The Bum's Sports Page For Wednesday August 26th Best Bets-Trends-News !

[StarDust Bum]

Standings

Wild Card Standings

AMERICAN

Team Win Loss Percent GB

New York Yankees 69 56 0.552 +4.5

Texas Rangers 64 60 0.516 0.0

Minnesota Twins 64 61 0.512 0.5

Los Angeles Angels 64 61 0.512 0.5

Baltimore Orioles 62 63 0.496 2.5

Tampa Bay Rays 62 63 0.496 2.5

Chicago White Sox 59 65 0.476 5.0

Cleveland Indians 59 66 0.472 5.5

Detroit Tigers 59 66 0.472 5.5

Seattle Mariners 58 68 0.460 7.0

Boston Red Sox 57 69 0.452 8.0

Oakland Athletics 55 72 0.433 10.5


NATIONAL

Team Win Loss Percent GB

Pittsburgh Pirates 75 49 0.605 +2

Chicago Cubs 73 51 0.589 0.0

San Francisco Giants 66 59 0.528 7.5

Washington Nationals 63 61 0.508 10.0

Arizona Diamondbacks 62 63 0.496 11.5

San Diego Padres 61 64 0.488 12.5

Atlanta Braves 54 72 0.429 20.0

Milwaukee Brewers 53 73 0.421 21.0

Cincinnati Reds 52 72 0.419 21.0

Miami Marlins 51 75 0.405 23.0

Colorado Rockies 50 74 0.403 23.0

Philadelphia Phillies 50 76 0.397 24.0

Updated Wed Aug 26 11:34 AM EDT

[StarDust Bum]

WNBA Betting Recap - 8/17-8/23

August 24, 2015

League Betting Notes (from Monday, Aug. 17 through Sunday, Aug. 23)

-- Favorites went 9-6 straight up
-- Underdogs went 8-7 against the spread (ATS)
-- Road teams posted a 8-7 SU record
-- Road teams posted a 10-5 ATS record
-- The 'under' went 9-6

Team Betting Notes

-- Tulsa (13-14) is on the comeback trail after some injury issues, capping off a perfect 2-0 week with a win Saturday over Connecticut (12-14), a team on a slide. The Shock have won and covered three straight heading into their game Friday against L.A.

-- Speaking of the Sun, Connecticut dropped their fourth straight, and they're now 5-13 in their past 18 games after starting out 7-1. One thing that is a sure thing with the Sun - the over. The total has gone over in six in a row for the Sun.

-- Atlanta (10-16) has alternated wins and losses in each of their past six games. More importantly, they're 4-1 ATS over their past five games, and the 'over' has hit in nine of their past 11 outings. They have a rematch with Connecticut Tuesday at home after winning 102-92 on the road Sunday in the first end of the home-and-home.

-- Chicago (17-11) completed a home-and-home sweep of Washington (15-11), and it is their first back-to-back victories since Aug. 2-4 against Washington and Indiana.

-- Indiana (17-9) inched by New York (18-8) by an 80-79 count, as the Fever has now won six in a row and 14 of the past 17. The Fever also have covered five of their past six while the 'under' is 4-1 in the past five.

-- Los Angeles (10-17) had a winning week, going 2-1 SU/ATS, with both victories and covers coming on the road. Next up is a trip to red-hot Indiana Wednesday. The two sides just met Aug. 18 with the Fever blasting the Sparks 79-68 in L.A.

-- Phoenix (17-10) restored order Sunday against Minnesota (19-9), snapping an uncharacteristic three-game slide for the Mercury. The Merc also snapped an 0-3 ATS skid. Despite the cover they are still just 4-11 ATS over the past 15 games.

