NBA

Lakers at Suns (-10.5)

Nuggets (+8.5) at Spurs

Warriors at Mavs (-9)
 

MLB

Astros (Oswalt) -140 at Brewers (Bush): The Houston Astros (9-7) will play the Milwaukee Brewers (10-7) in a rubber-game this afternoon that will also determine which team is in first place in the NL Central. The Astros send their ace Roy Oswalt (3-0, 2.89) to the mound against the Brewers' Dave Bush (1-1, 5.82). The Wizard has looked nasty this year and has done very well against the Brewers throughout his career, posting a 3.39 ERA and an 11-6 lifetime record against them. Bush, on the other hand, is struggling with consistency this season, despite his decent career record against Houston (2-0, 2.17). Prior to last nights loss, the Astros had won 5 in a row behind the bats of Chris Burke and Jason Lane. Look for them to get another winning streak going today behind the ultra-competitive Oswalt, especially since yesterday's loss was largely fueled by a fluke 2 home-run day from Brewers' shortstop J.J. Hardy.

Mariners (Weaver) at Angels (Santana) -1.5 runs (+140): The Los Angeles Angels (8-9) have won 2 in a row against the Seattle Mariners (5-8) and will look to go to .500 on the year with a sweep this afternoon. Today's Angels' starter, Ervin Santana (1-2, 7.63), must be thrilled to be pitching at home again. After getting blasted this past Monday on a cold rainy day in Boston, he will be making his start today in a park where he always seems to take his pitching to another level. In 32 starts in Anaheim, Santana is 20-5 with a 3.07 ERA. The Angels (8-9) have won 2 in a row from the Mariners (5-8). Seattle's starter, Jeff Weaver (0-2, 15.75), has been dismal in 2007, allowing 17 hits and 14 ER through 8 innings of work. It's unlikely that Weaver will have an answer for the Angels' hitting machine, Vladimir Guerrero, who has lit up the Mariners pitching staff for 4 hits in 7 AB's, including 2 home-runs, in the current series. Big Daddy Vladdy has only faced Weaver 9 times in his career, but does have one HR to show for it.

Diamondbacks (Petit) at Giants (Cain) -1.5 runs (+110): The surging San Francisco Giants (8-8) have won four games in a row and will attempt a series sweep agains the Arizona Diamondbacks (10-9) this afternoon. San Francisco will hand the ball to Matt Cain (0-1, 1.80), who has pitched extremely well despite receiving little to no run support. That should definitely change today, as the Giaints hitters have been going off in the past week. Barry Bonds has 7 hits including 2 HR in his last 14 AB's, while Rich Aurilia is 9-25 with 6 RBI. The Diamondbacks will be sending Yusmeiro Petit to the hill today in place of injured starter Micah Owings. Petit came to the D-Backs from the Marlins in a trade for the infamous Jorge Julio. He will be making his first start for the Diamondbacks and was considered a top minor-league pitching prospect for years, but was slaughtered last year as a rookie for Florida, allowing an appalling 46 hits and 28 ER in only 26 innings.

Yesterday: 2 - 1.1 (MLB)

NBA (115 - 93)

Nets at Raptors (-4.5): The Nets finished the season by winning eight of their last ten games, but that was a result of an easy schedule at a time when a lot of teams stopped playing hard.   The Nets will struggle to matchup defensively against athletic power forward Chris Bosh.  Also, Jason Kidd's slowed down a bit, so he'll have trouble against the penetrating abilities of T.J. Ford.  The Raptors were 24-16-1 ATS at home this season, and they covered in both of their home games against the Nets (120-109 on 2/14, and 90-78 on 12/15).

Magic at Pistons (-9.5): The Magic went 7-3 SU in their last ten games, but they were fighting for a playoff spot.  Meanwhile, the Pistons have been resting up for the playoffs, and they'll have little trouble against an inferior Magic squad.  The Pistons covered the spread in their first three meetings with the Magic this season, and their five-point win on April 11 was a push.  That game didn't matter much to the Pistons, and I expect a blowout today.

MLB (62.3 - 48.5)

Braves (James) +120 at Mets (Perez): Young lefty Chuck James has pitched well against the Mets in their 44 plate appearances against him: .171 BA, .227 OBP, .341 SLG.  So far this season James has been solid: 16 IP, 16 H, 4 ER, 6 BB, 13 K.  Meanwhile, Oliver Perez had major control problems in his second start of the season: 2.2 IP, 1 H, 3 ER, 7 BB.  Perez has struggled with his command since 2004, and the Braves' hitters can punish mistakes.  Andruw Jones, Chipper Jones, Jeff Francoeur, Matt Diaz, Ryan Langerhans, and Willy Aybar have homered against Perez in their careers.  In just six at-bats against him, Langherhans has two homers and two doubles.

