BIG AL McMORDIE
Our Selection: Rays/Marlins 'over' Line: 8.5
Analysis: At 1:40 pm, our selection is on the Florida Marlins and Tampa Bay Rays 'over' the total. Whether or not both teams score a bunch of runs in this game remains to be seen but chances are at least one of them will. Heading into Saturday's play, The Marlins had scored 30 runs in their last four games, and not to be outdone, the Rays have exactly matched that number in their last four. For Rays starter righthander Jeff Niemann, his team has been supporting him big-time at the plate lately, scoring 44 runs in Niemann's last seven starts and 21 in his last three. Niemann hasn't needed much support this season in most of his games, but he'll no doubt take the extra charity that his offense has been providing. The high-powered offenses came out in the first game of this series on Friday night as the Marlins scored early and often, but the Rays put up some fireworks and Florida held on for a 14-9 win. Heading into Saturday's games, the over was 6-2-1 in Tampa's last nine overall and 11-4-1 in the last 16 meetings of these two. Take the 'over.'
Our Selection: Rangers/Brewers 'under' Line: 8
Analysis: At 2:10 pm, our selection is on the Texas Rangers and Milwaukee Brewers 'under' the total. With all the aces in the National League this season, one name that has gone completely under the radar despite some pretty dominant numbers is Milwaukee's Yovani Gallardo. All the fourth-year righthander has done so far is go 6-2 with a 2.41 ERA in his first 13 starts. The 6-2 record is even more impressive when you consider that Gallardo's team is just 26-36 on the season after their first 62 games. Gallardo has been near-perfect lately, going 2-0 with a 0.39 ERA in his last three starts (the Brewers are 3-0 in those games). The Rangers will turn to righthander Colby Lewis in this game and although nowhere near the numbers Gallardo has been providing, Lewis hasn't been half bad either with a 3.40 ERA and 1.17 WHIP through his first 12 starts. But the Ranger bats haven't turned out that much for Lewis recently as in his last eight starts, Texas has scored more than three runs twice and they've only scored more than two runs three times. With Saturday's 4-3 Rangers win, the under is now an astounding 25-8-1 in Texas' last 34 inter-league games. Take the 'under.'
SUNDAY WORLD CUP SMASH
Our Selection: Germany Opponent: Australia Line: -210
Analysis: At 2:30 pm, our selection is on Germany over Australia. Germany starts the tournament priced @ +1400 to win the World Cup but has been slightly written off this time around, especially without captain Michael Ballack who had to withdraw through injury. However, it is foolish to ever underestimate the Germans given their prestigious record. They have lifted the cup three times – only Brazil (5) and Italy (4) have done better. They have also reached the semi-final more times than any other team and reached the quarter-final in the last 14 World Cups. Germany qualified for the tournament unbeaten, winning eight and drawing two sending them through as group winners after beating Russia 1-0 in Moscow. Australia, admittedly, has some experienced English Premier League players but are aging and many of the players are past their best. Relatively poor opposition in the Asian qualifying process did not really test the team and I do not think their organized defensive system will work against the world's top players. The small question mark for the German side is its strength in depth when it goes against the better sides. Group D, however, should pose no problems but manager Joachim Low will have to be at his tactical best in the later stages. Look for Germany to comfortably win this opening game.<!-- google_ad_section_end -->