[StarDust Bum]

WNBA
Dunkel

Wednesday, August 26

Los Angeles @ Indiana

Game 651-652
August 26, 2015 @ 7:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Los Angeles
108.762
Indiana
120.559
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Indiana
by 12
157
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Indiana
by 4
152
Dunkel Pick:
Indiana
(-4); Over

[StarDust Bum]

WNBA
Long Sheet

Wednesday, August 26

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LOS ANGELES (10 - 17) at INDIANA (17 - 9) - 8/26/2015, 7:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
LOS ANGELES is 26-37 ATS (-14.7 Units) in all games over the last 2 seasons.
LOS ANGELES is 23-41 ATS (-22.1 Units) after a division game over the last 3 seasons.
LOS ANGELES is 79-108 ATS (-39.8 Units) after a win by 10 points or more since 1997.
LOS ANGELES is 151-191 ATS (-59.1 Units) after scoring 75 points or more since 1997.
INDIANA is 37-26 ATS (+8.4 Units) in all games over the last 2 seasons.
INDIANA is 14-5 ATS (+8.5 Units) in August or September games over the last 2 seasons.
INDIANA is 27-14 ATS (+11.6 Units) after a division game over the last 2 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
LOS ANGELES is 3-2 against the spread versus INDIANA over the last 3 seasons
LOS ANGELES is 4-1 straight up against INDIANA over the last 3 seasons
3 of 5 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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WNBA

Wednesday, August 26

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

7:00 PM
LOS ANGELES vs. INDIANA
Los Angeles is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games on the road
Los Angeles is 4-11 SU in its last 15 games on the road
Indiana is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Indiana's last 6 games when playing at home against Los Angeles

[StarDust Bum]

Standings

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Team W L PCT GB CONF HOME ROAD L-10 STREAK

New York Liberty
18 8 0.692 0 10-6 9-3 9-5 7-3 L 1

Indiana Fever
17 9 0.654 1 10-7 9-4 8-5 9-1 W 6

Chicago Sky
17 11 0.607 2 12-6 11-3 6-8 6-4 W 2

Washington Mystics
15 11 0.577 3 8-10 9-5 6-6 5-5 L 2

Connecticut Sun
12 15 0.444 6.5 4-13 7-7 5-8 3-7 L 5

Atlanta Dream
11 16 0.407 7.5 7-9 7-6 4-10 4-6 W 2


WESTERN CONFERENCE

Team W L PCT GB CONF HOME ROAD L-10 STREAK

Minnesota Lynx
19 9 0.679 0 14-5 10-3 9-6 5-5 L 1

Phoenix Mercury
16 11 0.593 2.5 13-5 11-4 5-7 6-4 W 1

Tulsa Shock
13 14 0.481 5.5 7-10 8-5 5-9 3-7 W 3

Los Angeles Sparks
10 17 0.370 8.5 8-10 6-8 4-9 7-3 W 2

Seattle Storm
7 20 0.259 11.5 6-11 5-7 2-13 2-8 L 1

San Antonio Stars
7 21 0.250 12 5-12 7-8 0-13 1-9 L 5

[StarDust Bum]

Preview: Sparks (10-17) at Fever (17-9)

Date: August 26, 2015 7:00 PM EDT

The Indiana Fever are surging toward the top of the Eastern Conference.

They'll look for a seventh straight win Wednesday night when they try to knock off the visiting Los Angeles Sparks for the second time in eight days.

Indiana (17-9) has won nine of 10 as it seeks its first first-place finish since 2011. The Fever have pulled within one game of the East-leading New York Liberty, whom they defeated 80-79 on Sunday. They close their season by hosting New York on Sept. 13.

"The focus we have now, just the intensity we have, it's fun," Tamika Catchings, who leads the team with 13.0 points per game, told the team's official website. "It's fun to be a part of."

Catchings led five double-digit scorers with 14 points Sunday.

"We shared the basketball extremely well," coach Stephanie White said. "We have five players in double figures. We had tremendous balance."

The Fever, who own the league's best 3-point percentage at 36.6, were 7 of 15 from long distance and have shot 43.1 percent from deep over their last three games. The Sparks' 30.2 3-point percentage ranks last in the WNBA.

Indiana shot just 36.8 percent from the floor in a 79-68 win at Los Angeles on Aug. 18, but compensated by going 10 of 19 from beyond the arc compared to the Sparks' 1-for-13 clip. Catchings scored 20.

