May 27th, 2009 Picks

Finally got off that badwagon [sic] with a 2-0-0 day.

S. Williams def. K. Zakopalova 6-3 6-7⁷ 6-4

Klara Zakopalova took Serena Williams to three sets losing in 29 games, but she was incredibly close to losing in 18. Serena won the first set 6-3 and found herself up 5-3 in the second set when Zakopalova won three straight points to go up 40-love. Serena came roaring back to deuce and they battled over that game point for a long while. Ace, deuce, ace, deuce, and so on. Eventually Zakopalova won three straight points to take the game, and eventually the set 7(7)-6. Serena took the third set, though to send herself to the second round of the Roland Garros.

Pittsburgh 4 - 1 Carolina (Pittsburgh wins series 4-0)

They did it. The Pittsburgh Penguins swept the Hurricanes with a 4-1 win on the road. Gotta say the Penguins are going to be dangerous in the Stanley Cup. Assuming Detroit advances we'll be in for a true clash of the titans. And so on to the picks.

1) Nadia Petrova vs. Maria Sharapova – Petrova
2) Rafael Nadal vs. Teimuraz Gabashvili – 26 games or more
3) St. Louis Cardinals @ Milwaukee Brewers – Milwaukee
4) Detroit Tigers @ Kansas City Royals – Detroit
5) Manchester United vs. Barçelona – Manchester United
6) Los Angeles Dodgers @ Colorado Rockies – Los Angeles
7) Seattle Mariners @ Oakland Athletics – Oakland
8) Houston Astros @ Cincinnati Reds – Cincinnati
9) Chicago Blackhawks @ Detroit Red Wings – 6 goals or more
10) New York Yankees @ Texas Rangers – Texas
11) Boston Red Sox @ Minnesota Twins – Minnesota
12) Denver Nuggets @ Los Angeles Lakers – Kenyon Martin FG made
13) Jered Weaver’s Pitch Count: 99 or fewer vs. 100 or more – 100 or more
14) Atlanta Braves @ San Francisco Giants – Atlanta

1) You can check out each players' stats, results from this year and their head-to-head results at SonyEricssonWTAtour.com. There's also a nice interview with Sharapova where she admits she played poorly in the first round before turning things around. Their match will be played on the Suzanne Langlen court. I can only favor Petrova as she is currently the #11 ranked woman in the world, while Sharapova has dropped all the way below #100.

4) The Kansas City Royals hope they can avoid starting another losing streak when the Detroit Tigers finish up their three game series at Kauffman Stadium today. The Roayls were once division leaders, but have since dropped 13 of their last 18 and are now sitting at .500 (23-23), 3 games behind Detroit.

Ricky Porcello has been on fire, giving up 3 earned runs over his last 4 starts.

The Tigers will be starting 20 year old rookie Rick Porcello who, after tearing through the minors with AAA Lakeland, is having a terrific start to his Major league career. Porcello is coming off a 6 inning 6 hit against the Rockies in which he gave up only 1 run. That's just the latest in a run of solid play by Porcello, a run in which he has pitched 24 inninings over 4 games giving up just 3 earned runs.

He'll be facing a Kansas City team that has been batting .240 and slugging just .350 in their last three games. Royals' manager Trey Hillman is betting on the rough stretch coming to an end naturally, saying: "It's been a tough two-week stretch. Every team goes through two or three a season. But I'm hopeful we can pull out of this one, and then the next one that we go through can kind of apply what we learned through this one." Ideally it is just a rough patch and not an indication that their early season success was a extraordinary run of good play. Kansas City will need their offense behind starting pitcher Kyle Davies who was shellshocked in his last start against Detroit, lasting 5¹/₃ innings while giving up 7 earned runs from 8 hits.

I don't expect that to repeat itself again today, but the Tigers have punished Davies in the past and so Kansas City will need to provide at least 3 runs of support for him. The big question mark is whether Porcello can keep up his all-star pitching at such a young age. Detroit's bullpen isn't the greatest (4.63 ERA, 1.43 WHIP) and they have been winning games by taking large leads or having their pitchers go deep into the game. If Porcello can go 6 or 7 quality innings the Tigers should take the game, but if he gets touched up it could be very close and Kansas City would have a slight advantage in that situation. Overall I think both pitchers will give up some runs with the Tigers finding some power in their bats that's been lacking lately. That extra power hitting will provide extra runs and should be enough for Detroit to take a lead into the 7^th which the bullpen can hold on to.

5)

Manchester United could become the first ever repeat Champions League winners.

This is easily the biggest European football match of the year with most of the world looking to see who will be crowned champions of Champions. As such there are an abundance of great previews Goal.com London Telegraph Setanta Sports BBC Sports to ponder in making a selection today. Listen to Wayne Rooney express his belief that the Red Devils can

Don't be fooled by Barçelona's injuries. Pique and Puyol are tough and they will still be one of the strongest sides in the world.

win with defense and counter attacks. Barçelona will be dealing with the suspensions of Dani Alves and Rafael Marquez in the backfield, but I think they will still be a strong side. If Manchester United can apply the pressure Chelsea did on the Catalans, however, I think the strength of players like Ronaldo and Rooney will allow them to score.

10) Derek Holland will make his second start of the season, and probably his last for a long while.

Texas can only hope to take 2 out of 3 after the Yankees spanked them 11-1 on Monday.

With Vicente Padilla returning from injury, and likely to join the bullpen for today's game, Holland will have one last shot to make sure he's the first choice to fill in for any further blows to the rotation this season.

The Yankees will be making sure that does not happen. In their last 3 games the Yankees are batting an incredible .366, though their long hits have been curiously lacking. They're slugging .496 in those games which is terrific, but considering the sheer number of hits they are getting and that they've played their last three games in well-known hitters' parks their hitting has been dominated by singles. Though they are unlikely to match those batting numbers they should still see 3 or 4 runs posted on Holland.

A.J. Burnett, on the other hand, has a rock solid position in the Yankees' starting rotation, even after being knocked around a bit in his last four startsNYY 3 - 7 PHI (L)

NYY 3 - 2 MIN(W)

NYY 1 - 5 TOR(L)

NYY 3 - 4 TB(L). Burnett has not been credited with a win in 7 straight outings, a series of games in which the Yankees have gone 3-4 as a team. I think the Yankees will find Holland as talented as most pitchers they have faced this season and unless Burnett can shake out of his slump their bullpen will be working to keep a deficit from growing. It will be tough for their batters to make up ground as well because while the Rangers' bullpen is not stellar they do have a terrific closer in Francisco and Padilla's addition, should he play, will strengthen it further.

13)	Jared Weaver is very economical with his pitch count at 14.8 per inning this season.

