Players of America
Today's Selections
CHW vs. CLE
Sport: Major League Baseball
Game: Chicago White Sox vs. Cleveland Indians
The Play: Chicago White Sox -105.0
Play Description:
Star Value: 1* (10 Units)
Writeup:
A complete story of our final third of the MLB season in a nutshell last night. We steamrolled through the first two thirds and things have really slowed down as of late. As we veer into the final stretch and post season play, we'll begin to focus more on key match ups across the board. The MLB regular season has brought a very nice overall profit in thus far (+563.70 units to date), but bigger things are planned ahead with the post season just a hop, skip and jump away. A solid, undefeated day in collegiate football saved us from an all around disaster. Here is Tuesday's action.
Our first event takes place at Progressive Field where the Cleveland Indians are set to host AL Central foe the Chicago White Sox. Cleveland has been on quite the heater as of late. They finally have started to swing the sticks and their pitching behind Cliff Lee has been well above average. With the season winding down, it's rather unlikely that the Tribe can make any sort of post season push, but that doesn't stand for their opponent tonight. The White Sox come into this game a half a game up in the division over the Twins, and they are right where they want to be.
The White Sox will put lefty John Danks on the mound to start. Danks comes in a solid 10-7 overall with a WHIP of 1.24 and an ERA of 3.28. Danks has been a very, very solid nucleus in this rotation all season long. He pitches well, throws hard and has a very commanding arsenal of pitches. The Sox have dropped six of their last ten overall, and as we all know this is NOT the time of year to be slumping. After Danks handles business, he'll be handing things over to a very, very strong bullpen. That bullpen of Chicago has a combined, average ERA of just 3.65 on the season in over 330 total innings pitched. This Chicago team is ready. They are ready to make a statement and pull ahead. Some say Twins, we say Sox.
Cleveland will start the powerful right handing heaver Fausto Carmona. Simply put, Carmona HAS NOT been the same man he was a year ago. He was plagued with injuries this season and has really never returned to his true form at all. He's a mediocre 7-5 on the season with a 1.60 WHIP and a 4.50 ERA. Cleveland has had big time troubles with run support in the past this year. We've constantly harped about this squad being a major let down, and quite truthfully.they still are. Their on a little spurt right now, but Chicago is the better team. Carmona is very, very capable of getting shaken up early with a few big hits, and from there that Cleveland bullpen is not capable of taking a game over in the 5th or 6th inning.
Chicago is the play here. They'll remain atop of the division with a win in Cleveland on Tuesday, and laying the small price should not be a problem. A 1* / 10 unit wager on Danks and the Sox to take care of the Tribe on the shores of Lake Erie.
TREND OF THE GAME:
-The White Sox are 9-2 in their last 11 meetings with the Indians
Chicago 5, Cleveland 2
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HOU vs. CHC
Sport: Major League Baseball
Game: Houston Astros vs. Chicago Cubs
The Play: Chicago Cubs -185.0
Play Description:
Star Value: 1* (10 Units)
Writeup:
Next, we'll be on one of those games that makes the customers just shake their head. Everyone hates laying major chalk, and rightfully so. However, sometimes there is value in that chalk. Dissecting match ups and exploiting that value is the difficult part. Well, on Tuesday night we found one. The Cubs host the Astros yet again at Wrigley field and it is about time for a Chicago win after two straight, embarrassing losses.
The big man in the middle will be Carlos Zambrano for Chicago. He's hyped up by the media and talked about all across the baseball world, but he really seems to live up to it. Now we know that the Cubs have already sketched their name in the post season slate, but baseball doesn't end two days into September. They need to stay fresh, stay on top of the game and the clubhouse knows that. Back to Z, Carlos comes in a very impressive 13-5 overall. He has thrown nearly 170 total innings in 2008 accumulating a WHIP of just 1.30 and an ERA of 3.52. Zambrano is 1-0 in his last three starts for the Cubbies too. Chicago has been steaming hot lately at 8-3 in their last 11. The fans know that it's definitely time for a victory tonight, starting at 8:05PM EST.
Houston elects to put right hander Brandon Backe on the mound. Brandon comes in 9-12 overall with a WHIP of 1.52 and an ERA of 5.42. He's gotten pretty roughed up his last three times out. His ERA in those three games has soared to 7.55 in just 19 total innings. Like the Cubs, Houston has been playing some solid baseball too. They are 8-2 through their last ten games, but out of the picture playoff wise unless some big time drama takes place. Backe threw against this Cubs team on August 6 in Wrigley and got absolutely shelled. The Cubs won that game 11-4 and the closest Houston came in that game was in the first 0-0. A while back (April 6), Zambrano and the Cubs met Backe and the Astros at Wrigley once again. The Cubs took the decision in that game too, 3-2.
Chicago has too much class, too much pride and just flat out too much raw talent to keep losing games to inferior teams at home. This is precisely why Vegas has set the opening line where it is. Laying the chalk should be worry free, and we'll do it for a 1* / 10 unit wager. The Cubs will handle Houston in front of an eager home crowd in Wrigley tonight.
TRENDS OF THE GAME:
-The Cubs are 7-2 in their last 9 games following a loss
-The Cubs are 25-9 in their last 34 games on grass
-The Cubs are 25-9 in their last 34 overall
-The Astros are 4-10 in their last 14 meetings in Chicago
Chicago 6, Houston 4
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SEA vs. TEX
Sport: Major League Baseball
Game: Seattle Mariners vs. Texas Rangers
The Play: Texas Rangers -145.0
Play Description:
Star Value: 1* (10 Units)
Writeup:
Finally, we'll be chasing down the Rangers as they host the Mariners in Texas once again. It was a fluke of a game last night, back and forth. The Rangers had a middle game lead, and threw it away with some poor decision making late. As we sat here and said yesterday, Seattle is awful. We refuse to change our stance on that due to one game, one loss. The Mariners played harder, smarter and with more consistency last night, but bad teams don't do that back to back nights.
Texas will start right hander Brandon McCarthy. Brandon has yet to receive a decision for the Rangers, but comes in with a solid ERA of 1.80. The Mariners will start Ryan Feierabend who is 0-1 for Seattle with a WHIP of 1.73 and an ERA of 6.00. If you want a glossy write up on this game, just look at last night's. There is no reason Texas couldn't have won that game, besides completely rolling over. Why won't they do that again tonight you might ask? Well, even if they do play to that caliber tonight, they are still fully capable of beating Seattle. The Mariners hit like they haven't done all season on Labor Day. The bullpen still has that inflated ERA and all that jazz.
Texas. Another juicy game, but worth the price in our eyes. A 1* / 10 unit wager on the Rangers laying the smack down on Seattle at home.
TRENDS OF THE GAME:
-The Rangers are 9-4 in their last 13 Tuesday games
-The Mariners are 16-35 in their last 51 meetings in Texas
Texas 10, Seattle 4
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