August 25th, 2009 Picks

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(skip to picks)Had another sub-par day yesterday. First Hammarby goes down 1-0 off an own goal, then Aston Villa and Liverpool combined for 4 goals for my lone win of the day. Villa won 3-1 by the way, Liverpool lost twice all of last season but have lost twice in the first 3 games of this season, yikes. Then Roy Halladay had an abysmal game allowing 8 earned runs in 5 innings. I picked against Halladay when Tampa Bay played the Jays in Florida on the 14^th but lost that game as Halladay played well that day. Then Toronto had the good faith to lose quickly so instead of winning with 1 or more runs in the fifth inning I got a loss with the Angels as Detroit's bats finally woke up on the road. Sheesh. These picks are late but I did manage to get a win with Kunitsyn this morning. Good luck and on to the picks.

Picks
1) Taylor Dent vs. Igor Kunitsyn - Kunitsyn
2) Blackburn Rovers @ Gillingham - Blackburn Rovers win
3) Philadelphia Phillies (@ Pirates) vs. New York Yankees (v. Rangers) - Phillies have a larger margin of victory
4) New York Mets @ Florida Marlins - Florida
5) Cincinnati Reds @ Milwaukee Brewers - Cincinnati
6) Los Angeles Dodgers @ Colorado Rockies - Colorado
7) Candice Dupree vs. Lisa Leslie - Leslie more points
8) Arizona Diamondbacks @ San Francisco Giants - San Francisco
9) Dan Haren vs. Matt Cain - Cain more innings pitched

August 24th, 2009 Picks

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(skip to picks)Wow, that was quite a fall there. I lost my 8 game streak taking VfL Wolfsburg instead of Burnley. From what I saw in the 2^nd half Wolfsburg was just outhustled by HSV. They looked like a team that had forgotten how to earn a victory, which I guess is what happens after you win 20 games at home in a row. Then the Little League props got replaced by MLB matchups. I took the Nationals who beat up on Manny Parra right on cue but I ended the day without a streak when the Houston Dynamo were unable to create much against Seattle in MLS play. Oh well, now it's time to go for a flurry of picks and try to get a big run up by throwing caution into the wind. So on to the picks.

Picks
1) Hammarby IF @ Gefle IF - Hammarby IF win or draw
2) How Many Earned Runs Will Cliff Lee Allow: 0 or 1 vs. 2 or more - 0 or 1
3) Aston Villa @ Liverpool - 3 goals or more
4) Prince Fielder vs. Ryan Zimmerman - Zimmerman records more total bases
5) Tampa Bay Rays @ Toronto Blue Jays - Toronto
6) New York Jets @ Baltimore Ravens - Baltimore
7) Cleveland Indians @ Kansas City Royals - Kansas City
8) Detroit Tigers @ Los Angeles Angels - Los Angeles
9) How Many Total Runs Scored In The 5^th Inning: 0 runs vs. 1 or more - 1 or more

August 23rd, 2009 Picks

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(skip to picks)Holy hell and damnation. I neglected to make any picks on Saturday and ended up going 11-3 overall. Of course, I have no way of knowing when I'm going to get better than 3 out of 4 picks right beforehand but it would have been nice to rack up a couple wins today. A week straight of over-.500, here's to 8 days in a row. So on to the picks!

Picks
1) Everton @ Burnley - Burnley win or draw
2) Hamburger SV @ VfL Wolfsburg - VfL Wolfsburg win
3) Mercer Island, Washington vs. Urbandale, Iowa - Mercer Island
4) Los Angeles Angels @ Toronto Blue Jays - Los Angeles
5) Milwaukee Brewers @ Washington Nationals - Washington
6) Minnesota Twins @ Kansas City Royals - Minnesota
7) San Francisco Giants @ Colorado Rockies - Colorado
8) Detroit Tigers @ Oakland Athletics - Detroit
9) San Antonio Silver Stars @ Detroit Shock - San Antonio
10) New York Yankees @ Boston Red Sox - Boston
11) Seattle Sounders FC @ Houston Dynamo - Houston win

August 22nd, 2009 Picks

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(skip to picks)Well, I bumped my streak up to 8 with Warner Robins from Georgia but aside from Little League my baseball picks were total shyte yesterday. The Red Sox were simply no match for the Yankees offensively, and San Francisco beat the Rockies with Aaron Cook heading out early (after 47 pitches) with a sore shoulder. The Cardinals just couldn't generate any offense and lost to SD while the Royals were oh so close to winning their game against Minnesota, or at least taking it into even more extra innings. I'll be going for a week straight picking over .500 tomorrow, so beware. I may not make it. And so on to the picks!

Picks
1) Stoke City @ Birmingham - Stoke City win or draw
2) Vancouver, British Columbia vs. Reynosa, Mexico - Reynosa
3) Willemstad, Curaçao vs. Maracaibo, Venezuela - Willemstad
4) Los Angeles Angels @ Toronto Blue Jays - Los Angeles
5) Roger Federer vs. Andy Murray - Federer
6) Warner Robins, Georgia vs. Staten Island, New York - Staten Island
7) Chicago Cubs @ Los Angeles Dodgers - Los Angeles
8) Arizona Diamondbacks @ Houston Astros - Houston
9) Matt Kenseth vs. Mark Martin - Martin has a better final position
10) Pittsburgh Steelers @ Washington Redskins - Washington
11) New York Giants @ Chicago Bears - Chicago
12) Detroit Tigers @ Oakland Athletics - Oakland
13) Indiana Fever @ Seattle Storm - Indiana
14) San Diego Chargers @ Arizona Cardinals - Arizona

August 21st, 2009 Picks

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(skip to picks)HSV wrapped up their Europa League qualifying tie today with a 5-1 win against EA Guingamp from French Ligue 2. The one goal for Guingamp was actually an own goal by backup keeper Wolfgang Hesl. Now HSV only have to avoid conceding five goals back in Hamburg while losing by 4 goals or less to advance to the group stage. Tomorrow looks to be a bit trickier than yesterday, especially if the Little League games get rained out and so on to the picks.

