Drew Gordon Write Ups
Today's Games...
1. 200,000♦ Jazz
2. 50,000♦ Pirates
3. 50,000♦ Cardinals
1. Jazz- Basketball is a game of streaks. Sometimes a good team will run cold, and we fade them. Other times, a good team runs hot, and then alarm bells start ringing to jump on the bandwagon. Utah falls in the latter category, crushing San Antonio and New Orleans in back-to-back games, but the difference here is that they didn't do it with offense, but instead with outstanding defense. Utah has always been more proficient on the offensive end, but if they can lock down elite teams like they have in their last two, they become infinitely more dangerous.
Anyone who's seen these two teams play, knows they can score in bunches, with both squads averaging about 103 ppg over their last 5 games. However, clearly the difference is defense, as the Jazz are allowing just 79 ppg over their last 4 games! When Boozer, Williams, and Okur can go a combined 16 for 45, and the Jazz still win by 11, in New Orleans no less, that's saying a lot!
Critics of this play will argue that the Mavericks have more to play for, sitting in the 7th seed, up 2 games from the 8th, with 4 games remaining, but I disagree. The Jazz are playing for playoff position, and are just 2 games back from the 2nd seed with a game against San Antonio in the regular season finale. Not only that, but barring a complete collapse, the Mavericks are set, with games against some pretty weak competition still on their schedule, including at Portland (who's struggling) and at Seattle (who's terrible).
Bottom line, the one knock against Utah has been their defensive effort on the road, but they answered a lot of questions by shutting down Chris Paul and his Hornets in New Orleans Tuesday. Look for them to build off that game with another impressive effort tonight in Dallas. Utah may not win the game (it wouldn't surprise me if they did), but they sure as hell will keep it close enough to cover.
Take the Jazz plus the points over the Mavericks as your top-rated play of the day.
2. Pirates- It took 27 innings for the Cubs to take the first two games of this series, and try as they might to complete the sweep tonight, I say the Pirates and Matt Morris protect their house in this one and here's why:
While Morris was far from impressive in his season debut against the Marlins, allowing 3 earned on 8 hits over 5 innings, he has had plenty of success against the Cubbies in the past, going 12-8 with a 4.50 ERA. In fact, going back a couple years, when he was a member of the Cardinals, he dominated Chicago, going 10-2 with 3.18 ERA. Look for Morris to recapture some of that old magic tonight, especially considering the way the Pirates offense is producing.
Speaking of the Pirates batting order, scoring runs hasn't been a problem, with 46 scored so far this season, good for 4th in the N.L.. And when you consider that was done largely without the help of Bay or Laroche, both of which finally got in on the action yesterday, it makes those 46 runs even more impressive.
Rich Hill gets the start for the Cubs, and unlike the Pirates, run support has already started to become an issue for the talented southpaw. Last season he received the 2nd lowest run support in the Majors, and the fact that it became an issue in his very first start of this season has to be frustrating. He pitched a solid game against the Astros (allowing 2 runs over 6 innings), but the Cubs eventually lost 4-3, costing him the decision. Note the last time he pitched in Pittsburgh, he got rocked for 6 runs on 9 hits over 6 innings.
Bottom line, look for Pittsburgh to avoid the sweep, as they've pushed this Cubs team to extra innings twice and come up short, but tonight, they get the job done behind Morris. As mentioned above, Hill has had his troubles in Pittsburgh, and with the Pirates batting order swinging the bats well, he could easily find himself in trouble once again tonight.
Take the Pirates behind Morris over the Chicago Cubs and Hill in this MLB match up.
3. Cardinals- Redbirds are favored here for a reason, but let's start with their strong play out of the gate, winning 7 of their last 8 games, thanks in large part to some rock-solid starting pitching, posting a combined 1.99 ERA so far this season! One of the pitchers who's contributed to that lockdown ERA is Adam Wainwirght, who gets the start tonight.
Wainwright first start of the season was excellent, limiting the Nationals to 2 runs on 8 hits over 8 solid innings of work. We've seen the Cardinals big righty really progress since last year's All-Star Break, posting a 2.71 ERA after that point, and now comes into this season looking even sharper. Forget about his 1-0 record with a 4.91 ERA in 2 career relief appearances against the Giants, as he's a much better pitcher at this point in his career, and San Fran will find that out the hard way in this one.
Speaking of San Fran, there isn't much positive to say about their efforts this season. They rank last or close to last in almost every important offensive category there is, while their starting pitchers have posted a below average 4.70 ERA thus far this season. For as good as Wainwright has been, the Giants batting order could find themselves struggling once again tonight, as they're batting only .220 on the season, while scoring a Major League low 20 runs.
Finally, not too impressed with Kevin Correia, who gets the start for the Giants tonight. He was decent against the Brewers, despite suffering from a stomach virus, but that's not where the criticism ends. In fact, Correia has had trouble against the Redbirds in the past, going 0-1 with 5.14 ERA in 7 careers outings (1 start) against them. Again, he's decent, but considering the Cardinals edge with Wainwright, and their edge at the plate (batting over 40 percentage points higher - .262 and scoring almost twice as many runs - 39) look for the Cardinals to get their 8th win in their last 9 games tonight at AT&T Park.
Take the Cardinals behind Wainwright over the Giants and Correia in late MLB action.