June 28th, 2009 Picks

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(skip to picks)2-1-0 today as Stepanek stepped on my streak like the clumsy Ursa he resembles. I'm not one to be discouraged, however, and I took the White Sox today to win by 1 and then Seattle to send the Dodgers to a rare loss at Dodger Stadium. Really quite luckly there. If Brian Wilson had managed to take care of a two run lead I would have had a perfect day yesterday (yes, ignore tennis). A few more good ones on the board, and guess what? U.S.A. is only +600 to win against Brazil. Online polls around the web have U.S.A. garnering quite a few votes. You beat Spain 2-0 and the world listens I suppose. Go Yanks!! And on to the picks.

Recaps

Radek Stepanek Battles Through Knee Pain To Down Ferrer In Thrilling Five Sets

R. Stepanek def. D. Ferrer 7-5 7-5 3-6 4-6 6-4

There was only the question if they gonna tape my knee and, you know, it's gonna ‑‑ the pain's gonna go away or not. I gave myself, you know, if I'm gonna finish the set, the whole set with the pain, then I'm gonna retire. But slowly the pain was leaving. I was able to play with the tape. It was actually very uncomfortable, but, you know, I was able to play.
---Radek Stepanek about possibly retiring from the match

Apparently the match between Stepanek and Ferrer was pedestrian and hardly worth noticing as it is one of the few gentlemen's singles matches not written about on the day. It was a battle by Stepanek who aggravated his left knee up 6-5 in the first set. His knee is what caused him to retire in Madrid back in May. Well, he fought through the pain and eventually the pain subsided and he held on to take the first set 7-5. He went down 0-3 in the second set and it looked as if he would just not be quick enough to play through, but he managed to find a way back to tie the set at 3-3 and went on to take another set 7-5. He had a little help here as Ferrer double faulted at critical break points, and gave the free points to Stepanek 11 times in all after missing the end line 7 times in the first two rounds combined. Ferrer took the next two sets but in the fifth was unable to duplicate as Radek Stepanek pulled off the win!
Match StatsStepanek Interview (post-match)

Rookie Beckham Earns White Sox Revenge With A Bevy Of Hits, A Walk Off Single

Chicago White Sox 8 - 7 Chicago Cubs

This time it was the White Sox who laughed last in another well fought Windy City War.

``Gordon Beckham singled in the winning run with two outs in the ninth, and Scott Podsednik homered while tying a career high with four hits to lift the Chicago White Sox to an 8-7 victory over the Cubs on Saturday. White Sox starter Mark Buehrle and the Cubs' Ryan Dempster were shaky, but Podsednik was at his best. He drove in three runs while scoring two and just missed a possible triple before flying out in the eighth, when his shot down the right-field line landed about a foot foul. Even so, the White Sox nearly lost thanks to three errors that resulted in three unearned runs."

Read more....Box ScorePhotos

Felix Hernandez Nearly Perfect As Mariners Roll Behind No. 620 For Griffey

Seattle Mariners 5 - 1 Los Angeles Dodgers

``The Seattle Mariners overcame some distressing news from ailing third baseman Adrian Beltre, and evened their interleague series against the Los Angeles Dodgers with another dominating performance by Felix Hernandez. Beltre informed the club that he'll undergo surgery Tuesday in Los Angeles to have bone spurs removed from his troublesome left shoulder, which was operated on in September for the same reason. He's expected to be sidelined for six to eight weeks. Hernandez scattered four hits over eight innings, Ken Griffey Jr. and Russell Branyan each hit home runs, and the Mariners beat the Dodgers 5-1 on Saturday night for their eighth victory in 11 games. Hernandez (8-3) allowed an unearned run, struck out nine and walked one. Rafael Furcal reached on an infield hit in the third inning and scored from third when eight-time Gold Glove right fielder Ichiro Suzuki misplayed Casey Blake's sinking liner for his second error of the season. Hernandez retired his next 12 batters and 16 of his final 17 before David Aardsma finished up."