The Sparks (10-17) rebounded from that setback with a win at Phoenix and a 90-59 blowout victory Sunday at San Antonio, shooting 54.4 percent with 28 assists. They've built a comfortable three-game lead over Seattle for the West's final playoff spot.

Jantel Lavender had 22 points and a career-high five blocks Sunday while Candace Parker added 20 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists. Parker has recorded five straight double-doubles and is averaging 23.0 points in her last four.

Parker had 25 points, 10 rebounds, a franchise-record eight steals and six assists in last week's meeting.

Nneka Ogwumike has missed three straight games for Los Angeles due to concussion-like symptoms and her status is uncertain.

The Fever have won eight in a row at home, while the Sparks have won four of five on the road after an 0-8 start. Los Angeles has also won its last three trips to Indiana.


WNBA HEAD TO HEAD

Aug 18, 2015 Score ATS Results
IND « 79 Cover: 15
LOS 68 Under: 147
Tools: Recaps

Jul 28, 2014 Score ATS Results
IND 73 Cover: 0.5
LOS « 77 Over: 150
Tools: Recaps

Jul 15, 2014 Score ATS Results
LOS « 86 Cover: 5.5
IND 78 Over: 164
Tools: Recaps

[StarDust Bum]

Wednesday's Tip Sheet

August 26, 2015


San Diego Padres at Washington Nationals | 7:05 p.m. ET

There’s a rare scenario that will be in play tonight in game two of this series between the Padres and Nationals. San Diego’s starter, 2014 All-Star Tyson Ross (8-9, 3.32 ERA), will be squaring off against the team that features his rookie younger brother, Joe Ross, on their roster, although unfortunately, the two siblings are not slated to oppose one another this evening (the younger Ross is actually nearing his innings-limit and will be shut down for the year within the next couple of weeks).

In any event, the elder Ross has been one of the more consistent starting pitchers in all of baseball over the past few years, and 2015 has been no different for the 28-year-old right-hander. In fact, Ross has remarkably allowed three runs or less in all but two of his 26 starts this season, while never allowing more than four runs in any outing. Additionally, he’s just-as-remarkably gone five innings or more in all but one of his starting assignments, and the one time he didn’t was because of a lengthy rain delay. You’d think his continued success would be a product of making half his starts at pitcher-friendly Petco Park but Ross has actually been better away from home this year, being 5-3 with a 2.71 ERA in 15 road starts. That makes him a tempting +165 road ’dog.

At the same time, the Nationals’ offense will be tough to duke it out against, as they’re finally completely healthy for the first time all year. In last night’s contest, Nationals color commentator F.P. Santangelo may have appropriately dubbed it as “the band being back together,” and it certainly seemed that way when they plated eight runs en route to the series-opening win. Being 5.5 games behind the first-place Mets in the NL East, they’ll need to keep it going and have veteran left-hander Gio Gonzalez (9-6, 3.98 ERA) on the hill in tonight’s middle game. The 29-year-old is in a nice spot to continue his solid pitching, as in ten starts at Nationals Park this year, he’s 5-2 with a 2.98 ERA. He owns even better numbers against the Padres over his career, being 2-0 in three starts with a 2.33 ERA and .219 opposing batting average. The over/under is either 6.5 or 7 depending where you look, mostly due to the re-emergence of the Washington lineup.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Detroit Tigers | 7:08 p.m. ET (MLB Network)

There’s a double dose of Major League Baseball action on national television tonight, as aside from the usual weekly ESPN Wednesday broadcast, there will also be a pair of games hosted on MLB Network. Most viewers will probably get this affair compared to the other possible affair, Twins-Rays, and that comes with good reason. After taking game one of this series last night, the Angels are on the verge of recapturing one of the AL’s two Wild Card berths, as they currently sit a half-game back of the division rival Texas Rangers. They’ll turn to All-Star Hector Santiago (7-7, 2.91 ERA) for tonight’s contest, hoping the southpaw can get back on track after his shortest outing of the season. That came against Toronto last Friday, when the Blue Jays tagged him for four runs (two earned) on three hits and four walks in less than four innings of work. Of note, the Angels have lost five of the past six games started by Santiago after winning the previous five. As a result, he’s an intriguing +115 road ’dog this evening.

