7-18-11

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WNBA Basketball Picks
San Antonio at Los Angeles

The Sparks look to build on their 5-2 ATS record in their last 7 games against the Silver Stars in LA. Los Angeles is the pick (-1) according to Dunkel, which has the Sparks favored by 3 1/2. Dunkel Pick: Los Angeles (-1). Here are all of today's picks.

MONDAY, JULY 18
Time Posted: 6:30 a.m. EST

Game 601-602: San Antonio at Los Angeles (10:35 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: San Antonio 108.731; Los Angeles 112.410
Dunkel Line & Total: Los Angeles by 3 1/2; 155
Vegas Line & Total: Los Angeles by 1; 158 1/2
Dunkel Pick: Los Angeles (-1); Under

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Lady luck: Monday's best WNBA bets


San Antonio Silver Stars at Los Angeles Sparks (-2, 158)

The San Antonio Silver Stars were all smiles after snapping a three-game losing streak on Thursday evening by slipping past Seattle 69-66.

Danielle Adams led the way with 23 points off the bench and the club’s reserves combined for 47 points on the evening, while playing the kind of inspired defense that helped the team get off to a 7-1 straight up start to the season.

“That's a huge part of who we are,” Silver Stars coach Dan Hughes said of his bench following the big win. “That was a really good game. I'm not sure either team deserved to lose that one.”

As happy as everyone was about breaking the slump, it didn’t do the club’s supporters much good. The Silver Stars were set as 5-point favorite against Seattle, dropping the cash for the fourth straight game.

San Antonio backers may have a tough time finding their way back to the pay window in this one too. Los Angeles has showed some life since Joe “Jellybean” Bryant took over coaching duties and just pulled off a comeback win over Tulsa, crawling back from 18 points down to book the win. However, the Sparks failed to cover as 8-point favorites.

"I thought that when we went zone, that slowed them up a bit, and probably most importantly for us, we executed offensively," Bryant said of the turnaround. "Earlier, we came down and took some quick shots, but we cut to it 10, and then, we started executing our plays ... Defensively, it is hard to guard them man-to-man, because they attack so well off the dribble. So we switched to zone, and that made a difference in the end."

We think San Antonio finally covers a spread in this one.

Pick: San Antonio

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Lady luck: Monday's best WNBA bets


San Antonio Silver Stars at Los Angeles Sparks (-2, 158)

The San Antonio Silver Stars were all smiles after snapping a three-game losing streak on Thursday evening by slipping past Seattle 69-66.

Danielle Adams led the way with 23 points off the bench and the club’s reserves combined for 47 points on the evening, while playing the kind of inspired defense that helped the team get off to a 7-1 straight up start to the season.

“That's a huge part of who we are,” Silver Stars coach Dan Hughes said of his bench following the big win. “That was a really good game. I'm not sure either team deserved to lose that one.”

As happy as everyone was about breaking the slump, it didn’t do the club’s supporters much good. The Silver Stars were set as 5-point favorite against Seattle, dropping the cash for the fourth straight game.

San Antonio backers may have a tough time finding their way back to the pay window in this one too. Los Angeles has showed some life since Joe “Jellybean” Bryant took over coaching duties and just pulled off a comeback win over Tulsa, crawling back from 18 points down to book the win. However, the Sparks failed to cover as 8-point favorites.

"I thought that when we went zone, that slowed them up a bit, and probably most importantly for us, we executed offensively," Bryant said of the turnaround. "Earlier, we came down and took some quick shots, but we cut to it 10, and then, we started executing our plays ... Defensively, it is hard to guard them man-to-man, because they attack so well off the dribble. So we switched to zone, and that made a difference in the end."

We think San Antonio finally covers a spread in this one.

Pick: San Antonio

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Monday's betting tips: Crawford returns to BoSox

Who’s hot

MLB: The over is 16-5 in the last 21 meetings between the Nationals and Astros.

MLB: The White Sox have won 23 of Mark Buehrle’s last 30 starts against Kansas City.

WNBA: The over had cashed in on nine of Los Angeles' last 14 home games heading into Sunday's action.

Who’s not

MLB: Baltimore is just 7-23 in its last 30 games overall.

MLB: Milwaukee has won two of its last 10 road games.

WNBA: San Antonio has dropped four straight against the number.

