June 25th, 2009 Picks

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(skip to picks)1-2-0 today again, and I have to think I'm a bit overdue for a run. I'm on vacation now as my family prepares for my sisters wedding so I'm not going to have even less time to look at the picks so I'll try to focus on one pick from each time slot and preview the shit out of those. Then if possible preview some alternate time slots (8pm games, for example) and alternate picks. So yea, Serena Williams was very focused on her game yesterday and blew Groth out in 15 games. Then I got back on track with Sam Querrey who apparently bet on himself to record more aces on Streak for the Cash, then the Evil Empire hit my man Kenshin in the neck and broke out of their slump a couple of innings later. HAHA, take that you lousy Braves! Anyways, on to the picks then.

Recaps

Watch Out Venus; Serena Dominates Groth To Advance To Third Round

S. Williams def. J. Groth 6-2 6-1

In between writing screenplays and eating kit kats in the locker room Serena Williams enjoys playing tennis.

``In the past six months alone, Williams has earned more than Groth has in a lifetime and, in pursuit of her third Wimbledon title and her 11th Grand Slam title in all, she looked in no mood to offer her Slovak opponent a pay rise. Not much is going Groth’s way at the moment. The WTA Tour lists her as Slovakian; the Wimbledon draw sheet lists her as Australian. Her game appeared to be in almost as much disarray as her paperwork as she took on Williams. To tackle a serial champion like Williams on a show court at Wimbledon is hard enough but to do it with an error to winner ratio of 48 (forced and unforced) to nine is a bit like taking on a battleship armed only with a feather duster. Just for good measure, Groth also racked up 10 double faults – this was not pretty to watch."

Read more....Match StatsWilliams Interview (non-match)

Sam Querrey Puts Cilic Under Pressure Early Before Falling Late

Sam Querrey 24 aces - 13 aces Marin Cilic (Cilic def. Querrey 4-6 7-6(7-3) 6-3 6-7(4-7) 6-4)

Sam Querrey reportedly (I didn't see the interview) told ESPN he was happy he had more aces than Cilic, that he'd bet on himself on Streak for the Cash, and had a streak of 4 now. Check his serve stats out, he topped out at 141mph!

``For much of this gripping encounter, it was Querrey's ability to produce an ace - he hit 24 of them - that kept the eager Croatian at bay when he mounted his recovery after dropping the opening set in 37 minutes. The 11th-seeded Cilic needed a touch of good fortune, and found it when he broke the Querrey serve with an outrageously lucky net cord that fell dead into the American's side of the court. All square after two hours and 52 minutes. It had now become a question of whether darkness would end this battle before one of them suffered a break of serve. Then, with a 5-4 lead to Cilic, it was Querrey who turned out to be the victim of the dagger thrust."

Read more....Match Stats

Yankees End Offensive Woes, Atlanta Gives Up First Runs In 23 Innings In Loss

New York Yankees 8 - 4 Atlanta Braves

Kenshin Kawakami got hit in the neck with a line drive, but he's OK. The real trouble for Atlanta was when the Yankees remembered how to pee at a urinal.

``The Braves stretched their scoreless streak to 23 innings with a 1-0 lead through five despite losing starter Kenshin Kawakami, who was struck at the base of the neck with a liner in the third. After five stellar innings, the Braves suddenly fell apart. McCann had two throwing errors and reliever Eric O'Flaherty was late covering first, giving the Yankees an extra out. Nick Swisher led off the seventh with a homer, stretching New York's lead to 4-1, and had a great catch in the bottom half. Turning three different ways, he looked back in time to catch Nate McLouth's drive, keeping him to a sacrifice fly that made it 4-3. New York restored its three-run lead in the top of the eighth, scoring on McCann's first errant throw and Swisher's RBI groundout. Damon and Teixeira added run-scoring hits in the ninth."

Read more....Box Score

Picks
1) Hunter Mahan vs. Paul Goydos - Goydos has a lower front 9 score or ties
2) How Many Games Will Be Played: Venus Williams vs. Kateryna Bondarenko - 17 or fewer
3) How Many Sets Will Be Played: Andy Roddick vs. Igor Kunitsyn - 4 or 5 sets
4) Vijay Singh vs. Lucas Glover - Singh will card a lower first round score by 1 or more strokes
5) St. Louis Cardinals @ New York Mets - New York
6) Kansas City Royals @ Houston Astros - Houston
7) Brazil vs. South Africa - Brazil wins by 2+ goals
8) New York Yankees @ Atlanta Braves - Atlanta
9) Toronto Nationals @ Boston Cannons - Boston
10) Boston Red Sox @ Washington Nationals - Washington
11) Who Will Be The #2 Pick In The NBA Draft: Hasheem Thabeet vs. Any Other Player - Thabeet
12) How Many Big East Players Will Be Selected In The 1st Round: 6 or fewer vs. 7 or more - 7 or more
13) How Many PAC-10 Players Will Be Drafted #6 - #10: 1 or fewer vs. 2 or more - 2 or more
14) Who Will Be Drafted First: Tyler Hansbrough vs. Ty Lawson - Hansbrough
15) Will A Foreign Born Player Be Drafted #20 - #25: Yes vs. No - no
16) How Many Home Runs Will Be Hit (Texas Rangers @ Arizona Diamondbacks): 0 or 1 vs. 2 or more - 0 or 1
17) Texas Rangers @ Arizona Diamondbacks - Arizona

Previews
11) through 15) The table below contains links to ten different mock drafts and shows what they predict the results of the picks up on the board today will be. There are also a couple of mock draft databases that you can access by clicking here or here. Omri Casspi, from Israel, is the only foreign born player projected to go in the #20 to #25 range. The seven Big 10 players many are projecting to go in the first round are Terrence Williams, Sam Young, DaJuan Summers, Earl Clark, DeJuan Blair, Jonny Flynn, and Hasheem Thabeet with DaJuan Summers being the odd man out on many mock drafts. There's actually a lot of debate whether Hansbrough or Lawson will go first, and I'm thinking he might go early but I'm hoping he drops down to #20 to Utah. If so he'll be second most likely. Thabeet and 2 or more PAC-10 in the bottom half of the top 10 picks seem to be the most agreed upon picks. Good luck!

