NEWSLETTER MLB Baseball Prediction From Doc’s Sports
Take UNDER 8.0 – Cleveland at Texas (8 p.m., Friday, June 6)
It hasn’t been easy, but it seems like Trevor Bauer is finally figuring things out. The talented 23-year-old has been ridiculed by managers and former players for not taking instruction easily in the past. But things have clicked with him and the Indians, and it seems like Bauer is here to stay now. In four starts this season, the young right-hander has a 3.63 ERA and 1.34 WHIP. But more importantly, he’s striking out 11.7 batters per nine innings against 3.6 walks. His stuff grades out near the top of the scale overall. But it’s the mental game that he’s always struggled with. He’s clearly starting to put that together and he’s capable of big things if he can master it. He’ll face a Texas Rangers lineup that isn’t the same as year’s past. Injuries have devastated this squad, and the latest casualty was Prince Fielder. They’re going to rely on their pitching to carry them for a while, and that’s easier said than done. Nick Tepesch is one of the guys that needs to step up, and so far he’s been hit or miss. But I like his stuff, and I’m willing to give him a break as three of his four starts have been on the road so far. If Texas can just get five or six solid innings form Tepesch, they turn it over to a decent bullpen with lots of capable arms. The Indians have a good lineup, but it’s not overpowering, and they’re missing a couple of key pieces in Carlos Santana and Nick Swisher. I like this game to stay under the total
Take UNDER 8.0 – Cleveland at Texas (8 p.m., Friday, June 6)
It hasn’t been easy, but it seems like Trevor Bauer is finally figuring things out. The talented 23-year-old has been ridiculed by managers and former players for not taking instruction easily in the past. But things have clicked with him and the Indians, and it seems like Bauer is here to stay now. In four starts this season, the young right-hander has a 3.63 ERA and 1.34 WHIP. But more importantly, he’s striking out 11.7 batters per nine innings against 3.6 walks. His stuff grades out near the top of the scale overall. But it’s the mental game that he’s always struggled with. He’s clearly starting to put that together and he’s capable of big things if he can master it. He’ll face a Texas Rangers lineup that isn’t the same as year’s past. Injuries have devastated this squad, and the latest casualty was Prince Fielder. They’re going to rely on their pitching to carry them for a while, and that’s easier said than done. Nick Tepesch is one of the guys that needs to step up, and so far he’s been hit or miss. But I like his stuff, and I’m willing to give him a break as three of his four starts have been on the road so far. If Texas can just get five or six solid innings form Tepesch, they turn it over to a decent bullpen with lots of capable arms. The Indians have a good lineup, but it’s not overpowering, and they’re missing a couple of key pieces in Carlos Santana and Nick Swisher. I like this game to stay under the total
NEWSLETTER Soccer Prediction From Robert Ferringo
Take OVER 2.5 (+135) - Mexico vs. Portugal (8:30 p.m., Friday, June 7)
This is a World Cup tune-up game between two very creative sides, and I think we’re going to see some open play and plenty of scoring opportunities. Mexico should’ve been victimized for at least three goals by Bosnia in their friendly on Tuesday. Their defense has been disorganized and a major weakness through all of qualifying, and I expect it to come back to haunt them in this situation as well. Also, after getting shutout earlier this week I think they will be focused on finding the net here to gain some confidence heading to Brazil. A quick look back and there have been at least three goals tallied in four of Mexico’s last six matches, with Tuesday’s 1-0 match as a pure anomaly. No, Christiano Ronaldo likely will not play for Portugal on Friday. He is battle tendenitis, and that could even drive these odds down to 2.0. It is certainly going to keep the juice in the plus range for us and makes this a nice value play. Portugal has plenty of other talented individuals beyond Ronaldo. And I think that some of the Portuguese forwards will actually look forward to playing without Ronaldo as he dominates possession and is a one-man gang at the top of the attack. Portugal is coming off a 0-0 match against Greece. But the Greeks are notorious for their turtle-in-the-shell style of defense. I think Portugal will want to find the net just as badly as Mexico, and they should have little problem finding holes in El Tri’s back line. I like the value on the over, and I can see at least three goals in this one. Play over here
Take OVER 2.5 (+135) - Mexico vs. Portugal (8:30 p.m., Friday, June 7)
This is a World Cup tune-up game between two very creative sides, and I think we’re going to see some open play and plenty of scoring opportunities. Mexico should’ve been victimized for at least three goals by Bosnia in their friendly on Tuesday. Their defense has been disorganized and a major weakness through all of qualifying, and I expect it to come back to haunt them in this situation as well. Also, after getting shutout earlier this week I think they will be focused on finding the net here to gain some confidence heading to Brazil. A quick look back and there have been at least three goals tallied in four of Mexico’s last six matches, with Tuesday’s 1-0 match as a pure anomaly. No, Christiano Ronaldo likely will not play for Portugal on Friday. He is battle tendenitis, and that could even drive these odds down to 2.0. It is certainly going to keep the juice in the plus range for us and makes this a nice value play. Portugal has plenty of other talented individuals beyond Ronaldo. And I think that some of the Portuguese forwards will actually look forward to playing without Ronaldo as he dominates possession and is a one-man gang at the top of the attack. Portugal is coming off a 0-0 match against Greece. But the Greeks are notorious for their turtle-in-the-shell style of defense. I think Portugal will want to find the net just as badly as Mexico, and they should have little problem finding holes in El Tri’s back line. I like the value on the over, and I can see at least three goals in this one. Play over here
NEWSLETTER MLB Baseball Prediction From Jason Sharpe
Take #952 Chicago Cubs -120 over Miami (4 p.m., Friday, June 6)
I don’t like backing the Chicago Cubs unless it’s just a too-good-to-pass-up spot, and we have that here in this one. Jason Hammel takes the hill for them here. The 31-year-old veteran right-hander has been a model of consistency so far this season, allowing three runs or less in 10 of his first 11 starts for a 2.78 ERA on the year. Even more impressive than that is the 0.87 WHIP Hammel has right now as seven of those eleven starts he allowed five base runners or less.