Key stat

490 - Jim Thome hit a 490-foot home run at Target Field on Sunday, the longest dinger in the field's history. With that dinger, Thome moves four homers away from the 600 milestone in his career.

Injury that shouldn’t be overlooked

Grady Sizemore, Cleveland Indians: Sizemore left Sunday’s game in the third inning with a right knee bruise and his status for Monday’s doubleheader against Minnesota is in question. Sizemore missed some time earlier this season with a right knee injury and is hitting only .234 with 10 homers this season.

Game of the day

New York Yankees at Tampa Bay Rays (+110, N/A)

Notable quotable

"He was a little shaky, but got better as the game went on. Probably a little jittery, a little nervous, first time back after a long time. But after he settled down, he found the strike zone." - Dusty Baker on Dontrelle Willis' first MLB start in more than a year. Willis gave up two runs on four hits in a no-decision against the Tigers last week and is set as a +100 underdog at Pittsburgh.

Notes and tips

The Boston Red Sox will get a big part of lineup back Monday as Carl Crawford is expected to suit up after finishing up a two-game rehab stint at Triple-A Pawtucket. Crawford, who has missed the last 24 games with a hamstring injury, was hitting just .243 with six homers and eight steals before hitting the shelf. The Red Sox are set as -135 favorite at Baltimore on Monday.

So far so good for Joe Nathan. The Twins gave Nathan his closing job back from Matt Capps on Saturday and he's nailed down two saves in as many days since then. Nathan, 36, now has five saves on the year. Minnesota's bullpen has been a problem for much of the season and is currently working on a 4.65 ERA.

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Today's MLB Picks
Boston at Baltimore

The Red Sox look to take advantage of a Baltimore team that is 1-10 in Brad Bergesen's last 11 starts. Boston is the pick (-140) according to Dunkel, which has the Red Sox favored by 3. Dunkel Pick: Boston (-140). Here are all of today's picks.

MONDAY, JULY 18
Time Posted: 6:00 a.m. EST

Game 901-902: Cincinnati at Pittsburgh (7:05 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: Cincinnati (Willis) 15.749; Pittsburgh (McDonald) 14.246
Dunkel Line: Cincinnati by 1; 9 1/2
Vegas Line: Pittsburgh (-115); 8 1/2
Dunkel Pick: Cincinnati (-105); Over

Game 903-904: Washington at Houston (8:05 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: Washington (Marquis) 14.830; Houston (Lyles) 14.070
Dunkel Line: Washington by 1; 7 1/2
Vegas Line: Washington (-115); 8
Dunkel Pick: Washington (-115); Under

Game 905-906: Philadelphia at Chicago Cubs (8:05 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: Philadelphia (Halladay) 16.346; Cubs (Lopez) 14.205
Dunkel Line: Philadelphia by 2; 7
Vegas Line: Philadelphia (-200); No Run Total
Dunkel Pick: Philadelphia (-200); N/A

Game 907-908: Atlanta at Colorado (8:40 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: Atlanta (Lowe) 15.085; Colorado (Hammel) 14.463
Dunkel Line: Atlanta by 1/2; 10
Vegas Line: Colorado (-120); 9 1/2
Dunkel Pick: Atlanta (+100); Over

Game 909-910: Milwaukee at Arizona (9:40 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: Milwaukee (Wolf) 15.333; Arizona (Collmenter) 14.198
Dunkel Line: Milwaukee by 1; 10
Vegas Line: Arizona (-125); 9
Dunkel Pick: Milwaukee (+105); Over

Game 911-912: LA Dodgers at San Francisco (10:15 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: LA Dodgers (Billingsley) 14.849; San Francisco (Vogelsong) 15.646
Dunkel Line: San Francisco by 1; 6
Vegas Line: San Francisco (-130); 6 1/2
Dunkel Pick: San Francisco (-130); Under

Game 913-914: Boston at Baltimore (7:05 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: Boston (Wakefield) 16.659; Baltimore (Bergesen) 13.814
Dunkel Line: Boston by 3; 11
Vegas Line: Boston (-140); 10
Dunkel Pick: Boston (-140); Over

Game 915-916: NY Yankees at Tampa Bay (7:10 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: NY Yankees (Burnett) 16.268; Tampa Bay (Cobb) 16.968
Dunkel Line: Tampa Bay by 1/2; 8
Vegas Line: NY Yankees (-125); 9
Dunkel Pick: Tampa Bay (+105); Under

