Bettor's best friend: Thursday's wagering tips
Line
off the board
The total in the Diamondbacks-Cubs game is OTB
because the wind speed and direction at Wrigley Field is unknown.
Lines
to keep an eye on
The total in the Brewers-Padres game has
moved upward a half run from its low opener and now stands at 7.5. The
last three games between these teams (from 2009) all went over.
The
Sharks surfaced as a -150 home favorite over Detroit but that number
can be found as low as -130 at a couple of the Vegas sportsbooks. The
Wings have won four of the last five against San Jose.
Weather
report
A strong, 23 mph wind will be blowing in from right
field in the White Sox-Rangers matchup.
Balls could be sailing
over the ivy at Wrigley with wind projected to blow out to left field at
21 mph.
Thursday’s forecast calls for a hefty, 23 mph wind in
the Braves-Cardinals series finale. Gusts will be coming in from center
and left center field.
Wind will be blowing in from left field at
27 mph as the Padres host the Brewers at PETCO.
It looks to be a
windy Thursday in baseball as the Dodgers and Pirates will also have to
contend with a northwesterly 24 mph wind blowing in from left.
Who’s
hot
Dallas is 7-2-1 ATS in its last 10 games.
The
Padres are 7-2 SU at home this season and 8-2 SU since April 17.
San
Jose is riding a three-game winning streak, but the visitor has won the
last three meetings in this series.
Who’s not
Phoenix
and Portland have played to three consecutive unders (see note below).
The
Braves are stuck in a seven-game losing streak, scoring a total of 13
runs in that stretch.
Key stat
6-0 – Record for
Orioles pitcher Brian Matusz in his last nine starts. The southpaw has
surrendered no more than four runs in four starts this season and is
getting +160 odds at home against New York on Thursday.
Rotation
that shouldn’t be overlooked
Blazers point guard Brandon Roy
asked to be inserted into the starting lineup for Game 6 on Thursday.
He said that coming off the bench hasn’t allowed him to “get involved”
and it was hard to “get into a rhythm.” Look for coach Nate McMillan to
grant Roy’s request and Portland could find an added boost with him on
the floor from the get go.
Game of the Day
Phoenix
Suns at Portland Trail Blazers (-1, 201.5)
Notable quotable
"We
knew this was going to be a long series, we didn't think we were going
to sweep them.”
-- Thunder head coach Scott Brooks sarcastically
remarked about the playoff series with the Lakers during a press
conference.
Tips and notes
- The Suns appear to be
committed to playing playoff defense. In the five games of this series,
Phoenix has held Portland to 93.6 ppg and under the 100-point mark in
four games. Big man Amare Stoudemire said he never knew how much “fun”
playing defense was because they never did it before. A renewed
defensive effort from Phoenix has produced three straight unders in the
series. The total for Thursday is low (201.5) but the Blazers will have
to slow the pace down to have any chance of seeing a Game 7.
-
While the flight time from Colorado to Chicago won’t be more than a
couple of hours, the Diamondbacks might be a bit jetlagged in the series
opener versus the Cubs on Thursday. Arizona endured an extra-inning,
four-hour slugfest in Denver on Wednesday. The Snakes will now have to
turn around for a 2:20 p.m. start at Wrigley. Zona will lose an hour of
sleep traveling between time zones. Making matters worse, Wednesday’s
starter (Kris Benson) only lasted two innings so the D-Backs were forced
to use five relief pitchers in the game.
- Tornados ravaged
Mississippi last week and Roy Oswalt’s parents lost their home. The
Astros ace left the team for three days to tend to his folks before
rejoining the team on Tuesday. Oswalt is a veteran pitcher that can
probably still be effective with his normal routine out of whack, but
bettors should be careful backing him on Thursday as there might be some
lingering effects from the extended travel and mental fatigue.