Mock Draft	Thabeet @ #2	7+ Big East	2+ PAC-10	Lawson 1st	Foreigner #20-#25
MyNBA Draft	X	X	X	X
MSN Mock Draft	X		X		X
InsideHoops	X		X
Draft Express	X		X	X
NBC Sports	X	X	X	X
NBA Fanhouse	X		X	X	X
Sports Illustrated			X	X	X
Charlie Ziegers	X	X	X		X
DC Sports Report	X	X	X		X
NBA Draft Depot	X		X	X	X

June 24th, 2009 Picks

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(skip to picks)1-2-0 today, but at least I finished with a win. Murray was a choking bloke as he double faulted at the most inopportune times (in the tie break he lost and on a break point for Kendrick) but otherwise it was a very close matchup. Oh and Chandry played on a hurt ankle after the set he won, but oh well. I then lost on 2 goals or fewer which was looking good until two goals were scored in the 1^st half injury time. Finally some luck went my way with the Tigers getting the last laugh in the home run derby at the end of that game. Roight! On to the picks.

Recaps

Roddick Rolls Over Chardy After Dropping 3rd Set Andy Roddick def. Jeremy Chardy 6-3 7-6(7-3) 4-6 6-3

Murray Falters In Tiebreak, Breaks Kendrick Afterwards Andy Murray def. Robert Kendrick 7-5 6-7(3-7) 6-3 6-4

Andy Roddick was fairly dominant for most of the match though he was fortunate to avoid a fifth set after Chardy found his game. ``Andy Roddick’s reputation as one of the strongest and fastest servers in the game was underlined yet again as he powered down 21 aces during a 6-3, 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 6-3 win over France’s Jeremy Chardy. At first it seemed as if Chardy, the Wimbledon junior champion two years ago, was going to be overwhelmed by Roddick’s aggressive urgency, which took the American into a 5-0 lead in a matter of minutes. But Chardy was far from beaten and responded magnificently by winning the third set, breaking serve in the ninth game and then holding with a pair of service winners after 103 minutes. But it came at a cost as Chardy needed attention to his ankle at the end of the set." Read more....Box ScorePost-Match Interview

Andy Murray looked a bit nervous out there, evidenced by his inopportune double faults, but he broke serve more than enough to win the match. ``Kendrick has the sort of game that is brilliant when it works and a liability when it is slightly off. He can serve like a rocket, he can hit the ball so hard that you would think it could pierce concrete – and he had absolutely nothing to lose. As he grabbed back the break of serve, he started flinging himself around the court like a teenage Boris Becker and had clearly decided that attack was the best form of defence. If Kendrick was going to win, he would have to try every trick in the book; if he was going to lose, he was determined to enjoy his time on the main show court. Even when Murray took the first set, the American would not go away and chased Britain’s great hope all the way to the second set tiebreak and beyond. Only in the fourth set could everyone relax and just marvel at Kendrick’s pluck and Murray’s skill." Read more....Box ScorePost-Match Interview

Without Balotelli Acquafresca And Italy Shine, Advance

Italy 2 - 1 Belarus

A costly penalty for Belarus with the last play of the first half injury time.

``Two goals from Robert Acquafresca secured Italy's place in the UEFA European Under-21 Championship semi-finals against Germany, but despite dominating possession they were made to wait before seeing off a dogged Belarus 2-1 in Helsingborg. Belarus had stunned the five-time champions by taking the lead through Sergei Kislyak in the 45th minute only for the Azzurrini to hit back immediately through Acquafresca's penalty with the final kick of the first half. Not until the 75th minute could Italy finally begin to breathe easily. Giovinco played in Antonio Candreva who squared the ball for Acquafresca to tap in unmarked. Giovinco then hit the bar three minutes later, but Italy had already done enough. Things did not all go Italy's way, though. Claudio Marchisio was booked and will miss Friday's semi-final here through suspension while Paolo de Ceglie is a doubt after being taken off in the first half with an ankle injury."

Read more....Box ScoreThe Coach's ViewsBelarus Happy For The ExperiencePhoto Gallery

Raburn's Pinch Hit Two Run Walk Off Leads Tigers To Win Battle Of The Blown Save

Detroit Tigers 5 - 4 Chicago Cubs

Alternating two run homers from these two in the 7^th, 8^th, and 9^th innings made this one a nailbiter down to the very end.

``Brandon Inge's two-run home run in the seventh put the Tigers ahead 3-2 and they were a strike away from taking the lead into the ninth, but Hoffpauir sent Zumaya's 85 mph pitch over the fence in right. Chicago's Micah Hoffpauir hit a go-ahead, two-run shot in the eighth inning off Joel Zumaya. "We went from a real low to a real high, to a real low and a real high," Detroit manager Jim Leyland said. Pinch-hitter Ryan Raburn hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning, lifting Detroit to a 5-4 win over the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night. Raburn was hitting for Josh Anderson, who pinch ran for Ordonez."

