Monday 4/27/15 service plays chatter/comps/requests & other stuff...

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NBA

Chicago won eight of last ten games with Milwaukee (covered 8 of last 10)-- six of last eight games stayed under total. Chicago won six of its last seven games. Bucks only turned ball over 37 times in four games (+32)- they forced 28 turnovers in Game 4, but covered only one of last four road games. Six of their last nine games went over total. Bulls' bench was just 5-18 from floor in last game.

Hawks made 22 of 61 from arc, 35-41 on line in pair of home wins, but were 6-30 from arc, 13-17 on line in Game 3 loss. Nets had only 12 fast break points in first three series games, but they won eight of last ten home games. Johnson is just 17-50 in series; he'll have to do better. Hawks lost last three road games- their last road win was here by 3 on April 8. Brooklyn lost seven of last eight games with Atlanta overall.

Memphis PG Conley (facial fractures) is out for this game; Grizzlies were up 19-11-13 at half in three games- they won seven in row, 12 of its last 13 games with Portland, covering 11 of last 12. Portland was 11-27 from arc in Game 3 after being 14-46 in first two games, forcing only 19 turnovers in three games. Memphis sub Calathes played 27:00 without a turnover, playing PG with Conley hurt.

Home favorites are 11-11 in this round, home dogs are 4-4; home teams are 19-11 SU-- over is 13-17.

 

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MLB Preview: Astros (11-7) at Padres (11-9)

Game: 1
Venue: PETCO Park
Date: April 27, 2015 10:10 PM EDT


Collin McHugh has already put together the best stretch by a Houston Astros' pitcher in 13 years, but he's now aiming to tie the franchise record for the most consecutive winning starts.

McHugh's bid to enter the record books comes in his first meeting with the San Diego Padres on Monday night, with the Astros looking for their eighth victory in nine tries.

McHugh (3-0, 2.41 ERA) lost a sixth straight start in a defeat to Miami on July 27, but he's 10-0 with a 1.91 ERA in 13 starts since - the longest winning streak by an Astro since Wade Miller won 12 decisions in a row from July 7-Sept. 21, 2002.

Prior to his impressive stretch, McHugh was 4-17 with a 5.36 ERA in 30 games - 24 starts - with Houston, Colorado and the New York Mets.

Now, he's trying to tie Roy Oswalt's Astros record of winning nine straight starts set in 2002.

McHugh has a 2.00 ERA in the previous eight victories, and he needed help to keep the streak going Tuesday. The right-hander gave up three runs in four innings before leaving after the seventh only to have the offense rally for five in the eighth for a 6-3 win at Seattle.

"I don't put a whole lot of an emphasis on the winning streak but (Tuesday) was big," McHugh said. "To be able to battle through some innings was tough."

The Astros (11-7) rallied for another victory Sunday. Evan Gattis' two-run double in the top of the ninth to put them ahead for good in a 7-6 win to complete a three-game series sweep at Oakland.

Gattis finished with two hits and four RBIs to match his career high. The catcher was hitting .109 before collecting four hits in two games boosted his average 47 points.

"I'm glad to finally contribute to a win, to come through with the hit that puts us ahead," Gattis said.

That's been a rarity for Houston at San Diego, losing nine of the past 11 games there while batting .199 and averaging 2.1 runs.

Offense may again be at a premium since the Padres (11-9) are countering McHugh with James Shields (2-0, 3.24), who is 2-1 with a 1.74 ERA and 34 strikeouts in 31 innings in four career starts against the Astros.

The right-hander collected 12 strikeouts while allowing one run and four hits in eight innings of a 5-1 win at Houston on April 17, 2014.

Shields has been effective through four starts this season, holding opponents to .215 at the plate and leading the team with 29 strikeouts. He yielded three runs in six innings while not figuring in the decision of a 5-4 loss Wednesday at Colorado.

That was the start of San Diego's four-game slide, which was snapped with Sunday's 3-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Despite the victory, the Padres are hitting just .208 and averaging 3.2 runs over the past five games after batting .314 with 8.0 runs per game over the previous four.

Matt Kemp, however, continues to be a consistent threat at the plate, hitting .350 after going 6 for 15 (.400) over the past four games. The right fielder, though, is 0 for 3 versus McHugh.