Jared Weaver will face off against the Chicago White Sox today, a team against whom he has had great success. In two games last season he pitched for 15 scoreless innings, giving up only 4 hits total. He also threw over 100 pitches in both games. This season Weaver is averaging exactly 100 pitches and 6²/₃ innings over 9 starts and has thrown over 100 in 5 of those starts. Of his 30 starts last season he threw 100 pitches or more 17 times while averaging nearly 102 pitches and 6 innings per start. He is on a 100 pitch count and it's been enforced strictly this season, with Weaver exiting the game after 7 innings and just under 100 pitches 3 times. He averages a very economical 14.8 pitches per inning pitched, which would be 103 or 104 pitches in a 7 inning start. I think Weaver will reach 7 innings in this game, so it will be a matter of if he throws 100 pitches to get there. Unless he's under 85 or 90 pitches after 7 innings it's likely he will be relieved. If he has a bad game and is dominated by the White Sox he is likely to be pulled early, but he will be given a chance to settle down before then. Chicago has been hitting well in their series against the Angels so I like their chances to make hits and force Weaver to see extra batters and hit foul balls forcing him to throw extra pitches.

May 26th, 2009 Picks

Ouch, 0-2-0 today, meaning I picked none of my 7 winners and 2 of my 4 losers. Wandy Rodriguez and Ervin Santana were awful in their starts.

Cincinnati 8 - 5 Houston

Wandy got bailed out by his fielders, as he improved his ERA for the season despite giving up 10 hits and something like 5 or 6 runs. An error was assigned after the fact to the first hit, so Taveras reached first by error. His run is unearned, and because the fielder’s choice that scored him would have just put runners on 1^st and 2^nd with Taveras being out, then the foul out on the next at bat would have ended the inning so all the subsequent RBI singles given up by Wandy were also unearned.

Chicago White Sox 17 - 4 Los Angeles Angels

Santana started out much the same way, only difference was all 7 of his runs were earned, and with three outs to his credit he had a 63.00 ERA for the game. Ouch. The White Sox had one of their massive hitting nights and scored 17 runs. Kind of a crazy day in baseball with the Rays giving up a 10 run lead, so on to the picks.

1) Serena Williams vs. Klara Zakopalova – 19 games or more are played
2) Fabrice Santoro vs. Christophe Rochus – Rochus
3) BK Häcken @ Djurgårdens IF – BK Häcken win or draw
4) Tampa Bay Rays @ Cleveland Indians – Cleveland
5) Toronto Blue Jays @ Baltimore Orioles – Toronto
6) Houston Astros @ Cincinnati Reds – Houston
7) Pittsburgh Penguins @ Carolina Hurricanes – Pittsburgh
8) New York Yankees @ Texas Rangers – Texas
9) St. Louis Cardinals @ Milwaukee Brewers – Milwaukee
10) Cleveland Cavaliers @ Orlando Magic – Cleveland
11) Atlanta Braves @ San Francisco Giants - Lincecum records 8 strikeouts or fewer

Analysis
1) For those who never watched the opening rounds of Wimbledon on USA as a child tennis matches are made up of sets and games. Each set is won by being the first to 6 games, and winning at least 2 games more than the opponent. If each player wins 6 games there is a tie-break played where the first to reach 6 points and at least by 2 points wins the tie-break. So the minimum number of games in a set is 6 and the maximum number is 13. The match between Williams and Zakopalova is best 2 out of 3, so the minimum number of games a player must win, barring one player retiring (forfeiting) or being disqualified, is 12 and the maximum number is 39 games. For 19 or more games to be played both players must win 7 games, and that's all. I like those odds. You can check out the head-to-head history between these two players here. I noticed that both times these two have played on clay courts they played 19 or more games with Zakopalova winning the match earlier this year. You can follow the match live as well.

3)	Djurgården seek to gain 4 points on GAIS to avoid relegation to the Superettan.

BK Häcken have been tearing through the Swedish Cup so far.

BK Häcken visit Stockholms Olympiastadion to take on Djurgården coming off of a brilliant 3-0 home defeat of Helsingborg. It was difficult to get any injury news for Djurgården but here is a match report from their recent loss away at Trelleborg which lists their starting line up. There was no news of injury in the report so that may be the lineup they use for today's match. Unfortunately, the BK Häcken site has limited English translation. Here is an injury report for BKH, and essentially their only major concern is that Josef Karlsson will miss the match. The other players mentioned have returned to training and will be fit, or have not started for the team so far this season. One concern for BK Häcken is the appointment of Daniel Stålhammar as head official. Stålhammar led the crew overseeing their 0-3 loss away at GAIS earlier in the season and the fans are none too happy over the perceived advantage he gave their opponents. He also overruled his assistants on an offisdes call in a match BK Häcken played against AIK. I think Djurgården will be fighting hard to find some measure of success but BK Häcken will prove to be too tough for a team who has scored 5 goals in 10 matches, with the match ending in a draw.

5) The Toronto Blue Jays are on a monumental streak. Of weakness. In their past three games they are batting a barely respectable .255 and slugging just .294, or just 1.15 total bases per hit. To put that in perspective that comes out to one extra base hit every 8 hits.

Do the Blue Jays even have a shot of ending their home run drought against Berken?

They have also reached an unenviable mark of going 53 innings without a home run, a span of 6 games which has seen them on the losing end every time. The management appear to be just hoping for a big hit to get things back on track rather than focusing on specific elements of power hitting like mechanics and rotation; and why should they, considering they were one of the leaders in the Majors until this drought. They will be hoping they don't greet newcomer Jason Berken with flowers and champagne. Berken is one of the Orioles' most promising prospects and his move up to replace Adam Eaton was probably one to be made in the near future even without Eaton's being placed on the disabled list. Through 33¹/₃ innings in the minors this season Berken has recorded a 2.16 ERA and 1.05 WHIP while giving up only 2 home runs.

Toronto will counter with the return of Ricky Romero who had a 1.71 ERA and 1.10 WHIP in three major league starts before injuring himself, including a 7 inning, 4 hit gem against Oakland on April 19^th. He's certainly struggled a bit in his two rehab starts, giving up 10 earned runs in 9 innings with Dunedin (A adv.) and Las Vegas (AAA). Still, he's healthy now and it's not uncommon to see even the best pitchers struggle right out of the gate, or coming back from injury.

Overall I would say there are a couple of important factors pointing towards Baltimore winning this game: a pitcher who is playing much better more recently, and better offensive numbers for the past week. Based on each pitchers' numbers from last season, however, I would say Berken would be due to have a poor start even in the minors, and facing a Toronto team that is far overdue to start hitting again I would give the advantage to Toronto. Also, the Blue Jays' bullpen have recorded a lower ERA and WHIP and give up far fewer home runs than the Orioles'. I think each pitcher will struggle a bit tonight and those bullpens will be the deciding factor.

Tim Lincecum's season stats, and some graphs on Atlanta's performance against starting pitchers this year.

11) One thing to notice immediately from the graphs is that Tim Lincecum averages over 7 strikeouts per game while the Braves have yet to strike out more than 7 times against any starting pitcher they've faced in 44 games, including Johan Santana. The top graph shows how much greater or lower than average a pitcher's K/7 was against the Braves in that particular game. K/7 is exactly like K/9, strikeouts per 9 innings pitched, but for 7 innings. One can see they sometimes allow a pitcher to go far above their average while others can't seem to strikeout a Brave for the life of them. Last season Lincecum pitched against Atlanta twice and had 10 strikeouts and 8 strikeouts, so he definitely can reach 9 against them. He's the Freak of Nature after all. Lincecum's K/7 is 9.3, so if he can be economical with his pitches I like his chances, but in the end I have to go with the Braves who have yet to be struck out even 8 times this season.

