The Rangers and Rays will play tonight for the right to take on the Indians in Cleveland. David Price is 9-8 with a 3.39 ERA in 26 starts for Tampa Bay this season. The lefty has allowed 2 earned runs or more in nine straight outings, including five straight road games. Price did not face the Rangers this season. However, he had trouble with them last season. He gave up 8 runs and 16 hits in just over 10 innings pitched to Texas. Elvis Andrus (6-17), Adrian Beltre (8-23), Nelson Cruz (6-12) and Alex Rios (10-23) have hit the Rays

New England is a phony 3-0 on the season. The Patriots have not played like a good team, and their lack of competition has aided their undefeated start. New England has faced two rookie quarterbacks (E.J. Manuel and Geno Smith) and a quarterback (Josh Freeman) who lost his starting job this week. The Patriots

The New York Jets have played much better than anticipated this season. They come into this game with a 2-1 SU record and a perfect 3-0 ATS record. The biggest asset the Jets have is their strong defense that is allowing only 16.7 points and 270 yards per game. New York is #1 in the NFL in holding their opponents to just 4.1 yards per play and #3 in allowing only 5.1 yards per pass attempt. The Jets completely dominated the Bills last week when they held Buffalo to 328 total yards while gaining 513 yards on offense. The score looked close at 27-20, but if the Jets didn

The Cardinals are playing the Cubs to close out the regular season. St. Louis will send Jake Westbrook to the mound for his first start since August 21st. Westbrook is 7-7 with a 3.94 ERA and 1.48 ERA in 18 starts. He has made one appearance this month in relief and he gave up 5 runs and three hits in 1.1 innings of work. The last two times he faced the Cubs, Westbrook allowed 10 runs and 15 hits. Starlin Castro (10-35) and Anthony Rizzo (7-13) hit the Cardinals

Indianapolis is in a very difficult scheduling spot for this game at Jacksonville on Sunday. The Colts were on the road last week out West and they beat San Francisco 27-7 as 10-point underdogs. That was a meaningful game for Indianapolis as QB Andrew Luck and offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton were returning home to face Jim Harbaugh who was with them at Stanford. It was an emotional win for the big underdog Colts, and now they must travel to the opposite coast and lay a significant amount of points. Indianapolis will not have much interest in the lowly Jaguars, especially after a pair of close home games and their big upset out in California.

Jacksonville has done nothing right this season and their 0-3 SU and ATS record has been deserved. The Jaguars have scored just 28 total points while allowing 92 points this season. Despite all of the negatives, if Jacksonville is ever going to play a good game, this is the time. They get the perfect setup with the Colts playing on the road in back-to-back weeks while going west to east and coming off a huge upset win. Jacksonville won at Indianapolis 22-17 last season so they know they can play with the Colts. The Jaguars do not play another home game until October 20th so this game has more meaning. Jacksonville will get QB Blaine Gabbert and TE Marcedes Lewis back for this game so their offense should show some punch. We

The New York Giants have been one of the most disappointing teams in the NFL. They come into this game at 0-3 SU and ATS and they

USC comes into this game with a 3-1 record, but their games have not been pretty. Because of that, the Trojans are still undervalued in the pointspread and worthy of a wager in this game, especially as an underdog. The Trojans come off a 17-14 home win over Utah State, and while the final score is less than impressive, USC did run a whopping 49 plays inside Aggies territory. Quarterback Cody Kessler got the start in that game after his brilliant performance (15-17, 237 yards and 2 TD

This game between Wisconsin and Ohio State will have major implications on the Big 10 conference race. They are the top two teams in the Leaders division, and the winner will be in control to earn the conference title game spot. Wisconsin has been ultra impressive on both sides of the ball in their four games this season. The Badgers are converting an incredible 51.2% of their third downs and their defense is holding opponents to just 4.1 yards per play. Wisconsin

This is a very dangerous game for South Carolina. The Gamecocks are playing this out of conference game after playing back-to-back SEC games with six more to follow. South Carolina comes in off a bye, but so is Central Florida so that scheduling edge is nullified. The Gamecocks have been more of an offensive team this season as their defense has fallen way off from last season. South Carolina is allowing 25.3 points per game; they allowed just 18.2 points per game last season and 18.4 points per game the season before. The Gamecocks are allowing opponents to throw for 7.4 yards per pass attempt, and that weakness will be exposed in this game.

