7-14-11

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MLB NEWS AND NOTES
Milwaukee Brewers Start Long Trip In Colorado
By: Jeff Grant



Milwaukee Brewers at Colorado Rockies (-135, 8.5)

Two of the younger and more exciting teams in Major League Baseball come out of the All-Star break and get set to play a four-game series at Coors Field. The first pitch in Game 1 between the Milwaukee Brewers and Colorado Rockies is scheduled for 5:40 (PT) Thursday night in Denver.

Milwaukee (49-43, +1.62) finished its latest homestand with a 4-3 record and now ventures out for a season-long 11-game road trip. This stretch that ends in San Francisco on July 24 will go a long way in determining the club’s ability to stay atop the National League Central Division where the club is tied with the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Brewers were well represented in the 82nd All-Star Game and first baseman Prince Fielder was named Most Valuable Player. He lifted a three-run homer just over the center field wall off Texas pitcher C.J. Wilson, which was the biggest play in the National League’s 5-1 victory.

The current co-leaders in the division were not done for the night, trading for New York Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez just 30 minutes after Tuesday's contest. The right-hander was 23-for-26 in save situations with a 3.16 ERA in the first half of this season and should improve a bullpen that ranks 20th in the majors with a 3.92 ERA.

Yovani Gallardo (10-5, 3.76 ERA) is set to make his 20th start of the season and has alternated wins and losses over his last four outings. He comes in off a 3-1 home win against the Diamondbacks, giving up just a single run and four hits over seven frames.

Gallardo has not fared well in his career versus the Rockies, entering with an 0-3 record and 5.85 ERA, including an 0-1 mark and 9.19 ERA in three starts at Coors Field. Due to those lackluster numbers against tonight’s opponent, the ‘over’ is 4-0-1 in Gallardo’s last five appearances in the series.

He will need to be careful with Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez, who has five hits in 11 career at-bats against him, but may be limited due to a wrist injury that required a cortisone shot Wednesday.

Colorado (43-48, -17.38 units) has cost bettors a ton of money during the 2011 campaign and begins the series 8.5-games back in the NL West standings. The Rockies were swept in a three-game series by the Brewers earlier this year at Miller Park, outscored by a combined margin of 13-9, as each outcome was determined by two runs or less.

Right-handed starter Ubaldo Jimenez (4-8, 4.14) earned a 2-1 road victory over the Nationals just five days ago, but has yet to get on track in front of the home faithful. He has registered a losing 1-5 record and 6.24 ERA in nine outings in Denver, as opponents are hitting .319 against him.

Jimenez has tallied a 2-1 mark and 2.57 ERA in five lifetime starts versus the Brewers, surrendering just two home runs in 35 frames. He suffered a 3-1 road defeat against them on May 22, giving up just three runs (two earned) and scattering two hits over eight strong innings.

Total bettors will find that the ‘over’ is 6-2-1 in Jimenez’s last nine home starts, but the last two have failed to climb above the number.

Weather forecasts suggest game-time highs in the low 80s and a thirty percent chance of isolated thunderstorms. A swirling wind of 5-10 mph will also be present throughout the contest.

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Thursday's Streaking and Slumping Starting Pitchers

STREAKING

Aaron Harang, San Diego Padres (7-2, 3.45 ERA)

It’s a light day in the majors as teams ease back into action, with just seven games on Thursday’s slate. Harang is really the only pitcher on the mound that qualifies as “streaking” – even though his last two starts came exactly one month apart. Harang was impressive in his first start back from a foot injury, pitching six innings of shutout ball versus the Dodgers last Saturday. Previous to that, the Padres’ 6-foot-7 righty was 2-0 in a five-start span, with a 1.87 ERA dating back to May 19.


SLUMPING

Anibal Sanchez, Florida Marlins (6-2, 3.58 ERA)

The Fish went into the break with a head of steam, winning five straight games going into Thursday’s date with the Cubs. Sanchez, however, is winless in his last five outings, going 0-1 with a 5.20 ERA in that stretch. He’s been especially bad his last two outings, giving up 12 total runs in just under eight innings of work. Sanchez has allowed three home runs and walked seven batters in that span.