Read more....Box Score

Picks
1) Cincinnati Reds @ Cleveland Indians - Cleveland
2) Philadelphia Phillies @ Toronto Blue Jays - Philadelphia
3) Tony Stewart vs. Jimmie Johnson - Johnson has a better finishing position
4) What Will Be The Winning Score At The Travelers: 20 under par or better vs. 19 under par or worse - 20 under or better
5) Chicago Cubs @ Chicago White Sox - White Sox
6) Minnesota Twins @ St. Louis Cardinals - Minnesota
7) United States vs. Brazil - United States wins or loses by 1 goal
8) Colorado Rapids @ Seattle Sounders F.C. - Colorado win or draw
9) Colorado Rockies @ Oakland Athletics - Oakland
10) Sacramento Monarchs @ Detroit Shock - Detroit
11) New York Yankees @ New York Mets - Yankees
12) Seattle Storm @ Los Angeles Sparks - Los Angeles
13) Houston Dynamo @ Los Angeles Galaxy - Houston win

Previews

The Cleveland Indians' bullpen continues to struggle so the addition of Asdrubal Cabrera along with a resurgent Grady Sizemore could be the difference between victory and defeat today.

1) The Cleveland Indians are currently in last place in the American League and have split the first two games against in-state opponent Cincinnati. Each team has dominated one of the games with the Indians winning the first 9-2 and the Reds winning the second 7-3. In their respective previous three games the Reds have been performing much better offensively, although the Indians have been the better offensive team over the season. Cincinnati has a .309 batting average and .491 slugging average in those three games, incredible numbers for a team that scores just 36% of their base runners and uses over 3 total bases per run scored. The Indians have been decidedly mediocre in comparison, batting .227 with a .381 slugging average in their last three. Cleveland will hope Grady Sizemore will begin to look like the healthy last season version who hit 33 home runs as he continues his play at the designated hitter position. The Indians will also give a fitness test to Asdrubal Cabrera to see if he can be inserted into the starting rotation for today's game in the spot vacated by the recently traded Mark DeRosa.

Grady Sizemore triples against Ian Snell last week. Sizemore struggled before returning from injury.

Facing Sizemore and Cabrera should make things tougher for Reds starter Micah Owings. Owings will attempt to add another increasingly rare quality start for the Reds' starting rotation after Homer Bailey picked up the win yesterday.

``We didn't start giving up these runs until we started playing these [American League] teams. The AL is built for offense. You might have as good of a hitter hitting ninth as you do hitting leadoff."
---Reds manager Dusty Baker

He'll also want to avoid anything close to resembling his last start against an AL team where he gave up 6 earned runs from 9 hits, including three home runs, in just 5²/₃ innings to the Toronto Blue Jays. For the Indians, starter David Huff will simply want to avoid a complete let down after pitching an 8 inning shutout gem against the Pittsburgh Pirates in his last start.

I think Owings is capable of shutting down a team like Cleveland if they begin to slump, but in this game he would probably be considered to have done well if he gave up only 3 earned runs in 6 innings. Cleveland will want a significant lead (3 runs at least) down the stretch as their bullpen continues to struggle and Rafael Perez will not be activated until tomorrow. As long as David Huff can keep Cleveland ahead, however, I like their chances against a Reds team that in all likelihood will struggle to score runs if not hit in the very near future.

The United States will miss midfielder Bob Bradley, but are glad Carlos Bocanegra remains healthy. Brazil will start the same side which defeated South Africa 1-0 in the semifinals.

7) The United States will take on defending champions Brazil in the final of the quadrennial Confederations Cup. Brazil already defeated the United States 3-0 in the Group stage, a defeat that looked sure to put the United States out of the semifinals before a 3-0 defeat of Egypt and an 0-3 loss by Italy to Brazil made a 6 goal swing in goal differential to send the United States through. In the semifinals the United States defeated world #1 Spain 2-0 while Brazil tackled South Africa 1-0 in a hard fought match.

Given how dominant Brazil looked in their 3-0 win it would seem the United States have little chance in this match. Of course, given how the United States looked in that match and the one against Italy they had no business playing with Spain either, let alone beating them. Two to nil. A number of previews from the CBC, New York Times, and goal.com can be found through Google. For the most part people expect Brazil to come out victorious and it is only a question of whether the United States can play with enough vigor and ferocity to keep the game close. bluedevils0829 at ESPN put together a fine preview highlighting three keys to the game for the United States.

