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Rays vs Yankees Free Pick May 9, 2012
The season is only 30 games old and the cream has not risen to the top as of yet, but two teams that have played well this season meet tonight as the Tampa Bay Rays visit the New York Yankees. This is the second game of the series and the Yankees won the first game 5-3 on Tuesday night. One thing worrying Yankees supporters is who will take over the closing duties for the injured Mariano Rivera, who has handled that job for close to an entire generation. David Robertson may be that person, as he saved the game last night.
The Yankees are 16-13 on the season and will have rookie David Phelps on the mound tonight. Phelps is 0-1 with an ERA of 3.74. This will most likely be his last turn in the Yankee rotation, as veteran Andy Pettitte will start his season on Sunday. Phelps made his debut as a starter when Rivera tore his ACL. He allowed two runs over four innings but did not get the decision. He has appeared twice in long relief stints, with six strikeouts over 8 1/3 innings.
The Rays are 19-11 on the season and will send Jeff Neimann to the mound. Neimann is 2-3 on the season with an ERA of 4.05. He is 0-3 away from Tampa, but his teammates have only produced four runs in those three starts. Neimann however, has pitched well in New York. He is 2-0 at Yankee Stadium with an ERA of 3.00.
The line has the Yankees as the favorite at home -125, while Tampa is +115. The total is sitting at 9.5. This game will be a hitters game, as both pitchers have proven they are not playing at their top levels as of yet. Take the Yankees to win with the total ending OVER.
Rangers vs Orioles Free Pick May 7, 2012
Two of the top teams in all of baseball thus far in the season meet tonight as the Texas Rangers visit the Baltimore Orioles. The Rangers have dominated the head to head series with the Orioles over the last six games. Texas has outscored Baltimore by 29 runs over that stretch of games. However, this season the teams seem to better matched. The Rangers currently have a record of 18-10, while the Orioles are one better at 19-9.
Baltimore is winners of five consecutive and owns the best record in the American League. The four game series will see the Orioles send Brian Matusz to the mound in tonight’s first game. Matusz is 1-3 on the season with an ERA of 4.67. He had an impressive outing his last time out giving up only one run over 6 1/3 innings in a win over the Yankees. The Rangers will counter with Matt Harrison who is 3-2 on the season with an ERA of 5.40. He won his first three starts this season posting an ERA of 1.66, but has looked miserable in his last two starts.
Chris Davis has been hitting a ton for the Orioles. Davis will be facing his former team for the first time and in his last 10 games is hitting .400 with four home runs and 10 runs batted in. Texas has dropped four of their last five and their offense went 1 out of 7 with runners in scoring position in their Sunday loss to Cleveland. Ranger, Josh Hamilton has a .395 average over his last nine games against Baltimore.
The current line has the Rangers as the favorite on the road at -140, with the Orioles at +120. The total is at 9.5. Take the Orioles in this game, as they will knock Harrison around and the total will end OVER.
Orioles vs Red Sox Free Pick May 4, 2012
The Baltimore Orioles visit Fenway Park Friday night for game one of a weekend series against the Boston Red Sox. Baltimore has started lightning fast this season and is 16-9, their best start since 2005. This is the first time the teams have met since Baltimore took five of seven from Boston last season, when the Red Sox blew a nine-game lead in their division.
Boston is 11-13 on the season and has started slow with new manager Bobby Valentine. In the first game of the series, the Red Sox will use ace Jon Lester. Lester is 1-2 on the season with an ERA of 4.65. Lester is 14-0 lifetime against the Orioles in 18 career starts, with an ERA of 2.36. At Fenway Park Lester is 7-0 with an ERA of 2.16 against the Orioles.
Baltimore took two of their three games against the New York Yankees before arriving in Boston. On Wednesday, they shut out the Yankees 5-0. Baltimore will have Wei-Yin Chen on the mound Friday. Chen is 2-0 on the season with an ERA of 2.22. The southpaw pitched seven innings in his last outing in a 10-1 victory against Oakland. Baltimore coming into the game is winners of 8 of their last 10.
Boston started their home stand on a negative note, as they lost two of their three games against Oakland. They are 1-7 in their last eight home games. Adrian Gonzalez their key hitter was hitless in 4 at bats and struck out with the bases jammed to end a rally in the seventh. He then grounded out in the ninth to end the game on Wednesday. With runners in scoring position, the Red Sox were hitless in 13 at bats.
The current line has the Red Sox as the favorite -175 with Baltimore at +165. The run total is 8.5. Smart money takes the Red Sox in this game behind their ace Lester with the total ending UNDER.
Mariners vs Rays Free Pick April 30, 2012
The Seattle Mariners take on the Tampa Bay Rays in game one of a four game set today. The Rays have come out of the gate quick and are 14-8 on the season. They will have Jeremy Hellickson on the mound against the ace for the Seattle Mariners, Felix Hernandez. The Rays beat the Texas Rangers twice over the weekend including a 5-2 win to end the series on Sunday. Ben Zobrist has been hitting well for the Rays as he had a single, double and triple in Sunday’s win at Texas.