Jeremy Guthrie, Baltimore Orioles (3-12, 4.18 ERA)

Guthrie’s most recent appearance was actually in the role of a reliever. He pitched 3 1-3 innings versus the Red Sox Sunday, allowing one run on three hits and getting served a loss in the 8-6 defeat. That was his third straight loss, inflating his ERA to 6.62 over that slump. Guthrie has been slowed by a muscle strain in his back and is at the center of trade rumors with the deadline on the way. He’s 2-1 with a career 5.91 ERA versus the Indians, his former ball club (2004-2006).

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HOT LINES

Thursday's Best MLB Bets

Kansas City at Minnesota Twins (-145, 8)

The time is now for the Minnesota Twins.

Minnesota got off to a terrible 17-37 start while suffering through some major injuries but have rebounded to head into a crucial 12-game home stand just 6 ½ games off the pace in the AL Central.

So when GM Bill Smith was asked whether the club would be buyers or sellers at the trade deadline, he made his intentions pretty clear.

"We're in contention," Smith told reporters. "Certainly on June 1 our goal was to chip away at the deficit and get ourselves into position to be contenders and we're definitely in that mix."

It all depends how the Twins come out of this stretch at home, but they are 13-3 in their last 16 games at Target Field, so stranger things have happened.

They definitely have their work cut out for them in the long run, but we’ll jump on their side here.

PICK: Twins


Milwaukee Brewers at Colorado Rockies (-135, 8.5)

Francisco Rodriguez really stole Prince Fielder’s thunder.

Fielder won over the Arizona crowd after snubbing Justin Upton for the National League’s Home Run Derby team and was named the MLB All-Star Game MVP by swatting a three-run homer in the fourth inning to lift the NL to a 5-1 win over the American League.

Then his Brewers went out and swung a deal for K-Rod.

The addition to the bullpen will certainly help Milwaukee’s bullpen, but the hot streak Fielder comes out of the break on may show dividends sooner.

Fielder leads the team with 22 homers, although he had only one dinger in 14 games leading up to the break. At any rate, the big slugger welcomes the club’s move to bring Rodriguez into the mix.

"As a player, you appreciate it because you're going out there every day wanting to win," Fielder told reporters. "When management makes moves like that, you see they're going for it with you and trying to help as much as they can.”

PICK: Brewers

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LADY LUCK

Thursday's Best WNBA Bet

Seattle Storm at San Antonio Silver Stars (-3.5, 149)

For a while, it looked like the Silver Stars were finally over the hump in the Western Conference, jumping out a 7-1 start and bringing WNBA bettors along for the ride.

However, things have gone sour in San Antonio. The Silver Stars have dropped three straight contests, failing to cover the spread in each of those outings. Their most recent defeat was an 84-74 loss to the shorthanded Los Angeles Sparks, falling short as 7-point home favorites Tuesday night.

Defense has been the biggest cause of this slide. San Antonio is giving up more than 80 points per game and allowing opponents to shoot 50 percent from the floor during this three-game funk. The Sparks took full advantage of the Silver Stars’ flat defense, shooting 36 for 67, including a 28-point second quarter Tuesday.

“It was a rough game for us,” Silver Stars head coach Dan Hughes told the San Antonio Express. “I didn't like the way we defended. We started off well, but from about the second quarter on ...”

San Antonio has hit the wall offensively, as well. The Silver Stars currently rank second in the league in points, averaging over 87 per game, but have failed to crack the 80-point mark in each of the past three losses. They shot just 35.5 percent from the field and got only five points from leading scorer Becky Hammon versus Los Angeles.

“It's not the end of the world,” guard Jia Perkins told reporters after the loss. “We still have a lot of basketball to play. We've just got to bounce back. (Today) we'll worry about Seattle, so we don't have much time to fix anything, but we have to come into practice determined and just go to work.”

Seattle continues to march on without MVP center Lauren Jackson, who is out until at least the playoffs after undergoing hip surgery. The Storm are 4-2 SU and 3-3 ATS since Jackson went down, winning back-to-back contests heading into Thursday.

