5-11-13

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Chris Jordan

400* over the total okc/memphis

200* tampa bay rl. Mlb.

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Jimmy Boyd

4* Thunder/Grizzlies - UNDER 186.5

4* Colorado Rockies ML +158

4* Chicago Cubs ML +197

3* Boston Red Sox RL-1.5

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Penguins at Islanders: What bettors need to know

Pittsburgh Penguins at New York Islanders (+155, 6)

Pittsburgh leads series 3-2.

Sidney Crosby and John Tavares have been elite figures on the ice - so it's no surprise that the two joined Washington superstar Alex Ovechkin as finalists for the Hart Trophy. Crosby can get the better of Tavares in the postseason should the Pittsburgh Penguins eliminate the eighth-seeded New York Islanders in their Eastern Conference first-round series. Top-seeded Pittsburgh will have a chance to do precisely that with a victory in Game 6 Saturday - or, if necessary, at home in Game 7 on Sunday.

Crosby collected a goal and an assist in the Penguins' 4-0 victory in Game 5 Thursday. Pittsburgh's captain has showed little sign of rust since missing over a month with a broken jaw - scoring three goals and setting up five others in four games. Tavares has two goals and as many assists in the first-round series.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBC Sports, TSN, MSG-PLUS, ROOT

ABOUT THE PENGUINS: Tomas Vokoun made his presence felt in his first postseason appearance since 2007. Replacing an ineffective Marc-Andre Fleury, the 36-year-old Vokoun registered his second career playoff shutout by turning aside 31 shots Thursday. Vokoun has dominated the Islanders in 2013, posting a 4-0-0 mark with a slim 0.69 goals-against average and impressive .977 save percentage.

ABOUT THE ISLANDERS: While the situation is far from ideal, coach Jack Capuano isn't outwardly stressing his team's plight. "We've been in these must-win situations before, and our guys have responded pretty well," Capuano told the team's website. "We're at home, hopefully we'll have that barn rocking here (Saturday) again like we had the previous two games that we can feed off." Capuano also showed confidence in Evgeni Nabokov, who was pulled in Game 5 after yielding four goals. The veteran Russian netminder has allowed at least four tallies in four of the five games in the series.

OVERTIME:

1. Pittsburgh is 7-for-20 on the power play in the series, while New York is 2-for-17.

2. Islanders D Andrew MacDonald suffered a broken left hand in Game 4 and will miss the remainder of the playoffs.

3. Penguins C Evgeni Malkin and RWs Pascal Dupuis and Jarome Iginla each notched an assist in Game 5 to extend their respective point streaks to six contests.

TRENDS:

* Islanders are 6-2 in their last 8 home games.

* Over is 4-1 in Penguins last 5 games playing on 1 days rest.

* Over is 8-3-1 in Islanders last 12 home games.

* Over is 5-0-1 in the last 6 meetings in New York.

[Can'tPickAWinner]

NASCAR betting: Bojangles' Southern 500 preview

Nicknamed "Too Tough To Tame," Darlington Raceway always provides a fast and exciting race on Mother’s Day weekend. The 1.37-mile oval is the original superspeedway and has over a 60-year racing history.

Here's our Sprint Cup Series preview and odds for Saturday's race:

Favorite: Kyle Busch +500

Busch was the youngest driver to ever win at Darlington in 2008 (23 years, 8 days). He ranks fourth out of 49 drivers over the past eight seasons with an average place of 10, has two top-fives to his credit and four top-10 finishes.

Live dog: Jeff Gordon +1,200

Gordon's seven wins at this track is the most among active drivers and he ranks first out of 49 drivers with an average place of 8.3. The veteran also boasts 18 top-fives and 21-top 10s at Darlington.

Long shot: Regan Smith +15,000

Smith is fresh off a Nationwide win at Talladega and now gets to race at his self-proclaimed “favorite track.” Smith has a win at Darlington to his credit (2011) and finished 14th in the Sprint Cup event last season. Smith is the only driver who is entered in this race that scored his first career Sprint Cup victory at the track.

Key stat:

The race winner at Darlington has started from the pole 19 times, but no driver has won a race from the starting position since Dale Jarrett did it in 1997.