Read more....Box Score

Picks
1) How Many Games Will Be Played Between Serena Williams vs. Jarmila Groth - 19 games or more
2) Who Will Record More Aces: Sam Querrey vs. Marin Cilic - Querrey
3) Spain (win by 2 goals or more) vs. United States (win or lose by 1 goal) - Spain win by 2+ goals
4) New York Yankees @ Atlanta Braves - Atlanta
5) LSU vs. Texas - Texas
6) Philadelphia Phillies @ Tampa Bay Rays: Who Will Be Winning After 5 Innings - Tampa Bay
7) St. Louis Cardinals @ New York Mets - New York
8) Minnesota Twins @ Milwaukee Brewers - Milwaukee
9) Los Angeles Dodgers @ Chicago White Sox - Chicago
10) F.C. Dallas @ Colorado Rapids - Colorado win
11) Colorado Rockies @ Los Angeles Angels - Colorado
12) San Diego Padres @ Seattle Mariners - San Diego

Previews

Serena Williams is a star while Groth is... young. What chance does Groth have? Not much. She is 0-6 against top 10 opponents and has lasted 19 games only once.

1) Serena Williams will look to continue her return to form at Wimbledon where she has gone 2-2 in the finals in the past decade. Her opponent will be Jarmila Groth, a 22 year old Australian making her third singles appearance at the grass courts of Wimbledon. Groth will be hoping against all odds she can progress to the second round for the second time against the dominating Serena. The two have met only once before in a competitive match, a hard court encounter at the Australian Open in 2008. Serena came away the victor in that match, but Groth was able to hold serve more than once losing the match in straight sets 6-3 6-3. Groth has improved her world standing since then, moving up from #145 to #69. Additionally, Groth has played in grass court tournaments the past two weekends in the run up to Wimbledon, while Williams has not competed since Roland Garros where she lost in the quarterfinals to eventual champion Svetlana Kuznetsova. Groth may be able to offer up better competition in this match, but her record against top 10 opponents suggests it will be difficult for her to extend the match to 19 games. She is 0-6 against top 10 players in her career and has lost in fewer than 18 games twice, lost in exactly 18 games three times, and lost in 21 games once, at the 2007 U.S. Open against Jelena Jankovic.

First Round Match Stats
	S. Williams def. N. Silva in 19	Groth def. L. Safarova in 27
1st Serve	78%	68
1st Srv Win	83%	78%
2nd Srv Win	70%	52%
Return Win	48%	40%
Error/PP	0.138	0.164
Error/PP - Unforced errors per points played

Serena struggled a bit in their first round matches with Williams needing 19 games to dispatch Nueza Silva who is ranked in the 140s. Groth pulled off a minor upset, losing a set before dispatching #48 Lucie Safarova. I think Williams will need to take Groth very seriously if she is to win the match with the ease that 18 or fewer games would require. As long as Groth is not intimidated by playing on the big stage of Court 1 against a celebrity like Serena she should be able to hold serve 7 of 13 times, and that would be all she needs to take the match to 19 games.

Sam Querrey (left) is the underdog here (+165), but at 6'6" is one man who can stand up to Marin Cilic (right).

2) Sam Querrey and Marin Cilic are a couple of 6' 6" youngsters with powerful serves. Cilic is a decent favorite at 4/9 (-180) compared to Querrey who is being given 13/8 (+165) odds. Here, we're concerned with the number of aces each player records in the match, however, not who will win. Looking at the table below one sees that Querrey is averaging nearly 0.3 aces more per service game played. In a best 3 of 5 match there would be at least nine service games played by each player, which would come out to 2.7 more aces for Querrey.

Each player won their first round matches in straight sets, with Sam Querrey defeating #120 Danai Udomchoke 6-3 6-4 6-4, and Marin Cilic defeating #95 Alberto Martin 6-3 6-4 6-4. Querrey recorded 15 aces in his match while Cilic recorded 12 aces. Querrey is #5 on the ATP Tour this year in total aces and double faults slightly less often than Cilic, so he should not be afraid to use this weapon.

Year-To-Date Match Stats
	Querrey	Cilic
Aces/SG	0.891	0.599
Dbl. Fault/SG	0.195	0.202
Return Win	35%	41%
SG - Service Game; source: ATPTour.com

3) The United States faces Spain, the number one team in the world who have not been defeated in 35 matches, have won 15 straight, and have outscored their opponents 76 to 11 in those 35 matches. For the best information of this match click here for FIFA.com's coverage

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Spain - USA Preview
USA: `We Can Beat Spain'
Del Bosque's Tactics
Xavi Key To Spanish Success

, which is the source for most newspapers and sites.

“A big part of playing them is not getting frustrated because you don't have the ball. The other side of that is trying to put them under pressure. That's our goal, and if we can do that we have a chance.”
---US Midfielder Landon Donovan

United States coach Bob Bradley looks primed to return Tim Howard to goal tending duties after allowing Brad Guzman to take his place for the match against Egypt, which everybody expected to be their last. Carlos Bocanegra is also a possibility to figure in the match for the US as he has returned to full training after recovering from a hamstring injury. The tougher decisions for Bradley have to do with which formation to run, and whether to start Charles Davies up front. The United States typically plays the traditional 4-4-2 formation, but found great success with Davies in the Starting XI and a move to more of a 4-2-2-2 lineup. Whatever the Yanks attempt it will be a difficult proposition to keep up with the Spanish side and though I do think they will give Spain some problems I also think Del Bosque will have his men focused on the match at hand and they will be able to prevail by 2 goals or more.

4) The New York Yankees take on the Atlanta Braves tonight a day after getting blanked 4-0 by Hanson and the bullpen trio of Moylan, Gonzalez, and Soriano. It was the second consecutive shutout for the Braves thanks in large part to outstanding pitching, by their bullpen especially. If their bullpen can continue to perform at this level they should come away victorious because the Braves will be starting Kenshin Kawakami. Unlike his Yankee counterpart, Joba Chamberlain, Kawakami has been pitching tremendously. Both pitchers went for 6 innings in their last starts, but where Chamberlain gave up 3 earned runs from 7 hits to the Washington Nationals Kawakami gave up only 2 earned runs from 4 hits to the Boston Red Sox.