1. The spirit and fight has to be there.
2. Don't give up an early goal.
3. Attack early.

I agree whole-heartedly with these points and emphasize #1 as the most important. Brazil want the US to attack, they want the field to open up as they know they will be able to use their quickness and skill in dribbling to create danger on the counter attack. They will try and score early to force the U.S. to adopt a more offensive approach. The United States does need to attack, but they need to do so intelligently. They need to have confidence they can score with Landon Donovan playing the link-up midfielder's role and making one solid cross leading to a goal. If they have the fight to give it their all on the defensive end they can afford to focus on the attack and possibly even bring a third man up.

Probable starting lineups from LATimes.com
Brazil: GK Julio Cesar; Maicon, Lucio, Luisao, Andre Santos; Gilberto Silva, Felipe Melo; Robinho, Kaka, Ramires; Luis Fabiano

USA: GK Tim Howard; Jonathan Spector, Oguchi Onyewu, Jay DeMerit, Carlos Bocanegra; Landon Donovan, Ricardo Clark, Benny Feilhaber, Clint Dempsey; Jozy Altidore, Charlie Davies

Soccer is a difficult game to score in so to win by two goals would be a fairly dominating performance. I think the United States is too confident and too hungry to allow themselves to be dominated. Whether they lose 1-0, 2-1, or win 2-1 I think they can keep the game close.

June 27th, 2009 Picks

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(skip to picks)2-0-0 today, Cubs and Jacobs with the TKO in the nick of time. Crazy Cubs game it looks like, and some funny images from it as well. For example, I did not know that compared to Derrek Lee Jamie Fox looks like a grown up Wally from ``Leave It To Beaver". And so on to the picks.

Recaps

Young Guns Geovany Soto And Jamie Fox Smoke White Sox

Chicago Cubs 5 - 4 Chicago White Sox

Kevin Gregg ended the game with an inside pitch that was called a strike after having been called a ball for the rest of the inning. Marmol had a 54.00 ERA and 12.00 WHIP today while Sean Marshall got twice as many outs as he with a single pitch.

``Dye gave the White Sox a 1-0 lead in the first with his 17th homer. Jim Thome tied it at 2 in the fourth with a solo drive that broke an 0-for-13 slump after Fox -- who had three hits -- hit a two-run drive in the top half. But on a day when the ball was carrying, Soto landed the biggest blow after Fox singled with one out and Mike Fontenot reached on first baseman Paul Konerko's error. Fresh off the revelation that he tested positive for marijuana at the World Baseball Classic Soto, the 2008 Rookie of the Year, drove his seventh homer out to center to help send Contreras to his second straight loss. The Cubs hung on even though Carlos Marmol nearly blew it in the eighth. Jim Thome drove a two-run double off first baseman Derrek Lee's glove and Marmol then intentionally walked Paul Konerko to load the bases again. Sean Marshall came in and pinch hitter A.J. Pierzynski grounded into an inning-ending 3-2-3 double play on the first pitch."

Read more....Box Score

Daniel Jacobs Remains Unbeaten With Win In Tucson

D. Jacobs def. G. Walton by TKO (8^th round)

``Like a patient matador, Jacobs (17-0, 15 KOs) picked apart Walton, turning to his vicious uppercut whenever "Blaze" leaned in too close, trying to hit a home run. Tucsonan Bobby Ferrara stopped the fight 1:59 into the eighth round after Jacobs battered Walton against the ropes. Jacobs' TKO victory in front of about 1,800 fans at Desert Diamond Casino continued his steady climb up the middleweight division."

Read more....Round-By-Round

Picks
1) Radek Stepanek vs. David Ferrer - Ferrer
2) Tommy Haas vs. Marin Cilic - Cilic
3) Victor Hanescu vs. Gilles Simon - Hanescu
4) Kenny Perry vs. Anthony Kim - Perry cards a lower third round score
5) Philadelphia Phillies @ Toronto Blue Jays - Philadelphia
6) Jason Leffler vs. Joey Logano - Logano has a better finishing position
7) Chicago Cubs @ Chicago White Sox - White Sox
8) Cincinnati Reds @ Cleveland Indians - Cincinnati
9) San Francisco Giants @ Milwaukee Brewers - San Francisco
10) Florida Marlins @ Tampa Bay Rays - Tampa Bay
11) Phoenix Mercury @ Minnesota Lynx - Minnesota
12) Washington Mystics @ Chicago Sky - Chicago
13) Seattle Mariners @ Los Angeles Dodgers - Seattle

1)

Having retired twice since May 10th Radek Stepanek (left) simply hopes he can avoid another injury. David Ferrer (right) is hoping he can step into the semifinals this year.

