SFTC Picks for Wednesday, May 22

Hopefully you followed us to some greenage yesterday!  We gave you two solid baseball wins with our top stash picks, and had a pretty good overall picks record, including winning the last 6 of the day.  We are late in getting picks posted today so we missed most of the morning props, but we did post on Twitter about our Arkansas pick this morning.  All picks are now posted.  Good luck!

Our top stash pick:

1. NBA:  Pacers win or single digit loss

Our picks for every prop:

1. MLB:  Arizona Diamondbacks
• The DBacks hold the edge in the season series against the Rockies 5 - 4.  They send Trevor Cahill to the mound today to try and win their second series against the Rockies this season.  Cahill has been solid, going 3 - 1 with a 1.64 ERA over his last 5 starts.  The line for this game has moved a bit, opening at Rockies -105, and currently sitting at Rockies -129.  With De La Rosa pitching and Betancourt, the Rockies' closer, out due to injury, the DBacks should get the win today.
• Confidence: 65%
2. MLB:  San Francisco Giants
• The Giants haven't swept a series against the Nationals in 5 years.  Is that on the minds of the Giants players?  Who knows, but probably.  They have a great chance to so this afternoon.  The starting pitchers, Gio Gonzalez and Madison Bumgarner, have gone 3 - 2 with a 4.01 ERA, and 4 - 2 with a 3.09 ERA, respectively, this season.  Bumgarner has been great at home, and Gonzalez has really struggled on the road.  Pablo Sandoval and Marco Scutaro have been tearing up the Nationals with their hitting, and the trend should continue tonight.  
• Confidence: 70%
3. MLB:  Tampa Bay Rays
• Evan Longoria extended his hitting streak to 15 games yesterday.  He should most definitely extend it to 16 games today with Mark Buehrle pitching for the Blue Jays.  Buehrle hasn't won in over a month and is 0 - 3 with a 6.68 ERA over his last 5 starts.  Hellickson has a better record but worse ERA over his last 5 than Buehrle, but the Rays have won 7 of their last 10 on the road against the Blue Jays. 
• Confidence: 60%
4. MLB:  New York Yankees
• The Orioles got a much needed win last night, but unfortunately, I think it doesn't last.  At least not with Kuroda on the mound for the Yankees.  He is 6 - 2 with a 1.99 ERA on the season while Jason Hammel has gone 5 - 2 with a 5.72 ERA on the season.  Hammel started the season well, but has gotten shelled in his last two starts, and his ERA has increased by 1.62 over those games. 
• Confidence: 70%
5. MLB:  Yes 1+ run scored in the first inning
• These two teams have met 5 times this season.  A run was scored in the 1st inning in 3 of those games, including the last 2, both by the Yankees.  The Yankees will be most likely to score in this 1st inning, since I don't think the Orioles will score off of Kuroda.  In reality, this is still somewhat of a tossup prop.
• Confidence: 55%
6. NHL:  Ottawa Senators
• I'm really unsure about this pick.  The Penguins won both games at home.  The Senators won at home in the second overtime in the last game.  I just think the Senators will win a second game at home.  
• Confidence: 50%
7. NHL:  0 or 1 goal
• In each of the first two games in Pittsburgh, 3 goals were scored in the first period.  In game 3 in Ottawa, 0 goals were scored in the first period.  So take your pick.  I just think this will be another tight game, so I'll take my chances with 0 or 1 goals scored in the first period. 
• Confidence: 50%
8. NBA:  Pacers win or single digit loss
• With Wade not 100% and previous results between these teams, taking the Pacers to cover is a pretty safe bet.  The Pacers are one of two teams in the NBA to have a winning record against the Heat in the regular season.  They also took the Heat to 6 games, leading 2 - 1 at one point, in their playoff series last year.  This series will be physical and tough.  I doubt the Heat will blow this team out like they have the Bucks and the Bulls.  
• Confidence: 75%
9. NBA:  Pacers first half field goals made
• The Pacers have averaged about 17 field goals made in the first half during the postseason.  LeBron only averages 24 points a game or 12 points per half.  Now granted he usually gets more points in the first half than the second half, but I really don't think he'll get 17.  I wouldn't risk a big streak on this though.
• Confidence: 60%
10. NBA:  49 points or fewer
• You'll defintely want to see how the first half goes, but I expect this to be a lower scoring series than the Heat's previous two.    
• Confidence: 65%
11. MLB:  St. Louis Cardinals
• Both of the pitchers for this game are somewhat unknown and have little major league experience.  Lyons went 2 - 1 with a 4.47 ERA at triple-A Memphis and now gets his shot to start in the major leagues.  Smith comes from a similar situation, though he is 0 - 0 with a 15.63 ERA.  With the pitching mostly unknown, I'm relying on the Cardinals' offense to make a pick for this game.  They have better hitters and should get the win tonight and win this series.
• Confidence: 70%