Wednesday’s 6-pack
College football over/under win totals:
— Alabama 11.5
— Clemson 11.5
— Cincinnati 10
— Auburn 7
— Arkansas 5.5
— Baylor 5.5
Quote of the Day
“The time when there is no one there to feel sorry for you or to cheer for you is when a player is made.”
Tim Duncan
Wednesday’s quiz
What year was the first night World Series game?
(Hint: the Orioles played in that game)
Tuesday’s quiz
Minnesota is known as “The Land of 10,000 Lakes”.
Monday’s quiz
Actor Tom Selleck played one year of D-I college basketball, at USC.
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Wednesday’s Den: Mid-week musings……..
13) Umpire Joe West worked in his 5,376th major league game last night, breaking the all-time record. He first umpired in the big leagues at age 24, which is pretty amazing.
12) Speaking of umpires, saw something I don’t think I ever saw before. Sunday night in St Louis, Adam Wainwright is pitching to Kris Bryant in the 4th inning— first two pitches of the at-bat are both marginal, are both called strikes.
Cubs manager David Ross comes out of the dugout and gets in the face of the home plate ump, who throws him out of the game- his guy didn’t strike out, he just took two pitches, and the manager gets tossed. Game was scoreless at the time.
Maybe Ross bet the over, I don’t know, or maybe the ump had the under; Wainwright wound up having 31 of his pitches called strikes, which is a really, really high number. Cubs starter Davies only had 12 strikes called, but he is more of a pitch-to-contact guy.
Anyway, it struck me as odd. Erich Bacchus was the ump, a new umpire.
11) Then there is Houston P Cristian Javier, who threw 94 pitches in his start at Texas Sunday; only 8 of those 94 pitches were put into play. 50 strikes, 44 balls; six walks, five strikeouts- he gave up only one hit, but lasted only 4.2 innings in the Astros’ 3-2 loss.
These days, one of the starting pitcher’s jobs is to get deeper into games, to take the strain off of the bullpen, seeing how the starters are supposed to be the team’s best pitchers. Finishing six innings consistently helps a team that day, and for the next couple days.
10) Genius alert: Indians P Zach Plesac suffered a non-displaced fracture of his right (throwing) thumb when he was really mad after a bad start, and was tearing his jersey off in anger— his right hand smacked against a chair, and he broke his thumb. Awesome.
9) Toronto shortstop Bo Bichette is hitting 2-31 against Tampa Bay this year, .325 against everyone else, which adds up to .270 overall.
8) Tampa Bay has used 49 different lineups in its first 50 games; if they ever decide to do another Moneyball movie, they should do it on the Rays, who do some very unusual things.
7) Colorado Rockies are now 3-18 on the road after splitting a pair at CitiField this week; they were the first team to start a season 2-17 on the road since the ’06 Kansas City Royals.
6) Houston Astros are 3-12 on the road when they score less than 7 runs; they’re 8-0 on the road if they score 7+ runs.
5) Baseball injury stuff:
— Bruce Harper (forearm) went on the IL
— Corey Kluber (elbow) left his start Tuesday after 3 innings.
— Zach Plesac (thumb) went on the IL
— Noah Syndergaard left his rehab start after only one inning, which obviously is bad news.
4) Cowboys’ LB Jaylon Smith wants to switch from #54 to #9; when an NFL player wants to switch numbers, the rules say he has to buy out the current inventory of jerseys/T-shirts of his old number- that will cost Smith around half a million bucks.
He must really like number 9.
3) Wayne Gretzky is going to be an NHL analyst on TNT next fall, when that network begins its coverage of the NHL. You never know if a guy is going to be good or not on the air; Gretzky is probably the greatest player ever, but will he be critical? Funny? Will he tell great stories from his career, without harping on himself?
I would bet on him to be good, but time will tell.
2) Back in my high school days, I took a course on speed reading, it was an actual course, taught by Mr O’Brien, who looked a little like Burl Ives, the singer.
Anyway, all I remember about the course was that they told you when you read a book, to read the first and last paragraph of each chapter, then the first sentence of every other paragraph.
They said a well written book would contain the vast majority of its information in those areas, and you could save a lot of time by skipping the rest. Wonder if they still teach that stuff?
Also, I am told they don’t teach cursive writing in schools anymore; how do people learn how to sign their names?
1) If the playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Mets-Cardinals-Padres. Wild Card: Giants @ Dodgers
AL: Rays-White Sox-A’s. Wild Card: New York @ Boston
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531BOSTON -532 BROOKLYN
BROOKLYN is 11-2 ATS (8.8 Units) on Tuesday nights in the current season.
533LA LAKERS -534 PHOENIX
LA LAKERS are 46-77 ATS (-38.7 Units) off a road loss against a division rival since 1996.
535DALLAS -536 LA CLIPPERS
LA CLIPPERS are 5-13 ATS (-9.3 Units) versus poor pressure defensive teams - forcing <=14 turnovers/game - 2nd half of the season in the current season.
NBA
Dunkel
Tuesday, May 25
NBA
Armadillo's Write-Up
Tuesday, May 25
Game 2’s, best-of-7:
Boston @ Brooklyn
Celtics
— Boston lost six of its last eight games.
