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Our top "stash" picks:
- MLB: Milwaukee Brewers
- MLB: Chicago White Sox
Our picks for all SFTC props:
- Soccer: Chelsea Win
- Conventional thinking would say that United will walk away with an easy victory in the FA Cup against Chelsea. But if European Soccer had a March Madness, it would be the FA Cup. Upsets are common and frequent. There is no question that United is a better team and now that they are not in the Champions League, they would love to get an FA Cup title to go along with their inevitable EPL title. But I just don't see it happening. I don't know why, just accept it, Chelsea is going to win this one at home.
- Confidence: 70%
- *MLB: Boston Red Sox
- Even though the Yankees have not lost an opening day game in who knows how long, with so many Yankee greats being injured (Jeter, A-Rod, Texeira, Granderson, and others), it is hard to see how the Yankees could win, considering the Red Sox lineup includes Victorino, Pedroia, Napoli (from the Rangers), Saltalamacchia, and many others. Both of these pitchers have had both great and terrible outings, but Lester has been more consistent this spring. Given these lineups, I'm going with the Red Sox in this one.
- Confidence: 60%
- MLB: Yes 1+ home run hit during innings 1 - 4
- Despite Sabatthia pitching, I actually think the Red Sox have the better chance of hitting a home run for this prop because they have the more potent lineup. It's also true that the yes option in a home run prop wins very consistently. In-game baseball props can be very unpredictable though; just ask the Tyus Edney entry owner.
- Confidence: 60%
- MLB: New York Mets
- Chase Headley is out for the Padres. The Mets will go with Jonathan Niese as pitcher because they traded R. A. Dickey and Johan Santana is still recovering from a shoulder injury. I think Niese is a better pitcher than Volquez, and the Mets are at home.
- Confidence: 70%
- MLB: Milwaukee Brewers
- The Rockies pitcher, Jhoulys Chacin, has never started an opening-day game. Gallardo, for the Brewers, has 4 opening-day starts, but is just 0 - 2 in those starts. I'm going with the Brewers here since they have a more experienced pitcher, better offensive lineup, and are at home.
- Confidence: 70%
- Soccer: Fullham Win
- QPR is desperate. If they want to stay in the EPL next year they cannot lose games against teams like Fulham. Now Fulham is no joke, they have started to play better recently and are 10th in the table. QPR is dead last and is on its way to relegation. Since QPR is on the road, I imagine that they will play a very defensive minded game and will not give up goals easily. I don't expect there to be many goal, but if there is a goal or two, I believe it will come from Fulham, likely due to a QPR mistake.
- Confidence: 70%
- *MLB: Los Angeles Dodgers
- This could be a low-scoring game and is tough to pick. Both pitchers are great, but Kershaw has had more success against the Giants than Cain has had against the Dodgers. Hanley Ramirez is out for the Dodgers, but they are the favorite to win, and are at home, so I'm giving them the edge.
- Confidence: 60%
- MLB: Los Angeles Angels
- There are a couple of interesting facts about this game. One is that this is the first game in MLB history that an inter-league game has been played on Opening Day. The other is that Josh Hamilton will be returning to the place where he really started his professional career. Cueto and Weaver are both great pitchers, and even though the Reds are at home, it's tough to go against the Angels' powerful lineup that includes Trout, Trumbo, Pujols, and now Hamilton.
- Confidence: 60%
- MLB: Chicago White Sox
- The Royals have had 17 losing seasons in the past 18 years. They are really trying to improve and make it to the playoffs this year, even acquiring James Shields from the Tampa Bay Rays. Despite the Royals' off-season moves, how can you go against Chris Sale at home?
- Confidence: 70%
- NHL: New York Islanders
- The Islanders are battling the Rangers for the last playoff spot in the East. In order to win that battle they need to win against the Devils tonight. The Devils are 10 - 5 - 2 at home, and their goalie, Brodeur, has been great at home, but he is just 3 - 2 - 1 with a 2.98 GAA against the Islanders at home. I like the desperate Islanders, who have won often on SFTC, to get the win.
- Confidence: 60%
- NHL: Winnipeg Jets
- The Rangers are the NHL's lowest scoring team at 2.21 goals per game. The Jets have been in a bit of a funk lately, losing 4 of their last 6. However, they have beaten the Rangers twice so far this season, and I think they continue their streak and get back to winning ways.
- Confidence: 60%
- MLB: Atlanta Braves
- This is the first opening-day start for the Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels. The Braves' pitcher Tim Hudson has had a great spring and has some opening-day experience. The Braves now have brothers Justin and B.J. Upton, and many other talented offensive players, evidenced by their league-leading 49 homers during the spring. The Braves at home looks like a pretty good pick here.