Picks
1) Staten Island, New York vs. Mercer Island, Washington - Staten Island
2) Nîmes Olympique @ Dijon FCO - Dijon FCO win
3) Taoyuan, Taiwan vs. Ramstein AFB, Germany - 12 runs or more
4) Urbandale, Iowa vs. Warner Robins, Georgia - Warner Robins
5) New York Yankees @ Boston Red Sox - Boston
6) Saskatchewan Roughriders @ Montreal Alouettes - 55 points or more
7) Tennessee Titans @ Dallas Cowboys - Dallas
8) Minnesota Twins @ Kansas City Royals - Kansas City
9) San Francisco Giants @ Colorado Rockies - Colorado
10) St. Louis Cardinals @ San Diego Padres - St. Louis

August 20th, 2009 Picks

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(skip to picks)Picked up another win with Liverpool beating Stoke City 4-0 while Burnley pulled off a huge upset, defeating Manchester United 1-0. Tomorrow looks like a switch back to some easier matchups, so good luck and on to the picks!

Picks
1) Mark Calcavecchia vs. Jonathan Byrd - Byrd cards a lower front 9 score
2) San Francisco Giants @ Cincinnati Reds - San Francisco
3) Hamburger SV @ Guingamp - Hamburger SV win
4) Sergio Garcia vs. Lucas Glover - Glover cards a lower front 9 score
5) Usain Bolt's 200m Finishing Time: 19.33 seconds or less vs. 19.34 seconds or more - 19.33 seconds or less
6) Valencia @ Stabæk IF - Valencia win
7) Atlanta Braves @ New York Mets - Atlanta
8) Philadelphia Eagles @ Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis
9) Josh Johnson strikeouts vs. Houston Astros hits off Johnson - Astros hits off Johnson
10) New England Revolution @ Seattle Sounders FC - Seattle Sounders FC win
11) Indiana Fever @ Sacramento Monarchs - 149 points or more
12) How Many Total Bases Will Albert Pujols Record: 2 or fewer vs. 3 or more - 2 or fewer

August 19th, 2009 Picks

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(skip to picks)Up to the 5 win mark again with the Americans taking 1^st and 3^rd in the 400m hurdles yesterday. The Tigers pulled off a nice win against Seattle to move a game further ahead of the White Sox in the division. With two outs and men on 2^nd and 3^rd Fernando Rodney got caught up in a battle with Jose Lopez. Lopez kept hitting the ball foul and had a full count. Rodney started throwing pitches high and inside, settling on a 99mph fastball. Finally with the 12^th pitch Rodney took the fastball down low, well out of the strike zone and got Lopez to whiff. End of game, Tigers win. It's good to have a dependable closer which most playoff bound teams do. Relief pitching made the difference tonight in two games with Boston winning and Texas losing and I suspect Boston's relief pitching will help land them the wild card spot in the AL. Well, on to the picks.

Picks
1) Ivo Karlovic vs. Paul-Henri Mathieu: 2 sets played vs. 3 sets - 2 sets
2) IAAF Men's Discus Final: Gerd Kanter vs. Any Other Throwers - Kanter
3) Maccabi Haifa @ FC Red Bull Salzburg - FC Red Bull Salzburg win
4) Manchester United (@ Burnley) vs. Liverpool (v. Stoke City) - Liverpool has a larger margin of victory
5) Los Angeles Angels @ Cleveland Indians - Los Angeles
6) Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz vs. Aaron Hill and Adam Lind - Hill and Lind record more total bases
7) Florida Marlins @ Houston Astros - Houston
8) Los Angeles Galaxy @ Chicago Fire - Los Angeles win or draw
9) How Many Innings Will Rich Harden Last: 6¹/₃ or less vs. 6²/₃ or more - 6¹/₃ or less
10) St. Louis Cardinals @ Los Angeles Dodgers - Los Angeles
11) Minnesota Lynx @ Los Angeles Sparks - 76 points or fewer in the 1^st half

Previews & Notes
1) In the first round Paul-Henri Mathieu defeated world #46 Mischa Zverev 6-1 7-5 while Ivo Karlovic took down #13 Gael Monfils 6-4 6-7(5) 7-6(2). The results are on the official tournament website, here. Discounting Challengers matches Karlovic is 1-0 against Mathieu with a straight sets victory in Rome last year. SkyBet has Karlovic as a fairly heavy favorite to win this match. Karlovic is +110 to win in straight sets while Mathieu is at +350 for a straight sets win. For 3 set victories it's +275 and +450 for Karlovic and Mathieu, respectively. This is the first match of the day on court 3 so barring weather it should start right on time and be decided well in time for the next picks of the day.

2) Gerd Kanter is far and away the biggest individual favorite to win this event and is even favored against the field. SkyBet has him at -200 with the biggest challenger being Virgiljus Alekna at +350. When accounting for the sportsbooks profits and combining the odds for the field, however, Kanter is only about -115 against the field. The IAAF website has a good preview for the final. Highlights being that Kanter has won 28 straight discus events with his last loss coming in July of 2008 to none other than Alekna.