Pre Football Friday Cy Young Special & Red Sox-Yankees

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To start the weekend off positively, a unique Baseball opportunity play is here tonight. An opportunity that we just want to touch on before we head back into our virtual ‘war room’ to resume researching and dissecting this weekend’s NCAA College and NFL pro football action.

Tonight there are at least 5 former Cy Young Award winners that will be on the mound tonight for their respective teams as follows:
Cliff Lee @ Milwaukee (Lee has been nothing short of dominant for the Phils)
Chris Carpenter @ Colorado (Sorry Tracy Ringolsby but the Rox are tightening up)
Roy Halladay vs. Seattle(Seattle starts rookie Doug ‘don’t call me price’ Fister.)
Jake Peavy vs. Detroit (Detroit goes with September call up Scrubby Bonine)
Tim Lincecum vs. Chicago (NL) (Lincecum is the real deal, the Giants desperate)

If you were to parlay those five and if all were to start the game with their team winning, based on my calculations, the Vegas payout would be approximately 10:1. 10:1 for 5 dominating pitchers. Book it, but be prepared to pull a late hedge on the last game of the night, the Giants and Cubs at 10:15 EST.

The other game of note tonight is the Friday night rumble in the Bronx which features John Lester and the visiting Red Sox facing Joba ‘doesn’t rule’ Chamberlain and the mighty Yankees. This game tonight is a parlay lock if you are so inclined.

First off, the Yankees ‘plan’ with Joba Chamberlain is a joke. Way to prepare this tool to be a softy who will be virtually incapable of pitching out of jams as his career goes on. He should pitch every fifth day, deep into every start so he can work his way to MLB productivity. If he gets shelled, then fortunately you have the offense to claw back into any game in a hurry.

As far as the Red Sox go, the absolutely ridiculous debate about Jason Varitek leaving Boston’s pine is hard to fathom. Victor Martinez is clearly much better than you Tek. Quite frankly all of the credit you’ve been given in the past for being such a ‘great handler of pitchers’ has to come into question, along the lines of ‘Rocking’ Leo Mazzone and all the credit he got for developing Maddux, Smoltz, and Glavine. Great job Jason catching Josh Beckett in his prime and as much as it nauseates me to write, future Hall of Famer, ‘Ketchup Sock Curt’ Schilling. Yet you couldn’t quite get around to learning how to catch another future Hall of Famer Tim Wakefield. Don’t even get me started on your contract situation last off-season with you and Scott Boras dropping the $ 10,000,000 option ball and you needing to swallow your pride and beg back to bean-town. I’m not sure which is worse, your decision-making, your bat, or your recent run of dropped third strikes. No matter, the fact that Josh Beckett has all but admitted that he can’t pitch to anyone but you is not as much of a positive reflection on you as it a direct reflection of what a head case Boston’s former staff Ace is.

Now back to the action on the field. As mentioned above, tonight’s game presents a great opportunity for a parlay lock. Lester is the Red Sox staff Ace. He can be downright nasty, but the Yankees will touch him up a bit. Joba Chamberlain, at this point, is nothing more than a coddled, over emotional batting practice pitcher. The Red Sox are hungry and will light up Joba like a Christmas tree. If you are feeling lucky, your team at P4P recommends OVER 9 runs and the Red Sox.

Crit’s Quick Thoughts from the Throne-MLB Afternoon Delight

The Red Sox are playing early today as part of a day/night double header. CC Sabathia starts a day time affair for the Yankees against CC’s hometown club (sort of as CC, much like rapper E-40, was born and raised 20 minutes North of Oakland in Vallejo) the Oakland Athletics. It would be a no brainer to select the Sawx and the Yankees on the money line and even a simple pick to take them - 1 1/2 runs for better pricing, however the real value on the board that Crit sees today is none other than 0-2 Barry Zito and the Giants taking on the San Diego Padres this afternoon in San Francisco with Chris Young on the hill for the Padres. Zito has been pitching pretty well, spotting all of his pitches, and despite his significant history of being absolutely brutal in April, your team here at P4P loves Zito and the Giants at home today on the money line at +109. Book it!!! As always, play wise, play smart, and play on player. Our recommendation: GIANTS + 109
As a bonus, in the nightcap tonight at Fenway, take Francisco Liriano and the Twins to snap the Red Sox winning streak and with great value: Bonus Selection: Twins (Liriano) +127

Quick Thoughts From The Throne, yes it’s Major League Parlay Friday brought to you by: The law firm of Harden, Hamels, Pettitte, and Lowe.

After scanning the pitching lines this morning while sitting on the throne, there appear to be 4 early season slam dunks on the MLB slate today. As indicated by our sponsor this week, Harden, Hamels, Pettitte, and Lowe, you can probably figure out that today’s MLB locks are Chicago(NL) and Rich Harden, Philadelphia and Cole Hamels, Andy (HGH) Pettitte and the Yankees, and Derek Lowe and the Braves. Lowe was dominant in his first start last Sunday night while the other three make their season debuts. Book it!!!