Central Florida has dominated their three opponents this season. The Knights out-scored the three teams by a combined score of 110-38, and that includes a nice win at Penn State. Central Florida is built like an SEC team as they play outstanding defense while playing a physical brand of offense. The Knights run for 180 yards per game, and QB Blake Bortles is completing 71.4% of his passes while averaging an impressive 11.1 yards per pass attempt. That strength goes against the weak South Carolina secondary so the Gamecocks will have to defend both the run and pass in this game. Central Florida holds opponents to just 4.7 yards per play which is a strong number for a home underdog in this price range. We expect a close game throughout so we

The Rockies and Red Sox continue their series in Colorado on Wednesday night. Jake Peavy is 11-5 with a 4.02 ERA in 22 starts between Chicago and Boston this season. He has allowed 10 runs and 16 hits in his last three starts while working on his arm angle. Peavy

Oakland has played good football so far this season. The Raiders are 1-1 SU and 2-0 ATS, but they could very well be 2-0 SU as well. They out-played the Colts in their season opener but came up short in a 21-17 loss. Oakland handled the terrible Jaguars easily last week even though they only won that game 19-9. The Raiders have a nice profile for a double digit underdog because they have a strong running game and a mobile quarterback. The Raiders average 198.5 rushing yards per game on an impressive 5.9 yards per rush. That gives them the ability to play ball control and keep Denver

The Cubs welcome Pittsburgh to town on Monday night. The Pirates are still jockeying for position in the NL playoffs. Charlie Morton has a 3.88 ERA and 1.41 WHIP in 9 road starts for Pittsburgh. He has allowed 9 runs and 12 hits in his last three starts. One of those outings came at home against the Cubs when he allowed 3 runs and four hits in five innings. The righty lost in Chicago back on July 6th after giving up 4 runs and seven hits in six innings. The Cubs

Cleveland has not gotten off to the start they wanted. The Browns made a lot of changes in their front office personnel and on their coaching staff in the off-season that we viewed as a positive. The offense has looked anything but good as they

St. Louis was in the wrong place at the wrong time last week in Atlanta. The Falcons were playing their home opener after losing a divisional game at New Orleans the week before. Atlanta has been close to automatic when playing at home off a loss and the Rams found that out quickly as they were down 21-0 just 40 seconds into the second quarter. St. Louis didn

Hawaii has been thrown to the wolves so far this season with losses to USC and Oregon State. The Rainbow Warriors are getting a much needed class relief here against Nevada, a team Hawaii may actually be better than. Hawaii was also missing two of their better offensive players in their first two games, but RB Joey Iosefa and WR Billy Ray Stutzmann will be on the field in Nevada on Saturday. Hawaii also comes into this game off a bye so they

This series has produced some down to the wire finishes over the years, but that hasn

This rivalry game is a pretty big deal in the city of Houston. The game will be played at Reliant Stadium, the home of the Houston Texans. Rice comes into this game at 1-1 with a loss at Texas A&M and a home win over Kansas. The Owls have a veteran offensive line (5 returning starters) that is allowing the offense to average 249 rushing yards per game and 439.5 yards of total offense. Rice has scored in all seven red-zone trips this season, five of those scores being touchdowns. QB Taylor McHargue left last week

North Carolina comes into this game at 1-1 after losing their season opener at South Carolina 27-10 then beating Middle Tennessee State 40-20 at home. The Tar Heels haven

Kansas City is now 2-0 after beating Dallas last week 17-16. The Chiefs had 2 wins all of last season, and the fact that they

Clemson

The Mets welcome the Giants to town as both teams look to wrap up their disappointing seasons. Zack Wheeler is 7-5 with a 3.13 ERA in 16 starts for New York. The righty has allowed 6 runs and 18 hits in his last three starts. He beat the Giants on July 10th after giving up 1 run and three hits in seven innings. He will be facing a San Francisco team that is 32-43 on the road while scoring 3.9 runs per game against right-handed starters.

Yusmeiro Petit is 3-0 with a 2.36 ERA in four starts for the Giants. However, he is pitching way over his head right now. Petit will face a New York team that has won three of their last four games and they may get David Wright back in the lineup; that will be a big help to the Mets

Pittsburgh was not good in their opening home loss to Tennessee. The Steelers lost that game 16-9 and they only had 195 yards of total offense. But Pittsburgh

Denver got their season off to a flying start last Thursday night when they rolled Baltimore 49-27. The Broncos racked up a whopping 510 yards with 445 of those yards coming thru the air. QB Peyton Manning threw a record 7 TD passes, and overall, the Broncos

New Orleans won an emotional divisional game last week against the Falcons. The Saints welcomed back HC Sean Payton after he served his one year suspension. The season opener was an important game for that, and also for the fact that New Orleans was coming off a terrible 7-9 season. The Saints now have to travel and play another divisional game, but last week

Carolina came up short for us last week in their narrow 12-7 home loss to Seattle. Despite the loss, our projection for Carolina hasn

Dallas won their Sunday night divisional battle over the Giants 36-31. But that was a phony win by the Cowboys as they were actually out-played by New York. The Giants out-gained the Cowboys by 184 yards (428-244), but they were -5 (6-1) in turnover margin. Those six turnovers by the Giants led directly to Dallas scoring the majority of their points. The Cowboys could not run the ball as they had just 87 rushing yards on 23 carries, and it

