Detroit and Toronto wrap-up their series on Thursday afternoon as Justin Verlander takes on the Blue Jays. Verlander's last start against Toronto was a no-hit effort back in May of 2011 when he struck out four and walked one. Now he'll get a weakened lineup without the likes of Jose Bautista, Brett Lawrie, and David Cooper. Toronto is a combined 16 for 97 against the ace with Adam Lind and Jose Bautista accounting for seven of those hits. Verlander is 6-2 with a 1.72 ERA in 11 starts at home this season. The Blue Jays have scored 3 runs or less in six straight games and in 9 of their last 11 games overall. They are hitting right around .205 in their last eight games.

J.A. Happ is 9-10 with a 4.86 ERA in 21 starts this season. He has allowed 29 runs and 54 hits in just over 42 innings pitched on the road this season. Detroit is hitting .266 in games against left-handed pitchers, and they are 31-20 in the daytime and 36-25 at home. Toronto's bullpen has a losing record on the road and they

Both teams will be playing their second preseason game; Cincinnati beat the Jets 17-6 in their opener while Atlanta lost 31-17 to the Ravens. Based on the final score alone, you

Boston is on the verge of being swept on Thursday night in Baltimore. Clay Buchholz gets the start for the Red Sox. He is 10-3 with a 4.24 ERA in 20 starts, including a 4-2 record with a 4.42 ERA in nine road starts. Buchholz has a 5.00 ERA in three starts against the Orioles giving up 10 runs and 17 hits in 18 innings. JJ Hardy (4-10) and Matt Wieters (6-21) have good numbers against the starter. Baltimore is hitting right around .265 in their last eight games; they won six of those games. Baltimore is 32-28 at home and they are now in possession of an A.L. Wild Card spot. Boston's bullpen has 15 losses and 14 blown saves on the season.

Chris Tillman is 5-2 with a 3.40 ERA in seven starts this season. He has greatly improved his numbers from his past stints in the Majors, especially in the control department where he has only walked 12 in almost 40 innings. Tillman threw five shutout innings against the Red Sox in Boston last year while giving up just five hits and three walks. The Boston lineup just hasn't been the same on the road where they are hitting right around .250 as a unit. They miss David Ortiz and Will Middlebrooks; both were big contributors. Baltimore's bullpen continues to be a strength going 21-8 with 39 saves. The Orioles have won 8 of the 11 meetings between the two teams this season so we'll take Baltimore on the run line in this game tonight.

10* Play ORIOLES (+1.5 runline).

Dallas

Tonight

Detroit and New York play Game 3 of their series on Wednesday night. The Tigers will get their third crack at CC Sabathia after falling short twice this season. In those two games combined, the lefty allowed 5 runs and 12 hits in 15 innings. Overall, Sabathia is 17-12 with a 4.49 ERA in 36 career starts against the Tigers. Sabathia has allowed 12 runs and 17 hits in his last three starts. The Tigers have won six straight games and they are hitting well over .300 in their last eight games. They are 17-14 against left-handed starters and 33-21 at home. Brennan Boesch (4-13), Miguel Cabrera (10-23) and Gerald Laird (9-21) hit the Yankees

Boston and New York will play the final game of their series in the Bronx on Sunday night. The Red Sox turn to Felix Doubront who is 10-5 with a 4.54 ERA. He has pitched better on the road where he is 5-2 with a 3.83 ERA in nine starts. Doubront has faced the Yankees twice this season allowing 5 runs and eight hits in just over 12 innings of work. The Yankees are hitting right around .250 in their last eight games. Boston's bullpen picked up another win yesterday moving them to 7-5 on the road with an ERA below 3.00 as a unit.

Hiroki Kuroda is 10-7 with a 3.34 ERA in 20 starts this season. Kuroda got rocked by the Red Sox back on July 6th giving up 7 runs and 10 hits in just over five innings. He also lost to Boston back in 2010 when he was with the Dodgers. Boston's win on Saturday moved them to 25-23 on the road. They are hitting over .265 as a unit this season. The Yankees

The Cardinals continue their homestand as they host the Rockies on Monday night. Colorado's strategy of throwing four pitchers in their rotation at a reduced amount of pitches has not worked so far. The unit is allowing opponents to hit over .326 in their last eight games and right around .300 for the season. Josh Outman is 0-2 with a 9.26 ERA in six starts giving up 24 runs and 33 hits. Outman has been shelled on the road giving up 14 runs in 12 innings. The Cardinals

Miami has now won back-to-back games in this series to take a 2-1 lead in the NBA Finals. The Heat won by 6 points (91-85), but Game 3 went back and forth with both teams making multiple runs. Miami was fortunate to make the last winning run as they closed the game on a 5-0 run over the final 1:19 of the game; that turned a 1-point Miami lead into a 6-point SU and ATS loss for Oklahoma City. The Thunder

Miami bounced back strong as expected in Game 2; the Heat led the entire game and won 100-96. The game was not as close as the 4-point margin of victory indicates as Miami led by as many as 17 points, and by double digits for the majority of the game. Oklahoma City played an overall bad Game 2; the Thunder shot just 43% (34-79) from the field and 34.6% (9-26) from three-point land. Oklahoma City also missed 7 free throws (19-26), and that was not good for the best free throw shooting team in the NBA. Aside from Durant and Westbrook, only James Harden scored more than 7 points for the Thunder which means the rest of their role players scored a combined 16 points on an ugly 25% (5-20) shooting from the field. Those guys played as bad as they could so we expect them to respond with a much better effort in Game 3.

