8-29-11

[timbob]

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[Mr. IWS]

Jets at Giants: What bettors need to know

New York Jets at New York Giants (+2.5, 35)

Weather Permitting

This game was originally scheduled for Saturday but was bumped to Monday because of Hurricane Irene. There was talk about moving the game time up on Saturday to try and squeeze play in before Irene hit, but the all parties involved thought moving the game to Monday was the best option.

"Along with the NFL office and the Jets, we have closely monitored the hurricane and the forecast and its potential impact on our area for the past several days," Giants owner John Mara said in a statement. "After conferring with (New Jersey) Governor (Chris) Christie, (Jets owner) Woody Johnson and (NFL) commissioner (Roger) Goodell, we have determined the best course of action for the safety and well-being of all is to move the game to Monday night."

A change on the fly like this isn’t new to the Giants. They had their Week 14 contest against the Vikings moved to a Monday night and a different field because of a severe snowstorm that damaged the Metrodome’s roof. Coughlin’s club won and covered that game 21-3 at Ford Field.

"We're getting good at mid-streak adjustments," Giants coach Tom Coughlin told reporters on Saturday. "I don't know if that is something you necessarily want to perfect, but I think we're close."

Starter Report

Giants: Coughlin said his starters would play the entire first half with the backups getting all the action in the second half. Top tailback Ahmad Bradshaw didn’t practice on Thursday and is iffy for Monday’s game against the Jets because of a sore back.

Jets: Gang Green coach Rex Ryan says he’ll play his starters in the first half and the first drive in the second half before turning to his depth players. Ryan also said he and his coaching staff will roll out a vanilla scheme against Giants.

“We always hold back in the preseason, but we still blitz and we still get after it,” Ryan told the Newark Star-Ledger. “But we don’t game plan… We never game plan defensively, anyway, in a preseason game.”

Backup QB Mark Brunell didn’t practice on Thursday and is doubtful to play Monday as well. That means rookie Greg McElroy should see the majority of action in the second half.

Plaxico Burress plays former teammates

Burress was the leading receiver for the Giants' Super Bowl team but now plays for the other New York football team. Burress, who spent the better part of two years behind bars on a gun case, is now catching passes for the Jets.

“Personally, I think I just needed a fresh start,” he told the New York Daily News. “If I wanted to go somewhere and make money, I could have went a couple other places and got a two- or three-year deal, different things like that. But I just wanted an opportunity to go somewhere fresh and have an opportunity to play for a great organization and a great coach in Rex and a great team.”

Ryan is singing praises about Burress this camp even though the often-injured wideout has missed several practices. Plaxico looked good last week against the Bengals and the Jets are hoping he can be a go-to target for QB Mark Sanchez in the red zone.

[Mr. IWS]

Baseball Crusher
Play of the Day:

Dodgers -155 over Padres

[Mr. IWS]

Football Crusher
Play of the Day:

Jets -150 over Giants

[Mr. IWS]

Northcoast

New York Giant's +3

[Mr. IWS]

BANG THE BOOK

Monday's Best NFL Bet

New York Jets at New York Giants (+2.5, 35)

The Meadowlands will surely be burning up with animosity on Saturday night, as NFL betting fans from the Empire State and the Garden State will love this clash between their hometown teams, the New York Jets and the New York Giants.

Head Coach Rex Ryan knows that this is a huge game for the psyche of his offense. He is expected to let QB Mark Sanchez quarterback at least through the end of the first half, and likely through the start of the third quarter as well, and he could be in for a big game. Sanchez hooked up with his newest target, WR Plaxico Burress for a TD in last week’s win over the Cincinnati Bengals, and we wouldn’t be shocked if these two did some more damage again this week. Still, this is going to be the last chance to get on the same page with WR Derrick Mason as well, and there are still lingering questions remaining about this offensive line, which hasn’t done all that well with the first teamers out there in the preseason. Do expect to see a lot of time for QB Greg McElroy as well, as he really is progressing nicely here in the preseason and should have his hands wrapped tightly around that second QB job behind Sanchez. McElroy threw for 208 yards and a score against the Houston Texans two weeks ago, and he came back and went 6-of-9 for 59 yards and a TD against the Bengals last week.

