KELSO STURGEON
Thursday, August 20, 2009
10 Units
Eagles (-3) over Colts
8:00 PM -- Lucas Oil Stadium
Philadelphia Eagles (0-1) -3 over INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (0-1) Prediction: Eagles by 10-13 Starting Time: 8:00 TV: FOX Comments: This is the ultimate situation play in the NFL pre-season. For openers, Philadelphia coach Andy Reid has said he will play his starting units for the entire first half and that should spell big trouble for an Indianapolis team that has so many new players at so many positions they hardly know one another’s names. The Colts have new receivers, two new offensive linemen, other offensive linemen playing new positions and a new coach. There was a reason starting quarterback Peyton Manning was sacked three times on the six downs he played last week in a 13-3 loss to Minnesota last week. Manning will play a bit more tonight but the Colts will again be without the services of his long-time back up Jim Sorgi who is out another week with an injury. This means once Manning leaves the game Indianapolis will be primarily in the hands of rookie Curtis Painter, fresh out of Purdue, and another rookie or two. This is just one giant bad spot for Indianapolis who will work more to establish chemistry than to win.
Partly cloudy with an 80-percent chance of rain. Winds blowing from the Southwest at 10-20 m.p.h. Game-time temperature: Around 75.
5 Units
Rockies {J.Hammel} (-135) over Nationals {G.Mock}
7:05 PM -- Nationals Park
Colorado Rockies (67-53) -145 over WASHINGTON NATIONALS (43-77) Pitching for Colorado: RH Jason Hammel (7-7, 4.73) Pitching for Washington: RH Garrett Mock (2-4, 5.27) Rockies Trend Profile: Last 10: 7-3, Streak: Won 3, Road Record: 35-30, Against RHP: 47-35. Nationals Trend Profile: Last 10: 5-5, Streak: Lost 2, Home Record: 26-35, Against RHP: 34-59. Starting Time: 7:05 TV: Fox Sports Rocky Mountains, Mid-Atlantic Sports Network2 Comments: The Nationals may have a slight pitching edge ( Mock has an E.R.A. of 1.50 in his last two starts while Hammel is 2-3 with an E.R.A. of 6.65 in his last five starts) in this one but the bottom line says the Rockies are 8-0 against them this season and are hitting the cover off the baseball. My money says Colorado batting trumps Washington pitching in this one.
Partly cloudy with a 40-percent chance of rain. Winds blowing out to center field at 10-15 m.p.h. Game-time temperature: Around 85.
<!-- / message -->
