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**Udog** · 11-01-2017, 08:28 AM

Armadillo: Wednesday's six-pack

NFL trends with Week 9 approaching…….

— Carolina covered twice in its last ten home games.

— Buffalo is 5-1-1 vs spread in its last seven games.

— Colts are 3-7-1 in last 11 games as a divisional road underdog.

— Bengals covered once in last six tries as a road underdog.

— Arizona is 4-14 vs spread in its last 18 games.

— Denver is 9-17 as a non-divisional road underdog.

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Armadillo: Wednesday's List of 13: Mid-week musings…….

13) First of all, our thoughts/prayers to the people who lost friends/family in New York City Tuesday afternoon, in another act of senseless violence.

Not sure what to say really, other than appreciate every day and hug the people you love and tell them you love them.

12) I’m not usually fond of beating a dead horse, but five minutes before the trade deadline Tuesday, Bengals/Browns agreed on a trade, with Cleveland sending 2nd/3rd round draft picks to Cincinnati for Cincy’s backup QB, AJ McCarron. Cleveland desperately needs a better QB

Cincinnati sent approval of the trade into the NFL office, but for whatever reason, the Browns sent their approval in late, and alas, the NFL wouldn’t approve the trade. There were murmurs on Twitter that the geniuses in Cleveland’s front office were celebrating the trade and simply neglected to do their job and send their approval into the NFL before 4pm, as the league’s rules require them to. Oy.

11) Like I said the other day, they should just fire all of them, the whole Browns’ front office. Their coaching staff and players deserve some help, don’t you think?

10) Miami Dolphins are 4-3 and are a playoff contender- they’re tied with Jacksonville for the second AFC Wild Card right now, but they traded their best RB Jay Ajayi to the Eagles Tuesday for a 4th-round draft pick.

9) Carolina Panthers sent WR Kelvin Benjamin to the Bills for 3rd and 7th-round picks.

8) Georgia-Alabama-Notre Dame-Clemson are the top four college football teams right now, as the countdown to the end of the regular season begins. Oklahoma/Ohio State are #5 and #6.

7) Denver Broncos turned the ball over 11 times in their last three games; you cannot win that way. Turnovers are a variable that makes picking NFL games so tough; Buffalo isn’t that good a team, but they’re +14 in turnovers, so they’re 5-2. Denver is -9 in its last three games, so they lost all three games.

Sometimes a QB is called “a game manager” and it sounds like an insult, but what it really means is that he doesn’t screw the game up by turning the ball over, and that is important.

6) The average lifespan of a $10 bill? 4.5 years, according to the TV show Pawn Stars.

5) It is interesting to watch TV and listen to political historians talk about current events and what will happen going forward, as far as investigations, witnesses flipping and then maybe charges being brought upon other people targeted by the prosecution.

If you watch Billions on Showtime, lot of the stuff that happened this week sounds familiar.

Hollywood scriptwriters must be smiling, as their future scripts get written for them.

4) If you’re ever having trouble sleeping late at night, NBA TV usually replays one of the better games of the night at 3am, a good way to kill some time while you’re heating up some milk or counting sheep until you can go back to sleep.

3) Phoenix Suns lost their first three games in embarrassing fashion, so they fired their coach and told Eric Bledsoe to go away until they could trade him- Bledsoe is/was one of their best players. A week later, and Bledsoe still hasn’t been traded- Suns are 3-1 since they changed coaches, but Bledsoe is still sitting there, collecting his $14,500,000 salary while working out, waiting to find out who his next employer will be.

2) Dodgers 3, Astros 1– I read this week where 15,000 Dodger season tickets are held by ticket brokers; this Game 7 means a possible total of $20M in income from selling those 15,000 tickets for tonight’s Game 7. Big business.

Game 7 will last a long time if it close, since managers will be panic mongers and there will be tons of pitching changes. Unusual World Series, entertaining, good for the sport.

1) Antonio Cromartie played cornerback for 11 years in the NFL, for four teams, mostly the Jets and Chargers. He has six children with his wife; he has also fathered eight other children, by seven different women. He has fathered three children since having a vasectomy and re-defines the term “productive player”.