White Sox (Contreras) +130 at Tigers (Robertson): Nate Robertson has gotten off to an excellent start this season (2-1, 1.80 ERA, 1.15 WHIP), but he's had problems against the White Sox' hitters.  Paul Konerko is 15-for-52 (.288 BA) with four homers; Jermaine Dye is 13-for-35 (.371 BA) with seven homers, five doubles, and ten walks (.511 OBP); Jim Thome is 4-for-10 with a homer and a double; Tadahito Iguchi is 14-for-42 (.333 BA) with three doubles, two triples, and two homers; Juan Uribe is 17-for-43 (.395 BA) with a double, two triples, and two homers.  Meanwhile, Jose Contreras has recovered well since a disastrous opening-day performance.  In his last two starts, he's only allowed five hits and one run in 11 innings.  Contreras has also walked nine batters over that span, but that's better than allowing hitters to tee off on him.

Twins (Bonser) -120 at Royals (Greinke): Boof Bonser has given up ten runs in his last two starts, but those came against good offensive teams (Yankees and Devil Rays).  Bonser pitched well last year, so I expect him to recover against a Royals' squad that ranks tenth in the AL in batting average, runs scored, and OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage).  On the other hand, after two terrific starts, Zack Greinke returned to earth against the Tigers last Monday: 0.2 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 3 BB.

Diamondbacks (Gonzalez) at Giants (Zito) -150: Edgar Gonzalez has gotten worse in each of his starts, and his overall stats on the season aren't impressive: 18.1 IP, 22 H, 11 ER, 5 BB, 14 K.  Meanwhile, Barry Zito returned to his aggressive self against the Rockies on Monday, as he shut them out for six innings, allowing only three hits and three walks. 

Phillies (Hamels) -130 at Reds (Milton): Despite giving up six walks in his only start against the Reds last year, Cole Hamels struck out six and allowed only one hit over five innings.  That start also came at Cincinnati, which is a notorious hitters' park.  This season, Hamels' control has gotten better, as he's only walked four batters in 19 innings.  His 3.32 ERA and 1.21 WHIP make him the de facto ace of the Phillies' staff.  Meanwhile, Eric Milton has struggled this year: 10.2 IP, 13 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 10 K. 

Indians (Byrd) -150 at Devil Rays (Seo): Paul Byrd's first start of the year was erased due to the snowy conditions in Cleveland two weeks ago, but he came back with six shutout innings against the White Sox last Saturday.  Byrd's a reliable starter, while his opponent, Jae Seo, has been extremely hittable this year: 16.1 IP, 28 H, 14 ER.  In 48 plate appeareances against Seo, the Indians have a .333, BA, .388 OBP, and .622 SLG.

Padres (Hensley) at Rockies (Francis) -130: Although Clay Hensley claims that he's no longer affected by blister problems, his numbers show that something's still wrong with him: 14 IP, 24 H, 19 ER, 8 BB, 7 K.  Until he has a good performance, it's a good bet to go against him.  Meanwhile, Rockies' starter Jeff Francis began the year with two solid starts before faltering against the Giants last Monday.  But Francis' 2006 numbers (4.16 ERA, 1.29 WHIP) indicate that he just had a bad outing, so he should be fine today.  Francis has shown that he can pitch well at Coors Field, as he had a 4.30 ERA and 1.28 WHIP in 90 innings there last season. 

 

Indians (Sabathia) -1.5 runs (-110) at Devil Rays (Jackson): The Cleveland Indians (6-6) and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (6-9) will open a three game set tonight at Tropicana Field. Following the Indians' devastating 9th inning loss to the yesterday to the Yankees, Cleveland will try to get things going again today as they hand the ball to their ace, C.C. Sabathia (3-0, 2.14). The Devil Rays will counter with the mercurial Edwin Jackson (0-2, 8.31). The Indians should be able to establish an early lead in this one, as the only thing Jackson seems to be specializing in this year is allowing a high number of base-runners to reach. Through 8.2 innings, Jackson has walked 6 while allowing 11 hits. Although he has never faced Jackson, the Indians' Travis Hafner probably can't wait until he does. Pronk feasts off of weak right-handed pitching, as evidenced by his 26 bombs last year against righties. Sabathia, on the other hand, has been un-hittable as of late. In his last appearance, Sabathia mowed down the powerful White Sox lineup, resulting in 10 K's in 8 innings, while allowing only 5 hits.

