Total Crusher - Rickenbach Friday MLB 10* Top Play OVER 11 runs in Colorado Rockies vs Arizona Diamondbacks @ 8:40 ET - Light winds, mild temperatures, thin air will all combine to make for a very hitter-friendly night at Coors Field Friday. Zach Greinke gets the start for the Diamondbacks and he allowed 3 homers versus the Rockies in Arizona last week. In his last start at Colorado he also also was hit quite hard but managed to allow "only" three earned runs in an outing where he was knocked out in the 6th inning. This will be a tough outing for him as the Rockies bats have been heating up at home after a slow start earlier this season. As the weather has warmed so too have the Colorado sticks. The Rockies are averaging 8 runs per game in their last 7 home games! However, Colorado has also allowed 14 earned runs per game in their last 3 home games and German Marquez is likely to struggle tonight. The Rockies starter used a fantastic curveball to get some key strikeouts against the Dbacks last week in Arizona. However, in the thin air of Colorado the ball doesn't always break as well. Of course this was clearly evident in the most recent home start Marquez made. The Rockies righty was rocked for 8 earned runs in just 4 innings of work and tonight he faces a Dbacks team that had won 7 of 11 games and averaged 6 runs per game before back to back low-scoring games at Washington. In other words, a bounce back can be expected here in a hitter-friendly situation. The Diamondbacks are 14-8 to the over in night games this season. The Rockies are 6-1 to the over this season in home games where their line is an a range of -125 to +125 and I look for another slugfest in this one. 10* OVER the total in Colorado Friday night.

Total Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB 10* Top Play OVER the total in St Louis Cardinals vs Milwaukee Brewers @ 7:15 ET - Chase Anderson has been strong early this season for the Brewers but I feel he has truly pitched "over his head" and there have been signs that a "reality check" is on the way. Anderson had more walks than strikeouts in his most recent start and he allowed 4 earned runs in that outing. In his most recent road start, Anderson allowed 7 hits in 5 innings and was fortunate to only be charged with 2 earned runs. The game between these clubs yesterday was rained out and they had a 2-1 game in the prior game. However, the Cardinals had been red hot at the plate with an average of 5.7 runs per game in their 9 prior games. The Brewers also had been red hot at the plate with an average of 7.3 runs per game in their 7 prior games. Look for the hot hitting to resume here as Anderson is unlikely to be the only pitcher struggling in this one. The Cardinals will have Adam Wainwright on the mound and he has been rocked for 10 earned runs on 25 hits in just 16 innings of work spanning his last 3 starts. Each of these guys had a solid start against the opposing club about two weeks ago but look for the quick 2nd look to bring out the best in both lineups. The over is 14-5 in Brewers divisional games this season and 5-2 in Cardinals games when they are playing with a day off. After yesterday's rain out, even though it will be a cool night at Busch with the wind blowing in from left, the value is with the over in this one with the weather helping to push this total lower than it should be. 10* OVER the total in St Louis

Rickenbach MLB Wednesday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Kansas City Royals vs Chicago White Sox @ 8:15 ET - Weather is an important factor in MLB Totals but sometimes it can actually help lead to line value when the weather factors are actually going against the play that we want to make. That is precisely the situation here. The wind is expecting to be blowing in tonight at Kauffman Stadium and the temps will be in the upper 40s on a rather chilly evening. As a result, this total has been dropping this morning and we can now take the over at 8 runs and not even have to lay juice. This is offering great line value considering this pitching match-up absolutely spells O-V-E-R! Mike Pelfrey gets the start for the White Sox and, amazingly, he is in his 12th MLB season even though he's never been that damn good! Seriously guys, this is a pitcher that has been hit at a .293 clip by major league hitters in his career. Pelfrey just doesn't fool many hitters and we're getting some line value here because of the pitcher-friendly weather and the fact Pelfrey hasn't pitched much yet this season. The fact is he is not a strong hurler. 5 walks and 10 hits in 9 innings this season while only striking out 3 batters. Against the Royals, Pelfrey is 1-4 with a 6.37 ERA and a 1.98 WHIP in his career. He won't be the only hurler getting pounded tonight either. Nate Karns gets the start for KC and he's facing a ChiSox lineup that has helped lead the way to a 7-2 run for the White Sox as they've averaged 6.2 runs per game their last 9 games! Karns has allowed 10 earned runs in the less than 11 innings spanning his last two starts and one of those outings was against Chicago. Karns is winless in his 4 career starts against the White Sox. The ChiSox had just 1 under in their last 7 games before the first two games of this series stayed under the total. The overs resume for the White Sox tonight. Look for the over to improve to 9-5 this season when the ChiSox are off of a win. As for the Royals, their 10 divisional games have resulted in only 3 unders this season. 10* OVER the total in Kansas City