So of course, in this day and age, Cromartie and family will soon star in a reality TV show that begins on the USA Network November 9. Back when I was a kid, the Brady Bunch was a big TV show, husband/wife remarrying— she had three daughters, he had three sons. This is the 2017 version of that. Wonder who will reprise Ann B Davis’ role as the maid.

Cromartie pays $330,000 a year in child support, so maybe he needs the money. I guess it’ll be interesting to see how many of the seven other women get included in the show.

**Udog** · 11-01-2017, 09:59 AM

MLB
Dunkel

Wednesday,November 1

Houston @ LA Dodgers

Game 913-914
November 1, 2017 @ 8:15 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Houston
(McCllers) 16.739
LA Dodgers
(Darvish) 18.479
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
LA Dodgers
by 1 1/2
11
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
LA Dodgers
-150
7 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
LA Dodgers
(-150); Over

MLB
Long Sheet

Wednesday,November 1

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HOUSTON (111 - 68) at LA DODGERS (114 - 62) - 8:15 PM
LANCE MCCULLERS JR. (R) vs. YU DARVISH (R)
Top Trends for this game.
MCCULLERS JR. is 11-19 (-11.5 Units) against the money line in road games over the last 2 seasons. (Team's Record)
LA DODGERS are 79-35 (+25.8 Units) against the money line after a win this season.
HOUSTON is 111-68 (+14.8 Units) against the money line in all games this season.
HOUSTON is 55-34 (+12.0 Units) against the money line in road games this season.
HOUSTON is 45-21 (+20.2 Units) against the money line in an inter-league game over the last 3 seasons.
HOUSTON is 39-24 (+9.2 Units) against the money line in road games in night games this season.
HOUSTON is 85-40 (+27.2 Units) against the money line against right-handed starters this season.
HOUSTON is 44-22 (+11.6 Units) against the money line after a loss this season.
HOUSTON is 42-28 (+9.1 Units) against the money line when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
LA DODGERS are 156-180 (-64.1 Units) against the money line when playing on Wednesday since 1997.
LA DODGERS are 107-125 (-34.7 Units) against the money line in an inter-league game since 1997.
LA DODGERS are 150-108 (-12.6 Units) against the money line in night games over the last 2 seasons.
DARVISH is 16-18 (-11.5 Units) against the money line in all games this season. (Team's Record)
DARVISH is 6-10 (-10.7 Units) against the money line in home games this season. (Team's Record)

Head-to-Head Series History
HOUSTON is 3-3 (+0.1 Units) against LA DODGERS this season
2 of 4 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL this season . (Over=-0.1 Units, Under=-0.4 Units)

LANCE MCCULLERS JR. vs. LA DODGERS since 1997
MCCULLERS JR. is 1-0 when starting against LA DODGERS with an ERA of 3.65 and a WHIP of 1.298.
His team's record is 2-0 (+2.4 units) in these starts. The OVER is 0-1. (-1.0 units)

YU DARVISH vs. HOUSTON since 1997
DARVISH is 5-6 when starting against HOUSTON with an ERA of 3.77 and a WHIP of 1.125.
His team's record is 8-7 (-4.3 units) in these starts. The UNDER is 7-5. (+1.1 units)

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MLB
Armadillo's Write-Up

Wednesday,November 1

Houston @ Los Angeles
Astros are 2-6 on road in playoffs, outscored by opponents 45-22. Under is 8-5-1 in their last 14 games. Dodgers are 10-4 in the playoffs, 6-2 at home. Since 1903, the Game 5 winner when series was tied 2-2 is 28-14 in that World Series.

McCullers is 1-0, 3.27 in two playoff starts this fall; he closed out the ALCS with a 4-inning relief stint. Astros are 1-5 in his last six road starts. McCullers is 1-0, 5.06 in one start against LA this season— he is 1-0, 2.92 in five career playoff games (3 starts).

Darvish is 2-1, 4.15 in three playoff starts this fall; this will be only his second home start since Sept 8. He is 1-2, 4.84 in four home starts for the Dodgers, and is 2-3, 4.74 in five career playoff starts. Houston KO’d him in the second inning in Game 3 Friday night.