Padres (Young) -110 at Rockies (Fogg): The San Diego Padres (9-7) will travel to Coors Field today to open a series against their NL West foes, the Colorado Rockies (7-9). Today's Padres' starter, Chris Young (1-1, 4.30), will be looking to rebound from his last appearance, where he allowed 4 runs, 5 walks and 4 hits in an unusual (at least for his standards) 2 inning outing against the Dodgers. Throughout his career, Young has been particularly effective against the Rockies, limiting sluggers Todd Helton and Garrett Atkins to 3 hits a piece in a combined 25 AB's. The Rockies will roll out starter Josh Fogg (0-0, 3.38), who has had major problems facing both Marcus and Brian Giles. The brothers are both career .500 hitters against Fogg, who has also given up 2 HR to the elder Giles. In their last 6 meetings, the Padres have taken 5 from the Rockies and should be able to keep that trend going today behind a motivated Young.

Braves (Hudson) -110 at Mets (Pelfrey): It's a battle for the top-standing in the NL East tonight, as the Atlanta Braves (10-5) will try to push the red-hot New York Mets (10-4) out of first place. The Braves will send the invigorated Tim Hudson (2-0, 0.86) to the mound against the Mets' Mike Pelfrey (0-0, 3.18). Hudson is looking like his uncompromising 2003-era self again, as he easily bagged this week's NL player of the week award. Through 21 innings of work, Hudson has been stingy against base-runners, allowing only 11 hits while striking out 16. Pelfrey is making only his sixth career start tonight and his second of the season. The Mets young-starter looked rather pedestrian against the lowly Washington Nationals in his only other appearance this year, allowing 6 hits and 4 walks through 5.2 innings of work. Although the Mets have won 3 straight games, the Braves are in a great position to win tonight behind the steady arm of Hudson.

 

 

Yesterday: MLB: 2 - 8.6

MLB (56.4 - 45.4)

Red Sox (Tavarez) +170 at Blue Jays (Halladay): Roy Halladay is one of the best power pitchers in baseball, and he's off to a great start this year. But the Red Sox boast a formidable lineup, and their top two hitters have had success against Halladay. David Ortiz is 20-for-67 (.299 BA) against him, with seven homers and four doubles. Manny Ramirez is 19-for-68 (.279 BA), with four homers and two doubles. Six other hitters on the Red Sox roster also have homers against Halladay: Jason Varitek, Julio Lugo, Coco Crisp, Alex Cora, Doug Mirabelli, and Mike Lowell. Although Julian Tavarez is not a good starting pitcher, he's had success at Toronto's Rogers Centre. In the last three years, he's posted the following numbers there: 11.1 IP, 9 H, 1 ER.

Diamondbacks (Hernandez) at Padres (Peavy) -1.5 runs (+125): Peavy is off to a monster start this year: 20 IP, 11 H, 2 ER, 6 BB, 12 K. The only player in the D-backs' lineup with a history of success against Peavy is Conor Jackson, who is 5-for-13 with a double. Chad Tracy has faced him more than any other D-back, and he's just 8-for-43 (.186 BA). Meanwhile, several Padres have had success against Livan Hernandez: Mike Cameron (9-for-32, 5 HR), Brian Giles (9-for-32 with four extra-base hits), Jose Cruz, Jr. (8-for-17, 1 HR), and Adrian Gonzalez (2-for-6, 1 HR). Although Hernandez has only given up four earned runs and 14 hits in 20 innings this season, he's walked 11 batters while striking out only nine. Those walks are going to catch up to him, especially against a Padres' lineup that features patient hitters at the top of the order.

Cubs (Hill) -120 at Braves (Redman): Rich Hill is quickly developing into one of the best pitchers in baseball, and the fact that he's flown under the radar results in nice value with this line. In 14 innings this season, Hill's only given up one run on four hits and four walks, while striking out 11 batters. Meanwhile, Mark Redman has been awful this season: 8.1 IP, 15 H, 12 ER. That's actually worse than his numbers from last year (5.71 ERA, 1.59 WHIP), which was his worst season in the majors.

Rangers (Padilla) +130 at White Sox (Vazquez): Vicente Padilla has been very good against the White Sox' hitters in their 130 plate appearances against him: .198 BA, .301 OBP, .293 SLG. Of the regulars in the lineup, only Tadahito Iguchi has had success against him: 3-for-8 with a double and a homer. Although Paul Konerko is 4-for-11 against Padilla, he has no extra-base hits. On the other hand, Javier Vazquez has had trouble against four of the Rangers' regulars: Sammy Sosa (9-for-27, 3 HR, 2 double), Frank Catalanotto (9-for-20, 1 HR, 1 double), Kenny Lofton (7-for-10, 3 triples), and Hank Blalock (4-for-10, 1 HR, 1 double). And even though Vazquez has only given up nine hits and two runs in 12 innings this year, his seven walks are a bit worrisome, especially against an increasingly patient Rangers' lineup. Also, the Rangers will be focussed today after getting no-hit by Mark Buehrle in yesterday's contest. And there seems to be a letdown effect for the team that got the no-hitter. Perhaps, last night's post-game celebrations in Chicago might also cause a literal hangover effect.