May 25th, 2009 Picks

1-2-0 today. AS Roma defeated AC Milan 3-2 with 4 of the goals scored in the final third of the match. It was the first match of the season AC Milan had allowed more than 2 goals at San Siro in any competition against any team and increased their goals conceded at home by 33% for the season.

Then the Yankees failed to make the finishing play time and again with the Phillies’ fielders making New York pay for their aggressive base running. In the 10^th inning Jeter and Damon lead off with singles to put men on first and second, but Teixera ground into a double play and they could not advance Jeter from third to win the game. The Phillies were the opposite, twice scoring from two outs and no men on base. It was a good win for Philadelphia which they deserved.

My last pick was the Minnesota Twins, and Baker pitched terrifically, taking 4 hits and 1 earned run through 8 innings. He gave up a two run shot to Fielder but by that time Morneau had already hit a grand slam to add to Mauer and Cuddyer’s solo home runs. Minnesota ended up winning the game 6-3, handing me a 1 game streak.

1) Burnley vs. Sheffield United – Burnley are promoted
2) Kyle Busch vs. Jimmie Johnson – Busch has a better finishing position
3) Tony Stewart vs. Carl Edwards – Stewart has a better finishing position
4) Cornell vs. Syracuse – Syracuse
5) Houston Astros @ Cincinnati Reds – Houston
6) St. Louis Cardinals @ Milwaukee Brewers – Milwaukee
7) Boston Red Sox @ Minnesota Twins – Boston
8) Seattle Mariners @ Oakland Athletics – Oakland
9) Tampa Bay Rays @ Cleveland Indians – Tampa Bay
10) Los Angeles Lakers @ Denver Nuggets – Denver
11) Chicago White Sox @ Los Angeles Angels – Los Angeles

Analysis

1)	Burnley are 33 years removed from top-flight football.

Sheffield United make their fifth attempt at promotion to the Premier League in 13 years.

Burnley F.C. and Sheffield United meet today at Wembley Stadium for the English Championship promotion play-off final to determine who will join Wolverhampton Wanderers and Birmingham in the Premier League next season. Sheffield United have seen a great run of form, losing only once in their last 16 matches with that one loss coming against Burnley at Turf Moor. Burnley have really come together behind manager Owen Coyle and have only lost twice in their last 16 matches, away at Cardiff City and home to Sheffield Wednesday.

The match pits the lovable Owen Coyle against the experienced Kevin Blackwell, who has guided clubs to Wembley before only to meet with heartbreak. There are a number of great previews

BBC News

In The News

Setanta Sports

to this match and although the sportsbooks have the odds even up or Sheffield United slightly favored it sounds as if both sides almost expect Burnley to come out victorious. Blackwell especially seems to have the wrong focus, making an issue over the selection of head official Mike Dean, who sent off defender Kilgallon in the 27^th minute during their derby match with Sheffield Wednesday in October. Said Blackwell, "I'm very disappointed with the stupidity and insensitivity of the appointment. I'm not saying Mike Dean is not a good referee but at Hillsborough he had a poor game and my marks reflected that." and "It puts pressure on me as a manager and puts pressure on Mike Dean as a referee."

Add on top of this the various injury concerns facing the Blades and Burnley appear to be a mortal lock. The match will be very hard fought and both sides have the quality to be promoted. It's not an easy call to make, but football is like any other sport, and in the end I think Burnley's team spirit, chemistry, and the enjoyment they derive playing for Coyle will be enough to see them through.

5) The Cincinnati Reds start a stretch of 13 games against division rivals as they take on the visiting Houston Astros. Cincinnati's Joey Votto and Bruce Phillips are doubts for today's game, with Votto still suffering from an inner ear infection which causes him to become dizzy without warning and Phillips suffering from a broken thumb which he will try to play through once the swelling goes down. Their presence will be missed as the Reds face Houston's Wandy Rodriguez for the third time this season. The Reds lost the first two games

4/18 @HOU 7 - 0 CIN

4/28 @CIN 3 - 8 HOU

by a combined score of 15-3 with Rodriguez getting the best of Aaron Harang and the Reds both times. Coincidentally it will be Harang on the mound for Cincinnati in this game as well. After those first two games Houston is batting .260 and slugging .403 against Harang in their careers and I expect Harang will do better than those two outings in this game. That speaks well for Cincinnati's chances, but Wandy Rodriguez has been dominant this season, posting a 1.83 ERA and 1.00 WHIP through his first 9 starts. Without Votto and Phillips, and with Houston batting well enough against Harang to increase his ERA by 50% in less than 20% of his innings, I think Houston has a good chance to win this game. With or without Wandy Rodriguez pitching.

8) The Seattle Mariners may opt to keep Yuni Betancourt in the second spot after they defeated the San Francisco Giants 5-4, matching their highest run total since a 9-6 loss to Minnesota back on May 9^th. The Mariners have been tinkering with their batting order in an attempt to jump start their offense which ranks 27^th in the Majors despite playing as many games (45) as anyone in the league except Toronto (47) and Tampa Bay (46).

Oakland's 21 year old rookie Anderson faces off against Seattle's 30 year old rookie Jakubauskas.

Starting pitcher Chris Jakubauskas is focusing on his opponent's starter rather than on the lack of run support his team has been providing this season, saying: "If he's putting up a lot of zeros, you have to match him zero for zero until your offense can explode." He was able to do that in his last start, pitching 6 innings and giving up 0 earned runs and only 2 hits. The Mariners won that game 1-0.

Facing off against Jakubauskas this time will be 21 year old Brett Anderson. The Athletics' management has all the confidence in the world that Anderson will one day be a star in the Majors despite the struggles he's experienced so far this season. Those struggles might be excused considering Anderson's first 7 starts have included games against Toronto, the Yankees, Boston, Tampa Bay, and Detroit. They point out he has been pitching with a blister on his finger which has hindered him. In his last outing, pitching without a bandage, he limited the Angels to 2 earned runs from 4 hits in 6 innings. He also struck out 5 batters without walking any. Oakland will have to hope Anderson can do the same against the Mariners, though hopefully in 7 innings, as their bullpen has been struggling lately. They once led the Majors with a 2.58 ERA in the league but that number has increased to 3.78 in the past couple of weeks.

The Athletics should have Nomar Garciaparra in the lineup after giving him a day off to rest yesterday and that should help their offense which has been decent recently, batting .278 and slugging .444 in their series against Arizona. Both pitchers have shown glimpses of how good they could be, but at 30 years old I would give Jakubauskas less of a chance to shine than Anderson. With Oakland being in their home park and Seattle's offense due to have another week of games with less than 5 runs I think Oakland has the advantage in this game.

9) The Tampa Bay Rays travel to Cleveland to take on the Tribe with Scott Kazmir recently being placed on the disabled list. Rather than being a blow to the ballclub the Rays are seeing this as an incredible opportunity as they have activated first round draft pick David Price. Excitement is brimming over the highly touted prospect, who has a 3.97 ERA and 1.34 WHIP in 34¹/₃ innings with AAA affiliate Durham.

Tampa Bay will try to keep pace with the 9.3 runs per game they set in their previous series.

