Our Tuesday night MLB predictions take us to Sun Life Stadium in beautiful Miami, Florida, where a pair of NL East dregs in the Washington Nationals and Florida Marlins partake in the second game of their current baseball betting series.
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The Nationals powered their way to the 9-3 victory in last night’s series opener launching a pair of long balls and 11 overall hits. Jason Marquis secured his first victory of the season after tossing 5.2 innings of three-run ball, and the Nats now have a nice little three-game winning streak in the works after swiping a pair from the Redbirds.

Since letting go of clubhouse sparkplug Cody Ross, the Marlins have dropped four of seven and enter tonight’s contest losers of three in a row. The pitching staff has surrendered a whopping 28 runs during that stretch. Now playing with a rag tag lineup with just a few notables, the Fish have seemingly given up on the season.

Washington Nationals (57-75, -$493) vs. Florida Marlins (65-65, $123)
Game Date/Time: Tuesday, August 31st, 7:10 ET
Game Location: Citi Field, Flushing, NY
TV/Radio Broadcast: FOX – Florida, SNY, XM

MLB Odds: Washington Nationals +160 (Jordan Zimmerman – R) vs. Florida Marlins -190 (Anibal Sanchez- R): Total 8.5 O -115 8.5 U -105

Jordan Zimmerman’s first start since returning from Tommy John surgery hardly went as planned. The righty surrendered seven hits (1 HR) and five ER’s while K’ing four and walking one through just four total innings of work. He said he felt strong throughout the outing, but just left a few pitches up that St. Louis batters teed off on.

There are simply no trends backing the youngster in this spot! The Nationals have lost each of his L/6 road starts, and each of his L/5 when installed a road underdog. He did however pick up a no decision against the Marlins in his lone career start against them tossing six innings of two-run ball with a 6/1 K/BB ratio last season.

Opposing the flamethrowing righty will be Anibal Sanchez who sports the second best starting ERA on the team at 3.29. Florida’s won three of his L/4 MLB predictions outings which includes a shellacking of the Mets his last time out after limiting NY to four runs through five innings of the Marlins 11-4 road victory.

He’s been at his best at home where he sports a 4-3 record with a 2.69 ERA & 1.26 WHIP through 73.2 innings of work; Florida’s just 6-6 in his 12 starts in front of the home crowd. He earned a no decision and a win in a pair of outings against the Nats this season, and in his career, he’s a perfect 4-0 with a 2.66 ERA in 11 starts vs. Washington.

MLB Insider Tip: This line is simply absurd for a pair of teams going nowhere this season. Yes, Sanchez is yet to suffer a defeat against the Marlins throughout his career, but Florida’s a .500 team with him leading its charge at home and the Nats have been playing some decent ball of late.

Washington’s gotten the better of each of the L/4 right-handers its opposed, and the Marlins are just 1-4 the L/5 times they were favored and 0-fer in Sanchez’ L/4 Game 2 starts.

Washington knows exactly what to expect with Sanchez as it’s opposed him numerous times. That’s simply not the case with Zimmerman, so both MLB bettors and the Marlins don’t fully know what to expect tonight. With that being the main reason for tonight’s MLB predictions against the heavily favored Marlins, take a stab with the Nats as they simply don’t deserve to be dogs of this magnitude to the Fish at this point in the season!

My MLB Prediction: Washington Nationals (Zimmerman)

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BetUS Sportsbook has more NCAA football betting analysis for you this week by picking apart the best teams against the college football spreads from last year. Check out whether we think these squads are going to be able to keep it up for NCAA football betting fans this year or not!
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Connecticut Huskies (11-2 ATS in 2009) – The Huskies are going to be a very interesting team to watch this year in the Big East, especially if Jordan Todman can keep the team going on the ground. The passing attack is going to be non-existent yet again for UConn, but head coach Randy Edsall has a history of putting together a team that plays some hardnosed ball. The defense should be able to carry the way well enough to set the table for Todman to roll right over a good chunk of Big East teams. Repeating an 11-2 ATS mark is going to be virtually impossible, but we’d be surprised it the Huskies weren’t NCAA football betting winners by year’s end.