You may be hard pressed to find a team that was more impressive in two games than Wisconsin. The Badgers have won their first two games by a combined 93-0 after shutting out Massachusetts 45-0 and shutting out FCS Tennessee Tech 48-0. However, the Badgers are now jumping into the deep end with a road trip out West to Arizona State. New HC Gary Anderson was plucked from Utah State after Bret Bielema left for Arkansas, but Anderson coached teams have not played well against good competition. In fact, Anderson

Mississippi is in their second season under head coach Hugh Freeze, and with 19 returning starters, the Rebels should improve off their 7-6 record of a season ago. They are off to good start as they come into this game at Texas 2-0 after winning at Vanderbilt in their season opener and beating FCS SE Missouri State last week. Freeze and his Ole Miss players have had this game circled in red since getting blasted at home by Texas last season 66-31. That 35-point loss was ugly, but keep in mind it was just the third game of the season for the Rebels who were still learning Freeze

Virginia Tech opened their season with a 35-10 blowout loss to Alabama. While the 25-point loss on the scoreboard looks bad, the reality of that game was quite different. The Hokies actually out-played the #1 team in the country as Virginia Tech

The Brewers welcome the Reds to town as they begin a 3-game series on Friday night. Kyle Lohse is 6-3 with a 3.03 ERA and 1.19 WHIP in 14 starts at home for Milwaukee. Lohse has allowed just 5 earned runs and 19 hits in his last three starts against the Reds. Shin-Soo Choo (2-12), Zack Cozart (4-16), Todd Frazier (1-9), Ryan Hanigan (3-14), Ryan Ludwick (3-24) and Brandon Phillips (7-31) have all had their problems with the Brewers

The New York Jets were extremely fortunate to beat Tampa Bay last week. The Jets won 18-17 on a last-second field goal after an ill-advised personal foul was called on the Buccaneers. New York

TCU bounced back nicely last week after losing 37-27 to LSU in their season opener. The Horned Frogs beat SE Louisiana 38-17 even though they were in a flat spot off the LSU game with tonight

Houston looked like the best team in the NFL when they opened the 2012 season at 11-1. But the Texans struggled mightily down the stretch and closed the regular season by losing three of their final four games. Even after collapsing down the stretch and an early playoff exit, Houston is still one of the best teams in the AFC. The Texans are built to win right now with their triplet offense of QB Matt Schaub, RB Arian Foster, and WR Andre Johnson. Houston

After beginning last season at 6-2, the New York Giants ended on a disappointing 3-5 run to finish at 9-7 and out of the playoffs. However, the Giants were a much better team than their record indicated. They ranked higher in our power ratings than seven teams that made the playoffs so there

These two teams played in Carolina last season in Week 5. The Seahawks escaped with a 16-12 win over the Panthers. It

Cincinnati made the playoffs last year for the second consecutive season; it was just the fourth time in 21 seasons. Cincinnati got a lot of recognition because of their highlight reel offense with QB Andy Dalton throwing to WR A.J. Green. But overall, the Bengals were ranked in the middle of the pack in the important categories. Their calling card was their stout defense that improved immensely as the season went on under coordinator Mike Zimmer. The Bengals are feeling good off back-to-back post-season appearances, but they are walking a fine line between wins and losses. They

Washington State played a solid game last week at Auburn as they took a tough 31-24 loss despite winning yardage 464-394. But that close loss sets them up poorly for this game at USC on Saturday night. Double digit underdogs that lose close games often come up short the following week because the previous game was such a taxing effort, especially since they were priced to be non-competitive. Auburn is not a good team by SEC standards so we don

West Virginia is in for a long 2013. The Mountaineers were lucky to escape with a 24-17 home win over William & Mary last week. West Virginia trailed by 10 points at the half and the game was tied going into the fourth quarter. William & Mary will be a mediocre FCS team at best this season so the fact that West Virginia struggled so much against them speaks volumes about the Mountaineers going forward. West Virginia lost a lot of talent to the NFL from last season

Florida handled Toledo last week with relative ease as the Gators won 24-6 at home. However, Florida will be taking a major step-up in class this week as they travel to Miami to face an in-state rival. While Florida

Wake Forest and Boston College will be improved this season. The Demon Deacons went just 5-7 last season but they return 15 starters from that group. They got a warm-up game last week against FCS Presbyterian in which they won 31-7. However, Wake Forest was not impressive in running the football as they had only 189 yards on a terrible 3.5 yards per rush. That

The 2013 NFL season kicks off tonight with a playoff rematch between the Ravens and Broncos in Denver. The Super Bowl champions usually open their season at home, but there was a MLB scheduling conflict that prevented the Ravens from playing at home. Baltimore got hot at the right time last season, and they rode the heat wave into the Super Bowl. The Ravens broke the bank to sign QB Joe Flacco to a long-term deal, and while he deserved to get paid, the Ravens left themselves broke and parting ways with some of their best contributors. The decision to open the vault for Flacco will set the Ravens back a few years. Baltimore

It

These two teams played in the Las Vegas Bowl to finish last season; Boise State nipped Washington 28-26. But there

