YTD: 0-0
Oakland -240
under +10.0
Hello everyone - long time reader, first time poster here.
I usually only lay action on AL West and NL West (since these
make up the majority of games I watch during a baseball
season). I'm also stupid enough to parlay the side and total
in a given game, since I like to think I can roughly predict the
score of a game - so read this post with a grain of salt, since
my money management acumen is rather poor.
General impressions from game 1 of the series: Texas looked
a bit weak offensively. Barry Zito looked like the heat was
beginning to bother him - he threw quite a lot of pitches in his
last 3 innings of work, not to mention being able to escape a
bases-loaded no-out jam (which he abetted with an error
earlier in the inning) with only one ER allowed. Oakland, on
the other hand, looked pretty strong. The large numbers of
batters left on base are always worrisome, but a huge key
has been Tejada's quiet improvement as a run producer.
Chavez recently hasn't been the usual zero against lefty
pitching, and Durazo/Hatteberg have been steady, drawing
walks and the like.
Texas's bullpen (except Urbina) did a good job today. Oakland's
bullpen has been very good of late - Mecir is slowly rounding
into form, Bradford available tomorrow, and Foulke just baffling
people with that excellent changeup (it was his first pitch of the
9th inning today). It's rare to see a guy set up his fastball with
his changeup, but that's what he does.
Mark Mulder is a strong pitcher, and while road/Texas looks like
a weak spot for him (he's 3-4 on the road, and gave up 10 hits
to Texas last week) he's always struck me as a smart pitcher,
able to adjust. Mario Ramos got lit up by Oakland, getting lifted
in the 4th last week in the same matchup. I like to think that patient Oakland eats up young pitching, despite their troubles
with Jerome Williams (SF) in the interleague series.
I expect this game to be a lot closer than last week's game, more
in tune with a score of about 5-2 Oakland. In a contrarian play,
I'd pick the under +10.0 first, and add in Oak -240 on the strength
of star pitcher trying to make the All-Star team.
Oakland -240
under +10.0
Hello everyone - long time reader, first time poster here.
I usually only lay action on AL West and NL West (since these
make up the majority of games I watch during a baseball
season). I'm also stupid enough to parlay the side and total
in a given game, since I like to think I can roughly predict the
score of a game - so read this post with a grain of salt, since
my money management acumen is rather poor.
General impressions from game 1 of the series: Texas looked
a bit weak offensively. Barry Zito looked like the heat was
beginning to bother him - he threw quite a lot of pitches in his
last 3 innings of work, not to mention being able to escape a
bases-loaded no-out jam (which he abetted with an error
earlier in the inning) with only one ER allowed. Oakland, on
the other hand, looked pretty strong. The large numbers of
batters left on base are always worrisome, but a huge key
has been Tejada's quiet improvement as a run producer.
Chavez recently hasn't been the usual zero against lefty
pitching, and Durazo/Hatteberg have been steady, drawing
walks and the like.
Texas's bullpen (except Urbina) did a good job today. Oakland's
bullpen has been very good of late - Mecir is slowly rounding
into form, Bradford available tomorrow, and Foulke just baffling
people with that excellent changeup (it was his first pitch of the
9th inning today). It's rare to see a guy set up his fastball with
his changeup, but that's what he does.
Mark Mulder is a strong pitcher, and while road/Texas looks like
a weak spot for him (he's 3-4 on the road, and gave up 10 hits
to Texas last week) he's always struck me as a smart pitcher,
able to adjust. Mario Ramos got lit up by Oakland, getting lifted
in the 4th last week in the same matchup. I like to think that patient Oakland eats up young pitching, despite their troubles
with Jerome Williams (SF) in the interleague series.
I expect this game to be a lot closer than last week's game, more
in tune with a score of about 5-2 Oakland. In a contrarian play,
I'd pick the under +10.0 first, and add in Oak -240 on the strength
of star pitcher trying to make the All-Star team.
