Platinum MLB

[ThePlatinumStandard]

End date/deadline: 8/31/09

The Standard: 200 units by the deadline

Yesterday: 1-1, -2 units

Current standing: -26.4 units
Units remaining: 226.4


JUNE 10th

$300 NY/Bos OVER 11
The Yanks have failed to get runs on the board vs. Boston this year(45-23 in favor of Bos). Look for the Yanks to finally get runs on the board as this one shapes up to be an ugly one. Wang will face the Sox for the first time in over a year. In his last meeting he allowed 8 ERs as the Yanks won 15-9. Focusing in on Wangs last 10 starts, he has only 2 quality outings. He is not the same guy from the last couple seasons. A total of 51 ERs in those 8 non-quality ones. Wang is in a bad place and after jnot even 12 innings pitched in 4 starts this year, the Sox should have no problem chasing him early. Wake has been shaky vs. NY in the past and in his last 3 starts this year. Look for a bundle in this one tonight as one of these teams should reach double digits alone.


$200 ChC/Hou UNDER 8.5
This is without a doubt a should be winner tonight as Zambrano faces Wandy Rod in Houston. Big Z has put a hurting on opponents this season, as he has only allowed 10 ERs in his last 5 on the road. In Houston he is averaging 7 innings per game over his last 5 there, and just 12 ERs. In early April he allowed just 1 ER over 6 innings in Houston. Wandy can hurl too, especially when the Cubbies pay a visit. In his most recent 3 starts vs. Chicago at home, he allowed 1 ER in each, with the Cubs managing 4 total runs. Wandy has gone under in 6 of his last 8 vs. Chi and at home 5-0 under last 5 mtgs. Big Z is 8-2 to the under last 10 vs. Hou, and 4-1 under last 5 in Houston. Should see 5 runs max.

[ThePlatinumStandard]

End date/deadline: 8/31/09

The Standard: 200 units by the deadline

Yesterday: 1-0-1, +2 units

Current standing: -24.4 units
Units remaining: 224.4


JUNE 11th

$1000 Milwaukee -175
The Rockies will only win this one with a great outing by Cook. The Rocks are 1-4 when Cook allows 3 ERs or more on the road this season and 0-5 when he allows 4+ runs in a game. Cook has not rebounded after an impressive start. Recently, he allowed 4 ERs in 2 games following a 1ER performance and a 0 ER outing. His last start he allowed just 1 ER, so look for this pattern to continue. Brew have managed 4 runs in each of Cooks last 2 out there. Gallardo will oppose, and he has been a home workhorse this season. He is 3-1 at home with a 2.87 ERA. He has only allowed 26 ERs in his last 26+ innings at home. He did allow 11 ERs in Colorado in 2007, but has upped his game since then. Brew by at least a couple, 4-2.

$1000 Texas -155
The Jays came into this series just 11-17 on road, and after 2 wins in Texas they will hit a wall in Millwood tonight. Millwood has dominated at home as a Texas starter, which is surprising considering runs are put up there. Millwood has not faced the Jays in a home game since 2005. Earlier this year he allowed 4 ERs in 7 inngs on the road. He is 3-1(2.59) at home this season. A steady diet of 2 ERs allowed in 4 of his last 5 at home. Look for that to continue. He has averaged roughly 7 inngs per start at home. Texas is also 3-1 at home last 4 games Mill has started. Romero should not be too much of an issue as he has struggled recently allowing 5 ERs in 2 of his last 3 starts. Texas will outscore Jays and have the new and improved bullpen that will seal the deal!

$200 SF/Arizona OVER 9
Here is my take on this one: Sanchez has allowed 21 ERs last 5 on road. Only 1 of those 4 were quality outings. His last 3 in Arizona he allowed 12 ERs. This season 6 ERs in Arizona. He is coming off of a 0 ER performance vs. D-Backs so look for a letdown start here, as there is alot of weight on this total based on that last start. Scherzer will go for Zona, and he too has struggled. He allowed 1 ER in SF but at home this year allowed 4 ERs. He has allowed 18 ERs in his last 4 at home, and opponents have totaled 27 runs in those 4 games. The over is 8-2 in Zonas last 10 at home, and they have gone over in 6 straight. Starters have not been cutting it lately and the bullpen has not done much better. This one should see 11 runs.