The Marlins come into town with the least amount of road wins in MLB this season. This is a totally different club away from home. Nate Eovaldi doesn’t look nearly as dominant, either, when on the road with an ERA a full two runs higher than it is at home. The one big thing that sticks out for Eovaldi has been the drop off in strikeouts as he went from averaging 8.94 per nine innings his first seven starts this year down to just 4.87 in his last five games. His ERA is almost two full runs higher these last five starts as well. This isn’t anything new for Eovaldi as even though he throws extremely hard, he hasn’t been a guy who posts up a lot of strikeouts in the past. I think you should take the Chicago Cubs here
Take #952 Chicago Cubs -120 over Miami (4 p.m., Friday, June 6)
I don’t like backing the Chicago Cubs unless it’s just a too-good-to-pass-up spot, and we have that here in this one. Jason Hammel takes the hill for them here. The 31-year-old veteran right-hander has been a model of consistency so far this season, allowing three runs or less in 10 of his first 11 starts for a 2.78 ERA on the year. Even more impressive than that is the 0.87 WHIP Hammel has right now as seven of those eleven starts he allowed five base runners or less.
The Marlins come into town with the least amount of road wins in MLB this season. This is a totally different club away from home. Nate Eovaldi doesn’t look nearly as dominant, either, when on the road with an ERA a full two runs higher than it is at home. The one big thing that sticks out for Eovaldi has been the drop off in strikeouts as he went from averaging 8.94 per nine innings his first seven starts this year down to just 4.87 in his last five games. His ERA is almost two full runs higher these last five starts as well. This isn’t anything new for Eovaldi as even though he throws extremely hard, he hasn’t been a guy who posts up a lot of strikeouts in the past. I think you should take the Chicago Cubs here
NEWSLETTER MLB Baseball Prediction From Allen Eastman
Take Boston over Detroit (7 p.m., Friday, June 6)
The Red Sox seemed to have snapped out of their funk. They lost 10 straight before a four-game sweep of the Braves put them back on track. The Sox have had a tough trip to Cleveland this week. But I think they will be extra focused against the Tigers in Detroit as these two teams are postseason rivals. The Tigers are going with Drew Smyl,y and he has not looked good over the last month. Smyly has lost seven of his last eight starts. He has also posted an ERA of 9.00 in his last two starts, and he has gone longer than five innings just one time since May 4. I think that Boston is going to be posted as a road underdog here. And they have won six straight on the road against left-handed pitching. I like the Red Sox to keep surging and to get me the cash here. Take Boston
Take Boston over Detroit (7 p.m., Friday, June 6)
The Red Sox seemed to have snapped out of their funk. They lost 10 straight before a four-game sweep of the Braves put them back on track. The Sox have had a tough trip to Cleveland this week. But I think they will be extra focused against the Tigers in Detroit as these two teams are postseason rivals. The Tigers are going with Drew Smyl,y and he has not looked good over the last month. Smyly has lost seven of his last eight starts. He has also posted an ERA of 9.00 in his last two starts, and he has gone longer than five innings just one time since May 4. I think that Boston is going to be posted as a road underdog here. And they have won six straight on the road against left-handed pitching. I like the Red Sox to keep surging and to get me the cash here. Take Boston
Dave Cokin
Friday Bonus Play 04:05 PM MLB
(967) BOSTON RED SOX (968) DETROIT TIGERS
Take: (967) BOSTON RED SOX +112
This week has not exactly been one to remember fondly for either the Red Sox or Tigers. Boston isn’t playing Tampa Bay anymore and just got swept by the Indians. Detroit is suddenly just a handful of games above .500 and the Tigers got run over at home by the rampaging Blue Jays. So we’ve got a pair of teams that should be very eager to right the respective ships tonight.