Game 917-918: Cleveland at Minnesota (8:10 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: Cleveland (Carmona) 14.925; Minnesota (Diamond) 14.651
Dunkel Line: Cleveland by 1/2; 9 1/2
Vegas Line: Minnesota (-125); 8 1/2
Dunkel Pick: Cleveland (+105); Over

Game 919-920: Chicago White Sox at Kansas City (8:10 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: White Sox (Buehrle) 16.074; Kansas City (Davies) 15.139
Dunkel Line: Chicago White Sox by 1; 8 1/2
Vegas Line: Chicago White Sox (-125); 9
Dunkel Pick: Chicago White Sox (-125); Under

Game 921-922: Cleveland at Minnesota (1:10 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: Cleveland (Huff) 13.988; Minnesota (Swarzak) 15.673
Dunkel Line: Minnesota by 1 1/2; 8
Vegas Line: Minnesota (-155); 8 1/2
Dunkel Pick: Minnesota (-155); Under

Game 923-924: Florida at NY Mets (7:10 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: Florida (Hensley) 15.994; NY Mets (Capuano) 15.572
Dunkel Line: Florida by 1/2; 9
Vegas Line: NY Mets (-145); 8
Dunkel Pick: Florida (+125); Over

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MLB NEWS AND NOTES
Halladay And Phillies Take On Chicago Cubs At Wrigley Field
By: Willie Bee



Philadelphia Phillies at Chicago Cubs (+180, OFF)

Roy Halladay makes his first appearance since starting last week's All-Star Game when the Philadelphia Phillies open a 3-game set at the Chicago Cubs on Monday. First pitch from Wrigley Field is 5:05 p.m. (PT).

Faced with the difficult task of matching up against Halladay is Chicago's Rodrigo Lopez. Early MLB betting lines had the Phils favored in the 190-200 range with the total still up in the air.

Philadelphia got the second half and this road trip started by taking two of three from the Mets at Citi Field. Sunday's win improved the club's road record to 25-20. The so-called 'friendly confines' have not been so friendly for the Cubs this year. Chicago came out of the break dropping three of four to the Marlins and now sit 21-29 at Wrigley.

It's the second and final series between the clubs this season after they met in Philadelphia for four in June. The Phillies won three of those battles, the total's splitting 2-2. The last times the teams matched up in Chicago, the Cubs took three of four with the totals halving 2-2.

Halladay (16-3, 2.45) tossed two perfect innings at the outset of the National League's 5-1 win over the American League at Chase Field. The 2010 NL Cy Young winner is working on a string of seven consecutive victories with the Phillies winning his last 10 starts.

One of Halladay's wins during the current streak came against the Cubs in Philadelphia on June 10. The right-hander tossed seven scoreless frames and struck out nine as -210 road chalk against Carlos Zambrano. The win was the first in four career starts vs. the Cubs and he's 0-2 in two previous outings at Wrigley with a 4.84 ERA.

Halladay has been the biggest bread winner in 2011 among starting hurlers in the majors, raking in $11.80 for his backers. This will be the seventh time this season he's been priced at -200 or higher, and he's won five of the previous six with the only loss at home in mid-April The 'over' is 7-3 during his last 10 starts and 11-8 on the campaign.

Lopez (1-3, 4.02) has been swinging between the bullpen and rotation for Chicago with this his fifth start of '11 along with nine relief outings. His last three appearances before the break were starts, and three of his previous four starting assignments have been at Wrigley where he's posted a 4.66 overall ERA.

The right-hander came out of the bullpen twice during the mid-June series in Philly. Lopez worked a total of three innings, allowing two hits and no runs. He made two starts against the Phils in 2010 while pitching for the Diamondbacks, Arizona going 1-1 in the two games while Lopez was knocked around in 11 innings of work (17 hits, 10 ER, 2 HR).

The Phillies could see a player or three come off the disabled list during this series. Outfielder Shane Victorino (thumb) is the most likely player to be activated in the next few days, with relievers Brad Lidge (shoulder) and Jose Contreras (forearm) getting close.

A 50 percent chance of rain with possibly severe thunderstorms is in Monday's forecast for Second City. Warm and muggy appears to be the best weather to count on with 10-12 mph winds out of the WSW (out to right-center).

The series continues Tuesday night with an expected mound matchup of Cliff Lee vs. Matt Garza. The set comes to a close Wednesday afternoon when the Phillies send Vance Worley to the hill opposite Cubs veteran Ryan Dempster.

