RIDE THESE GUYS TO VICTORIES

Brent Musburger enthusiastically recommended "A Cause to Believe" for the Kentucky Derby during the blowout between the Clips and Nugs the other night. We have learned to give the utmost respect to The Musburger’s picks and so I immediately put my 30 down on this 30-1 shot. That was the worst game I have seen in a long time, and I realized that Tom Tolbert is a good guy to broadcast a blowout. Tolbert, doesn’t mind talking about random things and is somewhat irreverent but not as annoying as listening to Bill Walton. Did anyone hear Walton talk about the population density of Australia and how most people are concentrated in the eight major cities… which he proceeded to name?! I think that I am focusing in on a number of teams and plan on betting them for most of the year. These teams include the Reds, Cardinals, White Sox, Angels, Mets and Detroit though seemingly only on the road. These teams don’t piss me off and that is paramount to anything else. I will lose my sanity if I bet on teams who don’t advance runners when they need to, walk the opposing pitcher, commit crucial errors and have bullpens that require divine intervention to not blow a game. The White Sox bullpen doesn't have great numbers but has worked only 52 innings in 22 games, which is by far the lowest in the majors. The second least innings worked by relievers is Milwaukee at 66. Two of these teams play each other tomorrow, as the Cardinals go to Cincinnati. Cincy is hitting .297 versus lefties this year along with having the highest Slugging percentage among NL teams. Mulder already faced Cincinnati earlier this season and had some issues, allowing 4 runs and 10 hits in 5 innings. St Louis hasn’t seen Arroyo since he came over from the AL. He is 4-0 with an ERA of 2.34. Reds. Toma Ohka is hit or miss- and usually he gets hit. Over the last 5 starts, he has gone 7 innings three times and 4 innings twice, allowing 4 homeruns in each of his early departures. And you gotta like Wandy Rodriguez. Besides his name being Wandy, he is 4-0 thus far with a 2.53 ERA. But Milwaukee hits the lefties to the tune of .325 with an OPS of .995. The Brewers might be in some trouble if Ohka doesn’t pitch 6 innings. This looks like an over. Brad Penny vs. Claudio Vargas Penny has been solid as has the Dodgers pen. Vargas has an ERA over 5 which includes allowing six runs at home to the Giants in 2.2 innings and 5 runs to Houston at home in 3.1 innings. Arizona’s bullpen is as good as the Dodgers’ so it really a question of how many can they get off of Vargas. Dodgers. Zito owns almost everyone on the Angels with the exception of Garret Anderson. Both teams have strong pens and Carrasco with three straight poor outings doesn’t inspire too much confidence. And lets also go with Minnesota against Seattle and Pinero…. Also, that isn't really a picture of A Cause to Believe but I doubt that anybody cares. - nutlow