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**Udog** · 10-14-2016, 07:13 AM

Armadillo: Friday's six-pack

— Dodgers 4, Nationals 3– Kershaw got last two outs to close game out, two days after he threw 110 pitches in Game 4. Thats why you pay the guy $31M a year. Break for Cubs, who won’t see Kershaw until Game 3 now.

— Florida visits LSU November 19 in a makeup game; Bayou Bengals go to Gainesville in both 2017 and 2018.

— In his great career, WR Larry Fitzgerald has caught TD passes from 13 different Cardinal QB’s.

— Since August 2014, half the 30 major league teams have hired a new chief baseball executive. Lot of impatient owners out there.

— Thru five weeks in the NFL, no kickoffs have been run back for a TD; last time that happened was 1979.

— Open Court on NBA TV has some good discussions with both NBA coaches/GMs that were filmed in Las Vegas this summer. Good stuff.

— Big Sky conference has 12 hoop teams; 8 of the 12 teams have either 4 or 5 starters back from LY. Will that make it harder to win on the road?

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Armadillo: Friday's List of 13: Things I’m looking for this weekend

13) Cam Newton should be back at QB for the 1-4 Panthers, who visit the Superdome this week. Saints allowed 34+ points in three of their four games, had their bye last week, while Carolina is traveling on short week after the Monday night loss to Tampa Bay.

12) Tennessee Vols have had a brutal schedule: Florida-Georgia-A&M the last three weeks, now Alabama on the third Saturday in October. Vols have been gritty and resilient- beating Bama is a tall order, even in Neyland Stadium. One thing in Tennessee’s favor; Crimson Tide has only played one close game- if this one is close, the Volunteers are in familiar territory.

11) Who will have more fans in Miami Sunday, the Steelers or Dolphins? Pittsburgh fans are usually everywhere, but Steelers are just 12-21-1 as road favorites the last nine years. Miami scored total of 24 points in losing its last two games. Steelers are 4-0 if they allow 16 or less points.

10) Ole Miss QB Kelly got in a fight at his brother’s high school game during his bye week; I’m sure the Ole Miss coaches were thrilled to hear that. Rebels lost 53-52 in OT to Arkansas LY; this figures to be a high scoring, fun game to watch.

9) Colin Kaepernick starting for the 49ers means that thru six weeks, 8 of 32 (25%) NFL teams have started at least two QB’s this season. Will it helps the 49ers? Kaepernick is more mobile, throws a better deep ball— he is 29-20 as an NFL QB, Gabbert 9-31, but Gabbert was also on a terrible Jaguars team.

8) North Carolina beat Miami 59-21 LY; what is the over/under on the number of times Miami coaches brought that up this week? Problem is, Miami had their rivalry game with Florida State last week and it is tough to get really fired up two weeks in a row.

7) League championship series get underway in baseball, but first, I have a question.

Cubs pinch-hit for Addison Russell in Game 4 against the Giants. When was the last time a guy with 95+ RBI during the regular season got pinch-hit for in a big spot in a playoff game?

6) Northwestern covered its last six visits to Michigan State; now they’re visiting a Spartan squad that lost three games in row for first time in seven years.

5) Eagles-Redskins is an intriguing game. Wentz played well in Eagles’ loss LW, but they did lose, after entering their bye week 3-0. Redskins have won three games in row and pass the Eagles in the standings with a win here.

4) Total in the West Virginia-Texas Tech game is 83; kickoff is noon ET, which is 11am in Lubbock, more stupid scheduling for TV purposes.

3) Oakland is 4-1, with three wins by 3 or less points. Chiefs have been dismal on road so far, but Andy Reid is 11-4 vs spread coming off a bye. Big rivalry game in the Coliseum, with the Raiders fired up for their first playoff spot since 2002.

2) Texas-San Antonio won as a 17-point home underdog LW; now they’re a 3-point road favorite at Rice this week, a historic soft spot for the favorite. Rice is 0-5, allowing 40.2 pts/game, so they’re impossible to back, but this will be an interesting result.

1) St Louis Cardinals drafted Joe Namath in the 1965 NFL Draft; Jets drafted him in the AFL Draft. How would the football world have changed if Namath had played for the Redbirds? Arizona had extra time to prep after playing on Thursday last week; they’re hoping get QB Palmer (concussion) back this week.

