Thursday's wagering tips
Can't we just get along?
Florida's double-play tandem is not getting along these days. Hanley Ramirez and Dan Uggla exchanged words in clubhouse on Wednesday. The two players met with manager Fredi Gonzalez afterwards.
The arguement appears to stem from Ramirez's defensiveness about his recent injury. He's missed some time with a tight hamstring and caught some heat from teammates after leaving early from a game on Tuesday.
"You don't get the same respect from teammates when you're not playing," the shortstop told reporters said. "I got people upset when I got out of the game last night. I try to do the best I can. Whatever."
Uggla overheard Ramirez relaying the same type of comments later and tempers boiled over.
No word on whether Ramirez, who sat out Wednesday's game, will be back in the lineup Thursday. The Marlins are +119 home dogs to Braves.
Cookie cutter oddsmaking
Want an idea of how tough it is to set lines for Week 4 of the NFL preseason?
Take a look at this week?s spreads and totals and you?ll notice a pattern. Books, having no clue what teams will field this week, have pegged almost every game with a spread of three points. Currently, eight of the 17 games are dealing that magic number.
As for the total, it seems 36 points is the expected output of these makeshift lineups. Nine of this week?s games boast a total of 36 or 36.5.
The biggest anomalies are six points Jacksonville is giving at home to the Redskins Thursday and the 33.5-point total for the Steelers at Carolina game.
Young and the injured
Rangers All-Star third baseman Michael Young is expected to miss the next two to three weeks because of a strained left hamstring. Young is one of the key components to Texas' batting order. He's hitting .322 with a .524 slugging percentage.
The Rangers begin a series against the Orioles on Friday.
Why the six points?
Closer investigation into the 6-point spread in the Washington-Jacksonville tilt reveals that Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio is planning to run with his starters further into Thursday?s game than most teams do in Week 4.
Del Rio believes there are too many roster spots still in question and doesn?t feel his team is ready for the regular season yet. The biggest questions remaining are on the offensive line where rookies are challenging veterans for the starting gigs.
"Ideally we'd like to roll out a group that for the most part is going to take the field in our opener at Indy. So Thursday I'd like to do that,? he told reporters. ?We're going to continue to work through that as a staff and settle on the guys. I think there are still some decisions to be made and we'll have the next couple days to sort through it, but I would like to put what should be as close as we can come to having the starting group on the field when we kick it off Thursday night."
Exit Sandman
New York Yankees Hall-of-Fame closer Mariano Rivera will be out of action this week and possibily into the weekend. The 39-year-old righty has been playing with leg pain since the middle of August and will rest up. Rivera leads the majors in saves with 38 this year.
"I've had groin issues, but this is new. It's the left leg, which is good because you don't push off that leg," Rivera told the media. "It just happened while I was pitching. It's nothing to worry about; we'll go day by day. I'll play as soon as possible."
New York is currently in Toronto for a four-game series. The Yankees have won six straight games heading into Thursday's series opener. Oddsmakers have price New York as a -133 road favroite for that contest.
Winner by default
The battle to carry Tom Brady?s luggage came to an anticlimactic close this week when would-be No. 2 Kevin O?Connell was released by the Patriots. That left five-year veteran Andrew Walter as the team?s Plan-B if Brady goes down again.
Brady will not be in action against the New York Giants Thursday, leaving Walter to take the majority of the snaps. He?s been with the team for just over a month and is still learning the complex playbook. Walter threw nine passes against the Philadelphia Eagles this preseason, connecting on five of them for 62 yards.
Thursday's total is a cookie-cutter 36 points.
MLB Thursday trends
-The Mets, who are +222 dogs Thursday at Colorado, are 2-8 in their last 10 games as a road underdog.
-The under is 4-0 in Rays starter David Price's last four starts. The total is set at 9 for tomorrow's home tilt against the Red Sox.
-The Yankees are 8-2 in their last 10 games visiting teams with a winning home record. New York is a -129 fave tomorrow at Toronto.