Just some ‘Quick Thoughts from the Throne’ from your consultants at P4P.

NCAA Final- North Carolina vs Sparty and Michigan State

Hard to believe that College Basketball has come and gone once again with the conclusion of the season following tonight’s final between the North Carolina Tar Heels and Michigan State at Ford field in Detroit. What a great year and a great tournament once again. With the Final 4 in Detroit Michigan State will enjoy an enormous home crowd advantage and they are playing so well and so solidly at this time, the right time. The Spartans have made a point of rebounding and running all year long coupled with Tom Izzo’s usual gritty defensive philosophy, they have proven to be a beast from the mediocre Big Ten. North Carolina, as long as Ty Lawson is healthy are simply a cut above any other club in the country. Lawson’s toe has improved as the tourney has progressed and the Heels are a solid 8 point favorite heading into tonight’s tip-off at 9:21 pm EST. The total for the game tonight is resting at 153 1/2. While Michigan State will rebound and run and score in transition, so will North Carolina. In fact, this plays more to Carolina’s strength and could result in a Carolina blow out tonight. Your team here at Picks4Players likes North Carolina to win by more than 10 points and look for this total to go OVER 153 1/2. The game will be very entertaining but it is of course much more entertaining when you roll with the right side of the spread.

On other notes, it’s opening day in the MLB and the NFL is not far away. The NHL playoffs are about to start and the NBA playoffs are right around the corner. Check back with us regularly and feel free to become a P4P teammate to receive free alerts and updates. Sign up it’s free and easy. As always, enjoy the games.

NCAA Round 2, Saturday Specials and a look ahead to tomorrow

In our opening NCAA tournament posting the team here at Picks4Players offered up 8 opportunities where we saw the lower seeded team as having real opportunities to win their first round games. Of those 8 opportunities we selected 5 outright winners in Maryland over Cal, USC over Boston College, Wisconsin over Florida State, Michigan over Clemson, and the Siena Saints ousting Ohio State. Of the 3 upset selections that did not come through Utah State battled Marquette down to the wire before falling by one point. Our upset special of the day, Portland State battled in the first half before finally being worn down by a bigger, deeper, and more athletic Xavier squad.

We really went out on a limb on Thursday and as predicted, North Carolina took it to Radford, putting up 101 points without starting point guard and tempo controller Ty Lawson. Look for LSU today to give North Carolina all they can handle today and whether or not they win, look for Trent Johnson to immediately be the front runner for the position at ACC rival Virginia. The timing isn’t great for Trent, but Virginia will give him tens of millions of reasons for multiple years to make it the right time and not have Trent burn too many bridges at LSU. Trent’s path from the WAC, to the Pac-10, to the SEC, to the ACC? All coaches should take that expressway.

Today also look for Connecticut, Villanova, Washington, Duke, Memphis, Oklahoma, and Gonzaga to move forward. We’ll check back later today with an update and prep for tomorrow.

Week # 8 Monday Night Football, Will Tennessee Stay Unbeaten

Tonight should be another great and entertaining Monday Night Football throw down.  While the TV audience will be flipping back and forth between the Titans vs. Colts and the Phillies clincher in the World Series tonight, one thing you can bank on is both venues will be rocking.

The Phillies, tonight, will wrap up their first World series title since the wheez kids of 1980 with Joe Morgan and Pete Rose, and also their first title since the retirement of Picks4Players own G$ from the Phillies organization.  Congrats in advance to the New World Champs.

As far as MNF tonight, the undefeated Titans (6-0) host the Indianapolis Colts and Eli Manning’s older brother Peyton.  The Titans are a 4 point favorite and the over/under total for the game is 40 points. Tennessee seems to be the real deal this year and the Colts look more like the Colts of yesteryear with Bert Jones throwing to Roger Carr, with Lydell Mitchell and the goggled Joe Washington coming out of the backfield.  They are certainly not the same squad we’ve grown accustomed to watching cruise up and down the field with ease over the last 6 years.  We’ve had extensive discussions about this match-up all week and despite our best efforts to rationalize a Colts resurgence, we just don’t see it.  The Titans defense is legit and Jeff Fischer is an outstanding coach.  Look for Kerry Collins to manage the game nicely and lead the Titans on some nice scoring drives.  Meanwhile Peyton Manning is going to have to play near flawless football to keep the Colts in this one, and again, we just don’t see it.                                                         Our picks tonight:  Tennessee -4 and UNDER 40

As we always urge, play wise, play smart, but play on Players.  Good luck from your teammates at www.Picks4Players.com