Comps
San Diego at NY YANKEES (-125) Sports Gambling Hotline
Tough to make a case against the NY Yankees right now, so we won't!
Take New York to extend their winning streak to a season-high 6 in a row tonight at home against the slumping Fathers.
San Diego is just 11-23 on the road this season, and are currently in the midst of a 2-game slide, and have also dropped 4 of their last 7 games.
The Padres were shutout last night, and will be hard-pressed to keep pace with the Yankees' offense which is now firing on all cylinders. You may say that Jake Peavy should have the decided edge over his counterpart Darrell Rasner, but take a look a Peavy's road ERA for this season, it stands at 5.40, and in his last road assignment, he did allow 4 runs in just 4 innings of work at Wrigley Field.
We have a feeling the Yanks will continue their hot-hitting, and improve on their 10-3 run their last 13 games.
Play on the Bronx Bombers.
3♦ NY YANKEES
Toronto at MILWAUKEE (-135) Chris Jordan
Ben Sheets continues to have one of his best seasons ever, and comes into this one off a solid performance against the Astros. Anyone who watched his outing saw he seemingly got better as the game progressed, as the right-hander turned in a seven-inning, three-run quality start to notch his third straight win. Sheets was stifling in striking out seven of the final 14 batters he faced en route to a season-high nine K?s, while improving to 7-1 with a 2.72 ERA on the season.
Toronto came into this series mired in a 4-10 slump, and now has to hope to thwart the efforts of one of the better performing hurlers in the National League? I doubt it?ll happen since the Crew rolled into this series on a 13-6 run, and a 23-9 tear when Sheets toes the rubber. The Jays, meanwhile, come in on a 1-4 skid in Shaun Marcum?s last five starts and came into this series on a 1-4 skid against the N.L. Central. Lay the value with Sheets here.
4♦ BREWERS (LIST Sheets and Marcum)
Oakland at ARIZONA (-140) Bobby Maxwel
Arizona is sending former Oakland ace Dan Haren (6-4, 3.41 ERA) to the mound in this one to take on his former mates and the D'Backs need him to deliver big after geting blown out Tuesday 15-1 in the series opener.
The D'Backs have won Haren's last three starts and on Thursday he gave up two runs on five hits in six innings in New York as Arizona beat the Mets 5-4. He's got a 2.25 ERA in his last three starts and 20 innings of work.
In the Arizona desert, Haren is 6-1 with a 2.56 ERA in eight outings in front of the home fans.
Joe Blanton (3-9, 4.23) goes for Oakland and he's hoping for any offensive support from his mates after they've managed just twor runs or less in six of his nine losses, including just one run in each of his last two. On Thursday, the Yankees got four runs in 6 2/3 innings off Blanton as they beat the A's 4-1 in Oakland. On the highway, Blanton is 2-2 this season with a 4.88 ERA.
We're going to side with the home team in this one as Haren shuts down his former teammates. Play the D'Backs.
3♦ ARIZONA
Jim Feist
My free pick of the day is the game between (963) ATL Braves and (964) TEX Rangers.
Take "(964) Texas Rangers
A tough spot for the Braves, who will be playing their 9th straight road game. They have traveled to Chicago, LA, Colorado and now Texas. They are also banged up with injuries, losing 13 of 20. Texas has the best offense in baseball, scoring more runs than anyone. Atlanta is 10-25 on the road where they average just 3.8 runs. Play the Rangers!
Dave Cokin
My free pick of the day is the game between (979) FLA Marlins and (980) SEA Mariners.
Take "(979) Florida Marlins
R.A. Dickey is on the mound for the Mariners on Wednesday night as they close out their series with the Marlins. Dickey has been tremendous out of the pen for Seattle, but the knuckleballer's two starts were both pretty ugly. The Mariners could have another tough offensive night here against the serves of Marlins rookie Ryan Tucker. He's one of the best prospects in the Florida system, featuring a big fastball that regularly checks in at 95+. Tucker's command is still not there and he's going to have some rough spots for sure. But against a soft Seattle offense that doesn't always show much patience, Tucker has a good shot to nail down a win tonight. I'll go with the Marlins to score the road win over the inept Mariners.
James Patrick Diamond Club
Braves vs. Rangers 8:05 p.m. est.
Bravos and the Rangers have played OVER the TOTAL in five of seven match-ups and we look for that trend to continue tonight in Arlington. Our complimentary selection is #964
Atlanta ? Texas OVER the TOTAL
BRAD DIAMOND
Play on: Philadelphia (Kendrick( over Boston (Masterson)
Like the way young RHP Masterson of Boston has developed this season, but he throws into a difficult venue on Wednesday afternoon at the Bank in Philadelphia. Philly with Kendrick starting are 10-1, while the Sox are a horrid 4-11 on the road versus RHP.
Marc Lawrence
Play On: Milwaukee w/Sheets vs. Marcum.
Note: When the Brewers send big Ben Sheets to the hill in Milwaukee this evening against Shawn Marcum and the Blue Jays they'll do so knowing Sheets is in great KW form with 6 walks and 46 strikeouts in his last eight starts. He's also 5-0 in his last five home starts in June and 5-1 in Wednesdays the last three years. With Marcum winless in his last four June starts, look for Sheets and the Brewers to trounce Toronto here tonight.