The Braves and Yankees have also been on separate tracks when it comes to hitting the ball as well. New York is batting .181 with a .245 slugging average in their last three games while Atlanta is batting .296 with a .418 slugging average in theirs. Chamberlain will most likely do well and help bring down those batting numbers for Atlanta, but only enough to make the game competitive. The Yankees are likely to hit better than .181, but if Kawakami continues to pitch well it will be far too little to take this game.

June 23rd, 2009 Picks

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(skip to picks)1-1-0 today. Not a terrible start, Nicolas Almagro came through in a pinch. Well, not so much as in a pinch as in an industrial vice grip. It got pretty ugly for the Angels real quick though. Pretty much a team effort in that loss as nobody had a particularly good game for L.A. So on to the picks, eh?

Recaps

Almagro Holds The Door Open In Third Tiebreak, Passes Through To Second Round

Nicolas Almagro d. Juan Monaco 6³-7⁷ 6⁷-7⁹ 7⁷-6⁵ 6-4 8-6

Juan Monaco was looking to become the first player this year to win a match from three straight tie breaks, but it was not to be as Nicolas Almagro kept his cool and won a single return point to take the third tie break. From there Almagro seemed to loosen up and limited the errors he had been making in the first half of the match, 63 all told. Both players dominated on their services with each taking fewer than one third of their receiving points, but in the end Almagro's power was enough to see him through.
Box Score

Palmer Picks Up First Loss Of Season As Rockies Roll To 17^th WIn In Last 18

Colorado Rockies 11 - 1 Los Angeles Angels

Wow, talk about a bad night for the Angels' pitching staff. Ineffective, through and through.

``The Angels tied a club record with six wild pitches -- all with Jeff Napoli behind the plate. One was by Rafael Rodriguez in the seventh inning that allowed Troy Tulowitzki to score, one by Jason Bulger in the ninth that enabled Ian Stewart to come home. Aaron Cook (7-3) allowed a run and three hits over seven innings and struck out four, helping send 30-year-old rookie Matt Palmer to his first loss of the season. The Rockies' right-hander became the franchise's all-time leader in victories with his 59th, surpassing Jason Jennings, and also broke Pedro Astacio's team record for road wins with his 30th."

Read more....Box Score

Picks
1) Andy Roddick (v. Jeremy Chardy) vs. Andy Murray (v. Robert Kendrick) - Murray loses fewer games
2) Christophe Rochus vs. Pablo Cuevas - Rochus
3) Italy vs. Belarus - 2 goals or fewer
4) Texas vs. LSU - LSU
5) New York Yankees @ Atlanta Braves - Atlanta
6) Chicago Cubs @ Detroit Tigers - Detroit
7) Phoenix Mercury @ San Antonio Silver Stars - San Antonio
8) Minnesota Twins @ Milwaukee Brewers - Minnesota
9) Los Angeles Dodgers @ Chicago White Sox - Chicago
10) Tim Lincecum strikeouts vs. Oakland A's total hits - Lincecum strikeouts
11) San Diego Padres @ Seattle Mariners - Seattle

Previews

Andy Roddick (center) makes an acrobatic return at Wimbledon; (left top) #6 Andy Roddick faces #41 Jeremy Chardy; (right top) #3 Andy Murray will take on #76 Robert Kendrick in the following match.

1) The American, Andy Roddick, and the Scotsman, Robert Kendrick, will be taking on their respective first round opponents in the 2^nd and 3^rd matches on Centre Court this morning. Rafael Nadal's withdrawal from the tournament has catapulted Andy Murray in the minds of some into a favorite to win the tournament. Some of that, however, may just be wishful thinking to have the native son be the victor though Murray has been to the final of the U.S. Open this year and has multiple Tour victories under his belt already.

Murray will be facing Robert Kendrick, who has achieved his highest ranking ever at World #76 this year and took Rafael Nadal to five sets in 2006 on these same courts. One has to wonder whether Kendrick simply caught Nadal on an off day, especially considering his 0-6 0-6 grass court loss to Murray later that year at Newport, Rhode Island. For one, Murray does not see that match against Nadal as a fluke and will not be taking his opponent lightly.

2009 Match Stats	Murray	Roddick
Break Points Converted	49%	37%
Return Games Won	38%	22%

Andy Roddick will be playing Jeremy Chardy in the second match on Centre Court. The two have not played one another in the past. Roddick is recovered from an ankle strain that forced him to retire in his semifinals match against James Blake at Queen's Club last week. Murray went on to win the tournament against Blake without dropping a single set. Murray has simply been the better tennis player this year between he and Roddick, though not by much. Aside from Kendrick's extraordinary performance against Nadal in 2006 there is not much evidence he will put up a tougher fight than Chardy. Taken together Murray would seem more likely to win in straight sets.

Follow The Match's Progress With Live Score Updates

Christophe Rochus (left) looks to make the second round at Wimbledon for the first time since 2000 while Pablo Cuevas (right) is making his first appearance at the tournament and on the grass surface.