Oklahoma City lost for just the fourth time in these playoffs. The Thunder have lost three of the four games by 4 points or less which shows just how tough it is to beat them by a big margin. As an underdog, Oklahoma City is 3-1-1 ATS in the playoffs, and since they are off a home loss and catching points, we see some good value with them in this spot. Miami got an all-around team effort in Game 2 as four of their five starters scored 16 points or more. As a team, they shot 47.4% (36-76) from the field and 42.9% (6-14) from three-point land. The Heat also hit 22 of their 25 free throw attempts. Miami may be in for a letdown in this game as it

Oklahoma City won Game 1 105-94, but the game was a lot closer than the final score indicates. Miami actually held a 13-point lead before they wore down in the second half when the Thunder out-scored them by 18 points (58-40). The second half collapse was expected as Miami was simply in a terrible situational spot for Game 1. The Heat came off their grueling 7-game series with Boston, and they were facing a well-rested and fresher Thunder team that had six days of rest. Miami

The NBA Finals get underway tonight as Miami takes to the road in Oklahoma City for Game 1. Miami

Chicago looks to bounce back after losing 9-5 to Toronto last night. The White Sox turn to Jose Quintana who has allowed just 3 runs and five hits in two starts this season. He has six strikeouts and only three walks in those games. Toronto is 7-9 vs. left-handed starters this season while hitting .243 in those games. Excluding last night, they have struggled to hit away from Toronto as their batting average is right around .230 on the road. Quintana will be backed by a bullpen that has an ERA right around 3.40 this season and an 8-8 record.

Brandon Morrow is very hard to figure out. He beat the Orioles in his last start after allowing 1 run and four hits. The outing before that he gave up 6 runs and five hits to the Rangers in Arlington. Overall, Morrow is 6-3 with a 3.28 ERA in 11 starts for the Blue Jays. Gordon Beckham (3-10), AJ Pierzynski (3-11) and Alexei Ramirez (3-7) all hit the righty hard. The White Sox are hitting right around .280 in their last eight games and they are putting up over 5 runs per game at home this season. The lineup should get a boost with Paul Konerko back after getting three straight days off to heal up and recharge his batteries. Toronto's bullpen has been shaky this season converting their save opportunities at just over 50% as a unit. We like the value of the run line so we

San Antonio was on a major roll coming into Game 3. The Spurs were on an incredible 20-game SU winning streak. They were also an incredible 16-3-1 ATS in those 20 games and an even more impressive and profitable 34-3 SU (27-7-3 ATS) in their previous 37 games overall. But their impressive streak came to an end when Oklahoma City handed San Antonio a 20-point loss (102-82) in Game 3. The Spurs were expected to bounce back strong in Game 4, but they didn

The Thunder were in an excellent bounce-back situation on Thursday night in Game 3 as they returned home down 0-2 in the series and they played an inspired game in front of their home crowd as expected. We used a selection on Oklahoma City in Game 3 and it was an easy 20-point winner (102-82). However, that blowout win now sets up a strong bounce-back situation for the Spurs as they look to regain control of this 7-game series in Game 4 tonight.

The Spurs were due for a off-game as they entered Thursday on an incredible 20-game SU winning streak. The pressure is now off and San Antonio should respond with a strong showing tonight. Quality road underdogs off a 20+ point loss in the playoffs are a long-term 60% ATS play in the NBA postseason and Class-A teams off a loss have also been a long-term winning play in Game 4 of a series. Despite the rare setback on Thursday night, the Spurs are still an incredible 20-1 SU (16-4-1 ATS) in their past 21 games and an even more impressive and profitable 34-4 SU (27-8-3 ATS) in their past 34 games overall.

The Spurs are still 4-2 SU in the six head-to-head meetings versus the Thunder this season, including 4-1 SU in the past five games in which the Spurs have held 24, 27, 10, and 22-point leads in their four wins versus Oklahoma City. In fact, the Thunder never led in two of those four losses against San Antonio this season. Going further back, the Spurs are 8-4 ATS in the past twelve meetings versus Oklahoma City, including 5-1 ATS the previous two years heading into this season. Look for San Antonio to respond with a motivated effort tonight after their embarrassing loss in Game 3 and the Spurs present excellent value at an underdog price.

10* Play SPURS (+).