He will be facing off against Fausto Carmona

Carmona's Starts
B	M	M	M	Q	M	Q	M	M
(Best) G > Q > M > B > N (Worst)

, who has done very well against Tampa Bay this season and in seasons past. In 64 at bats against Carmona the Rays' lineup is batting .188 with a .266 slugging average, with Gabe Gross the only Ray batting over .300 with more than 1 hit off of him (.600 in 5 at bats). Tampa Bay, perhaps the hottest offense in baseball right now including the Twins, will surely test him. In their series against Florida the Rays had a combined batting average of .312 with a .504 slugging average en route to scoring 29 runs. I think Carmona will help them along in cooling off, which they've already started to on their own. The big question will be how Cleveland will hit off of Price. He may well end up needing only one or two runs of support in this game, and in that case the Rays have to be overwhelming favorites. Overall I can see Carmona having a quality start and with Cleveland likely to hit better than they have been Price could see a shaky inning or two. Unless Price lives up to his billing completely this could be a very close game in which the Indians are just as likely to win as Tampa Bay.

10) In Game 3 the Lakers showed their championship experience and the Nuggets their lack thereof. It was Denver who went ice cold in the fourth quarter after leading for most of the game. They missed their first 8 shots in the fourth and made some crucial mistakes down the stretch, such as the infamous Kenyon Martin inbounds pass. For Denver to win this game they will need to keep their composure and otherwise the same rules apply for each team to come away with victory.

May 24th, 2009 Picks

2-3-0… a discouraging day. Alabama did their thing and beat Jacksonville State 9-0 for the third time this year, then the Nationals showed why they’re the worst team in baseball with an utter lack of clutch hitting. Detwiler had a good outing, but lost his concentration in the third inning, walking three straight batters. A ground ball turned into an RBI single when no National player bothered to cover 2nd base and the Orioles posted their only earned run on Detwiler. An RBI triple, Baltimore’s third and last hit of the game, was enough to beat Washington 2-1. Uehara came out of the game after 4 innings as well with stiffness in his hamstring, so the Nationals never got a chance to hit off of him after 80 pitches.

Singh losing was alright, I knew it would be a close with one of the two winning by a stroke, it just turned out to be Davis Love III. And I was just a total sucker to take Virginia in lacrosse instead of the Rangers in a sport I kind of know a little bit about. It would've been a truly shitty day if the Giants had ended up losing. After picking MLB teams who had scored a combined 1 run in 25 innings San Francisco finally broke out for 5 in the top of the 8^th. So on to the picks.

1) AS Roma @ AC Milan – AC Milan win
2) Rod Pampling vs. Steve Flesch – Pampling cards a lower front 9 score
3) Manchester United @ Hull City – Manchester United win
4) Danica Patrick vs. Marco Andretti – Patrick has a better finishing position
5) Philadelphia Phillies @ New York Yankees – New York
6) Tampa Bay @ Florida Marlins – Florida
7) New York Mets @ Boston Red Sox – New York
8) Byron Nelson Winner: R. Sabbatini or D. Johnson vs. Rest Of Field – Rest of field
9) Kansas City Royals @ St. Louis Cardinals – St. Louis
10) Detroit Red Wings @ Chicago Blackhawks – Chicago
11) Arizona Diamondbacks @ Oakland Athletics – Oakland
12) San Francisco Giants @ Seattle Mariners – San Francisco
13) Milwaukee Brewers @ Minnesota Twins – Minnesota
14) Cleveland Cavaliers @ Orlando Magic – Cleveland

Analysis

1)	AC Milan can secure their spot in the Champions League with a victory.

AS Roma need a victory for their place in the Europa League, but will have to do without de Rossi and a portion of their backfield.

With a victory at San Siro AC Milan AC Milan, could clinch their place in next years Champions League Group Stage and avoid the qualification phase which can be strenuous on a club seeking success in their domestic league. It will be defender and captain Paolo Maldini's final appearance at San Siro after 901 matches over 24 seasons. Emotions will be running high for il Rossoneri and the crowd should be large and raucous providing support for the most celebrated player in AC Milan's recent history.

AS Roma will not be intimidated as they seek to secure their place in next year's Europa League. With Palermo and Udinese 2 and 3 points behind them they can only hope those sides meet with defeat as they play away at Atalanta and Sampdoria. A victory for il Giallorossi would leave them needing only to draw at home against Torino in their final match even if Palermo wins their match as well. AS Roma's defense, worst amongst teams not currently in the relegation zone with 57 goals conceded this season, will be depleted for the match with Cicinho, Max Tonetto, Juan and goalkeeper Alexander Doni out with injury. They will also have to do without key midfielder Daniele de Rossi, suspended for the match, who has started 32 matches for them this season. AC Milan will not be without their own injury concerns, but will still be able to field a strong side. Starting keeper Christian Abbiati is out for the season, but his replacement, Dida, has performed admirably in conceding 4 goals in 7 matches.

Recent Form - AC Milan
Home	Away	Result	Opp. Away GD
AC Milan	Juventus	1 - 1	+10
AC Milan	Palermo	3 - 0	-10
AC Milan	Torino	5 - 1	-19
AS Roma (Away): 4-5-9, -10GD

Recent Form - AS Roma
Home	Away	Result	Opp. Home GD
Cagliari	AS Roma	2 - 2	+11
Fiorentina	AS Roma	4 - 1	+17
Lazio	AS Roma	4 - 2	-1
AC Milan (Home): 14-3-1, +28GD

After 24 years Maldini says goodbye to San Siro.

Here is a preview from goal.com, where they predict a 1-0 win for AC Milan. Personally, I think we'll see a bit more scoring than that. Sportsbooks have AC Milan undervalued a bit with a 48% to 52% chance of winning, depending on where one looks. Although they have had their troubles finishing lately their dominance at San Siro this season is reason enough for me to selct them. With AS Roma having conceded 10 goals in their previous 3 away matches and AC Milan having conceded 9 goals at San Siro in 18 matches it appears as if il Giallorossi have a difficult task ahead.

5) The New York Yankees, winners of 10 of their past 11 games, host the Philadelphia Phillies for the third and final time of the season and look to go 2-1 against the defending champions after an Alex Rodriguez home run and Melky Cabrera double gave Brad Lidge another blown save for the season. It will be C.C. Sabbathia's first game against the Phillies since giving up a go-ahead grand slam to Shane Victorino in the National League playoffs last year. Sabbathia is back in top form after he started the season shakily against Baltimore.

Nick Swisher looks to bat out of a slump against Cole Hamels today.

In his last three starts he has pitched 24 innings, given up 3 earned runs from 12 hits, and struck out 20 batters while walking only 5. That's a 1.13 ERA and 0.71 WHIP against Baltimore (2×) and against Toronto at the Rogers Centre. It will be interesting to see whether he can keep Philadelphia from hitting the long ball, as he's given up only 3 home runs through 9 starts, but has allowed the Phillies to slug .466 off of him in 58 at bats.