Notable quotable:

“You can’t really pass there. It’s so difficult. So you run your laps until you get to a pit stop and try to get your guys to have a good stop for you so you can jump a couple of guys. Pit stops become really important there, and track position and trying to stay up front.” – Kyle Busch on racing Darlington.

Odds to win the Bojangles’ Southern 500 courtesy of Bet365:

Kyle Busch +550
Jimmie Johnson +700
Matt Kenseth +750
Denny Hamlin +800
Kasey Kahne +900
Carl Edwards +1,000
Brad Keselowski +1,100
Greg Biffle +1,200
Martin Truex Jr. +1,200
Jeff Gordon +1,200
Tony Stewart +1,400
Kevin Harvick +1,600
Clint Bowyer +1,600
Dale Earnhardt Jr. +1,800
Joey Logano +2,200
Mark Martin +3,300
Ricky Stenhouse +3,300
Ryan Newman +3,500
Jamie McMurray +4,000
Kurt Busch +4,000
Marcos Ambrose +5,000
Paul Menard +5,000
Juan Montoya +5,000
Jeff Burton +6,000
Aric Almirola +10,000
Regan Smith +15,000
Danica Patrick +25,000
Bobby Labonte +30,000
David Ragan +35,000
Casey Mears +40,000
Scott Speed +50,000
David Reutimann +50,000
David Stremme +75,000
JJ Yeley +75,000
Travis Kvapil +75,000
David Gilliland +75,000
Landon Cassill +75,000
Josh Wise +100,000
Joe Nemechek +100,000
Brian Keselowski +100,000
Timmy Hill +100,000
Mike Bliss +100,000
Michael McDowell +100,000
Dave Blaney +100,000

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Rays riding longest over streak of MLB season

The Tampa Bay Rays might not be such a hot moneyline bet in 2013, but the over has been on fire in their games recently.

Tampa Bay has played over the total in 13 straight games heading into Friday, which is the longest over streak in the majors this season. This stretch started versus the Chicago White Sox on April 26.

Friday's game featured a total of eight and Tampa defeated the San Diego Padres 6-3 to move to 13 straight played over the total.

The Rays continue a three-game home set with the San Diego Padres Saturday. The total for the game currently sits at eight.

The Oakland Athletics had put together a string of nine games that had gone over the total earlier this season, but Tampa Bay has made that look like child's play. A $100 bettor would be up $1,258.72 if they had wagered the over on the Rays' previous 13 games.

The perfect storm of run scoring and a failure to prevent foes from crossing the plate is fueling the streak of high scores. The Rays have averaged 6.3 runs per game while allowing 5.5 rpg from opponents.

Note: The Atlanta Braves are on a seven-game over streak heading into their game Saturday.

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Gamblers Data (Fletcher)

3* Nats-1.5+108

3* Rangers-1.5-145

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Drop The Hammer Sports

Lead Pipe Lock Club
Phillies

3* Nationals
3* Dodgers
3* Red Sox
3* Tigers

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Dave Essler | MLB Total - Saturday, May 11 2013 4:10PM
909 MIL / 910 CIN OVER 8 single-dime bet

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Dave Essler | MLB RunLine - Saturday, May 11 2013 6:10PM
929 SDP 1.5 -150 vs 930 TAM single-dime bet

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Todays Best Bets

(5 UNITS) Thunder +5

(5 UNITS)Knicks/Pacers - UNDER 183.5

(5 UNITS) Giants

(5 UNITS) Tigers RL-1.5

(3 UNITS) Pirates

(3 UNITS)Tor/Bos - UNDER 9.5

[Can'tPickAWinner]

MLB

Saturday, May 11

Hot pitchers
-- Wainwright is 4-1, 2.47 in his last six starts. Chacin is 3-1, 2.84 in five starts this season.
-- Bumgarner is 3-1, 2.31 in seven starts this season.
-- Latos is 3-0, 1.44 in his last four starts. Burgos is 1-0, 3.00 in three starts this season.
-- Cahill is 2-0, 1.80 in his last three outings. Lee is 2-1, 2.79 in his four road starts.
-- Slowey is 2-1, 1.81 in seven starts this season.

