The Night Sweats: Blown Leads and Walk-off Winners
For those that embrace the sweat, Thursday didn't disappoint. It all started in the afternoon with two major mooses on the diamond that I'll get into shortly. Things then really heated up on the ice at night, as the Penguins erased a 2-0 deficit in the 3rd period to beat the Capitals — who oddly enough outshot the Pens 18-8 in the final frame.
Before we get into the Thursday night highlights in the betting and DFS world, let's take a look at the overall betting results across all major sports.
MLB favorites had a winning day, but it didn't come easy. Four of the eight that won took the lead in the 8th inning or later in what turned out to be a very dramatic day on the bases. A night after LeBron won game 5 against the Pacers at the buzzer, we saw three walk-off MLB winners with the Pirates, Cardinals and Yankees.
Call of the Night
Vegas Knights -155
An NHL team that wins a playoff hockey game by a touchdown will almost always take the crown for best call of the night. Those who backed Vegas never had to sweat, as the Knights jumped out to a 3-0 lead within the first seven minutes of the first period. Their 7 goals matched their total for their entire series against the Kings. Will Vegas ever lose again?
JONATHAN MARCHESSAULT WHIPS ONE HOME FOR HIS FIRST CAREER PLAYOFF GOAL!#VegasBorn 3 – 0 #SJSharkspic.twitter.com/v1Nogt0lHZ
— NHL Daily 365 (@NHLDaily365) April 27, 2018
Total Miss
Pirates-Tigers Over 7.5 and Cubs-Brewers Over 8.5
I mentioned the Pirates won via walk-off earlier. Well, Corey Dickerson's home run in the bottom of the ninth inning was the first and only run of the game. I hope you didn't start off your Thursday afternoon expecting runs at PNC Park.
The Cubs-Brewers game also finished with a 1-0 final. A Kyle Schwarber 6th inning home run — his fourth in the last six games — was all Chicago needed to fly the W.
Schwarber's line-drive homer (00:54)
MLB Gameday: https://t.co/6hKf8juaibpic.twitter.com/uRcANH5XnP
— Ballpark Videos (@BallparkVids) April 27, 2018
Loudest Bark
White Sox +158
Not many loud barks on Thursday, but the White Sox did cash as a decent sized underdog. Looking back, I'm not sure why we all didn't fade the Royals, who shouldn't be a -170 favorite over any team. Kansas City finished 2-15 with runners in scoring position, leaving 11 men on base. Despite having the leadoff man reach in each of the final seven innings, the Royals only scratched across 3 runs. That's a bad baseball team.
Fantasy Flop
Dylan Bundy
Bundy, who only allowed 5 total earned runs over his first four starts, gave up 8 runs (7 earned) on 11 hits in just 4.2 innings against Tampa on Thursday night at Camden Yards. Don't look now, but the Rays have won six straight. They've also scored at least 8 runs in five consecutive games.
DFS Domination
Giannis Antetokounmpo and Matt Davidson
The Greek Freak absolutely dominated the Celtics, finishing with 31 points on 13-23 shooting. He also added 14 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals, while not turning the ball over a single time.
Stepbacks by Giannis! ?#FearTheDeer 81 | #CUsRise 78
⏰ 5:36 left to go on @NBAonTNTpic.twitter.com/R40Ow1rOqJ
— NBA (@NBA) April 27, 2018
White Sox first baseman Matt Davidson homered twice, which gave him five home runs in Kauffman Stadium this year — more than any Royals player. Like I said, the Royals are bad.
Moose Tracks
Blown saves. Botched review. Unearned runs. Brutal night for such a small Thursday card.
Mets-Cardinals Under 7: Just a horrific push in a game that the Mets led 1-0 after 6.0 innings. The Cardinals tied the game 2-2 in the 8th on an unearned run. That score still held in extra innings, but the Mets blew a save after scoring a run in the 10th inning to the dismay of anybody who wagered on the under. The Cardinals eventually won in the 11th by a final of 4-3.
Twins +185: Minnesota handed the ball to Fernando Rodney in the bottom of the ninth inning to close out a 3-1 victory in the Bronx. He wouldn't record a single out. I can't put all of the blame on the Twins closer though, as the inning started with an error and an infield single — before Gary Sanchez (pictured above) hit a 3-run walk-off bomb to give the Yanks an improbable 4-3 win. Tough pill to swallow, especially on such a large underdog.
Mariners-Indians First 5 Over 4/4.5: Nobody can still explain to me what the umps saw when they overturned Cano's fifth inning homer that would have made the score 5-0. Instead, Cano got stranded at second base and F5 over bettors either lost or pushed (depending on the book.)
Public Pulse
The five biggest public sides of the night (all MLB) went 3-2, but only netted 0.16 units. Backing big favorites in baseball is no way to make money over the long run.
Photo via Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports
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