[ThePlatinumStandard]

End date/deadline: 8/31/09

The Standard: 200 units by the deadline

Yesterday: 1-2, -9.7 units

Current standing: -34.1 units
Units remaining: 234.1


June 12th

$1000 Milwaukee -140
These 10 unit selections are just 3-3 over the last 6, and I am banking on a live one here with the Brew to take care of the slumping Sox. The Brewers got shafted at home by MLBs hottest team currently, the Rockies. They will bounce-back today at home and Jeff Suppan is due for a strong outing. Sox are just 3-8 in their last 11 games and have been outscored almost by a 5-3 margin over that span. They also have not followed a win since early this month. Both pens are pretty evenly matched, but as far as starters go, it is Suppan with the better ERA. Richard has struggled along with the Sox in their slump. He didnt even get to complete the 5th inning in his last outing. Look for this to have an effect on tonights game as that type of performance wont cut it!

$500 Yankees -215
The Yanks couldnt ask for a better match-up for tonight after losing an 8th straight vs. Boston this year. The Mets were stomped on late last night and that will continue this evening. The Yankees will bounce back after the loss to the Sox, especially after letting last nights game get away. Livan Hernandez is what the Yanks doctor ordered for tonight as he has allowed 12 ERs in his last 2 outings vs. NY. I expect Tex, and A-Rod to have a field day against him. Since May 8th, the Yankees are 9-0 in games after a loss, not including Boston series. Yanks will win tonight as Joba will cruise in his first mtg with Mets. Mets have managed just 44 runs total in their last 4 series, 12 games. That is less than 4 RPG and they will need more than 1.5 times that to win tonight. Just dont see it!

$300 Philly +115/Under 9.5
Joe Blanton does not mind facing Boston and should in fact pitch well tonight. Lester goes for Boston and he also has had success in Philly. Lester has not had much success on the road this season though so keep an eye on that. I look for Philly to put up a few this time vs. Lester as he shut them out last season. Blanton has allowed just 8 ERs in his last 3 vs. Boston, and has looked sharp most recently. Blanton has only allowed 4 ERs in his last 3 starts and looks like a streaking pitcher to keep an eye on. I see both starters having good outings keeping this one under the total. Phills are coming off an emotional high after their big win in extras last night. Sox have only scored 5 runs in their 2 gms after finishing with the Yanks. Philly wins, 4-3.

$100 LAD/Texas Under 10
Padilla has struggled at times this season but has also looked sharp in several games recently. Over his last 6 outings he has only had one real bad one(at NYY). Besides that game he has allowed 9 ERs in the other 5. Out of those 5 games, 4 of them have gone under. I expect the Dodgers to get a few runs, maybe 4 off Padilla. Kuroda is the bigger story in this game. He has been stunning in his return after missing a good 2 months. He looks like he has not lost anything and is back to form. Since his return, he allowed 2 ERs, both at home. He has not pitched on the road since early April, but I still feel he will give innings and allow limited run scoring. All 3 of his outings went under this season. Tonight I would expect some offense but the pens and starters keep this one under 10 runs.

$100 Oakland/San Fran Under 7
The final of a 6 play evening capped off with Mazzaro and Lincecum, which should be a dandy. Vin Mazzaro has yet to allow a run and has held opponents to a limited amount of hits. Usually you see new faces pitch well in the third game after the first two were golden outings. This is another one of those situations. Lincecum did not allow a run last season in Oakland and after looking shaky early in the season has settled in nicely, only allowing 5 ERs over his last 4 outings. He is catching fire and should keep this one under along with Mazzaro. Look for 4-5 in this contest.

[ThePlatinumStandard]

End date/deadline: 8/31/09

The Standard: 200 units by the deadline

Yesterday MLB: 5-1, +17.0 units

Current standing: -17.1 units
Units remaining: 217.1


Keeping it small for Saturday...


JUNE 13th

$200 SD/LAA OVER 8
Most confident of the three totals tonight as Saunders faces Josh Geer at home. These teams put up 17 last night and they will not close the book on run scoring in this series just yet. No pitchers batting which leaves room for the DHs in this one which youd assume there will be less GIDPs and Ks by the DH taking the pitchers spot in the AL park. Saunders has a 6.50 ERA over his last 3 starts and is due for a strong one. Geer is the big part in this over and it will win if he pitches like he has all season. He has allowed 11 ERs at home in 4 starts in a hitter friendly park. On the road, worse, as he has allowed 15 ERs in 4 outings and opponents have scored 33 in those games. LA will get on the board early and often, sealing this one midway through.

