The Mets-Nats series this past weekend was absolutely sick; a crucial division lead was on the line and it was easily the most entertaining series of the regular season this year.  While the play on the field (mostly the Mets pitching) was great to watch, the abysmal in-game management from both managers was also quite comical to witness.  Let’s quickly review the boneheaded moves from the weekend…

1. Terry Collins benches Lucas Duda for Game 1

Lucas Duda has had an atrocious summer for the most part, but he has been on absolute fire over the past two weeks.  Leading up to the game on Friday, the Mets were 7 games into a homestand that Duda was completely tearing up: 24 AB, 8H, 6HRs.  That’s right – 1 out of every 4 at bats resulted in homers…  Huge for a team near the bottom of the league (behind the Phillies) in runs scored.

Inexplicably, Collins benched him on Friday because he had three strikeouts the game before.  I understand that it is important to keep your men in check if they are getting too cocky and undisciplined at the plate, but you cannot bench one of your best offensive players in the most important game of the season.

This benching is even more unacceptable when you consider the putrid play of Duda’s replacement, Eric Campbell.  His average for the season lies at a disgraceful mark of .175.  Against lefties (the Nats rolled out lefty Gio Gonzales), it is an appalling .074!  That is just like putting two pitchers in the back of the order in the most important game of the season… (for the record, Duda’s average against lefties this year is .299)

So how did Campbell fare in this incredibly important showdown?  A solid four at bats, two pop outs, and two strikeouts.  The worst at bat of all came in the bottom of the 4th when the Mets had just scored their only run of the game and had Gonzeles looking shaken up.  With runners on 2nd and 3rd and a golden opportunity to blow the game wide open for Harvey shut down, he manages to strike out looking…

2. Matt Williams has two top tier closers, uses neither one of them

Bailed out by the incompetence of the Duda benching, the Nats managed to tie the game up at one in the 8th and headed into extra innings with momentum and a deeper bullpen.  It was shaping up to be a typical Mets choke job and a new stranglehold on the NL East for Washington.

Fortunately for the Mets, Matt Williams decided to one-up the Duda benching by refusing to put in Storen or the newly acquired Papelbon.  Instead he opted for two innings of Aaron Barrett and three innings of Felipe Rivero, thus mitigating the enormous bullpen advantage he had.  Absolutely inexcusable.

Nats beat writers cite Williams’s obsession with the save stat as a reason he will never put a closer in a tie game.  That is very stupid and will destroy him in the playoffs (if he makes them), but at least it explains why Papelbon was not in the game.  Storen?  I have no idea why he’d be out.  Maybe he was refusing to play because he’s pissed about the Papelbon trade?  Sounds fishy…  It probably just has to do with shit managing.

Even more fortunate for the Mets, Bryce Harper decided to throw another hissy fit…

Which gave momentum back to New York and led to the most exciting play of the season so far…

3. Williams walks Cespedes to pitch to the hottest hitter in baseball

Game 2 shaped up to be just as exciting as the opener.  Unsurprisingly, the game was close til the end and swung on a horrible managerial decision.  Coincidentally, the centerpiece of the decision involved the very same player we just ripped on Collins for benching.

With the game tied at two in the bottom of the 8th with one out and a runner on second, Williams delighted his haters again by calling for Matt Thornton (who, again, is not Storen or Papelbon) to intentionally walk Yoenis Cespedes and pitch against Lucas Duda.

It might be worth mentioning that the reason for the 2-2 tie was two solo homers by Duda earlier in the game (so, yes, eight in his last seven games).  It also might be worth mentioning that Thornton is a lefty, and Cespedes is hitting .181 against lefties on the season.  So not only did Williams commit a cardinal sin of putting the winning runner on base in order to get to the hottest hitter on the Mets, he showed us all that he has less knowledge of opponents’ batting splits than the average fantasy owner…

Of course, here’s what happened next…

The Mets clinched the sweep in game three to blow the division wide back open, but the incompetency on display from both teams in the earlier games show us that, as entertaining as the postseason chase will be, neither of these teams have a chance against St. Louis or LA in the NLDS.

We were about to finish up a couple units yesterday until the shitbag of relievers that the Rangers call a bullpen blew a 3 run lead in the 8th.  Sucks…  But whenever I lose money on a Saturday, I make boatloads on Sunday.  100% of the time.  It’s a fact.  So follow these and get fucking loaded today…

Blue Jays (-140) vs Royals

This is a tough one to predict, but the Blue Jays at home during the day is something you should never bet against.