 

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Red Sox put Victorino on DL
The Sports Xchange

The Boston Red Sox placed injured-plagued outfielder Shane Victorino on the 15-day disabled list Saturday with a strained hamstring.

The 34-year-old Victorino has struggled with his health during the first month of the season. He has just 35 at-bats and and is hitting just .143 with no home runs and two RBIs.

The Red Sox are expected to use Brock Holt, Daniel Nava and Allen Craig in right field until Victorino returns. Outfielder Rusney Castillo (shoulder) also is on the injured list.

Reliever Matt Barnes was recalled from Triple-A to replace Victorino on the Red Sox roster.

Last season, Victorino was limited to 30 games and 28 starts because of hamstring and back problems.

 

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Dodgers put Puig, Peralta on DL
By THE SPORTS XCHANGE

The Los Angeles Dodgers placed right fielder Yasiel Puig and relief pitcher Joel Peralta on the 15-day disabled list, the team announced Sunday.

Puig missed four of five games last week because of a mild strain of his left hamstring. He returned to play the three-game series in San Francisco but re-injured his hamstring trying to beat out a ground ball in the sixth inning of Friday night's game against the San Diego Padres. He was out of the lineup Saturday.

"If it's the best thing, then it's the best thing," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly told the Orange County Register on Saturday when the option of putting Puig on the disabled list was being considered. "Obviously, he's very important to us. In a sense, it's obvious that he's not important to us if he can't play. If you're going to be banged up every third or fourth day or if he tries to run hard and extend, then we're going to be better off letting him get healthy.

"That decision does not come down to me. That decision is for medical. He played three days in San Francisco and did not have one issue. And he played the day game (Thursday). We talked about giving him the day game after the night game in San Francisco. Medical didn't feel like he needed it. He played well, made some plays, didn't look like he needed it. Then yesterday (Friday) obviously he extended trying to beat that play out and it looked like it grabbed on him a little bit."

Puig is hitting .279 with two home runs and four RBIs in 11 games.

Andre Ethier is expected to be the Dodgers' primary right fielder in Puig's absence. Ethier was their starting right fielder in Sunday's game against the San Diego Padres.

Meanwhile, Peralta was also placed on the disabled list for what was being termed a "dead arm." Peralta did not report any pain, but said he had no strength in his shoulder.

Peralta, 39, was serving as the Dodgers' closer while Kenley Jansen recovers from offseason foot surgery. In 5 2/3 innings of work this season, Peralta (1-0) has yet to give up a run and is 3-for-3 in save opportunities. He has allowed two hits and three walks while striking out four.

Chris Hatcher, Yimi Garcia, Pedro Baez and Paco Rodriguez may share the closer role for the time being.

To fill the spots on the roster, the Dodgers called up two right-handed pitchers: Scott Baker, who is 1-1 with a 1.06 ERA at Triple-A Oklahoma City, and Carlos Frias, who is 2-2 with a 2.84 ERA at Oklahoma City. Baker was scheduled to start Sunday.

 

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Nationals RHP Scherzer may miss next start
By THE SPORTS XCHANGE

Washington Nationals right-hander Max Scherzer may miss his next start because of a sprained right thumb he injured while batting, adding to the debate about whether pitchers should be asked to hit in the National League.

Scherzer, the 2013 American League Cy Young Award winner who did not hit while he pitched for the Detroit Tigers unless it was an inter-league game, told CBSSports.com that the National League should consider having the designated hitter too.

"If you look at it from the macro side, who'd people rather see hit: Big Papi or me?" Scherzer said. "Who would people rather see, a real hitter hitting home runs or a pitcher swinging a wet newspaper? Both leagues need to be on the same set of rules."

Scherzer injured his right thumb when he was batting in Thursday's loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Scherzer missed a scheduled bullpen session on Saturday, and felt pain in his thumb in a shortened throwing session Sunday.

He is scheduled to start Tuesday, but now it appears doubtful he will be able to pitch that day.

"I'm not ready to rule it out completely, but I also have to be honest with myself because any time you deal with an injury to your pitching hand, you literally have to be 100 percent to go back out there," Scherzer told the Washington Post. "I'm progressing every day. I'm literally day-to-day. I'm making progress every single day from the treatments, doing the hot-cold contrast nonstop, so for me it's just keep doing the treatments and see where this goes."