$100 ChW/Mil Over 9.5
The Brewers cruised past the Sox last night and I see them cruising for a second consecutive night against Contreras. Jose Contreras will start today and battle Manny Parra. The Brewers have only won 3 of Parras last 10 starts. On the otherhand, the Sox won for the first time with Contreras on the mound in his last 9 starts. Contreras looked strong at home vs. Detroit, but he is on the road today where he has allowed 17 ERs in just 3 starts this year. Opponents have scored 28 runs total in those 3 games. Milwaukee should hit well, and carry this over on their backs. Sox should be able to get 3-4 of their own in addition.

$100 LAD/Tex Under 10.5
The Rangers have gotten strong starting most of the year at home and it is a major reason why this team is amongst the best in the AL. Feldman will try to follow up a brilliant outing by Padilla last night. Going right back to an under here as both Wolf and Feldman have been successful in 09. Wolf has a 2.58 ERA on the road, and Feldman has only allowed 10 ERs in his last 5 at home. With that being said, the bullpens should put together a similar performance like last night and keep this one under 10.5 runs.

[ThePlatinumStandard]

End date/deadline: 8/31/09

The Standard: 200 units by the deadline

Yesterday MLB: 2-1, +1.9 units

Current standing: -15.2 units
Units remaining: 215.2


JUNE 14th


$1000 Toronto -115
This one is a tough call because the Marlins have done extremely well with Johnson on the mound. Johnson has not allowed more than 3 ERs in a long while, and the Jays feel they can get to him and get 4 on the board. Marlins bullpen has been solid in this series and in gerneral so the Jays would need to beat on Johnson early and put up enough to win this thing. Brian Tallet has not been all that great of late, but he does come off a shutout performance vs. Texas. Look for that to carry over as he shuts down the fish this afternoon giving his team a golden opportunity to pick up the win. Toronto heads on a 6 game road trip after today so look for them to take care of some business in their final home game before they head out.

$1000 Boston -125
The Red Sox have already made it 5 straight winning series vs. Philly after last nights win and will seal the door on another series sweep today, this time on the road. The Sox have won 5 straight and 10 of their last 12 games. Beckett has had no major issues with Philly, and the Sox are putting up plenty of runs for their starters and I feel no different about today. The Sox have unloaded on teams lately. I dont think this one will get out of hand but the Sox should be able to outscore Philly today. In this situation it is more likely that Boston sweeps rather than Philly stops the sweep. Play the Sox as I look for a 5-3 final today!

$200 Det/Pit Over 9.5
This selection is a part 1 of a possible 2 on totals today. Dontrelle Willis still has not found it. You can tell that his manger lacks confidence as well pulling him before he can get into trouble. The only thing that may save him is pitching against an NL team with the pitcher due up 9th. If you look at his previous outings, most have gone under. All those unders were set at 10 or more runs however, with the last one at 9.5, blowing it away with 13 total runs. Opponents are averaging 4 runs on Ohlendorf in his last 5 outings and his last 3. His last 2 home outings saw the other team scoring 6 total in both gms. This one should get to 12 runs, assuming Willis and Ohlendorf both allow at least 4 each. I dont see that being an issue today.

$200 StL/Cle Under 7.5(ONLY IF Det/Pit total loses)
This play will only be a go on the back end of the Det-Pit total loss. ONLY PLAY THIS SELECTION with a loss on the early game total for today. If the early total wins, this play will not be a graded selection. Carpenter will face off with Cliff Lee, which should be a good cap off of the interleague weekend. If you look at Carpenters stats, he has not allowed much. More recently he is getting hit and runs are being scored but not pouring in. Lee has also followed up last season nicely and with these two starters going at least 13 innings combined tonight I fail to see many scored. The Cards still have not found it offensively and that will ultimately help this one. Look for a 3-2 final in Sundays final game of the day!

[ThePlatinumStandard]

Has not been a good run of late. I turn this around starting tonight. Write-ups are for 3 of the 6 plays for tonight including 2 big ones. 10 unit plays have gone 5-6 last 11 so look for a nice run to brew very soon.

I will update all statistics with tomorrows plays. Sunday there was a -24+ unit loss.

JUNE 16th

$1000 LA Dodgers -145
Oakland comes into this one just 1-7 in their last 8 interleague games. They have lost 5 of 6, and have to face a great starter in Kershaw tonight. Kershaw should go pretty deep in this one and allow just 1-2 runs. That is all in fact I see Oakland getting tonight as the Dodgers should be able to put up 5+ in this one. Dodgers have not given Kershaw much run support over his last few starts for them so look for a nice padding for the home starter tonight.

