Well, today is Thursday, finally. And I, for one, am damn glad that Wednesday is over. What a freaking nightmare. Here’s a little recap of my hump day and how it humped the living hell out of me.
Cle +190, lose. TOR+1.5 and Bos, lose. Hou +150, win. NYY and TB, win. Atl and StL, Lose. Atl -1.5 lose. SFO +130, St.L -1.5, win. Lose. ARI and CWS, Lose. Cincinnati and Arroyo BIG, Lose. ugh. I desperately need to get on with it and hopefully today is a step in the right direction. These ruts, when they hit, are damned dreadful.
I hope you have a lovely day today. Let’s jump right into it.
Normally, the matchup today between the Cards and the Phils would be the best damn game of the week or even month so far, except for one tiny detail: The Phils are arguably the worst team in the National league right now and are facing the smoking hot Red Birds from the stadium under the Arch. The Cards have won 8 straight and have been relying on some of the best pitching in the entire majors to get the job done. And slowly but surely the Cardinal offense is starting to click. Starts against the lowly Phils and the likes of Kyle Kendrick, who got rocked in St Louis and was sent down to the minors; Jamie Moyer, who threw only a handful of pitches before leaving with an elbow issue; Joe Blanton, who pitched great for a while last night, only to choke down the stretch; will definitely contribute to getting guys like Matt Holliday going in the right direction for fans of the Cards.
Coming off of 3 of 4 losses to the junk Cubs, who are 11.5 out of their division, and now look to avoid a 4 game sweep in St. Louis, the Phils turn to Cole Hamels, who has been absolutely stellar in his last 10 starts and has been everything the Phils hoped he would be in 2010 as compliment to the superstar, league-wide ace Roy Halladay. In his last ten, Hamels has given the Fightins a quality start 8 times. There is just one problem: the Phils can’t score. In those 10 starts, Hamels is 2-5. The Phellows from Philly are 3-7 in those starts and that is just absolutely unacceptable. They don’t score for Hamels and they don’t score for the Doc (who is 10-8 with 2 ND, and in those 10 non-wins, Doc has posted a sub4 era) and have now cost themselves nearly 10, if not 15 dubyas and are in a hole so deep that even the likes of Roy Oswalt may not be able to dig them out. Thank goodness for the wildcard, eh, Phils?
On the flip side of today’s matchup, the Cards rely on Adam Wainwright, for whom the Cards have scored 7 runs or more in support in 6 of his last 10 outings, getting a decision in each, and finishing with an 8-2 mark in those eight. On the season, Adam Wainwright is 14-5 with a 2.02 era, 130ks and only 36 walks. This is one of the premier pitchers in the game and he will absolutely shut down the Phils’ pathetic, ice cold bats today to finish off a rare, even embarrassing, four game sweep of the team who is looking to be back-to-back-to-back National League Champs for the first time since the ’42-’44 Cardinals.
Philadelphia currently sits at a +147 underdog, and I don’t really expect the line to move much more, honestly. Hamels has been very good of late, and the oddsmakers will expect this to be a low scoring affair. The o/u is currently at 7, which is more than fair. Expect the Phillies to be in this game, but also expect them to score less than 2 runs today, and expect them to lose and finish up the sweep.
I absolutely am playing the Cards today, the Phillies have given me no reason to get behind them and I am going to ride in relatively large fashion. I absolutely consider this the lock of the day (well..tied with CC at home vs the Royals) and plan on getting everything back that I lost yesterday in the process. The line is lovely for what I consider a huge favorite. St Louis (wainwright) -167 v Phi (Hamels) +147, o/u7.
Hammer that -167, don’t miss it. Do NOT be left holding your weiney while rest of us cash this ticket.
Other Thursday notables:
NYY (Sabathia) -325 v KC (Chen) +275: Do not play juice like this. Chen hasn’t been that bad. But, this is just the parlay piece to add to that game listed above to add to that pocket.
MIL (Gallardo) -165 v PIT (Ohlendorf) +145: Yovanni returns from his stint on the DL. He was an all-star selection and is one of the best strike out pitchers in the game. He should dominate (if completely healthy) and help his team bounce back from the double-digit shellacking last night at the hands of these very Pirates. The Pirates under 2 tonight.
FLA (JJ) -230 v COL (De La Rosa) +190: Josh is back. He will dominate. again. But can the Fish score and land him the win? I think so, but with this kind of juice, it looks like we’re looking at a huge ace SP parlay today, folks.
CIN (Volquez) -183 v WSH (Livan) +163: Edison V is back in Queen City. He has nasty stuff, more velocity and has inherited the ace title in just one start. Livan always makes it a game, but the Reds are the play here. Cincy will roll and bounce back from the L that hurt me so bad last night.
ATL (Hudson) -166 v SDG (Richard) +146: I thought SD had the best pitching... It turns out it may be the Bravos. They look to their ace Hudson to get another win vs the West leaders. It sure looks like that Padre Slide is upon us. expected really. Richard is good, but is he good enough to get it done today? I don’t think so, but maybe I’m wrong. ha. I’ve been wrong before.
** TEX (Lee) -165 v LAA (Weaver) +145: This line is too high. The only thing I can figure is that the oddsmakers are punishing the Angels because of travel. The Rangers have not yet scored for their new ace. He has been beaten twice because of no support and usually gets reamed in the Ballpark at Arlington. Today will be no different as the Angels send one of the best pitchers in the game to the hill to get a big division win and start making a run at the Rangers. This is a much watch 1010pm east game.
Day games galore again today. I love day baseball. The opening pitch is 1210 eastern this afternoon, so you better get your exercise in early today. Snag a run, get something healthy for lunch, make plans for a family dinner, and go buy a 6 pack of Sierra Nevada to enjoy today while you fatten your wallets with these pimp Aces going today.
