Odds On Most Any Matchup: 5dimesSkyBetBetFairBetUS

And So It Goes....

Overall: 7-1-0 (0.875)
Basis Function: Daubechies4

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Thursday, July 23, 2009

July 23rd, 2009 Picks

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(skip to picks)Bumped my streak to 5 by taking Lance Armstrong to finish out of the top 3. Hardly any time at all so on to the picks even though the first three have started already.

Recaps
Brothers Schleck Tag Team Contador To Take Stage, Move Into 2nd, 3rd Overall
1. F. Schleck 4h 53' 54"; 2. A. Contador 4h 53' 54"; 3. A. Schleck 4h 53' 54"; (5. L. Armstrong 4h 56' 12")
``Andy Schleck is the best young rider in the race, his brother Frank was the best rider in the 17th stage. It was a thrilling finale to a climbing stage that was dominated by a sprinter for the first two-thirds of the journey from Bourg-Saint-Maurice to Le Grand Bornand… and then the GC guys came out to play. Over the fourth and fifth climbs there were attacks from the defending Tour champion, Sastre, but he would later suffer for his efforts. Instead, the stars of the show were his former team-mates Frank and Andy Schleck. They put themselves in a winning position by following attacks by the yellow jersey and then setting a furious pace all the way to the finish where Frank beat the yellow jersey."
Read More....StandingsHighlights



Picks
1) Who Will Win Stage 18: Fabian Cancellara vs. Any Other Cyclist - Any other cyclist
2) John Daly's Score After 18 Holes: 35 or under vs. 36 or over - 35 or under
3) Vincent van der Voort vs. Wayne Mardle - van der Voort
4) Bnei Yehuda @ Dinaburg - Bnei Yehuda win
5) Indiana Fever @ San Antonio Silver Stars - San Antonio
6) Camilo Villegas vs. Stephen Ames - Villegas cards a lower first round score
7) Seattle Mariners @ Detroit Tigers - Detroit
8) Tampa Bay Rays @ Chicago White Sox - Chicago
9) FC Honka @ Bangor City - FC Honka win
10) James Wade vs. Gary Anderson - Anderson
11) Chicago Sky @ Washington Mystics - Washington
12) Honduras vs. United States - 2 goals or fewer
13) Oakland Athletics @ New York Yankees - 9 runs or fewer
14) Pittsburgh Pirates total hits vs. Dan Haren strikeouts - Haren strikeouts
15) Mexico vs. Costa Rica - Mexico win
16) Minnesota Twins @ Los Angeles Angels - Los Angeles
17) What Will Be The Result Of Weaver's Final Batter Faced: Out vs. Hit, HBP, Walk - Out

Previews

Gold Cup Results
HondurasU.S.A.
Canada (1:0)Panama (2:1 aet)
Honduras (4:0)Haiti (2:2)
Honduras (2:0)Honduras (2:0)
Haiti (1:0)Grenada (4:0)
12) In this game the United States are favored and so is 2 goals or fewer. Of course 2 goals or fewer is only at -135 with 3 goals or more at even odds so it's not a sure bet by any means to take the under here. Looking at the table on the right one sees that Honduras has played four matches in the CONCACAF Gold Cup with 3 of the 4 matches seeing 2 goals or fewer scored. The United States has also played four matches with only 1 of the 4 seeing 2 goals or fewer scored. These two sides have already played a match, in the group stage, which saw the United States winning 2-0. Michael Parkhurst should be returning to the squad and could replace Jimmy Conrad on defense. Parkhurst started for the U.S. in their 2-2 draw with Haiti and their 2-0 win over Honduras. Yanks Abroad has a good preview of the match. A relevant excerpt follows:
``The Gold Cup semi-final match up will be a repeat of the group play affair that took place at RFK in Washington, DC just two weeks ago. That game was scoreless until the Americans broke away to a 2-0 victory thanks to a pair of quick strikes from the MLS-based duo of Santino Quaranta and Brian Ching late in the second half."
A number of previews can also be found through Google News. With the possibility of extra time a 1-1 draw in regulation could easily see a 2-1 win or it could stay 1-1 and go to a shootout. I'm thinking the United States wins 2-0 again, however.

(top) Haren's strikeouts/opponents total hits in 19 starts this season vs. innings pitched.
(bottom)Pirates hits in last 19 games.
Click image for larger version.
14) It looks like Haren has fanned 6 to 9 batters in 12 of his 19 games and has struck out more than 9 in 3 games and fewer than 6 in 4 games. The Pirates have had 6 to 9 hits in 11 of their last 19 games. So this prop is closer than one might think. I do think the Pirates strike out more than the average team. They're 14th in strikeouts but only 24th in total plate appearances. Good luck.