Saturday Hockey Pick

Let's keep rolling with a Saturday afternoon pick. Today we like the Ottawa Senators to keep up their winning ways against the New York Islanders. Ottawa -130.

Good Luck!

NFL Picks for Week 5

Cleveland Browns/Buffalo Bills OVER 41 (-110). This certainly isn't one of the marquee games of the week in the NFL but with the defense of these 2 teams playing the way they are and with the Buffalo injuries factored in, the OVER is in play in this game from our perspective. These teams combined give up 57 points per game and Cleveland comes into Buffalo off of their best offensive performance with Derek Anderson at the helm. Buffalo is chomping at the bit to get going offensively and against this porous defense, the time is right. Last year Cleveland came into Buffalo and the final total was 56 points with Cleveland as a 4.5 pt dog covering and the total was set at 40.5. This year they come in as a 6 pt dog and pretty much the same total. We will gladly take a similar total result of 56, but 42 is fine with us, and we should get it as bad defenses tend to make average offenses look powerful.

Adding

Oakland vs New York Giants Over 37.5
Pittsburgh vs Detroit Over 44

Have a great Sunday!

Sunday Gravy Plays for August 2nd

We went 2-1 yesterday and almost swept as the Dodgers hung in tough against the Braves yesterday. Let's look at Sunday's plays.

Take the St Louis Cardinals -1.5 (-128) vs the Houston Astros. The Cardinals are on a run here as they lead the National League Central by a small margin and have won 5 of their last 6. Coincidentally, or not perhaps, is that their good fortune has coincided with the acquisition of Matt Holliday, who simply has been on fire since his arrival to St Louis. The guy is hitting .606 in the 9 games, including 3 home runs, two of them yesterday, and 10 doubles. He has also hit safely in all 9 games since becoming a Cardinal. Adam Wainwright absolutely owned July, with a 4-1 mark and a 1.17 ERA. Against Houston he has a career mark of 6-0 in 7 starts with an impressive 1.91 ERA. He faced them once already this year and that result was an 11-2 St Louis win.

Houston on the other hand is reeling. They have lost 4 in a row, and 7 of their last 8 and have injuries to key pitchers and in the bullpen. Today they start minor league pitcher Bud Norris who is 4-9 in Triple A and probably shouldn't last past the 5th inning. Then the bullpen for Houston kicks in and this group has a ERA of 8.07.

also adding...

Chicago White Sox - New York Yankees over 8.5 (-102)
Los Angeles Angels (-114)
San Francisco Giants (+161)

Have a great Sunday!

I love L.A.

Well at least I do today. Some good value on both L.A. teams today.

Los Angeles Dodgers (+118)
Los Angeles Angels (+135)

and adding the Over 8.5 (-110) in the Chicago White Sox vs New York Yankees game.

Thursday Quick Picks

Quick Thursday Plays - Went 1-1 last night, now 2-3 for the week. Today, we have 2 plays.

Washington Nationals vs Milwaukee Brewers Over 8.5 (-123)
New York Yankees (-115)

2 picks for Humpday

We lost last night's game by a lousy 1/2 run, leaving us at 1-2 for the week. Today, we bounce back with 2 picks.

I like the Los Angeles Dodgers +105 versus the St Louis Cardinals. Pineiro has pitched well no doubt but Kershaw is better. Also keep in mind that the Cardinals struggle against left handed pitching.

I also like under 9 in the Tampa Bay Rays - New York Yankees game. Garza is very good and Joba is starting to pitch like the monster the Yankees had hoped for. Also, Joba has good career numbers in domed stadia.

Wednesday's plays are the Los Angeles Dodgers +105 and the Tampa Bay Rays - New York Yankees under 9 (-119).

Manic Monday Plays

First I like the red-hot Yankees, 9-1 last 10 and a team batting average of .275 over the past 7 days, (-108) to the slumping Rays who are batting an AL-worst .202 over the past 7 days. The Yankees go with AJ Burnett. He is 9-4 on the year with a 3.74 ERA and a .241 batting average against. On the road this year, his batting average against is .231. His ERA in July is 3.08. Against the Rays this year he is 1-0 with a 3.21 ERA and a .188 batting average against. For his career against the Rays his ERA is 3.01. At Tropicana this year he is 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA and a .120 batting average against. From 2006-2008 he was 1-1 at the Trop with a 2.05 ERA and a .164 batting average against.

