Baseball

MLB June 7th

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92-83 on MLB last season and went up 34.31 units

16-12 on MLB this season up 2.81 units

Cardinals at +112 for 2 units. Bet on the Cards the last time Miles Mikolas pitched. That game was against the Cubs. This game is against the Cubs. Mikolas allowed 1 earned run in that game. Mikolas has had a quality start in 6 of his last 7 starts. Cole Hamels gets the start opposite of Mikolas again. Hamels looked solid against St. Louis last time… This should be another close game.. +112 is decent value.

Tigers at +125 for 2 units. Hate betting against the Twins, but Matthew Boyd. Boyd is only 5-4, but he has 97 strikeouts in 77.2 innings pitched this season. The Twins have to come back to Earth sometime right?

Baseball

MLB June 6th

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92-83 on MLB last season and went up 34.31 units

13-11 on MLB this season up 2.36 units

The big news is that the Cubs signed Kimbrel to a 3-year deal. Chicago needed a strong closer if they wanted to make another World Series run. They couldn’t have signed him in the Winter without giving up draft picks, but now there is no “penalty” for signing Kimbrel. 54 Million doll hairs gets them one of the best closers in baseball. Kimbrel had more than a couple shaky innings in Boston’s World Series run.. but at the end of the day he got the job done. The Cubs make the first big move of the season.

Rays -1.5 at -123 for 2 units. Gonna keep riding the hot team. I was unable to write yesterday, but the Rays were my only bet and they won.

Red Sox at -141 for 2 units. Boston has scored 8 runs in each of their last 3 games. The Royals have lost 5 in a row.

Braves at -120 for 7 units. Atlanta hits right-handers better than Pittsburgh. Both starters today are righties. I have been fading Chris Archer all year. Mike Foltynewicz has not been the best pitcher for the Braves this season, but St. Louis did not earn a run off of him in his last road start. Mike has at least 7 strikeouts in his last two starts. Chris Archer has given up at least 3 earned runs in each of his last 6 starts. Braves will be able to get on base against Archer, here’s to hoping they get the timely hits when needed.

Rangers/Brewers Parlay risking 2 units to win 3.4 units. Marlins and Orioles suck. That is all.

Baseball

MLB June 4th – Lot of Lopsided Matchups

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92-83 on MLB last season and went up 34.31 units

11-9 on MLB this season up 7.76 units

Twins at +121 for 3 units. Twins just won 3 of 4 against a solid Rays team, now they play the struggling I-words. The Twins have played one less game than Cleveland, but have 48 more homers. Devin Smeltzer looked good in his first career start against Milwaukee last week, allowing 0 runs in 6 innings. Smeltzer starts tonight for Minnesota. Minnesota has the best record on the road in the league at 21-9. Good value here. Shane Bieber allowed 3 homers in his last start for Cleveland.

Giants +1.5 at -167 for 2 units. Bumgarner Vs. Syndergaard. These two star pitchers have eerily similar stats this season when it comes to WHIP, hits, strikeouts, inning pitched, home runs given up, 3-pointers made, and wins. The Giants have won 3 of their last 4, while the Mets have lost 4 of their last 5. San Francisco’s bats seemed to have woken up against Baltimore.. here’s to hoping that continues.

Dodgers –1.5 at -135 for 4 units. LA’s bats are still hot and now they get their best starter this season on the mound, Hyun-Jin Ryu, against their rival Diamondbacks. Ryu was named National League Pitcher of the Month in May. Taylor Clarke only pitched two innings for Arizona in his last start. Bellinger and Muncy will be back in the lineup tonight. Clarke may struggle again tonight..

Rays -1.5 at -167 for 6 units. Detroit’s lineup is a career 1-11 against Blake Snell. Snell has had 3 straight quality starts. The Rays scored 7 runs in the last 3 innings they played.. in a loss to the red-hot Twins. Mercer, Cabrera, and Harrison are still out for Detroit. Rays are heavily favored for a reason, they get back on the winning track tonight. Tampa has the better starter, bullpen, bats, and defense..

Baseball

MLB June 3rd – Dodgers at Diamondbacks and Phillies at Padres Predictions

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92-83 on MLB last season and went up 34.31 units

10-8 on MLB this season up 7.44 units

Philadelphia Phillies -1½ at +113 for 4 units. The Phillies have won 5 of their last 6 games by 2 runs or more when Aaron Nola starts. Nola is starting tonight. This is the first time Bryce Harper and Manny Machado will face each other.. the two most expensive free agents of 2018-19 off-season. I am just glad neither went to the Yankees. Both teams have better records at this point in the season than they did last year, partly because of their free agent signings. MLB attendance is down about 1.5% this season compared to last year, but Philly and San Diego’s (which of course in German means whale’s vagina) attendance numbers are up. Nola is 1-0 at Petco Park with a 2.25 ERA in two starts. Aaron Nola and the Philly’s ability to get on base get them the win in Game 1 of the Free Agent World Series.

Los Angeles Dodgers -1½ at +108 for 4 units. The Dodgers are on their longest winning streak of the season at 5 games. They lost 6 games in a row earlier in the year, but they hot now. Justin Turner should be back in the lineup for LA. Robbie Ray is starting for the Diamondbacks. Ketel Marte has 5 homers in his last 9 games for the LA. Freese has homered in his last two games. Bellinger is on a 10 game hit streak… Comparable starting pitchers, but the Dodgers have the hotter bats..