Rubby De La Rosa was sensational for the Red Sox in his first big league start of the season. The hard throwing righty dominated the Rays last weekend. This is a much tougher assignment to be sure. But if there’s a right time to be facing the Detroit lineup, this might be it as they’ve been a little off kilter lately. De La Rosa did a great job of adding and subtracting to his fastball in the impressive win, mixing in two and four-seamers, and his change was terrific. The key for De La Rosa is control. If he’s got it, he’s going to be tough. If not, batten down the hatches.
Drew Smyly starts for the Tigers tonight, and he’s part of the reason I like the dog. Smyly is way off right now. He’s getting into bad counts, running up very high pitch counts and the results get predictable when that happens. I also didn’t like the body language for Smyly in his Saturday start at Seattle. Whether or not he didn’t feel comfortable is something I don’t know for sure, but it sure looked like he was out of sorts.
The Tigers need innings from their starters. That Detroit bullpen is really shaky right now, and I’m not sure they can count on the right number of frames from Smyly tonight. The Red Sox are a patient team to begin with, and you can be sure they’re going to game plan off the scouting reports from the recent Smyly starts. If the lefty is not throwing strikes and getting ahead in counts, he could be in for a shorter than desired evening.
That Tigers bullpen definitely comes into play when analyzing this game. They’re almost in a no lead is safe mode right now with closer Joe Nathan in miserable form, and manager Brad Ausmus has made it clear no changes are in the works right now. What that means is that if this is close late, Boston has a considerable advantage with their late inning combo led by Koji Uehara.
I’m not convinced De La Rosa is worthy of backing as much as I am that Smyly is worth going against here. The bullpen edge on the Boston side is crystal clear. As for the offenses, believe it or not, the Red Sox are producing slightly better stats against lefties on the road than the Tigers are vs. righties at home. So I’m putting most of the check marks on the visitor’s side tonight, and with the number where it is, I like the chances of the Red Sox getting a win in the role of road dog.
Friday Bonus Play 04:05 PM MLB
(967) BOSTON RED SOX (968) DETROIT TIGERS
Take: (967) BOSTON RED SOX +112
This week has not exactly been one to remember fondly for either the Red Sox or Tigers. Boston isn’t playing Tampa Bay anymore and just got swept by the Indians. Detroit is suddenly just a handful of games above .500 and the Tigers got run over at home by the rampaging Blue Jays. So we’ve got a pair of teams that should be very eager to right the respective ships tonight.
Rubby De La Rosa was sensational for the Red Sox in his first big league start of the season. The hard throwing righty dominated the Rays last weekend. This is a much tougher assignment to be sure. But if there’s a right time to be facing the Detroit lineup, this might be it as they’ve been a little off kilter lately. De La Rosa did a great job of adding and subtracting to his fastball in the impressive win, mixing in two and four-seamers, and his change was terrific. The key for De La Rosa is control. If he’s got it, he’s going to be tough. If not, batten down the hatches.
Drew Smyly starts for the Tigers tonight, and he’s part of the reason I like the dog. Smyly is way off right now. He’s getting into bad counts, running up very high pitch counts and the results get predictable when that happens. I also didn’t like the body language for Smyly in his Saturday start at Seattle. Whether or not he didn’t feel comfortable is something I don’t know for sure, but it sure looked like he was out of sorts.
The Tigers need innings from their starters. That Detroit bullpen is really shaky right now, and I’m not sure they can count on the right number of frames from Smyly tonight. The Red Sox are a patient team to begin with, and you can be sure they’re going to game plan off the scouting reports from the recent Smyly starts. If the lefty is not throwing strikes and getting ahead in counts, he could be in for a shorter than desired evening.
That Tigers bullpen definitely comes into play when analyzing this game. They’re almost in a no lead is safe mode right now with closer Joe Nathan in miserable form, and manager Brad Ausmus has made it clear no changes are in the works right now. What that means is that if this is close late, Boston has a considerable advantage with their late inning combo led by Koji Uehara.
I’m not convinced De La Rosa is worthy of backing as much as I am that Smyly is worth going against here. The bullpen edge on the Boston side is crystal clear. As for the offenses, believe it or not, the Red Sox are producing slightly better stats against lefties on the road than the Tigers are vs. righties at home. So I’m putting most of the check marks on the visitor’s side tonight, and with the number where it is, I like the chances of the Red Sox getting a win in the role of road dog.