Meanwhile, the Rays go with James Shields. He is 6-6 on the year with a 3.70 ERA and a .273 batting average against. At home this year his batting average is also .273. In July his ERA is 4.68. He hasn't faced the Yankees this year but he must be having nightmares. For his career against them (all from 2006-2008) he is 1-6 against the Yankees with a 5.73 ERA and a .302 batting average against.

Lay the -108 with the Yankees.

My second play is taking a chance with a good pitcher and a good team getting a good price. I like the Dodgers +158 versus the Cardinals tonight. The Dodgers are batting a solid .288 over the past 7 days. The Cardinals struggle against lefties (batting .228 against them, 2nd worst in the NL). Wolf is pitching well now, going 2-1 in July with a 2.81 ERA and a .208 batting average against. On the road for the entire season, his ERA is 2.90 and his batting average against is .229. Carpenter's numbers this year are awesome but I notice that his batting average against in July is .255 as compared to his season batting average against of .209.

I like the Dodgers at +158 tonight.

More picks available at http://www.youcapper.com/user/Profit.htm

Four plays for Saturday!

Today, I like the over 9.5 (-115) in the Minnesota Twins vs. Los Angeles Angels game.

The Twins start right handed pitcher, Nick Blackburn who is 8-4 on the year with a 3.44 ERA. Those are decent stats but his WHIP is 1.333 and his batting average against is .277. On the road this year he is 3-4 with a 4.06 ERA and a .287 batting average against. In his last 5 starts, he has allowed 50 hits in only 35 innings. For the month of July he is 2-0, but with a 5.14 ERA, a .319 batting average against, and a WHIP of 1.476. Against the Angels this year, his ERA is 5.68 and his batting average against is .308. For his entire career he is 0-2 against the Angels with a 4.00 ERA. BUT, for his career at Angels Stadium, his ERA is 5.79, his batting average against is .455 and his WHIP is 2.857.

The Angels start righty Matt Palmer. He is 7-1 on the year, but with a 4.75 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. As a starter his ERA jumps to 5.10 and his batting average against is .263. During the day his ERA jumps to 5.55 and his batting average against is .287. This is a pitcher whose CAREER numbers show more than 1 hit allowed per inning pitched (91 hits in 90.1 innings). He is fortunate to be 7-1.

More trends: the Angels are 15-4 to the over in July. Against righties, the Angels bat an AL-best .290. Over the past 7 days, the Angels are batting an AL-best .310. These 2 teams are 4-1-1 to the over this year. In the past 3 years at Angels Stadium, the over is 7-4-1. The Twins are 7-4-1 to the over when playing a team with a winning record in the second half of the season.

All signs point to the Over 9.5 (-115).

Also adding the Los Angeles Angels to win (-118), New York Yankees -1.5 (-140) and Chicago Cubs (-126).

Have a great day!

Manic Monday Picks

We went 4-2 yesterday in our 6 pack of picks,finishing the week at 8-8.
Let's start this week off right with 4 selections.

New York Yankees -1.5 (-108)
Tampa Bay Rays (-111)
Philadelphia Phillies (-112)
Los Angeles Angels (-130)

Sunday Six Pack

Went 2-2 yesterday, we'll try to do better today to close out the week. Lots of interesting looking games, here are the picks.

Phillies (-122)
Chisox (-136)
Yankees (-134)
TB Rays (-147)
Angels (-113)
CLE-SEA Over 8.5 (+110)


More plays available at http://www.youcapper.com/user/Profit.htm

Friday's Big Dog Play

We missed our total by 1 run last night, and finished up the night at 1-2 when the underdog Angels came through for us.

Let's get to the Friday plays.

Detroit Tigers +196 vs. New York Yankees. Burnett is unpredictable and he does lead the AL in walks. Detroit's Luke French can pitch and the Tigers are a good team. The Yankees feast on the sub-par teams, but are less than .500 against the good teams. Anytime I can get a team like the Tigers at +196, and with a good pitcher on the mound, I'm jumping on it.

Cleveland Indians vs Seattle Mariners over 8.5. I don't care whether it's Huff or Ohka going for the Tribe, as they both suck. King Felix has pitched lights out, but the Jake is not his favorite place (from 2006-2008, his ERA at the Jake is 4.32 and his WHIP is a super-high 1.913).

Toronto Blue Jays vs Boston Red Sox under 8.5. Romero has been awesome for the Jays, going 7-3 with a 3.00 ERA. At home he's even better, with a 2.31 ERA and a .209 batting average against. Buchholz is making his first start for the Red Sox this year but he has been lights out at Triple A--Pawtucket (7-2 with a 2.36 ERA and a .188 baa all over 99 innings). The line move from 9 to 8.5 tells me I am on the right side here.