**Udog** · 10-14-2016, 07:27 AM

MLB
Dunkel

Friday, October 14

Toronto @ Cleveland

Game 901-902
October 14, 2016 @ 8:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Toronto
(Estrada) 12.856
Cleveland
(Kluber) 16.634
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Cleveland
by 4
8
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Cleveland
-135
7 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
Cleveland
(-135); Over

MLB
Long Sheet

Friday, October 14

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TORONTO (93 - 73) at CLEVELAND (97 - 67) - 8:05 PM
MARCO ESTRADA (R) vs. COREY KLUBER (R)
Top Trends for this game.
TORONTO is 55-47 (-9.1 Units) against the money line in night games this season.
CLEVELAND is 97-67 (+11.7 Units) against the money line in all games this season.
CLEVELAND is 55-28 (+13.9 Units) against the money line in home games this season.
CLEVELAND is 22-5 (+16.3 Units) against the money line when playing on Friday this season.
CLEVELAND is 93-64 (+10.4 Units) against the money line in games played on a grass field this season.
CLEVELAND is 69-39 (+17.0 Units) against the money line in night games this season.
CLEVELAND is 25-11 (+12.7 Units) against the money line after 3 or more consecutive wins this season.
CLEVELAND is 27-11 (+12.4 Units) against the money line in home games when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
TORONTO is 61-34 (+14.9 Units) against the money line when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
ESTRADA is 43-29 (+16.1 Units) against the money line when playing against a team with a winning record since 1997. (Team's Record)
KLUBER is 32-33 (-15.2 Units) against the money line in all games over the last 2 seasons. (Team's Record)
KLUBER is 31-31 (-13.8 Units) against the money line in games played on a grass field over the last 2 seasons. (Team's Record)

Head-to-Head Series History
CLEVELAND is 4-3 (+1.0 Units) against TORONTO this season
4 of 7 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL this season . (Under=+0.8 Units)

MARCO ESTRADA vs. CLEVELAND since 1997
ESTRADA is 0-0 when starting against CLEVELAND with an ERA of 3.75 and a WHIP of 0.917.
His team's record is 2-0 (+2.0 units) in these starts. The OVER is 1-1. (-0.1 units)

COREY KLUBER vs. TORONTO since 1997
KLUBER is 1-3 when starting against TORONTO with an ERA of 5.34 and a WHIP of 1.674.
His team's record is 2-3 (-2.1 units) in these starts. The UNDER is 2-3. (-1.1 units)

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MLB
Short Sheet

Friday, October 14

Toronto at Cleveland, 8:05 PM ET
Estrada: TORONTO is 13-23 SU in road games against AL Central opponents
Kluber: CLEVELAND is 26-10 SU as a home favorite of -125 to -175

MLB
Armadillo's Write-Up

Friday, October 14

Blue Jays @ Indians
Estrada is 2-0, 0.99 in his last four starts (under 3-1); Toronto is 9-3 in his last 12 road starts. Estrada is 3-1, 2.67 in eight postseason games (4 starts); he allowed three runs in five IP in his only start against Cleveland this year. He is 0-1, 6.10 in two starts vs Toronto this season.

Kluber is 4-0, 2.59 in his last five starts (under 4-2 in last six); Indians are 11-1 in his last dozen home starts. Kluber threw seven shutout innings in his first postseason start, LW against the Red Sox.

Toronto won its last six games; they’re 3-4 against the Indians this year. Gibbons is 9-6 as a postseason manager, making it this year and last, his 8th/9th years as a manager. Jays lost in this round LY, their first playoff spot since their last world title, in 1993.

Cleveland also won its last six games overall; they’re in playoffs for 3rd time in last 15 years. Tribe was last in World Series in ’97; their last world title was in 1948. Francona won couple of World Series in Boston; he is 31-18 as a postseason manager.