Ohio State Buckeyes (10-3 ATS in 2009) – Yikes! We don’t think so. The Buckeyes are one of the most overrated teams in the land this year. Terrelle Pryor, year in and year out, is an overhyped field general, and though he led the team in both rushing and passing last year, we don’t see any significant value in him over some of the other average quarterbacks in the Big Ten. OSU is going to be asked to cover some hefty, hefty spreads this year, and we think that the 2010 Rose Bowl triumph over Oregon is going to install a false sense of security in the minds of NCAA football betting fans all year long.

Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders (10-3 ATS in 2009) – MTSU probably can’t be overrated this season. Dwight Dasher is one of the best dual threat quarterbacks in the game, and he won’t be contained by Sun Belt defenses. Until we start seeing some big numbers get thrown on the board, particularly when they are in Murfreesboro, the Blue Raiders are going to be a team to back all year long. Consider this a warning to both the Minnesota Golden Gophers and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets: Middle Tennessee State is coming to get you!

Central Florida Knights (9-3 ATS in 2009) – Head coach George O’Leary still has a major quarterbacking issue at UCF, and until that gets fixed, we are going to be awfully reluctant to back this team. One wrong step for Brynn Harvey, the team’s leading (and only legitimate) rusher, and it’s all over. The defense still has a lot of playmakers in spite of the fact that it lost second round draft choice Torrell Troup to the NFL. It all worked for the Knights last year, but now that they have the expectations on their shoulders for being one of the top teams in Conference USA, NCAA football betting on them could become awfully dicey.

For every great team, there has to be one that has a miserable time trying to pick up college football betting victories. BetUS Sportsbook has the top four teams that you needed to avoid last year on the NCAA football spreads and whether they will be detriments to you again this season.
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San Jose State Spartans (2-10 ATS in 2009) – The Spartans might have a new head coach now that Dick Tomey has retired, but that doesn’t mean anything has changed in San Jose for the upcoming season. There is still a significant lack of quarterback play for SJSU, and a porous defense isn’t helping any. The only good news is that the oddsmakers apparently aren’t opposed to giving the Spartans 40 points to start a game with early in the season. That’s what they’ll be catching in Tuscaloosa against the defending champions, the Alabama Crimson Tide in Week 1; it also might be what they need to be catching all season long to finish .500 against the NCAA football spreads.

Colorado State Rams (2-9 ATS in 2009) – This team was nothing short of brutal at times in 2009. The only thing that CSU could take away from last year was the fact that it beat its rivals from Colorado. Now, the Buffs are out for revenge, and unless the offense is going to find more than 21.7 points per game from somewhere this year, it could be a bad start to what could be yet another miserable campaign.

Arkansas State Red Wolves (2-9 ATS in 2009) – It’s difficult for a Sun Belt team to post an ATS record this bad since the conference gets such little respect as it is, but the Red Wolves found a way to pull the feat off last year. Things should get slightly better this year, if for no other reason than the fact that the “top performers” from last year’s 4-8 team are all gone. New blood has to help Arky State, which looks to inch towards .500 this year in a woeful conference.

Florida State Seminoles (3-9 ATS in 2009) – It’s been years since Florida State has been a viable team to back on the NCAA football spreads, and for good reason. The Noles are consistently overhyped. If the garnet and gold nation hears one more time that “this is the year” that the team comes back, it might haul off and smack someone. Guess what, Seminoles fans… This isn’t the year either. Christian Ponder is being touted as one of the best quarterbacks in the country, and though the offense for FSU is ready to go, the defense is still atrocious. Unless by chance the Seminoles plan on winning a lot of 42-38 games this year, this will be another year of disappointment in Tallahassee. Maybe the problem wasn’t Bobby Bowden coaching the team after all.