Philadelphia will rely on Cole Hamels to limit the Yankees today, with the 25 year old left hander recording a 4.23 ERA and 1.40 WHIP through 7 starts this season. Hamels also endured a rocky start that lasted a bit longer and it's taken him more time to get back to business but he's starting to resemble the man who was MVP of the World Series last season. His last start, against the Cincinnati Reds, showed he still has a ways to go, however, as he gave up 3 earned runs off of 5 hits, 2 of them home runs. Hamels has already been hit for the distance 8 times this season in only 36¹/₃ innings pitched. The Yankees will certainly be a threat to tack on some runs against Hamels in today's game.

New York's bullpen has also been problematic this season, though they can be forgiven for leading the Majors in home runs given up playing half of their games at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees have had the offense to still win those games, as the home run hitting works both ways. Even a solid pitching corps like the Phillies have can give up big shots in the new ballpark. Overall, I think the Yankees' success in this game depends on the performance of C.C. Sabbathia in limiting the Phillies' run production. The Yankees should be able to score against a less than impressive Cole Hamels so he will need some run support in this game. Philadelphia, batting a monstrous .312 and slugging .624 in their last three games, can certainly provide it. While they are unlikely to match those numbers today I expect them to still have a good game at the plate and a great game from Sabbathia would involve keeping Philadelphia from scoring more than 3 runs.

9) St. Louis attempts to sweep cross-border Kansas City in their third meeting in interleague play. The Cardinals have won the first two games by a combined score of 10-0 with terrific play from their pitching staff and fielders limiting Kansas City to 10 hits in the two games. Kansas City will have to hope they can find a light at the end of the tunnel soon as they have an overall batting average of .179 with a slugging average of .232 in their last 3 games, on their way to scoring 3 runs total. It won't get any easier when they face contact pitcher Joel Piniero who is coming off his best game of the season and one of the best games by any pitcher this year.

Kansas City seeks their first run of the series today.

Piniero pitched a complete game shutout against the Cubs at Busch Stadium, allowing 3 hits total without walking a single batter. His style of throwing strikes low in the zone and letting the fielders do their job was executed to perfection in the game. A second complete game shutout is highly unlikely, but 5 or 6 innings of scoreless pitching could be on the menu.

The Kansas City Royals counter with Brian Bannister, who is coming off his worst outing of the season, giving up 5 earned runs from 9 hits to the Cleveland Indians. Bannister throws difficult to hit pitches and the Indians were simply in the zone with choosing the right pitches to swing at so I expect Bannister to have a much better game this time out. Unfortunately for the Royals, St. Louis is finally starting to see a resurgence in hitting after going through their own multi-game slump. In their last 3 games the Cardinals are batting .242 with a .440 slugging average while scoring 13 runs. With Ricky Ankiel and Ryan Ludwick set to return to the lineup soon the Cardinals are hoping to retake their place at the top of the NL Central.

Overall, I like Piniero's style of pitching even if he puts a lot of balls in play. It's no fluke he's only given up 2 home runs in 54¹/₃ innings pitched and the Royals will be happy to put any runs on the board against him. Bannister is who he is and the Cardinals will be lucky to hit him as well as the Indians did last week so I think the game will be very close. Bannister is more likely to walk batters, however, and any extra base runners ups the chances of a run being scored. With Pujols and the rest of the Cardinals hitting a bit better I think their chances of scoring one or two more runs than the Royals are good enough to favor their sweeping Kansas City.

11) The Oakland Athletics try to avoid a sweep at the hands of slugger Matt Holliday's old division rivals the Arizona Diamondbacks. Oakland lost the first two games by 1 run each, and in extra innings yesterday even after touching up Arizona ace Dan Haren. Oakland has been hitting well recently, .283 batting and .442 slugging, with the help of Holliday, who is batting .270 with 6 home runs in the month of May. Oakland will start sophomore pitcher Josh Outman (3.31 ERA and 1.26 WHIP in 6 starts) who is coming off of 6 shutout innings against Tampa Bay, giving up only 3 hits. Even though they'll Outman they will want to make sure they provide him with plenty of run support and put the outcome of the game beyond doubt.

Jon Garland will be starting for Arizona, who has been very up and down this season on the way to recording a 4.72 ERA and 1.51 WHIP. For example, in his last start he limited the Marlins to 1 run off of 7 hits but in his previous start lasted only 3²/₃ innings after giving up 7 runs on 10 hits against the Cincinnati Reds. I would expect Oakland to continue hitting well against Garland who is as likely to have a poor game as a good one, so the Diamondbacks will need to give him 3 or more runs of support. They'll hope Stephen Drew's luck has changed and that he really is done with his batting struggles after he went 3 for 4 yesterday, including batting in the go ahead and eventual winning runs in the extra innings. If Garland can have his second consecutive quality start the Diamondbacks will have a shot to win, but I have to favor Oakland who has been hitting more often lately and with Josh Outman pitching, a prospect who is proving day after day that he is a star.

May 23rd, 2009 Picks

2-1-0 today, with the Alabama Crimson Tide piling on 7 runs in the 3^rd inning, then I picked the Pirates. Pittsburgh barely managed two hits off of Gavin Floyd. Zach Duke pitched a good game, 8 innings, 6 hits, 2 earned runs, but when the support is lacking so badly you get only 2 hits, let alone 2 runs, it's tough to pick up a win. My last pick was the Los Angeles Angels. Kershaw and Weaver both did terrific, getting themselves out of jams and giving up only 1 earned run despite putting men on base most innings. Cory Wade gave up a couple of singles and walked a batter to load the bases with only one out in the 8^th inning and Figgins drove in a couple of runs to give the Angels a 3-1 lead. Arredondo and Fuentes completed the game without allowing any Dodgers to reach base. So on to the picks.

1) Vijay Singh vs. Davis Love III – Singh cards a lower front 9 score
2) TSG Hoffenheim @ Schalke 04 – Schalke 04 win
3) Duke vs. Stanford – Duke
4) Alabama (v. Jacksonville State) vs. Washington (v. Georgia Tech) – Alabama win margin
5) Cornell vs. Virgnia – Virginia
6) Texas Rangers @ Houston Astros – Texas
7) Baltimore Orioles @ Washington Nationals – Washington
8) Milwaukee Brewers @ Minnesota Twins – Milwaukee
9) Pittsburgh Penguins @ Carolina Hurricanes – Carolina
10) Greg Biffle vs. Kevin Harvick – Harvick has a better finishing position
11) Los Angeles Lakers @ Denver Nuggets – Denver
12) San Francisco Giants @ Seattle Mariners – San Francisco

Analysis
1) Vijay Singh had arthroscopic knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee after the Mercedes-Benz Championship in January. He missed three weeks on the Tour while rehabilitating and missed the cut of the first two events he participated in and has played about every other weekend since then. He looked good in The Players Championship at Sawgrass, finishing 9^th but has been below average so far this weekend. He has played this event every year from 2001 to 2007 but missed last year. Since the event was played on the Cottonwood Valley course for one round until 2008 Singh has played only 21 rounds on the TPC course in that time despite missing the cut only once. He's carded front 9 scores of -1 (6×) and -2 (8×) most often with a best score of -4 in 2004 and a worst score of +3 in 2006.