Reds (+122) vs Pirates

As I said yesterday, the Reds always play well against Pittsburgh and they are one of the more underrated Sunday home teams out there.  Keyvius Sampson makes his first career start for them today and debut starts are usually the easiest for pitchers.

Marlins (-140) vs Padres

Take Jose Fernandez at home against this garbage San Diego team.

Orioles (-178) vs Tigers

Take Jimenez at home against this garbage Detroit team.

Rays (+100) at Red Sox

Odorizzi pitching against our favorite team to fade?  Easy.

Braves (-110) at Phillies

I think people are under the impression that the Phillies are starting to stop sucking?  Nah…

Yankees (+111) at White Sox

The Yankees should never be underdogs to the White Sox.  Even if it’s on the road and even if Samardzija (who has been anything but consistent this year) is pitching.

Brewers (-118) vs Cubs

Take the brew crew at home in this battle of shitty teams.

Twins (+115) at Mariners

I don’t understand how the Mariners could ever be a road favorite against a winning team unless Fernandez is pitching.

Diamondbacks (+139) at Astros

Take the plus money with one of the more underrated teams in the majors against the most overrated team in the majors.

Cardinals (-174) vs Rockies

No way in hell do the Cardinals lose two home games in a row to this shitty Rockies team.

Indians (+133) at Athletics

The Indians have been the biggest underachievers in the bigs this year, but I’ll still take plus money when Trevor Bauer is on the mound.

Dodgers (-143) vs Angels

Take the Dodgers to hold onto their division lead for at least one more day.

Mets (-120) vs Nationals

I said yesterday the Mets were sweeping this series, and I’m not wavering from that.  In what looks to be a badass nightcap on Sunday Night Baseball, take the Mets to tie up the division with Thor on the mound.

Apparently the Royals are getting nostalgic about James Shields’s horrible postseason last year, because they just replaced him with the least clutch player they could find.

First game out last night at Toronto, and they’re brand new ‘ace’ delights the crowd with his mediocrity.

Not a good start Cueto… Welcome to the American League you fucking fraud.

It’s a beautiful day today throughout most of America. That doesn’t mean degenerate gambling won’t still be fun. Here’s some picks to help you out…

Pirates -152 at Reds

The Reds usually play the Pirates really well but give me Gerrit Cole over a shit team 100% of the time.

Mets -147 vs Nats

Huge victory for the Mets last night to try and take this division back. Now they have DeGrom and Syndergaard against the weak end of the Nats rotation, they just got d’Arnaud back, and Cespedes enters the lineup for the first time tonight. I think they’re going to sweep this series and that includes a DeGrom victory tonight.

Brewers +110 vs Cubs

The Cubs are on the decline lately and Garza is usually a solid home bet against division teams.

Rangers -125 vs Giants

The Rangers lit up Bumgarner last night and it will be much easier for them against a righty (Heston) tonight. Hamels gets the nod tonight and expect their new ace to deliver up a W in his first start for Texas.

Dodgers -210 vs Angels

Its a steep line, but it’s Kershaw with extra rest. Grab it for gimmie +1 to your unit total.

NYCFC -104 (3 way ml) vs Montreal Impact, Over 3 goals -108

The NYC offense has been fire at home, and it’s about to get a lot better now that Pirlo has joined the side to serve up some sick long balls to David Villa. They also beat Montreal on the road a few weeks ago. If you haven’t been watching MLS lately, you’d actually be surprised at how much less it is starting to suck. NYCFC is the most exciting to watch imo, and there’s no better way to get yourself hooked then by gambling on them.

I’ll admit I haven’t been tapped in to baseball much lately (still in Europe celebrating) but I do know enough still that Mike Trout getting scratched tonight at Houston makes this game a joke. I fucking hate the Astros and I still recommend betting a lot on them. Because they’re going to win.

What up y’all.  As many of you know, my gambling followers are flush with cash right now.  Although I’m usually very confident in my picks, even I have to admit the British Open is always too difficult a handicap.  That being said, if you want to degenerately gamble your way to more riches this week, I GUARANTEE one of these three players will win…

Rickie Fowler 15:1

The dude keeps getting top 5 after top 5 finish this year and he just won the Scottish Open.  He opened at 25:1 so a lot of money is on him right now, which is not necessarily a good thing (it’s almost always better to bet with Vegas instead of against), but he is a great golfer in top form right now.

