Tuesday’s Betting Tips
By Covers.com
Weather to watch
Texas Rangers at Oakland Athletics – 15 mph winds expected to blow out to right-centerfield.
Who’s hot
NBA: Celtics are 7-1 ATS in their last eight meetings with Miami.
MLB: Pirates are 5-0 in A.J. Burnett's last five starts.
MLB: Giants are 6-2 in their last eight meetings in San Diego.
WNBA: Under is 14-6 in the Liberty's last 20 home games.
Who’s not
NBA: The over is 9-25 in Heat's last 34 home games.
MLB: The under is 0-7 in the last seven meetings between the Astros and Cardinals.
MLB: Cubs are 1-10 in their last 11 meetings in Milwaukee.
WNBA: The Atlanta Dream are 2-6 ATS in their last eight games overall.
Key stat
17.4 – The New York Liberty lost their first five games of the season by an average of 17.4 and didn’t cover the number in any of those losses. They finally rebounded to post a season-high 87 points in a blowout win over Indiana in their last outing, covering as 3.5-point underdogs. The Liberty look to build on that win Tuesday as 2-point favorites at home to Atlanta.
Injury that shouldn’t be overlooked
Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins – Mauer left Sunday’s win over Cleveland with a right thumb sprain and is considered day-to-day. He is hitting .298 with three homers, 25 RBI and 31 runs scored for the Twins, who average only 3.96 runs per game (23rd in MLB).
Game of the day
Boston Celtics at Miami Heat (-8, 179.5)
Notable quotable
"I think we've had one practice maybe since the Atlanta series - or during the Atlanta series. I don't know if we've had one. It's not by choice. I mean, it's by need. It's what we have, so we have no choice in the matter. We're just too old. We're tired and old and banged up. I just look at it that if I have a choice between the legs and the brains, I'm going to take the legs every single time.” – Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers about his team’s practice schedule in the playoffs. The Celtics weren’t expected to practice Monday, before Tuesday’s Game 5, either.
Notes and tips
Cleveland Indians catcher Carlos Santana is expected to be activated before Tuesday’s game against the Detroit Tigers. Santana has been on the disabled list since he suffered a concussion May 25 when a foul tip hit his mask in Chicago. He took batting practice, ran the bases and worked a bullpen session Sunday without problems. He was scheduled to DH for Class-A Lake County on Monday night. Santana is battling .245 with five home runs and 24 RBI.
Kurt Busch has been suspended from this weekend's activities at Pocono Raceway by NASCAR as a result of his actions in the Nationwide Series event at Dover International Speedway this past Saturday. Busch was already on probation because of a run-in with Ryan Newman's crew following the May 12 Sprint Cup event at Darlington Raceway. After his fourth-place finish in Saturday's Nationwide race he verbally berated a reporter. “It refrains me from not beating the s--- out of you right now because you ask me stupid questions,” Busch said in a video posted by Speed Channel. “But since I'm on probation, I suppose that's improper to say as well.”
New York Mets left fielder Jason Bay is expected to be activated from the disabled list Tuesday. The team thought it might ease Bay back into the lineup as a DH in its upcoming interleague games, but his rib injury looks to have healed enough that he’ll also play the field Tuesday. He’s hitting just .240 with three homers and five RBI in 15 games this year.