The LA Angels are starting their season without their two top pitchers. Lackey is supposed to be back in may, so more than 1 month without his 19-9 record from 2007! And you never know how recovery will go.
Escobar may be out for the whole season if he has to undergo surgery. He had a 18-7 record in 2007.
The Angels managed to finish with a 94-68 record last year but will be challenged by the way better Mariner's pitching staff this year and the injuries to two of their most important players will be a setback for them. The line is way to high for me. I can see them ending up with a record in the upper 80s if Lackey is able to start in may already. if not.....they better go for a trade.

Back in action - the new season is just around the corner.

The Mariners have one of the best rotations in the American League if not in the whole MLB. They added Eric Bedard(a real ace) and Carlos Silva to their pitching staff. Bedard will probably be their #1 starter in the rotation and take weight off Felix Hernandez shoulders.
The Mariners finished with 88 wins in 2007 and I do not see why they shouldn't end up in this winning region once again. Especially the A's and Rangers will not be able to keep up with them and their main rival in the division, the Angels, is having some injury problems at the beginning of the season.
Some other lines are around their 2007 mark, so take the low line for a decent price.

http://www.centsports.com/?opcode=59497

R.I.P. NFL-Europe
BOYKOTT THE NFL


Game #1 with both pitcher to start to count (as usual).

Mets rested with a postponed game in St. Louis. Today the leaders in the NL east will send Orlando Hernández on the mound. He started 11 games this season and his ERA of 2.77 is a great mark. He is only 3-3 with 5 ND while allowing more than 2 runs only in 3 games.
Phillies with J.D. Durbin, who has not started a game since 2004 when he appeared in 4 games with a 7.36 ERA.
In his relief appearance on Apr 4th this season he was roughed up: 7 hits, 7 runs in just 0.2 innings.
His ERA is only 4.55 in the triple-a league. Now in the majors...c'mon.
Phillies were very hitable lately...
complete missmatch here

Cleveland is the 2nd best home team in the AL while TB is only 14-20 away from home.
TB were swept by the White Sox in a 4 game series and are 3-7 in their last 10 games.
Cleveland with 6-4 in their last 10. They are 2nd in runs scored in MLB behind the Tigers.

Cleveland with Jake Westbrook on the mound. He struggled in April when he didn't feel comfortable and went on the DL on May 2nd. In his return he pitched a good game against the Nationals in a 1-3 loss. He lasted 7 innings and allowed 7 hits, 3 runs which is quite alright and something to build on.

Edwin Jackson for the Rays does not last too long very often. He won his 1st game in his last start after losing 8 and leaving 5 time with ND. I do not see him being able to compete with Westbrook and especially not at Wrigley Field.

The Atlanta Braves are coming off a sweep over the Washington Nationals and are now looking to do it again against another struggling team.
The Florida Marlins are 4-6 in their last 10 games and ended a 4 game losing streak with a 9-7 win over Pittsburgh yesterday.
Florida is only 16-23 at home, which is the worst home record of all teams with an equal or better season win record in MLB.

The pitchers are very interesting tonight.
Chuck James on the mound for Atlanta is somehow an ok pitcher. So far he was not able to put up the numbers he achieved last year but they hardly score more than 3 runs on him this season.
For Florida we will have Josh Johnson pitching. He missed most of the season with an elbow injury. In his two starts since his return he got punished. He did not last more than 3.2 innings while allowing 7 and 8 runs. That makes 6.2 innings, 17 hits and 15 runs.

I see James way ahead of him right now and rely on Atlanta's hot bats.

Yesterday's game was postponed due to rain(pick was void). Today they have both pitchers sceduled to start once again(this pick will be void if any of the two will not start today-> both pitchers to start).

Rogers back on track from the DL. 2nd start after a marvelous effort when he allowed no runs (2 hits) in 6 innings.
Tigers need this kind of a performance now from a decent pitcher after losing the first two games in this series to the Rangers.
Detroit always a dangerous scoring team.
On the mound for Texas will be struggling Kevin Millwood. His ERA is aweful even though he won his last two starts. Still no great outings from him. His only start against the Tigers this season ended in a desaster: 3.2 innings, 9 hits, 7 runs.

The matchup will be Andy Sonnastine vs. White Sox.
Sonnastine is in his rookie season with the Devil Rays and started 4 games so far(all in june).
The White Sox scored 5 and 6 runs in this series' first two games. The pitchers of the Rays were way better ones than Sonnastine is. The bullpen is also a big concern for the Rays.
Chicago scored on 6 HRs in the two games and Sonnastine already allowed 7 HRs in his 4 starts.
In 3 out of 4 starts, opponents scored more than 4.5 runs when Sonnastien started. In the other game the Marlins only scored 4, missed only by .5 runs.

Rogers back on track from the DL. 2nd start after a marvelous effort when he allowed no runs (2 hits) in 6 innings.
Tigers need this kind of a performance now from a decent pitcher after losing the first two games in this series to the Rangers.
Detroit always a dangerous scoring team.
On the mound for Texas will be struggling Kevin Millwood. His ERA is aweful even though he won his last two starts. Still no great outings from him. His only start against the Tigers this season ended in a desaster: 3.2 innings, 9 hits, 7 runs.

2 strong pitchers for the Tigers will give them confidence to split the series.

Duquesne lost 8 in a row while George Washington won 6 in a row. Having only lost one game against #19 NC State makes George Washington the number one in the Atlantic 10 cenference with 4-0. Duquesne is last here with no conference wins and a weak 2-14 record. The Colonials average 17 ppg more than the Dukes and are way ahead in steals per game. This will be the big difference here and they should win by around 25.

Habs got roughed up by the Canucks last game and where early out of the game by 6 goals against'em in the 1st period. Their defense was alright before, but this will be in their heads tonight. Canes lost the 1st game after a long winning streak. They are a great bunch of guys right now wh never give up and somehow always do the right things to sink the opponent's ship.
Expect the Canes to be on the PP for quite some time. They deliver! They do, somehow.

Again a sure shot. Togo solved issues with Adebayor and their attack can only benefit from this. Best chances went wide of the goal while Adebayor played sick. He would have made at least one of those. Their defense was a wreck in the 1st game. Cameroon would have punished them and probably will do in their encounter. They were the best team after the 1st round of the group stage. Could have easily made it 5:1 against Angola. I will go for a goal for Togo and the rest will be peanuts.