Meanwhile, the Giants are going to hope to pick up where they left off last week against the Chicago Bears. They dropped a whopping 41 points on the board and accounted for 380 yards of offense, 97 yards of which came on an electrifying run by RB Da’Rel Scott. RB Brandon Jacobs looks great, as do the other backups on this team, but we are waiting to see a little bit more out of starter RB Ahmad Bradshaw. For as well as the New York offense has played, QB Eli Manning just doesn’t feel like he has quite figured it out yet. He only went 8-of-16 for 78 yards last week against the Bears, and he only threw for 36 yards in the first preseason game as well. Even though Eli already has a ring to his name, we know that he is always under scrutiny in the Big Apple, and especially with one of his former favorite targets, Burress, sitting on the other sideline, there will be plenty of opportunities for the media hounds to make his life a living hell if he doesn’t play up to par against the stout Jets’ defense.

New York Jets @ New York Giants Pick: There’s more on the line here for the Giants than the Jets, and we tend to think that that is going to be the determining factor in this one. Give the boys in blue the slight nod, especially as short underdogs in a game that could be very tight and come down to the wire.

PICK: Giants +2.5

[Mr. IWS]

MLB NEWS AND NOTES
Philadelphia Phillies At Cincinnati Reds Betting Preview
By: Willie Bee


Philadelphia Phillies at Cincinnati Reds (+133, 8)

Hurricane Irene's disruption to the schedule behind us, Major League Baseball begins its final 31 days of the regular season on Monday when the Philadelphia Phillies visit the Cincinnati Reds for the first of a 4-game series.

ESPN's cameras will be on hand for the opener from Great American Ball Park where Phils southpaw Cole Hamels is expected to make his return from a short stint on the disabled list. He'll be opposed by Reds righty Homer Bailey in the 7:10 p.m. (ET) start.

Opening numbers on the Don Best odds screen listed the Phillies -150 with an 8-run total.

Charlie Manuel's club might have a little rust to shake off after sitting idle over the weekend due to the Atlantic storm. The final two home games against the Florida Marlins will be made up in a doubleheader about two weeks from now.

Philadelphia reached a season-high 35 games over .500 on Aug. 10, but has since gone 6-6. The Phillies enter this series on a mini 2-game slide, but have been a solid road squad overall this season at 37-24 (14-5 since the all-star break).

Monday's outing will be the first start for Hamels (16-9, 2.62) in 18 days after the left-hander was shelved due to shoulder inflammation. His most recent trip to the hill (Aug. 12) was a loss at home to the Nationals and Philadelphia is a pedestrian 3-3 in his six second-half starts.

Hamels carries a 6-2 personal record in 11 road games (2.82 ERA) with the Phillies going 8-3. The Phils are a perfect 9-0 when he takes on the Reds, a streak that includes a complete game shutout in the playoffs last season and a 10-3 win when the clubs met in Philadelphia this May carrying a -165 number on the betting line.

The Reds needed 14 innings, but they finished their home sweep of the Nationals on Sunday to push their record to 67-66 (-9.5 units) to move above .500 for the first time since they were 43-42 on July 3. It was Cincinnati's fourth consecutive triumph though it got them no closer than 13 games behind NL Central-leading Milwaukee entering the week.

This will be the sixth career appearance for Bailey (8-8, 4.44) against the Phillies, and fifth start, and looks to get off the schneid after all five of his previous outings vs. Philadelphia have ended in Cincinnati defeats. He faced the Phils in the May series at Citizens Bank Park and took the loss in a 10-4 Philadelphia cakewalk.

Bailey's career ERA vs. the Phillies is 6.30, including a couple of shutout innings in relief during last October's NLCS.

The good news for the Reds is they are 6-2 in Bailey's eight starts in Cincinnati this campaign. Philadelphia's available lineup for Monday has hit a collective .269 off the Reds righty with Ryan Howard and Raul Ibañez each taking Bailey deep once over the years.

This is the second and final meeting of the schedule for the clubs. The Phils took three of four at home back in May, all four of the contests cashing 'over' tickets with the totals running in the 7-8 run range. Cincinnati won two of the three played at Great American Ball Park last season when two of the games jumped the betting total.

Weather shouldn't be a factor for Monday's contest with a game-time temp in the 70s, partly cloudy skies and a slight NE breeze (in from left). The series continues Tuesday with a matchup of veteran right-handers, Roy Halladay and Bronson Arroyo.

