Bettor's best friend: Friday's wagering tips
Line
off the board
Dodgers at Cubs – The uncertainty of wind
speed and direction at Wrigley has kept this game’s total from being
posted.
Lines to keep an eye on
Nationals at Padres
– The home team surfaced as -165 favorites but that number has slipped
to as low as -145 on a few boards.
Weather to watch
(Forecasts
are extracted from Weather.com the night before the game)
Nationals
at Padres – A 14 mph wind is projected to blow in from right field at
pitcher-friendly PETCO Park.
Dodgers at Rockies – The forecast
calls for wind to blow out to left-center field at 16 mph. A 20 percent
chance of precipitation is also expected.
Phillies at Marlins – A
30 percent chance of rain is in the forecast.
Pirates at Braves –
A 40 percent chance of thunderstorms could bring rain.
Who’s
hot
Washington (WNBA) has won three straight ATS versus L.A.
and is 7-3 ATS in the last 10 of the series.
The Magic have won
two in a row ATS and the last two games in this series have gone OVER.
Boston
(MLB) is riding a five-game winning streak after sweeping the Rays and
is 8-2 in last 10.
Who’s not
The New York Liberty
is 0-3 ATS in its last three games.
Arizona has lost four
consecutive games.
The Astros lost Thursday’s game in extra
innings after taking a lead into the ninth and have dropped 7-of-10.
Key
date
June 8 – Date phenom pitcher Stephen Strasburg is
expected to make his MLB debut with Washington. The Nationals haven’t
officially announced that date but said he would start against the
Pirates so either June 8, 9 or 10. The ploy is an attempt to sell more
tickets to the other games in the series.
Injury that
shouldn’t be overlooked
Cardinals starting pitcher Kyle Lohse
has an uncommon condition and could miss the rest of the season. Lohse
was diagnosed on Wednesday with compartment syndrome, a condition in
which the sheath covering a muscle in his forearm prevents the muscle
from expanding. The condition causes Lohse to develop a cramping
sensation which in turn gives him less movement on his two-seam
fastball. Lohse’s options are to have surgery or become a short-inning
specialist reliever.
Game of the day
Orlando Magic
at Boston Celtics (-3, 189)
Notable quotable
"I
would doubt that players would get affected by what happened in another
sport. I would have a hard time believing that. I don't think most of
our guys on any of our teams follow hockey very much."
-- Magic
head coach Stan Van Gundy said of the possibility that his players could
upset the Celtics after trailing 3-0 in the series the same way the
Flyers did against the Bruins.
Tips and notes
-
Checking the wind speed and direction at Wrigley Field before gametime
is imperative for any baseball totals capper. But it looks as if the
oddsmakers have the Cubs’ home park pegged. The over/under record for
games played at Wrigley with a total at 8.5 or less is 2-11. When the
books post a total of 9.5 or higher the over/under record is 6-0. When
the wind is blowing directly in from center field this season, the UNDER
is 6-0 and on Friday an 11 mph wind is projected to gust in from
center.
- Phillies starter Kyle Kendrick was on the verge of
being demoted to Triple-A or the bullpen at the beginning of May. At
that point he was carrying a 7.61 ERA after five starts and pitching
coach Rich Dubee said Kendrick’s “tempo and efficiency” needed to pick
up. Toss out an ugly outing versus the surging Red Sox and the righty
has gone 2-0 with a 2.57 ERA since the wakeup call (3.93 including
Boston game). The Phils went 3-0 in all three of those starts and are
+105 dogs with Kendrick on the bump Friday.
- Jason Bohn is tied
for the lead at Colonial heading into Round 2 after posting a career-low
63 Thursday. But the 37-year-old could begin to wear down as this golf
tournament goes on. Bohn woke up at 1 a.m. Thursday morning with sharp
pains in his ear. He ended up having an infection and head cold, which
was passed on by his sons, and did not get much sleep going into the
tourney. Bohn said the infection didn’t affect his play (clearly) but
equilibrium can always be a problem when dealing with ears. Wagering on
the other side of a head-to-head matchup with Bohn may prove to be
fruitful over the next three days.