Twins (Santana) -1.5 runs (-105) at Mariners (Washburn): Today is a somber day in Seattle as the Mariners (5-5) await news regarding the extent of fire-baller Felix Hernandez's elbow injury. This afternoon, the Twins (9-5) will look to capitalize on the climate of uncertainty as they aim for a sweep against the tough-luck Mariners. You could almost consider it poetic that the Twins will be sending their ace, Johan Santana (2-1, 3.60) to the hill the very day after Hernandez went out. Santana and Hernandez missed facing off against each other by exactly one day in what would have been a match up for the ages. The Mariners will counter with southpaw Jarrod Washburn (0-1, 3.75). Santana, arguably the most dominant pitcher in baseball, absolutely owns the Mariners. In 14 starts against the M's, Santana has complied a 6-1 record.

Yesterday: MLB: 7.3 - 3.6

MLB (54.4 - 36.8)

Royals (Meche) at Tigers (Bonderman) -1.5 runs (Even): In what could be considered a colossal mismatch, the Kansas City Royals (3-11) will play the Detroit Tigers (9-5) in the final of a three-game series. The Royals, losers of six straight games, will send $55 million pitcher Gil Meche (1-1, 3.10) to the mound. Detroit will counter with opening-day starter Jeremy Bonderman (0-0, 2.57), who is aiming for his first win of the season. In his prior starts, Meche has been tattooed by Tigers' outfielder Gary Sheffield, who is 5-for-14 lifetime and 2-for-2 with one homer this season against the Royals' number-one starter. Meche was lit up during his last start against Detroit on April 7th, giving up 6 ER in seven innings. Bonderman has made three quality starts for the Tigers this year, but has been the victim of a lack of run support. That should change today, as the Tigers will look to provide Bonderman with an early cushion, allowing him to attack the Kansas City hitters with his fastball while inducing them to make weak contact.

Angels (Lackey) Even at Athletics (Haren): There's no doubt that the Angels' five-game losing streak, coupled with their temporary loss of Vladimir Guerrero, has lowered their value as far as the public is concerned. Today, the Halos will try to right the ship as they aim to split a two-game set with the Oakland Athletics. The Angels will send their ace, John Lackey (2-1, 2.04 ERA) to the mound against the A's Dan Haren (0-2, 2.00 ERA). Lackey has been an imposing force on the A's during the last few seasons, logging an impressive 10-2 record against them while striking out 95 in 119 innings. Lackey seems to love pitching in Oakland, as he's 4-0 there since the end of 2005. The Angels, on the other hand, seem to tee-off on Haren every time they meet. Garrett Anderson will look to break out of his recent 3-for-24 funk against Haren, who he's crushed to the tune of nine hits (two homers) in 24 at-bats.

Mets (Maine) at Marlins (Willis) -120:  The New York Mets (8-4) will open a short two-game series against the Marlins (6-7) tonight at Dolphin Stadium.  While Florida has dropped their last three games, they still lead the NL in team batting average  (.288), RBI (61), hits (130) and runs (68).  The Marlins will look to improve to .500 on the season tonight behind their ace, Dontrelle Willis (3-0, 3.32 ERA), who owns an incredible 11-2 record against New York.  The Mets have been playing above-average baseball through their first 12 games, but could falter tonight behind the inexperienced arm of John Maine (1-0, 1.54 ERA).   Hanley Ramirez, Miguel Cabrera, and Josh Willingham of the Marlins all connected for homers off Maine in their one outing against him last season.

Indians (Sowers) +130 at Yankees (Igawa): Jeremy Sowers has gotten off to a good start in 2007: 13 IP, 7 H, 3 ER. He's continuing the success of last year, when he accumulated the following stats in a short stint in the majors: 88.1 IP, 3.58 ERA, 1.19 WHIP. Even though opposing starter Kei Igawa rebounded in his second start at Oakland, he was awful in his only game at Yankee Stadium. Also, Igawa's a lefty, and the Indians have three batters who crushed southpaws in 2006: Travis Hafner (16 HR in 184 at-bats), Grady Sizemore (10 HR in 103 at-bats), and Casey Blake (10 HR in 114 at-bats).