Can't we just get along?
Florida's double-play tandem is not getting along these days. Hanley Ramirez and Dan Uggla exchanged words in clubhouse on Wednesday. The two players met with manager Fredi Gonzalez afterwards.
The arguement appears to stem from Ramirez's defensiveness about his recent injury. He's missed some time with a tight hamstring and caught some heat from teammates after leaving early from a game on Tuesday.
"You don't get the same respect from teammates when you're not playing," the shortstop told reporters said. "I got people upset when I got out of the game last night. I try to do the best I can. Whatever."
Uggla overheard Ramirez relaying the same type of comments later and tempers boiled over.
No word on whether Ramirez, who sat out Wednesday's game, will be back in the lineup Thursday. The Marlins are +119 home dogs to Braves.
Cookie cutter oddsmaking
Want an idea of how tough it is to set lines for Week 4 of the NFL preseason?
Take a look at this week?s spreads and totals and you?ll notice a pattern. Books, having no clue what teams will field this week, have pegged almost every game with a spread of three points. Currently, eight of the 17 games are dealing that magic number.
As for the total, it seems 36 points is the expected output of these makeshift lineups. Nine of this week?s games boast a total of 36 or 36.5.
The biggest anomalies are six points Jacksonville is giving at home to the Redskins Thursday and the 33.5-point total for the Steelers at Carolina game.
Young and the injured
Rangers All-Star third baseman Michael Young is expected to miss the next two to three weeks because of a strained left hamstring. Young is one of the key components to Texas' batting order. He's hitting .322 with a .524 slugging percentage.
The Rangers begin a series against the Orioles on Friday.
Why the six points?
Closer investigation into the 6-point spread in the Washington-Jacksonville tilt reveals that Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio is planning to run with his starters further into Thursday?s game than most teams do in Week 4.
Del Rio believes there are too many roster spots still in question and doesn?t feel his team is ready for the regular season yet. The biggest questions remaining are on the offensive line where rookies are challenging veterans for the starting gigs.
"Ideally we'd like to roll out a group that for the most part is going to take the field in our opener at Indy. So Thursday I'd like to do that,? he told reporters. ?We're going to continue to work through that as a staff and settle on the guys. I think there are still some decisions to be made and we'll have the next couple days to sort through it, but I would like to put what should be as close as we can come to having the starting group on the field when we kick it off Thursday night."
Exit Sandman
New York Yankees Hall-of-Fame closer Mariano Rivera will be out of action this week and possibily into the weekend. The 39-year-old righty has been playing with leg pain since the middle of August and will rest up. Rivera leads the majors in saves with 38 this year.
"I've had groin issues, but this is new. It's the left leg, which is good because you don't push off that leg," Rivera told the media. "It just happened while I was pitching. It's nothing to worry about; we'll go day by day. I'll play as soon as possible."
New York is currently in Toronto for a four-game series. The Yankees have won six straight games heading into Thursday's series opener. Oddsmakers have price New York as a -133 road favroite for that contest.
Winner by default
The battle to carry Tom Brady?s luggage came to an anticlimactic close this week when would-be No. 2 Kevin O?Connell was released by the Patriots. That left five-year veteran Andrew Walter as the team?s Plan-B if Brady goes down again.
Brady will not be in action against the New York Giants Thursday, leaving Walter to take the majority of the snaps. He?s been with the team for just over a month and is still learning the complex playbook. Walter threw nine passes against the Philadelphia Eagles this preseason, connecting on five of them for 62 yards.
Thursday's total is a cookie-cutter 36 points.
MLB Thursday trends
-The Mets, who are +222 dogs Thursday at Colorado, are 2-8 in their last 10 games as a road underdog.
-The under is 4-0 in Rays starter David Price's last four starts. The total is set at 9 for tomorrow's home tilt against the Red Sox.
-The Yankees are 8-2 in their last 10 games visiting teams with a winning home record. New York is a -129 fave tomorrow at Toronto.
