MLB CHI CUBS W CHEN -L/J LESTER -L -165
MLB ARI DBACKS E BUTLER -R/Z GREINKE -R -157
MLB BOS RED SOX R PORCELLO -R/J SHIELDS -R -1.5 -135
MLB LA ANGELS T LINCECUM -R/K GRAVEMAN -R -137
1 unit bet pays 6.92 ....betdsi line
MLB parlays: 9-84, -11.86 units (risk 1 unit each pick)... winner #1 posted here......winner #2 posted here....winner #3 and nice winner #4... and small reduced winner #5, winner #6 paid 5.07 units...winner #7...and here is winner #8...and then winner #9
Goood luck everyone!! :firing: :toast:
:0074
that's some square parlay, eh? ...... last night's parlay yet another one-team close loser...a lot of those of late, getting closer to a nice win!
ripped, cut and pasted, otherwise written by others, from across the internets:
Suarez will make his fourth start of the season for San Francisco filling in for the injured Matt Cain. The Venezuelan right-hander owns a 4.50 ERA in 16 innings as a starter and a 2.87 ERA in 15 2/3 innings as a reliever this season.
Jerad Eickhoff hit a little road bump in late April and into early May, but he's been rolling for seven starts now, with a 2.64 ERA in 44.3 IP, including six shutout innings at Toronto two starts ago. He's tough to get a read on, though. In 2015, he dominated righties so much that his troubles against lefties were overshadowed. This year, he has improved a little bit against lefties (54 points of OPS) but not nearly enough to make up for his regression against righties (244 points). His biggest issue is one that plagues many young arms: the third time through the order. His OPS against skyrockets from .608 to .913 that third time, with somewhere after the 75-pitch threshold being his breaking point. Despite some shortcomings that make it tough for him to find consistency, I'm still open to using him against the anemic Twins.
Adrian Sampson - The 24-year-old will get his second MLB start in place of the injured Wade Miley. He allowed eight hits and four runs in 4 2/3 innings in a 6-2 loss at Fenway Park on Saturday...Sampson was summoned to the Majors after posting a 3.25 ERA, a 1.16 WHIP and a 61-to-12 K/BB ratio in 80 1/3 innings with Triple-A Tacoma this season. He appeared to struggle with command at times Saturday, and the Red Sox weren't nearly as forgiving as a Triple-A team would be
Norris returns to the rotation for his first start this season. He went 4-6 with a 4.68 ERA in 11 starts at Triple-A Toledo, but tossed seven scoreless innings with eight strikeouts Friday....Norris, who the Tigers acquired when they sent David Price to the Blue Jays last season, went 3-2 with a 3.75 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP in 60 innings pitched last season. He faced the Mariners once back in 2014 and allowed two runs in 3.1 innings pitched.
today's lite Detroit lineup:
2B Ian Kinsler (R)
SS Jose Iglesias (R)
DH Miguel Cabrera (R)
LF Justin Upton (R)
3B N. Castellanos (R)
RF Steven Moya (L)
C James McCann (R)
1B J. Saltalamacchia (S)
CF Andrew Romine (S)
Rick Porcello has quietly been solid. The 3.76 ERA is just OK, but he pairs it with a strong 1.09 WHIP and his 8.0 K/9 is a career best. Beyond that, the matchup is particularly intriguing. The White Sox have scored more than three runs just three times in their past 10 games, and they're averaging 3.7 runs per game this month, after sitting at 4.1 through May.
Compared to his first 10 outings, lately Harvey's velocity is up a full tick, to 95 mph on average, the walks are down from 2.9 to 1.7, the swinging strike rate is up from 10 percent to 11 percent, and he's inducing more weak contact while keeping the ball down, which is resulting in a 2.08 ERA (compared to 6.08 in the first 10). The competition has been less than stellar, but it's progress. He faced the Braves his latest time out, and it was the worst of the four starts. He's been pretty mediocre against them in three starts this season (4.86 ERA, 1.62 WHIP), but I'm never going to be afraid of sending a good pitcher against that offense -- not in 2016, at least.