— Tatum was only 6-20 from floor in Game 1.
— Celtics are 9-5 ATS in their last 14 road games.
— Under is 5-0 in their last five games
Nets (lead 1-0)
— Brooklyn won/covered its last six games.
— Nets are 7-1 ATS in last eight home games.
— Under is 7-3 in last ten Brooklyn games.
— Nets outscored Boston 57-40 in 2nd half of Game 1.
— Nets won six of last seven series games.
— Celtics are 0-6 ATS in last six visits to Brooklyn.
— Last four series games stayed under the total.
LA Lakers @ Phoenix
Lakers
— Lakers won six of their last seven games SU
— Lakers are 3-6 ATS in their last nine road games.
— Under is 8-4-1 in their 13 games.
— Davis shot 5-16 from floor, was minus -18 in Game 1.
Suns (lead 1-0)
— Phoenix won its last four games.
— Suns are 4-1 ATS in their last five home games.
— You’re reading ***************.com
— Over is 21-7 in their last 28 games.
— Suns are in playoffs for first time in a decade.
— Ayton shot 10-11 from floor, had 16 rebounds in Game 1.
— Lakers won seven of last 11 series games.
— LA is 2-3 ATS in last five visits to Phoenix.
— Under is 7-3 in last ten series games.
Dallas @ LA Clippers
Mavericks (lead 1-0)
— Mavericks won 10 of their last 13 games.
— Mavericks are 5-2 ATS in last seven road games.
— Over is 5-1 in last six Dallas games.
— Doncic scored 31 points, had triple/double in Game 1.
Clippers
— Clippers lost nine of their last 12 games.
— You’re reading ***************.com
— Clippers are 1-4 ATS in last five home games.
— Under is 13-3-1 in last 17 Clipper games.
— Clipper starters were a combined minus-70 in Game 1.
— Teams split last eight series games.
— Dallas is 2-2 ATS in last four road series games.
— Last four series games stayed under the total.
NBA
Tuesday, May 25
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Trend Report
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Boston @ Brooklyn
Boston
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Boston's last 5 games
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Boston's last 5 games on the road
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing at home against Boston
Brooklyn is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Boston
LA Lakers @ Phoenix
LA Lakers
LA Lakers is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games
The total has gone OVER in 10 of LA Lakers's last 14 games when playing on the road against Phoenix
Phoenix
Phoenix is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 9 of Phoenix's last 11 games
Dallas @ LA Clippers
Dallas
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Dallas's last 5 games when playing LA Clippers
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Dallas's last 7 games on the road
LA Clippers
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of LA Clippers's last 5 games when playing Dallas
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of LA Clippers's last 7 games at home
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Leave a comment:
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Tuesday’s 6-pack
NFL over/under win totals:
— LA Rams 10, -140
— Dolphins 9, -130
— Vikings 8.5, -160
— Patriots 9.5, +100
— Saints 9.5, -105
— Giants 7.5, -105
Quote of the Day
“I don’t know if it has ever been harder to manage a roster, manage player development. You’re talking about things that are outside of our control as far as transfer portal and COVID. Nobody has ever had to deal with the social media phenomena with recruiting the way it is. But you know what? That’s what they pay us for. That’s the job. It’s still the greatest job on Earth.”
Missouri football coach Eli Drinkwitz
Tuesday’s quiz
Which state is known as “The Land of 10,000 Lakes”?
Monday’s quizActor Tom Selleck played one year of D-I college basketball, at USC.
Sunday’s quiz
Kevin Bacon played the losing attorney in A Few Good Men.
************************************************** **
Tuesday’s Den: Trends for National League teams
Diamondbacks:
— Lost their last 13 road games.
— 3-8 at home, if they score less than 7 runs.
— Lost nine of ten one-run games.
Braves:
— 20-7 if they score 5+ runs, 3-17 if they do not.
— Lost last four home series openers.
— Lost five of six extra-inning games.
Cubs:
— Won 8 of their last ten home games.
— 11-3 vs lefty starters, 13-19 vs righties.
— Under is 6-2 in their last eight road games.
Reds:
— Lost six of their last seven home games.
— 11-3 in games where winning run scores from 7th inning on.
— Over is 8-2-1 in their last 11 road games.
Rockies:
— Lost 17 of their first 20 road games.
— Won six of last eight home games.
— 8-5 vs lefty starters, 11-24 vs righties.
Dodgers:
— 16-5 so far against their NL West rivals.
— Won nine of last ten home games.
— 5-2 in home series openers, 2-5 in road series openers.
Marlins:
— Won eight of their last 11 home games.
— 2-6 in road series openers.
— 4-9 in one-run games.
Brewers:
— Lost 10 of last 15 home games.
— 3-6 vs lefty starters, 21-17 vs righties.
— 8-5 in one-run games, 4-2 in extra innings.
Mets
— Currently have 16 players on injured list.
— 11-5 at home, 10-15 on the road.
— 10-5 in games where winning run scores from 7th inning on.