Alex Smart
Game: Kansas City Royals vs. St Louis Cardinals
Game Time: 6/18/2008 8:15:00 PM
Prediction: St Louis Cardinals
Brian Bannister the KC Royals starting pitcher tonight against the St.Louis Cardinals, is just 2-6 in his L11 starts along with a hefty 6.36 ERA. The right hander has looked particularly bad on the road, where is 0-4 along with a ugly looking 11.74 ERA in his L5 starts away from Kansas City.
His pitching opponent from the Cards ,Braden Looper (8-5,4.34 ERA) looked fantastic in his last start , recording his first career shutout , while retiring the L11 batters he faced. I expect he will carry the momentum of his last win into this tilt.
Bottom line: Considering Bannisters road troubles, and Loopers last performance, the pitching matchup very mch favors the Cards, as does home field advantage. With that said , Im recommending we back St.Louis to bring us home the dough against the moneyline.
Final notes & Key Trends: Cardinals are 5-0 in Loopers last 5 starts following a Quality Start in his last appearance . KC has lost 20 of their 28 games overall. Play on the Cards
Tom Freese Blue Line Club
San Diego at New York (7:05pm)
San Diego is 12-5 UNDER after allowing 5 or more runs in their last game and they are 9-3 UNDER 9-3 UNDER in Game 2 of s series. The Padres are 6-2 UNDER with Jake Peavy if their opponent scored 5 or more runs in their last game. The Yankees are 21-7-1 UNDER their last 29 as favorites of -110 to -150 and they are 6-2 UNDER with Darrell Rasner on the mound as a favorite. PLAY ON 'UNDER' (Rasner vs. Peavy)
Robert Ross
Game: Toronto Blue Jays at Milwaukee Brewers Jun 18 2008 8:05PM
Prediction: Toronto Blue Jays
Reason: Jays look to bounce back off last night's seven run loss. Starter Marcum is 9-3 against the money line as a road underdog of +100 or higher over the last 2 seasons. (Team's Record) Take Toronto!
Jimmy The Moose
Game: Toronto Blue Jays at Milwaukee Brewers Jun 18 2008 8:05PM
Prediction: Milwaukee Brewers
Reason: The Blue Jays have lost 9 of their last 12 games. Toronto is 1-5 in their last 6 road games. In their last 55 games as an interleague road underdog the Jays are 18-37. Toronto has lost 4 of Marcum's last 5 starts. The Jays are having trouble putting up runs and that will continue tonight vs. Ben Sheets. His ERA over his last 3 starts is 2.08. The Brewers have won 9 of his last 13 home starts. Milwaukee is 23-9 in his last 32 starts. The Brewers have won 8 of their last 10 home games. Play on the Milwaukee Brewers
Big Al Mcmordie
Game: Detroit Tigers at San Francisco Giants Jun 18 2008 3:45PM
Prediction: Detroit Tigers
Reason: At 3:45 pm, our member selection is on the Detroit Tigers over San Francisco. Last night, we won our strongest play of the season-to-date (our Interleague Game of the Year) on these same Detroit Tigers, and many of the same reasons for that release are present this afternoon. As I mentioned yesterday, the Tigers murder lefties, and have won 40 of their last 60 games vs. southpaw starters. Moreover, Detroit is an incredible 34-10 its last 44 vs. the National League in Interleague play. It just doesn't get any better than that! And going into last night's game, Detroit was hitting 28 points higher vs. lefties than righties (.289 vs. .261) and is now 12-5 vs. lefties this season (compared to 21-33 vs. righties)! Today, they even catch a break, as one of the WORST lefties is Barry Zito, a complete bust for the Giants since leaving their crosstown rivals, the A's, after the 2006 season. Zito is a miserable 2-10 this year, and he'll be matched up against a terrific looking rookie for Detroit (Armando Galarraga), whose ERA is 3.31, to go with a 6-2 record. Galarraga is coming off his best performance of the year, a 7-inning, 3-hit, 0-run outing vs. the Dodgers, and has won his last three starts. He's also been his best away from home, compiling a 4-1 record with a 2.33 ERA in five starts. Take Detroit
Stephen Nover
Detroit Tigers @ San Francisco Giants Jun 18, 2008 3:45PM
PICK: Detroit Tigers -142
REASON FOR PICK: Maybe Barry Zito can win a home game for the Giants. Yeah, and maybe the price of gas will start going down.
Wishing is one thing, reality is another. The Giants' reality is they have dropped six of their last seven home games, have failed to score more than three runs in five of their last seven games and aren't good enough to beat any quality club unless Tim Lincecum is pitching.
Zito is not Lincecum. He's the free agent bust poster child. Zito is 0-6 at AT&T Park this season with a 6.60 ERA. The southpaw is 0-4 in day games with an ERA of close to 8.00.
The Tigers are 11-5 versus lefties. They are hitting close to .300 against them. Detroit is coming on, winning nine of its last 11 games.
There's a big differrence between these teams. The Tigers are much better. The pitching matchup favors Detroit, too.
Rookie Armando Galarraga has been more than solid, especially on the road and in day contests. He's 4-1 away from Detroit with a 2.23 ERA. He's also 3-0 during the day with an ERA under 2.00.
The Tigers have won eight of Galarraga's 10 starts. The Giants are 1-7 in interleague action this season.