Monday, April 3, 2017

MLB Opening Day: Mets Host Young Braves to Open 2017

Mets MLB Opening Day

Young Braves are Improved



Divisional rivals meet on Monday when the Atlanta Braves and the New York Mets meet at Citi Field. 2017 MLB Opening Day will see these two teams square off again and it could be a precursor to a race for the playoffs. If the Mets stay healthy and the Braves can get one more season out of aging Vets Bartolo Colon and R.A. Dickey they will contend as well.

Right hander Julio Teheran will take the mound for the Braves to start this game. Teheran is 0-0 this season with a 0.00 ERA. Teheran has a 7-3 career record with a 2.36 ERA in 15 games (14 starts) against the Mets. The Braves are also hoping to parlay some late-season success into a good start in 2017. Longtime manager Fredi Gonzalez was fired following a 9-28 start. Atlanta went 59-65 under interim skipper Brian Snitker. That includes a 12-2 record in the final 14 games.

Starting this game for the Mets will be Noah Syndergaard. The right hander has a 0.00 ERA to go along with a 0-0 record this season. He has an 0-1 record with a 5.22 ERA in three career starts against the Braves. The Mets are trying to make the postseason for a franchise-record third straight seasons.

Oddsmakers opened the Mets as -155-moneyline favorites versus the Braves, while the game's total opened at 6.5. The Mets are now -180 and the total is still at 6.5.

The Braves and Mets engaged in fierce NL East races in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Also in a classic six-game NL Championship Series in 1999. But both teams have not finished above .500 and within 10 games of the division lead in the same season since 2007. This year could change all of that.

MLB Opening Day Betting Trends































 

Next up:
Atlanta at New York Wednesday, April 5

Get all your MLB Odds at Bovada Online Sportsbook.
468x60

Sunday, April 2, 2017

NBA Sunday Preview & Free Pick- Denver at Miami

Miami Heat NBA Sunday

Nuggets Chasing Portland For Playoffs



The Denver Nuggets and the Miami Heat kick off a Sunday double header of betting action on NBA TV in a 6 p.m. (ET) tip from American Airlines Arena. BetAnySports opened the Heat as 4.5-point home favorites with the total set at 214. The spread is now Miami -3.5-point favorites and the total has been bet up to 219.

Denver continues to chase down Portland for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference; however it has not helped its chances of closing the gap with a SU 2-5 record in its last seven games. One of those setbacks (122-113) came to the Trail Blazers on Tuesday night before dropping a 122-114 decision against Charlotte on Friday. The Nuggets closed as two-point road underdogs in both losses and the total at BetAnySports has gone OVER in five of their last six games.

This is one team that has never really struggled to put points on the board with seven different players averaging at least 10 points per game. Denver (35-40) is the third-highest scoring team in the NBA (111.5 PPG) behind Golden State and Houston, but it is allowing an average of 111.4 PPG on defense. With those last two road losses, the Nuggets have now given up 113 points or more in their last eight games.

Heat in Fierce Battle for Playoff Spot



Miami (37-39) is also fighting for its postseason life in the Eastern Conference, but it has not done itself any favors lately with a 3-4 mark both SU and ATS in its last seven games. Things went from bad to worse on Friday night with a stunning 98-94 loss to the short-handed New York Knicks as a 10.5-point home favorite with BetAnySports. The Heat remain one of the most profitable betting teams this season at 46-30 ATS.

Goran Dragic leads Miami in scoring this season with 20.1 PPG and he ended Friday’s loss with a team-high 22 points. Hassan Whiteside added 17 points to the losing cause as the Heat went a dismal 24.2 percent from three-point range after missing 15 of their last 16 attempts. The one thing that Miami does have going for it in this matchup is a shutdown defense that is ranked fifth in the league in points allowed (101.8).

Both these teams are trying to play their way out of the postseason lately, but when it comes to betting on Sunday’s matchup, I like Miami’s chances at home to bounce back with a SU win that covers BetAnySports’ spread.

 

BAS_468x60_basketball_II-002

Sunday Night Baseball: Cardinals Host the Cubs

Sunday Night Baseball

Cubs Open Defense of World Title



The St. Louis Cardinals battle the World Champion Chicago Cubs at New Busch Stadium on Sunday Night Baseball. The Chicago Cubs will play a game as the defending World Series champions. After 108 years that sound is music to the ear to Cubs fans. Opening that defense against their bitter rivals makes it that much more sweet.  The game is televised nationally be ESPN with first pitch at 8:30 pm.

After ending the Curse of the Billy Goat with an amazing comeback from a 3-1 series deficit to the Cleveland Indians to win the World Series. Chicago enters the season with the biggest possible target across its chest. The Cubs have most of the same roster that made history last year. Six of eight everyday starters return. The starting rotation is so deep that Kyle Hendricks is the fifth starter. Hendricks pitched at Cy Young level in 2016.

The Starters



The Cubs will give the ball to starter Jon Lester in this one. Left hander Lester is 0-0 this season with a 0.00 ERA.

Lester's Sunday Night Baseball opponent in this one will be Carlos Martinez. The Cardinals right hander has a 0.00 ERA to go along with a 0-0 record this season.

Oddsmakers opened the Cubs as -120-moneyline favorites versus the Cardinals, while the game's total opened at 7.

The Cardinals were a 10-4 winner as they battled the Pittsburgh Pirates on the road to end the 2016 MLB Season. Moneyline bettors who got the Cardinals at -210 were rewarded. The 14 combined runs moved the game OVER for totals bettors. Martinez hasn't always been successful against the Cubs. He has gone 3-3 with a 4.67 earned run average in 19 games, nine as a starter.

The Cubs were a 8-7 winner in their most recent outing on the road against the Cleveland Indians in the 2016 MLB World Series. That made winners of bettors who got Chicago at -132 on the moneyline. The total score (15) was good news for OVER bettors. Lester has been effective in nine career starts against the Cardinals. He has posted a 1.97 earned run average despite going only 3-3.

Sunday Night Baseball Betting Trends



























 

Next up:
Chicago at St. Louis Sunday, April 2

Get all your MLB Odds at Bovada Online Sportsbook.
468x60

Posts and Articles about College Basketball

Posts and Articles about the NBA and WNBA