Tampa Bay has defeated the Mariners in seven of their last eight meetings in Tampa, including the last four consecutive games. Hellickson is 3-0 with an ERA of 2.84 on the season and is 2-0 with an ERA of 0.61 at home. Last season he was 3-0 with an ERA of 0.81 in three starts against Seattle.
Seattle will have Hernandez on the mound, who is 2-1 with an ERA of 2.48 thus far this season. Over his last two starts, the Cy Young winner is 1-0 with an ERA of 0.60. Hernandez has not had his best stuff in some of his starts but he knows how to get through innings and get through games with a win.
Seattle is currently on a 10 game road trip. They won the first four games, but have lost two straight after losing Saturday and Sunday at Toronto. Hernandez for his career is 3-2 with an ERA of 2.42 against the Rays. Desmond Jennings has an 11-game hitting streak, but is hitless in his career against Hernandez
The line has the Rays as the favorite -115 to the Mariners +105. The run total is at 7. This game should be low scoring with two aces on the mound. The total should end UNDER with the Rays taking the first game of the series.
Braves vs Dodgers Free Pick April 25, 2012
The Atlanta Braves play the Los Angeles Dodgers in the third game of a three game series tonight. The teams have split the first two games of the series. Atlanta has a record on the season of 11-7, while the Dodgers are 13-5. Both teams have excellent offenses but the two offenses could be shut down in this game, as both starters for each team are off to impressive starts.
The Braves will start Brandon Beachy who is 2-1 with an ERA of just 0.47. In all three of his starts, he has only allowed three or fewer hits. In his last outing, he struck out five and did not walk a batter in 7 1/3 innings in a win over Arizona 9-1.
Lilly is 2-0 with an ERA of 0.69 and has almost been as impressive as Beachy to start the season. In his first outing of the season, he allowed just two hits over seven innings for a 6-1 win and in this latest outing, he gave up just four hits over six innings in a win over the Houston Astros.
Lilly over his last five starts, dating back to last season has an ERA of just 0.54 with five consecutive wins over that span. The bats of the Braves will have something to say about Lilly success tonight. The Braves lead the National League in runs scored with 97 and are second in the NL in home runs with 21. In their win last night over the Dodgers, the Braves got a home run from Chipper Jones to help celebrate his 40th birthday. Jones is enjoying his 19th season in the majors.
The Dodgers are averaging over 5 runs per game at home this season and are carried by the bats of Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp. Kemp is leading the majors in batting with a .455 average and has nine homers along with 22 RBIs.
The line is at 7 with the Dodgers favored at -110 and the Braves at +110. Take the Dodgers in this game with the total UNDER.
Yankees vs Red Sox Free Pick April 20, 2012
Rivalries in any sport make the sport more interesting and make for great storylines and betting lines. Tonight’s matchup is one of baseball’s most storied rivalries. The Boston Red Sox host the New York Yankees at Fenway Park, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary. Both clubs have not had the best of starts to the season as the Yankees are just 7-6 on the season and the Red Sox are 4-8.
This rivalry in Fenway Park started on April 20, 1912, exactly one hundred years to the date of tonight’s matchup. The Yankees have had their problems thus far and Derek Jeter has not played well at the plate. He will be facing the Boston’s Clay Buchholz who is 1-0 with an ERA of 9.82. One Yankee not looking forward to facing Buchholz is Curtis Granderson who is a career 0 for 11 against the pitcher. Buchholz is 2-3 lifetime in seven starts against New York, but at Fenway he is 0-2 in three starts.
Boston has lost three consecutive games while at home, including a short two game series against the Texas Rangers. Ivan Nova will be going for the Yankees and he has been one of their few bright spots thus far in the season. Nova is 2-0 with an ERA of 4.15, but is 0-1 at Fenway in two starts over his career.
Last season the teams met eight times at Fenway and each team won four games. Since the regular season of 2000, the Yankees are 55-54 in their 109 games at the home of the fabled Green Monster. Boston is favored at -105, while Yankees line is +105. The total is at 10. This rivalry usually does not take into consideration won and loss records, all that is left in the clubhouse. The game should be close, but the home team Red Sox will take this game with the total ending Over.
Astros vs Nationals April 19, 2012
Tonight at Nationals Park in Washington, the Washington Nationals host the Houston Astros in the last game of a four game series. Washington has jumped out to a strong start this season as they are 10-3 and that is due to the superb pitching the team has started the season with. They are currently tied for the lead in the majors in victories with 10.
The Nationals have taken the first three games of the series against the Astros and will have Edwin Jackson on the mound tonight. Jackson is 1-0 on the season with an ERA of 2.57. Jackson has pitched with seven different teams in the majors in his nine seasons in the big leagues. On Saturday, he threw a two-hitter using just 92 pitches in a 4-1 win over Cincinnati.
Against Houston Jackson is 2-0 with an ERA of 3.65 over five games. Adam DeRoche is leading the Nationals with a .314 batting average with 2 home runs and 13 RBIs. His RBI total is third in the National League. Bud Norris is scheduled to start for the Astros who are just 4-8 on the season and digging themselves a big hole. Norris has no decisions on the season and his ERA is 3.46. His last victory came last August in Chicago and since then in eight starts, he is 0-3 with an ERA of 4.21.