This game between LSU and TCU will be played on a neutral field in Arlington, TX. The Horned Frogs should hold a slight crowd edge since the game is in their home state, but LSU fans travel well. SEC teams are very popular with the betting public and there

The top game of the weekend as #5 Georgia plays at #8 Clemson on Saturday night. SEC teams are very popular with the betting public and there

Tulsa and Bowling Green were pretty good teams last season. Tulsa went 11-3, won the CUSA title game, and beat Iowa St in the Liberty bowl. Bowling Green went 8-5 and lost to San Jose St in the Military Bowl. Both teams return plenty of starters from last year so the Golden Hurricane and Falcons figure to be good once again this season. However, we see a lot of line value on Tulsa in this game, especially since our raw power ratings would make them a favorite on a neutral field. Tulsa has a very strong running game with QB Cody Green and returning running backs Trey Watts and Ja

Tampa Bay begins a 3-game series at home with the Angels after getting pummeled by the Royals (11-1) in Kansas City on Monday afternoon. CJ Wilson has allowed just 4 runs in his last three starts while getting wins over the Yankees and Indians on the road. Wilson is 13-6 with a 3.30 ERA in 26 starts for Los Angeles. The lefty has not faced the Rays since last year and he is 4-3 with a 1.14 WHIP in nine career starts against them. David DeJesus (2-17), Desmond Jennings (2-15), Evan Longoria (3-18), Jose Molina (0-1) and Kelly Johnson (1-6) have all had their problems with Wilson. Tampa Bay has scored just 14 runs in their last four games. The Angels

Both teams will be playing their third game of the preseason. The Jets and Giants are also both 1-1, but they come into tonight

With this being the third game of the preseason for both teams, we can expect to see the starters play up until the half and even into the third quarter. Carolina

Pittsburgh begins a long West Coast road trip with a 3-game series in San Diego that starts on Monday night. Francisco Liriano is not in good current form at all. Over his last three starts, Liriano owns a 5.40 ERA and 1.42 WHIP. On the road, Liriano has a 3.75 ERA and 1.33 WHIP in 10 starts for Pittsburgh. Tonight he will face a San Diego team that averages 4.5 runs per game against left-handed starters. The Padres have a 33-29 record at home and they

The Brewers can pick up a series victory over the Reds with a win on Sunday afternoon. Homer Bailey has had his problems away from Cincinnati going 3-8 with a 4.16 ERA in 13 road starts. He has allowed 10 runs and 18 hits in two games pitched against Milwaukee this season; he lost both of those games. Bailey is 1-7 overall with a 6.03 ERA and 1.54 WHIP in 13 career starts against Milwaukee. The Reds

The Titans and Bengals will both play their second preseason game tonight in Cincinnati. The two teams come into this game from different directions as Tennessee lost to Washington last week while Cincinnati blew out Atlanta. The Titans will be more focused on a better effort tonight, especially since QB Jake Locker and the starters are expected to play well into the second quarter. Locker is feeling some pressure, and he needs to bring a better performance tonight. After Locker, the Titans will play veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick at QB. The offense is expected to be much more aggressive in the passing game after a very conservative approach last week.

Cincinnati took advantage of a disinterested Atlanta team last week. The Falcons have notoriously been uncompetitive in the preseason (1-9 last ten) so the fact that the Bengals won by a big margin means very little. Cincinnati is not looking to do too much tonight either:

Carolina won their opening preseason game 24-17 last week over the Chicago Bears. The Panthers were at home for that game, and they were facing a Chicago team that was breaking in a new offense with rookies along the offensive line. Carolina got an easy opponent to handle in that game, but that certainly won

The scene has shifted to Colorado as the Rockies now host the Pirates after Pittsburgh took two of three from the Rockies at home last week. This is a difficult scheduling situation for the Pirates who must now travel without rest after overcoming a 4-0 deficit in their 5-4 extra-inning win versus Miami at home yesterday. Francisco Liriano has pitched well on the road this season for the Pirates, but it is the lefty's first appearance in Colorado and the thin altitude which could be troubling for him, especially if he has control issues. Colorado is 31-26 at home where they are hitting .277 and scoring 5.0 runs per game.

Jorge De La Rosa is glad to be home where he is 6-1 with a 2.65 ERA in 10 starts this season. The lefty lost to Liriano last week, giving up three runs and six hits in four innings, so he has a quick turnaround revenge motive tonight. The Pirates are hitting just .240 in road games and are only 12-10 against left-handed starters this year. Colorado's bullpen has a 3.68 ERA and a strong 1.28 WHIP at home. There is solid value with the Rockies as a +1.5 runline home underdog tonight.

10* Play ROCKIES (+1.5 runline).