The Astros extended their losing streak to seven games on Friday night. They look to halt that skid behind Wandy Rodriguez who is 4-4 with a 2.49 ERA in 11 starts. The lefty is a completely different pitcher at home where he has allowed only 12 earned runs in 46.3 innings. Rodriguez beat the Reds in Cincinnati back in April after allowing just 2 runs and six hits in six innings. Jay Bruce (2-29), Ryan Hanigan (3-12), Paul Janish (3-12), Brandon Phillips (12-47) and Drew Stubbs (4-22) all have had their struggles with the Astros

San Antonio took a commanding 2-0 series lead on Tuesday night with their 120-111 win over Oklahoma City. That was the Spurs 20th consecutive win, and their 34th win in their last 37 games; their last loss came way back on April 11th. Knowing that, it may seem unreasonable to lay a handful of points into this team in this game tonight. But we actually see this as the perfect time to go against the red hot San Antonio team. Despite their incredible winning streak, the Spurs have not played as dominating basketball as you would expect. In Game 1 of this series, the Spurs needed to score 39 points in the fourth quarter after trailing by 9 points going into the final 12 minutes of the game. In Game 2, the Thunder rallied from a 22-point third quarter deficit to trail by just 6 points in the fourth quarter before faltering late. In the two games combined, San Antonio has shot an incredible 50.3% (81-161) from the field while Oklahoma City has shot just 42.1% (72-171) from the field. But San Antonio has only won the games by just 3 and 9 points.

Oklahoma City is certainly on the same level as San Antonio. The Spurs got two easy opponents with issues in their first two series, but the Thunder are many notches above the Jazz and Clippers. The Spurs were fortunate to hold on for wins in their four road playoff games, but tonight

Arizona continues their series at home with Milwaukee on Saturday night as they look for more solid pitching from Wade Miley. The southpaw is 4-1 with a 1.91 ERA in six starts this season. Miley has allowed just 4 runs in his last three starts picking up wins over the Royals and Dodgers. He has yet to see the Brewers in his short Major League career giving him a bit of an advantage. The Brewers are hitting a lusty .237 in their 12 games against left-handed starters, and they are not doing too well on the road either hitting right around .216 as a team.

Zack Greinke is going through a fantastic stretch as a starter. The righty has allowed just 1 earned run and 12 hits in his last three starts while beating the Twins and Mets in the process. The problem for Greinke continues to be his road performance. Even with the seven shutout innings versus the Mets in New York, he still has an ERA of 4.91 in four road outings. Last year, Greinke lost in Arizona after giving up 2 runs and five hits in seven innings. He actually fared worse in October against Arizona at home giving up 4 runs and eight hits in five innings. Miguel Montero (4-6), Lyle Overbay (8-23) and Justin Upton (3-7) hit the Brewers

Miami took advantage of a fragile Indiana team in Game 5 just we expected. The Pacers blew a golden opportunity to take a commanding 3-1 series lead in Game 4 last Sunday. They lost an 8-point halftime lead (54-46) after getting out-scored 55-39 in the second half to lose 101-93. Indiana was certain to play with a hangover in Miami in Game 5, and they did as they lost by 32 points after shooting a terrible 33.7% (30-89) from the field and 28.6% (6-21) from three-point land. It also didn

Indiana blew a golden opportunity to take a commanding 3-1 series lead on Sunday afternoon. The Pacers took an 8-point lead (54-46) into halftime, but they played a terrible second half and lost 101-93. That loss was a major blow to the inexperienced Pacers team, especially since that game was on their home court. We expect Indiana to have a hangover in tonight

A very unusual scheduling situation in Game 4 tonight as these teams have to play without rest after just playing Game 3 last night. The reason is because the L.A. Clippers and Los Angeles Kings are also hosting playoff games this weekend. In fact, there will be four basketball and hockey playoff games played in the Forum on Saturday and Sunday.

This quick turnaround and no-rest situation should favor the younger and more athletic Thunder tonight. Oklahoma City will also be extra focused after suffering their first playoff loss of the season last night. The Thunder are still 6-1 SU in the postseason, so they present excellent value in a straight-up win situation this evening.

The Lakers shot an incredible 41-for-42 (98%) from the free throw line last night and still only won by 3 points. This was second best free throw shooting percentage in NBA Playoff history (minimum 30 attempts) and it is unlikely to happen again tonight. Overall, Oklahoma City has dominated the head-to-head meetings this year and their only other loss versus the Lakers was a double-overtime defeat on April 22nd in which the Thunder blew an 18-point lead, including a 16-point lead entering the fourth quarter. Oklahoma City defeated the Lakers in the other two regular season meetings by 15 and 9 points in which they held 16 and 19 point leads. The Thunder also easily won Game 1 last Monday by 29 points and held a 35-point lead.

The fact that the past two games have been close should ensure a very focused effort by the Thunder in Game 4 tonight and the no-rest situation will favor the more athletic and talented Oklahoma City squad.

10* Play THUNDER.