Nolasco took a no decision in his last start, allowing two runs over seven innings with eight hits, no walks and five strikeouts Saturday against the visiting New York Yankees. Nolasco opened that outing with six scoreless innings, but a late collapse by the Twins' bullpen led to a 7-6 loss.
Such meltdowns have been commonplace this season for the Twins' relief corps, whose 4.67 ERA is the second highest in the American League. The 127 runs yielded by Minnesota relievers are the most in the AL, and the team's 10 saves are the fewest.
Conversely, the Twins' offense has scored the fewest runs among AL teams.
Biggest OVER run: Twins (5-0 last five)
Minnesota and Philadelphia played another exciting game at Target Field last night as the Twins edged the Phillies, 6-5. More importantly, the Twins cashed another ?over? at home, extending their streak to five at Target Field. The Twins also allowed at least four runs for the 21st straight game as the ?over? is an amazing 17-3-1 in this stretch. Since May 1, Ricky Nolasco has been nearly an automatic ?over? pitcher, going 8-1-1 in his last 10 starts as he heads to the mound in the series finale with the Phillies today.
----------------
Hottest team: Braves (6-1 last seven)
Atlanta still owns the worst record in the National League at 24-47, but the Braves have caught fire of late. In spite of getting shut out at Miami on Wednesday, the Braves have won six of their last seven games, which includes a three-game road sweep of the Mets last weekend. Atlanta has another shot at New York with the Mets invading Turner Field for four games starting tonight. In last weekend?s sweep, the Braves? pitching staff limiting the Mets to four runs, while each victory came as an underdog of +165 or higher. Matt Harvey takes the mound for New York in the opener, as the Braves have beaten the right-hander in two of three matchups this season.
Wei-Yin Chen - 2.1 IP, 6 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 1 Ks. Man, it's kinda nuts to see Chen fall so far down. That floor is getting redone and the workers are forgetting to put in the hardwood.
James Shields - 1.2 IP, 8 ER, 7 Hits, 3 BBs, 2 Ks. I know how silly it sounds, but it does seem like The Big Apple (Bartolo Colon) broke Shields. It's crazy to see this dumpster fire as we all hold hands singing Kumbaya.
Betcha didn?t know: The Reds may be sitting in last place of the NL Central, but Cincinnati has excelled recently in an odd situation. Cincinnati is riding a seven-game winning streak in series openers, while scoring at least seven runs in five of those victories. The Padres invade Great American Ballpark for a four-game series tonight as San Diego has compiled a 6-4 record in road series openers with three losses coming by one run.
Graveman has faced the Angels four times in his career, going 0-1 with a 1.88 ERA and a 1.042 WHIP over 24 innings of action. He is 0-1 with a 2.45 ERA and a 1.364 WHIP in two starts covering 11 innings at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.
Tim Lincecum gets the A's again, so there's a modicum of interest..Lincecum was solid for six innings in his season debut, but he logged just two strikeouts against two walks while working in a pretty narrow velocity band with all three pitches (82-88 mph).
Pete Rose, baseball's all-time hits leader, will be inducted into the Reds Hall of Fame on Saturday as part of weekend-long festivities honoring Rose with 20 members of the Big Red Machine clubs of the 1970s present.
--
The Rockies won two games in April started by Greinke.
On April 4, Trevor Story homered twice and the Rockies tagged the right-hander for seven earned runs and nine hits in four innings of a 10-5 win. On April 30 in Arizona, Greinke allowed two runs and eight hits in eight innings and the Rockies scored three times in the ninth for a 5-2 victory.
This time, Greinke heads to Colorado on a seven-start winning streak and 8-1 with a 2.39 ERA over his last nine starts.
"When Greinke's rolling he's as good as anybody," Colorado manager Walt Weiss said. "We caught him a couple of times early this year when he got off to a slow start but he's locked in right now and we're going to have to scratch and claw for runs. We know him very well."
---
SAN DIEGO AT CINCINNATI
PLAY: SAN DIEGO +102
I?ll call this game pretty close on the pitching. Both Christian Friedrich and John Lamb are what amounts to finesse lefties. Each throws in the 90 range, neither blows away anyone with his stuff. Friedrich has the slightly better numbers overall among those I put the most focus on, although current form is basically a wash.