2) This match may get off to a late start due to rain and the fact they're not playing on Centre Court which had a retractable roof installed recently. Christophe Rochus will be taking on Pablo Cuevas in the 3^rd match on Court 11 today. It will be Cuevas' first singles appearance at Wimbledon, while Rochus will be making his ninth singles entry to the grass court Grand Slam in his career. Rochus advanced to the second round in 2000 but has otherwise been bounced in the first round each year. Cuevas has yet to play Rochus in an ATP World Tour event, though he did defeat him in straight sets in a Challengers event in 2007 on clay. Remarkably, this is Cuevas' first competitive match on a grass surface though he did win his two qualifying matches at Wimbledon, dropping a set in each match. Rochus has some experience on grass with 23 career matches, though it has not been kind to him as he has a 3-20 record on grass. Rochus performed well at Roland Garros, reaching the third round, while Cuevas lost his third qualifying match there. Cuevas will be the lowest ranked first round opponent Rochus has ever faced at Wimbledon and I think he has a terrific chance of advancing. Cuevas is younger, however, and has shown more potential and may be moving up the standings here. I think Cuevas will have to wait just a bit longer however, and Rochus will take this match in a long hard fought duel.

Italy need only 1 point to secure their place in the semifinals while Belarus must decide whether to expose themselves in an attempt to win by 3 goals or simply play solid football and hope the result comes from that.

3) A quick look at the standings of the UEFA Under 21 Championship shows Italy in first place in Group A with four points and Belarus rounding out the bottom with 1 point. The only hope for Belarus to advance to the semifinals is if Serbia and Sweden tie in their match today and even then Belarus would need to win by three goals in which case Sweden and Belarus would advance as Italy would be the odd side out on goal differential at -2.

Of course, when Belarus tried to score and play an attacking style against Sweden they were abused 5-1 with Marcus Berg scoring a hat trick. It was only when they played more cautiously, against Serbia, that they achieved a positive result, a 0-0 draw. As much as Belarus may like to advance to the semifinals in this tournament I think they will focus more on playing good football and putting forth a respectable effort. They will play more defensively and rely on their skill to lead to goals rather than forcing the issue with an offensive formation. As for Italy, they only need to draw in order to secure their place in the semi-finals. They will have to deal with the suspension of Mario Balotelli who picked up a straight red card in their match against Sweden. Rather than change his 4-3-3 formation Italy coach Pierluigi Casiraghi is likely to move Ignazio Abate up into Balotelli's spot to pair with Giovinco and Acquafresca. Here are the possible lineups for each side --

Italy Possible Starting XI – (4-3-3): Consigli; Motta, Andreolli, Bocchetti, Criscito; De Ceglie, Marchisio, Dessena; Abate, Acquafresca, Giovinco

Possible Starting XI – (4-2-3-1): Chesnovsky; Shitov, Verkovtsov, Martynovich, Osipovich; Afansanyiev, Volodko; Kislyak, Kovel, Kryvets; Yurchenko

Coverage Of The Match On UEFA.com
PreviewMatch BackgroundFocus

June 22nd, 2009 Picks

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(skip to picks)Congratulations once again to the fathers of the world! 1-2-0 for me today as Pakistan broke me off a 2 game losing streak, but then Jurrjens and Lackey both fucked up in ways that only ended up being decisive by the time it was too late and the Braves and Angels fell to the better teams. In case anyone is wondering what happened to the mp3 player, the scores from CBS, or the hulu content they're still there, they just have to be turned on with one of the buttons up in the corner of the header. Well, on to the picks then.

Recaps

Incredible Afridi Six In 18^th Over Paves The Way For Pakistan's Victory

Pakistan 139/2 - Sri Lanka 138/6 (Pakistan win by 8 wickets)

``Sangakkara paced his innings expertly, reaching fifty off 44 balls despite the problems that surrounded him, but only found support when joined by Angelo Mathews. The final five overs brought 59 runs and if any attack could make a game out of 138 it was Sri Lanka's. Early wickets, however, were key and they didn't materialise as Akmal and Shahzaid Hasan played sensibly. The wizardry of Mendis and Muttiah Muralitharan and the accuracy of Lasith Malinga have provided wonderful entertainment over the last weeks, but on this occasion couldn't conjure the magic spell that was needed. Occasionally the tension rose as [Pakistan's] required rate climbed, but each time [Shahid] Afridi was on hand with one of his most mature innings. He hit consecutive balls from Muttiah Muralitharan for six and four in the 14th over, a calculated assault against a key bowler. The destination of the trophy was sealed when he swung a huge six over midwicket off Isuru Udana in the 18th over - the moment when Sangakkara gambled on one of his weaker bowling links - and followed that with another boundary off a high full toss."

Read more....Box ScorePhotosPlays of the DayPakistan Clinical

Nick Green's First Pitch Walk Off Sinks Jurrjens, Braves

Boston Red Sox 6 - 5 Atlanta Braves

``Nick Green surprised the Boston Red Sox by overcoming long odds to make the team. On Sunday, he was surprised that his homer won the game. The shortstop who went to spring training as a non-roster player but is now the starter hit the first pitch in the bottom of the ninth just inside the right-field foul pole 302 feet from home plate. Wakefield allowed Brian McCann's two-run double in the first. The Red Sox went ahead with three runs in the first off Jair Jurrjens. Dustin Pedroia doubled and took third on an error when Jurrjens bobbled Kevin Youkilis' grounder. Jason Bay hit a sacrifice fly and David Ortiz gave the Red Sox a 3-2 lead with his sixth homer of the season, a two-run shot. A misplay that fell for a hit in the fourth led to Boston's fourth run."

Read more....Box ScoreCox, O'Flaherty, Jones Ejected In 7^th

Kershaw Excels As Loney's Home Run Lifts Dodgers Above Angels

Los Angeles Dodgers 5 - 3 Los Angeles Angels

``Clayton Kershaw was pulled 2½ weeks ago after giving up three runs and throwing 83 pitches in his worst outing of the season. On Sunday, he shut down a potent Los Angeles Angels lineup that leads the league in batting. Lackey, who has had an up and down season after missing the first six weeks with an elbow injury, didn't get much of a lift as the Angels left 12 on base. Juan Pierre had a pair of RBI doubles, Casey Blake hit an RBI single and the Dodgers had nine hits off Angels starter John Lackey. Loney's fourth homer of the season put the Dodgers ahead 4-0 after a brief review. The ball appeared to carom off a railing just above the wall in right-center and bounced back on the field. It was originally ruled a home run, and the call was upheld after the umpires looked at the replay."

