Quote Originally Posted by Blondie View Post
Nothing better than the beauty of spring just after a rain. Everything is fresh and clean, colors are bright and the sun is so welcoming!
After reading this sentence I was expecting Blondie to hold up a bottle of Tide, pitching "my laundry now smells minty fresh, the colors are bursting, the whites are blinding" or maybe a Massengill product... um, let's stick to the laundry detergent.

I'm glad my last play worked out for you, thanks for the points, I'm not all about the points, eventually I'll turn pro here, but the options are now very limited, now the thinking is I'll buy a couple or three hundred dollars of MLB tickets through the link and go pro that way, I don't have a need to drop 2800 dollars at Amazon right now, but if I do need a big ticket item, I'll go pro through Amazon.

Any-hoo

I have another doggy for you this evening.

I like the Pittsburgh Pirates +120 with Erik Bedard over the Arizona Diamondbacks and Joe Saunders, and here is why.

Don't let the 0-2 record fool you. Bedard's ERA in his first two starts is a tidy 2.25, and his WHIP ratio is not eye popping, but it's still better than league average at 1.33 against Philly and LAD earlier this month.

I've always liked Bedard's stuff in the AL, I follow the Yankees, I have seen Bedard pitch often in the AL East, and his stuff has always impressed me.
Forget those 8 starts he made for Boston last year, that middle of the season, three team trade to Boston messed him up, that was tough on him, even still he struck out 38 in 38 innings in his short stint as a Red Sox.

Before that trade, as a Mariner, he was stellar last year solid WHIP ratio 1.28, solid ERA 3.62

Bedard's career numbers, while pitching for pretty much crappy teams are solid also, in 9 seasons, his ERA and WHIP ratio's are better than league averages 1.31 and 3.68, his won loss record is over .500 which is impressive considering who he has pitched for in the previous nine years, and he's a strike out pitcher, a good one, striking out almost nine a game, and I belong to the "strikeout pitchers are sexy' club.

Now he's in the National League, so the sample size of the batters he's going to face tonight is not large, but this is encouraging.
Hill has hit him a little, but look at the strike outs too.

ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS CAREER STATISTICS VS. ERIK BEDARD
BATTER AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS
Henry Blanco 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000
Willie Bloomquist 7 2 0 0 0 1 0 2 .286 .286 .286 .571
Geoff Blum 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000
Stephen Drew 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 .000 .000 .000
Aaron Hill 20 6 0 0 0 4 1 5 .300 .333 .300 .633
Jason Kubel 7 1 0 0 0 0 2 1 .143 .333 .143 .476
John McDonald 13 4 1 0 0 3 1 1 .308 .357 .385 .742
Lyle Overbay 13 3 1 0 0 0 1 0 .231 .286 .308 .593
Chris Young 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 .000 .000 .000
Totals 70 16 2 0 0 9 5 13 .229 .276 .257 .
533


Joe Saunders starts for the D-Backs, I understand his first start was solid, but it was San Diego and that Little League line up, and with the exception of that 17-7 2008 year as an Angel, his career has been lackluster at best. Throw out that season, his WHIP ratio for his career pitching in a weak hitting AL West division mind you is a poor 1.45 and ERA of about 4.50 (give or take)

He's not a strike out pitcher, Pirates (even though they are currently not setting the world on fire) have enough sticks to beat Saunders, are coming off a nice underdog win yesterday, and it's always a good bet to bet a dog coming off a win as a dog. I could post those numbers too, but I really don't want to turn this into War and Peace.

McCuthchen is hitting, Neil Walker's bat is waking up now, Presley at the top of the order is sound, the Pirates can run the bases, and have, like I said, enough offense to rough up the rotund Joe Saunders.

I personally think the public takes a beating on this game, the perceived line is low for the D-Backs -130/+120 (but I believe the line is correct) so I personally think the casual fan will run to the betting window laying what they think is a very affordable -130 for a 6-3 Diamondback team *at home* against what they perceive to be a crappy 3-6 Pirate team on the road.

I can read Joe Public's mind right now, "I can't believe the 6-3 Diamondbacks are only -130 at home against a crappy 3-6 road Pirates,
I got 400 to win 300 on this easy matchup"

I personally think Joe Public's thinking in this match up tonight is flawed.

1) D-Backs are a square bet tonight.
2) Bedard matches up very well against Saunders.
3) Pirates bats should smack Saunders.

Take the Pirates over the Snakes, you won't get rich at +120, but I like them in this spot tonight. I do

...and I like Blondie too.