Until tomorrow, folks. Good Luck.
Cle +190, lose. TOR+1.5 and Bos, lose. Hou +150, win. NYY and TB, win. Atl and StL, Lose. Atl -1.5 lose. SFO +130, St.L -1.5, win. Lose. ARI and CWS, Lose. Cincinnati and Arroyo BIG, Lose. ugh. I desperately need to get on with it and hopefully today is a step in the right direction. These ruts, when they hit, are damned dreadful.
I hope you have a lovely day today. Let’s jump right into it.
Normally, the matchup today between the Cards and the Phils would be the best damn game of the week or even month so far, except for one tiny detail: The Phils are arguably the worst team in the National league right now and are facing the smoking hot Red Birds from the stadium under the Arch. The Cards have won 8 straight and have been relying on some of the best pitching in the entire majors to get the job done. And slowly but surely the Cardinal offense is starting to click. Starts against the lowly Phils and the likes of Kyle Kendrick, who got rocked in St Louis and was sent down to the minors; Jamie Moyer, who threw only a handful of pitches before leaving with an elbow issue; Joe Blanton, who pitched great for a while last night, only to choke down the stretch; will definitely contribute to getting guys like Matt Holliday going in the right direction for fans of the Cards.
Coming off of 3 of 4 losses to the junk Cubs, who are 11.5 out of their division, and now look to avoid a 4 game sweep in St. Louis, the Phils turn to Cole Hamels, who has been absolutely stellar in his last 10 starts and has been everything the Phils hoped he would be in 2010 as compliment to the superstar, league-wide ace Roy Halladay. In his last ten, Hamels has given the Fightins a quality start 8 times. There is just one problem: the Phils can’t score. In those 10 starts, Hamels is 2-5. The Phellows from Philly are 3-7 in those starts and that is just absolutely unacceptable. They don’t score for Hamels and they don’t score for the Doc (who is 10-8 with 2 ND, and in those 10 non-wins, Doc has posted a sub4 era) and have now cost themselves nearly 10, if not 15 dubyas and are in a hole so deep that even the likes of Roy Oswalt may not be able to dig them out. Thank goodness for the wildcard, eh, Phils?
On the flip side of today’s matchup, the Cards rely on Adam Wainwright, for whom the Cards have scored 7 runs or more in support in 6 of his last 10 outings, getting a decision in each, and finishing with an 8-2 mark in those eight. On the season, Adam Wainwright is 14-5 with a 2.02 era, 130ks and only 36 walks. This is one of the premier pitchers in the game and he will absolutely shut down the Phils’ pathetic, ice cold bats today to finish off a rare, even embarrassing, four game sweep of the team who is looking to be back-to-back-to-back National League Champs for the first time since the ’42-’44 Cardinals.
Philadelphia currently sits at a +147 underdog, and I don’t really expect the line to move much more, honestly. Hamels has been very good of late, and the oddsmakers will expect this to be a low scoring affair. The o/u is currently at 7, which is more than fair. Expect the Phillies to be in this game, but also expect them to score less than 2 runs today, and expect them to lose and finish up the sweep.
I absolutely am playing the Cards today, the Phillies have given me no reason to get behind them and I am going to ride in relatively large fashion. I absolutely consider this the lock of the day (well..tied with CC at home vs the Royals) and plan on getting everything back that I lost yesterday in the process. The line is lovely for what I consider a huge favorite. St Louis (wainwright) -167 v Phi (Hamels) +147, o/u7.
Hammer that -167, don’t miss it. Do NOT be left holding your weiney while rest of us cash this ticket.
Other Thursday notables:
NYY (Sabathia) -325 v KC (Chen) +275: Do not play juice like this. Chen hasn’t been that bad. But, this is just the parlay piece to add to that game listed above to add to that pocket.
MIL (Gallardo) -165 v PIT (Ohlendorf) +145: Yovanni returns from his stint on the DL. He was an all-star selection and is one of the best strike out pitchers in the game. He should dominate (if completely healthy) and help his team bounce back from the double-digit shellacking last night at the hands of these very Pirates. The Pirates under 2 tonight.
FLA (JJ) -230 v COL (De La Rosa) +190: Josh is back. He will dominate. again. But can the Fish score and land him the win? I think so, but with this kind of juice, it looks like we’re looking at a huge ace SP parlay today, folks.
CIN (Volquez) -183 v WSH (Livan) +163: Edison V is back in Queen City. He has nasty stuff, more velocity and has inherited the ace title in just one start. Livan always makes it a game, but the Reds are the play here. Cincy will roll and bounce back from the L that hurt me so bad last night.
ATL (Hudson) -166 v SDG (Richard) +146: I thought SD had the best pitching... It turns out it may be the Bravos. They look to their ace Hudson to get another win vs the West leaders. It sure looks like that Padre Slide is upon us. expected really. Richard is good, but is he good enough to get it done today? I don’t think so, but maybe I’m wrong. ha. I’ve been wrong before.
** TEX (Lee) -165 v LAA (Weaver) +145: This line is too high. The only thing I can figure is that the oddsmakers are punishing the Angels because of travel. The Rangers have not yet scored for their new ace. He has been beaten twice because of no support and usually gets reamed in the Ballpark at Arlington. Today will be no different as the Angels send one of the best pitchers in the game to the hill to get a big division win and start making a run at the Rangers. This is a much watch 1010pm east game.
Day games galore again today. I love day baseball. The opening pitch is 1210 eastern this afternoon, so you better get your exercise in early today. Snag a run, get something healthy for lunch, make plans for a family dinner, and go buy a 6 pack of Sierra Nevada to enjoy today while you fatten your wallets with these pimp Aces going today.
Until tomorrow, folks. Good Luck.