I make the offense and the bullpen the keys here. The Cincy relievers have shown some improvement lately after being historically awful for two months, so it?s not a slam dunk to fade them late anymore. But I?d still rather trust the San Diego pen guys if it?s close toward the finish.
The bigger deal is the massive differential on splits for the Padres. They?re pretty feeble against righties, but this team has put up some very good numbers against lefties, and they?re facing a very average southpaw tonight. I therefore have some faith the Friars can get at least a few runs on the scoreboard tonight.
So with what I?ll call a pitching lean on Friedrich and the Friars getting to hit against a low-end southpaw, I think San Diego is worth a bet as long as they?re plus anything on the money line. They are currently plus a few pennies, so I?ll make the Padres the Thursday comp.
Oakland Athletics vs. Los Angeles Angels
Play: Los Angeles Angels -134
I have to say I found it a little shocking when the Giants let go of two time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum. The Freak suffered through control problems the last few years, but he's still just 32 years old. He only pitched 15 games in 2015, but his numbers weren't bad at all (7-4 with a 4.13 ERA). I thought is was shrewd move for the Angels to give the veteran another shot, and it looked even better when he allowed just one run on four hits over six innings in his season debut at Oakland. He'll face the A's again just five days later, and this looks like a great spot to back the Halos at home. Kendall Graveman will toe the slab for Oakland, and he has struggled this season. Graveman (2-6, 4.87 ERA) allowed one run on three hits over seven innings in a no-decision versus the Angels his last time out. That was at home in Oakland, and he's just 1-3 with a 7.03 ERA in seven starts on the road this season. He better keep an eye on Albert Pujols, who is 5-for-10 with a home run in previous meetings. Oakland ranks dead last in the American League in runs scored.
Oakland +122 over L.A. ANGELS
Kendall Graveman has one of the best groundball rates in MLB. Graveman?s velocity is also up across the board contributing to higher whiff and strikeout rates. His swing and miss % has jumped two points, buoyed by increased velocity across all pitches and more movement on his sinker, cutter, and change. That?s far more than we need to back the putrid A?s here.
We played against Tim Lincecum in this exact same matchup last week and ripped up our ticket. This is now Round 2 and nothing has changed other than Lincecum is actually worse than we gave him credit for. Lincecum threw six innings in Oakland in his season debut and walked two batters while striking out two batters. His fastball topped off at 88 MPH but it was mostly in the 86 to 88 MPH range. Several balls were put in play and many of those were hit hard, as evidenced by his 28% line-drive rate. This is a freak-show folks. Lincecum is pitching again because he wants to go out on his terms. Luckily for him, the Halos are pathetically desperate for starting pitching. This is a starter that hasn?t posted a sub-4 ERA in four seasons and his K-rate control, hr/f, and velocity were all trending in the wrong direction before he had three surgeries. He may get lucky again because the A?s are capable of making Bob Barker look good on the mound but there is no way we are refusing a tag against an ?experiment?.
Hamilton +4? over TORONTO
The Tiger-Cats have some issues to begin the year that are probably not going to be corrected right away. That puts them at a big disadvantage before the first snap takes place. The biggest question mark is the health of starting pivot Zach Collaros, who is recovering from knee surgery. Hamilton will turn to Jeremiah Masoli tonight after the Oregon Duck beat out Jeff Matthews for the starting gig. Masoli, who was on the practice roster for part of last season, almost got the Ticats to the Grey Cup last fall, but he was more game manager than gun slinger.
The next issue is personnel. Half of the starters from last season?s elite Ticats defence are no longer with the team for one reason or another, and it will be up to defensive co-ordinator Orlondo Steinauer to get the most out of the newcomers and integrate them into the system. Furthermore, offensive co-ordinator Tommy Condell retired, which leaves HC Kent Austin calling the shots early on while new OC Stef Ptaszek learns the ropes. The Ticats secondary is in big trouble also, where safety Craig Butler is out for the season and halfback Demond Washington is on the six game injured list. The fact the Ticats signed veteran castoffs Dominique Ellis and Geoff Tisdale at the end of training camp hints at uncertainty at the position.