Rickenbach MLB Tuesday 10* Top Play OVER 7.5 runs in Kansas City Royals vs Chicago White Sox @ 8:15 ET - Danny Duffy of the Royals just got rocked by the White Sox in Chicago last week and that doesn't bode well for a quick turnaround match-up. Having just seen him (and pounded him!) the ChiSox will step to the plate with plenty of confidence in this one. Although Jose Quintana of the White Sox had a solid start versus the Royals last week, his only road start this season was ugly. Overall, Quintana had allowed 8 earned runs on 14 hits and 8 walks in his last 11 and 2/3 innings of work prior to success at Kansas City last week. By the way, the last time the ChiSox southpaw pitched at Kauffman Stadium he was rocked for 6 earned runs on 10 hits in just 4 innings of work in September. The over is 2-0 in Duffy's last 2 starts versus the White Sox and the games totaled 28 runs! Tonight's game will mark the 10th divisional game for the Royals this season and so far only 2 of their divisional match-ups have stayed under the total! The White Sox are hitting .279 this season against southpaws and that's #1 in the American League. Even though the Royals have been at the other end of the spectrum I like the fact that they are at home and Quintana has a history of struggling on the road. In other words, the low total here is offering exceptional line value on the over! 10* OVER the total in Kansas City

Total Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Monday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Cincinnati Reds vs Pittsburgh Pirates @ 7:10 ET - The wind is going to be blowing out to left field at a good clip for this one and of course Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati is known for being a hitter-friendly venue. That said, we are getting great line value here with this total being held lower than it should be due to the pitching match-up. As solid as Gerrit Cole is for the Pirates, he does have a 4.76 ERA in road starts this season. He's opposed by the Reds Amir Garrett who was off to a great start this season before getting completely rocked by the Brewers in his most recent start. That poor outing versus Milwaukee showed that the 24 year old is still adjusting to the big leagues and he now faces a Pirates team that had a .350 on base percentage versus southpaws last season and that was tied for 2nd in the league out of all 30 teams in the majors. Pittsburgh's game went over the total yesterday for the 6th time in their last 9 games. The Reds game went over the total yesterday for the 8th straight game! Sometimes, due to pitching match-ups, the odds makers feel forced to over-adjust totals downward to appease the betting markets based on pitching match-ups. In Cincy, more often than not, that just does not work! The over is 45-25 in Reds home games with a posted total of 8 or 8.5 runs the past 3 seasons. The over is 12-4 this season in Cincy's divisional games. Also, the Pirates are seeking revenge for a 3-game home sweep at the hands of the Reds in early April. While I expect the Bucs bats to respond, don't be surprised if Cole gets a little touched up here. He is 0-6 with a 5.44 ERA in his 8 career starts against the Reds. 10* OVER the total in Cincinnati

Total Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Saturday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Texas Rangers vs Los Angeles Angels @ 7:15 ET - Both of these clubs have trended heavily to the under this season but that is simply serving to give us line value on what will be a very hitter-friendly night at the ballpark in Arlington. The wind is going to be blowing out to center at a good clip and some drier air is moving in behind a cool front. Look for the ball to be carrying very well in this one. The Angels are starting Jesse Chavez and he got roughed up by the Rangers for 5 earned runs in less than 5 innings of work earlier this month. Chavez has a 5.24 ERA versus Texas in his career. The Rangers will have Yu Darvish on the mound. He has had great success against the Angels in his career. However I do like the fact that he just faced them a few weeks ago and the Angels now get a quick second look. Since that strong start against Los Angeles, Darvish has given up 3 homers in his last 2 starts. The Angels bats are starting to heat up with 16 runs on 31 hits in their last 3 games. Surprisingly the over is 10-3 in the career starts Darvish has made against the Angels. Also, the over is 3-1 in the 4 career starts Chavez has made against the Rangers. Texas is 3-0 to the over in their games against teams with a winning record this season. The Rangers have pounded out 21 hits in their last 2 games and should pound Chavez here. 10* Top Play OVER the total in Texas