On the other end of this matchup, the Detroit Tigers find themselves in quite the unfamiliar position, currently being seven games under the .500-mark. Interestingly, they’re still only a manageable 5.5 games out of the second Wild Card spot in the AL, but have to leapfrog over six other teams to get there. If there’s one silver lining in this lost season for the Tigers, it’s the re-ascension of former MVP and Cy Young winner Justin Verlander (1-6, 3.86 ERA), who has looked especially impressive as of late despite his undesirable win-loss record on the year. In fact, Verlander is on quite the run right now if you haven’t been paying attention, having allowed simply one earned run over his past three starts combined, spanning 20 innings pitched. Overall, he’s remarkably allowed one earned run or less in five of his past six starts, while going seven innings or more in all but one of them. In the process, the under has gone 5-0-1 within that stretch. The over/under for this one opened at 8 before ballooning up to 8.5 in many shops.

Toronto Blue Jays at Texas Rangers | 8:05 p.m. ET

When the Blue Jays faced the then-second Wild Card resident Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim over the weekend, the result was an easy three-game sweep for Toronto to continue their outstanding month of August, in which they are 17-4. It also launched what is now a four-game winning streak for the Jays, who find themselves back in first-place in the AL East as a result. They’ll try to extend it one more in game two of this three-game set behind their new prized ace, David Price (12-4, 2.40 ERA), who has been fantastic in his four starts with his new club. In fact, the former AL Cy Young award winner is four-for-four in producing quality starts with Toronto, while going seven innings or more in each instance like the true staff leader he is. The Blue Jays are 3-1 in his starts thus far, but interestingly, are still below .500 on the road with a 30-32 record. Even so, they’re laying a good amount of chalk tonight as -180 road favorites.

It won’t be an easy task for Toronto, though, as they’re about to run into Colby Lewis (14-5, 4.29 ERA), who has surprisingly been one of the hotter pitchers in the American League since the very beginning of June. In fact, from that point on, Lewis has registered a whopping 13 quality starts in 15 tries, while impressively going at least six innings or more in all but one of those assignments. The 36-year-old veteran has been extra stingy in his last two starts, in which he’s allowed just one run combined. Thus, not to mention the fact that he’s 6-1 in Arlington this season, Lewis is a tempting +160 home ’dog, while the over/under sits at 8.5.

Chicago Cubs at San Francisco Giants | 10:15 p.m. ET (ESPN)

It’s starting to become a laugher in the National League Wild Card race, partly thanks to the Cubs’ season-long dominance of these San Francisco Giants. On this week’s ESPN Wednesday Night Baseball telecast, the two NL contenders will continue their three-game set, and up until this point, it’s been completely one-sided. In fact, after winning last night’s series opener, the Cubs improved to 5-0 against the defending World Series champs in 2015, as they also swept a four-game set at Wrigley Field earlier in the month.

Rookie starter Kyle Hendricks (6-5, 4.03 ERA) will attempt to keep up the perfection for Chicago, who sit 7.5 games ahead of the Giants for the second Wild Card spot. After San Francisco, there’s no other team even within 10 games of the surging Cubs, who also are baseball’s hottest team right now on a six-game winning streak, not to mention while being 18-4 in the month of August. The Cubs have also won the last five games started by Hendricks, including when he defeated the Giants on August 8 with a fine five-plus-inning performance.

Thus, it appears the Giants’ most realistic route of getting to the postseason to have a shot at defending their title exists within catching the first-place Dodgers in the NL West, where they currently trail by 2.5 games. Jake Peavy (3-6, 4.35 ERA) gets the nod in tonight’s affair, although he appears to be in a rough patch at the moment. Peavy has surrendered nine combined runs over his past two starts -- his highest amount in any back-to-back outings this season -- but did have success opposite the Cubs in his starting assignment prior to his current two-game stretch, albeit in a 2-0 defeat. Overall, Peavy has allowed four runs or more in nearly half of his 11 starts this season, but is still drawing even -110 odds for this matchup. The over/under has clocked in at 7.