It is important to assess a team's motivation and the head coach's mindset when handicapping a preseason game. In tonight's matchup, the edge clearly lies with the underdog Arizona Cardinals who are looking to atone for a disappointing 5-11 SU season last year which saw the team start 4-0 SU and finish on an 1-11 SU slide. New Arizona head coach Bruce Arians has listed "winning" as one of his top priorities tonight. Meanwhile, Green Bay could care less about this game and head coach Mike McCarthy is just 2-5 SU in his preseason openers during his career.

It is unusual for the reigning NFL Coach of the Year to be with a new team, but that is because Arians won the award as the interim head coach for the Indianapolis Colts last year. He was formerly the offensive coordinator with the Super Bowl champion Steelers and now he is bringing his system to an Arizona squad that definitely needs an offensive spark after averaging just 16 points per game last season. The Cardinals will have a solid quarterback rotation tonight with newly acquired Carson Palmer as the starter, followed by backup Drew Stanton who knows Arians' system well since he played for the Colts last year. Ryan Lindley will play in the second half and he got plenty of work last year in the preseason and should be solid against Green Bay's backups.

The Cardinals' defense will also have an edge tonight as they plan to be as unpredictable as any in the NFL this season. New defensive coordinator Todd Bowles plans to have the front seven moving before the snap to try to make it difficult to know where the rush is coming from. The Packers have no tape on the Cardinals' new defense and this should cause confusion, especially for third-string quarterback B.J. Coleman (Tenn-Chattanooga) in the second half.

The value lies with the Cardinals as an underdog tonight as this game means more to their organization and new head coach. Arizona will have more motivation to win this game, along with a deeper QB rotation and likely more aggressiveness on both sides of the ball.

10* Play CARDINALS (+).

Colorado beat Pittsburgh 4-2 on Friday night behind some solid pitching. Jorge De La Rosa will look to continue that for the Rockies on Saturday night. The lefty is 10-5 with a 3.21 ERA in 22 starts this season. He has allowed just 9 runs in his last three starts with 8 of those runs coming in one outing against the Braves. The Pirates

Jose Fernandez handcuffed the Indians on Friday night as the Marlins rolled to an easy 10-0 win. Jacob Turner gets his crack at Cleveland tonight. Turner is 3-3 with a 2.65 ERA and 1.19 WHIP in 11 starts for Miami. He has not lost at home in five starts while sporting a 2.23 ERA and 0.99 WHIP. The righty has made eight quality starts so far on the season. Only Mark Reynolds (0-1) and Drew Stubbs (0-3) have seen the righty before. Cleveland is 23-30 on the road while hitting just .258 as a unit. The lineup didn

The Padres and Reds wrap up their 3-game series on Wednesday afternoon. Homer Bailey is 1-6 in his last eight starts and he is 0-4 with a 4.68 ERA since his July 2nd no-hitter. The righty has been terrible on the road going 2-8 with a 4.52 ERA and 1.34 WHIP in 11 starts away from Cincinnati. He was rocked by the Padres twice last season as he gave up 10 runs and 16 hits in a pair of starts. Chase Headley (3-11) and Will Venable (4-13) both hit the righty well. The Padres have a winning record (29-23) at home and they are scoring 4.8 runs per game over their last six games.

Eric Stults is 5-1 with a 2.45 ERA and 0.88 WHIP in nine home starts for San Diego. Stults has held current Cincinnati hitters to a .211 (4-19) batting average. The Reds are hitting just .241 against left-handed starters while scoring only 3.7 runs per game against them. They have scored 5 total runs in the last four games against southpaws. The Padres

The Marlins took Game 1 of their series with the Pirates on Friday night. Tom Koehler has pitched well for Miami as of late. He has allowed just 8 runs in his last four starts with three of those games coming on the road. The Pirates

The Twins can get a series sweep right out of the break with a win on Sunday in Minnesota. Scott Diamond is glad the break came as he struggled a bit for Minnesota. He has a great history against Cleveland going 3-1 with a 2.34 ERA and 1.01 WHIP in five career starts against them. Asdrubal Cabrera (3-15), Jason Kipnis (1-11) and Carlos Santana (2-12) have had their problems with the lefty. The Indians are 21-27 on the road this season. Minnesota

The Cardinals and Cubs will play the final game before the All-Star break on Sunday Night Baseball. Travis Wood is 6-6 with a 2.69 ERA and 0.97 WHIP in 18 starts for the Cubs. He has allowed 4 runs and 10 hits in his last three starts. Wood has allowed 4 earned runs and 13 hits in two starts against the Cardinals this season. St. Louis is hitting just .237 while scoring only 3.7 runs per game against left-handed starters this season. They have scored just 12 total runs in their last four games overall and they are in a bit of an offensive funk coming into tonight

Homer Bailey is back on the mound after throwing the second no-hitter of his career when the Reds beat the Giants 9-0 on July 2nd. Now he must conquer his road woes. The righty is 2-5 with a 4.41 ERA in eight starts away from Cincinnati. Bailey got rocked by the Brewers in Cincinnati last month when he gave up 6 runs and eight hits in seven innings. He is 1-6 with a 6.00 ERA in 12 career starts against Milwaukee. Nori Aoki (3-10), Jonathan Lucroy (4-12) and Rickie Weeks (11-24) have had the most success against Bailey. The Reds