MLB Network Blowout Rout - Rickenbach MLB Thursday 10* Top Play OVER 7 runs in Boston Red Sox vs New York Yankees @ 7:10 ET - This is a contrarian play of course considering that Chris Sale has been phenomenal for the Red Sox early this season. I am expecting the Yankees to do a little damage against him. The Yanks have averaged 7.8 runs per game in their last 5 wins and before being held a little quiet in their last two games, the Yankees had reached double digits in hits in 5 of their last 7 games. As for Masahiro Tanaka getting the start for the Yanks, look for him to get pounded here. The Red Sox are hitting nearly .300 at home this season and Tanaka is winless with a 11.73 ERA and 2.61 WHIP in his two road starts this season. The Yankees right-hander has been hit at a .294 clip this season and also has been having more issues with command of his pitches. This has led to 10 walks in his 21 innings this season. Also, he has hit two batters and allowed 2 homers in his road starts this season. Making those numbers even uglier is the fact that he didn't even total 8 innings in the two starts. With this total dropping to a 7 and with my contrarian nature, I love backing the over in this spot. The last 16 times a Red Sox game had a total of 7 runs or less only 6 of the 16 stayed under the total. The Yankees are 6-2 to the over this season in their games against teams with a winning record and also the Yanks are a perfect 3-0 to the over against left-handed starters. 10* Top Play OVER 7 runs in Boston

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Thursday 10* Top Play OVER 8 runs in St Louis Cardinals vs Toronto Blue Jays @ 1:45 ET (Game 1 of double header) - The wind will be blowing out and there is reason to believe both pitchers will struggle here. Mat Latos gets the start for the Blue Jays and he got roughed up by an Angels lineup that has been struggling this season. That was Latos first start of the season and the fact that the Angels got to him a bit plus he walked 3 and struck out only 1 in 5 innings is not a good sign for the right-hander. Thursday he faces a Cardinals team that has averaged 5.2 runs per game in their last 5 games and 4 of the 5 went over the total. The Cards will have Carlos Martinez on the mound and he's off to a bit of a rough start early this season. He's 0-3 with a 7.05 ERA and 1.83 WHIP in his last 3 starts. Martinez will be facing a Blue Jays lineup that is starting to swing the bats better as they've reached double digits in hits in 6 of their last 11 games. The Jays have averaged 5 runs per game in their last 5 games and this will be their 4th game this season as a road dog of +125 to +175 and, so far, none of these games have resulted in an under! As for the Cardinals, look for their Thursday games to go to 3-0 to the over with a wild one in the first game of their day night double header. 10* OVER 8 runs in St Louis

Total Dominator - Rickenbach Wednesday MLB 10* Top Play OVER the total in Texas Rangers vs Minnesota Twins @ 8:05 ET - The wind will be blowing out to center field at a pretty good clip early on in this game. That is bad news for both of these hurlers as, despite good numbers early this season, each has found tonight's opposition to be a bit of a nemesis. The Rangers Cole Hamels allowed 5 earned runs in each of his two starts against the Twins last season and he didn't even last 5 innings in either start! The Twins Hector Santiago allowed 12 earned runs in 13 innings in his 3 starts versus Texas last season. The Rangers offense has certainly been a little "up and down" this season but they had scored at least 5 runs in 6 of their first 10 home games this season before being shutdown in the first two games of this series. Now, after getting drilled 8-1 yesterday, look for the Rangers bats to respond versus a pitcher they've certainly enjoyed success against. As for the Twins, they've won 3 straight road games and averaged 7.3 runs per game in those 3 victories. The over is 30-19 in Minnesota's Wednesday games in recent seasons and 36-17 in Rangers Wednesday games in recent seasons - including a perfect 3-0 this season. Look for the over to improve to 5-1 in Hamels starts against the Twins in his career. 10* OVER the total in Texas

Total Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Monday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Texas Rangers vs Minnesota Twins @ 8:05 ET - Martin Perez gets the start for the Rangers and his 3.60 ERA is deceiving as he has a 1.80 WHIP so he's truly been flirting with disaster in his outings this season. In his last 3 starts the Texas southpaw has allowed 20 hits and walked 8 batters in 14 innings. Of course that works out to a WHIP of 2.00 and if you're allowing an average of 2 baserunners per inning it's going to eventually catch up with you. Look for the Twins to 'make him pay' on Monday evening. The ball carries very well in Texas and it will be a mild evening at the ballpark. The Twins counter with Phil Hughes and he's been roughed up for 13 hits (including 3 homers) in his last 2 starts. This has led to 10 runs (8 earned) in just 9 innings spanning his last two outings. Also, the Minnesota right-hander has been rocked for 8 earned runs on 20 hits in his last 2 starts at Texas. The Rangers haven't been overly hot at the plate early this season but they have scored 5 runs or more in 2 of their last 3 games and a struggling Hughes should certainly bring out the best in them. As for the Twins sticks, they have scored at least 4 runs in 4 of their last 5 games and they did erupt for 11 runs in their most recent road game. When the Rangers have a big posted total at home it proves to be justified more often than not. The last 104 times they are at home with a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs they have stayed under the total just 44 times! The over is a solid 78-52 the last 3 seasons combined in Twins games against teams with a losing record. 10* OVER the total in Texas