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Our Monday night MLB betting predictions take us to Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio where the Chicago White Sox will look to embark on that final push of the regular season against the putrid Cleveland Indians.
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The weekend was one filled with excitement and frustration for Palehose fans, as they dropped two of three to the hated New York Yankees, but picked up Manny Ramirez from the Dodgers in the hopes that he’ll fill the void left at the DH position.

Manager Ozzie Guillen’s squad now sits 4.5-games off the pace set by the Minnesota Twins in the AL Central.

For them to even get back into the playoff discussion, the Twins are going to have to slump while the Sox are going to have to go on another winning streak similar to the one they rattled off around the All Star Break.

Though Cleveland has been putrid overall, it’s been a nemesis to divisional opponents scratching out wins in 24 of the 50 meetings this season ($410). Most of those victories have come against the White Sox, as they’ve won eight of the 12 MLB predictions meetings this season; that mark includes a 4-1 tally at home.

Chicago White Sox (70-60, $627) vs. Cleveland Indians (53-77, -$642)
Game Date/Time: Monday, August 30th, 7:05 ET
Game Location: Progressive Field, Cleveland, OH
TV/Radio Broadcast: WGN, SportsTime Ohio, XM

MLB Odds: Chicago White Sox -1.5 +120 -140 (Mark Buehrle – L) vs. Cleveland Indians +1.5 -140 +120 (Mitch Talbot – R): Total 9 O -105 9 U -115

The last time Mark Buehrle toed the Progressive Field bump, he was given the heave-ho after arguing a pair of balk calls against him. He had his two game winning streak snapped his last time out at home against Baltimore.

What bothered him most about the defeat was walking a pair of leadoff hitters; both came around to score and Chicago ended up losing by two.

He’s been pretty solid throughout the month of August allowing just 33 hits and 12 ER’s with a K/BB ratio of 12/9. He’s 3-2 during that stretch with a 3.09 ERA. Though his record doesn’t reflect it, he’s been at his best away from US. Cellular Field where his ERA is a run+ lower than his home ERA (3.33).

He has had problems with the Tribe in the past however, but Chicago’s won three of his four outings against them this season.

Mitch Talbot has had a rough go of it since returning from the DL. The righty has allowed 22 hits and 15 runs (12 ER) over his L/3 starts. He was just plastered by the Oakland A’s his last time out allowing five ER’s in the first inning.

In 13 overall home starts, Talbot has allowed 86 hits and 47 ER’s in just under 73 total innings pitched.

Cleveland has secured MLB predictions victories in only three of his L/10 overall starts and just five of his 13 Progressive Field outings. He has however experienced great success against Chicago throughout his career going 3-0 with a 1.57 ERA & 0.91 WHIP.

MLB Insider Tip: If the White Sox are truly serious about making a run at the Twins, they have to start winning every series played from this point forward. Times a ticking, but lucky for them, they get to start off with the Tribe before heading to Boston and Detroit to close out this 10-game road trip.

I expect Chicago to come out 110% motivated to take it to the Tribe in this series. They’ve won each of the L/4 times Buehrle toed the bump in a series opener, and have treated MLB wagering fans kindly in the first game of a series winning 17 of the L/22 times.

The Tribe has come out on the short end of the scoreboard each of the L/5 times they opposed a lefty, and my MLB predictions have them keeping that trend intact in this spot.

Talbot is tossing batting practice right now, and if the Palehose can’t make him pay with the game being served up on a silver platter, their 2010 future looks bleak at best.

My MLB Prediction: Chicago White Sox (Buehrle)

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The third week of football preseason betting action continues with BetUS Sportsbook on Saturday night in a Lone Star State shootout, as the Houston Texans play host to the Dallas Cowboys.
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Dallas Cowboys vs. Houston Texans
Game Date/Time: Saturday, August 28th, 8:00 ET
Game Location: Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, LA
TV/Radio Broadcast: CBS, Local TV, Westwood One, Sirius

NFL Odds: Dallas Cowboys (+3) +100 vs. Houston Texans (-3) -120: Over/Under: 40.5

The Cowboys continue to have a major problem this year offensively. They have yet to score more than 16 points in a game, and they only have two offensive touchdowns to show for three games worth of work. Simply put, that isn’t going to cut it, especially for a club that expects to boast one of the top offenses in the league this year.