MLB

Friday, October 14

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Trend Report
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8:08 PM
TORONTO vs. CLEVELAND
Toronto is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games when playing on the road against Cleveland
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Toronto's last 10 games when playing Cleveland
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Cleveland's last 10 games when playing Toronto
Cleveland is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games

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**Udog** · 10-14-2016, 09:20 AM

MLB

Friday, October 14

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ALCS Game 1 Betting Preview: Blue Jays at Indians
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The Blue Jays haven't been to the World Series since winning the second of back-to-back crowns in 1993 while Cleveland's last visit was a losing effort in 1997.

Toronto Blue Jays at Cleveland Indians (-135, 7.5)

Series tied 0-0

Neither the Toronto Blue Jays nor Cleveland Indians have been to the World Series this century and the two squads begin pursuit of ending that drought when the American League Championship Series opens in Cleveland on Friday. The Blue Jays haven't been to the World Series since winning the second of back-to-back crowns in 1993 while Cleveland's last visit was a losing effort in 1997.

Toronto rolled to a sweep of Texas in the AL Division Series while Cleveland was similarly strong by winning three straight games against Boston. While it was clear most of the second half of the season that the Indians were going to be involved in the postseason, the Blue Jays had to overcome a late-season funk and then had to defeat Baltimore in the wild-card game before shredding the Rangers. "We just kept plugging along. No big win streaks but no major dips either in the other direction," Toronto manager John Gibbons said at Thursday's press conference. "In September our bats went silent is basically what happened. We have that kind of team, we have a free-swinging team that hits for a lot of power, so that's not abnormal. But they hung in there, we won some close games, and the pitching was really good." The Indians' starting rotation has been dented by injuries to Carlos Carrasco (fractured pitching hand) and Danny Salazar (elbow) so a strong bullpen led by closer Cody Allen and set-up men Andrew Miller and Bryan Shaw will be heavily relied upon in this series.

TV: 8:08 p.m. ET, TBS

WEATHER REPORT: Clear, cool conditions (low 50's) are expected at Progressive Field in Cleveland for Friday night. There is a 2 percent change of rain with humidity levels hovering at around 70 percent.

PITCHING MATCHUP: Blue Jays RH Marco Estrada (1-0, 1.08 ERA) vs. Indians RH Corey Kluber (1-0, 0.00)

Estrada was superb in Game 1 of the ALDS against Texas when he gave up one run and four hits in 8 1/3 innings. The 33-year-old, who has a 3.75 ERA in two career no-decisions against Cleveland, was a playoff standout last season when he went 2-1 with a 2.33 ERA in three outings. "Obviously it's the playoffs and I understand it's a big deal, but I treat every game just like the one before," Estrada said at Thursday's press conference. "I don't put extra pressure on myself. And it's something I've been saying since last year, why think about it any other way than just another normal start?"

The 30-year-old Kluber displayed that a late-September quadriceps injury was a non-issue by tossing seven innings of three-hit shutout ball against Boston in Game 2 of the ALDS. "I didn't feel like it was a problem, I felt like I was in the good spot," Kluber said at Thursday's press conference. "Maybe it was a blessing in disguise, having a chance for the rest of my body to recover and stuff." Kluber, who is 1-3 with a 5.34 ERA in five career starts against Blue Jays, went 18-9 in regular season to match his career-best win total from 2014 when he won the AL Cy Young Award.

TRENDS:

* Blue Jays are 6-0 in their last 6 overall.
* Indians are 6-0 in their last 6 overall.
* Indians are 9-1 in Kluber's last 10 starts following a Quality Start in his last appearance.
* Under is 12-3-1 in Blue Jays' last 16 games vs. a right-handed starter.
* Over is 8-2 in Indians' last 10 games vs. a starter with a WHIP less than 1.15.
* Under is 7-3 in the last 10 meetings.

CONSENSUS: The public is leaning heavily toward Corey Kluber and the home favorite Cleveland Indians at 56 percent. In totals action, Over 7.5 is seeing 66 percent of the wagers.

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**Udog** · 10-14-2016, 09:28 AM

MLB

Friday, October 14

ALCS begins tonight in Cleveland between the Blue Jays and Indians. Here are the series betting options available:

NLCS begins Saturday in Chicago between the Dodgers and Cubs.
Here are the series betting options available:

Announcement

Friday's MLB Trends and Indexes - 10/14

Friday's MLB Trends and Indexes - 10/14

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