[Mr. IWS]

Monday's Streaking and Slumping Starting Pitchers

STREAKING

Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers (16-5, 2.51 ERA)

Kershaw has been lights out the entire season, but he is in especially rare form at the moment. The southpaw has allowed only one run in his last three starts and he earned the win in all three. In that span, Kershaw has pitched 22 innings while allowing only 17 hits and three walks while striking out 23 hitters.

Ricky Romero, Toronto Blue Jays (12-9, 2.78 ERA)

Romero's record is nothing to write home about, but the lefty seems to improve year after year with an ERA in steady decline; 4.30 in 2009, 3.73 in 2010, and 2.78 so far in 2011. Romero is simply on fire at the moment. He is 5-0 in his last six starts, all of which have been effective--to say the least. In that span Romero has pitched 46.1 innings, surrendering only 22 hits and seven runs.

SLUMPING

Ricky Nolasco, Florida Marlins (9-9, 4.30 ERA)

Nolasco's numbers for the season are far from terrible, but he seems to be wearing down as the finish line approaches after a hot stretch in late July and early August. The veteran righty took the mound on August 17 at Colorado and lasted just three innings, surrendering 11 hits and 11 earned runs. Nolasco tried to bounce back at home against Cincinnati on Wednesday and while it got better, it still wasn't good. He scattered nine hits and four earned runs in 6.2 innings as Florida lost 8-6.

Kevin Slowey, Minnesota Twins (0-2, 6.84 ERA)

Almost nothing has been going right for the Twins this season, and Slowey is no exception. He had been coming out of the bullpen in the spring, but Minnesota pulled the plug on that and sent him to Triple-A. He is back in the starting rotation upon his mid-August return, but for Slowey it has just been more of the same. In two starts he has allowed 11 earned runs in 10.1 innings, taking the loss on both occasions.

[Mr. IWS]

HOT LINES

Monday's Best MLB Bets

Kansas City Royals at Detroit Tigers (-165)

The Tigers got blasted 11-4 at Minnesota on Sunday afternoon, but they have still won eight of their last 10 games and they have scored 20 runs in their last four outings.

Victor Martinez continues to do serious damage at the plate for Detroit. He is on a four-game hitting streak and has hit safely in seven of his last eight contests. Martinez has a total of five hits and five RBIs in his last three outings.

Things should go well for Detroit on the mound, as well, in Monday's home date with Kansas City. Max Scherzer is 2-0 in his last three outings and in his last two starts he has pitched 12 innings while allowing only three runs and striking out 10 batters. The Tigers are 6-2 in Scherzer's last eight home starts.

The Royals, meanwhile, are 0-4 in Luke Hochevar's last four starts overall.

PICK: Tigers


Florida Marlins at New York Mets (-125)

Thanks to Hurricane Irene, both teams will be well-rested heading into Monday's doubleheader. Florida had a pair of contests washed out at Philadelphia while New York remained at home and watched the storm cancel two games against Atlanta.

The Mets are in the midst of another season in which they are not going anywhere, but they should be eager to get back out there after a two-game winning streak (7-4 at Philadelphia on Wednesday, 6-0 against Atlanta on Friday).

Furthermore, R.A. Dickey is taking the mound. Dickey has made six consecutive quality starts, going at least six innings in all of those outings while never yielding more than three earned runs.

Anibal Sanchez gets the call for the Marlins, and that has not been good news of late. He is just 1-5 in his last 13 starts (1-5 in that span) and he has not held an opponent to fewer than three earned runs in his last six appearances.

On July 24, the Mets got to Sanchez for 11 hits and four runs in seven innings

PICK: Mets

[Mr. IWS]

Monday's Betting Tips: Tulowitzki Rocking For Rockies

Who's Hot

MLB: The Orioles are 6-0 in their last six overall heading into Sunday night's game against the Yankees.

MLB: The Diamondbacks are 5-0 in their last five overall and 8-0 in their last eight home games.

MLB: The Dodgers were 5-0 overall and 5-0 in their last five home games as of Sunday evening.

ATP: Mardy Fish is 14-3 on the American hard courts this summer.

Who's Not

MLB: The Mariners are 0-4 in their last four home games.

MLB: The Blue Jays are 1-4 in their last five overall and 1-4 in their last five home games.

MLB: The Cubs are 1-6 in their last seven overall and 0-4 in their last four home games.

ATP: Fernando Gonzalez has played only six matches this season--and only one since Wimbledon--due to injury.