These teams have not met this season, but Seattle has won the last six head-to-head contests (4-1-1 ATS) and is 8-2 SU and 6-3-1 ATS over their last 10 meetings.

PICK: Seattle

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Thursday’s Betting Notes: British Open Moving Tees?

Weather To Watch

Wind always plays a major role in the British Open, but Thursday’s opening round could get downright ugly if current weather forecasts hold true. Meteorologists are predicting 30 mph winds coming off the English Channel for the opening round of the 140th Open Championship. Pete Dawson, chief executive of Royal & Ancient, conceded that the tees could be moved up before the tournament begins to help the golfers battle the conditions.

Who’s Hot

MLB: Minnesota has won nine of its last 12.

MLB: The under is 12-3-1 in the New York Yankees’ last 16 road games.

MLB: Texas is riding a seven-game winning streak.

WNBA: Seattle is 4-0-1 against the spread in its last five games against San Antonio.

Who’s Not

MLB: Baltimore is 6-21 in its last 27 overall.

MLB: Florida is 7-21 in its last 28 as an underdog.

MLB: Milwaukee is 9-24 in its last 33 games in Colorado.

WNBA: San Antonio is riding and 0-3 slump both straight up and against the spread.

Key Stat

.224 – The Seattle Mariners head into Thursday’s matchup with the Texas Rangers with the worst team batting average in the bigs - .224 – while scoring just 3.31 runs per game, good for second-worst. They’ll be up against a Rangers team that owns the No. 2 team batting average in the show (.272) that produces 4.97 runs per game (third).

Injury That Shouldn’t Be Overlooked

Carlos Gonzalez, Colorado Rockies – CarGo took a cortisone shot in his right wrist on Monday after an MRI showed a deep bone bruise, but his status for Thursday’s game is still up in the air. He played last Friday night but was then only able to be a defensive replacement for the rest of the weekend. Gonzalez is hitting .292 with 13 homers and 51 RBIs.

Game Of The Day

New York Yankees at Toronto Blue Jays (+130, 9.5)

Notable Quotable

"I couldn't walk away from the chance to get a pitcher like Francisco and wish later I hadn't let him get away. We've had some injuries in our bullpen, including (setup man Takashi) Saito, and if I let (Rodriguez) get away and somebody went down, I'd kick myself." – Milwaukee Brewers GM Doug Melvin on acquiring reliever Francisco Rodriguez from the New York Mets. Melvin also said that K-Rod and John Axford will likely split save opportunities. Axford has converted 20 straight save chances.

Tips And Notes

The Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles are still waiting to hear whether an altercation last week will result in any suspensions. Boston’s David Ortiz and Baltimore’s Kevin Greg were both ejected after Big Papi charged the mound. Orioles reliever Jim Johnson was also ejected as was Red Sox catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia. MLB executive vice president of operations Joe Torre said a ruling may come down Thursday.

The San Antonio Silver Stars opened the year by winning seven of their first eight games both straight up and against the spread. Since then, it’s been all downhill. The Silver Stars have dropped each of their last three, failing to cover in each, and now have a tough road ahead of them. They take on Seattle Thursday as a 3.5-point favorite at home, then face a Los Angeles club they just lost to, before another date with the Storm.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ defense faces a stiff test when the club hosts the high-flying Calgary Stampeders as a 3-point underdog on Thursday. After suffering through a 4-14 SU season last year, Bombers have won their first two games of the season, thanks in large part to a defense that leads the league allowing 16 points per game while picking up nine quarterback sacks so far. The Stamps average almost 400 yards per game in total offense.

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WNBA Basketball Picks
Seattle at San Antonio

The Silver Stars look to take advantage of a Seattle team that is 2-6-1 ATS in its last 9 meetings in San Antonio. San Antonio is the pick (-5) according to Dunkel, which has the Silver Stars favored by 6. Dunkel Pick: San Antonio (-5). Here are all of today's picks.

