It's been a long cold winter, but the Boys of Summer are finally back. Early-season MLB a tough nut to crack, so tread especially carefully and always DO THE WORK!
**Baltimore Orioles/New York Yankees Under 8½ (+100) ~ List Jiminez/Kuroda. Believe the value will drop over-night and possibly close at 8 flat. Expect Kuroda's patented 7 IP/1 ER performance in their home opener. Bombers the beneficiaries of a shaky start by Hutchison today. Ubaldo should be a little more comfortable in his 2nd start. NYB went deep for the first time this season in their 186th AB. Likely a sign of things to come? As a side-note, the Orioles scored 8 of their 13 runs in Detroit in the 9th inning, so minis may be another option? Laying off a side here, but adding a pricey player prop;
Jones vs Beltran - most total bases
Carlos Beltran (-125) ~ Slow start....expect he breaks out today? A switch-hitter is generally a good option in H2Hs.
Pick your poison as I do not like the juice on either of these, but a quick rematch between these two young bucks will likely result in a similar game to last week's 1-0 final;
St Louis Cardinals (-145) ~ List Cingrani/Wacha. I hate the juice (and hate the Cards' ineptness vs LHP), but it is SL or nothing here. I don't expect the line to get better than this, but.......Reds' RL at -160 may be a better option? Juice is too high to back the Cards facing a good LHP. I'll stick with the total. It would still be SL or nothing, though....perhaps a parlay add?
Cincinnati Reds/St Louis Cardinals Under 7 (-135)
Votto vs Holliday - most total bases
Joey Votto (-115) ~ May be a bit of a homer play for Toronto boy Votto, but he seems to be further along than Holliday at this point, hits the Cards and hits Wacha.
Oakland A's/Minnesota Twins Over 8 (-110) ~ Can't see any reason for playing any Twins' game under yet......despite how well both starters opened their seasons. IF the weatherboard is accurate, a wind gusting straight out at Target should be helpful for Dozier's long fly ball outs.......LOL
Going to be tough laying off the Rangers and if it hits +150, I'll probably have to play 'em small. Despite Lackey surprising me over and over last year and Scheppers letting me down in the opener, I cannot rely on Lackey to end the BoSox slide. Texas plodding along at 3-3 despite only a single HR. Fenway may be the answer? Let's call it their "home away from home" (11-5 in their last 16 trips to Boston). Stay tuned.....Texas Rangers (+150) ½ unit
Houston Astros +1½ (-125) ~ Halos first look at Cosart should keep them off-balance a couple times through the order. The Astros' (+135)/Under 4½ (-110) minis may also be decent options?
Looked long at the Rays as we saw yesterday how a good LHP can shut the Royals down, but with TB travelling from The Trop for the first time, I'll pass......
**Chicago White Sox/Colorado Rockies Over 10 (-105) ~ With both teams averaging almost 6 runs per and run-of-the-mill pitchers on each side, this may be a first to 10 wins kind of game? The wind won't help, so we may need lots of small-ball. Sox have fared well at Coors, so I wouldn't rule them out.
Over 5½ (-110) Mini
The game in Cleveland will most likely be rained-out, so the Over 8 that I had considered for a parlay will just be a pass.
NCB National Championship
I have UConn (+3) from earlier this week, but I have added the prop;
Most Outstanding Player (F4);
Shabazz Napier (+175) ~ I am actually more concerned about DeAndre Daniels (+650) stealing this one than Randle, but I guess we'll know soon enough? I do believe that for a Huskies' W, Shabazz needs one more exceptional game.....
Stack 'em Up!