-- Red Sox are 7-0 when Buchholz starts (6-0, 1.60).
-- Verlander is 3-1, 1.59 in his last five starts. Jimenez is 2-0, 1.42 in his last two outings.
-- Shields is 1-0, 1.86 in his last four starts.
-- Darvish is 3-0, 2.42 in his last four starts.
-- Quintana is 2-0, 2.83 in his last five starts.

Cold pitchers
-- Niese is 0-3, 6.63 in his last four starts. Liriano is making first NL start, first '13 start; he was 2-1, 4.15 in five minor league starts, as he recovered from a broken right arm.
-- EJackson is 0-5, 7.58 in seven starts this year. Strasburg is 0-4, 5.06 in his last five outings.
-- Maholm is 1-3, 5.79 in his last four starts.
-- Ryu is 1-1, 4.32 in his last four starts.

-- Smith has a 1.15 RA in AA Texas League, allowing 17 hits in 31.1 IP with 37 strikeouts- he pitched in A ball last year. Hellickson is 0-1, 6.75 in his last three starts.

-- Buehrle is 0-2, 7.20 in his last four starts.
-- SJohnson is 1-1, 4.41 in three minor league starts; he was 3-0, 2.86 in four major league starts LY. Worley is 0-4, 7.75 in seven starts this season.
-- Pettitte is 1-2, 6.65 in his last four starts.
-- Bedard is 0-2, 13.50 in his last four starts.
-- JWilliams is 0-7, 8.67 in his last seven starts.
-- Parker is 1-5, 7.13 in seven starts this season. Maurer is 2-2, 6.88 in four home starts this season.

Starting Pitchers/First Inning
You can wager on whether teams will score in first inning. Below is how often a starting pitcher has allowed 1+ runs in first inning in one of his starts........
-- Liriano 0-0; Niese 3-7
-- Chacin 2-5; Wainwright 2-7
-- Jackson 3-7; Strasburg 4-7
-- Maholm 0-7; Bumgarner 0-7
-- Burgos 1-3; Latos 1-7
-- Lee 0-7; Cahill 2-7
-- Slowey 2-7; Ryu 3-7

-- Buehrle 3-7; Buchholz 1-7
-- Jimenez 2-6; Verlander 0-7
-- Johnson 0-0; Worley 5-7
-- Pettitte 2-6; Shields 3-7
-- Darvish 4-7; Bedard 3-5
-- JWilliams 1-6; Quintana 1-6
-- Parker 2-7; Maurer 3-6

-- Smith 0-0; Hellickson 4-7

Totals
-- Six of last seven Cub games went over the total.
-- Ten of last fourteen Pittsburgh games went over the total.
-- Six of last seven Cincinnati games went over the total.
-- Over is 3-1-1 in Chacin's starts this season.
-- 12 of last 16 Philly road games stayed under the total.
-- 12 of last 14 games at Dodger Stadium went over.
-- 12 of last 15 Atlanta games went over the total.

-- Last thirteen Tampa Bay games went over the total.

-- Over is 3-0-2 in last five Jimenez starts.
-- Seven of last nine Red Sox games stayed under total.
-- Over is 7-2-1 in Baltimore's last ten road games.
-- Five of last seven Kansas City games stayed under total.
-- Eight of Angels' last eleven games went over the total.
-- Over is 11-5-1 in Houston's last seventeen home games.
-- 15 of 20 Oakland road games went over the total.

Hot teams
-- Nationals won seven of their last eight games.
-- Reds are 10-4 in their last fourteen home games.
-- Cardinals won eight of their last nine games.
-- Arizona won six of its last seven games.
-- Atlanta won four of its last six games.

-- San Diego won six of its last eight games overall. Rays won ten of their last 14 home games.

-- Indians won ten of their last twelve games. Detroit won ten of its last thirteen games.
-- Twins won three of their last four games. Baltimore is 8-4 in its last twelve road games.
-- Royals won four of their last six home games. Bronx won nine of its last thirteen road games.
-- Mariners won six of their last eight home games.

Cold teams
-- Cubs lost six of their last eight games.
-- Mets lost nine of their last thirteen games. Pirates lost four of their last six.
-- Brewers lost seven of their last eight games.
-- Rockies lost eight of their last twelve games.
-- Phillies lost ten of their last fourteen games.
-- Miami is 6-14 on the road. Dodgers lost their last eight games.
-- Giants lost three of their last five games.