Phillies:
— 15-10 at home, 8-15 on road.
— Under is 6-2 in their last eight road games.
— Scored in 1st inning in six of last ten road games.
Pirates:
— Lost 8 of their last ten road games.
— Lost five of six home series openers.
— 7-16 vs division rivals, 11-12 vs everyone else.
Cardinals:
— Won six of last eight home games.
— 10-6 in series openers.
— 13-7 vs NL Central rivals, 13-14 vs everyone else.
Padres:
— Won their last ten home games.
— 6-0 vs American League teams.
— Over is 12-4 in their last sixteen games.
Giants:
— 13-5 in day games, 1-4 in extra inning games.
— 10-5 in series openers.
— Scored in first inning in six of last 11 road games.
Nationals:
— 12-10 at home, 8-13 on the road.
— 6-4 in games where winning run scores from 7th inning on.
— Under is 8-2 in their last ten home games.Leave a comment:
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521MIAMI -522 MILWAUKEE
MIAMI is 69-47 ATS (17.3 Units) versus poor pressure defensive teams - forcing <=14 turnovers/game in the last 3 seasons.
523PORTLAND -524 DENVER
PORTLAND is 8-1 ATS (6.9 Units) in road games after having won 6 or 7 of their last 8 games in the current season.
NBA
Dunkel
Monday, May 24
NBA
Armadillo's Write-Up
Monday, May 24
Game 2’s, best-of-7:
Miami @ Milwaukee
Heat
— Miami covered 13 of its last 17 games.
— Heat is 7-2 ATS in last nine road games.
— Under is 3-1 in their last four games.
— Butler was 4-22 from floor in Game 1.
— Miami was 20-50 on arc, 16-49 inside arc.
Bucks (lead 1-0)
— Milwaukee is 9-2 its last 11 games SU.
— Bucks are 1-4 ATS in last five home games.
— You’re reading ***************.com
— Over is 5-3 in Milwaukee’s last eight games.
— Bucks were +13 on boards in Game 1.
— Milwaukee is 4-3 in last seven series games.
— Heat is 4-2 ATS in last six visits to Milwaukee.
— Four of last five series games stayed under.
Portland @ Denver
Trailblazers (lead 1-0)
— Portland won 11 of its last 13 games.
— You’re reading ***************.com
— Blazers are 8-1 ATS in last nine road games.
— Over is 3-2-1 in Portland’s last six road games.
— Blazers outscored Denver 38-25 in 3rd quarter of Game 1.
— Portland played only eight guys Saturday.
Nuggets
— Denver won 21 of its last 29 games.
— Nuggets are 4-7 ATS in last 11 home games.
— Over is 5-2 in Denver’s last seven games.
— Portland outscored Denver 18-4 on foul line Saturday.
— Lot of pressure on favored Denver in this game.
— Denver won five of last eight series games.
— Blazers are 4-3 ATS in last seven visits to Denver.
— Five of last nine series games stayed under.
NBA
Monday, May 24
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Trend Report
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Miami @ Milwaukee
Miami
Miami is 6-1 ATS in its last 7 games
Miami is 6-1 ATS in its last 7 games on the road
Milwaukee
Milwaukee is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
Milwaukee is 9-2 SU in its last 11 games
Portland @ Denver
Portland
Portland is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Denver
Portland is 8-1 ATS in its last 9 games on the road
Denver
Denver is 13-3 SU in its last 16 games at home
Denver is 10-4 SU in its last 14 games when playing at home against Portland
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Leave a comment:
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Monday’s 6-pack
Odds on random college football games this fall:
Sept 4— Boise State @ UCF (-10)
Sept 11— Utah (-7) @ BYU
Sept 18— Purdue @ Notre Dame (-10)
Sept 25— Toledo @ Ball State (-1)
Oct 2— Ole Miss @ Alabama (-22)
Oct 9— Utah @ USC (-4)
Quote of the Day
“We held their team to 99 points. We played good defensively and we gave them a ton of points as well. A couple in transition, they had 16 transition points in the first half. Second-chance points. We just have to be better on that end, but there’s no way we’re winning a game, let alone a series, with me playing the way I played. So this one is on me. I take full responsibility for sure. We’ll be better in Game 2.”
Lakers’ Anthony Davis
Monday’s quiz
Actor Tom Selleck played one year of D-I college basketball; where did he play?
Sunday’s quiz
Kevin Bacon played the losing attorney in A Few Good Men.
Saturday’s quiz
Dick Vitale was 34-60 as coach of the Detroit Pistons, from 1978-80.
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Monday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports Sunday
13) Six American League games Sunday; the winning run in all six games scored from the 7th inning on. Interesting day of baseball, for sure.
12) Rangers 3, Astros 2 (10)— Adolis Garcia should’ve been walked with a man on third and one out, but they pitched to him and Garcia singled up the middle to end the game. Astros got only three hits in seven innings against Mike Foltynewicz.
11) Royals 3, Tigers 2— Carlos Santana hit a walkoff homer for Kansas City.
10) Saturday night Scott Kazmir threw four innings for the Giants, his first MLB appearance since September, 23, 2016. Lot of work had to go into those five years, getting back to being MLB-ready.