Boston bounced back strong as expected in Game 3 the other night; the Celtics played a perfect game in their 107-91 win over Philadelphia. The Celtics shot an incredible 51.9% (40-77) from the field and 45.5% (5-11) from three-point land. They also knocked down 22 of their 28 free throw attempts. Boston played an all around game, but we do not expect them to repeat that effort tonight, especially against the strong Philadelphia defense. The 107 points allowed by the Sixers

Philadelphia came through for us in Game 2 with their 82-81 win as 4

San Diego returns home after an East Coast trip through Philadelphia and Washington. Now they will host the Dodgers who are trying to cope with life after Matt Kemp for now. Los Angeles will face Clayton Richard who is 1-5 with a 5.32 ERA in seven starts. The lefty is a much better pitcher at home where he has given up only 7 runs and 15 hits in 20 innings. His lone win came against the Dodgers on April 8th when he allowed only 2 runs and two hits in seven innings. Richard is 5-1 with a 2.63 ERA in nine career starts against the Dodgers. Andre Ethier (3-21), James Loney (3-15) and Jerry Hairston Jr. (0-7) all struggle with the Padres

Los Angeles comes in off a brutal 7-game series with the Denver Nuggets. That grind had to take a lot out of the Lakers, and with just one day to recover, we do not anticipate them being at their best tonight. Los Angeles has a losing road record (16-20) this season, including a 1-2 mark in the playoffs. The Lakers did not fare too well against Oklahoma City during the regular season as they went just 1-2 SU in those games with the two losses coming by 15 and 9 points. Only one of those games was played in Oklahoma City and that was Los Angeles

Philadelphia played much better in Game 1 than expected. The Sixers lost 92-91 which was impressive considering that they played that game with just 1 day of rest after knocking off the #1 seeded Bulls in six games. Their Game 6 win over Chicago was dramatic; the Sixers hit two free throws to win the game with less than 3 seconds left to play. The fact that this young team with zero playoff experience was able to play without a hangover in Game 1 was very encouraging. And since they are off a loss coming into tonight

After trailing 3-1 in this series, Denver has won the last two games to force tonight

Denver bounced back strong in Game 5 after losing at home in Game 4. The Nuggets won 102-99 on Tuesday night, and we expect them to play a better game tonight. Denver won while shooting just 15.8% (3-19) from the three-point land. The starters also out-scored the second unit by just 2 points (52-50). That is a positive sign for the Nuggets, and if they can play a better overall game tonight, there should be no reason they won

Chicago

Denver certainly wants to forget about Game 4. The Nuggets blew a fourth quarter lead after scoring a total of just 37 points in the second half. The 88 points scored by Denver in the game tied their lowest point total since February 15th when they scored just 84 points in a loss at Dallas. Off the terrible performance, we expect the Nuggets to bounce back strong tonight, especially point guard Ty Lawson. Denver

All three of the games in this series have come right down to the wire with Los Angeles owning two 1-point victories and Memphis owning a 7-point win in Game 2. And since Memphis is off an 87-86 loss in Game 3, we anticipate a strong bounce back effort from the Grizzlies tonight. Despite being down 2-1 in the series, Memphis has actually played the better basketball. The Grizzlies blew a 27-point lead in Game 1 and they blew a 7-point lead in the fourth quarter in Game 3. If not for that, Memphis could very well be up 3-0 in this series. The fourth quarter has hindered Memphis as they

Denver bounced back strong in Game 3 after losing the first two games in Los Angeles. The Nuggets won 99-84 on Friday night, and we expect them to play a better game tonight. Denver won while scoring less than 100 points and shooting just 39.8% (37-93) from the field. That is a positive sign for the Nuggets, and if they can play a better overall game tonight, there should be no reason they won

The Jazz have always been a much stronger team at home as they enjoy a unique home court advantage due to the thin air and altitude of Salt Lake City. This home/road dichotomy was extreme and very evident this season as the Jazz are 25-8 SU at home, compared to just 11-24 SU on the road, including those two blowout losses at San Antonio in Games 1 & 2 of this series.

Those results have now vastly inflated the line in Game 3 tonight as my power ratings using all games this season makes San Antonio only a 3.5-point road favorite, so we get nice line value, and the Jazz also fit a strong 65% ATS bounce-back situation after their embarrassing 15 and 31 point losses on the road.

The Jazz should bounce back with a strong effort in front of their home fans tonight as the Jazz are 6-0 ATS in their last 6 home games versus a team with a winning road record. Utah is 19-13 ATS in all home games this season, compared to 14-20 ATS on the road. Utah has also been an excellent offensive team at home where they average 102 points per game and 46% FG and will now be facing a Spurs' defense that was suspect on the road this season where they permit 99 ppg and a terrible 47% FG.

9* Play JAZZ (+).

Los Angeles held serve at home and the series goes to Denver with the Lakers up 2 games to none. Game 1 was a fluky result with the Lakers winning by 15 points (103-88). We saw a truer result in Game 2 with the Lakers winning by just 4 points (104-100). These two teams are just about equal across the board and the recent 4-point margin fell right in line with the previous results between the Lakers and Nuggets this season. In four regular season meetings, every game was decided by single digits. In the eight quarters played so far in this series, six of them were either tied or won by just 3 points or less after 12 minutes of play. That shows just how close these two teams are on the court.

Denver

Colorado continues their homestand as Atlanta comes to town after going 3-4 in a homestand of their own. Tim Hudson makes his second start for Atlanta this season. He went five innings against Pittsburgh giving up 2 runs and six hits, striking out six while walking two. Atlanta has lost Hudson's last two starts in Coors Field. He gave up 5 runs and 10 hits in over 14 innings pitched against the Rockies last season. Jason Giambi (9-23), Todd Helton (10-15) and Troy Tulowitzki (4-12) have had the most success against the righty. Colorado is putting up over 6 runs per game in their last eight games and they are hitting .292 at home. The Atlanta bullpen has been solid for the most part going 5-1 with an ERA right around 4.02 as a unit.