[StarDust Bum]

Diamond Trends - Wednesday

August 26, 2015


SU TREND OF THE DAY:

-- The Astros are 10-0 since Sep 11, 2013 as a dog after a 5+ run win in the last game of a series.

PITCHER TREND OF THE DAY:

-- When Wei Yin Chen starts the Orioles are 0-21-1 OU since Jun 17, 2012 after throwing more than 100 pitches at home last start.

OU TREND OF THE DAY:

-- The Rangers are 0-11 ou since Jul 11, 2014 after a loss in which they scored in at least four separate innings.

CHOICE TREND:

-- The Padres are 0-12 since Jun 10, 2015 after a loss in which they scored first.

ACTIVE TRENDS:

-- The Mets are 12-0-1 since Jul 13, 2014 as a 140+ favorite after a one run win.

[StarDust Bum]

Angels, Tigers square off

August 26, 2015


LOS ANGELES ANGELS (64-61) at DETROIT TIGERS (59-66)

First pitch: Wednesday, 7:05 p.m. ET
Sportsbook.ag Line: Detroit -125, Los Angeles +115, Total: 8

The Los Angeles Angels and Detroit Tigers, two teams playing well below expectations, go head-to-head in their second of three games in this set on Wednesday night.

The Angels currently reside in third in the AL West, sitting five games behind the Houston Astros and just a half game behind the second-place Rangers. They certainly have the talent to compete on a nightly basis, but have not put all the pieces together and have lost four of the last five games. In that time they ran into the steamroller that is the Toronto Blue Jays who swept them over three games, but the Angels rebounded with an 8-7 victory in the opener of this series, getting 11 hits in the process as the 3-4-5 hitters went 6-for-13 with four RBIs and five runs scored.

OF Mike Trout (.297) continues to be one of the elite players in the game and is in the MVP race once again as he ranks amongst the top-five in the AL in HRs (33), runs (81), walks (65) and OPS (.976).

The Tigers seemed destined to be the team to beat in the AL Central for years, but age and inconsistent play along with the Royals becoming a juggernaut has put them 18 games out of first place. They come into this one riding a five-game losing streak in which they have been outscored 31-17 and saw four of the defeats come at home.

The most recent was on Tuesday as they knocked out 12 hits in the one-run loss while going 4-for-16 with RISP. Although he does not qualify, 1B Miguel Cabrera’s .371 batting average ranks him highest in the category and he has been on an absurd tear during his current 10-game hitting streak, going 22-for-41 (.537) with nine doubles, one homer, nine RBIs and 11 runs scored.

LHP Hector Santiago (7-7, 2.91 ERA) will take the mound for the Angels in this game as he goes against former Cy Young Award winner RHP Justin Verlander (1-6, 3.86 ERA) of the host Detroit group.

It hasn’t been smooth sailing for Los Angeles when traveling as they are 25-34 (.424) when on the road and will face this Tiger team that is a poor 29-34 (.460) at Comerica Park. It hasn’t even been close when these two go up against each other since the start of 2013 as L.A. has laid the lumber to the tune of a 15-3 record while being 5-2 on the road in that time.

In 2015, the Angels have taken all five of the matchups with Detroit, outscoring them 34-17. Trends show that the Tigers have failed to win in eight attempts with a money line of +125 of -125 in games where Verlander starts this year while Los Angeles is a putrid 13-32 (.289) as an underdog of +100 or more on the season.

There are plenty of injuries to report on the Angels’ side of the diamond as OF Matt Joyce (Concussion), 3B David Freese (Finger), OF Collin Cowgill (Wrist) and 2B Taylor Featherston (Back) are all currently on the DL. On the other hand, Detroit has no significant injuries to its offense.

Santiago was a huge acquisition for the Angels as the lefty has been able to improve each season since converting from a reliever and after joining his new team has seen his ERA drop to a career-best mark of 2.91 this year. That mark coincides with his improved control (2.97 BB/9) which was a big struggle for him as a member of the White Sox.