Tough weekend for the Giants, though, who fell from first place to third place.
9) There is a Toronto Raptors’ super fan who apparently got inducted into the basketball Hall of Fame recently; he was also a big time car salesman who sold 129 cars in his first 90 days on the job, which is still a record in Canada. He didn’t miss a Raptors’ home game for 25 years.
8) My Mt Rushmore of Oakland A’s managers:
— Dick Williams— Only three years, but two World Series titles.
— Bob Melvin— Current manager keeps the A’s in contention with a steady hand.
— Tony LaRussa— Won three straight AL titles, and the ’89 World Series
— Art Howe— Got a raw deal in the movie Moneyball; he did a great job in Oakland, winning 102-103 games his last two seasons there.
7) The website for our fantasy baseball league is 2-3 seconds ahead of the picture on my TV; DirecTV must be slow. I see results go up on the website before the pitcher even starts to throw the pitch, its a little unusual.
6) Twins 8, Indians 5— Minnesota wins its first extra inning game in nine tries.
5) 76ers 125, Wizards 118:
— Tobias Harris scored 37 points, 28 in first half.
— Ben Simmons had 15 rebounds, 15 assists, but was 0-6 on foul line.
— 0-6 on foul line was bad news if you took the Sixers (-8)
4) Suns 99, Lakers 90:
— DeAndre Ayton scored 21 points, had 16 boards, was 10-11 from floor.
— Anthony Davis was 5-16 from floor, minus-18 for game.
— Lakers were 7-26 on arc, 17-28 on line; not good.
3) Hawks 107, Knicks 105:
— Trae Young made a runner in the lane with 0:00.9 left for the win.
— Hawks were +17 with Bogdanovic in game; no one else was better than +9
— Julius Randle was only 6-23 from the floor.
2) Grizzlies 112, Jazz 109:
— Dillon Brooks scored 31 points for the winners.
— Big week for Memphis, beating Pelicans, Warriors, then this game.
— Bogdanovic was scoreless in first half, scored 29 in second half.
Only five times has a #8-seed upset the #1-seed in an NBA playoff series.
1) The other night in Houston, A’s SS Elvis Andrus batted against Astros’ closer Ryan Pressly, the seldom seen matchup:
Elvis vs Pressly.
Thank you, thank you very much.Leave a comment:
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501ATLANTA -502 NEW YORK
ATLANTA is 18-33 ATS (-18.3 Units) after successfully covering the spread in 2 or more consecutive games in the last 3 seasons.
507WASHINGTON -508 PHILADELPHIA
PHILADELPHIA is 42-20 ATS (20 Units) in home games versus terrible defensive teams - allowing 110+ points/game in the last 3 seasons.
513LA LAKERS -514 PHOENIX
LA LAKERS are 15-28 ATS (-15.8 Units) after 4 or more consecutive wins in the last 3 seasons.
515MEMPHIS -516 UTAH
UTAH is 14-4 ATS (9.6 Units) in home games versus good shooting teams - making >=46% of their shots in the current season.
NBA
Dunkel
Sunday, May 23
NBA
Armadillo's Write-Up
Sunday, May 23
Sunday’s NBA games:
all Game 1’s, best-of-7:
Washington @ Philadelphia
Wizards (35-39)
— Wizards won three of their last four games SU.
— Washington is 3-2-1 ATS in last six road games.
— Under is 4-1 in their last five games.
— Wizards played Tuesday/Thursday in play-in games.
76ers (49-23)
— 76ers won 10 of their last 12 games (8-4 ATS).
— Sixers are 5-1 ATS in their last six home games.
— Over is 4-1 in Philly’s last five home games.
— 76ers won last five series games.
— Wizards are 2-3 ATS in last five visits to Philly.
— Under is 3-1 in last four series games.
LA Lakers @ Phoenix
Lakers (43-30)
— Lakers won their last six games SU
— Lakers are 3-5 ATS in their last eight road games.
— Under is 7-4-1 in their 12 games.
— Lakers won a play-in game Wednesday.
Suns (51-21)
— Phoenix won its last three games.
— Suns are 3-1 ATS in their last four home games.
— You’re reading ***************.com
— Over is 21-6 in their last 27 games.
— Suns are in playoffs for first time in a decade.
— Lakers won seven of last ten series games.
— LA is 2-2 ATS in last four visits to Phoenix.
— Under is 6-3 in last nine series games.
Atlanta @ New York
Hawks (41-31)
— Hawks won seven of last eight games (5-3 ATS).
— Hawks are 0-5 ATS in their last five road games.
— Last time Atlanta covered a road game; April 13.
— Under is 3-0 in their last three games.
Knicks (41-31)
— New York won four of its last five games.
— Knicks are 9-3 ATS in their last 12 home games.
— Under is 5-2 in New York’s last seven games.
— Knicks are in playoffs for first time in eight years.
— Knicks won last four series games.
— Three of last five series games went to OT.
— Hawks are 1-4 ATS in last five trips to Manhattan.
— Over is 5-1 in last six series games.