Friday's plays are: Detroit Tigers (+196), Indians/Mariners over 8.5 (-110), Blue Jays/Red Sox under 8.5 (-102).

More plays available at http://www.youcapper.com/user/Profit.htm

Dodger Time!

With yesterday's win, that puts us at 2-0-1 for the week.

The Dodgers start lefty Randy Wolf. Yes I know the Mets hit lefties, but the fact is, they aren't hitting anyone well right now, with a .234 batting average over the past week of games. Wolf is 3-3 with a 3.49 ERA and a .235 batting average against. On the road his ERA is 2.91 and his batting average against is .224. Against the Mets this year his ERA is 2.35 and his batting average against is .214. Other than Castillo, no Mets (who are healthy at least) have had any career success against him. In fact, for his career he is 11-5 against the Mets with a 3.30 ERA. Even better, since 2006, he is 5-0 against the Mets.

Meanwhile the Mets start ancient Livan Hernandez. He is hitting the part of the season where he starts to fall apart. On the season his ERA is 4.56 and his batting average against is .299. For his career against the Dodgers he is 9-13 with a 4.30 ERA . In his last 17 innings pitched, he has allowed 21 hits and 12 walks, for an ERA of 6.35 . The Dodgers bat an NL-best .267 against righties and an NL-best .275 on the road. Over the past 7 days, they are batting an awesome .301. Here's the best part. Check out these career batting averages against Hernandez (each with 8 or more career at bats against him): Manny .625; Blake .400; Loney .364; Ethier .375; Loretta .333; Ausmus .323; Furcal .333; and Pierre .281.

The Dodgers open up a can of whoop-ass on the Mets tonight.

Thursday's play is the Los Angeles Dodgers (-155).

More Plays available at http://www.youcapper.com/user/Profit.htm

Bronx Bombers Revisited

Our free blog picks now stand at 8-2. Not much need for a write up today, as we are going right back to the New York Yankees -1.5 (-130) for our pick today, for the same reasons.

More picks available at http://www.youcapper.com/user/Profit.htm


Have a great day!

Top 10 Best Things about playing baseball in New York City

In honor of our Yankees pick today, and courtesy of David Letterman, here are the 10 Best things about playing baseball in New York City!

10. If a ball gets hit out of the ballpark and breaks a car window, hey it's just another busted car window.
9. Free bus fumes while you work out.
8. Opposing players in a state of shock after a cab ride to the stadium.
7. Vendors selling corked hot dogs.
6. New York has the nation's most affordable bail bondsmen.
5. Plenty of spit for spitballs.
4. After the game, if you don't take a shower, everyone just assumes it's the city that stinks.
3. The greatest fans in the world always shouting, 'Mets suck!'
2. Knowing that if we ever got to the 7th game of the World Series, that with one phone call,
we could get the opposing pitcher whacked.
1. Two words: Rat Night.


Have a great day!

Bronx Bombers

Our free blog picks are now 7-2. Today, we'll shift our attention to another streaking team, the New York Yankees.

The Yankees have won 6 straight games outscoring the opposition 45-19. The Seattle Mariners have lost their last 9 meeting with the Yankees, being outscored in those games by a margin of 80-27. In 8 out of those 9 games, the Yankees won by at least 3 runs.

Everything points to NYY -1.5 (+110)

More picks available at http://www.youcapper.com/user/Profit.htm

Have a great day!

A total for the Subway Series opener.

The streak is still alive! Today we look at the opening game of the subway series.
CC Sabathia left his last outing very early in the game with an injured bicep. Sabathia has an ERA of 4.50 so far in June, and the Mets are hitting .312 against left handed pitching. Mike Pelfrey has an batting average against of .326 and an ERA of 7.08 this month. There seems to be some value in the Over, so my pick is the New York Yankees vs New York Mets Over 9 (+105).

More picks are available at http://www.youcapper/user/Profit.htm

Thursday in Hotlanta...

We are on quite a roll now, let's continue with a look at the game in Atlanta tonight. The New York Yankees will send 7-3 Andy Pettitte out to the mound. He pitched 7 and 1/3 innings in his last outing giving up 1 earned run. Pettitte is 4-1 on the road this season with an ERA of 2.35 .

Looking at their opposition, Atlanta is still playing under .500 at home, and more importantly, the Braves haven't won a series since sweeping the Toronto Blue Jays May 22nd to the 24th. Today's pick is the New York Yankees (-107).

More picks will be available later this morning at http://www.youcapper.com/user/Profit.htm

Have a great day!