Tennis

French Open – Djokovic, Del Potro, and Zverev

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91-44-6 on tennis in 2018 up 42.63 units

36-43 on tennis in 2019 down 41.53 units

Alexander Zverev +1 at -108 for 8 units. Fabio Fognini is the better clay-court player, but Zverev is ranked higher. Their H2H is tied at 1-1 on clay courts, with Fognini winning the most recent meeting in Monaco earlier this year. The German was in a funk when that loss to Fognini happened, now he is in better form. Zverev has won 7 matches in a row, but most would agree he still isn’t at the top of his game. Fognini has lost to his past two opponents of Alexander’s caliber (Thiem and Tsitsipas). Roberto Bautista-Agut was able to break Fognini fairly easily in the last round, but the Italian’s talent was enough to overcome those break deficits.. Fognini is not as talented as Zverev.. at least not consistently. I could see Zverev getting up 3-0 in a set and Fognini throwing the set away, which would obviously help this cover. Zverev’s two-handed backhand and ability to move Fognini around the court will get him the cover.

Novak Djokovic -8.5 at -108 for 3 units. Struff struggles against strong returners and Djokovic is the best returner in the game.

Juan Martin Del Potro at -194 for 3 units. Del Potro is back. This line should be closer to -250 in my opinion.

MMA

UFC Fight Night 153 Prediction – Alexander “The Mauler” Gustafsson Vs. Anthony Smith

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6-1 on UFC/MMA in 2018 up 9.90 units

16-9-1 in 2019 up 9.93 units

Gustafsson at -290 for 2 units.

Gustafsson/Smith under 3.5 rounds at -120 for 4 units. Smith is on a short turnaround. He has the power to knock Gustafsson out early, but I think The Mauler’s chin holds up and he gets the win in the second round. Smith went the distance against Jon Jones a few months ago. Gustafsson lost in the 3rd round to Jones in his most recent bout. Gustafsson is the more technical striker and is 4th all-time in UFC light heavyweight knockdowns. If Smith wins, it will be in the first 3 rounds, but I think Gustafsson takes it.

Baseball

MLB June 1st

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92-83 on MLB last season and went up 34.31 units

9-7 on MLB this season up 9.34 units

White Sox at +102 for 3 units. Ivan Nova and Jefry Rodriquez have both been below average this season. Nova, Chicago’s starter, allowed only 1 earned run in his last start. Rodriquez allowed 6 earned runs in his last start. Indians have a losing record on the road. White Sox are on a win streak.. good play here at plus money. White Sox have the hotter bats and hotter pitcher.

Brewers at -182 for 2 units. Woodruff has allowed 2 or less earned runs in his last 6 starts for the Brew Crew. Thought Brewers would be around -215. Taking the value.

 

Soccer

Tottenham Vs. Liverpool – Champions League Final Predictions

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It’s here!! No Ronaldo or Messi, but there are still some of the best players in the World playing in this game. This is the second-ever all England Champions League final. Liverpool won both Premier League games 2-1 this season, but this game will have much more intensity. Liverpool have kept a clean sheet in 6 of their last 8 competitive victories.

Mohamed Salah of Liverpool will score 1 or more goals against Tottenham Hotspur at +140 for 3 units. Salah only played 30 minutes in last year’s final after Sergio Ramos knocked him out before halftime. Salah will want to make up for lost time here. Danny Rose is solid, but I think Salah has a better chance at scoring than these odds imply.

Sadio Mane of Liverpool will score 1 or more goals against Tottenham Hotspur at +150 for 3 units. Mane has scored first for Liverpool in 5 of the last 6 games he has scored in. If Rose can stop Salah, I’m not convinced Trippier will be able to stop Mane. At least, one of these two has to score right?

P.S. The gif above is Salah sending his former teammate De Rossi into retirement.

Baseball

MLB May 31st

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92-83 on MLB last season and went up 34.31 units

7-6-1 on MLB this season up 6.21 units

I am on my 3rd New Belgium Voodoo Ranger as of writing this, but I punched my plays in before I started drinking. So you’re still in sober, safe hands.. sorta. The Rays just keep winning. The Yankees just keep getting rained out. The Twitter world wants longer nets for more coverage from foul balls. The Facebook world wants people to not pay for nice tickets and take their kids into the danger zone. Quite the raging debate. Seems like extended nets are a simple solution, but asking baseball to change is like asking Draymond Green not to talk junk.

Brewers at -116 for 4 units. Chachin has allowed a lot of baserunners, but Archer has allowed even more when divided by innings pitched and averaged out math blah blah. Yelich has 21 homers already.. 21! Brewers hit 4 homers yesterday without Yelich. Two starting pitchers that have been underperforming, but I like the Brewers today.

Cardinals at -124 for 4 units. Yu Darvish has struggled with control all season. Today he faces the strong St. Louis lineup. Kris Bryant will get cussed at today. Miles Mikolas had 9 Ks and no walks in his last outing for St. Louis. Darvish and Mikolas have similar season stats, but Mikolas has the upper hand lately.

Rays at -119 for 3 units. Rays are hot.