The Diamondbacks can get a sweep of the Reds with a win on Sunday afternoon. Mat Latos has struggled a bit as of late giving up 7 runs and 11 hits in his last 11 innings pitched against the Pirates and Cubs. The righty split two starts against the Diamondbacks last season and he has been inconsistent in his career. Gerardo Parra (4-12) and Martin Prado (5-17) have had success against him. Arizona is 21-15 at home this season; they

San Antonio played much better in Game 6 than we expected. The Spurs were extremely aggressive in driving the basketball to the rim. San Antonio out-scored Miami 60-36 inside the paint and the Spurs also had 28 free throw attempts. Without that, San Antonio most likely gets blown out in that game as they were terrible in shooting the ball from the perimeter as they only hit 27.8% (5-18) from three-point land. Tim Duncan played a monster game with 30 points and 17 rebounds; he also played over 44 minutes. But Duncan is highly unlikely to repeat that performance tonight, especially since he has scored more than 20 points just once over his last ten games while grabbing 14 rebounds or less in nine of those ten games. San Antonio needs to hit from the outside to win this game, but we do not expect that to happen, especially since Miami

Chicago

The NBA Finals have had three things happen in four of the five games. The teams have alternated wins, the winning team has won by 10 points or more, and the winning team has scored 103 points or more. It

Houston can pick up a 4-game sweep of the White Sox with a win on Monday night. They are sending Bud Norris to the mound at home where he

Miami bounced back strong in Game 4 on Thursday night as expected. The Heat tied the series up at 2 games apiece after beating San Antonio by 16 points (109-93). The Heat shot the ball incredibly well in that game as they hit 52.9% (45-85) from the field and 88.2% (15-17) from the free throw line. Miami got big production out of the Big Three of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. That trio combined to score 85 points on 57.8% (37-64) shooting from the field. But Miami has shown a tendency to regress off big wins in the playoffs, and with San Antonio coming off an ugly, blowout loss, we see some good value in taking the Spurs as a home underdog in this game tonight.

San Antonio is an incredible 42-8 on their home court this season so we expect them to bounce back strong tonight. The Spurs

The Astros have won two straight games as they continue their series with the White Sox on Saturday. Lucas Harrell is hot right now for Houston giving up just 6 runs and 15 hits in his last starts which came against the Royals, Orioles, and Rockies. Harrell has 4 of the Astros 24 wins this season. The White Sox are a combined 6-for-24 against the righty in his career. Chicago is a lusty 12-22 on the road and they are hitting .238 against right-handed starters this season.

John Danks has struggled on the road giving up 8 runs and 13 hits in starts against light-hitting Seattle and Chicago. The Astros have been better against left-handed starters all season. They did enough to beat Chris Sale on Friday night and now they

The Royals are one of the hottest teams in baseball right now (9-1 in their past 10 games) as they continue their series in Tampa Bay against the Rays. Kansas City has won all four meetings between the two teams so far this season. Jeremy Guthrie is pitching well giving up just 5 runs and 20 hits in his last three starts while winning two straight. Yunel Escobar (3-19), Sam Fuld (0-9), Kelly Johnson (0-5), and Jose Molina (2-13) have poor numbers against the righty. The Rays are hitting just .236 in the daytime where they are 11-12. They have lost three straight games and five of their last six games overall. The Royals

The Phillies head to Colorado after a 3-game series in Minnesota. They

Miami was terrible in Game 3. The Heat got embarrassed, but we expect them to bounce back strong in Game 4 tonight. Miami

Two lefties take the mound in Pittsburgh tonight as the Pirates host the Giants. Barry Zito is 4-4 in 12 starts for San Francisco. He beat the Pirates last year in Pittsburgh and he owns a 3.73 ERA in seven career starts against the Pirates. Clint Barmes (5-29), Garrett Jones (2-8), Russell Martin (6-36), and Gaby Sanchez (2-8) have had their problems with the Giants

Miami bounced back strong as expected on Sunday night when they tied the series up at one game apiece after beating San Antonio by 19 points (103-84). The Heat shot the ball incredibly well in that game as they hit 49.4% (41-83) from the field and 52.6% (10-19) from three-point land. Miami also got a full team contribution as five players scored 10 points or more. But we expect Miami to be up against it tonight as the series shifts venues to San Antonio with the Spurs coming off an ugly, blowout loss. Miami has lost their last two road playoff games, and both of those losses came after the Heat won in a blowout in their previous game.