Scherzer is 1-2 this season with a 1.26 ERA. He has allowed no more than two runs in any of his four starts in 2015.

As a hitter, Scherzer is 1-for-9 this season, striking out three times.

 

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Report: Cards' Wainright expected to be done for year
Stephen Campbell

St. Louis Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright was placed on the 15-day disabled list on Sunday with an Achilles injury, but the outlook could be much worse than initially thought.

Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports is reporting that the right-hander is expected to be done for the season, but has not yet undergone an MRI. While batting against the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday, the 33-year-old popped up a fastball from Wily Peralta but pulled up lame and required assistance to leave the field. He did not return to the game.

The Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook is giving the Cards an 8/1 shot to win the World Series in October.

 

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Baseball Betting: - Road Dogs


For the most part, baseball bettors are far more likely to bet the favorite rather than the underdog. The oddsmaker knows this and has a tendency to inflate the line presenting value with underdogs.

Keep in mind, just because a team is favored does not mean the club will win every time. The baseball season is a long, grueling one and there are days when teams don't give their best efforts, ace pitchers have an off day, relievers implode, hitters slump and/or costly errors are made.

A study of this season's baseball road underdogs shows the group winning just 46.2% of the games but increased betting accounts by +$505. To get a better take, we asked our MLB stat crunching machine to brake it down by line ranges to see which performed the best.

Road Dogs in the lower range (< $1.50) had 'Lot's of Byte' winning 48.0% of the time (72-78) stuffing +$728 into betting accounts. Road Dogs with some bite were found in the $1.50 to $1.70 range as they won at a 46.7% clip (7-8) cashing +$298 worth of tickets. But, Big Dogs higher than $1.70 were 'All-Bark-No-Bite' posting an 1-7 mark depleting accounts by -$521.

A betting nuggets found within the 'Lots-of-Bite' sweet spot. Road dogs in the range which lost it's previous road game by 2 runs or less are 19-14 next time out cashing +$836 at the betting window. While there's no guarantee that these road underdogs will continue to perform the rest of the way, the 'Lot's of Byte' road pups are definitely worth following, especially if the club is off a 2 or less run road loss the previous effort.

 

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Baseball Betting: Streaks, Tips, Notes

MLB Beaten Favorites

In baseball, clubs spanked by five or more runs the previous effort then favored the next game will generally bounce back. The logic is pretty simple. We have a team that just got taken behind the woodshed, yet is still considered good enough to be a favorite by oddsmakers. Not only are these teams typically going to be good and have a quality hurler on the mound, they're also going to be motivated following the loss. So far this season, favorites in this situation have cashed at a 62.1% clip (18-11) following a 5 or more run defeat. Absolutely nothing wrong with cashing 62.1% of tickets. However, we can improve the hit rate to 68.8% (11-5) stuffing +$484 into betting accounts if we focus solely on a home favorite playing a division opponent following the beat-down. Given the nature of any sports betting trend there is no guarantee this will continue in the months ahead but given the consistent winners so far keeping an eye out can pay off handsomely.

 

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'Unbeaten Hurlers'

Padres and Astros open a 3-game interleague series Monday night with a pair of unbeaten hurlers on respective mounds. James Shields will toe the rubber for Padres, bringing a 2-0 record, 3.24 ERA to the hill over four starts (2-2 TSR). Shields will be matching pitches with Houston's Collin McHugh sporting a 3-0 record, 2.41 ERA in three starts. Oddsmakers have noted the possibility of a low-scoring affair and have set the total at 6.5 runs. Don't be scared off at the low total. The total has gone 'Under' in 4 of San Diego's L5 games, the 'Under' is 8-1-1 in Padres L10 IL games, the Astros have played 'Under' in 20 of 29 road games. During the past 20 times the Padres started a new series during a home-stand they've gone 'Under' 13 times with 7 'Over'. The past 20 times Astros started a new series on the road they've played 'Under' 12 times with 8 'Over'. The Padres have made 'Under' bettors happy last 14 home games vs a winning team with 10 'Under', 4 'Over'. The Astros have also made 'Under' gamblers happy w/McHugh facing a team with a winning record posting 7 'Under' and 1 'Over'.

 

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Monday's six-pack

-- Wizards 125, Raptors 94-- Gutless tank job by Toronto, which was favored to win series but got swept instead, not even bothering to compete in Game 4.

