Friday Trends and Indexes 05/18

[pm530]

Pro Basketball - Dunkel Index

NBA
Dunkel Index

Cleveland at New Jersey
Neither team looks like they want to win this series as the quality of play has been lacking, especially in the fourth quarter. In Game Five, Cleveland had a chance to close out New Jersey at home, but couldn't take advantage of a Nets' fourth quarter that saw them go 1-for-15 from the field and 4-for-10 from the line for a whopping six points. That's because the Cavs could manage to make only three of their 17 attempts in the period. But while artistic beauty is out, the Nets are back in it with Game Six at home tonight. The Nets are 4-1 straight up at home in the postseason and 3-2 ATS, including a 96-85 win over the Cavs in Game Three. Cleveland also looks to be a little banged up with LeBron James hurting his knee and Sasha Pavlovic injuring his wrist in the last game. This one may be hard to watch, but the Nets look like a good pick to cover the Vegas line (-3) according to Dunkel, which has New Jersey favored by 7. Dunkel Pick: New Jersey (-3). Here are all of today's games.

FRIDAY, MAY 18

Game 521-522: Cleveland at New Jersey
Dunkel Ratings: Cleveland 121.738; New Jersey 128.809
Dunkel Line & Total: New Jersey by 7; 177
Vegas Line & Total: New Jersey by 3; 181 1/2
Dunkel Pick: New Jersey (-3); Under

Game 523-524: Phoenix at San Antonio
Dunkel Ratings: Phoenix 124.483; San Antonio 129.972
Dunkel Line & Total: San Antonio by 5 1/2; 195 1/2
Vegas Line & Total: San Antonio by 3; 201 1/2
Dunkel Pick: San Antonio (-3); Under

[pm530]

Baseball – Hot Lines

MLB
Hot Lines


Friday, May 18

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St. Louis Cardinals at Detroit Tigers (-110, 9)

This is a rematch of last year’s World Series, meaning these two teams are a little more familiar with each other than some of the other interleague opponents this weekend.

That could be a problem for Albert Pujols. The Cardinals slugger hit just .200 against the Tigers in the World Series last year, and is still struggling to find his form in 2007. Pujols is hitting just .245. His last home run came April 28.

Highly touted prospect Andrew Miller will make his first career start for the Tigers. He went 0-1 with a 6.10 ERA in eight appearences out of the bullpen last season.

Braden Looper will pitch for the Cardinals. He allowed one run in 2 1/3 innings against the Tigers in a relief role last October.

Pick: Tigers -110


Baltimore Orioles at Washington Nationals (+116, 9)

Steve Trachsel isn’t that far removed from his National League days. The 36-year-old right-hander has faced Washington five times as a member of the New York Mets over the previous three seasons, posting a 2.05 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP.

The Nationals are among the hottest teams in baseball with six wins in their last seven games - all as an underdog - but they struggled in interleague play last season, going 7-11. Their hot run has also taken away all the value they had accrued as the worst team in baseball.

Jason Simontacchi will pitch for Washington.

Pick: Orioles -124


Minnesota Twins at Milwaukee Brewers (-150, 8 ½)

This line has to be a joke. The Brewers have been flat-out exposed over the last week, losing four of six games to the Mets and Philadelphia Phillies.

Minnesota, meanwhile, had the best interleague record in baseball last season at 16-2.

Sure, Milwaukee starter Chris Capuano has been lights out this season with a 5-1 record and a 2.93 ERA, but the left-hander struggled in interleague play last year with a 5.50 ERA and a 1.56 WHIP in three starts.

Boof Bonser will start for Minnesota.

Pick: Twins +142

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[pm530]

Baseball – Streaking Pitchers

MLB
Streaking Pitchers


Friday, May 18

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Hot

Brad Penny (L.A. Dodgers) - The Dodgers are rolling. They have won five of their last six games and will send the major's ERA leader to the hill tonight versus the Angels. Brad Penny is 5-0 with a 1.39 ERA this season and is off to the best start of his career. Before laying all your cash on the right-hander it should be noted that Penny is only 1-2 with a 3.16 ERA in four career starts against the Angels. Vladimir Guerrero is hitting .389 with one homer life time against Penny and that does not include a home run in last season's All-Star game.


Braden Looper (St. Loius Cardinals) - Looper has been a welcome addition to the Cardinals rotation this season. Tonight the converted reliever will go for his second three-start winning streak of the season against the Detroit Tigers. The right-hander is 5-2 with a 2.29 ERA so far this year and has been almost perfect in his last two outings, giving up just one run in 13 innings. Looper is 2-0 with a 1.59 ERA in six lifetime relief outings against the Tigers.


Cold

Kyle Lohse (Cincinnati Reds) - The Reds have dropped to the bottom of the NL Central thanks to their current 3-12 stretch. Things do not look much better as interleague play begins today as they send Kyle Lohse to the mound. Lohse is 1-4 with a 4.01 ERA and is trying to avoid losing his fifth straight decision against the Indians. During his cold streak, Lohse's ERA has ballooned to 6.56 and the right-hander only lasted four innings in his last start. The news gets even worse for the Reds when you consider Lohse is 2-6 with a 7.84 ERA in eight career starts at Jacobs field.

