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double-dime bet - 312 San Diego St. / 311 Nevada - OVER 58.0
Analysis: This is just an easy play for me and especially while it is at the key number of 58. Both teams love to throw the ball and both do that quite well. Nevada can certainly score against this SD State Defense but this team plays virtually no defense, ranked 116 this year so far out of a 125 teams. Most likely the home team is going to maintain a lead in this contest and that means even more throwing by the visitors. This game is likely to last all night and the 58 should fall for us. I have an adjusted total here of 62.7 and good enough for a strong 2% Play
MLB
Pittsburgh (Cole) at St. Louis (Lynn) (-135) 1:05 ET MLB NTWK
2* St. Louis (-135)
Each of these starters has pitched great down the stretch. Cole finished the season on a 4-0 run with 1.38 ERA posting 34Ks in 26 IP. In 7 road starts, Pittsburgh has gone 5-2 where Cole has posted a 2.38 ERA. Lynn finished strong as well. In his final 4 starts, Lynn twirled a 1.09 ERA with 30Ks in 24 2/3 IP. St. Louis won 12/16 Lynn home starts where he had a 2.82 ERA. A note of caution is that in 5 starts vs. the Pirates, Lynn has a 5.60 ERA. The real basis for the selection comes with the experience edge that St. Louis has in post-season play against a Pittsburgh team making their first playoff appearance in 20 years. Then there is the matter of the home field where St. Louis has gone 55-27. Finally, we must consider current form which shows St. Louis on runs of 29-13, 17-5, and 7-0. St. Louis is recently 21-3 on this field including 5-0 vs. the Pirates in which they outscored the Bucs 32-14.
LA Dodgers (Greinke) (-110) at Atlanta (Minor) 6:00 ET TBS
2* LA Dodgers (-110)
Choosing the current form of Greinke vs. that of Minor to overcome Atlanta’s strong home field. The Braves have the best home record in baseball this season at 56-25. Even with last night’s loss, Atlanta is still 25-11 on this field. The Dodgers made a major statement by winning game 1 at this site. They could drive a nail in the Braves coffin with another top performance by Greinke. LA won 22/28 Greinke starts this year where he had a 2.63 ERA. Greinke pitched his best down the stretch posting a 1.58 ERA in his last 12 starts. Formerly known as a “homer”, in his last 10 road starts, Greinke went 7-0 with a 1.95 ERA. In his lone outing vs. Atlanta this season, Greinke allowed just 4 hits in 7 IP of a 5-0 LA victory. Minor’s current form is a bit troubling. The Braves have lost his last 5 starts where he has gone 0-4 with a 3.94 ERA.
Tampa Bay (Moore) at Boston (Lester) (-140) 3:00 ET TBS
2* Tampa Bay (+130)
What a turnaround for Boston. Could the change in managers from Valentine to Farrell really have been responsible for a 28 game improvement to a 97-65 record, tied with St. Louis for the best mark in MLB? It has resulted in Boston’s first post-season appearance in 3 years. Aside from Farrell creating a far healthier atmosphere in the clubhouse, must credit the Boston bats that were the best in baseball. While they did finish on a 23-10 run, they stumbled home at 5-6 losing their last 2 games. Then there is the matter of the Boston bullpen, the worst of all playoff participants. The Red Sox had a 124 bullpen index for the season (MLB average of 140) which was even worse in the last 3 months at 112. Lester has pitched well of late where he has gone 5-1 with a 2.22 ERA. While pitching from this mound, Boston has gone 11-2 where Lester has posted a 3.09 ERA. The Red Sox did capture the season series from the Rays posting a 12-7 series record. Yet, I am choosing to favor the momentum that is Tampa Bay. The Rays finished 15-5 and 10-2. That included road victories at Toronto to make the play in game, a road victory at Texas to qualify for the Wild Card and a road win at Cleveland to set up this playoff series. While the letdown is always possible, the Rays have had 2 days to sober up following their celebration. TBay won 21/27 Moore starts including 14/16 away where Moore had a 2.59 ERA. Moore finished strong going 9-1 in his last 13 starts. A vote for the Tampa Bay momentum to continue behind their best starter.
Detroit (Scherzer) (-120) at Oakland (Colon) 9:30 ET TBS
2* Oakland (+110)
Following a mid-season surge, the Tigers division lead was never threatened. They closed out their pursuers with an 11-4 September surge before dropping the last 3 games of the regular season. Detroit won 25/32 Scherzer starts in which he posted a 2.90 ERA. That was even better on the road where in 16 starts Scherzer had a 2.28 ERA. Oakland counters with Colon. In 30 Colon starts, Oakland went 21-9 with Colon authoring a 2.65 ERA that was nearly identical to his work from this mound where Colon had a 2.58 ERA in 16 starts. Unlike 2012, Oakland did not have to make a late season surge to capture the division title. This year, they had the division title well in hand yet still finished on positive runs of 24-9 and 7-3. Yet, Oakland well remembers losing this playoff series to Detroit last season 3 games to 2. With the more positive momentum and a home field where Oakland is 39-18 of late, we take a value home price with the As.
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