Vijay Singh and Davis Love III - Front 9 Scorecards - TPC Four Seasons
Player/Round	1/4	2/3	3/4	4/4	5/3	6/4	7/5	8/4	9/4	Out/35
Love III/1st	4	3	4	5	2	3	4	5	4	34
Love III/2nd	4	2	3	4	4	4	3	4	3	31
Singh/1st	4	3	4	3	4	3	5	3	4	33
Singh/2nd	4	3	3	3	4	4	4	4	4	33
Click on hole # to see a gallery of images.				Eagle		Birdie		Par		Bogey

Davis Love III has been fairly good this season, finishing near the top 25 in most events, though he did miss the cut at the TPC at Sawgrass. This is the first time he has participated in the event since 2002. That year he carded front 9 scores of E, +1, and -1. Looking at the scorecard one can see that Vijay Singh has bogeyed in both rounds on hole #5. Singh overhit his tee shot both times, failing to land on the green and two-putting from 8 to 9 feet after the chip shot. I think Singh will continue to have trouble putting, but also that Davis Love III will not have such a stellar performance on the green as he did in the second round. I think both players will card 34 or 33 and would favor Davis Love III in this matchup if it weren't for Singh showing he was healthy enough to succeed at Sawgrass.

4) Alabama defeated Jacksonville State 9-0 in 5 innings after they exploded for 7 runs in the bottom of the 3^rd. Alabama had already defeated Jacksonville State 9 - 0 in 5 innings on February 8^th so it was no fluke. Looking over the Crimson Tide's schedule this season has seen them win by nearly 7 runs in 53 wins by limiting their opponents to an average of 1 run in their losses.

Washington will face Georgia Tech for the first time this season after going 3-1 in their regional by outscoring their opponents by an average of 6 runs to 2. Washington is one of 6 PAC-10 schools to make it to their Super Regional, the most of any conference. This season the Huskies have been very successful, defeating #1 Florida 1-0 in 9 innings on February 20^th and splitting a pair of games with Alabama, each team winning once 6-0. In 44 wins Washington has held their opponents to an average of 1.3 runs while scoring 6.3 themselves.

Alabama score 9 or more runs in 37.7% of their wins while Washington scored 9 or more in only 25% of theirs, though the Huskies did play a tougher schedule. I think more than anything it will come down to how many runs Georgia Tech and Jacksonville State score and allow and there the advantage goes to seeded Georgia Tech. You can follow each game with NCAA.com's Gametracker application for edge of your seat 'action'.

6) The Texas Rangers visit the Houston Astros in a game that would be an intra-state rivalry if the two teams weren't in separate leagues. The Rangers won the first game 6-5 after Nelson Cruz hit his ninth home run of the season in the top of the 10^th. Starting for Texas in this game will be Scott Feldman who has recorded a 4.04 ERA and 1.18 WHIP in his fifth season, making this a career year for him.

The Rangers can put their stamp on the state of Texas with a second win over the Astros today.

After struggling through 6²/₃ innings and giving up 9 earned runs as a relief pitcher Feldman has given up a a total of 7 earned runs in 29 innings as a starter. His last start was against the Los Angeles Angels where he pitched 6 scoreless innings by giving up only 4 hits. Houston should make life tough for him with Hunter Pence being red hot in the month of May. As a whole the Astros' lineup has taken 21 at bats against Feldman, batting .286 and slugging nearly double that. Texas will have to hope Feldman has imporved since then, and I would like to think he has. The Rangers will also return Chris Davis to the lineup after giving him a day off yesterday in the hope it will spark his batting. In his last 5 games he has gone 0 for 16 with 8 strikeouts. If Davis can add his bat to those of Kinsler, Jones, and Hamilton, to name just a few, the Rangers should be able to provide Feldman with all the run support he needs.

Houston will have Brian Moehler on the mound who suffered through a horrendous start to the season, giving up 12 earned runs over 4 innings in his first two starts. Yes, his ERA was 27.00 when he was put on the disabled list. Since coming back he has done much better with Houston winning two of his three starts, including 6-5 over the Cubs in his last start. How he'll do against the slugger heavy Rangers lineup is anybody's guess though I expect him to have a quality start at Minute Maid Park, allowing 3 or 4 runs in 5 or 6 innings.

Both teams are batting fairly well recently with Houston getting more hits on average, but Texas is getting more bases out of their hits in their last 3 games. With Texas, however, the offense can come from anywhere in the order, while Houston is relying on 3 or 4 batters spread throughout the lineup to score runs. One thing that has me favoring Texas in the end is the relief pitching of the Astros. Houston's relievers have given up the second most home runs in the league, behind only the Yankees' bullpen, with every pitcher in their rotation having given up at least 1 home run and the bullpen as a whole giving up a home run every 6 innings they pitch. Against a Rangers team that has racked up 67 home runs in 41 games that is not good news.

UPDATE: Ian Kinsler, Michael Young and Andruw Jones are not in the lineup today. They will be replaced by Omar Vizquel, Hank Blalock, and Josh Hamilton

7) The Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals play the second game of their interleague Beltway Battle today. Baltimore took the first game with a 2 RBI double by Adam Jones in the top of the 12^th inning. Washington had only 4 hits in the game, and have not hit too well in their past three games at all with a batting average of .180 and a .260 slugging average.

The Nationals seek just their third win in 11 games.

That's a big slump for a team who is batting .272 on the season. They will be facing off against 34 year old right hander Koji Uehara. The Orioles picked up Uehara from the Yomiuri Giants where he was very successful, winning his first 15 starts as a rookie in 1999. As an Oriole he's done well, recording a 4.34 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP. His last start, at Kansas City, was typical of how his season has gone, as he pitched 5 innings, giving up 2 hits and 1 run and then proceeded to give up 4 hits and 3 runs to lead off the top of the 6^th. Uehara would have all-star numbers were it not for his tendency to put men on base and give up runs near the end of his pitch count.

Out of the other dugout will be Ross Detwiler who has one start in the Majors this season after pitching for Harrisburg (AA). He was relieved after 5 innings with the Nationals in the lead, but once again the Washington bullpen went down hard, giving up 7 runs and giving Detwiler a no decision start. Baltimore has been batting (.280) and slugging (.500) above average in their last three games and Washington's pitching will be tested.

Yesterday's game saw the bullpens perform well, but Washington's eventually gave out. In this game I think the Nationals' offense will wake up, though probably later in the game given Uehara's track record of quality starts. Hopefully, for the Nationals, the younger Detwiler can live up to his potential and he should give the Nationals an advantage over the aging Uehara and the Orioles. Then it would be a tossup over which bullpen will blow up first, but with Ron Villone joining the team on May 7^th and the general management figuring out who should be in their relief sequence I think the Nationals have a very good chance of winning this one at home.

11) The Los Angeles Lakers head to Denver to take on the Nuggets with the series tied 1-1 after a disappointing 3 point loss in Game 2. Los Angeles looked like they might steal another game, literally, when Trevor Ariza stole a J.R. Smith pass and fed Kobe Bryant the ball to tie the game up at 101 apiece. The Nuggets took the lead again and forced a jump ball on the next possession and Ariza simply fumbled the ball away to give Denver possession and eventually the game.

It's been a while since Denver last appeared in a Conference Finals.

