Our Sunday Best

Picked up a little bit more than a unit both in baseball and hoops yesterday, and hoping to finish the weekend in good shape. The picks:

MLB

Royals +155, 1 to win 1.55 units

This past Monday, we took the struggling veteran (Mussina) over Laffey with good results. Today, it's a similar situation with Meche and the Royals. The Indians aren't hitting lately, and we'll try and take advantage of their slump while it lasts, especially getting a nice number like that with a good pitcher on the mound. Note: this pick doesn't quite fit the criteria I wrote about in the Royals article this morning, but it's close.

Giants +158, 1 to win 1.58 units

Wow. That's a huge number for Lincecum even if it is against Hamels, who is a great pitcher himself. BABIP for Lincecum so far is .374, meaning that he has been getting unlucky on balls in play this year, but still has an ERA of 1.73. With a K/BB of 40/15 and the better hitting team lately (seriously, the Phillies have not been productive - they need Rollins to come back healthy), this line is juicy indeed.

Astros +134, 1 to win 1.34 units

The guy who writes The Money Line Journal (link on the left) said earlier this season that he felt like he had an "Astros boner" because he was playing them so much. Well, I think I've got one of those, too, except mine is one of those that has lasted more than 4 hours and I need to seek medical attention immediately. That's the creepy way of saying that I have played Houston a lot this year. With decent pitching, a lot of potential in the batting lineup, and no love from the public, the Houston lines look good to me almost everyday, including today. Sampson is not as bad as his numbers so far would indicate, and Sheets is not as good. Add a hitting and homefield advantage, and a good number, and I'll put off my doctor's appointment for at least one more day.

NBA

Jazz +7.5 +104, 0.50 to win 0.52 units

I'm sure the public will be falling all over itself to put money on Kobe today, but I'm going the other way. Like every team in the league, the Jazz are going to have a hard time defending Kobe, but I think the Lakers will have a tough time matching up against Deron Williams and Boozer, as well. I see this series as pretty even, so in Game 1, with Utah in full playoff mode and the Lakers coming off an easy series against a team that plays no defense whatsoever, I'm going with Utah to at least keep it close this afternoon.