LineCatchers
The Diamondbacks host the Rockies tonight in the first game of a 3 game set over the weekend in Phoenix. Both Arizona and Colorado are sitting at the rear end of the NL Wildcard race, 16 and 18 games behind the Giants respectively.
Christian Bergman gets the nod for the Rockies and has been rocked in 4 starts this season. He is 1-2 with a 6.75 ERA and 1.64 WHIP. Bergman has allowed 16 ER in just 21 1/3 IP and opponents have hit a staggering .357 in 2 games under the lights. The Rockies are 2-2 in games which Bergman has toed the rubber.
Josh Collmenter has been one of the best ‘Home’ pitchers in the NL this campaign, the righty ranks 4th in the NL in WHIP with 0.93 and 5th in BAA with hitters averaging just .209 against him in 13 starts at Chase Field. Arizona is 9-4 in those 13 games with Collmenter on the mound. Over the past 4 games, the Diamondbacks have left 34 runners on base and are have hit just .231 (9-39) with RISP.
I believe the value is on the home team in this match up, especially with the quality starts that Collmenter has put together at home. The D-Backs should be able to get enough runners on base and convert them into runs against Bergman tonight.
Arizona Diamondbacks - 140
The Diamondbacks host the Rockies tonight in the first game of a 3 game set over the weekend in Phoenix. Both Arizona and Colorado are sitting at the rear end of the NL Wildcard race, 16 and 18 games behind the Giants respectively.
Christian Bergman gets the nod for the Rockies and has been rocked in 4 starts this season. He is 1-2 with a 6.75 ERA and 1.64 WHIP. Bergman has allowed 16 ER in just 21 1/3 IP and opponents have hit a staggering .357 in 2 games under the lights. The Rockies are 2-2 in games which Bergman has toed the rubber.
Josh Collmenter has been one of the best ‘Home’ pitchers in the NL this campaign, the righty ranks 4th in the NL in WHIP with 0.93 and 5th in BAA with hitters averaging just .209 against him in 13 starts at Chase Field. Arizona is 9-4 in those 13 games with Collmenter on the mound. Over the past 4 games, the Diamondbacks have left 34 runners on base and are have hit just .231 (9-39) with RISP.
I believe the value is on the home team in this match up, especially with the quality starts that Collmenter has put together at home. The D-Backs should be able to get enough runners on base and convert them into runs against Bergman tonight.
Arizona Diamondbacks - 140
THE REAL ANIMAL SPORTS
Bonus Play - 2* Bowling Green – ‘OVER’ 61 1/2
This total opened at 54 ½ and is now 7 POINTS HIGHER! I kind of suspect the USA Today article on Bowling Green with the headline “Babers wants flying start at Bowling Green” has contributed to this rise. Babers was at Eastern Illinois recently where he averaged 8.2 points and 87 plays a game in 2013. Jimmy Garoppolo, who has looked great as Brady’s back-up in Foxboro this month, was the QB throwing for 5,050 yards and 53 touchdowns. They got a play off every 10-12 seconds. It’s not that Bowling Green played slow last year. Falcon QB Matt Johnson hit 64.2 percent of his passes for over 3,467 yards and 25 touchdowns. Remember he outplayed Jordan Lynch in beating Northern Illinois 47-27 in the MAC title game. Bowling Green then lost to Pittsburgh 30-27 in the Little Caesars Bowl. The BG defense might have been exposed in that one. After being tough in the low-scoring MAC throughout the year, Pittsburgh compiled 487 total yards of offense. Plus this year BG returns just five starters. The problem with an offense running a play every 10-12 seconds is the defense lives on the field. Last year Western Kentucky opened with Kentucky and the game results in 61 points and 906 total yards. Kentucky went on to finish #107 in total offense averaging just 20.5 points per game-hardly a glowing endorsement for the Hilltoppers’ stop unit. In their second game, WK allowed Tennessee 52 points in Knoxville. Thankfully the next four opponents were South Alabama, Morgan State, Navy, and ULM. That helped the overall defensive stats. Army and Texas State would follow in November. But the bottom line is Western Kentucky was terrible facing legitimate teams. However offensively, senior QB Brandon Doughty set a school-record for yards with 2,857 and completed 66 percent. The USA Today article said Bowling Green will resemble Baylor estimated that 70 percent of Babers’ game plan is borrowed from the Bears. That’s enough for me to justify this huge move with the total. Go ‘OVER’ like ‘ROVER’ as Friday’s free pick and enjoy day #2 of college football!