David Ferrer (current 52 week ATP ranking #21) and #23Radek Stepanek meet in the third round at Wimbledon. Neither played particularly well in the weekends between Roland Garros and this tournament with Ferrer losing in the quarterfinals at 's-Hertogenbosch to #81 Ivan Navarro in straight sets while Stepanek opted out of the grass court circuit to play in a clay tournament in Prostejov, Czech Republic. Stepanek was leading 6-2 1-1 over Pablo Cuevas before he was forced to retire after sustaining an ankle injury. Stepanek has not played an event in the three weeks from then until now and even as late as June 4^th reports were that he may miss Wimbledon altogether. The lack of news regarding his ankle suggests to me he has more or less fully recovered, but in a long 5 set match it could become an issue. That he's also had two retirements in a month suggests to me he is pushing his body by playing in Wimbledon.

Head to head Ferrer holds the edge at 3-2 but this will be the first time the two have met on a grass court. Ferrer won their most recent encounter at Roland Garros last year, a back and forth 5 set victory with each player dominating individual sets. Both players have done well to get to the third round though neither has faced anyone ranked higher than #80 to this point. Ferrer has done better of the two, in my opinion, especially in terms of his return game. He has lost only one set so far, to Kevin Kim in the first round, and defeated #66 Fabio Fognini in straight sets in the second round while winning 54% of his receiving points. Stepanek has not played exceptional by any means, but he has played well enough to win. His second round match against #80 Potito Starace went five sets, but it was more due to Starace playing a strong match than Stepanek playing poorly.

Overall, neither player has an overpowering serve in the 130mph range. For Stepanek that is a good thing as he has had trouble historically against powerful services which are always an advantage on grass courts. Stepanek has committed fewer unforced errors in this tournament, though neither player has been error prone thus far. Each player have accumulated a total of 7 double faults through the first two rounds as well. The main area I give the advantage to Ferrer is in his return game where he has been able to dominate his opponents. Stepanek will not be so easy to win receiving points against, but I think Ferrer will convert an extra break point or two and those will be the match deciding games.

Tommy Haas (left) and Marin Cilic (right) gave it their all yesterday to take it to a first to win two consecutive sets match today.

2) Tommy Haas and Marin Cilic had their match suspended yesterday due to darkness all tied at 6 games apiece in the fifth set. It was a thriller of a match by all accounts and these highlightsHighlights and match report here show some terrific plays being made by both men.

With everything tied at 6 games each in the fifth set this match will come down to who can be first to win two consecutive sets. In other words, who will be the first to hold service and break service in consecutive sets. Looking at the match statistics from yesterday one can see that Haas committed fewer errors and was better at getting his first serve into play, but that Cilic won more of his first and second serves overall. Cilic also won a higher proportion of his receiving points and to me that is the single biggest factor in determining who is more likely to break serve. From the percentage of first serves in play and the percentage of first and second serves won Cilic is a bit more likely to win a point on any given serve (67% to 63% for Haas). Overall I like Cilic to win in this short form of the match.

June 26th, 2009 Picks

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(skip to picks)3-1-0 today thanks to Venus Williams and the NBA Draft. Vijay Singh's very solid, but not good enough, 4-under 66 was two strokes off the mark to win the prop on Streak for the Cash. Better luck next time Vijay and on to the picks.

Recaps

Venus Williams Starts Slow Finishes Strong

V. Williams def. K. Bondarenko 6-3 6-2

Venus Williams is a five-time champion at Wimbledon. Let's hope she can finish strong on the tournament as a whole.

``As so many find against Williams, Bondarenko was on the defensive from the outset, saving break point in the first game of the match. But it was not long before Venus made the breakthrough. The five-time Wimbledon champion sent a backhand down the line to bring up two break points for 3-2, and Bondarenko sent a forehand way long for Venus to convert the second. Then at 3-5, a massive return from a weak second serve gave Venus set point. Another huge return wrapped up the set. [Bondarenko] saved break point for 2-4 with a most wonderful dropshot at the end of a 19-stroke rally, only for successive errors to hand over the tamest of breaks. Venus underlined her superiority with the fastest serve of the day, and within 10 minutes she took the victory with her first match point."