The ?rebirth? of the Toronto Argonauts starts tonight. The Argos have finally moved out of cavernous Rogers Centre and into BMO Field, an outdoor venue that will seat approximately 27,000 spectators. After years of having to play the odd home game on the road or at a neutral site ? not to mention struggling to find practice locations ? the Double Blue can set a schedule because they always know where they?re going to be. The Argos have a brand new, multimillion dollar locker-room too and they figure to truly enjoy a home-field advantage for the first time in decades. It?s been 27 years since the Argos played at old Exhibition Stadium. After averaging just over 12,000 fans in a morgue-like atmosphere at the Rogers Center, BMO Field will have a true football atmosphere and 27,000 strong to support the home squad. It makes a HUGE difference. Rogers Centre was a wasteland for football and a major reason this franchise has struggled to make inroads with casual sports fans in Toronto.
There hasn't been this much attention paid to the Double Blue in a long time and expectations are high. Quarterback Ricky Ray is finally healthy and says he feels no pain throwing the ball for the first time in two years. The Argos are loaded offensively and figure to put up points. There is plenty of hype surrounding this game but if football games are won and lost in the trenches, the prudent play may be to take the points. Toronto?s offensive and defensive lines appear to be their weakness and that?s a tough way to kick things off.
By contrast, Hamilton?s offensive and defensive lines appears to be its strengths. Furthermore, a healthy C.J. Gable, who has averaged 5? yards per carry over his career should take plenty of pressure off of Masoli. Gable is a monster threat every single time the Ti-Cats have the ball. The Ticats also have arguably the league?s best Canadian in defensive tackle Ted Laurent, who draws double teams that should allow defensive end John Chick, a free agent acquisition, to get after the quarterback.
There is going to be a lot of emotion for the Argos and their fans tonight. This isn?t just another home-opener. Emotion can go a long way in determining the winner but all that hype means you are very likely paying extra to back the Argos here. The intangibles here make this game a difficult one to call. BMO Field will be rocking tonight but we refuse to pay a premium to back the Argos. That leaves the Tiger-Cats as our choice but not one we are willing to gamble with. We are going to watch the season opener and wait for a better opportunity.
MLB ARI DBACKS E BUTLER -R/Z GREINKE -R -157
MLB BOS RED SOX R PORCELLO -R/J SHIELDS -R -1.5 -135
MLB LA ANGELS T LINCECUM -R/K GRAVEMAN -R -137
1 unit bet pays 6.92 ....betdsi line
MLB parlays: 9-84, -11.86 units (risk 1 unit each pick)... winner #1 posted here......winner #2 posted here....winner #3 and nice winner #4... and small reduced winner #5, winner #6 paid 5.07 units...winner #7...and here is winner #8...and then winner #9
Goood luck everyone!! :firing: :toast:
that's some square parlay, eh? ...... last night's parlay yet another one-team close loser...a lot of those of late, getting closer to a nice win!
ripped, cut and pasted, otherwise written by others, from across the internets:
Suarez will make his fourth start of the season for San Francisco filling in for the injured Matt Cain. The Venezuelan right-hander owns a 4.50 ERA in 16 innings as a starter and a 2.87 ERA in 15 2/3 innings as a reliever this season.
Jerad Eickhoff hit a little road bump in late April and into early May, but he's been rolling for seven starts now, with a 2.64 ERA in 44.3 IP, including six shutout innings at Toronto two starts ago. He's tough to get a read on, though. In 2015, he dominated righties so much that his troubles against lefties were overshadowed. This year, he has improved a little bit against lefties (54 points of OPS) but not nearly enough to make up for his regression against righties (244 points). His biggest issue is one that plagues many young arms: the third time through the order. His OPS against skyrockets from .608 to .913 that third time, with somewhere after the 75-pitch threshold being his breaking point. Despite some shortcomings that make it tough for him to find consistency, I'm still open to using him against the anemic Twins.