Jon Lieber (Philadelphia Phillies) - The Phillies did not have much success against the American League last season going 5-13. Tonight they will try to get off to a better start against the Toronto Blue Jays as they send Jon Lieber to the mound. The right-hander is trying to avoid losing his third straight start and hopes for more run support than he got on Sunday. Lieber held the Cubs to one earned run and nine hits over a season-high eight innings while walking one and striking out five, but still lost 4-1. Lieber is 1-0 with a 3.13 ERA in three career starts versus the Blue Jays.


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[pm530]

MLB
70% Situations


Friday, May 18

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Play Against MLB underdogs with a money line of +100 or higher with a team that averages <=0.5 errors per game on the year after 3 straight games where they stranded 5 or fewer runners on base.
(47-13 last 5 seasons.) (78.3%)

PLAY: Cleveland -180

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[pm530]

NBA
Trend and Angle Report


Friday, May 18

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at New Jersey Nets by 3.0 Cleveland Cavaliers O/U 181.5
New Jersey Nets are 14-5-0 O/U After 1 Away (2 -> 3.5)
Cleveland Cavaliers are 20-9-1 ATS After 3 Unders (All Lines)


at San Antonio Spurs by 3.0 Phoenix Suns O/U 201.0
Phoenix Suns are 0-5-0 O/U Postseason Games (2 -> 3.5)

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[pm530]

Baseball - Short Sheet

MLB
Short Sheet


Friday, May 18th

National League

Arizona at Pittsburgh, 7:05 ET
Doug Davis (L) vs. Ian Snell (R)
Davis: Arizona 20-8 SU with a line of +125 to -125
Snell: Pittsburgh 20-40 SU vs. left-handed starters


Interleague

Chicago White Sox at Chicago Cubs, 2:20 ET WGN
Mark Buehrle (L) vs. Ted Lilly (L)
Buehrle: 18-5 TSR in the first half of the season
Lilly: Cubs 8-4 Under vs. White Sox

Baltimore at Washington, 7:05 ET
Steve Trachsel (R) vs. Jason Simontacchi (R)
Trachsel: Baltimore 15-37 SU off a one-run loss
Simontacchi: Washington 40-22 SU at home vs. AL East opponents

Cincinnati at Cleveland, 7:05 ET
Kyle Lohse (R) vs. Cliff Lee (L)
Lohse: 10-30 SU as an underdog
Lee: Cleveland 10-0 SU as a favorite of -150 or higher

St. Louis at Detroit, 7:05 ET
Braden Looper (R) vs. Andrew Miller (L)
Looper: St. Louis 8-1 Under vs. left-handed starters
Miller: Detroit 29-12 SU in May

Atlanta at Boston, 7:05 ET TBS
Anthony Lerew (R) vs. Kason Gabbard (L)
Lerew: Atlanta 10-2 Over off a division loss as a $1.50+ favorite
Gabbard: Boston 21-3 SU vs. NL East opponents

Toronto at Philadelphia, 7:05 ET
Dustin McGowan (R) vs. Jon Lieber (R)
McGowan: Toronto 7-22 SU off 3+ wins
Lieber: Philadelphia 24-13 Over off BB games scoring 2 runs or less

(TC) Florida at Tampa Bay, 6:40 ET
Byung-Hyun Kim (R) vs. Edwin Jackson (R)
Kim: Florida 9-2 Over off a loss by 4+ runs
Jackson: 0-7 TSR this season

NY Yankees at NY Mets, 7:10 ET
Andy Pettitte (L) vs. Oliver Perez (L)
Pettitte: 1-11 TSR off BB starts allowing 2 runs or less
Perez: Mets 7-0 Over at home with a line of +125 to -125

Minnesota at Milwaukee, 8:05 ET
Boof Bonser (R) vs. Chris Capuano (L)
Bonser: Minnesota 16-2 SU in interleague games
Capuano: Milwaukee 18-36 SU off 4+ road games

Texas at Houston, 8:05 ET
Robinson Tejeda (R) vs. Matt Albers (R)
Tejeda: Texas 6-21 SU with a total of 8.5 to 10 runs
Albers: Houston 47-19 SU at home after winning 3 of their last 4 games

Kansas City at Colorado, 9:05 ET
Jorge De La Rosa (L) vs. Jeff Francis (L)
De La Rosa: Kansas City 14-47 SU vs. left-handed starters
Francis: 19-9 TSR pitching on 5 or 6 days rest

LA Dodgers at LA Angels, 10:05 EST
Brad Penny (R) vs. Ervin Santana (R)
Penny: Dodgers 1-17 SU away in interleague games
Santana: 27-10 TSR in home games

San Diego at Seattle, 10:05 ET
Chris Young (R) vs. Miguel Batista (R)
Young: San Diego 12-3 Over off 4+ games allowing 4 runs or less
Batista: 18-8 TSR at home pitching on 5 or 6 days rest

San Francisco at Oakland, 10:05 ET
Barry Zito (L) vs. Chad Gaudin (R)
Zito: 8-0 TSR away after allowing 2+ home runs last start
Gaudin: Oakland 15-5 Under with a line of +125 to -125

** (TC) Denotes Time Change

[Dennis14072]

Thanks Guys! Good Luck tonight!

[pm530]

MLB
Update – Postponed game


Friday, May 18

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961 ATLANTA BRAVES@ BOSTON RED SOX
962 HAS BEEN POSTPONED DUE TO RAIN


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