Read more....Box Score

Picks
1) Nicolas Almagro vs. Juan Monaco - Almagro
2) Xavier Malisse vs. Rainer Schuetller - Malisse
3) Who Will Win The U.S. Open: Lucas Glover or Ricky Barnes vs. Someone Else - Someone else
4) England (U21) vs. Germany (U21) - Germany (U21)
5) LSU vs. Texas - Texas
6) St. Louis Cardinals @ New York Mets - St. Louis
7) San Francisco Giants @ Oakland Athletics - Oakland
8) Colorado Rockies @ Los Angeles Angels - Los Angeles

Previews
1) Neither Juan Monaco nor Nicolas Almagro are particular grass court specialists.

Nicolas Almagro (left) faces off against Juan Monaco (right). Monaco has exited Wimbledon in the first round in both his appearances. Almagro has played here four times, reaching the second round once, in 2008.

This will be Monaco's first ATP event on a grass court since 2007 where he lost in the 1^st round at Wimbledon to Kristof Vliegen in straight sets, 4-6, 3-6, 6-7(3). It was Monaco's second Wimbledon ever and marked his second exit in the round of 128 from the tournament. The younger Almagro has participated in four Wimbledon's over his career, bowing out in the 1^st round three times and reaching the 2^nd round last year before losing to Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in five sets, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 1-6, 2-6. Head to head Monaco and Almagro have played each other three times with Almagro holding a 2-1 edge, most recently in the ATP Masters Series at Monte Carlo in 2008. Almagro was leading one set to none and was up 3-0 in the decisiving second set when Monaco retired. The pair have split their only other two matches with Almagro winning again in 2008 in straight sets and Monaco winning in 2007 in straight sets. This will be their first match against one another on the grass surface. Almagro is currently the money line favorite at -150 with Monaco at near even odds (+105). Given that neither are terrific grass players this should be anyone's match, but Almagro has been more successful overall this year with an ATP 250 win this year and appears to have the greater potential of the two.

Follow The Match's Progress With Live Score Updates

Xavier Malisse (left) seeks to continue his success while Rainer Schuettler (right) will try to match his best ever Wimbledon.

2) Rainer Schuettler will attempt to follow up on his surprise run into the semifinals at Wimbledon last year which salvaged his world ranking after it had slumped all the way to #94. Previously he had never made it past the fourth round, which he reached for the first and only other time in 2003. His opponent today, Xavier Malisse, reached the semifinals at Wimbledon in 2002, but other than that has had to settle for a long succession of second round exits. Schuettler has been gearing up for Wimbledon by playing in a pair of ATP 250 Series events on grass, at 's-Hertogenbosch and Halle, being defeated both times by Benjamin Becker. Malisse entered Queen's Club where he reached the round of 16 before being defeated by Juan Carlos Ferrero. Head to head Schuettler is 4-2, with both losses coming on clay. Schuettler won their last match, in 2007, in three out of three sets - 6-7(4), 7-6(1), 6-3. SkyBet has odds on this match at -120 for each player.

4) England's 2-0 victory over tournament darlings Spain on Thursday saw them secure their place in the playoff stage of the UEFA Under-21 Championship with 6 points being earned from their two group matches. Germany is coming off a victory over Finland and currently sit in second place behind England with four points. They only need draw to clinch a spot in the semifinals, but a loss coupled with a Spanish win over Finland would put Spain level with Germany on points and lead to a tie-break on goal differential, then total goals scored. Regardless of the situation concerning advancement to the semifinals both Germany and England are focused on winning this match.

``I don't know if I will rest players. In these tournaments, if you take take your foot off the gas for one moment it's fatal. You never pick up the tempo again."
---England coach Stuart Pearce

``This changes nothing, it's not my first thought to avoid yellow cards or suspensions. Everyone has to be at their best, and I'm only interested in the victory. Nothing else counts."
---German coach Horst Hrubesch

Both teams will be facing some injury concerns when the take the field at Oranje vall. Defender Sebastian Bönisch will miss for the Germans, but Jerome Boateng and Gonzalo Castro look to feature in the backfield. For England striker Gabriel Agbonlahor's absence is their biggest concern, though Frazier Campbell filled in wonderfully for him against Spain. Possible lineups for each side could look like this:

Results From Group Play
England	Germany
Spain (2:0)	Finland (2:0)
Finland (2:1)	Spain (0:0)

England Possible Starting XI: Hart, Cranie, Richards, Onuoha, Gibbs, Cattermole, Noble, Muamba, Johnson, Walcott, Campbell.
Germany Possible Starting XI: Neuer, Beck, Boateng, Hoewedes, Schmelzer, Khedira, Aogo, Castro, Marin, Oezil, Dejagah.

The odds for this match have the draw as the most favored result, with Germany ever so slightly favored over England. This is probably a case of two sides who will feel little pressure to win and will thus be able to play their best football.

June 21st, 2009 Picks (Happy Fathers Day)

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(skip to picks)0-2-0 today for me. I utilized my special ability to select losing picks out of a crop of winners which is actually more helpful than it might seem at first glance. OK, it's really not helpful so much as frustrating but I try to put a positive spin on these kinds of things. Beckett got his first complete game shutout of the season and the Padres went down swinging. So on to the picks.

