Daily Sports Roundup April 29
Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: The Rays play host to the Royals, the PGA Tour hits Quail Hollow, and the Suns try to finish off their set against the Blazers.
Tipping off on the hardwood . . .
There are two games on the NBA's schedule for Thursday, with Dallas at San Antonio and Phoenix at Portland. The Mavericks avoided elimination in Game 5 of their first-round set on Tuesday night, grabbing a 103-81 home victory to cut the series deficit to 3-2. The Suns hold a 3-2 series lead on the Trail Blazers heading into their Game 6 matchup on Thursday. Phoenix rolled to a 107-88 home win over the Trail Blazers in Game 5 on Monday night. Amare Stoudemire scored 19 points for the Suns in that win, while Channing Frye chipped in with 20 points off the bench. Brandon Roy had five points in 19 minutes for the Blazers.
Meeting up on the diamond . . .
There are just five games on the American League's schedule for Thursday, with Minnesota at Detroit, the White Sox at Texas, the Yankees at Baltimore, Oakland at Toronto, and Kansas City at Tampa Bay. The Royals are slated to send Luke Hochevar (2-0, 3.55 ERA) to the mound in that last contest; righthander Hochevar was knocked around by the Twins in his last start, surrendering four earned runs on eight hits over 6 2-3 innings. The Rays will counter with Matt Garza (3-1, 2.17 ERA); righthander Garza was tagged with his first loss of the year last time out, surrendering five runs over five innings against the Blue Jays.
Over in the National League on Thursday it'll be Arizona at the Cubs, Cincinnati at Houston, Milwaukee at San Diego, Pittsburgh at the Dodgers, and Atlanta at St. Louis. Jair Jurrjens (0-2, 5.48 ERA) will take on Adam Wainwright (3-1, 1.69 ERA) in that last matchup. Righthander Jurrjens took a loss against the Mets in his last trip to the mound, allowing three earned runs over his 6 2-3 innings of work. Righthander Wainwright was the hard-luck loser in his last outing against the Giants, giving up just two earned runs over his eight innings pitched that day.
Taking a trip around the rink . . .
The second round of the NHL playoffs begins on Thursday night with Detroit at San Jose in Game 1 of that Western Conference semifinal series. The Red Wings advanced past the Coyotes in the first round with a 6-1 road win in Game 7 of that set on Tuesday night. Pavel Datsyuk and Nicklas Lidstrom both scored twice for Detroit in that game, while Jimmy Howard made 32 saves. The Sharks got past the Avalanche in six games in the first round, taking the clincher 5-2 on the road on Saturday. Joe Pavelski scored twice in that contest for San Jose, and Evgeni Nabokov stopped 16 shots.
Rounding out the Roundup . . .
Finally, the PGA Tour's Quail Hollow Championship begins at the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte on Thursday, with Tiger Woods pegged as the 3/1 Vegas favorite. Phil Mickelson is next on that odds list at 8/1, followed by both Lee Westwood and Jim Furyk at 15/1. Anthony Kim sits at 20/1 to win the tournament, while each of Hunter Mahan, Nick Watney, Padraig Harrington, and Retief Goosen are listed at 30/1. Defending champ Sean O'Hair is 35/1 to repeat.
Thursday's Wagering Tips
Line off the board
The total in the Diamondbacks-Cubs game is OTB because the wind speed and direction at Wrigley Field is unknown.
Lines to keep an eye on
The total in the Brewers-Padres game has moved upward a half run from its low opener and now stands at 7.5. The last three games between these teams (from 2009) all went over.
The Sharks surfaced as a -150 home favorite over Detroit but that number can be found as low as -130 at a couple of the Vegas sportsbooks. The Wings have won four of the last five against San Jose.
Weather report
A strong, 23 mph wind will be blowing in from right field in the White Sox-Rangers matchup.
Balls could be sailing over the ivy at Wrigley with wind projected to blow out to left field at 21 mph.
Thursday’s forecast calls for a hefty, 23 mph wind in the Braves-Cardinals series finale. Gusts will be coming in from center and left center field.
Wind will be blowing in from left field at 27 mph as the Padres host the Brewers at PETCO.
It looks to be a windy Thursday in baseball as the Dodgers and Pirates will also have to contend with a northwesterly 24 mph wind blowing in from left.
Who’s hot
Dallas is 7-2-1 ATS in its last 10 games.
The Padres are 7-2 SU at home this season and 8-2 SU since April 17.
San Jose is riding a three-game winning streak, but the visitor has won the last three meetings in this series.
Who’s not
Phoenix and Portland have played to three consecutive unders (see note below).
The Braves are stuck in a seven-game losing streak, scoring a total of 13 runs in that stretch.
Key stat
6-0 – Record for Orioles pitcher Brian Matusz in his last nine starts. The southpaw has surrendered no more than four runs in four starts this season and is getting +160 odds at home against New York on Thursday.
Rotation that shouldn’t be overlooked
Blazers point guard Brandon Roy asked to be inserted into the starting lineup for Game 6 on Thursday. He said that coming off the bench hasn’t allowed him to “get involved” and it was hard to “get into a rhythm.” Look for coach Nate McMillan to grant Roy’s request and Portland could find an added boost with him on the floor from the get go.
Game of the Day
Phoenix Suns at Portland Trail Blazers (-1, 201.5)
Notable quotable
"We knew this was going to be a long series, we didn't think we were going to sweep them.”
-- Thunder head coach Scott Brooks sarcastically remarked about the playoff series with the Lakers during a press conference.
Tips and notes
- The Suns appear to be committed to playing playoff defense. In the five games of this series, Phoenix has held Portland to 93.6 ppg and under the 100-point mark in four games. Big man Amare Stoudemire said he never knew how much “fun” playing defense was because they never did it before. A renewed defensive effort from Phoenix has produced three straight unders in the series. The total for Thursday is low (201.5) but the Blazers will have to slow the pace down to have any chance of seeing a Game 7.
- While the flight time from Colorado to Chicago won’t be more than a couple of hours, the Diamondbacks might be a bit jetlagged in the series opener versus the Cubs on Thursday. Arizona endured an extra-inning, four-hour slugfest in Denver on Wednesday. The Snakes will now have to turn around for a 2:20 p.m. start at Wrigley. Zona will lose an hour of sleep traveling between time zones. Making matters worse, Wednesday’s starter (Kris Benson) only lasted two innings so the D-Backs were forced to use five relief pitchers in the game.
- Tornados ravaged Mississippi last week and Roy Oswalt’s parents lost their home. The Astros ace left the team for three days to tend to his folks before rejoining the team on Tuesday. Oswalt is a veteran pitcher that can probably still be effective with his normal routine out of whack, but bettors should be careful backing him on Thursday as there might be some lingering effects from the extended travel and mental fatigue.