He relies on the strikeout (8.4 K/9) as well since he gets batters to hit it on the ground a meager 30.8% of the time, a stat that has aided in the opposition putting 1.18 balls per nine innings over the outfield fence. He has been lucky this year, as batters are hitting a low .256 BABIP against him while he is leaving 83.2% of runners on base; leading to a FIP (Fielder Independent Pitching) of 4.12. Santiago has struggled to get deep into games of late, going past six innings just once in his last seven outings as it took 95 pitches to get through 3.2 frames in his last start against the Blue Jays.

The lefty has really performed well against this tough Detroit lineup in his career, going 1-3 (3-3 team record) with a 1.73 ERA (1.18 WHIP) and grabbed a victory behind a stellar performance (7.1 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 7 K) back in May. As a group, the players for the Tigers have gone 13-for-80 (.163) with 22 strikeouts against the 27-year-old as even 1B Miguel Cabrera (2-for-11, 3 K) has been shut down. The only homer to come out of this group was from OF Rajai Davis, but that was his sole hit in 10 at-bats in this matchup.

The bullpen for Los Angeles has gone 20-13 with a 3.64 ERA (1.27 WHIP) and is 32-for-46 (70%) in save opportunities. Huston Street (2.66 ERA, 30 saves) has blown four games on the year, giving up a mere 39 hits in 50.2 innings of work.

Verlander was one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball between 2009-2012, going 78-31 during that stretch while winning the 2011 Cy Young and MVP awards. Since then he has had to deal with a wealth of injuries which has resulted in a decrease in his velocity to a career-low average fastball of 93.0 MPH in 2015.

He looks to be adjusting, though, and while his strikeouts (7.3 K/9) are much lower than when in his prime, his control (2.1 BB/9) has been exceptional and he has been able to go at least seven innings in five of his last six starts. Wins have not come easily though, as the Tigers have scored a total of 10 runs in those six games and he is 0-2 in his last three outings despite giving up four runs (1 ER) on 11 hits with 22 strikeouts in 20 innings.

Victories have also not come easily when he is facing the Angels as he is 4-5 (5-8 team record) with a 4.07 ERA (1.32 WHIP) against them in his career. SS Erick Aybar (10-for-29, 2 doubles, 7 RBI) and 1B Albert Pujols (6-for-12, 3 doubles) have had plenty of success when going up against this veteran righty, but not all have done well with OFs Mike Trout and Shane Victorino combining to go 2-for-15 (.133) in the matchup.

The relievers for this club have once again been dismal, collectively going 19-17 with a 4.43 ERA (1.45 WHIP) and have been successful in a meager 29-of-45 (64%) save chances. Bruce Rondon (5.66 ERA, 2 saves) will be given the chance at ninth-inning duties as he’s shown big strikeout ability (13.5 K/9) while suffering from some bad luck (.362 BABIP).

[StarDust Bum]

RECAPPING MONDAY'S ACTION:

MLB: 7 - 7 - 0

WNBA: 0 - 0 - 0

CFL: 0 - 0

NFL: 0 - 0 - 0


WNBA JUNE/ JULY RECORD/ AUGUST :

*****...............................21 - 23 - 2
DOUBLE PLAY....................49 - 40 - 1
TRIPLE PLAY......................25 - 17
SLAM DUNK.......................31 - 23

MLB RECORD FOR JUNE/JULY/AUGUST:

*****.............................114 - 134 - 1 .....................,........- 10.93
double play......................175 - 186 - 2 ..............................- 28.58
triple play........................96 - 88 - 2 .................................. - 13.00
grand slam......................100 - 92 - 4.....................,.,............- 22.43
double grand slam.............15 - 15....................................... - 14.24
underdog of the year.........0 - 1...........................................- 8.00


CFL JUNE/JULY/ AUGUST RECORD:

SINGLE PLAY.................................2 - 3
DOUBLE PLAY................................8 - 14
TRIPLE PLAY..................................11 - 4
BLOW OUT.....................................4 - 3

NFL PRESEASON RECORD:

SINGLE PLAY..................................... 12 - 8
DOUBLE PLAY.................................... 10 - 14
TRIPLE PLAY ..................................... 4 - 6 - 1
BLOW OUT......................................... 1 - 1

[StarDust Bum]

Armadillo: Wednesday's six-pack

Random notes on college football bowl games........