Recaps

Beckett Earns First Complete Game Shutout, Spoils Lowe's Return To Fenway

Boston Red Sox 3 - 0 Atlanta Braves (Beckett 7 K, 5 H)

``Josh Beckett allowed just five singles for his first shutout since joining the Red Sox, and Jason Varitek doubled twice against his ex-batterymate to lead Boston to a 3-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Saturday night. Beckett (8-3) rebounded after giving up a season-high 11 hits in his last outing, throwing just 94 pitches for his first complete game of the year and the sixth of his career. He struck out seven, walked none and only allowed one runner to reach second base to win for the sixth time in seven decisions. Lowe received a loud ovation when he left in the seventh, but Beckett's came at the end of the game, and it was even louder."

Read more....Box Score

San Diego's Interleague Woes Continue As Oakland Powers It's Way To A Win Away From Home

Oakland Athletics 6 - 3 San Diego Padres

Adrian Gonzalez continued his poor play and the Padres were fairly shut down by the Oakland pitching staff.

``Adam Kennedy tied his career high with four hits, including a home run, and scored three times as the Oakland Athletics beat San Diego 6-3 on Saturday night, continuing the Padres' interleague woes. San Diego scored two runs in the 3^rd and had the bases loaded with no outs, but failed to score again when Adrian Gonzalez struck out looking followed by Chase Hundley grounding into a double play. Kennedy and Jack Cust hit back-to-back homers with two outs in the 8^th off Greg Burke to seal the win. San Diego dropped to 1-7 in interleague play, the worst in the majors."

Read more....Box Score

Picks
1) Sri Lanka vs. Pakistan - Pakistan
2) Chicago White Sox @ Cincinnati Reds - Chicago
3) Atlanta Braves @ Boston Red Sox - Atlanta
4) Brazil vs. Italy - Brazil win
5) St. Louis Cardinals @ Kansas City Royals - St. Louis
6) Houston Astros @ Minnesota Twins - Houston
7) United States vs. Egypt - Egypt win
8) Texas Rangers @ San Francisco Giants - San Francisco
9) Oakland Athletics @ San Diego Padres - Oakland
10) Jeff Gordon vs. Juan Pablo Montoya - Montoya has a better finishing position
11) Seattle Storm @ Phoenix Mercury - Phoenix
12) Los Angeles Dodgers @ Los Angeles Angels - Angels
13) Sacramento Monarchs @ Los Angeles Sparks - Los Angeles

Previews

3) Where has the Red Sox offense gone? They still have some incredible power, but in their last three games they are batting an atrocious .130 with nearly all of their recent runs being scored from home runs. Sure they had a game shortened by rain in those past three, but it hardly explains the overall batting average dip. Today they will face off against Jair Jurrjens whose only experience against the Red Sox's lineup is 4 at bats against Jason Bay to whom he conceded one single while striking him out twice. Jurrjens has a 2.89 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP over 81 innings pitched this season, though he's struggled a bit over the past month. In fact, neither he nor Tim Wakefield

Wakefield	FLA	NYY	DET	@TOR	NYM	TOR
Gm.Score	55	43	49	23	37	69
Jurrjens	@CIN	PIT	MIL	@ARI	TOR	COL
Gm.Score	48	60	48	35	49	72
Negative	Bad	Mediocre	Quality	Gem
Click here for a definition of game scores.

have performed particularly well over that time frame. I figure both pitchers will have a good game, but Jurrjens will be just a bit better on the day.

June 20th, 2009 Picks

(skip to picks)1-0-0 today with Tiger Woods carding over 70 in his first round of play. Looks like they got the first round finished but only a part of the way through the second round by 8:30pm EDT. I think they'll be fortunate to finish out the second round on Saturday and we'll be looking at a Monday finish for this tournament at the least. Looks like my evening picks failed, but my streak lives on. Oh, and the icons work to some degree now. Click on the 'H'ulu icon to see that widget, the mp3 icon for the player, etc., and just click on them again if you'd like to switch them off. Eventually you'll be able to drag the widgets around the page, but not for now. So on to the picks.

Recaps

Tiger Woods Falters, Ends First Round Tied For 79th

Rnd1: Woods 74 (T-79)

Woods was up at the top of the leaderboard until Hole No. 15.

``The problems started when Woods' tee shot found the right rough on the 15th hole. He had a good lie and decided to go for the green, but his ball embedded in the deep grass above a greenside bunker. He took his drop and chipped on, but the ball rolled back toward him, and Woods three-putted, lipping out a 2-footer for bogey. Woods' ball picked up some mud after he hit his drive at the 16th hole -- the fourth time that had happened on Friday. He missed the green and then missed a 6-footer for par. The bogey at the 18th hole came similarly for Woods, who used 31 putts."

Read more....Leaderboard (After Rnd. 1)Woods' ScorecardVideo: Woods Post-Round Press Conference

Picks
1) Tiger Woods' Score After First 9 Holes (#10-#18): 34 or lower vs. 35 or higher - 34 or lower
2) South Africa vs. Spain - 2 goals or fewer
3) Milwaukee Brewers @ Detroit Tigers - Detroit
4) Tampa Bay Rays @ New York Mets - Tampa Bay
5) Los Angeles Galaxy @ San Jose Quakes - San Jose
6) Wladimir Klitschko vs. Rushlan Chagaev - Any other result
7) Toronto Blue Jays @ Washington Nationals - Toronto
8) New York Yankees @ Florida Marlins - Florida
9) Atlanta Braves hits off Beckett vs. Josh Beckett strikeouts - Braves hits off Beckett
10) Brad Keselowski vs. Carl Edwards - Edwards has a lower finishing position
11) Oakland Athletics @ San Diego Padres - San Diego
12) Arizona Diamondbacks @ Seattle Mariners - Seattle

Previews

The approach to the elevated green on #15 which gave Woods so much trouble yesterday. He should be able to avoid a penalty stroke in drier conditions.

