Wednesday Trends and Indexes 6/17 (MLB, WNBA, Misc.)

[Udog]

WNBA
Dunkel


Minnesota at Phoenix
The Lynx are coming off a win in Sacramento last night and look to build on their 5-1 ATS record in their last 6 overall. Minnesota is the pick (+4 1/2) according to Dunkel, which has Phoenix favored by just 2. Dunkel Pick: Minnesota (+4 1/2). Here are all of today's picks.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17

Game 651-652: Minnesota at Phoenix
Dunkel Ratings: Minnesota 112.803; Phoenix 114.884
Dunkel Line & Total: Phoenix by 2; 179
Vegas Line & Total: Phoenix by 4 1/2; 183
Dunkel Pick: Minnesota (+4 1/2); Under

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WNBA
Long Sheet


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Wednesday, June 17
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MINNESOTA (3 - 1) at PHOENIX (3 - 1) - 6/17/2009, 10:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
MINNESOTA is 41-66 ATS (-31.6 Units) in road games vs. division opponents since 1997.
PHOENIX is 109-81 ATS (+19.9 Units) as a favorite since 1997.
PHOENIX is 117-83 ATS (+25.7 Units) in home games since 1997.
PHOENIX is 75-50 ATS (+20.0 Units) in home games vs. division opponents since 1997.

Head-to-Head Series History
PHOENIX is 5-2 against the spread versus MINNESOTA over the last 3 seasons
PHOENIX is 5-2 straight up against MINNESOTA over the last 3 seasons
7 of 7 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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WNBA


Wednesday, June 17

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Lady Luck: Today's WNBA best bet
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Minnesota Lynx at Phoenix Mercury (-4.5, 183.5)

The Phoenix Mercury lead the WNBA in scoring this year. The only team nearly as prolific at putting the ball in the basket are the Minnesota Lynx.

The league's top two offenses square off for the first time this year as the Mercury welcome the visiting Lynx on Wednesday night.

Phoenix (3-1), which averages 91.8 points, broke the WNBA single-game scoring record by defeating Sacramento 115-104 in overtime Saturday for a split of the home-and-home series. The Mercury had lost by 19 on the road the night before.

Minnesota (4-1) owned the record after scoring 114 against Los Angeles in 2006, and is averaging 88.4 points in 2009.

Diana Taurasi sank six 3-pointers and scored 31 in the win. Le'Coe Willingham added 26 and Cappie Pondexter 22 for the Mercury, who shot a season-high 53.9 percent from the field.

"The strength of our team this year is going to be a lot of people getting involved and we like to score a lot of points," Taurasi said. "If we spread it around, we have six or seven people that can score 20 points any night. We just have to get to that point where we can trust anybody."

Taurasi averages 22.0 points to rank third in the league behind Seattle's Lauren Jackson (22.6) and Minnesota's Seimone Augustus (23.8).

Pick: Over 183.5


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[Udog]

Len's Top Five


Happy Wednesday everyone, here's my Top 5 for June 17, 2009 from Len Berman Sports.

1. Quick Hits

Cleveland wide receiver Dante' Stallworth was sentenced to a mere 30 days in jail after pleading guilty to DUI manslaughter. He killed a woman with his Bentley after a night of drinking last March in Miami.
Defending champ Rafael Nadal is the #1 seed at Wimbledon. Roger Federer has been seeded second.
19-year old Michelle Wie fails to qualify for the U.S. Women's Open.
Former Giants defensive end Michael Strahan is engaged to the ex-wife of Eddie Murphy.
What are the odds? The only time that David Letterman had to apologize for a joke, it involved A-Rod.

2. Slammin' Sammy

Earlier this month, Sammy Sosa said he would officially retire from baseball soon and he added, "I will calmly wait for my induction to the Baseball Hall of Fame." The retirement hasn't come, and that calm wait just became bumpier. The New York Times reports Sammy tested positive for performance enhancing drugs in 2003. Sosa has never been directly linked to steroids, but the suspicions have always there. I if were you Sammy, I wouldn't start writing that Hall of Fame induction speech just yet.

