Monday Trends and Indexes 05/21

[pm530]

Pro Basketball - Dunkel Index

NBA
Dunkel Index


Cleveland at Detroit
A rematch of last year's playoffs, Detroit dominated in the home-opener (113-86) en route to a seven-game triumph. The Pistons carried that momentum over to this season by taking three of four from the Cavs and holding Cleveland to an average of just 77 points in the losses. Those offensive struggles continued against the Nets as Cleveland averaged 83 points per game in the last four contests of that series. Although Detroit allowed the Bulls to creep back into their series, the Pistons finished them off on the road in impressive fashion (95-85) and have done a solid job of protecting the home court in the playoffs thus far (4-1 record straight up; 3-2 ATS). The Pistons look like a good pick to cover the Vegas line (-6) according to Dunkel, which has Detroit favored by 10. Dunkel Pick: Detroit (-6). Here are all of today's games.

MONDAY, MAY 21

Game 701-702: Cleveland at Detroit
Dunkel Ratings: Cleveland 120.615; Detroit 130.522
Dunkel Line & Total: Detroit by 10; 181
Vegas Line & Total: Detroit by 6; 176
Dunkel Pick: Detroit (-6); Over

[pm530]

Baseball – Hot Lines

MLB
Hot Lines


Monday, May 21

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees: (-137, 9 ½)

Can the New York Yankees get through a single week without some sort of drama?

After pulling together to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Mets, the Big Apple is consumed with a steroid/contract conflict involving DH Jason Giambi. This distraction comes at a bad time with another hated rival waiting in the wings.

The Boston Red Sox, who have a 10 ½-game lead over New York in the AL East standings, couldn’t care less about the situation in the Yankees organization. Boston has won five out of six meetings this year and swept the Yankees in their first series this season.

"It's their problem right now," Red Sox DH David Ortiz told the New York Post. "We've been playing well, been doing our thing and they have to figure out what they're going to do to beat us. We don't have to worry about that."

Pick: Red Sox +129



Milwaukee Brewers at Los Angeles Dodgers: (-115, 8 ½)

The Los Angeles Dodgers couldn’t do anything right against the Angels this past weekend when the teams met in the interleague Freeway series.

The Dodgers were outscored 19-4 during the three-game set after hitting a measly .204 at the plate. Los Angeles is 6-13 this season when it scores three runs or less, something it has done nine times over its last 19 games. It leads the National League in runners left on base and has the third fewest extra-base hits.

The Dodgers also committed six errors over the three games with Los Angeles, adding to their NL-leading total of 36 in only 44 games this year.

Pick: Brewers +107



Houston Astros at San Francisco Giants: (-132, 8 ½)

The San Francisco Giants hope there’s no place like home when they return to AT&T Park following a disappointing 10-game road trip.

The Giants dropped six of 10 games against Colorado, Houston and Oakland, mostly because of their futile efforts at the plate. San Francisco averaged 4.5 runs per game during the road swing but went ice cold during the second half of the trip, knocking in just over two runs per game in the last five contests.

"There are two glaring things we need to do better. We need to score more runs on the average and we need to win more close games," Giants GM Brian Sabean told the San Francisco Chronicle. "We've had a hard time doing both consistently."

One of those close losses was against today’s starter Chris Sampson, who held the Giants to one run on seven hits last Wednesday. The Astros right-hander is 4-3 this season but despite splitting wins and losses over his last four starts, he has pitched well enough to allow three earned runs or fewer during this stretch.

Pick: Astros +124

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[pm530]

Baseball – Streaking Pitchers

MLB
Streaking Pitchers


Monday, May 21

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hot Pitchers

C.C. Sabathia (Cleveland Indians) - The Mariners should have a tough go tonight against left-hander Sabathia who is working on his best season start with a 6-1 record and a 3.65 ERA. He heads into tonight's matchup with a 3.03 ERA in 10 career starts against Seattle. The Indians are heavy -225 home favorites with the total set at 9 runs.

Bronson Arroyo (Cincinnati Reds) - On paper, Arroyo's 2-4 record isn't all that impressive, but his recent stats tell another story. In each of his last eight starts, he has allowed three runs or less. He boasts 16 scoreless innings and 16 strikeouts in two starts against Washington and leads the Reds into tonight's matchup against the Nats as -225 favorites. The total is set at 9.


Cold Pitchers

Vicente Padilla (Texas Rangers) - Padilla is burdened with a 1-6 record and a 5.77 ERA. He has lost his last two starts and gave up eight runs and 12 hits in only four innings in Wednesday's 11-8 loss to the D-Rays. Slugger Justin Morneau and the Twins will try to improve their averages against the righty who is allowing left-handed batters to hit .337. Despite Padilla's poor showing, books still favor the Rangers at -109 at home tonight against Minnesota. The total is set at 10.

Brett Tomko (Los Angeles Dodgers) - The veteran righty has won one of his last five starts. He's allowed 25 runs in his last 26 2/3 innings. Tomko's 5.97 ERA is the third highest on the team.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[kbsooner21]

Thanks Guys!

[Kaptain]

thanks for all the hard work fellows----kapt

[Dennis14072]

Thanks Guys, Good Luck tonight!

[pm530]

Looking for a good week everybody!

Thanks for your support.

[Udog]

kb, Kapt. and Dennis,

You guys are the greatest and a pure pleasure to post for! All you guys, who stop by regularly, are why we do it!