Adam Scott 21:1

Finished top 5 in the past three British Opens, and had a real strong finish to the US Open. This could be his time to finally come through.

Matt Kuchar 46:1

He was the runner up in the Scottish Open and the sports books here in Europe have him as low as 20:1 odds.  Probably the best under the radar bet out there and if he’s contending on Sunday, it would be really easy for you to hedge out a guaranteed profit.

Jordan Spieth 5:1

Obviously the man to beat and the best golfer in the world right now.  I’m going to the tournament and betting on him mainly because I want to cheer for history.  Check out this take from our preeminent golf expert (who may be writing a more detailed post soon)…

If it were me I’d wait until the first round is done before I lay that much on the line. If you’re giving me Spieth versus the field, I’m taking the field. But if you’re giving me just one guy, then Spieth is the guy. Sources say he’s teeing off on late afternoon Friday when Scottish winds are apparently the worst so be on the look out either he goes low or shoots 80 easily.

Spieth is there with his GIR and scrambling percentages, but his driving distance and accuracy numbers aren’t as good as what the past winners have done on this course.
Id take spieth to win it all but I’m not that confident yet. He has alot to prove going into this week especially since he had a shorter week by play (winning) this past weekend.

Yep.  I’m pretty sure he’s dead…

Sorry for the brevity I am in Europe right now and it’s hard to keep this up. I just looked up the Wimbledon lines and cannot believe that Djokovic is only -118  against Federer today. I know Federer would be way more fun to cheer for, but this is a line you absolutely cannot pass up. Djokovic is the top ranked player in the world and its not even close (he leads the standings by over 4,000 points). Federer is 34 years old. GTFO of here with this line… A lot of people are ripping on Djokovic for his loss to Stan Wawrinka in the French Open final a few weeks ago, but Federer lost to the same person in straight sets in the quarterfinals.

There are a couple of risks here, mainly Federer’s serve being on fire lately and Djokovic might have had a sore shoulder a week ago during a match, but that isn’t enough for a line at almost 50/50 odds. No way. This line should be at least -160 or -170. I don’t even know if I can watch this whole thing because I have some shit to do in Budapest, but I’m definitely max betting this match.

What up yall, I’m in Ibiza right now celmebrating some winnings from our earlier gambling picks. I may be pretty not sober right now but I have enough wits to have learned three facts…

1. Sergio Ramos is transferring to Manchester United. A buddy of mine just met him in a club and when some people asked him to do drugs he said he couldn’t because of a physical with Man U the next day. If you combine that with what you read on google it looks pretty clear he wants out of the club, but Madrid is trying to force a gridlock where they get David de Gea in return. A couple things confuse me about this…

-Ramos is sick but in my short time of watching soccer I can’t imagine a bigger goal suppressing factor out there than David de Gea. Not a good trade for Man U  (unless they also get Navas in return then okay maybe but still too risky I think)

-why would anyone want to move from a place like Madrid to Manchester? Is the extra money really enough to be worth it? Or is Madrid that awful to play for right now?

Anyway Ramos left the place that night with two Spanish putas while his very pregnant wife stayed at home. Power move and a half

2. Angel di Maria to Barcelona – was just chatting about the Ramos deal with a cab driver and he said he just heard from some previous passengers about a transfer deal with Di Maria and Barcelona, letting him get a serious opportunity to team up with the Messi-ah, his most famous international teammate, for some sweet sweet revenge against Real Madrid. Obviously this can’t happen until the January transfer window but it makes a lot of sense and would be quite an easy futures bet in the making if it happened.

3. Iker Casillas to FC Porto – the same cab driver said he heard from some guests Iker Casillas was going to Porto. Would be pretty sick to see him holding down the last line of defense in a champions league knockout round against Real next year. UPDATE: done deal we’re 1/1 so far

If you haven’t been following my picks yet, your bookie is probably much more content with his bank account than he should be. It’s not too late to jump on the bandwagon as Chile remains an underdog at +150 on the two way moneyline. I doubled down obvs. You should take it too and laugh your way to the bank as you realize how much more awesome the rest of your summer is about to be.