Guillermo Moscoso's first start as a member of Colorado was a rocky one giving up 6 runs and nine hits in five innings against the Mets. He was made the emergency starter after Jeremy Guthrie got hurt so he may not have been prepared 100% for the start. Not a single Braves hitter has faced the former Oakland starter so he'll have that going for him. The Atlanta offense has been inconsistent getting shut out last night after their high-scoring affair on Wednesday night. They are hitting only .249 on the road in 13 games. Colorado's bullpen is 5-1 with a 3.52 ERA this season at home. The Rockies have won five of their last seven games at home against Atlanta so we

Miami held serve at home and they head to New York with a 2-0 series lead over the Knicks. The Heat played well as they scored 104 and 100 points in the two games on 50.3% (72-143) shooting from the field and 40.5% (17-42) shooting from three-point land. Miami has also benefited from a favorable whistle in their two home games; they

Denver certainly wants to forget about Game 1. The Nuggets played a terrible game as they scored just 88 points on 35.6% (32-90) shooting from the field and 28.6% (4-14) shooting from three-point land. The 88 points scored by Denver was their lowest point total since February 15th when they scored just 84 points in a loss at Dallas. That snapped a string of 37 games in which Denver

Boston played a terrible Game 1 on Sunday night as they scored just 74 points while scoring 18 points or less in three of four quarters. The Celtics shot just 39% (32-82) from the field and they failed to hit a three-pointer going 0-11 from beyond the arc. They also attempted just 13 free throws in that game. But despite all of that, Boston trailed by just 4 points late in the game. The Celtics lost all of their momentum when Rajon Rondo got ejected for bumping a ref late in the game; Atlanta took advantage and closed the game out. Rondo is suspended for tonight

New York couldn

New York hits the road after sweeping Florida at home. Next up is a series at Coors Field with the Colorado Rockies and Drew Pomeranz. He's 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA in two starts this season. Pomeranz's first start at home was a rude awakening as he gave up 5 runs and nine hits in 4.3 innings. He bounced back in Milwaukee giving up 2 runs and two hits in five innings. The Mets are hitting .240 against left-handed starters and .266 on the road where they are 3-3. Colorado's bullpen has been a mixed bag going 5-3 with a 3.47 ERA and 7 saves in 11 chances.

Chris Schwinden makes his first start of the 2012 season for the Mets after giving up just 2 runs over his last 13 innings pitched in AAA Buffalo. He recorded a 2.05 ERA in four starts there and he didn't allow more than 3 runs in his last three Major League starts last season. He was able to pitch well and minimize walks in those outings last season. He'll face a Colorado team that is hitting .239 in their last seven games and they are only 5-4 at home. The Mets

Washington has had a terrible season; the Wizards go into tonight

Cleveland has had a miserable season; the Cavaliers come into tonight

The Pirates hope to steal their series at home against the Cardinals with a win on Sunday afternoon. They'll have to do it against Kyle Lohse who is 2-0 with a 0.89 ERA in three starts. Lohse has good numbers against the Pirates going 7-2 with a 3.68 ERA in 14 career starts. But he has had his most issues on the road at PNC Park where he has given up 5 runs and 13 hits in his last 13 innings pitched there. Pedro Alvarez (4-13), Garrett Jones (6-20), Andrew McCutchen (8-22), Casey McGehee (5-18), Nate McLouth (6-22), Jose Tabata (7-15), Neil Walker (7-17) and Alex Presley (3-5) all hit the Cardinals

Golden State is simply waiting for the season to end. The Warriors are playing with a mash unit and head coach Mark Jackson has turned the rest of the season over to his young guys. Golden State will start four rookies once again tonight; they lost their last game at home by 12 points after scoring just 87 points in that game. Golden State will also be playing their first three games in three nights set of the season beginning tonight in Dallas. The Warriors have lost six consecutive games coming into tonight while going just 1-5 ATS in those games. Every one of those six losses has come by 8 points or more, including a road loss at Denver by a whopping 39 points. Golden State

San Antonio is in a terrible scheduling spot for tonight

Memphis has been playing in some important playoff implication games recently. The Grizzlies have faired well in those games as they are 8-2 SU over their last ten games. But tonight

Boston's offense has gotten back on track as they hope to sweep the Rays on Sunday. They'll have to face another stud pitcher in Matt Moore. The lefty has faced the Yankees, Rangers, Tigers and now the Red Sox in his last four starts. He got a no-decision in Detroit in his first outing this season after allowing 2 runs and four hits. Boston's hitters are two for eight against Moore in his short career. The team has scored 25 runs in their last two games. They've battered Tampa Bay's bullpen that has an ERA over 10.00 this season. They figure to get work as Moore's durability hasn't allowed for him to throw a complete game yet.