-- Clippers 114, Spurs 105-- Best series on paper has turned out that way.

-- Cavaliers 101, Celtics 93-- Love got hurt, JR Smith got tossed/suspended.

-- Minnesota 4, St Louis 1-- Wild faces Chicago in next round.

-- Montreal 2, Ottawa 0-- Senators had a terrific year, nonetheless.

-- Orioles 18, Red Sox 7-- Think Ben Cherington called Philly last night?

 

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Arthur Ralph Sports

Bonus Play Monday Orioles -160

 

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MLB Betting Cheat Sheet: Nationals can’t score, can’t win
By Doc Sports

Here’s a comprehensive look at betting notes for this week’s major-league schedule:

State of emergency

The Washington Nationals (7-12, 10-8-1 O/U) have lost five in a row. They have scored only five runs in their last four games and have crossed the plate no more than twice in five of their last six outings. Shortstop Ian Desmond went 4-for-25 (.160) this past week.

Bauer Power

Cleveland Indians’ starter Trevor Bauer (illness) is still scheduled to start on Tuesday against the Kansas City Royals, but Cleveland is expecting confirmation one way or the other at some point on Monday. Bauer is 2-0 through three starts with a 0.95 ERA. He has surrendered a mere eight hits and two runs in 19 innings while striking out 26 batters.

Royal pains

The Royals lead Major League Baseball—by a wide margin—with nine ejections already this season. They have mixed things up with the Chicago White Sox, Oakland Athletics, and Los Angeles Angels. Four Royals were suspended between two and seven games for last Thursday’s brawl with the White Sox. Chicago SP Jeff Samardzija is scheduled to return next Monday against…you guessed it…the Royals.

Pitching Notes

* The New York Mets (14-5, 12-5-2 O/U) have the majors’ saves leader (Jeurys Familia with eight) and two of three wins leaders (Bartolo Colon and Matt Harvey with four). Colon (4-0, 2.77 ERA) is taking the bump on Wednesday at the Miami Marlins. He went seven innings against them on April 17 and gave up only six hits, zero walks, and one run.

* Baltimore Orioles’ starter Chris Tillman is a decent 2-2 but sports a ghastly 7.58 ERA through four starts. He is getting the nod on Tuesday against the White Sox. Baltimore (12-6-1 O/U, 4-0 O/U in its last four) is the only team in baseball that has exceeded the century mark in both runs scored and runs allowed this season.

Hitting Notes

* Toronto Blue Jays’ second baseman Devon Travis went hitless on Sunday, but that does not happen often. Travis had been on a four-game hitting streak and riding stretch of 11 games in his last 12 with at least one hit. Since April 15, he has five multi-hit performances, four homers, and nine RBIs.

* Freddie Freeman of the Atlanta Braves went 3-for-22 this past week with no home runs, no RBIs, and seven strikeouts as Atlanta compiled a 1-5 record against the Mets and Philadelphia Phillies. The Braves crossed the plate 15 times in those six contests after doing so 18 times in three previous games at Toronto’s expense.

Totals Streak

Chicago White Sox (6-10-1 O/U): The White Sox just completed an entire week without going over the total. Their last over came on Sunday, April 19 in a 9-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers. Chicago is 0-5-1 O/U in its last six games. It has scored more than five runs only once in its last six and it has given up more than three runs only once in its last six. Hector Noesis, who will start on Monday at Baltimore, is 0-4 O/U in his four most recent outings.

Injury Notes

* St. Louis Cardinals’ ace Matt Wainwright’s season-ending Achilles’ injury is dominating the headlines, but do not forget about the plight of Los Angeles Dodgers’ right fielder Yasiel Puig. A hamstring injury forced Puig out of the last two games against the San Diego Padres and he now finds himself on the 15-day disabled list. L.A. can activate him no earlier than May 10.

* Tampa Bay Rays’ first baseman James Loney has hit safely in three straight games since returning from an oblique injury that sidelined him for more than two weeks. Loney had four hits in 12 at-bats during this past weekend’s series against Toronto, three of the extra-base variety (one home run).

Weather watch

* According to weather forecasts, there is as much as a 41 percent chance of rain in Boston as the Red Sox host the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park Monday evening. Skies will be overcast throughout the day with the chance of rain increasing during game time.