The difference between a win and a loss for Denver in the two games was offensive rebounding. They had 7 offensive rebounds in Game 1 and doubled that number with 14 in Game 2. The Nuggets also improved on their free throw shooting in Game 2 with Billups and Anthony taking 30 of their 37 attempts for the game, whereas in Game 1 the duo took less than half of the teams attempts and it showed with Denver shooting 65.7% from the line in the first game. For the Lakers the difference was not much, 3 fewer three pointers in Game 2, 4 fewer offensive rebounds, and that turnover by Ariza. There's really no reason to expect today's game to be anything other than a slug 'em out battle, other than Denver having home court, with the winner being who can deliver strong blows after taking one themselves.

Los Angeles will need to do a better job of fronting Carmelo Anthony, keeping the ball out of his hands, and trapping Chauncey Billups, forcing him to give up the ball early in the possession. The Lakers have an advantage at the foul line when they force other Nuggets players to take those free throws rather than allowing Billups and Anthony to get in the paint and either make close range shots or put them on the line. That will be the biggest factor in Los Angeles winning this game, I believe. On the other end of the court Denver has done a bang up job swarming Pau Gasol, making it difficult for him to take advantage of the smaller defenders so L.A. will need to make the extra pass and have their role players knocking down the open shots available to them.

Denver might like to try a little role reversal and take the Lakers' place in the Finals

Denver will be looking to get better play out of their two bench stars, Chris Andersen and J.R. Smith. Anderson has combined for 10 points, 2 offensive rebounds, and 3 blocked shots in the two games, while Smith has gone 3 for 9 from three point range. With solid defense and offensive rebounding the Nuggets will win this game if those two players can improve in those areas with Smith shooting 40% from three point range and Andersen collecting 4 offensive rebounds and 3 blocks. If they don't get those contributions a random appearance by Andrew Bynum could make their efforts on Gasol, and their victory at the Staples Center, all for naught.

12) The San Francisco Giants have hit a terrible slump, going 2-8 in their last 10 games, batting .178 in their last 3, and scoring only 4 runs in those games. The Seattle Mariners have not been much better, batting .210 and slugging only .219 in their last 3 games on route to scoring 3 runs.

Can the Giants score at Safeco Field?

Amazingly they have gone 2-1 in that stretch behind the strength of their pitching staff and a bullpen sequence that now includes a fully healthy Miguel Batista. San Francisco is hoping they can turn their luck around with Matt Cain pitching. Cain went 15-30 the past two seasons, mostly due to a lack of run support. Against Garret Olson the Giants have a hope of at least hitting their average numbers, around .250 and 4 runs per game. Cain could certainly shut out the Mariners for 6 or 7 innings, much like he did to the Mets in his last start. If the Giants fail to break out of their overall hitting slump, and provide run support early on for Cain, the Mariners bullpen should be able to hold them off and provide Seattle with a victory. I have a feeling the Giants won't let it come to that today and Cain will pick up his fifth win of the season.

May 22nd, 2009 Picks

Ahh man, I was all set to take it easy on the stunt props, and started out only taking Banalore which was a true blue guaranteed lock when you could select the matchup after Bangalore had already won the toss and elected to bat first. So my streak was at 9 and for some reason I went with no scoring in the 1st inning with Texas and Detroit instead of waiting for Greinke. A first inning home run by each team ended that streak and from there it was a flurry of poor selections. A couple were just bad luck, like a fielding error by Minnesota allowing Quentin to get to bat for the Sox and getting the 2nd hit of the inning, and Bedard giving up a home run to Rivera in the first inning with 3 balls on the count. There ended up being only 3 extra base hits in the entire game, all home runs by the Angels.

Overall I went 8-6-0 on the day, so it could have been worse. Amazingly, with all of the obvious majority picks that won today the largest streak coming out is only 23 with a 20 win streak and 48 wins overall being the new target for the Streak 7. Crap, ah well, on to the picks.

1) Jacksonville State vs. Alabama – 6 runs or more
2) Dijon FCO @ SC Amiens – SC Amiens win
3) New York Mets @ Boston Red Sox – Boston
4) Tampa Bay Rays @ Florida Marlins – Florida
5) Detroit Red Wings @ Chicago Blackhawks – Chicago
6) Pittsburgh Pirates @ Chicago White Sox – Pittsburgh
7) Hedo Turkoglu vs. Mo Williams – Turkoglu pts.
8) Richard Gutierrez vs. Antwone Smith – Smith wins
9) San Francisco Giants @ Seattle Mariners – Seattle
10) Los Angeles Angels @ Los Angeles Dodgers – L.A. Angels

Analysis
2) Dijon FCO visit Stade de la Licorne (Stadium of the Unicorn) to take on SC Amiens who are currently 4 points clear of safety with two matches remaining in the season.

SC Amiens seek their place in Ligue 2

Dijon FCO have injuries to worry about, but no pressure to win.

Amiens could clinch their spot in Ligue 2 with a win today, and with an away match at Boulogne to finish the season they can ill-afford to come away with a single point. Dijon FCO have cemented their position in Ligue 2 and since have lost two straight by a score of 5-1, away at Troyes and home against Angers. One can see they also lost a recent away match at Nimes who are currently in last place in Ligue 2. Amiens have also had difficulties with trying to cement their position in Ligue 2, having been unable to win a home match outright since a 2-0 defeat of 2^nd place Montpellier. One of their biggest problems has been holding out on defense through the entire 90 minutes, having been up 3-1 against Guingamp before conceding late goals. Indeed, Amiens led 1-0 at Dijon into the 89^th minute before two late goals gave Dijon the victory in that match.

Recent Form - SC Amiens
Home	Away	Result	GD
Amiens	Guingamp	3 - 3	-4
Ameins	Tours	0 - 0	-10
Amiens	Angers	1 - 1	-5
GD: Opponents goal differential in away matches

Recent Form - Dijon FCO
Home	Away	Result	GD
Troyes	Dijon	2 - 1	+4
Nimes	Dijon	2 - 1	+1
Brest	Dijon	1 - 2	+3
GD: Opponents goal differential in home matches

Going into this match Amiens are able to field their strongest side while Dijon FCO face a couple of concerns with defenders Stephane Morisot and Desire Periatambee out, and second leading goal scorer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang tied up with their amateur team. Dijon will still be dangerous on the attack with Carrière and Ribas available to start but these injuries and Amiens' motivation for safety have been enough to move the opening lines on this match greatly in favor of Amiens and I am inclined to agree. Amiens have shown some skill this season and it has been late lapses in play that have cost them a higher position in Ligue 2. As long as Amiens stay focused they should be able to come away with a 2-1 home victory and a place in Ligue 2 next season.

3) When the New York Mets visit Fenway Park for their fist interleague game of the season the storyline of the night will be Daisuke Matsuzaka, coming off the disabled list and a stint in the minor leagues, facing off against Johan Santana, the best pitcher in the league today. New York will hope to end a streak of poor hitting which has seen them lose 4 straight, while batting .229 and slugging .286 in their last three games. Fortunately they will have Johan Santana on the mound. Santana has a 1-3 record in his career at Fenway with a 6.89 ERA, but he has been pitching better than he ever has in his career with a 1.36 ERA and 1.04 through 8 starts, so hopes are high for a quality start from the Venezuelan ace tonight. Santana is coming off a rocky start against the Giants in which he pitched 7 strong innings, striking out 7 and walking zero batters, but still gave up 4 earned runs off of 11 hits. It was a rare game in which the Mets provided sufficient run support and New York won 9-6.

