5-25-12

[Mr. IWS]

We are looking for someone to post service plays in the evenings from 5pm and on from there. If you can spare some time, the group would really appreciate it.




Note:


ALL PLAYS POSTED ARE UNCONFIRMED UNLESS YOU BUY THEM YOURSELF. THERE IS BAD INFO PASSED AROUND FROM TIME TO TIME, SO PLAY AT YOUR OWN RISK

[Mr. IWS]

Paul Leiner

100* Mets -120

50* Braves/Nationals Over 7

[Mr. IWS]

David Banks

New York Yankees vs. Oakland Athletics

The New York Yankees (23-21) are fourth in the American League East despite
ranking third in the American League in batting (.261) and second in the
majors in home runs (65), which should give you an idea just how bad the
pitching has been. Meanwhile, the Oakland Athletics (22-23) are in second place
in the American League West despite ranking dead last in the majors with a
.210 batting average. The Yankees send Ivan Nova to the hill vs. the
Athletics' Tyson Ross when the teams meet on Friday night from the O.co Coliseum in
Oakland, CA at 10:05 ET.

The Yankees took their last two games from the Kansas City Royals after
dropping the series opener, leaving them 4 games behind those red-hot first
place Baltimore Orioles. That said, New York has gotten very little from its
starting rotation to this point outside of ace C.C. Sabathia and surprisingly
Andy Pettitte, who came back after being retired for a year. Nova has been
among the disappointments despite his 4-2 record, as he has a bloated 5.69
ERA and 1.65 WHIP and is allowing an abnormally high .322 opponents' batting
average. Yes he has 52 strikeouts against only 16 walks in 49 innings, but
he has also allowed 10 home runs already. At least he is facing a
weak-hitting offense here as the A's are batting .207 vs. right-handed pitchers while
averaging only 3.01 runs per nine innings against them, and the task for the
Athletics becomes even more difficult when you consider that they have never
faced Nova before.

It is a minor miracle that Oakland is only five games behind the
hot-hitting Texas Rangers, as besides its weak hitting, the Oakland starting pitching
staff only has a 4.05 cumulative ERA. The saving grace has been the bullpen,
which ranks third in the American League with a 2.57 ERA. The A's may be
coming back down to earth though after dropping their last two games to the
Los Angeles Angels while scoring a grand total of three runs in that
three-game series. Their starter Ross is 2-4 with an ugly 5.73 ERA and 1.70 WHIP with
opponents hitting .318 off of him. Unlike Nova, Ross is not a strikeout
artist that can compensate for allowing so many baserunners, as he has only 19
strikeouts to go along with 16 walks in 37.2 innings. Now to his credit,
Ross does allow a ton of groundballs with a fantastic groundball-to-flyball
ratio of 4.31. Oddly though, that is not always a good thing in this park where
balls put in the air are generally easier to catch with this stadium having
the most spacious foul territory in the majors. Like Nova, Ross is making
his first ever start vs. his opponents here, and the Yankees have
traditionally struggled facing pitchers for the first time.

This is the first meeting between these clubs this year after the Yankees
won six of the nine meetings last season including all three matchups here in
Oakland. The last time these teams met last August 25th in Yankee Stadium,
the Bronx Bombers pummeled the Oakland pitching staff for 21 hits in a 22-9
shellacking in a game the A's once led 7-1.

Pick: Under 7.5

[Mr. IWS]

Fantasy Sports Gametime

Baseball Friday

100* Play LA Dodgers (-230) over Houston (MLB TOP PLAY)
Starts at 10:10 PM EST

Clayton Kershaw has won 7 of the last 8 games when pitching on a Friday and he has won 7 of the last 8 games when the total posted is 7 runs or less. Clayton Kershaw has an ERA of 1.62 in home games this season and he has an ERA of 0.75 over the last three overall starts.

