The Sharp Report – July 4, 2014

Baseball parks around the country will be firing their finest pyrotechnics all day long as America celebrates her birthday.

Thursday night didn’t offer up much of a card, just a few moves were made all day long by the sharp groups and they didn’t go so well. Friday will be a different story, with fifteen games on the card, I expect a lot of moves and a lot of fireworks.

I hope everyone enjoys the 4th and be safe!

Please refer to my first post in this series for a list of recommended sites to aid you in your handicapping.

7/4 Early Moves:

Here are some lines that were hit by sharp groups early enough this morning to make this report. I have not had time to research games myself, so I am not recommending that you try to find these numbers and tail the plays at this time. These are listed to show you what has happened so far this morning, always do your own research on these before following along.

Milwaukee Brewers vs Cincinnati Reds (Under 8)
Key Line Move @ 8:15 am EST

Kansas City Royals vs Cleveland Indians (Over 7.5)
Key Line Move @ 8:30 am EST

7/3 Recap:

Early Moves:

St. Louis Cardinals vs San Francisco Giants (Under 7) – Loss
Key Line Move @ 8:00 am EST

There was a strong push from a lot of well respected groups on this move early in the morning, the first two games of the series being a big reason why. The St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants traded shutouts in the first two games of the series, struggling offenses on both sides coupled with strong pitching contributed to this. So the question posed to the bettor was, were these low scores early in the series due to struggling offenses or superb pitching? The sharps took the stance that it was because of the struggling offenses, and even with two struggling pitchers on the mound the score wouldn’t clear 7 runs.

The Cardinals’ starter, Carlos Martinez, struggled with his command and lasted only 4 1/3 innings as he bumped up against a pitch count last Friday against the Dodgers. The Giants’ starter, Madison Bumgarner, was reached for five runs on nine hits in six innings to suffer a loss against Cincinnati on Friday, matching a season low with three strikeouts. Bumgarner is 3-3 with a 3.57 ERA in six career starts against St. Louis.

Late Moves:

Toronto Blue Jays vs Oakland A’s (Over 7.5) – Loss
Key Line Move @ 1:45 pm EST

It was easy to see why groups jumped on this move, both starting pitchers were in the midst of their own struggles of late. The Blue Jays’ R.A. Dickey has had issues with the long ball lately, he served up four homers in a 5-4 loss to the Chicago White Sox last time out. Dickey has allowed at least one homer in eight straight starts and has been taken deep 10 times in his last five outings. The A’s sent Sonny Gray to the mound, who has allowed at least four runs in three of his last six turns after not giving up more three in his first 10 starts. Gray was tagged for five runs in a season-low five innings at Miami last time out.

I was completely on board with this move, I saw two capable offenses and two struggling pitchers and jumped all over it.

Chris Sharp is a professional sports handicapper and daily contributor to BettingSports.com. He can be found on Twitter @CSharp_Picks and on his web site IvyLeaguePicks.com.