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Monday's Streaking and Slumping Starting Pitchers

STREAKING

Chad Billingsley (8-7, 3.87 ERA), Los Angeles Dodgers

Billingsley has won three of his last four trips to the hill, allowing only four combined runs over that span. In his last start before the break, he blanked the Padres over eight innings and hit the 100-strikeout plateau during a 1-0 win.

He did walk five batters in that start though and the Dodgers are 5-12 in his last 17 road contests.

Roy Halladay (11-3, 2.45 ERA), Philadelphia Phillies

No surprise with another Halladay appearance in Streakers, but he’ll head into Monday’s start against the Cubs well rested after the team pushed him back a couple of days. Halladay threw a couple of scoreless innings in the All-Star Game and the Phillies have won each of his last 10 outings.

Halladay has struck out at least seven batters in four of his last six starts and leads the league in starter money standings, up 11.87 units for his supporters.


SLUMPING

Jordan Lyles (0-4, 4.60 ERA), Houston Astros

Lyles takes the mound for the ninth time in search of his first win in the big leagues and looks to improve on a rough outing his last time last.

He gave up seven hits and five earned runs in a 6-3 loss to Florida, but Houston is more worried about his health down the road that a few frustrating starts now.

"Getting up to near 165, 170 [innings] is what we kind of thought about," manager Brad Mills told reporters about a season inning count for Lyles. "We might go over that a little bit, depending on where he's at. Those are some pretty good numbers. If he reaches that, we really need to take a look at it. You're looking at a 15-20 [innings] increase [over 2010]."

Kyle Davies (1-8, 7.74 ERA), Kansas City Royals

Davies has dropped each of his last seven starts and has lasted only 9 1/3 innings combined over his last three trips to the hill.

Maybe there was a silver lining in his last outing, a 6-4 loss to Detroit. Davies was terrible in the first three innings of that one, allowing five runs, but settled down the rest of the way to keep the Tigers off the scoreboard for the next three innings.

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HOT LINES

Monday's Best MLB Bets

Milwaukee Brewers at Arizona Diamondbacks (-115, 9)

It doesn’t sound like the Milwaukee Brewers are finished dealing just yet.

After making waves to pick up K-Rod from the Mets last week, word has it they’re zeroing in on Kansas City Royals third baseman Wilson Betemit.

This news comes following a tough couple of games for the Brew Crew coming out of the All-Star break. They were outscored 16-3 in the first two games of their series against Colorado before rebounding to earn a split in the four-game set.

Reports indicate the Brewers should have Ryan Braun back in the lineup Monday after he sat out Sunday’s game with a hamstring injury.

The Brewers have had a tough time on the road over the last little while and it’s hard to put too much trust in Randy Wolf. We’ll put our cash on this being a high-scoring affair.

PICK: Over


Florida Marlins at New York Mets (-130, 8)

The Florida Marlins just hope that Clay Hensley is what the rotation needs right now.

Hensley, who has been out of action since June 1 with a shoulder injury, will come off the DL to start Monday after coming out of the bullpen for the first part of the season.

“My heart’s always been in the rotation,” Hensley told reporters. “I was very happy to be doing what I was doing out of the bullpen.

“But to get the opportunity to do this again and get back in the rotation, it’s almost like I’m starting all over again.”

Hensley was a serviceable starter for the Padres back in 2006, but that was a long time ago. The Marlins are rolling right now with eight wins in their last nine games and the run support was great during a weekend series against the Cubs.

We’ll jump on board with Hensley at this price.

PICK: Florida

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Fenimore The Great

4 Units Minn -149

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Arthur Ralph Sports

679- 509 57 % Run over 3 YEARS

Free one MON Braves + 105

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Mighty Quinn

Mighty missed with the Cubs Sunday.

Monday it's the Mets. The deficit is 2419 sirignanos.

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Hondo

The Giants came up huge for Hondo yesterday, bringing the Padres to their knees to slash the ac counts payable to 1,715 clementes.

Tonight, Mr. Aitch will adhere to his strict "don't ask Dontrelle" policy. Instead, he'll try to cultivate a victory with McDonald, who used to be down on the farm -- 20 units on the Pirates.

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Gamblers Data

Free Play Monday

Braves - pick

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Baseball Crusher
Play of the Day:

Giants -135 over Dodgers