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

At 5 Under Lucas Glover Remains Four Strokes Off The Lead

L. Glover -5 (65), V. Singh -4 (66)

Vijay Singh and Lucas Glover were neck and neck throughout the first round. Both players killed the back nine with runs of three birdies in a row. Singh had an early lead of one stroke through five holes but he and Glover remained even after nine as the two players alternated birdies on #7, #8, and #9 with Glover carding the extra. Singh made his run of birdies on 11 through 13 to regain a one stroke lead but Glover's run came right after that and they were back to all square through 15. Singh bogeyed to finish out the round one stroke behind the U.S. Open Champion.
Singh's ScorecardGlover's ScorecardPhotosGlover Post-Round InterviewRound 1 Wrap-Up

Griffin, Thabeet, Harden Round Out The Top Three In This Year's NBA Draft

Hasheem Thabeet went second to the Memphis Grizzlies, then Jordan Hill and DeMar DeRozan went #8 and #9 to New York and Toronto to give the PAC-10 two picks in the 6-10 range. (Aside: New York fans are idiots if they're going to boo Jordan Hill because he's not Steph Curry. Sit back and enjoy watching Reggie Miller zero calorie lite and be glad you did not draft him.) Hansbrough went early, before Lawson, at #13 to the Indiana Pacers. They've got a truly Larry Bird-esque lineup now, except without as much skill and aside from Hansbrough a lot less trash talking. A bunch of teams called dibs on foreign born players not ready to play in the NBA yet with the 20-25 picks, and the Big East, especially Pittsburgh had to wait until the second round to be selected.
Simmons Draft DiaryFord's Draft GradesGoogle Draft Day News Glom

Picks
1) Zach Johnson vs. Boo Weekley - Weekley cards a lower front 9 score
2) Tommy Haas vs. Marin Cilic - Haas
3) Anthony Kim vs. Sergio Garcia - Garcia cards a lower second round score
4) Chicago Cubs @ Chicago White Sox - Cubs
5) Kansas City Royals @ Pittsburgh Pirates - Pittsburgh
6) Philadelphia Phillies @ Toronto Blue Jays - Philadelphia
7) Indiana Fever @ New York Liberty - New York
8) San Francisco Giants @ Milwaukee Brewers - Milwaukee
9) Minnesota Twins @ St. Louis Cardinals - Minnesota
10) Colorado Rockies @ Oakland Athletics - Colorado
11) Daniel Jacobs vs. George Walton - 8 rounds or fewer

Previews

Marin Cilic (right) had to battle past smash server Sam Querrey in five sets while Haas (left) simply had to wait for Michael Llodra to crash into something.

2) 31 year old Tommy Haas will meet young up and comer Marin Cilic in the third round of Wimbledon this afternoon. The two have had very different routes into the third round so far. Haas had some trouble with a strong serving Alexander Peya (ATP 52 week rank #197) losing the first set tie break before taking the tie break in the second set 7-0 and winning the next two sets comfortably. Haas' second round match was cut short when his opponent, Michael Llodra, collided with a ball boy, the umpire's chair, or both, and was forced to retire in the first set. Cilic won his first round match against Alberto Martin handily in straight sets 6-3 6-4 6-4 before being taken to the limit by #47 Sam Querrey.

Cilic may have been worked harder so far this tournament, but it is still early going and I would not expect any player who has made it this far to be significantly drained from even a pair of five set 3 hour marathons. Of the two Tommy Haas has played much better recently, and on grass courts especially. Looking at their playing activity this year one can see Haas has defeated the likes of Jo Wilfried Tsonga and Novak Djokovic while taking Roger Federer to five sets all in the past two weeks. Based on that it would seem smart to take Haas, but I can see the big serve of Cilic giving him trouble, just like Peya's did in the first round. I also think he will be less prepared for the match having played only 7 games in the second round. This is very close and I think it will come down to whether Cilic can play fundamentally sound enough to play a good return game. I think Haas will break Cilic's serve more than once and Cilic will need to do the same to win this match. Of course, if you want some reassurance in picking Cilic keep in mind that Haas lost for the first time this year to another 6'6" player with a big serve, Sam Querrey, and is only 1-4 against 6'10" Ivo Karlovic.

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
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