However, for as poorly as Dallas’ ‘O’ has played in football preseason betting action, its defense has been incredibly solid. This unit has only allowed a total of 38 points in three games and looks to be an incredibly dangerous unit.

Tony Romo has the worst numbers on the team amongst quarterbacks, as he has only completed 46.4 percent of his passes for 141 yards with a TD and a pick. That must improve on Saturday for the Cowboys to triumph in this football preseason betting duel.

The Texans are 0-2 this year in football exhibition betting battles, but that doesn’t mean they’re ripe for the picking once again. This is their first 2010 game at Reliant Stadium after a pair of road defeats.

One could argue that the recipe was just wrong for Houston last week at the Superdome, as it was the first time that the Saints had played in their building since winning the Super Bowl. This week though, the exact same sort of mojo could be playing in the Texans’ favor, as they are full of expectations this year and the hometown crowd is dying to see the team live.

The offense has looked sharp as a tack when Matt Schaub has been on the field. Schaub has thrown for 195 yards on 81.3 percent completions with a TD, and he has successfully directed the starting offense on at least two scoring drives in both of Houston’s football preseason wagering games.

NFL Insider Tip: The home team has won all seven affairs between these two teams. Houston is just 2-3 SU, but 3-2 ATS in five football preseason betting clashes.

Head coach Gary Kubiak is badly going to want to get his team off to a good start in this spot.

Taking a game against its instate rivals is going to be great for Houston, even if this is only just a preseason match-up. For a team that historically does very well in their exhibitions, the Texans are the obvious football preseason betting choice on Saturday night!

My NFL Preseason Predictions: Houston Texans (-3) -120

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Our Friday night MLB predictions take us to the Great American Ball Park where the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds will lock horns in the opener of the division rivals final series of the 2010 season.
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A funny thing happened after Manager Lou Piniella decided to take an early retirement from the sinking ship otherwise known as the Chicago Cubs; they started winning. Maybe it was because they were matched up against another stiff of a ball club in the Washington Nationals, or maybe the team loosened up after the Hall of Fame Skipper vacated the premises. Either way, the Cubs took a solid step forward in attempting to close their 2010 campaign off on the right foot.

The Reds blasted their way to an impressive 5-1 showing throughout the first six legs of their nine game west coast road trip. However, they ended up 6-3 overall after dropping the first two of their series with the San Francisco Giants and needed to go to extras in their marathon 12-11 win in the series finale. Luckily for Manager Dusty Baker’s squad, it had the day off on Thursday to rest up after the long road trip. Now they get to embark on a six-game home stand against division rivals where they sit 10-games over .500 (36-26, $558) for those that made MLB predictions backing them as a host.

Chicago Cubs (54-74, -$2860) vs. Cincinnati Reds (73-54, $1773)
Game Date/Time: Friday, August 27th, 7:10 ET
Game Location: Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati, OH
TV/Radio Broadcast: WGN,FOX – Ohio, XM

MLB Odds: Chicago Cubs +1.5 -130 +155 (Tom Gorzelanny – L) vs. Cincinnati Reds – 1.5 +110 -175 (Johnny Cueto – R): Total 9 O Even 9 U -120

Tom Gorzelanny has thrown a ton of pitches entering his 20 th start of the season on Friday night. He tossed 120 pitches for the second consecutive outing in a 5-4 Cubs win his last time out to move Chicago to 7-12 with him leading their charge this season.

He’s been at his best away from Wrigley Field where he sports a 3-2 record with a solid 3.27 ERA, but Chicago Cubs stands just 3-5 in his eight road starts. The Cubs are 1-6 in his L/7 starts vs. NL Central opposition, and he owns a personal mark of 3-4 with a 4.74 ERA in nine lifetime appearances vs. the Reds.