50* Play Boston (-160) over Tampa Bay (MLB BONUS PLAY)

50* Play Cincinnati (-165) over Colorado (MLB BONUS PLAY)

[Mr. IWS]

Dave Cokin

BASEBALL
5/25 Toronto (Morrow +125) over TEXAS (Holland)

[Mr. IWS]

MIKE SCALLEAT

25 MAY
San Francisco (Lincecum +125) over MIAMI (Johnson)
Washington (Detwiler +140) over ATLANTA (Hudson)
ST. LOUIS (Lohse +110) over Philadelphia (Lee)
BALTIMORE (Hammel -135) over Kansas City (Chen

[Mr. IWS]

Hoopsgooroo

901 Cubs +105 @ 7:05p
917 Royals +115 @ 7:05p
904 Marlins -145 @ 7:10p
905 Padres Even @ 7:10p
907 Rockies +145 @ 7:10p
919 Rays +140 @ 7:10p
910 Braves -160 @ 7:15p
921 Jays +120 @ 8:05p
924 Twins +120 @ 8:10p
912 Cards +103 @ 8:15p
914 D-Backs -130 @ 9:40p
928 A's +127 @ 10:05p
930 Mariners Even @ 10:10p

[Mr. IWS]

TEDDY COVERS

10* NY Mets Over 7 -125
10* Toronto +120

[Mr. IWS]

Jimmy Boyd:

3* MLB *Friday Night Feast*
Cincinnati Reds

[Mr. IWS]

Pro Tech Sports

5* St Louis +109

[Mr. IWS]

SPORTS WAGERS - NBA

Philadelphia +5½/+221 over BOSTON Pinnacle
The Celtics have had their chances to put away the 76ers but have failed to finish them off and now Boston finds itself in a one-game showdown for all the marbles. That’s not a great place to be for a older team that is hobbling and playing under a lot more pressure than these free-spirited intruders. The Sixers have plenty of reason to be confident. The Celts are expected to be without Avery Bradley as the defensive menace is likely done for the postseason with a shoulder injury. Sixers guard Lou Williams described Bradley as a pit bull on defense. Bradley’s replacement, Ray Allen, is suffering from bone spurs in his right ankle and has struggled to stay in front of Philadelphia’s guards. Allen’s offense is suffering too, as he’s shooting 60% from the free throw line and 28% from 3-point land. The Sixers exploited the C’s suddenly deficient perimeter defense in Game 6 and a similar attack figures to be in store here. So, while the C’s are more experienced, the 76ers feature seven players age 25 or younger in their nine-man rotation and they can’t wait for this game to start. A loose, young, energetic and talented team with nothing to lose certainly has a chance to pull the upset or stay within range Play: Philadelphia +5½ (Risking 1.04 units to win 1). Play: Philadelphia +221 (Risking 1 unit).

[Mr. IWS]

WUNDERDOG
Game: San Antonio at Connecticut (7:00 PM Eastern)
Pick: Connecticut -7 (-110)

The Connecticut Sun has a lot of quality University of Connecticut players on the roster. Don't underestimate how much these players are used to pressure, and most of all used to winning. They also have great familiarity with each other. Tina Charles is quickly becoming the top post player in the league. And, with Kara Lawson splitting time with Rene Montgomery, the Sun has two true, experienced point guards. Add in Kelana Greene and Asjha Jones, and the UConn stars are mixing it up together. The Siver Stars are feeling good after a big road win over lowly Tulsa, but that will likely hurt them here. San Antonio is just 21-38 ATS as a road dog of 6.5 to 9 points and they are also 8-26 ATS when coming off a rare road win over a division rival. The Stars get a dose of reality here. Play on Connecticut minus the points.

[Mr. IWS]

MLBPredictions / Kevin

Chicago Cubs @ Pittsburgh Pirates - UNDER 7 RUNS (+105)

Listed Pitchers: Dempster vs Burnett
(Note: I'm risking 2.00 units to win 2.10 units)

Ryan Dempster will get the start for Chicago and he has gone 16 games without a win coming into tonight. With that said, Dempster hasn't been bad at all. He is 0-2 this season with a 2.28 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, and .211 opponents batting average. He will face a Pirates team that is hitting just .206 against righties as a team with a low .257 OBP. A.J. Burnett will be going up against Dempster, and he has been solid for the Pirates minus one rough outing. Burnett is 2-2 with a 4.78 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, and .270 opponents batting average. Although those numbers don't look good he has allowed 2 or fewer earned runs against in 5 of his 6 starts. His start against St Louis back on May 2nd where he allowed 12 earned runs has inflated his numbers. He has struckout 33 and walked 10 this year. Take note that the Cubs are averaging just 3.52 runs per game while the Pirates are averaging just 2.86 runs per game on the year. The UNDER is 8-2-3 in the Cubs last 13 games following a day off, and 5-2-1 in the Pirates last 8 games following a day off. The UNDER is 7-3-1 in Dempster's last 11 starts overall, and 8-1-1 in his last 10 starts with 5 days of rest. The UNDER is 18-5-3 in the Pirates last 26 home games, and 33-16-4 in their last 53 games overall. Neither team has been scoring many runs this year and with two good pitchers on the mound I like the value we have on the UNDER.

