This is a great time of year for betting on sports as you have the major league baseball season in full swing, the NBA playoffs have been spectacular and who would have thought that the final four in the NHL would be Carolina, Buffalo, Anaheim and Edmonton.
Throw in the PGA Tour, NASCAR and the Triple Crown in horse racing and this is quite the betting smorgasbord! Today we will focus on baseball as interleague play has arrived and that means the Yankees and Mets, Cubs and White Sox and a plethora of other enticing matchups!
Several players this season are living large in the penthouse, while some big name guys are struggling:
Both Boston and New York are battling it out for first as usual but their sluggers David Ortiz and Alex Rodriguez are sleepwalking through May.
Ortiz, who got off to a strong April start, is hitting .250 with two home runs and 12 RBI in May through Tuesday. He’s played in every game this year but has battled the flu for most of May.
Last year’s MVP award and 16 of 28 first-place votes went to Rodriguez. For many voters, the tiebreaker between the two was Rodriguez’s defense. He played 161 games at third last year, compared with Ortiz’s 10 at first base.
But this season Rodriguez already has six errors, half of last year’s total. Two came in the same game against Boston.
Rodriguez, who finished second in the batting race last year, is hitting .273, down from last season’s .321.
Los Angeles Angels right-hander and reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Bartola Colon is 0-2 with a 7.07 ERA and has been on the disabled list since April 19 with shoulder woes.
In addition, Oakland Athletics closer Huston Street has a 5.73 ERA after winning the AL Rookie of the Year Award.
Detroit’s 7-4 win over Minnesota on Tuesday night, combined with Chicago’s loss to Tampa Bay, lifted the Tigers into a first-place tie with the White Sox in the American League Central. The Tigers, who have won five straight, have not been in first place this late in the season since 1993.
Minnesota Twins starters are 13-21 with a 6.64 ERA this season and manager Gardenhire is going to get bounced on the pavement.
Danny Graves had been designated for assignment Friday night after going 2-1 with a 5.79 ERA in 13 relief appearances for Cleveland.
The 32-year-old had compiled a Cincinnati team-record 182 saves after being dealt to the Reds by the Indians in 1997 until being released last June. He then pitched in 20 games for the New York Mets and signed with Cleveland as a free agent in December.
The Boston Red Sox have committed just 12 errors, leading to the best fielding percentage (.991) in the majors. The team has been on a particularly impressive roll of late, having committed just one error in its last 13 games. A year ago, by contrast, the team’s defensive efficiency was just 69.2 percent, ranked 11th among the 14 American League squads.
RHP Mike Timlin is showing no evidence of decline at 40. He is 3-0 with a 1.08 ERA in 18 appearances. Dating to the start of last season, Timlin owns a 2.04 ERA, ranked fourth among all pitchers who have thrown 95 or more innings, behind only LHP Billy Wagner (1.58), RHP Mariano Rivera (1.68) and RHP Roger Clemens (1.87).
Chicago White Sox Scott Podsednik was not in the starting lineup Thursday, but after a slow start to the season, he was hitting .416 this month with 11 stolen bases in May. Over his last 27 games, he’s raised his average from .059 to .297.
Cleveland Indians Casey Blake had two more hits, raising his batting average to .370, which leads the major leagues. Blake hit just .241 last year, and he struggled mightily with runners in scoring position.
Last year Blake hit .171 with runners in scoring position, and .085 with two outs and runners in scoring position. This year Blake is hitting .412 with runners in scoring position and .529 with two outs and runners in scoring position.
C Victor Martinez, hitting .145 in the month of May after hitting .398 in April, was given a day off Thursday. Martinez had started 36 of the Indians’ first 40 games.
DH Travis Hafner leads the American League in runs with 38, which puts him on a pace to score 149, which would break Earl Averill’s club record of 140, set in 1931.
Use these numbers when placing a wager and success will follow!
Bob Acton