Memphis @ Utah
Grizzlies (42-34)
— Memphis won seven of its last eight games SU.
— Grizzlies are 4-7 ATS in last 11 games, 3-2 in last five on road.
— Under is 7-2 in last nine Memphis games.
— Memphis won Wednesday/Friday to get to this point.
Jazz (52-20)
— Utah won seven of its last nine games SU.
— Jazz is 3-7 ATS in its last ten home games.
— Under is 3-0 in Utah’s last three games.
— Utah won last six series games (4-2 ATS)
— Grizzlies are 2-3 ATS in last five visits to Utah.
— Over is 4-1 in last five series games.
NBA
Sunday, May 23
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Trend Report
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Washington @ Philadelphia
Washington
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Washington's last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Washington's last 9 games when playing on the road against Philadelphia
Philadelphia
Philadelphia is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Washington
Philadelphia is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Washington
LA Lakers @ Phoenix
LA Lakers
LA Lakers is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 10 of LA Lakers's last 13 games when playing on the road against Phoenix
Phoenix
Phoenix is 14-1 SU in its last 15 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 9 of Phoenix's last 10 games
Atlanta @ New York
Atlanta
Atlanta is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Atlanta's last 6 games when playing New York
New York
New York is 11-1 SU in its last 12 games at home
New York is 6-0-1 ATS in its last 7 games when playing Atlanta
Memphis @ Utah
Memphis
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Memphis's last 5 games when playing on the road against Utah
Memphis is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games
Utah
Utah is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Memphis
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Utah's last 5 games when playing at home against Memphis
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Leave a comment:
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Sunday’s 6-pack
Odds on random college football games this fall:
Sept 4— Penn State @ Wisconsin (-3.5)
Sept 11— Stanford @ USC (-10)
Sept 18— Alabama @ Florida (-11)
Sept 25— West Virginia @ Oklahoma (-17)
Oct 2— Nevada @ Boise State (-6)
Oct 9— Georgia (-4) vs Auburn
Quote of the Day
“If it was a nobody, they would put him in health and safety protocols. Ain’t no (bleep)ing way LeBron James is going to be sit out because of health and safety protocols.”
Charles Barkley
Sunday’s quiz
What famous actor plays the losing attorney in A Few Good Men?
Saturday’s quiz
Dick Vitale was 34-60 as coach of the Detroit Pistons, from 1978-80.
Friday’s quiz
Nine years after he retired as a player, Hall of Famer Ted Williams took over as manager of the Washington Senators.
***********************************************
Sunday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports Saturday
13) Next wave of change in major league baseball figures to be some losing teams ditching their over-educated “executives” and bringing back old school baseball people to put together rosters and lineups. Overachieving teams either do something different, or they do things better.
Some of these cruddy teams are playing badly for one simple reason; they have bad players, or players who aren’t ready to be major leaguers yet.
Seattle insists on batting their big prospect Jarred Kelenic leadoff; problem is, he is hitting .139, Drop him down in the order, take some pressure off him, maybe score more runs.
12) Indians 5, Twins 3 (10):
— Cesar Hernandez walked it off with a home run.
— Minnesota is now 0-8 in extra innings.
11) I don’t have numbers on this, but seems to me that base umpires are calling more and more strikes on check swing appeals. The end of the bat always looks like it goes too far, even if the batter’s hands don’t commit to the swing.
10) Dwight Gooden’s son is a sophomore in high school who is rising up the recruiters’ charts as a pass rusher; the kid is 6-foot-6, and he is getting recruiting attention from several top 20 teams.
At first, Dylan Gooden wanted to be a WR, but his dad talked some sense to him, he switched to defense and now he figures to be a highly sought after recruit.
9) Bucks 109, Heat 107, OT:
— Miami took 50 3-pointers, 49 2-point shots.
— Milwaukee was +13 on the boards.
— Miami’s bench outscored the Bucks’ subs, 39-15.
8) Mavericks 113, Clippers 103:
— Dallas made 17 of 36 shots on the arc.
— Clippers’ five starters were a combined minus-70.
— Luka Doncic scored 31 points, had a triple-double.
7) Nets 104, Celtics 93:
— Brooklyn outscored Celtics 57-40 in second half.
— Blake Griffin played 20:00, didn’t take a shot from floor, was 1-2 on foul line.
— Jayson Tatum was 6-20 from the floor; not good enough.
6) Trailblazers 123, Nuggets 109:
— Blazers played only eight guys, not a lot.
— Carmelp Anthony scored 18 points in 22:00 off the bench.
— Funny how Portland’s star G’s went to Weber State/Lehigh.
5) When the Braves led Atlanta 20-1 the other night. Ronald Acuna wanted to take an at-bat left-handed, but manager Brian Snitker wouldn’t let him do it. Javier Baez has done this a couple of times, when hitting against a position player who was pitching in a blowout.
4) Modern baseball: Mets-Miami were scoreless after four innings; Joey Lucchesi had mowed the Marlins down on 43 pitches, allowing only one baserunner, but the Mets took him out after the 4th inning.