$1000 NY Yankees -360
It is a steep one but these favorites are 19-2 with this angle over the last 3+ seasons laying -200+ in a game. The runline may be better suited, especially the way things are going but stats are based on SU moneylines. Sabathia shut out Washington just last season and considering the Yanks bats have been hot recently, I just can not see the Nats putting up more in this contest. Remember, as I recently pointed out the Nats are horrendous in opening series games. They currently stand at 4-17 on the season and just 1-9 in game 1 road series. Martis will go for the Nats today, and opponents have averaged roughly 7 runs in his outings, mostly in part of the bullpen woes in Washington. Yanks should get at least 7 in this one unless they decide to play down to this league worst club.

$200 Arizona/KC Over 8.5
Look for at least a possible dozen tonight as I see both of these starters struggling. Davis will face Meche. Doug Davis shut out KC last season so look for a bit of revenge by the Royals tonight. Royals are also starting to get hot after falling out of the division race. They come in after a sweep of the Reds. Zona has allowed 7 runs in the last 4 Davis road starts that he wasnt accounted for. That leaves a weak bullpen for the Royals hungry offense. KC should be able to put up 5 or more here, and looking at Meche, he steadily gives up 3 or more on average at home. Meche has struggled at times to go deep in ballgames which led to opponents having a field day scoring. Opponents have averaged 8 runs per Meche start over his last 5 home outings. Take the over, should get it easily.

$500 Colorado -115

$500 Atlanta -125

$500 San Diego +125

[ThePlatinumStandard]

Definitely not what I wanted last night but the way things have gone I will take it and am pleased that the 10 unit plays both came through. I may have one play later and will get back in here by 5 pm eastern to finalize the current standing. Wanted to get this play up as fast as possible due to the early start!

JUNE 17th

$1000 San Fran -170
San Fran needs a a good outing from Lincecum today to get the win. The previous 2 games with LA the Giants could not get 4 innings out of their starters, while LA got 7 strong innings from their starters. Today the results will be reversed as Palmer should get KOd early. Lincecum will go deep in this one. The Giants come into this game 7-1 after a loss and they have gone 9-3 at home in their last 12. Palmer is 6-0 for LA on the year but has a 5.62 ERA on the road and will not get enough run support to help his cause today. Lincecum has looked sharp recently, allowing just 5 ERs in his last 5, with 2 home shutouts in a row. He hasnt allowed a run at home in his last 2. SF has the advantage pitching wise and thats all they will need today!

[ThePlatinumStandard]

Here are the other 2 I have going tonight, June 17th...

$300 Mil/Cle Under 10.5
David Huff has impressed after starting his career in Cleveland on a sour note. His first two starts this year ended up showing him allowing 13 ERs in just less than 7 innings. Since then he has settled in and although he hasnt gone deep in any games but for 1, he has limited ERs allowed over his last 4 games. He has seemingly gotten better whith each outing and in his last he allowed 3 Ers in over 7 innings of work. Surprisingly, at a 10.5 total margin of runs, Huff has gone under that total 3 of his last 4 with finals of 3,7,12, and 10 runs. Suppan has been sharp also lately and has allowed 5 ERs in his last 4 road outings, 2 of them shutouts. After two massive run scoring nights look for a cease in the offense with a more defensive outlook in this one.

$300 Tampa Bay +105
The Rockies finally lost a game. The first time they allowed double digit runs since May 25 and the first game where they allowed more than 4 since their win streak. After getting into a comfort zone with winning Colorado may flip this around and start losing several. With that being said the starting pitching favors TB with Price who has really allowed 1 ER per start. The problem has been the bullpen, but TB handled Colorado nicely and should continue pitching better. Tampa is on a 6 game win streak and this will continue tonight. Cook allowed 6 ERs in his last outing vs. TB. This season after allowing 1 ER in 2 consecutive starts he allowed 4 ERs. Look for TB to rough him and keep to their winning ways.

[carfan20]

ouch 1000$ gone thanks to tim

[ThePlatinumStandard]

End date/deadline: 8/31/09

The Standard: 200 units by the deadline

Current standing: -78.90 units
Units remaining: 278.90


Can't say I am not ashamed of the current start to this little personal challenge. Even 10 unit plays are struggling going just 7-7 after a tremendous start. Look for these babies to get hot soon. Looking at a possible 13-3 run over the next 16 to solidify what I stated(near 70% winning clip). I have my work cut out for me, but just as there has been some real bad days, there can and will be good ones, real good ones when this turns around. I will certainly finish this out win or lose thru August 31st. In fact, I do have 75 days left which makes this an even greater accomplishment if it pulls through. I told everyone to watch for a few weeks first. Let's see how this finishes out!

6/18/09

$1000 Philly -160
$300 St. Louis -115
$300 Hou/Tex Under 10.5