Rhody Joe's West Bay Sports Desk Daily Selections

[rhodyjoe]

August 27th
MLB
Pitching Option: Listed

KANSAS CITY to Win Even(-131)
BALTIMORE (C TILLMAN) vs KANSAS CITY (Y VENTURA)

Point Total Over 8(-110)
BALTIMORE (C TILLMAN) vs KANSAS CITY (Y VENTURA)

12-5 last 17 picks.

I may have one more pick

At This Forum
84-74-6 = .531 (+1.17)

Summer Is Not Over!

[rhodyjoe]

Orioles vs. Royals Pick – MLB August 27th
The Kansas City Royals now have some company to deal with in their quest for the World Series. Before the trade deadline all I was hearing is how the Royals are destined to make it back to the World Series. While they can certainly do that, there are other qualified teams in the discussion as well. Most notably, in the American League, the Blue Jays look well prepared to deal with the Royals in the postseason. This Jays team can hit the ball off any pitcher, including the best the Royals have to throw at them. It would make for an interesting series for sure in the AL Championship but results don’t always make the most sense in sports. A Blue Jays and Royals final looks like a good prediction however there are always curve balls thrown, so to speak, on the road there. A critical piece of the Royals’ success takes the mound tonight. Yordano Ventura hasn’t replicated much of what we saw in 2014 his rookie season from him. It has been a struggle and at one point they wanted to send him down to AAA. He actually was literally on his way there before they needed him back in Kansas City due to injuries. Ventura has appeared to be turning the corner of late but is he for real?

Ventura will try and show his muscle against the Baltimore Orioles tonight, a team that is desperately trying to stay in the race for the postseason. A six game losing streak doesn’t help any but they are fortunate enough to end it at six. The Orioles got the victory over the Royals last night by a score of 8-5. The Orioles need all the help they can get the rest of the season but they’re going to have to start putting together a stretch of wins instead of a stretch of losses like we’ve seen lately. Chris Tillman gets the start for the O’s tonight to the chagrin, I’m sure, of Baltimore fans everywhere. I can’t say he’s been awful but Tillman isn’t exactly the kind of guy that will evoke much confidence in people. He’ll look to make it two in a row for the Orioles tonight.

Chris Tillman (9-8, 4.51 ERA) vs. Yordano Ventura (8-7, 4.64 ERA)

Ventura really hasn’t given Royals’ fans much to be confident about either for the greater part of 2015. He was a big reason why the Royals were so successful last season and this season he has been a major setback for the team. But with the Royals in the position they’re at 77-49 they haven’t had to rely on him so much. With the postseason getting closer he’d be a huge weapon to have if he can get his pitching back on track to last season. Lately, he has been pitching like that posting a 1.42 ERA and 1.11 WHIP in his last three starts. This has been the best stretch of games for him, I believe, this season. Perhaps he is peaking and if he truly is he’s definitely doing it at the right time.

I see Ventura with the edge in this game despite him having a slightly higher ERA on the year. You can pretty much bank on Tillman allowing around 4 runs per game. Ventura does have the ability to play shutdown baseball as we’ve seen it before. We saw it a lot last year. Tillman holds a 5.62 ERA in his last three starts compared to the 1.42 ERA of Ventura. He also holds much worse numbers on the road with a 5.05 ERA. Four straight quality starts from Ventura would be big for the Royals which would be a good sign that he is coming around. I believe he does pitch well enough today to fend off the Orioles and earn a victory for the Royals. (Sports Geek)

PICK: ROYALS TO WIN +105

[rhodyjoe]

August 27th
MLB
Pitching Option: Listed

ST. LOUIS to Win Even(-128)
ST. LOUIS (C MARTINEZ) vs ARIZONA (R DE LA ROSA)

The Cards have won all six games against the Diamondbacks in 2015, and 9 of their last ten overall in the matchup. They also have the best record in all of baseball at a ridiculous 81-45. The Pirates and Cubs are keeping enough pressure on them to keep them sharp and I could easily see them winning 102-105 games.

I think they finish off the four-game sweep tonight in Arizona.

