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**Udog** · 10-28-2017, 08:33 AM

Armadillo: Saturday's six-pack

— Astros 5, Dodgers 3— Since 1903, Game 3 winner is 72-40 in winning that World Series.

— Air Force covered 6 of its last 7 games as a road underdog.

— Michigan beat Rutgers 78-0 last year; today is the rematch.

— Las Vegas 7, Colorado 0— NHL’s expansion Golden Knights are 8-1.

— Padres signed up former Phillies hitting coach Matt Stairs, a big addition.

— If Joe Maddon thinks his wingman Dave Martinez will be such a great manager, wouldn’t he prefer him getting a managing job in the American League?

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Armadillo: Saturday's List of 13: Random stuff with weekend here…..

13) I realize the NFL is a business, a very big business, but there have to be concerns for the owners other than simply squeezing every last dollar out of consumers.

At some point, the quality of play needs to be addressed, before it has a negative impact on the financial bottom line. My main point is this: most of these Thursday NFL games are terrible.

12) Football wasn’t meant to be played on three days’ rest, it just wasn’t. NFL should sacrifice its Thursday night TV package (except for Week 1 and Thanksgiving) for the sake of the players’ health, for the quality of TV programming they put on television. For their own bottom lines.

Let college teams have the spotlight on Thursday; lot of those kids are the NFL’s future stars anyway. Let the adults play on Sunday/Monday— play Monday night doubleheaders, if that makes your bottom line healthier. But these Thursday games are bad for the NFL.

11) One more thing on quality of the NFL’s product: each team should suit up three QB’s for every game, so coaches aren’t terrified to put their starting QB in harm’s way, with only one backup on the roster.

10) Joe Girardi went 910-710 in ten years as a manager in New York but was told to take a hike this week- he won one World Series, but that was in 2009. What have you done for us lately?

Just for the record, New York’s win over/under this spring was 83.5 wins and they wound up 91-71, which means Girardi’s team won 7.5 more games than expected, came within one game of the World Series, and they still fired him.

I’m very curious who they replace Girardi with.

9) Chicago Cubs fired three of their coaches; they won the World Series LY. Jim Hickey will be their new pitching coach— he was Joe Maddon’s pitching coach in Tampa. Chili Davis is the new batting coach; he is really good at that job- he comes from Boston.

There was behind-the-scenes stuff going on with Cubs pitching coach Chris Bosio; no one is talking much about it, but Maddon made it fairly obvious that there were internal issues.

Cardinals hired Mike Maddux as their new pitching coach, as pitching/batting coaches are becoming gypsies, much like assistant football coaches are.

8) Good job by TNT, putting Pelicans-Kings on TV Thursday, DeMarcus Cousins’ first game back in Sacramento since the Kings traded him. Spirited game between similar teams, which makes for good television.

7) They’re having these college basketball exhibition games, to financially benefit charities and also help teams get ready for the season. I’m not sure how much the scores mean…….

Liberty beat Virginia Commonwealth, which has another new coach this year. It has to be a red flag of some sort that the Rams lost, just not sure how much of one.

6) Underrated college football analyst: ESPN’s Brock Huard, who is smart, has an excellent voice and he was a quarterback, so he has thought the game through. He is much better than most analysts, but hasn’t gotten a lot of prime telecasts, mostly west coast games.

5) Extra-inning home runs hit by guys on the losing team in World Series games:

Dave Henderson, Red Sox, Game 6, 1986
Josh Hamilton, Rangers, Game 6, 2011
Yasiel Puig, Dodgers, Game 2, 2017
Charlie Culbertson, Dodgers, Game 2, 2017

4) Patriots/Browns have both been called for six offensive pass interference penalties this season, most in the NFL.

3) Seton Hall is ranked in the college basketball preseason top 25 for the first time since 2001.

2) Cullen Neal was supposed to go to St Mary’s after high school to play basketball, but his dad Craig Neal got the New Mexico head coaching job after Steve Alford went to UCLA, so Cullen Neal played for his dad in Albuquerque for a couple years- it didn’t go well.

Cullen Neal then transferred to Ole Miss, where he played a year for Andy Kennedy, but now he is a graduate transfer at St Mary’s, where he will finish his playing career, at the place where he was supposed to start his career.

1) Rough year for major league managers in the Northeast; both NYC teams, Boston, Philly, Washington all fired their skippers. Three of those five guys made the playoffs and still got told to take a hike. Wonder if any of those five managers will get hired elsewhere this winter?

**Udog** · 10-28-2017, 08:53 AM

MLB
Dunkel

Saturday, October 28

LA Dodgers @ Houston

Game 907-908
October 28, 2017 @ 8:15 pm

Dunkel Rating:
LA Dodgers
(Wood) 16.817
Houston
(Morton) 18.402
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Houston
by 1 1/2
7
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Houston
-125
8 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
Houston
(-125); Under

MLB
Armadillo's Write-Up

Saturday, October 28

Los Angeles @ Houston
Astros are 7-0 at home in playoffs, outscoring opponents 36-10. Dodgers are 8-3 in the playoffs, 3-2 on the road. Since 1903, the Game 3 winner is 72-40 in that World Series.

