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.