Saturday’s Betting Tips
By Covers.com
Weather to watch
Pittsburgh Pirates at St. Louis Cardinals – 12 mph winds expected to blow out to left-centerfield
Cincinnati Reds at San Francisco Giants – 13 mph winds expected to blow out to right-centerfield.
Who’s hot
MLB: Nationals are 9-4 in their last 13 road games.
MLB: Home team is 39-13 in umpire Lance Barksdale’s last 52 games behind home plate. He’s set to work Saturday's Red Sox-Mariners matchup.
CFL: Argonauts are 11-3 ATS in their last 14 meetings in Edmonton.
WNBA: Seattle Storm are 5-0 ATS in their last five games overall.
Who’s not
MLB: Rockies are 5-16 in their last 21 overall.
MLB: Marlins are 4-17 in their last 21 overall.
CFL: Eskimos are 1-5 ATS in their last six games in Week 1.
WNBA: Liberty are 1-4 ATS in their last five games overall.
Key stat
26 – Toronto Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista went into Friday’s action with 14 home runs in the month of June pushing him to an MLB-leading 26 homers this season. The 14 homers set a club record for the most hit in one month.
Injury that shouldn’t be overlooked
Plenette Pierson, New York Liberty – Pierson is expected to be out of the lineup for two to six weeks with a calf injury. The 6-foot-2 forward is averaging 11.2 points and 4.8 rebounds per game for the Liberty, who average just 70.9 points per game (10th in the WNBA).
Game of the day
Chicago White Sox at New York Yankees (-140, 9.5)
Notable quotable
"These have got to be the fastest greens I've ever putted on. I don't know, maybe the same speed as Olympic a couple weeks ago, but these have a lot more pitch to them, so if you get on the wrong side of the hole, you've got no chance.” – 17 year-old Beau Hossler on the greens at the AT&T National.
Notes and tips
Houston Astros manager Brad Mills adjusted his outlook on the return of second baseman Jose Altuve from a right hamstring injury. "He hasn't had a setback, but I probably was too optimistic hoping for Saturday," Mills said Thursday before the Astros' 7-3 loss to the San Diego Padres. "And like I said, it's not a setback. Nothing is wrong with him. It's just they feel that they want to make sure that he's absolutely right, so (his return) at the very earliest would probably be Sunday."He entered Thursday third among National League second baseman in All-Star voting despite ranking first in batting (.309) and hits (88) at the position.
Toronto Argos quarterback Ricky Ray will open his season against his former team the Edmonton Eskimos. Ray was traded to Toronto last December in exchange for quarterback Steven Jyles, kicker Grant Shaw, and the second pick in April's draft. Ray struggled in preseason play with his new team, completing eight of 15 attempts for 99 yards and two picks. Most books have this matchup listed as a Pick ‘em.
Seattle head coach Pete Carroll has said that Tarvaris Jackson, Matt Flynn and Russell Wilson will wage a legitimate competition for the No. 1 spot, but it was reported in recent days that the incumbent would go to camp next month atop the depth chart. The reaction that Jackson will get the No. 1 snaps, at least at the outset of camp, has generated mixed reactions both inside and outside of the Seattle organization. Jackson was 7-7 as a starter in 2011, is .500 in his 34 career starts, has a sub-60 percent completion rate, a passer rating of only 77.7 and only a few more touchdown passes than interceptions (38-35).