MLB

Wednesday,November 1

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Trend Report
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HOUSTON @ LA DODGERS
Houston is 6-2 SU in its last 8 games when playing LA Dodgers
Houston is 16-8 SU in its last 24 games
LA Dodgers is 7-2 SU in its last 9 games when playing at home against Houston
LA Dodgers is 16-5 SU in its last 21 games

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**Udog** · 11-01-2017, 11:11 AM

World Series Game 7 betting preview and odds: Astros at Dodgers

Yu Darvish was dreadful when matched against Lance McCullers in Game 3 as he gave up four runs and six hits - including a homer by Yuli Gurriel - while lasting just 1 2/3 innings.

Houston Astros at Los Angeles Dodgers (-160, 7.5)

Series tied 3-3

Either the Los Angeles Dodgers will end a 29-year title drought or the Houston Astros will celebrate their first World Series championship when the teams compete in Game 7 at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday. The wild series that has featured a record 24 homers was extended to a seventh game Tuesday as the Dodgers posted a 3-1 victory.

Los Angeles solved Astros ace Justin Verlander in Game 6 and looks to ride the momentum when Yu Darvish takes the mound against Houston's Lance McCullers Jr. "You've got the two best teams in baseball going head-to-head," Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts told reporters after Game 6. "Like we've talked about from the beginning, these two teams mirror one another. But we worked all year long to have home-field advantage, and here we are." The Astros hope a second chance will deliver the outcome they crave after seeing their offense get shut down on Tuesday. "Now it feels like we need to play seven," Houston manager A.J. Hinch told reporters after the setback. "I'm glad the series isn't over in their favor. But this series has been back and forth - and two incredible teams trying to get to the finish line."

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

LINE HISTORY: The moneyline for Game 7 opened at -130 following Tuesday night's game, but by Wednesday morning the home team Dodgers had been bet all of the way up to -160. The total hit betting boards at 7.5 and has yet to move.

WEATHER REPORT:

Cloudy skies and temperatures in the low/mid 60's for Game 7.

PITCHING MATCHUP: Astros RH Lance McCullers Jr. (1-0, 2.95 ERA) vs. Dodgers RH Yu Darvish (2-1, 4.15)

McCullers was on hold for possible relief duty in Game 6, so he did his day-before throwing in right field following the conclusion of Tuesday's contest. The 24-year-old defeated the Dodgers in Game 3, when he gave up three runs and four hits with four walks over 5 1/3 innings. "I just have to stick with my game plan and execute a little bit better than last time in certain spots and just be a competitor out there," McCullers told reporters after Game 6.

Darvish was dreadful when matched against McCullers in Game 3 as he gave up four runs and six hits - including a homer by Yuli Gurriel - while lasting just 1 2/3 innings. "I can't pay that much attention to what happened last time," the Japanese Darvish said through his interpreter at a press conference. "Just focus on (Wednesday's) outing and have a good game." Darvish has served up seven homers in 24 2/3 career postseason innings, which includes his tenure with Texas.

UMPIRE REPORT: Phil Cuzzi

Phil Cuzzi gets the coveted home plate assignment for Game 7 of the World Series tonight.

Cuzzi is an umpire with a very pitcher-friendly strike zone. His strike percentage of 64.7 this season is one of the highest in baseball and Under is 18-14 in his 32 games calling balls and strike this season.

Cuzzi's results also favor the home team at 21-11 in 2017. An interesting note is that Cuzzi has two previous home plate assignments during the 2017 postseason - both at Dodger Stadium and both games that were won by the home team. In fact, dating back to 2014 the Dodgers have won six games in a row in which Phil Cuzzi has been behind the plate.

TRENDS:

* Astros are 1-5 in their last 6 road games.
* Astros are 2-8 in McCullers Jr.'s last 10 starts.
* Dodgers are 6-1 in their last 7 playoff home games.
* Astros are 2-8 in the last 10 meetings in Los Angeles.

CONSENSUS: The public is siding with the home team Dodgers in Game 7, with 60 percent of wagers on Los Angeles. Bettors also like the Over here with 69 percent of the totals wagers selecting above the posted number.

WALK OFF NOTES:

* This will be the first Game 7 between two 100-win clubs since the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Philadelphia Athletics in 1931.

* Houston RF George Springer (9-for-24, five walks) hit his fourth homer of the series on Tuesday and is one shy of the World Series record shared by Reggie Jackson (1977) and Chase Utley (2009).

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Wednesday's MLB Trends and Indexes - 11/1

Wednesday's MLB Trends and Indexes - 11/1

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