Bonus Play - 2* Bowling Green – ‘OVER’ 61 1/2
This total opened at 54 ½ and is now 7 POINTS HIGHER! I kind of suspect the USA Today article on Bowling Green with the headline “Babers wants flying start at Bowling Green” has contributed to this rise. Babers was at Eastern Illinois recently where he averaged 8.2 points and 87 plays a game in 2013. Jimmy Garoppolo, who has looked great as Brady’s back-up in Foxboro this month, was the QB throwing for 5,050 yards and 53 touchdowns. They got a play off every 10-12 seconds. It’s not that Bowling Green played slow last year. Falcon QB Matt Johnson hit 64.2 percent of his passes for over 3,467 yards and 25 touchdowns. Remember he outplayed Jordan Lynch in beating Northern Illinois 47-27 in the MAC title game. Bowling Green then lost to Pittsburgh 30-27 in the Little Caesars Bowl. The BG defense might have been exposed in that one. After being tough in the low-scoring MAC throughout the year, Pittsburgh compiled 487 total yards of offense. Plus this year BG returns just five starters. The problem with an offense running a play every 10-12 seconds is the defense lives on the field. Last year Western Kentucky opened with Kentucky and the game results in 61 points and 906 total yards. Kentucky went on to finish #107 in total offense averaging just 20.5 points per game-hardly a glowing endorsement for the Hilltoppers’ stop unit. In their second game, WK allowed Tennessee 52 points in Knoxville. Thankfully the next four opponents were South Alabama, Morgan State, Navy, and ULM. That helped the overall defensive stats. Army and Texas State would follow in November. But the bottom line is Western Kentucky was terrible facing legitimate teams. However offensively, senior QB Brandon Doughty set a school-record for yards with 2,857 and completed 66 percent. The USA Today article said Bowling Green will resemble Baylor estimated that 70 percent of Babers’ game plan is borrowed from the Bears. That’s enough for me to justify this huge move with the total. Go ‘OVER’ like ‘ROVER’ as Friday’s free pick and enjoy day #2 of college football!
Ben Burns' Friday NCAA MAIN EVENT! +$23K IN AUGUST!
I'm playing on ARIZONA. Rich Rodriguez is probably going to always be maligned for a failed tenure at Michigan, but in many ways that's unfair. He's done a solid job here at Arizona and that's probably underselling things. He's gone 8-5 both years in Tucson and gone to two bowl games, winning both. The Wildcats open this season against a UNLV program that has fallen on some hard times. The Rebels also made a bowl game last year (first once since 2000). But they won't be going back to one this year, no matter the won-loss record, due to poor academics. That's too bad. It's also too bad for head coach Bobby Hauck that this game is taking place on the road. In his first three years in Vegas, his teams failed to win a single road game. Last year saw them win three, but I certainly don't expect them to even remotely threaten to add to that win total here. It's noteworthy that these teams did meet last year and that game was played in Vegas. Arizona still won 58-13, easily covering the 10-point spread. UNLV has lost 13 of its previous 14 road openers and done so in pretty convincing fashion. Their average margin of defeat has been by 23 points per game the last six seasons. The poor academic scores not only result in a bowl ban, but also the loss of four hours of practice time per week. That's a huge disadvantage, particularly when attempting to break in a new starting quarterback and running back. Rodriguez's teams always average a ton of points and this year should be no different. The average margin of victory for Arizona in home openers the last 13 years is 26 PPG. 9* main event
I'm playing on ARIZONA. Rich Rodriguez is probably going to always be maligned for a failed tenure at Michigan, but in many ways that's unfair. He's done a solid job here at Arizona and that's probably underselling things. He's gone 8-5 both years in Tucson and gone to two bowl games, winning both. The Wildcats open this season against a UNLV program that has fallen on some hard times. The Rebels also made a bowl game last year (first once since 2000). But they won't be going back to one this year, no matter the won-loss record, due to poor academics. That's too bad. It's also too bad for head coach Bobby Hauck that this game is taking place on the road. In his first three years in Vegas, his teams failed to win a single road game. Last year saw them win three, but I certainly don't expect them to even remotely threaten to add to that win total here. It's noteworthy that these teams did meet last year and that game was played in Vegas. Arizona still won 58-13, easily covering the 10-point spread. UNLV has lost 13 of its previous 14 road openers and done so in pretty convincing fashion. Their average margin of defeat has been by 23 points per game the last six seasons. The poor academic scores not only result in a bowl ban, but also the loss of four hours of practice time per week. That's a huge disadvantage, particularly when attempting to break in a new starting quarterback and running back. Rodriguez's teams always average a ton of points and this year should be no different. The average margin of victory for Arizona in home openers the last 13 years is 26 PPG. 9* main event