At This Forum
84-74-6 = .531 (+1.17)

[rhodyjoe]

August 27th Results
MLB
Pitching Option: Listed


ST. LOUIS to Win Even(-128) Won 5-3
ST. LOUIS (C MARTINEZ) vs ARIZONA (R DE LA ROSA)

KANSAS CITY to Win Even(-131) Won 5-3
BALTIMORE (C TILLMAN) vs KANSAS CITY (Y VENTURA)

Point Total Over 8(-110) Push 5
BALTIMORE (C TILLMAN) vs KANSAS CITY (Y VENTURA)

At This Forum
86-74-7 = .537 (+3.17)

[rhodyjoe]

I will be off celebrating summer for the next two days and attending Sabbath services. Might have a football game for Saturday nite but not sure at this point. It depends if I can get a cell signal. To all my students following this string I told you we would have a successful week and we did. $$$ Every student this week cashed $500.00 at least. Great job guys and gals. Now go out there and manage your money and make lots of cash the way we taught you this week.

Last seven days 11 wins and only 4 losses. Not bad.

I expect to really "cash" during the rest of the baseball season.

Do you, my students?

It simple. Just follow what you learned this week and the money will roll in.

See you all on Saturday night for the celebration.

[rhodyjoe]

August 28th
MLB
Pitching Option: Listed

Change of Plans

Houston Astros -125 vs Minnesota Twins +118
Scott Kazmir vs. Kyle Gibson

This-125 line leaped off the page at me as I would have assumed Houston would be a larger favorite. Being able to get the vastly better team with a huge pitching edge at -125 on the road, is a bit surprising. Kazmir has dominated the entire Twins lineup with the exception of Plouffe (8 for 24) and will be looking for more of the same tonight.

The Astros pitching has always been good but the addition of Kazmir gives them another playoff-caliber arm. Add in the fact that their offense has finally joined the party and you are looking at a really solid baseball team. I like them to fare well this weekend, starting with a win tonight.


St. Louis Cardinals/San Francisco Giants Under 6.5 (+102
Michael Wacha (15-4, 2.80 ERA) vs. Mike Leake (9-6, 3.44 ERA)

Wacha has taken this Cardinals team to another level without Wainwright. Which begs the question how good would they be right now if they had Wainwright as well? The Cards are 81-45 so one has to assume they’d have a few more wins with Wainwright healthy. Scary to think about what they would have been capable of in the postseason. They still may very well do that even with Wainwright but there are some lineups that are packing some offense this season. If the Cards meet the Blue Jays in the World Series you think Wainwright wouldn’t have provided a big helping hand in downing them. Remember, the American League has home field advantage in the World Series. Wacha has been on fire lately posting a 1.89 ERA in his last three starts. He has allowed only 4 runs in his last five starts.

Leake has been lightning hitters up as well. Statistically he has actually looked better in recent action holding a 1.33 ERA with a 0.84 WHIP in his last three starts. This looks like we’re going to have a low-scoring game on our hands. I expect something like a 3-2 final in San Francisco tonight. Leake has to love going from Cincinnati to San Francisco. Cincinnati is friendly to hitters, while the opposite is true in San Francisco. I will ride the UNDER with these two hot hurlers.

At This Forum
86-74-7 = .537 (+3.17)

[rhodyjoe]

August 28th Results
MLB
Pitching Option: Listed

Houston Astros -125 vs Minnesota Twins +118 Loss 0-3
Scott Kazmir vs. Kyle Gibson

St. Louis Cardinals/San Francisco Giants Under 6.5 (+102) Loss 9
Michael Wacha (15-4, 2.80 ERA) vs. Mike Leake (9-6, 3.44 ERA)


At This Forum
86-76-7 = .530 (+.92)

[rhodyjoe]

August 29th
MLB
Pitching Option: Listed

TEXAS to Win Even(-105)
BALTIMORE (U JIMENEZ) vs TEXAS (M PEREZ)

At This Forum
86-76-7 = .530 (+.92)

[rhodyjoe]

August 29th Results
MLB
Pitching Option: Listed

TEXAS to Win Even(-105) Won 4-3
BALTIMORE (U JIMENEZ) vs TEXAS (M PEREZ)

At This Forum
87-76-7 = .533 (+2.92)

[rhodyjoe]

August 30th
MLB
Pitching Option: Listed

CHICAGO CUBS to Win Even(-117)
CHICAGO CUBS (J ARRIETA) vs LA DODGERS (A WOOD)

At This Forum
87-76-7 = .533 (+2.92)

[rhodyjoe]

August 30th Results
MLB
Pitching Option: Listed

CHICAGO CUBS to Win Even(-117) Won 2-0
CHICAGO CUBS (J ARRIETA) vs LA DODGERS (A WOOD)

At This Forum
88-76-7 = .536 (+4.92)

[rhodyjoe]

Since August 17th my baseball picks are 15-3-0 = .833 or plus 11.66 units.