-- Sugar Bowl last three years was won SU by underdogs of 8-15-14 points.

-- UL-Lafayette won New Orleans Bowl last four years; they were underdogs in three of the four games.

-- Favorite won/covered the last four Heart of Dallas Bowls.

-- Same thing for the Belk Bowl in Charlotte; favorites won/covered last four.

-- Underdogs won SU in four of last five Quick Lane Bowls (Detroit).

-- Michigan State won its last four bowls, all by 4 or less points; they were the dog in all four games.

**********

Armadillo: Wednesday's List of 13: Hump Day Happenings.........

13) My high school Chemistry teacher used to use a word: "nonsensical". He used it when he was annoyed or amazed by the stupidity of people, usually one of us back then. These days, he probably uses the word a lot.

Boston Red Sox fired their TV play-by-play guy this week. Don Orsillo has been the TV voice of the Red Sox for 15 years (his first game was Hideo Nomo's no-hitter). He is smart, funny and once had to endure 26 different partners in one season when his usual partner had some personal problems. He works playoff games for TBS, that is how good an announcer he is. Firing him is 100% nonsensical.

12) Red Sox TV ratings are down because the team on the field sucks and people are mainly frontrunners. Orsillo will land on his feet because he is very good at what he does, but office politics are hideous and this is a prime example of that.

11) Jeb Bush's wife is Mexican-American; Mr Bush can speak Spanish, which he did at an event near the Texas/Mexico border earlier this week. Of course, Donald Trump is making fun of him for it. If somehow Trump becomes President, the main question will be whether we get in a war with another country before a Civil War starts here.

10) Sign of the times: apparently Jeb Bush lost 40 pounds recently, in an attempt to look more telegenic for the campaign. It is sad that something like that matters.

9) Pro wrestler Jon Cena is first athlete to grant 500 requests for the Make-a-Wish program; he played football at Springfield College and is very, very generous with his time for charity. Not sure why Jon Stewart hit him with a chair last week, but Cena got his revenge at Summer Slam, so its all good. :-)

8) Mets #1-7 hitters all hit home runs Monday night, the first time that has ever been done in a major league game- they're 5.5 games up on Washington in NL East.

7) Basketball guru Howard Garkinkel has a coaching clinic here in the Albany area on September 19 at Shenendehowa HS. Sean Miller, Jay Wright, Tom Thibodeau, Jim Calhoun are among the speakers. Lot of knowledge in that group.

6) Doing college football prep this month, I laughed looking at a Washington State-Cal boxscore from LY. Cal won 60-59, but Wazzu passed for 734 yards and ran for 78 more, and they still lost!!!! Yikes. Teams meet again in Berkeley October 3.

5) OL Evan Mathis turned down $5.5M from the Eagles and instead signs with Denver for $2.5M (plus another possible $1.5M in incentives). Peyton Manning is an immobile QB who needs a solid OL; he took a $4M pay cut after last season and that money is what Mathis is getting paid with.

4) Steelers signed Michael Vick as their backup QB; not sure what to say about this, other than Big Ben better not get hurt. Vick was stealing money with the Jets the last couple of years, even admitting his prep work wasn't what it should be. Oy.

3) One more Red Sox note: Apparently Hanley Ramirez will be a 1B next season, which shouldn't be too difficult for a former SS, but you watch him play and he just doesn't look like a guy who cares much about defense. He is on the books thru 2018 to the tune of $22.75M a year; they better find somewhere to hide him in the field.

2) Richard Pitino signs a contract extension at Minnesota thru the 2021 season; I'm wondering what the odds are that Pitino will still be there six years from now? If he wins at Minnesota, will he jump for greener (warmer) pastures and if he loses, well all the coaches who lose get fired. It is part of the job.