Houston Astros @ Los Angeles Dodgers - DODGERS -1.5 [Run Line] (+115)

Listed Pitchers: Harrell vs Kershaw
(Note: I'm risking 2.00 units to win 2.30 units)

I've picked my spot here with another run line play on the Dodgers. Take note that the Dodgers are 30-14 on the season and a stellar 19-4 at home this year. The Astros are a respectable 21-23 this season, but are just 5-13 away from home. Despite some injuries the Dodgers have won 6 of their last 7 games, and scored 6+ runs in those 6 wins with 4 runs in their loss. The Astros have won 3 straight heading into tonight, but those were home games against the 15-29 Cubs. Tonight the Astros go with Lucas Harrell on the mound. Harrell is 3-3 on the season with a 4.09 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, and .262 opponents batting average. On the road he is 0-3 with a 5.60 ERA, 1.57 WHIP, and .283 opponents batting average. The Dodgers counter with lefty ace Clayton Kershaw who is 4-1 on the season with a 1.90 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, and .193 opponents batting average. At home he is 3-1 with a 1.62 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, and .191 opponents batting average. He is trying to repeat his amazing season at home last year where he went 12-1 with a 1.69 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, and .191 opponents batting average - and it looks like he could be heading to similar numbers. These two teams have met three times this season in Houston, with the Dodgers winning 2 of 3 and both were by 2 runs or more (including a 5-1 win in a game Kershaw started). Note that the Astros are just 14-44 in their last 58 road games dating back to last season, and 9-29 in their last 38 games vs a starter with a WHIP of less than 1.15. The Astros are also just 2-6 in Harrrell's last 8 starts, and 0-5 in his last 5 road starts. The Dodgers are 42-16 in their last 58 home games dating back to last season, and 9-2 in their last 11 following a day off. Los Angeles is 35-16 in Kershaw's last 51 starts, and 42-20 in his last 62 home starts. Injuries or not the Dodgers are almost unstoppable at home this season, while the Astros struggle on the road. Behind Kershaw I like the Dodgers to win this game by at least 2 runs. Take Los Angeles on the run line at a good price.

[Mr. IWS]

Jeff Scott Sports

TOP PLAYS

4 UNIT PLAY

St Louis/ Philadelphia Over 7.5: (Added) Last night played it safe with this play and had it as a lesser play, but I won't do that here. Cardinal home games have been very high scoring as they have gone 16-5 OVER, with an average of 10.7 rpg being scored. Both offenses have some injuries, yet last night the teams combined for 33 hits and 19 runs. Granted there was weaker pitching last night than today, but it wasn't all the starter's fault last night as the pens combined to allow 6 runs and 15 hits. Cliff Lee goes for Philly tonight and he has pitched well with a 2.66 ERA, but the only good offense he has faced this year was in his last starts vs the BoSox and he allowed 5 ER on 9 hits in that start. Tonight he will face another strong offense as the Cards have averaged 6.2 rpg and have hit .295 at home this year. They also hit .295 and have scored 6.05 rp/9 off of lefties at home with 4 of their 5 home games vs lefties going over the total. The Phils haven't scored a whole lot this year, but they are 5th in the league in hitting, at .267 and hat should continue tonight vs Kyle Loshe, who has struggled of late. Kyle comes in with a 4.77 ERA in his last 5 starts, with all 5 start putting up at least 9 runs. He also has a 5.68 ERA in his last 2 starts at home, with both of those starts hitting at least 10 runs, plus we note that he has a 5.45 ERA in his last 6 starts vs the Phils. St Louis has one of the top hitters parks in the league right now and both of these teams have good enough offenses to put DD on the board again. Look for about 12 runs in this one.