Johnny Cueto’s first start since serving his seven-game suspension didn’t go all too well. The righty was pumped to say the least, and because of it, his control suffered. The righty walked three and served up four home runs through just three innings of an 8-5 MLB predictions defeat at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Now he returns to the “GAB” where he owns a 5-2 record with a 4.12 ERA & 1.36 ERA on the year; the Cincinnati Reds won six of his 11 home outings. He was outdueled by Randy Wells in his lone 2010 start against the Cubs and stands just 2-5 with a 4.17 ERA & 1.43 WHIP in nine career starts vs. Chicago.

MLB Insider Tip : Cincinnati has gotten the better of the Cubs this season winning 10 of the 13 overall meetings ($750); that mark includes a 4-2 ($190) mark at the Great American Ball Park. However, there’s just something about this spot for the Redlegs that I just don’t like at all.

Chicago looked to be playing much looser in its most recent series with Washington. Having traded away a number of players over the last month and capping it off with the departure of “Sweet Lou” might have been the exact elixir this club needed to start eating into its outrageous MLB betting deficit.

Gorzelanny has been one of the Cubs most dependable starters since he returned to the starting rotation, and Chicago is currently in the midst of a five-game road winning streak. Cincy could come out a bit rusty in this spot returning from an extended road trip, and they’ve played to an even 6-6 record after an off day to date. Go ahead and take a stab with the barking dog in the series opener!

My MLB Prediction: Chicago Cubs (Gorzelanny)

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The preseason of pro football betting usually provides some real surprising results that just aren’t common due to the uncertainty of the game. Today at BetUS, we look at our “Rabid Dawgs Parlay” for Week 3 of pro football betting in the preseason.
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Washington Redskins vs. New York Jets
Game Date/Time: Friday, August 27th, 7:00 ET
Game Location: New Meadowlands Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ
TV/Radio Broadcast: Local TV, Westwood One, Sirius

NFL Odds: Washington Redskins (+4.5) -110 vs. New York Jets (-4.5) -110: Over/Under 34.5

Even though Donovan McNabb isn’t likely to play in this one, we still believe that the Redskins have a significantly better chance to win this game than the +180 moneyline suggests. Backup Rex Grossman has proven to be significantly more than competent in the preseason, completing 64.1 percent of his passes for 335 yards with two TDs and a pick. That’s two more yards, one more TD pass, and two fewer INTs than all of the New York quarterbacks combined.

Rex Ryan has called two very vanilla game plans so far in this preseason, and we tend to believe that that could reasonably come back to bite him in this one in spite of the fact that his team is the sizeable choice to pick up a victory.

Philadelphia Eagles vs. Kansas City Chiefs
Game Date/Time: Friday, August 27th, 8:00 ET
Game Location: Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, MO
TV/Radio Broadcast: Local TV, Westwood One, Sirius

NFL Odds: Philadelphia Eagles (+1) -110 vs. Kansas City Chiefs (-1) -110: Over/Under 37

Haven’t the Chiefs already shown that they have no ability to win in the preseason? They were awful offensively in games both against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Atlanta Falcons, and now they are going to play host to one of the deepest offensive teams in the NFL in the Eagles. Kansas City’s quarterbacking rotation just doesn’t add anywhere up to near what the Eagles can offer, as Kevin Kolb, Michael Vick, and Mike Kafka might all be better than anything that Todd Haley is going to be able to trot out there.

Kolb has proven that he can be explosive, and we look for him to exploit the KC defense for at least two scores before he calls it a day around halftime or so. KC should have no answers in this one, and the end result should be a mild upset perfect for our Rabid Dawg selection for Week 3.

Though the Eagles aren’t a huge underdog, when parlayed with the Redskins on Friday night, they make for a fantastic price. This is still the preseason. Upsets like this happen all the time. Don’t be afraid to throw down on both of these NFC East teams this weekend, as they should combined to be worth somewhere in the neck of the woods of about 6.25-1 in your pro football betting card.

Rabid Dawg Parlay: (Washington Redskins/Philadelphia Eagles)

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