Lucchesi has started 61 big league games, he’s a capable big leaguer, I don’t care what the pencil pushers say— he faced only 12 batters by the way.
3) Rockies 7, Arizona 6— Diamondbacks have lost 12 in a row on the road.
2) Nationals 12, Orioles 9— Baltimore scored five runs in top of the first, but were trailing by the 4th inning- except for John Means, their pitching is terrible.
1) Cubs played St Louis on FOX last night; they had Anthony Rizzo miked, which irritates the hell out of me. Is it that difficult to concentrate on your job instead of yukking it up for the cameras? Not like Rizzo is killing the ball this year; little more focus wouldn’t hurt, and if that makes me the miserable old guy sitting on my porch, then so be it.Leave a comment:
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505BOSTON -506 BROOKLYN
BOSTON is 11-1 ATS (9.9 Units) after having lost 5 or 6 of their last 7 games in the current season.
507WASHINGTON -508 PHILADELPHIA
WASHINGTON is 12-0 ATS (12 Units) after having won 3 of their last 4 games in the current season.
509DALLAS -510 LA CLIPPERS
DALLAS are 10-1 ATS (8.9 Units) off an upset loss as a road favorite over the last 2 seasons.
NBA
Dunkel
Saturday, May 22
NBA
Armadillo's Write-Up
Saturday, May 22
Miami @ Milwaukee
Heat (40-32)
— Miami won/covered 12 of its last 16 games.
— Heat is 6-2 ATS in last eight road games.
— Over is 11-2 in their last 12 games.
Bucks (46-26)
— Milwaukee is 8-2 its last ten games SU.
— Bucks are 1-3 ATS in last five home games.
— You’re reading ***************.com
— Over is 5-2 in Milwaukee’s last seven games.
— Teams split last six series games.
— Heat is 3-2 ATS in last five visits to Milwaukee.
— Three of last four series games stayed under.
Dallas @ LA Clippers
Mavericks (42-30)
— Mavericks won nine of their last 12 games.
— Mavericks are 4-2 ATS in last six road games.
— Over is 5-0 in last five Dallas games.
Clippers (47-25)
— Clippers lost eight of their last 11 games.
— Clippers are 1-3 ATS in last four home games.
— Under is 12-3-1 in last 16 Clipper games.
— Teams split last eight series games.
— Dallas is 2-2 ATS in last four road series games.
— Last four series games stayed under the total.
Boston @ Brooklyn
Celtics (37-36)
— Boston lost five of its last seven games.
— Celtics beat Washington in a play-in game Tuesday.
— Celtics are 9-4 ATS in their last 13 road games.
— Under is 4-0 in their last four games
Nets (48-24)
— Brooklyn won/covered its last five games.
— Nets are 6-1 ATS in last seven home games.
— Under is 6-3 in last nine Brooklyn games.
— Nets won five of last six series games.
— Celtics are 0-5 ATS in last five visits to Brooklyn.
— Last three series games stayed under the total.
Portland @ Denver
Trailblazers (42-30)
— Portland won 10 of its last 12 games.
— You’re reading ***************.com
— Blazers are 7-1 ATS in last eight road games.
— Under is 4-2 in Portland’s last six games.
Nuggets (47-25)
— Denver won 21 of its last 28 games.
— Nuggets are 4-6 ATS in last ten home games.
— Over is 4-2 in Denver’s last six games.
— Denver won five of last seven series games.
— Blazers are 3-3 ATS in last six visits to Denver.
— Five of last eight series games stayed under.
NBA
Saturday, May 22
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Trend Report
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Miami @ Milwaukee
Miami
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Miami's last 7 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 11 of Miami's last 13 games
Milwaukee
Milwaukee is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
Milwaukee is 8-2 SU in its last 10 games
Dallas @ LA Clippers
Dallas
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Dallas's last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Dallas's last 5 games on the road
LA Clippers
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of LA Clippers's last 6 games at home
LA Clippers is 9-2 SU in its last 11 games at home
Boston @ Brooklyn
Boston
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Boston's last 6 games when playing on the road against Brooklyn
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Boston's last 5 games
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing at home against Boston
Brooklyn is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Boston
Portland @ Denver
Portland
Portland is 7-1 ATS in its last 8 games on the road
Portland is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games
Denver
Denver is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games at home
Denver is 10-3 SU in its last 13 games when playing at home against Portland
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Saturday’s 6-pack
Odds on random college football games this fall:
Sept 4— LSU (-2) @ UCLA
Sept 11— Iowa @ Iowa State (-7)
Sept 18— Auburn @ Penn State (-3.5)
Sept 25— Louisville @ Florida State (-3)
Oct 2— Michigan @ Wisconsin (-7)
Oct 9— Oklahoma (-9) vs Texas
Quote of the Day
“I might try to play 36, 45 holes in a day and try to focus on each shot so that when I go out and play 18, it doesn’t feel like it’s that much. I might try to elongate the time that I end up meditating, but I’m trying to use my mind like a muscle and just expand it because as I’ve gotten older it’s been more difficult for me to maintain a sharp focus, a good visualization and see the shot.”