Felix Doubront had a no-decision in his first start of the year. He gave up 2 runs and four hits in five innings pitched against the Blue Jays in Toronto. Doubront started against the Rays in 2010 allowing 2 runs and five hits in over five innings. He'll have to face a Rays

Utah won 103-91 at Houston on Wednesday night; it was just their 10th road win of the season. The Jazz played that game with a short rotation and they

The Astros look for another series victory on Wednesday night when they host the Braves. Randall Delgado makes the start for Atlanta after an awful spring. The righty went 1-4 with a 7.89 ERA giving up 19 runs and 28 hits in 21.2 innings. Delgado made seven starts in the majors last season going 1-1 with a 2.83 ERA. He'll face an Astros team that is surprisingly better on the offensive side. Houston has put up at least six hits in four of their five games so far this season; this is a team that will be tough to handle at home.

Houston

Phoenix has been playing better basketball of late; the Suns are 5-1 SU and ATS over their last six games. But the Suns have been in terrific scheduling spots for those games. However, that is not the case tonight as Phoenix will be playing their fourth game in six nights and their sixth game in nine nights. Five of those six games have also come on the road. Phoenix also has a huge game on deck at Houston on Friday night; the Suns are battling with the Rockets for the eight and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Phoenix will also play tonight

Houston has won three straight road games coming into tonight; the Rockets won at Chicago, Los Angeles, and at Sacramento last night. However, off such high profile wins against teams like the Bulls and Lakers, the Rockets

These two teams just played on Thursday night with the Clippers winning 93-85 in Sacramento. It was the second 8-point victory for Los Angles over the Kings this season; they won 108-100 back in early March. Both games were highly competitive as seven of the eight quarters between the two teams were decided by 4 points or less with the other quarter being just a 6-point margin. The two close games played so far this season have not been an aberration as the last five games between the Kings and Clippers have all been decided by 8 points or less. And there

Memphis is in a brutal scheduling spot for tonight

Kansas survived yet another game on Saturday night when they beat Ohio State 64-62. The Jayhawks trailed by 13 points on five separate occasions in that game and they took their first lead of the game with just over 2 minutes left to play. Their win was more of a function of Ohio State

Minnesota is finally feeling the loss of point guard Ricky Rubio. The Timberwolves were able to be competitive when they first lost Rubio to a season-ending knee injury, but they

Kansas has not played good basketball in three of their four tournament games, especially their offense. Kansas shot just 38.6% (68-176) from the field in their first three tournament games. And that is concerning since they faced three of the worst defensive teams in the entire NCAA tournament. Kansas scored 65, 63, and 60 points in those three games despite facing defenses that allowed an average of 1.00 points per possession. Kansas

Both teams played last night and their results were very different. Atlanta played at home against the Knicks, and they won that game 100-90. Philadelphia played at Washington, and they were blown out by the Wizards 97-76 as an 8-point road favorite. Off different results, we expect Philadelphia to be more focused on tonight

Louisville is playing some of the best basketball of any team remaining in the tournament. The Cardinals have been on a major role since the Big East conference tournament when they won four games in four nights to take home the title. Louisville has won and covered the pointspread in 8 consecutive games, and there

Dallas beat Miami in the NBA Finals last season to win the championship. And they won the final game on Miami

Both teams got hot just at the right time; Stanford has won six of their last seven games while Minnesota has also won six of their last seven games. The teams took opposite paths to reach New York in this tournament. The Cardinal was fortunate enough to play all three of their tournament games on their home court so they weren

Phoenix lost 107-100 at home last night to San Antonio. That loss was the Suns

San Antonio is in a terrible scheduling spot for tonight

Minnesota fooled us a couple of times in this tournament as we failed to accept their reversal of form. The Golden Gophers struggled during the regular season, but ever since the Big 10 conference tournament, this team has played terrific basketball. Minnesota is 5-1 over their last six games with their only loss coming in overtime to Michigan by 4 points. The Golden Gophers have also covered the pointspread in seven consecutive games with five straight underdog wins. Minnesota

Massachusetts has been playing some terrific basketball since the beginning of March. The Minutemen have won six of their seven games this month while covering the pointspread in five of those games, including a 4-1 ATS record as an underdog. The most impressive part of their run is the fact that they

Kansas was in a prime spot on Friday night to blowout NC State. But the Jayhawks failed to do that, and to us, that

Baylor survived yet another game on Friday night when they beat Xavier 75-70. The Bears are more talented than Xavier, yet they let them hang around to the end which shows that the Bears simply get by on their raw talent alone. They are not well-coached in our opinion as Scott Drew doesn

San Antonio is not in a good scheduling spot for this game tonight. The Spurs beat their in-state rival last night; San Antonio beat Dallas by 17 points (104-87). Off that big win, San Antonio must now travel and play on a back-to-back set with this game also being the middle game of a 3 games in 3 nights set as the Spurs return home to host Philadelphia tomorrow night. San Antonio

After watching these two teams play on Thursday night, we are not that surprised that Ohio St is the favorite in this game. The Buckeyes were more impressive in their 81-66 blowout win over Cincinnati than the Orange was in their 64-63 survival win over Wisconsin. However, Syracuse had the much more difficult match-up against a very good Wisconsin team. Syracuse does not like to play slow, half-court basketball and they were simply facing a difficult opponent. Yet they still won the game, and to us, that was more impressive than Ohio St