Matsuzaka's health will be paramount for Boston's success.

Santana will have his work cut out for him as the Red Sox are coming off a sweep of division leaders Toronto, batting .296 and slugging .589 in the series. New York will have to hope the small size of Fenway Park and the potential rustiness of Matsuzaka play in their favor in rediscovering their offensive prowess. The Mets will plan on rotating Wright, Beltran, and Sheffield at the designated hitter position, with Sheffield being the only one of the three to ever have taken an at bat against Matsuzaka. In fact, only two Mets have faced Matsuzaka, with Reed being the other. Sheffield has gone 6 for 11 against the Japanese right-hander, with 1 HR and 2 doubles. The Mets hope Sheffield can play tonight, probably in the designated hitter position, after he missed the series with the Dodgers with an illness.

Boston's hopes will focus on Daisuke Matsuzaka being fully healthy, after having pitched 11²/₃ innings over 3 games for the Pawtucket Sox after two atrocious outings where he recorded a 12.79 ERA and 3.00 WHIP forced him onto the disabled list. The Red Sox will need to get a solid 6 innings out of Matsuzaka, giving up no more than 4 runs against a Mets team sure to rebound at least somewhat offensively. If Santana can shutout Boston's offense, a tall order, they will have a great chance of winning this game, but if he gives up even 2 runs it will take a monumental effort from the Mets' bats to avoid losing a lead late in the game.

6) The Pittsburgh Penguins begin their interleague play against a team who absolutely demolished them last season, the Chicago White Sox. In that series the White Sox were struggling, much like this year. The visit to U.S. Cellular Field reversed the fortunes of the two teams as the Pirates were destroyed, giving up 10 home runs to the Sox in a supposed pitchers' park.

Can Duke help the Pirates reverse their fortunes at The Cell?

The Pirates were outscored 37-15 during the game sweep. Fortunately, the Pirates will have Zach Duke, who has given up only 3 home runs in 57 innings, pitching this time around. Duke is having a great season thus far, with a 2.84 ERA and 1.09 WHIP. He struggled a bit in his last game, and the fielding behind him didn't help as he gave up 4 ER off of 6 H in 7 innings. In his next previous start, against Colorado, he pitched 8 innings and gave up 1 earned run off of 4 hits while striking out 5 and walking 1 batter. Impressively, Duke has given up only 10 earned runs in his last 4 starts combined. Duke doesn't strike out too many, but he rarely walks batters as well, specializing in ground outs. Another difference this season is that the Pirates have Craig Monroe and Eric Hinske available as designated hitters, each of whom have played the position in the American League in past seasons. Monroe, who has batted .231, with 13 HR and 46 RBIs in 84 games as a DH and has done well this season as a sometimes starter and pinch hitter, will most likely get the start against the left-handed Gavin Floyd. Pittsburgh has been a tad anemic at the plate with a .226 batting average and .349 slugging average in their last 3 games, but overall have been better than Chicago in batting and slugging despite the White Sox hitting 13 more home runs in 1 fewer game.

Chicago has been down of late, going 3-7 in their last 10 games and losing their last game 20-1 against Minnesota yesterday. Part of the reason for that run of losses was the absence of sluggers like Jermaine Dye, Jim Thome, and Carlos Quentin. With Thome and Dye in the lineup the White Sox batted .232 and had a .411 slugging average which helped them collect two victories against the Twins. The White Sox hope Carlos Quentin's return to the starting lineup at 3rd base will further strengthen their power hitting. Chicago looks to continue their success against Pittsburgh at U.S. Cellular Field where they have gone 7-2 against the Bucs. At the other end of their lineup the White Sox will start Gavin Floyd. Floyd has been struggling this season with only 2 quality starts in 8 games. He's been downright bad for the past month or so. In his last three games he has lasted 5 innings in each, giving up a combined 20 earned runs off of 24 hits and walking nearly as many batters as he's struck out. I expect he'll be able to settle down a bit and have at least a decent outing, going for 6 innings. If he gives up 4 runs or less it would be considered a success for him. Overall, I think the Pirates are primed to have a good game at the plate and Duke should do well to limit Chicago's long hits. Gavin Floyd will probably pitch better in terms of strikeouts and walks, but I think he will still put men on base and give up more than a few runs off of singles and doubles. I like Pittsburgh to take an early lead and hold on to it in this game, reversing their fortunes at 'The Cell'.

Mo Williams had a 43 point game at home earlier in the season.

7) Looking at the graph above it's clear both Mo Williams and Hedo Turkoglu can put up big numbers, or suffer through poor shooting to post 12 or less. Williams has scored 17 or more points in 55.6% of his home games this season, including the playoffs while Turkoglu has scored 17 or more in only 42.6% of his road games. In four games facing one another Williams is averaging 15.0 points per game and Turkoglu is averaging 15.8 points, holding a slight edge due to his consistency in those games. Williams has scored 10, 12, 17, and 21 points against the Magic and it's those low point totals that have me favoring Turkoglu in this matchup. After shooting so well in Game 1 the Magic might be expected to struggle more as Cleveland makes defensive adjustments, but I think those adjustments will provide Turkoglu with more chances and he will take more than 11 shots in this game. Both players should be able to get open shots so it will come down to who is in the zone moreso.

10) Tonight's game between the Angels and the Dodgers has got to be a lot of fun for the city of Los Angeles, I imagine. This should be an incredibly close matchup, featuring two very good ballclubs with two very good pitchers on the mound.

Budding ace Clayton Kershaw faces the Angels for the first time.

Jered Weaver has recorded a 2.59 ERA and 0.97 WHIP in 8 starts this season and is coming off a quality game at Rangers Stadium, though the Angels could not overcome Feldman and the Rangers bullpen in a 3-0 loss. Over his 3 year career the Dodgers have taken 86 at bats against Weaver, batting .209 and slugging an abysmal .244, an incredible feat considering the number of pop flies Weaver tends to give up. The Dodgers come into this game having swept the New York Mets despite putting up numbers not much better than those posted against Weaver. Their pitching has been key to their success, and errors by the Mets certainly did not hurt. Tonight the Dodgers will start sophomore Clayton Kershaw, who has a 4.60 ERA and 1.24 WHIP due mainly to a couple of bad outings, including a 10-4 loss to the Rockies on April 26^th in which Kershaw gave up 9 earned runs off 8 hits in only 4²/₃ innings. He has not faced the Angels before in his career so it will be interesting to see how he fares. The Angels have also been having their troubles hitting, though they have been able to drop a few beyond the fence which has helped. In their last game against Seattle they took a 3-0 victory behind three solo home runs. I give the advantage to the Angels in this game with Weaver having a proven track record against the Dodgers, with Manny Ramirez even, and with Kershaw being an unknown. He could potentially have another outing like he did against Colorado. With the two teams having comparable offensive numbers and the Angels' bullpen starting to get it together I would favor them to win, although this is an incredibly close matchup with the arguments against picking the Dodgers a bit lacking.