Mlb 4/6

[Juuso]

I'll take one early bet, because of the possibility of odds dropping. Chicago Cubs @ St. Louis Cardinals Cubs 2.32 (Pinnacle) 5 units CHI: RHP Greg Maddux (6-4, 4.32 ERA) STL: RHP Jason Marquis (7-4, 4.75 ERA) I find this price excellent value. Albert Pujols injured himself yesterday and will most likely be missing 5-6 weeks. Pujols is by far the best batter in the league and there just isn't that much power in the Cards batting lineup outside of him. The team ranks 9th of 16 teams in the National League in homeruns, total of 55 and Pujols have hit league leading 25 of them by himself. He has factored in clearly over 1/3rd of Cards Runs either scoring them or hitting the guys home. Quite telling stat about his importance is in: 32 of their 34 wins Pujols have hit or scored at least a run. There is no other guy who could make bigger difference for his team. Their pitching is very good, but without Pujols this lineup should find it very hard to play even .500 ball while he is gone. Cubs are not a great team, but are showing signs of improvement and hitting the ball well lately. The new acquisition Phil Nevin hit a homerun in his first full start in his new team and looks like to be an important addition bringing in some pop in the bat. Cubs have played very well against the Cardinals in the past few years. This year they hold a 6-2 H2H edge and after winning 2 first games of this serie, is trying to go for a sweep. Pitching i find quite equal today. Both pitchers are pretty good, but have had some up and down games this season. These pitchers went h2h in April 23rd at St. Louis, Maddux winning by tossing 7 shutout innings while Marquis allowed 4 runs in 6 innings. All in all, sweeping a team on road is never an easy task, but i just can't see any advantage for Cardinals without Pujols. Their bats have been slumping for past few series and Cubs are looking to start a better part of their season after a cruel month. I'll take my chances with the Chicago's North-siders.

[Marcus0000]

Re: Mlb 4/6

Sport	MLB
Event	San Diego (Young) at Pittsburgh (Santos)
Selection	San Diego (Young)
Strength	8/10
Date	04/06/2006
Bookmaker/Price	Olympic Sports @ 1.83 (Back)
Reasoning	I must say I was very impressed watching Young pitch in his last start against Colorado. Held a no hitter till the 8th inning where he gave up a double to lead off that inning. But he collected himself and got through the 8th inning without even letting the leadoff double score. Now Young in this game gets to pitch against the organization that originally drafted him and 2 years later traded him saying they didn't feel he had enough potential. While Young says in the newspapers that he has no ill-will to the Pittsburgh organization for that, I'm sure in the back of his mind he still wants to go out there and show them they were idiots for giving up on him. Young is 4-3 on the year with a 3.80 ERA. On the road this year in 5 starts Young is 2-0 with a 2.76 ERA. And in day games this year he is 1-0 with a 1.38 ERA in 2 starts. I'll be the first to admit it's hard to figure out what Santos will come out with in games. Sometimes he is really good and sometimes he is just horrible. But the major thing is his bad games are outweighing his good games as shown by his 4.94 ERA. In his 6 games pitched at home this year he is 2-2 with a 6.04 ERA.