THURSDAY, JULY 14
Time Posted: 6:00 a.m. EST

Game 601-602: Seattle at San Antonio (9:05 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: Seattle 111.243; San Antonio 117.279
Dunkel Line & Total: San Antonio by 6; 146
Vegas Line & Total: San Antonio by 5; 150 1/2
Dunkel Pick: San Antonio (-5); Under

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Today's MLB Picks
San Francisco at San Diego

The Giants look to build on their 8-2 record in Madison Bumgarner's last 10 starts as an underdog. San Francisco is the pick (-110) according to Dunkel, which has the Giants favored by 1. Dunkel Pick: San Francisco (-110). Here are all of today's picks.

THURSDAY, JULY 14
Time Posted: 6:00 a.m. EST

Game 901-902: Florida at Chicago Cubs (8:05 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: Florida (Sanchez) 14.600; Cubs (Garza) 15.599
Dunkel Line: Chicago Cubs by 1; 9 1/2
Vegas Line: Chicago Cubs (-120); No Run Total
Dunkel Pick: Chicago Cubs (-120); N/A

Game 903-904: Milwaukee at Colorado (8:40 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: Milwaukee (Gallardo) 14.601; Colorado (Jimenez) 14.194
Dunkel Line: Milwaukee by 1/2; 7 1/2
Vegas Line: Colorado (-135); 8 1/2
Dunkel Pick: Milwaukee (+115); Under

Game 905-906: San Francisco at San Diego (10:05 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: San Francisco (Bumgarner) 15.827; San Diego (Harang) 14.797
Dunkel Line: San Francisco by 1; 5 1/2
Vegas Line: San Diego (-110); 6 1/2
Dunkel Pick: San Francisco (-110); Under

Game 907-908: Cleveland at Baltimore (7:05 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: Cleveland (Masterson) 15.030; Baltimore (Guthrie) 12.709
Dunkel Line: Cleveland by 2 1/2; 9 1/2
Vegas Line: Cleveland (-115); 8 1/2
Dunkel Pick: Cleveland (-115); Over

Game 909-910: NY Yankees at Toronto (7:07 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: NY Yankees (Colon) 17.504; Toronto (Reyes) 16.590
Dunkel Line: NY Yankees by 1; 9
Vegas Line: NY Yankees (-145); 9 1/2
Dunkel Pick: NY Yankees (-145); Under

Game 911-912: Kansas City at Minnesota (8:10 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: Kansas City (Chen) 16.361; Minnesota (Liriano) 15.429
Dunkel Line: Kansas City by 1; 8 1/2
Vegas Line: Minnesota (-150); 8
Dunkel Pick: Kansas City (+130); Over

Game 913-914: Texas at Seattle (10:10 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: Texas (Holland) 15.891; Seattle (Vargas) 14.517
Dunkel Line: Texas by 1 1/2; 6
Vegas Line: Seattle (-110); 7
Dunkel Pick: Texas (-110); Under

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Hondo

Hondo scored with one selection by Anthony Af frunti, the Post's Prescient Pony Picker, yesterday -- Miss Rapture in the fifth at Delaware -- but stum bled with the others -- a Swinging Tune-Enclosure- Prince Silver exacta box in the sixth, and a Woo Pig Sooie win wager in the seventh. As a result, the defi cit grew to 1,755 draveckys.

Today, Mr. Aitch will ween himself from his race track habit by heeding one final piece of Affrunti ad vice: Rutherford B. to win in the sixth at Belmont -- five units. Tonight, he'll bother Harang for some help -- 10 units on the Padres.

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Gamblers Data

Free Play Thursday

Rangers/Mariners ov 7

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Free Selection from Arthur Ralph Sports

675- 509 57 % Run over 3 YEARS

Free one Thurs: Indians -120

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Baseball Crusher
Play of the Day:

Twins -150 over Royals

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Sportsbook Investing
Play of the Day:

Twins -150 over Royals

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Mighty Quinn

Mighty had no play Wednesday and likes the Indians Thursday.

The deficit is 2,404 sirignanos.

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Cappers Access

Cubs
Rangers