Big Al...of course!
tuesday
Our 6 selections include the 76ers, the 'over' in the Kings/Sonics
game, and in baseball, Oakland, Washington, Houston and the 'over' in
the Los Angeles/Arizona game.
Seattle/Sacramento 'over' -- At 10:30 pm, our selection is on the
'over' in the Seattle/Sacramento game as it falls into a Totals
system of mine that is 36-9 in the Playoffs since 1990, including a
perfect 15-0 in the first round when the point spread in the game is
less than 8 points! I will be using this system a few more times, so
its elements will remain for my eyes only, but look for a
high-scoring game in Seattle tonight. Take the 'over'.
Philadelphia 76ers -- At 7:30 pm, our Eastern Conference Playoffs
Game of the Month is on the Philadelphia 76ers over Detroit, as
Philly falls into 51-16, 12-0 and 8-0 ATS systems. Let's take a look
at the 8-0 angle. What we want to do is play on any Game 2 underdog
of more than 6 points that scored 87 or less points in Game 1 of a
series and lost that game SU and ATS. Take Philadelphia.
Oakland -- At 10:05 pm, our American League Game of the Month is on
the Oakland A's over Chicago, as Oakland falls into a system of mine
that has an effective win percentage of 75% over the past 4 seasons.
The A's will hand the ball over to their best pitcher, righty Rich
Harden, who has a 0.44 ERA on the year. In 3 starts, Harden has
allowed just 1 earned run and less than 1 baserunner per inning
pitched. Harden also has a 2.25 career ERA vs. the Chisox with a WHIP
of 0.80, while his mound opponent, lefty Mark Buehrle, has won just 2
of his 11 starts vs. Oakland! With a 5.14 road ERA, look for Buehrle
to be just the anti-dote Oakland needs for its hitting woes. Take the
A's as our American League Game of the Month.
Houston -- At 7:05pm our selection is on the Houston Astros.
Pittsburgh's ace, Oliver Perez finally got his act together and won
the first game of this series on Monday by pitching a 4 hit shutout
over seven and two-thirds innings as the Pirates blanked Houston,
2-0. Tonight's starter, Kip Wells, is no Oliver Perez and he is off
to a very slow start this year. The problem with being a Pirates'
starter with even an average ERA of 4 runs per game is that you will
not get any run support. In their last 10 games, the Pirates are only
averaging 3 runs per contest. Andy Pettitte has made a nice comeback
from injuries which cost him most of last season and resulted in
off-season surgery. He appears to be healthy again and has been
throwing very effectively. Houston dominated Kip Wells last year and
won all three games in which Wells started, while Pettitte went 2 - 0
against Pittsburgh. Take Houston.
Arizona/Los Angeles 'over' -- At 10:10 pm our selection is Arizona &
Los Angeles 'over' the total. These two teams played a series earlier
this year at the BOB in Arizona where a whopping 46 runs were scored
in the 3 games. The game with the most runs scored was the one which
featured tonight's starter for LA, Scott Erickson. That game was won
by the Dodgers, 12 - 10. Erickson is a sinker ball pitcher whose ball
doesn't always sink like it used to and that can spell big trouble
when you're 37 years old and not throwing as hard as you did 10 years
ago (especially when you didn't throw that hard to begin with). The
Dodgers have had no problems scoring runs against teams in their
division as they are averaging over 5.5 runs per game against NL West
clubs so far in 2005. And that kind of run production, coupled with
some solid pitching (from just about everyone EXCEPT Scott Erickson)
has landed them in first place in the NL West with a 13 - 6 record.
The D-Backs started out the season with hot bats, which quickly
cooled off, but have seemed to re-ignite lately. Take the 'over'.
Washington -- At 7:05 pm, our selection is on the Washington
Nationals, who have inexplicably been installed as a small underdog
on the overnight line. These odds are WAY OFF, as I would have made
Washington a decent sized favorite, especially since the Phillies
will once again be without possibly its two best hitters in the
starting lineup (Pat Burrell and Kenny Lofton). Look for Washington's
John Patterson to continue his strong 2005 campaign with another
quality start. So far this year, Patterson has given up just 2 earned
runs in 21 innings pitched and has allowed just 16 baserunners (0.76
WHIP; 0.86 ERA). Washington is scoring an impressive 5.2 runs per
game vs. right-handed starters, and batting .293, while Philly has
scored more than 2 runs in just 1 of its last 6 road games. Take
Washington. Good luck, as always...Al McMordie.