1) Tiger Woods had a difficult time on the course yesterday, in the early morning, before much of the previous days moisture had a chance to evaporate. His scorecard from the first round shows he started out well enough before a few mud balls and an embedded ball on the 15^th hole forced him to take a penalty stroke.

Well, the rain has had all day Friday to dry out and will continue to do so up until Tiger tees off at 10:06am EDT as the area remained dry through the evening and night hours. There looks to be rain moving in

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to the area, however, in the early afternoon. At worst it would see Tiger playing in light rain for the last 3 or 4 holes of the back 9. You can also check out WeatherBonk to forecast the weather for the area and look in on live webcams throughout the region. If you want to get an idea for the course here is the best hole-by-hole overview of Bethpage I've found so far. As long as Woods can avoid getting into trouble after #14, and the weather doesn't worsen suddenly, a 34 is well within his reach on the back 9 today.

Keep Track With USGA.com's Interactive Leaderboard

South Africa could lose a place in the semifinals should Iraq defeat New Zealand and Bafana Bafana fail to secure a point.

With a win Spain would become the all-time leaders in consecutive international victories with 15.

2) The Furia Roja have booked their spot in the semifinals of the Confederations Cup after having taken their first two games in Group A, a 5-0 drubbing of New Zealand and a 1-0 win over a stolid Iraq side. South Africa come in at second place with a 2-0 win over New Zealand and a 0-0 draw against Iraq, leaving them three points clear of the Iraqis and three goals ahead in differential. South Africa will guarantee their spot in the semifinals along Spain should they win or come away with a draw. That seems to be a tall order against a Spanish side that has gone 31-0-3 (W-D-L), not including a penalty kick win over Italy in Euro 2008, and has outscored their opponents 71 to 11 since a friendly loss to Romania in 2006. Even if South Africa lose, however, they could still qualify for the semifinals under three conditions: 1) Iraq loses to New Zealand; 2) Iraq draws; or 3) Iraq's margin of victory is less than three goals greater than South Africa's margin of defeat. If it is three goals exactly then whichever team had scored more goals in the competition would advance, followed by other tie breakers eventually leading to the drawing of lots if those fail to separate the two teams.

``Once you're winning you want to maintain the momentum, so for us it is very important to win and not draw tomorrow." ---Spain goalkeeper Pepe Reina

The match between Iraq and New Zealand will take place at the same time as the South African's tie, however, so they will not be looking to take any chances against Spain. South Africa's coach, Joel Santana, has said they must look to attack if they wish to achieve a positive result but must also be mindful on defense so as not to lose their advantage on goal differential to the Iraqis. Santana appears to be realistic in not expecting to earn a clean sheet against Spain and will need a goal for a draw or win, while indicating he would still like Bafana Bafana to focus on defense. As for Spain, they will be looking to give some of their players some rest ahead of their semifinal matches against Brazil, Italy, or Egypt, whoever they may draw against. One of the front men will almost certainly be rested for the match, with Fernando Llorente or Daniel Guiza coming in to replace them. The BBC reports Fernando Torres is the most likely striker to be rested by Spanish coach Vicente del Bosque, though Villa may take the role of substitute, or both. Pepe Reina is set to replace Iker Casillas in goal, while Xavi and Juan Mata also look to be rested. Additionally, defenders Sergio Ramos and Carlos Marchena may see limited action if they start at all. Make no mistake, however. Whoever the Spain fields in their Starting XI will be filled to the brim with incredibly gifted footballers.

Possible Starting XI's (goal.com)
South Africa: Khune, Booth, Gaxa, Masilela, Davids, Mokoena, Sibaya, Pienaar, Modise, Mashego, Parker.

Spain: Reina, Ramos, Arbeloa, Pique, Capdevila, Riera, Fabregas, Alonso, Cazorla, Villa, Guiza

Click here

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Records For Spain, Semifinals For South Africa (Canadian Press)
Spain To Rest Players (BBC)
All-Time Records On Spanish Minds (Guardian)
South Africa Look To Upset Spain's Record Run (ESPN)
Del Bosque Set To Change Side Ahead Of South Africa (goal.com)
Joel Santana Remains Confident (Independent Online)
Spanish Desire For Victory Runs High (AFP)

to view a wide range of articles on this match from both teams' point of view. South Africa is talking a big game, Spain is cautioning themselves on being too satisfied with their history making success, and the rugby pitch at Bloemfontein remains an obstacle to each teams' offensive style.

6) Vitali Wladimirovich Klitschko will be fighting Ruslan Chagaev in Berlin, Germany (1pm EDT) in front of 60,000 roaring fans. It will be the biggest crowd to watch a boxing match in Germany since 1939, when Max Schmeling fought Adolf Heuser in front of 70,000 in Stuttgart. Klitschko sports a 52-3 record, with those losses coming early in his career (2003 and earlier). The vast majority (over 90%) of his victories have come by knockout or technical knockout. His opponent, Chagaev, is undefeated with a 25-0 record, including an impressive split decision victory over Nikolay Valuev in 2007. The match is being held in Germany and I'll take SkyBet's British odds on this one which have a victory by Klitschko via decision as the single most favored result. Overall then, accounting for the sportsbooks' profits the KO/TKO by Klitschko comes out to 46.4% with any other result being favored at 53.6%.

9) Beckett appears to either dominate this kind of matchup by flirting with the no-hitter, or lose by a small margin in general. It also looks like he's either in the groove, or not. Based on his last performance against Philadelphia I'm going to say he's not in a groove right now. Over his career against the Braves' batting order he has averaged one fewer batter faced per hit given up than per strikeout.

Is Beckett due for another string of low strikeout starts? You be the judge.