Adrian Sampson - The 24-year-old will get his second MLB start in place of the injured Wade Miley. He allowed eight hits and four runs in 4 2/3 innings in a 6-2 loss at Fenway Park on Saturday...Sampson was summoned to the Majors after posting a 3.25 ERA, a 1.16 WHIP and a 61-to-12 K/BB ratio in 80 1/3 innings with Triple-A Tacoma this season. He appeared to struggle with command at times Saturday, and the Red Sox weren't nearly as forgiving as a Triple-A team would be
Norris returns to the rotation for his first start this season. He went 4-6 with a 4.68 ERA in 11 starts at Triple-A Toledo, but tossed seven scoreless innings with eight strikeouts Friday....Norris, who the Tigers acquired when they sent David Price to the Blue Jays last season, went 3-2 with a 3.75 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP in 60 innings pitched last season. He faced the Mariners once back in 2014 and allowed two runs in 3.1 innings pitched.
today's lite Detroit lineup:
2B Ian Kinsler (R)
SS Jose Iglesias (R)
DH Miguel Cabrera (R)
LF Justin Upton (R)
3B N. Castellanos (R)
RF Steven Moya (L)
C James McCann (R)
1B J. Saltalamacchia (S)
CF Andrew Romine (S)
Rick Porcello has quietly been solid. The 3.76 ERA is just OK, but he pairs it with a strong 1.09 WHIP and his 8.0 K/9 is a career best. Beyond that, the matchup is particularly intriguing. The White Sox have scored more than three runs just three times in their past 10 games, and they're averaging 3.7 runs per game this month, after sitting at 4.1 through May.
Compared to his first 10 outings, lately Harvey's velocity is up a full tick, to 95 mph on average, the walks are down from 2.9 to 1.7, the swinging strike rate is up from 10 percent to 11 percent, and he's inducing more weak contact while keeping the ball down, which is resulting in a 2.08 ERA (compared to 6.08 in the first 10). The competition has been less than stellar, but it's progress. He faced the Braves his latest time out, and it was the worst of the four starts. He's been pretty mediocre against them in three starts this season (4.86 ERA, 1.62 WHIP), but I'm never going to be afraid of sending a good pitcher against that offense -- not in 2016, at least.
Nolasco took a no decision in his last start, allowing two runs over seven innings with eight hits, no walks and five strikeouts Saturday against the visiting New York Yankees. Nolasco opened that outing with six scoreless innings, but a late collapse by the Twins' bullpen led to a 7-6 loss.
Such meltdowns have been commonplace this season for the Twins' relief corps, whose 4.67 ERA is the second highest in the American League. The 127 runs yielded by Minnesota relievers are the most in the AL, and the team's 10 saves are the fewest.
Conversely, the Twins' offense has scored the fewest runs among AL teams.
Biggest OVER run: Twins (5-0 last five)
Minnesota and Philadelphia played another exciting game at Target Field last night as the Twins edged the Phillies, 6-5. More importantly, the Twins cashed another ?over? at home, extending their streak to five at Target Field. The Twins also allowed at least four runs for the 21st straight game as the ?over? is an amazing 17-3-1 in this stretch. Since May 1, Ricky Nolasco has been nearly an automatic ?over? pitcher, going 8-1-1 in his last 10 starts as he heads to the mound in the series finale with the Phillies today.
----------------
Hottest team: Braves (6-1 last seven)
Atlanta still owns the worst record in the National League at 24-47, but the Braves have caught fire of late. In spite of getting shut out at Miami on Wednesday, the Braves have won six of their last seven games, which includes a three-game road sweep of the Mets last weekend. Atlanta has another shot at New York with the Mets invading Turner Field for four games starting tonight. In last weekend?s sweep, the Braves? pitching staff limiting the Mets to four runs, while each victory came as an underdog of +165 or higher. Matt Harvey takes the mound for New York in the opener, as the Braves have beaten the right-hander in two of three matchups this season.
Wei-Yin Chen - 2.1 IP, 6 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 1 Ks. Man, it's kinda nuts to see Chen fall so far down. That floor is getting redone and the workers are forgetting to put in the hardwood.
James Shields - 1.2 IP, 8 ER, 7 Hits, 3 BBs, 2 Ks. I know how silly it sounds, but it does seem like The Big Apple (Bartolo Colon) broke Shields. It's crazy to see this dumpster fire as we all hold hands singing Kumbaya.