Red Sox (Wakefield) -130 at Blue Jays (Ohka): The only hitter in the Blue Jays' lineup who's had consistent success against knuckleballer Tim Wakefield is Alex Rios: 6-for-16 with a double, triple, and a homer. Although Frank Thomas has blasted three homers against Wakefield in his career, Thomas is only 7-for-36 overall (.194 BA). And Vernon Wells is just 8-for-34 (.235 BA) with one extra-base hit (double). So far this year, Wakefield has been terrific: 13 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 7 K. On the other hand, Blue Jays' starter Tomo Ohka has not been good: 10.1 IP, 14 H, 9 ER, 4 BB.

Astros (Sampson) at Reds (Harang) -130: Astros' rookie Chris Sampson pitched well in his only start of the year at the Cubs: 5 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K. Sampson's not a strikeout pitcher, as he tries to induce weak contact, which is only a concern because he's recovering from tightness in his calf muscle, and control pitchers have a slim margin of error. If Sampson's not 100%, he could get hammered at Cincinnati's notorious "Great American Hitters' Park". Meanwhile, Aaron Harang has had two bad outings since opening day, and Astros' slugger Lance Berkman has hit six homers in 35 at-bats against him. But Harang's a veteran power pitcher, and his ability to get strikeouts is an advantage at a hitters' park.

Dodgers (Lowe) -110 at Rockies (Lopez): Following a poor beginning to the season, Derek Lowe has been good in his last two outings: 15 IP, 11 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 7 K. Lowe's a sinkerball pitcher, and that's a good thing at Coors Field. Meanwhile, even though Rockies' starter Rodrigo Lopez has begun the year well, he's suffering from a sore elbow, and the Dodgers' hitters have pounded him in his career. Lopez's numbers from last year don't inspire confidence that he can keep up his current pace: 189 IP, 5.91 ERA, 1.55 WHIP.

Rangers (Millwood) +110 at White Sox (Buehrle): Millwood has begun the year with a 2-1 record and 3.71 ERA. He's had successs against Joe Crede (6-for-28 with no extra-base hits) and Jermaine Dye (2-for-22). Scott Podsednik has hit Millwood better than any other White Sox batters (14-for-39), but Podsednik's not going to beat many teams with his bat. Meanwhile, Mark Buehrle has only pitched 8.1 IP this year as a result of being hit by a line drive in his first start. He pitched well against Oakland last week after giving up three runs in the first inning, but there's still a big question whether Buehrle's suffering from a tired arm. He pitched 200+ innings for six straight seasons, and he had subpar numbers last year: 204 IP, 4.99 ERA, 1.45 WHIP. Although he's dominated Michael Young (.191 BA) and Hank Blalock (.125 BA), Mark Teixeira (.412 BA) and Sammy Sosa (.368 BA) have hit him well. Moreover, the Rangers bats are heating up, while the White Sox continue to struggle at the plate.

Diamondbacks (Webb) -120 at Padres (Wells): 2006 Cy Young Award winner Brandon Webb has not begun the year well: 19 IP, 23 H, 11 ER, 10 BB. However, he's not injured, and with better pitch selection, he should be able to get back to his normal self. On the other hand, David Wells is on the downside of his career, as he's given up 14 hits and seven runs in nine innings this season. In 2006, Wells' numbers weren't much better: 75 IP, 4.43 ERA, 1.45 WHIP.

Twins (Silva) at Mariners (Hernandez) -1.5 runs (Even): Twins' starter Carlos Silva has only given up one run in 11.2 IP this year, but he's allowed 12 hits and three walks, which shows that batters are able to reach base against him. There's some talk that Silva may be returning to his 2005 form, when he posted a 3.45 ERA and 1.175 WHIP. However, the key to that season was the fact that Silva only walked nine batters in 188.1 IP. This year, he's already walked one-third of that number. Moreover, Silva was a bad pitcher last year: 180.1 IP, 5.95 ERA, 1.54 WHIP. On the other hand, Felix Hernandez appears poised to become a dominant ace, as his numbers this season have been outstanding: 17 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 18 K. It's almost amazing that Hernandez has allowed only eight batters to reach base in his two starts, and he should continue that success against the Twins tonight. Only Joe Mauer has performed well against him (8-for-17 with a homer and two doubles). Reigning MVP Justin Morneau is 3-for-17 with no extra-base hits. Lew Ford, Michael Cuddyer, Jason Bartlett, Nick Punto, and Luis Castillo have gone hitless in their at-bats against "King Felix."