Wood is 2-3, 4.28 in his last six starts; over is 5-2 in his last seven outings. Dodgers lost three of his last four road starts. Wood didn’t pitch against Houston this year; he is 0-1, 5.25 in five career playoff games (one start).

Morton pitched five great innings in Game 7 of the last series; he is 4-1, 3.73 in his last six starts. Under is 5-1 in his last six starts. Morton didn’t pitch against the Dodgers this season; he is 1-2, 5.30 in four career playoff starts.

MLB

Saturday, October 28

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Trend Report
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LA DODGERS @ HOUSTON
LA Dodgers is 14-4 SU in its last 18 games
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of LA Dodgers's last 8 games when playing on the road against Houston
Houston is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
Houston is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against LA Dodgers

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**Udog** · 10-28-2017, 09:36 AM

MLB
Long Sheet

Saturday, October 28

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LA DODGERS (112 - 61) at HOUSTON (110 - 66) - 8:05 PM
ALEX WOOD (L) vs. CHARLIE MORTON (R)
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.

Head-to-Head Series History
HOUSTON is 2-1 (+1.0 Units) against LA DODGERS this season
1 of 2 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL this season . (Over=+0.0 Units)

ALEX WOOD vs. HOUSTON since 1997
WOOD is 1-0 when starting against HOUSTON with an ERA of 0.00 and a WHIP of 0.571.
His team's record is 1-0 (+1.0 units) in these starts. The OVER is 0-1. (-1.0 units)

CHARLIE MORTON vs. LA DODGERS since 1997
MORTON is 0-1 when starting against LA DODGERS with an ERA of 6.55 and a WHIP of 1.909.
His team's record is 1-1 (+0.1 units) in these starts. The OVER is 1-1. (+0.0 units)

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**Udog** · 10-28-2017, 12:18 PM

World Series Game 4 betting preview and odds: Dodgers at Astros

Los Angeles Dodgers at Houston Astros (-130, 8)

Astros lead the series 2-1

The Houston Astros are two wins away from winning the first World Series title in franchise history and they look to take another step when they host the Los Angeles Dodgers in Saturday's Game 4. Houston has won the past two games to take a 2-1 lead in the series and emerged victorious in Friday's game 5-3 when it received 3 2/3 innings of hitless relief from Brad Peacock.

Yuli Gurriel's homer to open a four-run Astros' second inning was the lone blast on Friday after the teams combined for a record eight homers in Wednesday's epic Game 2. Houston is 7-0 at home in the postseason and thriving in front of a raucous atmosphere so the pressure is squarely on the Dodgers to win at least one game and get the series back to Los Angeles. "Obviously this crowd is into it, very educated, very enthusiastic," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters after Game 3. "They've got some confidence over there, that team. ... But honestly, I don't think we see it as pressure, just go out and play a good clean game." National League Championship Series co-MVPs Justin Turner (2-for-13, one homer) and Chris Taylor (1-for-9, one homer) are struggling for Los Angeles, while Astros star Jose Altuve (3-for-15, one homer) is also having a quiet series.

TV: 8:20 p.m. ET, FOX

LINE HISTORY: The Astros opened Game 4 as -115 home chalk and money coming in on the home team has pushed that line up as high as -132 where it currently sits. The total hit the betting board at 8 and has yet to move off the opening number.

PITCHING MATCHUP: Dodgers LH Alex Wood (0-1, 5.79 ERA) vs. Charlie Morton (1-1, 6.23)

Wood is making just his second start of the postseason as he gave up three runs (all on solo homers) and four hits while striking out seven over 4 2/3 innings against the Chicago Cubs in the NLCS. The 26-year-old is pitching for just the second time in 31 days and he is aware Roberts has been quick to pull starting pitchers this postseason. "We don't have the longest leash," Wood told reporters at his Friday press conference, "so if anything, it kind of holds us to a higher standard, like you need to go out and shut it down and put up zeroes, and not give up any runs and then you can stay in longer."

Morton hasn't pitched more than five innings in any of his three postseason starts while striking out 14 in 13 innings. The Astros took a flyer on the 33-year-old after he pitched in just four games for Philadelphia last season and the investment paid off as Morton won a career-high 14 games and now gets to make his first World Series start. "It's an honor," Morton said at his Friday press conference. "Most people don't get a chance to play in the postseason, let alone in a Championship Series or the World Series. I'm going to try to enjoy it, but at the same time I've got a job to do."

TRENDS:

* Astros are 4-1 in their last 5 playoff games.

* Under is 7-1 in Woods last 8 starts vs. a team with a winning record.

* Under is 5-1 in Mortons last 6 starts overall.

* Under is 5-1-1 in the last 7 meetings.

* Dodgers are 0-5 in the last 5 meetings in Houston.

CONSENSUS: The public is siding with the home chalk Chiefs at a rate of 55 percent and the Over is picking up 65 percent of the totals wagers. View full consensus data here.

WALK-OFFS:

* Houston RF Josh Reddick is 4-for-11 with a walk and three runs scored in the World Series after going 1-for-25 in the American League Championship Series.

* Los Angeles 1B Cody Bellinger fanned in all four at-bats on Friday and is hitless in 11 at-bats (seven strikeouts) in the series.

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Saturday's MLB Trends and Indexes - 10/28

Saturday's MLB Trends and Indexes - 10/28

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