- Confidence: 70%
- MLB: 3 strikeouts or fewer
- These in-game baseball props are usually complete tossups, but I'm liking the 3 or fewer in this one because it's opening day, pitchers and batters are still trying to figure each other out, and pitchers don't always come out sharp right away. In order for 4 or more to win, each pitcher would have to record at least 1 strikeout per inning, and I just think that's asking too much of an opening-day match-up.
- Confidence: 60%
- NCAAW: Any Other Result
- While it's true that UConn usually covers on their point margin props, I'm taking Kentucky in this one to cover the spread. Kentucky have been to the regional finals 3 of the last 4 years, but have never advanced to the Final Four. UConn has been to the Final Four 5 straight times. This game is basically a home game for them and it's very likely that they will win, but I really think Kentucky will keep it close, and who knows, maybe they'll pull off a monumental upset like Louisville just did.
- Confidence: 70%
- MLB: Yes 1+ run scored during the 4th inning
- Again, in-game baseball props are hard to predict. My advice is to see how the first 3 innings go. I may end up changing my pick as well. I'm picking yes now based on the fact that the Braves have some great offensive players, and more scoring seems to happen in the middle innings of games than at the beginning or end.
- Confidence: 60%
- NBA: Boston Celtics
- Boston beat Minnesota earlier this year by 10 points but both these teams, due to injury, are quite different than they were last time they played in December. Neither team has looked amazing the past few weeks, but the Celtics need to win these games against the lower-level teams to stay in 7th place out East and have any hope of winning a playoff series.
- Confidence: 70%
- *NHL: Minnesota Wild
- The Wild have usually been money on SFTC, and they are at home for this game. They just beat the L.A. Kings on Saturday, and should continue their win streak against the struggling St. Louis Blues.
- Confidence: 70%
- NBA: San Antonio Spurs
- All I can say about this game is that the Spurs are mad and no matter who they are playing the night after losing to a LeBron/D-Wade-less Heat team is going to get stabbed with a shank and murdered. Sorry to be so graphic. I expect the Spurs to come out and play their hardest to beat the Grizzlies. Yes this game is in Memphis and yes the Spurs had to fly their last night after losing to the Heat, but still, lets just face it, the Spurs are gonna win as they try to fend off OKC from overtaking them in the top spot out west.
- Confidence: 70%
- *NHL: Dallas Stars
- I'm going to go against what most people probably think is the easy win here. The Stars have gone 5 - 0 - 2 in their last 7 home meetings against the Ducks, even though the Ducks won the most recent one in a 2 - 1 shootout. These teams will play each other 3 times over the next 5 nights. The Stars are fighting for playoff position, and the Ducks have had major problems offensive lately, scoring only 8 goals over their last 6 games.
- Confidence: 50%
- NCAAW: California Golden Bears
- This is new territory for Cal. It is their first trip to the regional finals, and they have a chance to become the first school out west besides Stanford to reach the Final Four in a long, long time. Georgia was able to beat Stanford by playing tremendous defense in the 2nd half. However, Stanford plays more half-court offense than Cal. Cal likes to run the ball, push the tempo, and play transition basketball. This will make it harder for Georgia to play tough defense in the half court.
- Confidence: 70%
- NHL: Edmonton Oilers
- The Flames have won 10 of the last 12 meetings against the Oilers, but the Flames are near a record-setting road losing streak, as they try to compensate for the loss of Jarome Iginla. The Oilers have won 3 in a row, and I think their streak continues.
- Confidence: 50%
- MLB: Oakland As
- The As have faced Seattle's pitcher, Hernandez, many times over the not-so-distant past, and are well-acquainted with him. I don't know much about the As pitcher Anderson, but the As have the better lineup, and are at home, so I'm picking them.
- Confidence: 60%
- *MLB: St. Louis Cardinals
- Even taking the Diamonback's new revamped roster into consideration, I still like the Cardinals in this one. The Cardinals just resigned Wainwright, while the Diamondbacks are sticking with Ian Kennedy, who started last season's opening-day game.
- Confidence: 60%
- NBA: Los Angeles Clippers
- The Clips are only 5-5 in their previous 10 games while the Pacers have started a mini-streak and have won 4 straight games. The Clippers have fallen back to the 5th seed out West which means the first round on the road against the Grizzlies (if current positions were to hold up). That is a worst case scenario for the Clips. They are only a game out of 3rd place and therefore cannot afford to lose these games at home.
- Confidence: 60%
- *NHL: San Jose Sharks
- The Sharks have the lowest number of regulation home losses in the NHL. I think they continue that streak against the lowly Canucks.
- Confidence: 50%
The props marked with a * are also featured on Streak It Up.
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