Thursday's betting tips

WEATHER TO WATCH

The wind will be blowing out to right field at around 10 mph AT&T Park for tonight’s game in San Francisco between the Giants and Braves.  It will also be slightly chilly in the mid-50s. 

WHO'S HOT?

Anthony Calvillo of the Montreal Alouettes. Calvillo has six straight games with over 300 yards passing and has led the Als to two straight wins and covers. The over/under is edging upward for tonight’s game against Hamilton – it was 60 Wednesday night and had moved to 60.5 Thursday morning. 

WHO'S NOT? 

The Arizona Cardinals. They are they the only team to go 0-3 against the spread so far in the NFL preseason. They face Tennessee tonight on the road as 3-point underdogs. 

KEY STAT

40 percent. The Ravens have scored just two times in five red zone trips through two preseason games. They say they are going to be working on scoring touchdowns in tonight’s preseason game at home against Jacksonville, perhaps if it means giving away a chance at a field goal. They scored 25 touchdowns in their 49 red-zone possessions last season, a mediocre 17th the league for a touchdown percentage of 51.

GAME OF THE DAY

Atlanta Braves at San Francisco Giants (-106, 7.5)

INJURY THAT SHOULDN'T BE OVERLOOKED

Albert Pujols. The Angels’ slugger had two hits Wednesday night in a 7-3 win over Boston but suffered a calf injury while running the bases that has left him questionable for today’s game in Boston. According to the OC Register, “Pujols is 8 for 19 over the past five games with a .729 slugging percentage over his past 21 games, a major-league high 14 home runs since the All-Star break and 28 of his 82 RBIs since May 6. The Angels are -108 faves today with a total set at 8.5. 

NOTABLE QUOTABLE

"It really pays to win one of the Playoffs events. It doesn't really pay to be consistent." – Luke Donald on the FedEx Cup playoff system on the PGA Tour. 

BETTING NEWS AND NOTES

The FedEx Cup playoffs begin this week on the PGA Tour. In case you need a referesher of how they work - and you do - here's a link that lays it all out. 

From PGAtour.com: ”Sergio Garcia has the second-best stroke average in the history of the FedExCup Playoffs. In 55 rounds in Playoffs event, his stroke average is 69.02. Only Woods (67.75) has a better stroke average.” 

There was no line out for either the A’s-Rays game or the Twins-Rangers game as of Thursday morning. However, linesmaking service The Sports Club in Las Vegas originally had these odds set at -150 and -185 respectively on the overnight line. The totals were set at 8 and 10.