncos. Toettchers later apologized for his comments.
Tips and notes
- The Mets and Dodgers played 18 innings on Tuesday and will turn around to play at least nine more less than 14 hours later. New York didn’t dip into its bullpen too much in Game 1, only using two relievers, but L.A. marched out four different pitchers after the starter was removed. Bettors will want to track how far the starters went in Game 2 on Tuesday. It would also be wise to check starting lineups prior to start of game as some regular position players could get some rest after the doubleheader.
- The Nuggets face elimination Thursday after dropping three straight to Utah. To compound pressure matters, Denver’s players have been in a war of words between themselves. Carmelo Anthony called out his team and said he couldn’t beat the Jazz all by himself. J.R. Smith responded by tweeting that the team has been playing selfish basketball, but Adrian Dantley and Chauncey Billups did not agree. Anthony said Tuesday, “The locker room is fine,” but this cast of Nuggets is one where their egos get in the way of success at times.
- Detroit played in a night game against the Angels last Thursday and then hopped on a redeye flight for a game with Texas the next night. At the conclusion of that series (which was a night game) on Monday, the Tigers took another late flight and arrived in Minnesota early Tuesday morning for a game versus the Twins that evening. Manager Jim Leyland said, “Two times in five days. That's just not reasonable. This has been ridiculous.” Bettors should be aware that Detroit might be a bit travel-fatigued in the Twins series.