Who to Bet

Hanley RamirezThe Marlins have won 4 in a row coming into tonight's matchup against the Washington Nationals.  The only bad news is that they are starting Ricky Nolasco, who has been getting shelled thus far this year.  The poor guy is sporting a 6.10 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP.  Sure, we'd like to blame it on bad luck, perhaps a high BABIP, but his BABIP is just under .300 at .293.  Therefore, he has basically sucked.  However, these are the Nationals, who he was 3-1 against last year, and who the Marlins have already 5-1 against this year, including being 3-0 at Washington.  Also, the Marlins have the #1 player in baseball right now in Hanley Ramirez.  The kid is a pure stud, and is a huge part of the Marlins 20-14 record, good enough for 1st place in the NL East.  But, who to bet?

Yesterday we took the Cardinals and the flaky Kyle Lohse as the underdog pick.  He is an on again, off again type of pitcher, so you know his mental state is about as steady as one of those bobble head dolls.  Anyways, let's look at the boxscore for his first inning:

Bottom 1st: Colorado

With all the early games, I feel like we have missed out on a couple of opportunities, but never fret, this is baseball, where there seems to be a game on at all times and all hours, especially if you are the East Coast.  How crazy is it that you East Coast folks can finish watching your hometown team play at 10pm, and then there is another game starting.  Must be nice to own a sports bar over there as the crowd can stay until all hours.  Anyways, on to today's Free MLB Pick.

Welcome to your 1-2 punch for sports bet selections.  Baseball is in full swing after a month plus.  But it's the NBA playoffs that are the hot topic this time of year.  Speaking of 1-2...it's looking very likely that the top dogs will represent in the division conference finals.  I like the other seeds, don't get me wrong.  But it's an up hill battle.  And the thought of an 80's Finals with Boston and LA has TV execs giddy.  So why fight the feeling.  Jump in the time machine, and enjoy the nostalgia.  On to the matchups...

Tonight's ESPN game matches the underachieving New York Yankees against the underachieving Cleveland Indians.  Each team tries to find the magic formula, and each team sends a formidable slinger to the mound.  The Indians go off at +129, while the Yankees are at -139.  With Wang on the mound and Yankees are a dominant team.  Wang is following up with his earlier performance against the Indians where he pitched 7 scoreless innings and struck out 9.  Wang's sinkerball is among the best in the game, and if he is getting the low strike and hitting his target, it is difficult to muster more than some singles through the holes in the infield.  Cliff Lee has had a stellar year, and many of you may be waiting for the clock to strike midnight.  You may be waiting for quite a while.  Don't sleep on Lee, he has always had the stuff to be a top of the rotation hurler, and he has put it together.  The smart play here is to go under 8 and enjoy the pitchers duel.