The Astros are 1-7 in their last eight games and have lost four straight. Norris’ career record is 1-0 against Washington with an ERA of 2.63. The Astros’ Chris Johnson has gone 0 for 7 since his hitting streak was stopped at nine games in Tuesday night’s 1-0 loss to the Nationals. The Nationals have outscored the Astros in the series 10-5. The line is at 7 for the OVER and the Nationals are -155, while the Astros are +145. Take the Nationals to sweep the series with the run total UNDER the posted 7.
Syracuse vs. UNC Ashville Free Pick
Orangemen
The Syracuse Orange starts their NCAA tournament as one of the top seeds and will face the University of North Carolina Asheville Bulldogs March 15. The Orange ended their season with an impressive record of 31-2. At home they were 22-1 and finished the season 16-16 ATS. The Bulldogs completed a fine regular season with a 24-9 overall record. When playing on the road they were 8-6. The line opened with the Orange as 16-point favorites but has come down to 15.5 points. The total is currently at 146.
The Orange is averaging 14 more points per game offensively than their defense is allowing. The Bulldogs are averaging nearly 10 points more per game offensively than they give up. Neither team has any players listed as injured. However, Syracuse was hit with a big blow as their center Fab Melo was ruled ineligible to participate in the tournament.
The last time the two met was in 2003 and Syracuse got the better of Asheville 81-63. Over the last five games, UNC Asheville is 5-0 SU. The Orange over their last five games is 4-1 SU. They last to the Cincinnati Bearcats in the semifinal of the Big East tournament last Friday.
The Orange is 23-2 SU over their last 25 games and the total has been UNDER in 10 of their past 15 games. However, they are just 1-6 ATS over the last 7 games they have played. Nevertheless, they are 8-2 SU when playing on Thursday and are 5-5 SU after a defeat.
The loss of center Fab Melo should not affect the Orange in this first round matchup as much as it will further along in the tournament. The Orange have enough other talented players on both sides of the ball to make up for Melo’s absence. The Orange will win SU and ATS with the total paying out to those who take the UNDER. See live odd and live lines
Bucks vs. Bulls NBA Free Pick
Bulls
The Chicago Bulls are owners of the league’s best record at 32-8 and will visit the Bradley Center March 7 to take on the Milwaukee Bucks. The Bulls played excellent basketball leading up to the All Star break and since then have done the same. The Bucks have done just the opposite. They are just 15-23 and have not found any consistency over their first 38 games of the season.
The league’s MVP Derrick Rose who is their leader in both scoring and assists leads Chicago. The team is averaging 10 more points a game offensively than they are allowing defensively. Milwaukee on the other hand is giving up over two more points per game defensively than they are scoring on offense.
Milwaukee has been plagued by injury and currently has four players sidelined from injury. The Bulls have two players out injured with both day to day and both might be able to play against the Bucks.
Chicago holds a 7-3 SU and 8-2 ATS advantage over the Bucks in the last 10 games played head to head. The total has been OVER 5 times and UNDER 5 times in those same 10 games. The last meeting between the two teams was in late February with Chicago easily covering a 10.5-point favorite spread 110-91. They also beat the Bucks in Milwaukee in early February 113-90 to cover a 5 point spread easily.
Chicago is 5-0 SU over their last five games including wins at Philly and at San Antonio. Milwaukee is just 2-3 SU over their last five, losing on the road to Boston, Atlanta and Orlando. Chicago will dominate the game with a victory SU and ATS. The total will payout to those who opt for the UNDER as the Bulls defense will shut down the Bucks offensively.
Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Dallas Mavericks Free Pick
Thunder SU and ATS
The Dallas Mavericks will visit the Oklahoma City Thunder March 5 at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. Dallas is coming off a win against the Utah Jazz, while the Thunder lost Saturday night in Atlanta to end a recent east coast road trip.
The Mavericks have looked at times like the defending NBA champions they are and at times like a mediocre team. Their win Saturday against the Jazz was just their first in their last five games. They are currently 22-16 and in sixth place in the Western Conference playoff picture. Dirk Nowitzki the team’s power forward and one of the best in the league is their leading scorer.
The Thunder is 29-8 after Saturday’s loss but is in first place in the Western Conference playoff race. They have consistently been one of the three top teams in the league this season along with Chicago and Miami. Kevin Durant leads them in scoring and is helped by Russell Westbrook who is the team’s second leading scorer and leader in assists.
Head to head Dallas is 6-4 SU and ATS over the last ten games between the two teams. The total has gone OVER 5 times and UNDER 5 times in those same 10 games. Of late, Dallas is struggling as they are only 1-4 SU in their last five games and have lost to teams they should have beaten like New Jersey, Memphis and New Orleans.
The Thunder on the other hand were 8-0 SU in the eight games prior to their loss in Atlanta. They will be rested and back on their home court and that will help lead them to a SU victory over the Mavericks. The teams are known for scoring points as two of the Thunder average over 20 points per game. The total in this contest will payout to those who bet OVER. Bet Thunder and Over now at JustBet for 100% Bonus.