Louisville is playing some of the best basketball of any team remaining in the tournament. The Cardinals have been on a major role since the Big East conference tournament when they won four games in four nights to take home the title. Louisville has won and covered the pointspread in 7 consecutive games, and there

NC State is playing with house money. The Wolfpack were extremely fortunate to get an at-large bid for the NCAA tournament; their narrow loss to North Carolina in the ACC tournament got them in. But in reality, this team does not belong in this tournament, and the fact that they are still playing is sort of unbelievable. They beat a flawed San Diego St team in their opening game after shooting 58.5% (31-53) from the field, and then they beat an over-seeded Georgetown team despite shooting just 37% (20-54) from the field. NC State is not a deep team at all as they play just a 7-man rotation with their two reserves playing right around 15 minutes each per game. Their short rotation was able to survive their first two opponents because both of them are slow, half-court teams. That will not be the case tonight against an up-tempo Kansas team that should run NC State right out of the gym.

Kansas has had tough match-ups in their first two games. They had to face Detroit in their first game, and the Titans were an extremely strong 15-seed. Kansas then had to face an experienced Purdue team that was one of the best three-point shooting teams in the country this season. The Boilermakers hit 44.4% (8-18) from three-point land in that game, but Kansas was able to overcome it and sneak by with a 63-60 win. The Jayhawks finally get an easy opponent, and their superiority will show throughout this game. The way to beat Kansas is by hitting three

Ohio has been impressive in both of their tournament games; the Bobcats beat Michigan 65-60 as 5

Xavier has a ton of experience playing this deep into the tournament; the Musketeers are playing in the Sweet 16 for the fourth time over the last five years. And while Xavier was probably a questionable at-large bid, they

Cincinnati has played ultra-competitive basketball all season as 8 of their 10 losses have come by 7 points or less, including four losses by 4 points or less. Cincinnati is a few plays away from having an outstanding record, and they played the last half of the season with a tournament mentality.

Louisville is playing some of the best basketball of any team remaining in the tournament. The Cardinals have been on a major role since the Big East conference tournament when they won four games in four nights to take home the title. Louisville has won and covered the pointspread in 6 consecutive games, and there

Wisconsin continues to fly well under the radar in this tournament. The Badgers own one of the best defensive teams in the country; they allow just 52.9 points per game on 38.5% shooting from the field and 28.8% from three-point land. Only 20.1% of the points allowed by Wisconsin

Minnesota comes into tonight

Minnesota has won two road games in the NIT so far, but we expect their mini win streak to stop tonight. The Gophers were one of the worst teams in the Big 10 this season; Minnesota struggled to score points and their defense was easy to score upon. We view their two wins over La Salle and Miami (Fla) as aberrations; the Gophers

Oklahoma City comes into tonight

Wyoming has played terrific basketball this season; the Cowboys come into tonight

Middle Tennessee St was the overwhelming favorite to win the Sun Belt tournament, but the Blue Raiders lost in their first game as a 10-point favorite. That loss prevented them from making the NCAA tournament, and so they continue their season in the NIT. The Blue Raiders beat Marshall at home in the opening round, but now they must travel to

Princeton has the exact profile we look for when backing a lower-tier conference team in a tournament game. The Tigers play at a very slow pace which allows them to hang around in games where they are the less talented team. Princeton has held 29 of their 31 opponents this year to less than 70 points in regulation time, and that fact alone makes them a dangerous underdog in this pointspread range. Princeton

Lehigh comes in off their big

Both teams come in off underdog wins on Friday. Ohio beat Michigan 65-60 as 5

Saint Louis came through for us on Friday when they defeated Memphis 61-54 as a 3-point underdog. We have no hesitation in taking the Billikens once again, even against top-seeded Michigan State. We like Saint Louis in this game for similar reasons, especially since they are a difficult to team to play because of the system they run under head coach Rick Majerus. The Billikens run complex offensive sets that just frustrate opponents into half-court games. And Saint Louis is most effective when they are playing a team that likes to get out in transition. Michigan State is that type of team, but the Spartans will be forced to grind this game out on both ends of the court which will make it extremely difficult for them to win this game by a big margin.

Michigan State also has a terrific tournament coach in Tom Izzo. This game will be a chess match between the two tacticians, but since Saint Louis is getting a decent amount of points, we see some tremendous value with the Billikens, especially since they are 3-0 ATS as an underdog this season. Majerus is too smart of a coach to allow his team to get caught-up in a running game today, and he

Iowa State had a terrific season and the Cyclones notched an easy win (77-64) over Connecticut on Thursday night. But their season will end tonight as Kentucky simply has way too much offense and defense for Iowa State to be competitive. The Cyclones

Vanderbilt won and covered on Thursday after beating Harvard 79-70. The Commodores had a tremendous amount of success from beyond the arc in that game as they shot 44.4% (8-18) from three-point land. Vanderbilt also got to the free throw line a whopping 30 times (just 14 for Harvard), and they hit 21 of those attempts. In all, Vanderbilt scored 45 of their 79 points from the free throw line and from beyond the arc. That is not going to happen tonight against a Wisconsin team that does not foul often and guards the three-point line very well. Vanderbilt