Betcha didn?t know: The Reds may be sitting in last place of the NL Central, but Cincinnati has excelled recently in an odd situation. Cincinnati is riding a seven-game winning streak in series openers, while scoring at least seven runs in five of those victories. The Padres invade Great American Ballpark for a four-game series tonight as San Diego has compiled a 6-4 record in road series openers with three losses coming by one run.
Graveman has faced the Angels four times in his career, going 0-1 with a 1.88 ERA and a 1.042 WHIP over 24 innings of action. He is 0-1 with a 2.45 ERA and a 1.364 WHIP in two starts covering 11 innings at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.
Tim Lincecum gets the A's again, so there's a modicum of interest..Lincecum was solid for six innings in his season debut, but he logged just two strikeouts against two walks while working in a pretty narrow velocity band with all three pitches (82-88 mph).
Pete Rose, baseball's all-time hits leader, will be inducted into the Reds Hall of Fame on Saturday as part of weekend-long festivities honoring Rose with 20 members of the Big Red Machine clubs of the 1970s present.
--
The Rockies won two games in April started by Greinke.
On April 4, Trevor Story homered twice and the Rockies tagged the right-hander for seven earned runs and nine hits in four innings of a 10-5 win. On April 30 in Arizona, Greinke allowed two runs and eight hits in eight innings and the Rockies scored three times in the ninth for a 5-2 victory.
This time, Greinke heads to Colorado on a seven-start winning streak and 8-1 with a 2.39 ERA over his last nine starts.
"When Greinke's rolling he's as good as anybody," Colorado manager Walt Weiss said. "We caught him a couple of times early this year when he got off to a slow start but he's locked in right now and we're going to have to scratch and claw for runs. We know him very well."
---
SAN DIEGO AT CINCINNATI
PLAY: SAN DIEGO +102
I?ll call this game pretty close on the pitching. Both Christian Friedrich and John Lamb are what amounts to finesse lefties. Each throws in the 90 range, neither blows away anyone with his stuff. Friedrich has the slightly better numbers overall among those I put the most focus on, although current form is basically a wash.
I make the offense and the bullpen the keys here. The Cincy relievers have shown some improvement lately after being historically awful for two months, so it?s not a slam dunk to fade them late anymore. But I?d still rather trust the San Diego pen guys if it?s close toward the finish.
The bigger deal is the massive differential on splits for the Padres. They?re pretty feeble against righties, but this team has put up some very good numbers against lefties, and they?re facing a very average southpaw tonight. I therefore have some faith the Friars can get at least a few runs on the scoreboard tonight.
So with what I?ll call a pitching lean on Friedrich and the Friars getting to hit against a low-end southpaw, I think San Diego is worth a bet as long as they?re plus anything on the money line. They are currently plus a few pennies, so I?ll make the Padres the Thursday comp.
Oakland Athletics vs. Los Angeles Angels
Play: Los Angeles Angels -134
I have to say I found it a little shocking when the Giants let go of two time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum. The Freak suffered through control problems the last few years, but he's still just 32 years old. He only pitched 15 games in 2015, but his numbers weren't bad at all (7-4 with a 4.13 ERA). I thought is was shrewd move for the Angels to give the veteran another shot, and it looked even better when he allowed just one run on four hits over six innings in his season debut at Oakland. He'll face the A's again just five days later, and this looks like a great spot to back the Halos at home. Kendall Graveman will toe the slab for Oakland, and he has struggled this season. Graveman (2-6, 4.87 ERA) allowed one run on three hits over seven innings in a no-decision versus the Angels his last time out. That was at home in Oakland, and he's just 1-3 with a 7.03 ERA in seven starts on the road this season. He better keep an eye on Albert Pujols, who is 5-for-10 with a home run in previous meetings. Oakland ranks dead last in the American League in runs scored.
Oakland +122 over L.A. ANGELS
Kendall Graveman has one of the best groundball rates in MLB. Graveman?s velocity is also up across the board contributing to higher whiff and strikeout rates. His swing and miss % has jumped two points, buoyed by increased velocity across all pitches and more movement on his sinker, cutter, and change. That?s far more than we need to back the putrid A?s here.