San Antonio is actually fortunate to be coming into tonight

The Marlins return home after taking two games from the Mets in New York. They

San Antonio played better than we expected in Game 1, especially since they were coming off a long 9-day layoff. The Spurs figured to be rusty and out of rhythm, and they were for the most part of the first three quarters. San Antonio trailed by 3 points heading into the fourth quarter, but they out-scored Miami 23-16 over the final 12 minutes of the game to steal Game 1. The Spurs simply made the big shots when they needed to, and they came out ahead of what was an ugly played game by both teams. San Antonio will be up against it tonight, and we do not expect the Spurs to make the needed shots, especially since the Heat will bring their

St. Louis continues to churn out fantastic starting pitchers from their minor league system. Tyler Lyons makes his fourth start of the season as the Cardinals take on the Reds in Cincinnati. Lyons is 2-1 with a 2.66 ERA with both of those wins coming on the road at Kansas City and at San Diego. He has shown good control walking just four in just over 20 innings of work. The Reds are hitting only .231 in their past seven games, averaging just 3.6 runs per game during that span. The Cardinals

San Antonio unexpectedly swept Memphis is their last series, and in doing so, the Spurs have been off for nine days. Basketball is a game of rhythm, and the extended time off is not a good thing, especially for a veteran team like San Antonio. We saw this exact situation hamper Miami in their two previous series; the Heat lost Game 1 to Chicago after a 7-day layoff and they won Game 1 against Indiana by a single point in overtime after a 6-day layoff. Miami is in complete rhythm right now as they just played a 7-game series against the Pacers. And the fact they played well in their last game makes them more likely to play well tonight; the Heat scored 99 points as LeBron James and Dwyane Wade combined for 53 points on 15 of 33 shooting from the field. San Antonio is taking a major step-up in class in this series; beating the depleted Lakers and overachieving Warriors means nothing. They were also fortunate to catch Memphis off back-to-back series upsets after they beat the Clippers and Thunder. The Spurs are now playing a better team in a bad situational spot.

Miami figured to have trouble all series against Indiana because the Pacers are simply a terrible match-up for the Heat. There

Indiana bounced back strong in Game 6 just as we expected. The Pacers won that game easily 91-77, but we expect Indiana to be on the losing end tonight. Indiana has to play this game on the road, and the last time they played the Heat in Miami off a loss, the results were not pretty. The Pacers lost Game 5 by 11 points (90-79) after they allowed Miami to shoot 50.7% (38-75) from the field. Indiana couldn

The Rockies head to Cincinnati to begin a series with the Reds on Monday night. Cincinnati will most likely be without Brandon Phillips after he was hit by a pitch on Saturday. That

Miami was flat in the first half of Game 5 as they trailed Indiana 44-40 at the break. But the Heat dominated the final 24 minutes of the game as they out-scored the Pacers 50-35 en route to a 90-79 win. But with Game 6 shifting back to Indiana tonight, we expect a different outcome for Miami, especially since they are not playing off a loss. In this series, Miami is 1-2 SU and 0-3 ATS when playing off a win in their previous game; that lone win came by a single point in overtime. Off a loss, Miami is a perfect 2-0 SU and ATS with those two wins coming by 18 and 11 points. The Heat shot 50.7% (38-75) from the field and 38.9% (7-18) from three-point land in Game 5. But we do not expect a repeat performance tonight, especially since the Pacers play terrific defense at home.

Indiana is in a terrific bounce back spot tonight, especially since they are returning home to play on their strong home court where they are 37-12 this season. When playing at home after losing their previous game on the road, the Pacers are an incredible 15-1 SU this season. Their lone loss came in the final game of the regular season when three starters did not play. Indiana is also 15-1 ATS versus tonight

The Orioles have won two straight games and seven of their last ten games overall as they begin a home series with the Tigers on Friday night. Miguel Gonzalez has been great since coming off the DL giving up just 3 runs and nine hits over two starts against the Blue Jays and Yankees. Detroit

The Twins have won three straight games and they

Miami bounced back strong in Game 3 in Indiana after losing Game 2 at home. The Heat played a perfect game as they scored 114 points after shooting an incredible 54.5% (42-77) from the field and 42.9% (6-14) from three-point land. Miami also hit 85.7% (24-28) from the free throw line. Off that outstanding performance, we don

San Antonio took a commanding 2-0 series lead after surviving overtime and winning Game 2 by 4 points (93-89). The Spurs fell asleep in the fourth quarter as they only scored 9 points with Memphis out-scoring them by 12 points. San Antonio got away with that on their home court, but they can

Indiana blew a golden opportunity to win Game 1 on Wednesday night. The Pacers were in control of that game from the start, and in overtime, they led with just 2 seconds left to play. But they gave up the winning layup to LeBron James which left the Pacers in disbelief. Indiana should not have lost that game, and considering how the game ended, we expect the Pacers to play with a major hangover in tonight

Indiana has played solid basketball all season, and the Pacers figure to give Miami a tough battle in this series. These two teams met in the playoffs last season, and the Heat needed six games to defeat Indiana. The Pacers won two of the first three games in that series before Miami took control; they split the first two games on Miami

