If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.
NFL Preseason Free Pick
HOUSTON (+7) over Denver
9:00 p.m. ET
The Bronco’s have looked awesome in the preseason beating Seattle and crushing San Francisco last week 34-0. Peyton Manning has been outstanding completing 22 of 27 passes. But we are going to be contrarians here and back Houston because of Denver Head Coach John Fox’s week three history and a believe that Fox has already seen enough this preseason to show him that his squad is ready to repeat as AFC Champions. Fox is one of the few coaches that does not put a premium on week three of the preseason and his 0-3 ATS record as headman of the Bronco’s supports that premiss. We had Houston in it’s 32-7 shellacking of Atlanta last week and believe that Texans Head coach Bill O’Brien will play his starters three quarters and treat this as a regular season game, at least for three quarters, as he tries to put Houston’s horrific 2013 season in the rear view mirror.
MLB Game: Tampa Bay Rays @ Toronto Blue Jays
Time: Saturday 08/23 1:05 PM Eastern
Pick: Game Total UNDER 9 (-115)
There is no doubt that Tampa Bay has been a much better team since falling 18 games below .500 in June. The biggest impact has been the pitching as the Rays’ staff has allowed 3 runs or less in 26 of their last 33 games. They are continuing to post 0s on the scoreboard, as the staff has not allowed a run in 20 consecutive innings. Toronto has faint hopes of making a run at the second AL Wild Card spot, but the offense has put on the brakes over the last 18 games where the team has compiled a total of 56 runs at 3.1 per contest. The lack of hitting and the quality pitching has left Tampa Bay with an 18-7-2 mark to the UNDER in their last 27 games, and to a total of 7 to 8.5, they stand at 17-5-2 UNDER in their last 24. Buerhle is made for the weekend with none of his last 12 Saturday starts topping the total, and the Blue Jays are also 13-3-1 to the UNDER in his last 17 in game two of a series start, as he goes to school on the opposing team. Play the UNDER in this one.
The Reds are ice cold, while the Braves are on fire with wins in 8 of 10. Leake has been struggling of late with a 1.42 WHIP and a 5.21 ERA.
RAYS ML -102 *2*
Hellickson has been lights out with a 0.69 ERA on the road this season – while the Jays have gone sour including once unbeatable Mark Buehrle.
RAYS @ BLUE JAYS UNDER 8.5 -105 *3*
Coming off a complete destruction by the Rays last night 8-0, the Jays need to right the ship today if they want any chance at a post season birth. The bats just don’t seem to be there right now for them, as they are averaging just over 3 runs per game in their last 10 games. Today they face a much improved Jamie Hellickson, who enters this contest with a WHIP of 1.17 and ERA of 2.56, after managing just 2 hits yesterday it might be another long day. On the hill for the Jays is Mark Buehrle who may not need the bats to provide much support given his 2-0 record against the Rays this season spanning three starts with an ERA of 2.21 over 20.1 innings of work. We look for a low scoring affair here today.
TIGERS @ TWINS – OVER 9 -110 *2*
Both Farmer and Pino have been BAD this season – Farmer in his one start was roughed up hard and Pino has been struggling all season. The Tigers and Twins are both seeing 11+ runs over their past 5 games and saw a 26 spot yesterday.
DIAMONDBACKS -101 *3*
The Dbacks have won 7 of their last 10 meetings with the Padres. And the Padres are 25-41 on the road. No way should the Padres be favoured on the road. Cashner also struggles on the road. He has a 1.42 road WHIP this year. Nuno has yet to win while pitching for the Dbacks but he has pitched well. He has a 3.72 ERA and 1.11 WHIP since joining the team. Nuno gets his first win as a D-back today.
MLB Pick #1: 981 Baltimore Orioles @ 982 Chicago Cubs
(Starting Pitchers: B. Norris vs. K. Hendricks)
Rating: 3 units - Single Dime Play
Pick: 981 Baltimore Orioles ML @ -115 / 1.87 on Bookmaker
BAL's SP Bud Norris has been great lately w/ a nice run of 4 straight quality outings. Note that he faced some tough matchups in those starts like LAA, TOR & CWS - all dangerous lineups and still he looked pretty good.
His K% numbers have been excellent in this second half of season w/ 22.4% K% mark vs. 16.5% in this second half of season and this is good news for him because CHC lineup has been a "K machine" for quite some time - I have them ranked dead last (#30) in the league in L30 days w/ an abysmal 26.0% K% mark!
BAL will face K. Hendricks who has been pretty good as well. However his advanced numbers are screaming for some regression as his 1.66 ERA does not match his 3.54 FIP & 3.85 xFIP numbers! BAL offense was shut down by J. Arrieta last night and they are looking to bounce back today - they are ranked #6 in L14 days, so I expect them to do some damage in here.
The Mariners take on the Red Sox in game 2 of their mini 3 game set at Fenway Park this afternoon and left it late on Friday to wipe out a 3-0 deficit in the 9th inning by scorching Koji Uehara for 5 ER on 5 hits and a walk in just 2/3 IP.
Saturday sees Seattle give the baseball to righty Chris Young who has been solid all season, he sports a 12-6 record with a 3.11 ERA and 1.13 WHIP in 24 starts this campaign. Young has been especially stingy in 11 ‘Day’ starts, this year, going 5-2 with a 2.51 ERA and 1.00 WHIP. Among qualifying pitchers (Min 60 IP), he has held opponents to a .195 BAA which ranks 3rd in all of baseball in those matinee outings.
Brandon Workman gets the nod the the Red Sox and has been fairly inconsistent so far this season having struggled with his command throughout 2014. He has the tendency to work up 3 ball counts on a regular basis. Workman is 1-6 with a 4.41 ERA and 1.28 WHIP in 11 starts this season. He has issued an average of 2.4 walks per game in his 11 games as a starter and the Red Sox are just 2-9 when Workman toes the rubber. In 6 ‘Home’ starts in 2014, the Boston hurler has pitched to a 4.46 ERA and 1.40 WHIP.
With the Mariners sitting just half a game above the Tigers in the 2nd AL WC spot, I believe the vale is on the road team in this match up. During their six-game skid, the Red Sox are just 3-for-47 with RISP and have left 50 men on base in those 6 games. Being opposed by the stingy Chris Young, I foresee Boston’s opportunity’s for run scoring to be few and far between.
Comment