We played against Tim Lincecum in this exact same matchup last week and ripped up our ticket. This is now Round 2 and nothing has changed other than Lincecum is actually worse than we gave him credit for. Lincecum threw six innings in Oakland in his season debut and walked two batters while striking out two batters. His fastball topped off at 88 MPH but it was mostly in the 86 to 88 MPH range. Several balls were put in play and many of those were hit hard, as evidenced by his 28% line-drive rate. This is a freak-show folks. Lincecum is pitching again because he wants to go out on his terms. Luckily for him, the Halos are pathetically desperate for starting pitching. This is a starter that hasn?t posted a sub-4 ERA in four seasons and his K-rate control, hr/f, and velocity were all trending in the wrong direction before he had three surgeries. He may get lucky again because the A?s are capable of making Bob Barker look good on the mound but there is no way we are refusing a tag against an ?experiment?.
Hamilton +4? over TORONTO
The Tiger-Cats have some issues to begin the year that are probably not going to be corrected right away. That puts them at a big disadvantage before the first snap takes place. The biggest question mark is the health of starting pivot Zach Collaros, who is recovering from knee surgery. Hamilton will turn to Jeremiah Masoli tonight after the Oregon Duck beat out Jeff Matthews for the starting gig. Masoli, who was on the practice roster for part of last season, almost got the Ticats to the Grey Cup last fall, but he was more game manager than gun slinger.
The next issue is personnel. Half of the starters from last season?s elite Ticats defence are no longer with the team for one reason or another, and it will be up to defensive co-ordinator Orlondo Steinauer to get the most out of the newcomers and integrate them into the system. Furthermore, offensive co-ordinator Tommy Condell retired, which leaves HC Kent Austin calling the shots early on while new OC Stef Ptaszek learns the ropes. The Ticats secondary is in big trouble also, where safety Craig Butler is out for the season and halfback Demond Washington is on the six game injured list. The fact the Ticats signed veteran castoffs Dominique Ellis and Geoff Tisdale at the end of training camp hints at uncertainty at the position.
The ?rebirth? of the Toronto Argonauts starts tonight. The Argos have finally moved out of cavernous Rogers Centre and into BMO Field, an outdoor venue that will seat approximately 27,000 spectators. After years of having to play the odd home game on the road or at a neutral site ? not to mention struggling to find practice locations ? the Double Blue can set a schedule because they always know where they?re going to be. The Argos have a brand new, multimillion dollar locker-room too and they figure to truly enjoy a home-field advantage for the first time in decades. It?s been 27 years since the Argos played at old Exhibition Stadium. After averaging just over 12,000 fans in a morgue-like atmosphere at the Rogers Center, BMO Field will have a true football atmosphere and 27,000 strong to support the home squad. It makes a HUGE difference. Rogers Centre was a wasteland for football and a major reason this franchise has struggled to make inroads with casual sports fans in Toronto.
There hasn't been this much attention paid to the Double Blue in a long time and expectations are high. Quarterback Ricky Ray is finally healthy and says he feels no pain throwing the ball for the first time in two years. The Argos are loaded offensively and figure to put up points. There is plenty of hype surrounding this game but if football games are won and lost in the trenches, the prudent play may be to take the points. Toronto?s offensive and defensive lines appear to be their weakness and that?s a tough way to kick things off.
By contrast, Hamilton?s offensive and defensive lines appears to be its strengths. Furthermore, a healthy C.J. Gable, who has averaged 5? yards per carry over his career should take plenty of pressure off of Masoli. Gable is a monster threat every single time the Ti-Cats have the ball. The Ticats also have arguably the league?s best Canadian in defensive tackle Ted Laurent, who draws double teams that should allow defensive end John Chick, a free agent acquisition, to get after the quarterback.
There is going to be a lot of emotion for the Argos and their fans tonight. This isn?t just another home-opener. Emotion can go a long way in determining the winner but all that hype means you are very likely paying extra to back the Argos here. The intangibles here make this game a difficult one to call. BMO Field will be rocking tonight but we refuse to pay a premium to back the Argos. That leaves the Tiger-Cats as our choice but not one we are willing to gamble with. We are going to watch the season opener and wait for a better opportunity.