3. Par for the Course

If you know or care nothing about golf, just skip to # 4. But for you golfers out there, chew on this. 3 of the par 4's at Bethpage this week for the U.S. Open are over 500 yards. This is not a misprint.
Of course for Tiger that's a driver, 7 iron. For the rest of us, it's wood, wood, wedge...on a good day.

4. Making a Racket

Do you like your women noisy? Not if you're standing across the net from them. The people who run tennis are talking about a crackdown on the loud grunters like Maria Sharapova. There were some real noisy ones at the French Open. They may toughen up the rules. If you don't stop screeching you could forfeit a game or a match. Sharapova's grunts are measured at 101 decibels. A subway or a power mower is listed at 100 decibels. "Noisier than a locomotive, able to leap tall nets with a single bound.... she's Sharapova-woman!"

5. Social Calendar

There's talk that Patriots coach Bill Belichick will be marrying his gal pal. Here's what I know. I saw Belichick over the winter at Lincoln Center. He was at South Pacific. Lets put it this way. If an NFL tough guy like Belichick is listening to show tunes like "Some Enchanted Evening" and "There is Nothing Like a Dame," he's hooked. What red blooded male would listen to that crap? Oh wait, I was there too.

Today's Birthday: Tennis star Venus Williams. 29.
Bonus Birthdays: Separated at birth. Newt Gingrich and Barry Manilow. 66.

Today in Sports: 50,000 at Yankee Stadium watch Rocky Marciano successfully defend his heavyweight title as he beats Ezzard Charles in 15 rounds. 1954.
Bonus Event: The white Bronco chase of O.J. Simpson got in the way of a Knicks/Rockets NBA Finals telecast. 1994.

[pm530]

MLB
Long Sheet

UPDATED - White Sox/Cubs

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Wednesday, June 17
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CHI WHITE SOX (30 - 34) at CHICAGO CUBS (30 - 30) - 2:20 PM
JOHN DANKS (L) vs. RYAN DEMPSTER (R)
Top Trends for this game.
DEMPSTER is 107-102 (+17.1 Units) against the money line in all games since 1997. (Team's Record)
DEMPSTER is 42-27 (+23.6 Units) against the money line when the total is 8 to 8.5 since 1997. (Team's Record)
DEMPSTER is 64-36 (+29.6 Units) against the money line in home games since 1997. (Team's Record)
DEMPSTER is 23-9 (+16.6 Units) against the money line at home when the total is 8 to 8.5 since 1997. (Team's Record)
DEMPSTER is 16-1 (+17.2 Units) against the money line in home games in June games since 1997. (Team's Record)
DEMPSTER is 39-28 (+17.1 Units) against the money line in day games since 1997. (Team's Record)
DEMPSTER is 64-36 (+29.6 Units) against the money line in home games in games played on a grass field since 1997. (Team's Record)
DEMPSTER is 15-3 (+10.2 Units) against the money line in home games after a win over the last 2 seasons. (Team's Record)
CHI WHITE SOX are 113-87 (+16.0 Units) against the money line in games played on a grass field over the last 2 seasons.
CHICAGO CUBS are 987-1039 (-192.8 Units) against the money line in all games since 1997.
CHICAGO CUBS are 530-482 (-110.9 Units) against the money line in home games since 1997.
CHICAGO CUBS are 930-955 (-170.6 Units) against the money line in games played on a grass field since 1997.
CHICAGO CUBS are 479-506 (-118.5 Units) against the money line after a win since 1997.
CHICAGO CUBS are 488-465 (-105.0 Units) against the money line when playing against a team with a losing record since 1997.

Head-to-Head Series History
There were no past matchups in this series during this time period.

JOHN DANKS vs. CHICAGO CUBS since 1997
DANKS is 0-0 when starting against CHICAGO CUBS with an ERA of 1.50 and a WHIP of 0.833.
His team's record is 0-1 (-1.0 units) in these starts. The OVER is 0-1. (-1.0 units)

RYAN DEMPSTER vs. CHI WHITE SOX since 1997
DEMPSTER is 1-1 when starting against CHI WHITE SOX with an ERA of 7.84 and a WHIP of 2.033.
His team's record is 1-1 (+0.0 units) in these starts. The OVER is 1-1. (+0.0 units)

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