1) Watching HBO's Hard Knocks (a very well done show), I'm curious why coach Bill O'Brien left Penn State for the insecurity of the NFL. Bigtime college programs are pretty secure jobs, especially at Penn State, where they're rebuilding from the scandal that ended Joe Paterno's career. O'Brien seems like a good guy; was just wondering.

[StarDust Bum]

1:05 PM EDT

915 HOUSTON ASTROS (R) Mchugh, C 7.5o20 7.5o20 / 7.5o15 / 7.5o20 7.5o25 +1.5(-190)
916 NEW YORK YANKEES (R) Pineda, M -145 -125 / -122 / -123 -125 -1.5(+160)

NYY-1B-Mark Teixeira-Doubtful | TV: MLB, ROOT-Southwest, YES, DTV: 213, 631, 674 | PARTLY CLOUDY, WIND OUT TO RIGHT CENTER 8-13. GAME TEMP 79, RH 43% HEAT INDEX 79

3:40 PM EDT

917 OAKLAND ATHLETICS (R) Bassitt, C 7u15 7o21 / 7o15 / 7u15 7 +1.5(-170)
918 SEATTLE MARINERS (R) Hernandez, F -165 -149 / -147 / -148 -147 -1.5(+150)

TV: ROOT-Northwest, DTV: 687 | PARTLY CLOUDY, WIND LEFT TO RIGHT 4-9. GAME TEMP 76, RH 44% HEAT INDEX 77

[StarDust Bum]

MLB Consensus Picks

SIDES (ATS)

3:40 PM Oakland +135 223 28.89% Seattle -146 549 71.11% View View

1:05 PM Houston +113 390 45.99% NY Yankees -122 458 54.01% View View

TOTALS (OVER/UNDER)

3:40 PM Oakland 7 203 46.03% Seattle 7 238 53.97% View View

1:05 PM Houston 7.5 278 60.96% NY Yankees 7.5 178 39.04% View View

[StarDust Bum]

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26

Game Score Status Pick Amount

Houston - 1:05 PM ET Houston +113 500 TRIPLE PLAY

NY Yankees - Under 7.5 500 TRIPLE PLAY


Oakland - 3:40 PM ET Seattle -146 500 DOUBLE PLAY

Seattle - Over 7 500 DOUBLE PLAY

[StarDust Bum]

B]MLB[/B]

Wednesday, August 26


Ellsbury out of Yankees lineup with hip soreness

Center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury was held out of the New York Yankees starting lineup on Wednesday with a sore hip and might not be available to pinch hit.

Ellsbury injured his hip trying to make a diving catch on a fly ball by Houston Astros outfielder Colby Rasmus. Ellsbury did not make the catch and it started a five-run first inning.

After missing the fly ball, manager Joe Girardi said he was not running well over the remainder of a 15-1 loss.

"There was some swelling in it last night," Girardi said before Wednesday's game. "We haven't done any tests. I hope (to have him back Friday) but I can't tell you for sure."

Ellsbury has missed 277 games over the last five seasons, including 43 earlier this season with a sprained right knee.

Ellsbury, in the second-year of a seven-year contract with the Yankees, is batting .278 in 78 games this season.


Mets streaking againts division rivals

The New York Mets are dominating the National League East, having won eight straight contests against division rivals.

The Mets will also try for their eighth straight win over the Philadelphia Phillies when they go for a three-game sweep Wednesday night.

To make matter worse for the Phillies, Mets starter Bartolo Colon is 5-0 in his last five starts against the NL East.

The Mets are currently -151 road favorites over the Phillies, who will counter with right-hander Jerad Eickhoff.


The over is hot when the Padres are dogs

The over is 7-0 in the San Diego Padres last seven games when they are listed as an underdog and that will be the case when they visit the Washington Nationals Wednesday night.

Being a pup hasn't stopped the Padres from scoring runs, plating 5.14 runs per game over that seven game stretch, but they are still giving up plenty, allowing 7.57 at the same time.

The Padres and scheduled starter Tyson Ross (14-11 O/U, 3.32 ERA) are currently +165 underdogs for tonight's matchup with the Nats and Gio Gonzalez (14-8 O/U, 3.98 ERA). The total has opened at 7.0 runs.