Injury Not To Be Overlooked

Yankees' right-hander Freddy Garcia is back from a stint on the disabled list and will get the nod on Monday night at Baltimore. Garcia has not pitched since August 7 because of a finger injury. Prior to going on the DL, Garcia was 3-0 in his last four starts and had allowed only six runs in his last 24.1 innings.

Key Stat

.392 - Troy Tulowitzki's batting average since the All-Star break, including .412 over the past 30 days. The Rockies' shortstop has a five-game hitting going (as of Sunday) and has hit safely in 11 of the last 12 games. Tulowitzki has six hits in his last three outings, including six home runs and three RBIs. He will look to keep up the hot streak on Monday at Arizona.

Game Of The Day

NFL PRESEASON: New York Jets at New York Giants (2.5, 35.5)

Notable Quotable

"I’m not backing down from one comment. I believe we are the best team in New York. My goal is to be the best team in the National Football League, not just in New York, and I’m not backing down one bit from that statement. I believe that will be the case." -- Jets' head coach Rex Ryan on Saturday, reiterating his previous declaration that his team is the best in New York. The Jets play the Giants on Monday night.

Tips And Notes

Syracuse opens its college football season at home against Wake Forest on Thursday night and the Orange would be feeling good if they looked at nothing else other than Wake's 3-9 record from a year ago. However, Syracuse is 0-6 in its last six home games against the ACC. Head coach Doug Marrone isn't about to overlook a speedy Demon Deacon squad. "They run to the ball well," Marrone said in a weekend press conference. "They hustle well. Again, they have speed which is always a concern. We're starting the season off with a great challenge."

Georgia Tech will be hosting a new-look Western Carolina team when it opens the season against the Catamounts on Thursday. That's good news for Western, because--after all--it cannot get any worse. The Catamounts went 2-9 last year, ended on six-game losing streak, ranked 101st in total offense, 104th in scoring, and 110th in total defense out of 117 FCS schools. They head into this season with a new offense and a new starting quarterback. Western will feature a high-tempo attack with multiple formations led by the pistol, which was popularized by Nevada.

Roger Federer is 33-0 in the first round of his last 33 Grand Slam appearances. Starting at the 2003 U.S. Open, Federer won 24 consecutive first-round matches at slams in straight sets, a streak that extended through the 2009 U.S. Open. That does not bode well for unheralded opponent Santiago Giraldo on Monday.

[Mr. IWS]

Cappers Access

Jets
W.Sox(RL)

[Mr. IWS]

Hondo

The perfect storm of brutal beatings continued for Hondo last night when The Good Weaver, who looks as awful as The Bad Weaver, was roughed up in Texas to raise the deficit to 2,655 trammells.

Tonight, Mr. Aitch is hoping a play on the Rays will be beneficial -- 20 units on Davis to extinguish the Jays.

[Mr. IWS]

Gamblers Data

Free Play Monday

Angels/Mariners over 9

[Mr. IWS]

Today's MLB Picks

Philadelphia at Cincinnati

The Phillies look to take advantage of a Cincinnati team that is 2-9 in Homer Bailey's last 11 starts against NL East teams. Philadelphia is the pick (-145) according to Dunkel, which has the Phillies favored by 1/2 a run. Dunkel Pick: Philadelphia (-145). Here are all of today's picks.

MONDAY, AUGUST 29 Time Posted: 7:00 a.m. EST

Game 901-902: Florida at NY Mets (7:10 p.m. EST) Dunkel Ratings: Florida (Nolasco) 13.930; NY Mets (Gee) 15.466 Dunkel Line: NY Mets by 1 1/2; 7 Vegas Line: NY Mets (-120); 8 Dunkel Pick: NY Mets (-120); Under

Game 903-904: Philadelphia at Cincinnati (7:10 p.m. EST) Dunkel Ratings: Philadelphia (Hamels) 15.454; Cincinnati (Bailey) 14.751 Dunkel Line: Philadelphia by 1/2; 9 Vegas Line: Philadelphia (-145); 8 Dunkel Pick: Philadelphia (-145); Over

Game 905-906: Pittsburgh at Houston (8:05 p.m. EST) Dunkel Ratings: Pittsburgh (Ohlendorf) 14.794; Houston (Rodriguez) 14.448 Dunkel Line: Pittsburgh by 1/2; 8 1/2 Vegas Line: Houston (-135); 8 Dunkel Pick: Pittsburgh (+115); Over