3 UNIT PLAYS

Chicago/ Pittsburgh Over 6.5: Yes I know how low scoring Pittsburgh home games (5.38 rpg) have been this year, but will go with the Over here. AJ Burnett has pitched well for the Pirates this year, as he has allowed more than 2 runs just once so far, but that can't continue forever. He will be taking on a Chicago team that is in desperate nee of a win, plus the Cubs do score 3.8 rpg on the road. AJ has 5 starts vs the Cubs in his career and while he is 4-0 in those starts, he does have a 4.06 ERA in those starts, which would indicate some high scoring games and that's true as 4 of his 5 career starts vs the cubs have put up 7 or more runs. The Pirates don't score a whole lot, especially at home where they have averaged just 2.5 rpg, but they should be able to put up some runs tonight vs Dempster. Ryan Demptster has a nice ERA on the year, at 2.28, but he does come in struggling as he has allowed 4 ER in each of his last 2 starts. Now Ryan has also struggled with Pitt of late as he has a 7.00 ERA in his last 5 starts vs them, including posting a 5.25 ERA in 4 starts vs them last year. 3 is the key number and i feel we can get that from both teams. Pittsburgh pitching has allowed 3 runs or more in each of their last 9 games, while Cubs pitching has given up 3 runs or more in 11 of their last 13 games. Both teams should get vat least 3 runs as this one hits 7 runs with ease.

Texas/ Toronto Under 9: (Added) Surprisingly this year Texas home games have gone 12-5-1 UNDER this year, with an average of just 8.4 rpg being scored. Texas does lead the league in scoring at 5.38 rpg, but they only averaged 4.8 rpg at home this year, after putting up 6.1 rpg at home last year. Tonight they should struggle in the hitting department once again as they take on Brandon Morrow, who comes in with a sparkling 0.63 ERA in his 4 road starts this year, with an average of 7 rpg being scored in those starts. Brandon has also allowed just 2 ER in each of his last 3 starts vs the Rangers. Derek Holland has struggled at home with a 5.60 ERA in 4 starts, but his 4 home starts have averaged just 8.3 rpg. He should have a good showing tonight vs a Toronto team that has hit lefties on the road at just a .201 clip. Should Derek get in trouble he does have a solid pen behind him that has a 2.40 ERA at home, plus in his 4 home starts that pen has allowed just 2 runs total after he has left the game. Toronto also has a good pen as they come in with a 2.90 ERA on the road. Wind isn't always a factor for me, but I will look at it tonight as we get about a 17 MPH wind blowing in from right. Texas has struggled to score of late and Toronto averages just 4.2 rpg on the road. Look for this one to struggle to hit 7 runs.

Washington/ Atlanta Over 7: (Added) Risking taking an OVER in an Atlanta game with all the offensive struggles they've had of late, but I still feel these teams can put 7+ runs on the board tonight. Ross Detwiler had a strong start to the year, but he has struggled of late with a 7.31 ERA in his last 3 starts. now tow of the three starts were vs Pittsburgh and San Diego (weak hitting teams) and he allowed 3 and 5 runs to those teams respectively. Atlanta struggled to score on their road trip, but they are back home where they have averaged 5.47 rpg. Digging a little deeper we see that the Braves have hit .268 and have scored a whopping 7.34 rp/9 at home vs lefties on the year. Washington struggles to score everywhere, but they still average 4.1 rp/9 on the road vs righties, compared to just 1.6 rp/9 on the road vs lefties. Tim Hudson does have a 3.00 ERA in 2 home starts this year, but behind him is a pen that has an ERA of 5.05 at home on the year. I fully expect at least 4 runs from the Nats in this one, while the Braves offense should open up a bit now that they are home and put at least 4 runs on the board themselves. Brave home games have averaged 10.1 rpg and that's just about where I expect this one to land.

OTHER PLAYS

2 UNIT PLAYS

Miami/ San Francisco Over 7

LA DODGERS -1.5 (+115) over Houston (Added)

1 UNIT PLAY

Detroit -136 over MINNESOTA

[Mr. IWS]

401 K SPORTS

2** Baltimore -125 over Kansas City(7pm) - Baltimore has been excellent vs Lefties TY going 16-5. Good thing as their division is loaded with LHP. Baltimore has won 6 of 8 vs KC. Hammel should fire back after a couple of rough starts. The starting offense for the O's is hitting .389 in 80 AB's off Chen

2** Toronto +125 over Texas(8pm) - Texas is scuffling a bit on offense right now averaging a bit less than 4 runs/game over the last 10. Holland has a 6.14 ERA vs the Blue Jays in his career. Morrow has really settled down nicely and is pitching like the ce he predicted he would be in Spring training.

2** Pittsburgh -115 over the Cubs(7pm) - The Cubs are worse than an anyone thought. How bad are they? They are in a 9 game skid and they are just 1-6 in Dempster's starts despite Ryan pitching well. Dempster has never had success vs the Pirates though with a 5.69 ERA in 146IP vs the Bucs. Burnett has never lost to the Cubs 5-0. With the Cubs offense struggling as badly as they are, we need to ride that wave.