-- Blue Jays lost ten of their last thirteen road games. Red Sox lost three of their last four games.
-- Oakland lost 11 of its last 14 road games.
-- Angels lost nine of their last thirteen games, but won last two. White Sox are 3-6 in their last nine home games.
-- Houston lost eight of its last ten games. Rangers lost four of their last six away games.

Umpires
-- Pitt-NY-- Under is 6-1-1 in last eight West games.
-- Col-StL-- Seven of last ten Foster games stayed under.
-- Chi-Wsh-- Favorites won seven of last ten Eddings games.
-- Atl-SF-- Under is 20-5-1 in last 26 Baker games.
-- Mil-Cin-- Underdogs won five of last seven Knight games.
-- Phil-Az-- Over is 7-2-1 in last ten Cederstrom games.
-- Mia-LA-- Under is 17-2-1 in last twenty Kulpa games.

-- SD-TB-- Under is 14-3-1 in last eighteen O'Nora games.

-- Tor-Bos-- Over is 9-6 in last fifteen Gibson games.
-- Cle-Det-- Six of last eight Scott games stayed under the total.
-- Balt-Min-- Four of last five Darling games went over the total.
-- NY-KC-- Over is 14-5-1 in last twenty Wegner games.
-- Tex-Hst-- Under is 12-4-1 in last seventeen Kellogg games.
-- LA-Chi-- Underdogs won 12 of last 16 Nelson games.
-- A's-Sea-- Underdogs won eight of last ten Marquez games.

[Can'tPickAWinner]

NBA

Saturday, May 11

Carmelo Anthony was 13-26 in Game 2 after shooting 35-95 (36.8%) from floor in his first four games vs Indiana this year; JR Smith is 15-51 in three losses vs Pacers, 15-36 in three New York Ws- he might see his playing time cut here, since he hasn't been productive. Knicks get Amare Stoudemire back here; not sure how he'll affect their chemistry. Indana needs to keep Anthony under 40% from floor to win. Eight of last 12 Knick games stayed under the total; 12 of last 16 Indy games went over. New York lost 81-76/125-91 in its two visits to Conseco this year, with Pacers leading 74-44 at halftime of Knicks' last visit here.

Memphis won five of last six games, losing by hoop in Game 1; Martin reverted to 2-11 from floor in 29 unproductive minutes, failing to give Oklahoma City a scoring threat to compliment Durant. Last four series games were decided by six or less points. Thunder PG Westbrook is out for this series, which puts onus on vet PG Fisher and BC alum Jackson, who has four turnovers in 60 minutes in series. 17 of last 22 Thunder games stayed under the total. Six of last eight Memphis games went over the total. Oklahoma City covered four of last five as an underdog.

[Can'tPickAWinner]

NHL

Saturday, May 11

Penguins won 11 of last 15 games, are 29-10 in last 39 games vs Islanders, 6-2 in last eight visits here. Nine of last thirteen series games overall went over total. Islanders outscored Pittsburgh 6-2 in third period of series, but Penguins did win only OT game. Pitt is 7-20 on power play in series, Islanders 2-17. New York was blanked in two of three losses in series- they scored 4-4-6 goals Games 2-4. Penguins held 10 of previous 15 opponents to three or less goals. Over is 18-15-7 in playoffs so far this spring. Islanders won six of last eight home games; Pittsburgh won 11 of last 14 games on the road.

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Free Selection from Arthur Ralph Sports

Our Free Plays are 1026-767 (57 + %) over the last 4 1/2 years !

Free winner Sat Reds -170

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Bob Balfe

May 11th 2013

Saturday NBA & MLB

Grizzles -5 over Thunder
I think the line in this game really says it all. Vegas has no confidence in the Thunder being able to win this game. If you watched OKC all they do is give the ball to Durant. Memphis is geared up to win a title. This team really has no flaws and plays the game the correct way. Without Westbrook the Thunder just do not have enough juice. I would really be shocked if Memphis does not win this game by double digits. Take the Grizzles

Mets -110 over Pirates
Niese/Liriano
Francisco Liriano will make his season debut today coming off a broken arm. This is his non throwing arm, but I don't expect him to get worked that hard today. John Niese has been up and down this year, but he pitches well at home and has great numbers when facing the Pirates. Take the Mets.