Murray St won their game by 17 points (58-41) on Thursday over Colorado State despite not playing a good game at all. The Racers shot just 39.2% (20-51) from the field and 29.4% (5-17) from three-point land. Murray St also hit just 50% (13-26) from the free throw line. Despite the bad play, they still won the game in hand. Murray St is a very good team, and knowing that they played well below their ability in their last game sets them up very well for this game against Marquette. The Racers do not play at a fast pace, and their strong play in the half court bodes well for them in this match-up. Murray St

Saint Louis is a difficult to team to play because of the system they run under head coach Rick Majerus. The Billikens run complex offensive sets that just frustrate opponents into half-court games. And Saint Louis is most effective when they are playing a team that loves to run up and down the court at a frenetic pace. Majerus is too smart of a coach to allow his team to get caught-up in a running game tonight, and he

Belmont was everybody

St. Bonaventure stole a bid when they won three games in three days to take the A-10 conference tournament. However, their run in that tournament wasn

Virginia has had a tremendous season, but the Cavaliers stumbled down the stretch as they lost three of their last four games and six of their last ten games overall. However, the majority of those losses were close, and in fact, an incredible seven of their nine losses this season have come by 3 points or less. Virginia

Phoenix won again last night as the Suns beat the Jazz 120-111. That win was Phoenix

South Dakota State is a sneaky good team that should give Baylor all they can handle. The Jackrabbits went 27-7 this season and they were a profitable 18-7-1 ATS in their lined games. South Dakota State also has one of the best players in the country that you

Harvard has the exact profile we look for when backing a lower-tier conference team in the NCAA tournament. The Crimson play at a very slow pace and that allows them to hang around in games where they are the less talented team. Harvard has won 87% (26-4) of their games this season, including a 46-41 win over Florida State who is a #3 seed in this tournament. Harvard has held all 30 of their opponents to 70 points or less this season, and that fact alone makes them a dangerous underdog in this pointspread range. The Crimson also knock down their free-throws; they hit 75% from the line. Harvard

The pointspread on this game is based more on the conference affiliation and the name on the front of the jerseys, and not on the merits of the two teams. The Big 10 has been hailed the best conference in college basketball this season. But the league is top heavy, and a team like Minnesota is getting respect, not because of their on-court play, but because of the conference they played in. Minnesota was one of the worst teams in the Big 10 this season; the Gophers struggled to score points and their defense was easy to score upon. Minnesota just played in two overtime games in the Big 10 conference tournament and now they must travel to Philadelphia and take on a pretty good La Salle team.

La Salle played in the underrated A-10 this season. The conference was strong across the board, and the Explorers had a positive efficiency margin. La Salle also plays on a very strong home court where they went 14-2 this season with their two losses coming against Temple in overtime and Saint Louis; those two teams are in the NCAA tournament. La Salle

Both of these teams had legitimate chances to make the NCAA tournament, but they both came up short in their conference tournaments. Middle Tennessee St was the overwhelming favorite to win the Sun Belt tournament, but the Blue Raiders lost in their first game as a 10-point favorite. Marshall made a deep run in the CUSA tournament and they made it to the final before getting blown out by 26 points (83-57) by Memphis. That deep run by the Thundering Herd took a lot out of them, and with a quick turnaround game on the road, Marshall is in a terrible scheduling spot for this game. Marshall will be playing their fifth game over the last seven days, and since they played a triple overtime game during that stretch, the Herd should be gassed in the second half of this game, especially against a fresh Middle Tennessee St team.

Middle Tennessee St hasn

This is the third meeting of the season between these two teams; Kentucky won at home 83-74 and at Vanderbilt 69-63. Both games were close and competitive, and we expect a similar game this afternoon. Vanderbilt is an extremely dangerous opponent for any team as they have experience, depth, and they can the shoot the ball from anywhere on the court, especially from three-point range. Those are key ingredients a team must have when playing for an upset and Vanderbilt excels in all three areas. Vanderbilt matches up very well against Kentucky because they are big and athletic in the front court and big in the back court. Not many teams can say that when playing the Wildcats, but Vanderbilt can.

Kentucky is the most talented team in the country, but because of that they have to pay a pointspread tax in almost every one of their games. The Wildcats have dropped two straight games ATS in this tournament, and they are just 2-5 ATS over their last seven games overall. Vanderbilt has covered the pointspread in both of their tournament games, and they

Memphis is playing terrific basketball right now. The Grizzlies have won five consecutive games and nine of their last ten games overall. But one of their recent losses came against Phoenix, and it was the Grizzlies first loss of the season against a losing team. Memphis is 12-1 against teams with losing records, and they view tonight

Georgia comes in off a 71-61 upset win over Mississippi State last night. The Bulldogs were a 5-point underdog in that game against an underachieving team, but tonight they are only getting two points more against the second best team in the SEC. Aside from Kentucky, the Commodores have the most talented team in the league and they

Mississippi played last night and the Rebels notched a 68-54 win over Auburn. But that win is nothing to brag about since Auburn was terrible this season and they were also dealing with the news about a point-shaving scandal involving their starting point guard a couple of days ago. Auburn was ripe for the picking, and the Rebels took advantage. Tonight