Memphis came up short in Game 1 for us, but we have no hesitation in coming right back with the Grizzlies in Game 2. San Antonio won by 22 points (105-83), but that result is not a true indication of how close these two teams really are. In the four regular season meetings between the Grizzlies and Spurs, three of the four games were decided by 4 points or less with two of the games going into overtime. The Grizzlies remain a tough out for the Spurs despite the results in Game 1; Memphis won two of the four meetings and they lost by 4 points in overtime at San Antonio earlier this season. The 105 points allowed by Memphis was out of character, and in fact, the Grizzlies

The Astros won for the third time over their last five games on Monday. Now they turn to Bud Norris who is 4-4 with a 4.32 ERA in nine starts. But Norris does his best work at home. The righty has allowed just 11 runs and 33 hits in five starts in Houston while winning three of those games. Only Alcides Escobar (1-4), Jeff Francoeur (0-3) and George Kottaras (2-8) have seen the righty before. This is a Kansas City team that has lost four straight games with their offense abandoning them in those games.

Wade Davis is 3-3 with a 5.97 ERA in eight games. He has allowed 12 runs and 21 hits in his last three starts. The Astros are scoring nearly 4 runs per game even though the wins aren't coming. Houston has played much better baseball at home as 7 of their 13 wins this season have come in front of the home crowd. We see a lot of value in playing Houston plus the runs in this game, especially with Norris on the mound.

9* Play ASTROS (+1.5 runline).

Memphis lost their first two games of the playoffs in Games 1 and 2 of their series with the Los Angeles Clippers. Since those losses, the Grizzlies have been phenomenal. Memphis is an outstanding 8-1 SU and a perfect 9-0 ATS in their last nine playoff games and this team has shown no signs of slowing down. The Grizzlies are playing outstanding defense as they

New York was desperate in Game 5 after getting down 3-1 in the series. The Knicks played well and won 85-75 to force Game 6 in Indiana tonight. New York was fortunate as well as George Hill was ruled out because of a concussion; Hill averages 14.2 points per game for the Pacers and his absence hindered Indiana

The Padres come home after a 2-game sweep of the Orioles in Baltimore. They welcome in the beaten up Nationals squad who lost Wilson Ramos and Ross Detwiler to injuries on Wednesday. Washington turns to Stephen Strasburg who is 1-5 with a 3.10 ERA in eight starts. He has been much weaker on the road and has given up 16 runs and 25 hits in four road starts with a poor 5.18 ERA. Strasburg lost to the Padres at home last year after giving up 4 runs and seven hits in four innings. San Diego is 10-8 at home and they

Philadelphia will host Cleveland after the Indians played a doubleheader at home on Monday. The Tribe will get their first look at Jonathan Pettibone who is 2-0 with a 3.63 ERA in four starts for Philadelphia. He has allowed just 3 runs and 11 hits in two home starts walking none in just over 11 innings. He'll face a Cleveland team that may be a bit tired after two games on what was supposed to be a day off. This will be their third city in three days after playing in Detroit on Sunday.

Scott Kazmir is 2-1 with a 4.87 ERA in four starts. He has not been solid on the road, giving up 8 runs and 13 hits in two starts away from Cleveland. People are talking about his last start when he struck out 10 Athletics, but Oakland

The Twins welcome the White Sox to town to begin a series on Monday night. Pedro Hernandez makes his second start at home and his first start against his former team. Hernandez beat Texas at home back on April 27th after allowing just five hits and one walk in five innings. Hernandez will face a White Sox team that is hitting .235 on the road and right around .220 in their last eight games. This is a struggling offense that is scoring just 2.3 runs per game in AL Central contests this season. The Minnesota bullpen has a solid 2.83 ERA and 1.17 WHIP on the season.

Hector Santiago is making his third start of the season. Minnesota saw the former reliever last year when he started against them on September 3rd. The Twins had a 7-game streak of 4 runs or more snapped on Sunday, but this is an offense in great current form as they are hitting over .270 as a team in their last eight games. Chicago's bullpen has a losing record on the year and they will be travelling after a late game on Sunday night. We

New York bounced back strong in Game 2 as they beat Indiana 105-79 to tie this series up at one game apiece. That game was the complete opposite of Game 1 when the Pacers dominated the Knicks from start to finish in their 102-95 win. The Knicks

San Antonio is fortunate to be coming into tonight

The Mets and White Sox take the field after Matt Harvey's stellar performance on Tuesday. Jeremy Hefner is pitching better as of late and he

Chicago pulled off one of the biggest upsets in NBA playoff history on Monday night when they beat Miami 93-86 as 12

Memphis controlled Game 1 in Oklahoma City before the Thunder made some clutch plays over the final few minutes to snag victory from defeat and win 93-91. The Grizzlies out-played the Thunder as they made more field goals from the floor (35-33) and hit more shots from beyond the arc (7-5). The difference came at the free throw line as Memphis only hit 58.3% (14-24) of their free throws while Oklahoma City shot 88.0% (22-25) from the line. Memphis is certainly disappointed in losing that game, but there

Chicago comes into tonight