Phil Mickelson
Saturday’s quiz
Which NBA team did Dick Vitale coach?
Friday’s quiz
Nine years after he retired as a player, Hall of Famer Ted Williams took over as manager of the Washington Senators.
Thursday’s quiz
Steph Curry’s dad Dell Curry played 16 years in NBA; he played college ball at Virginia Tech.
*******************************************
Saturday’s Den: Clearing out a cluttered mind……..
13) Dodgers 2, Giants 1— Trevor Bauer gets big road win, but in top of 6th inning, he hit what looked like a line drive single to RF with two on and two out, which would’ve broken the game open. Instead, SF rightfielder Mike Yastrzemski fielded the ball on one hop, threw him out at first base- end of rally. You don’t see that very often.
12) Tampa Bay 9, Toronto 7 (12)— Francisco Mejía hit a grand slam in the 12th inning as the Rays won their 8th game in a row; Toronto walked Joey Wendle intentionally to pitch to Mejia.
11) Texas 7, Houston 5 (10)— Rookie Adolis García sent most of the 30,445 fans home happy with a walk-off homer, his 12th homer this season. Texas blew a 4-1 lead in 8th inning, but they win for only second time in their last 11 games.
10) Rockies 7, Diamondbacks 1— Arizona has lost its last 11 road games.
9) Reds 9, Brewers 4— Jesse Winker went 4-4, scored four runs, hit three solo homers.
8) Mets 6, Marlins 5 (12)- Rookie Khalil Lee hit a tie-breaking RBI double in the 12th inning, his first major league hit. Mets put Pete Alonso (hand) on the IL before the game.
7) Memphis 117, Golden State 112, OT
— Grizzlies led by 13 at the half.
— Ja Morant scored 35 for Memphis.
— Warriors wore jerseys that said “Oakland”; the logo at midcourt said “Oakland”; if they want to be Oakland so bad, why did they build their new arena in San Francisco?
— Grizzlies move on to play Utah in the playoffs.
6) There is a new pro basketball league in Africa; there are 12 teams in it, representing seven countries. Some of the games are shown on NBA TV, in early-morning hours.
5) Whatever happened to Yoenis Cespedes? He didn’t play at all in 2019 because of a leg injury, then opted out of last season after only eight games. Is he retired?
He’ll be 36 in October; if he is healthy, he could still help a team, but haven’t heard his name much at all lately. Maybe next year, if NL teams can have the DH, he will re-surface.
4) I had forgotten that when Brett Favre won his only Super Bowl with the Packers, his backup that year was Jim McMahon, who won a Super Bowl with the ’85 Bears, 11 years earlier.
3) Pitcher Tyler Ivey made his MLB debut with Houston Friday; he is the 19,998th player in major league history.
2) Tampa Bay/Milwaukee made a trade Friday:
— Rays get P’s J.P. Feyereisen, Drew Rasmussen
— Brewers get SS Willie Adames, P Trevor Richards
1) Braves 20, Pirates 1— Atlanta is first team ever with 7+ homers and two grand slams in the same game.Leave a comment:
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579MEMPHIS -580 GOLDEN STATE
GOLDEN STATE is 11-2 ATS (8.8 Units) in home games after a loss in the current season.
NBA
Dunkel
Friday, May 21
NBA
Armadillo's Write-Up
Friday, May 21
Memphis @ Golden State
Grizzlies (39-34)
— Memphis won six of its last seven games SU.
— Grizzlies are 3-7 ATS in last ten games, 2-2 in last four on road.
— Under is 7-1 in last eight Memphis games.
— Memphis subs were a combined minus-66 in Wednesday’s win.
Warriors (39-34)
— Golden State won eight of its last ten games SU.
— Warriors won/covered their last six home games.
— Over is 4-2 in their last six games.
— Warriors lost Wednesday despite being up 13 at the half.
— Teams split last eight series games.
— Memphis is 1-3 ATS in last four visits to SF/Oakland.
— Last six series games stayed under the total.
This is an elimination game.
NBA
Friday, May 21
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Trend Report
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Memphis @ Golden State
Memphis
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Memphis's last 5 games when playing Golden State
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Memphis's last 8 games
Golden State
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Golden State's last 5 games when playing Memphis
Golden State is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games
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Friday’s 6-pack
Teams who have been no-hit twice at home, in the same season:
1923- Philadelphia A’s
1971- Cincinnati Reds
1973- Detroit Tigers
2001- San Diego Padres
2015- New York Mets
2021- Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers
Quote of the Day
“It’s disappointing to not be at 85% as a team. We’ve worked hard to try and convince or educate the people that have been reluctant. We’re at a place right now — I’m not going to give up hope we’re going to get there — my level of optimism is waning. It is disappointing.”
Cubs’ president Jed Hoyer, on Cubs not having 85% of their people vaccinated
Friday’s quiz
Nine years after he retired as a player, Hall of Famer Ted Williams took over as manager of which American League team?
Thursday’s quiz
Steph Curry’s dad Dell Curry played 16 years in NBA; he played college ball at Virginia Tech.
Wednesday’s quiz
Before Texas Rangers moved to the Lone Star State, they were the Washington Senators.