Game 907-908: Colorado at Arizona (9:40 p.m. EST) Dunkel Ratings: Colorado (White) 15.766; Arizona (Hudson) 16.358 Dunkel Line: Arizona by 1/2; 8 1/2 Vegas Line: Arizona (-170); 9 Dunkel Pick: Arizona (-170); Under

Game 909-910: San Diego at LA Dodgers (10:10 p.m. EST) Dunkel Ratings: San Diego (Latos) 14.023; LA Dodgers (Kershaw) 16.543 Dunkel Line: LA Dodgers by 2 1/2; 6 Vegas Line: LA Dodgers (-160); 5 1/2 Dunkel Pick: LA Dodgers (-160); Over

Game 911-912: Chicago Cubs at San Francisco (10:15 p.m. EST) Dunkel Ratings: Cubs (Wells) 15.374; San Francisco (Lincecum) 14.194 Dunkel Line: Chicago Cubs by 1; 6 Vegas Line: San Francisco (-240); 6 1/2 Dunkel Pick: Chicago Cubs (+200); Under

Game 913-914: Oakland at Cleveland (7:05 p.m. EST) Dunkel Ratings: Oakland (McCarthy) 15.276; Cleveland (Huff) 14.156 Dunkel Line: Oakland by 1; 7 1/2 Vegas Line: Cleveland (-125); 8 1/2 Dunkel Pick: Oakland (+105); Under

Game 915-916: Kansas City at Detroit (7:05 p.m. EST) Dunkel Ratings: Kansas City (Hochevar) 14.661; Detroit (Scherzer) 15.699 Dunkel Line: Detroit by 1; 9 1/2 Vegas Line: Detroit (-165); 8 1/2 Dunkel Pick: Detroit (-165); Over

Game 917-918: Tampa Bay at Toronto (7:07 p.m. EST) Dunkel Ratings: Tampa Bay (Davis) 15.559; Toronto (Romero) 15.940 Dunkel Line: Toronto by 1/2; 9 Vegas Line: Toronto (-155); 8 1/2 Dunkel Pick: Toronto (+135); Over

Game 919-920: NY Yankees at Baltimore (7:05 p.m. EST) Dunkel Ratings: NY Yankees (Garcia) 16.418; Baltimore (Simon) 15.567 Dunkel Line: NY Yankees by 1; 8 1/2 Vegas Line: No Line Dunkel Pick: N/A

Game 921-922: Minnesota at Chicago White Sox (8:10 p.m. EST) Dunkel Ratings: Minnesota (Slowey) 15.363; White Sox (Buehrle) 15.166 Dunkel Line: Minnesota by 1/2; 10 Vegas Line: Chicago White Sox (-210); 8 1/2 Dunkel Pick: Minnesota (+180); Over

Game 923-924: LA Angels at Seattle (10:10 p.m. EST) Dunkel Ratings: LA Angels (Pineiro) 15.218; Seattle (Beavan) 15.586 Dunkel Line: Seattle by 1/2; 6 1/2 Vegas Line: LA Angels (-120); 8 Dunkel Pick: Seattle (+100); Under

Game 925-926: Florida at NY Mets (4:10 p.m. EST) Dunkel Ratings: Florida (Sanchez) 14.856; NY Mets (Dickey) 14.327 Dunkel Line: Florida by 1/2; 8 1/2 Vegas Line: NY Mets (-135); 8 Dunkel Pick: Florida (+115); Over

[Mr. IWS]

Today's NFL Picks

NY Jets at NY Giants

The Jets look to follow up their 27-7 win over Cincinnati in Week 2 as they take on the crosstown rival Giants tonight. The Jets are the pick (-2 1/2) according to Dunkel, which has the Jets favored by 4 1/2. Dunkel Pick: NY Jets (-2 1/2). Here are all of this week's picks.

MONDAY, AUGUST 29 Time Posted: 9:00 a.m. EST (8/26)

Game 283-284: NY Jets at NY Giants (7:00 p.m. EST) Dunkel Ratings: NY Jets 123.375; NY Giants 118.706 Dunkel Line: NY Jets by 4 1/2; 40 Vegas Line: NY Jets by 2 1/2; 37 Dunkel Pick: NY Jets (-2 1/2); Over