Repost: Yesterday: 1-0, +2.0 units (Over in Houston)
Season: 11-6, +8.12 units
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[U][B]Thursday Play:[/B][/U]
[B]Tigers/A's UNDER 7.5 -123 (5dimes) 1.5 units[/B]
The short of it: A's starter, Gio Gonzalez, is untouchable right now (2-0, 0.69 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, .217 BAA). At first blush, Phil Coke's early numbers (0-2, 4.00 ERA) do not appear too impressive. However, those numbers include two relief appearances and one start. Let's focus on the one start, a 3-1 loss to Kansas City. In that game Coke went 6.2 innings in which he gave up only 3 hits and 2 runs. He did give up 4 walks though. Of those 3 hits, 4 BB and 2 runs, 2 hits, 2 walks and 2 runs were in the second inning. One bad inning in almost 7. We are not asking Coke to win this game, we are asking him to keep the score down which we believe he will.
We are not done yet. The Tigers are hitting .223 and the A's .218 vs. southpaws. The UNDER between these two teams has hit in 9 of the last 12 games against one another. Finally, and I say this every year and promise not to repeat it again, the Coliseum in Oakland has the largest foul ground in the majors. That means more foul outs and less scoring opportunities.
This one has UNDER written all over it. (In case you are interested, we do like the A's but as a rule, we have never lay 150 on a pitcher named Gio).
GL
Rudy