**************************************************
Friday’s Den: Random stuff with the weekend here……..
13) Kyle Gibson is pitching for the Texas Rangers tonight; he is 3-0, 1.67 in his last eight starts, and seems like a shoo-in to make the All-Star team this summer. Not bad for a who got KO’d from his first start this season in the first inning, giving up five runs to Kansas City.
Did he suddenly make adjustments? Did he just have a bad day Opening Day?
12) Seattle Mariners are hitting .198 as a team; the whole team. Some of these over-educated fools who get hired to run big league squads put together bad rosters, simple as that.
The people in Texas decided that having Joey Gallo/Khris Davis back/back in the same was somehow a good idea— why? They’re both all or nothing guys, mostly nothing.
11) There are several reasons why scoring in baseball is down:
— The baseball is a little less lively.
— Guys try too hard to hit home runs.
— Not enough guys take hits by going against the shift.
But to me, the biggest reason is that only the best pitchers are allowed to face hitters a third time thru the order. If a hitter faces a different pitcher every time, up, its a lot harder to hit.
Tampa Bay’s Josh Fleming has been taken out of two games this season, when he was throwing a shutout in the 6th inning— he had thrown 65-53 pitches, but faced 18-16 hitters.
10) Dodgers 3, Arizona 2— Albert Pujols hit his first home run as a Dodger.
9) Wizards 142, Pacers 115— Washington scored 48 points in the third quarter; how does an NBA team that is playing to extend its season give up 48 points in 12:00? Seriously?
8) Atlanta Hawks’ coach Nate McMillan said “the NBA wants the Knicks in the playoffs, they need the Knicks in the playoffs” somehow that spouting of truth cost him $25,000. How do you fine someone for saying something that is true?
7) Rough week for the Minnesota Twins:
— Monday-Wednesday, lost two of three at home to the White Sox.
— Flew to California, split a makeup twinbill with the Angels Thursday
— Open a weekend series in Cleveland tonight.
6) if the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL— Mets, Cardinals, Giants. Wild Card: Dodgers @ Padres
AL— Red Sox, White Sox, Astros. Wild Card: Rays vs A’s
5) If someone asked me which NFL team had the highest-paid center, I would’ve been wrong with my guesses. Very wrong.
Detroit Lions gave C Frank Ragnow a four year, $54M deal; he is the NFL’s highest-paid center.
4) Corey Conners is the 8th player since 1983 to lead the PGA Championship by multiple strokes after Round 1. None of the previous seven went on to win that tournament; last player who did?
Raymond Floyd (led by 3) in 1982 at Southern Hills.
3) When Drew Pearson gets inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in July, his presenter will be Roger Staubach, his QB with the Cowboys.
When you get inducted, you get to choose who introduces you; it is filmed now instead of live, because Steve Young’s father wouldn’t shut up when he was introducing his son a few years ago, but it is still a great honor.
I’m convinced that if Roger Staubach had wanted to enter politics after he played football, he would’ve eventually been elected President, that’s how highly respected he is, having gone to the Naval Academy and then serving four years in the Navy before his NFL days.
2) Happy 94th birthday to Bud Grant, former Vikings’ coach who also played in the NBA; he played in the lowest-scoring NBA game ever, for the Minneapolis Lakers.
Bud Grant’s Vikings made my teenage years a less happy place; the Rams never could beat his teams in the playoffs, except once in the late 70’s. But then they’d lose in the Super Bowl and I’d laugh- they were a 17-point favorite when they lost Super Bowl IV to the Chiefs.
Anyway, happy birthday coach, even though you ruined my 10th birthday (23-20, Vikings)
1) People pay $49 a month for that Peloton exercise bike, so the lady can yell at you while you pedal away; this is a good thing? I drink Cherry Coke while I ride my exercise bike, no one yells at me, and I save $49 a month. Advantage, me.Leave a comment:
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575INDIANA -576 WASHINGTON
WASHINGTON is 275-328 ATS (-85.8 Units) as a home favorite since 1996.
NBA
Dunkel
Thursday, May 20
NBA
Armadillo's Write-Up
Thursday, May 20
Indiana @ Washington
Pacers (35-38)
— Indiana is 5-3 in its last eight games SU.
— You’re reading ***************.com
— Pacers are 6-3 ATS in their last nine road games.
— Over is 11-3 in Indiana’s last 14 games.
— Indiana scored 144 points Tuesday, going 16-35 on arc.
Wizards (34-39)
— Wizards won four of their last seven games SU.
— Washington is 5-2 ATS in last seven home games.
— Under is 4-0 in their last four games.
— Wizards were outscored 66-46 in 2nd half Tuesday.
— Washington is 3-0 vs Indiana this year, winning by 8-1-13 points.
— Pacers scored 132.3 ppg in the three games, still lost ‘em all.
— All three games went over the total.
This is an elimination game.
NBA
Thursday, May 20
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Trend Report
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Indiana @ Washington
Indiana
Indiana is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Indiana's last 6 games on the road
Washington
Washington is 9-1 SU in its last 10 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Washington's last 5 games
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