Afternoon Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Sunday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Colorado Rockies vs San Francisco Giants @ 3:10 ET - Mild afternoon in Colorado and both of the first two games in this series have gone over the total with 26 runs scored in the first two games. Although I respect the Giants Jeff Samardzija, there is no denying he is having some trouble keeping the ball down in the zone this season and he allowed 3 homers in his only road start this season. He is 0-3 with a 6.16 ERA so far this season and the Rockies are a dangerous lineup at home that is very familiar with him. The issue for Colorado today will be their own starting pitching. The Rockies have southpaw Kyle Freeland on the mound and the lefty is really struggling after his surprising success in his debut effort. In his two home starts he has a 5.91 ERA and has been hit at a .300 clip. The Giants are likely to tee off on him in "hitter friendly" conditions this afternoon. The over is 8-3 in Giants road games this season and San Francisco is also 8-3 to the over when they are off of a game where they allowed 10 runs or more. The over is 3-0 in Rockies home games this season where their line ranges from +125 to -125. Look for another one to fly over the total here as the Rockies and Giants hot hitting continues on an afternoon where the ball should be carrying very well in the dry air conditions at Coors Field. 10* OVER the total in Colorado Sunday afternoon

Total Crusher - Rickenbach MLB Saturday 10* Top Play OVER the total in San Diego Padres vs Miami Marlins @ 8:40 ET - The Padres got a big inning yesterday to get their bats going in a 5-3 win over the Marlins. Even though San Diego hasn't hit well overall this season, the Padres have now scored at least 4 runs in 3 of their last 5 games and I expect them to enjoy success against Dan Strailly. The right-hander was a fantastic 8-1 at home last season but went 6-7 with a 4.70 ERA on the road last year. He's having some issues with command of his pitches (walked 5 in 5 innings in his most recent start) and, true to last season's performance, Strailly struggled in his only road start so far this season. As for the Padres starter in this one, Jered Weaver gets the call. Though his overall numbers are decent early this season, the veteran righty has allowed 5 homers in his 3 starts. Also, behind him is a Padres bullpen that has a 5.61 ERA (one of the worst in majors) so far this season. Weaver got hit at a .297 clip last season and he's likely in trouble tonight as he faces a tough Marlins lineup. Miami is hitting .264 in road games this season and that's good for 3rd in the majors out of all 30 teams. Before being held to 3 runs yesterday, the Marlins had scored 4 runs or more in 7 of their last 9 games. Keep in mind a 4-4 game guarantees of no worse than a 5-4 final and that get this over the total. The over is 5-1 this season in Padres games with a posted total of 8 or 8.5 runs. The over is 7-3 in Miami's night games so far this season. Look for both lineups to do plenty of damage in this one given the pitching match-up. 10* OVER the total in San Diego

Rickenbach MLB Friday 10* Top Play OVER 9.5 runs in Colorado Rockies vs San Francisco Giants @ 8:40 ET - This total has dropped down from a 10.5 to a 9.5 and I am well aware of the Carlos Gonzalez injury for the Rockies as well as the fact that both the Giants and Rockies have been on huge 'under' streaks. However, the Rockies are back home and the games at Coors Field will start getting 'crazy' again despite a slow start this season. In this case we're getting exceptional line value because Johnny Cueto has great recent numbers versus the Rockies and Tyler Chatwood has great recent numbers versus the Giants but the key is all the most recent match-ups were in pitcher-friendly San Francisco. That is significant because Chatwood got hit hard in his lone home start this season and, last season at Coors Field he got hit at .303 clip in home starts with a 6.12 ERA in 14 outings there! With these lineups getting a quick second look at these starters (both of them pitched in San Fran within the past week), look for the hitters to enjoy a lot more success than they did in the most recent match-ups. Cueto has had some success even in starts at Coors Field but this quick "second look" does him in here while Chatwood continues to find home starts to be a nightmare. Look for the over to improve to 7-3 in Giants road games this season and 23-14 in Rockies games the L3 seasons combined when they are playing with a day off between games. 10* OVER the total in Colorado

Total Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Thursday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Texas Rangers vs Kansas City Royals @ 8:05 ET - Danny Duffy is off to a strong start this season for the Royals but he did allow 8 hits in his most recent road start. Now he gets a start at Texas where he has allowed 9 earned runs in less than 10 innings of work spanning his last two starts. In fact, in his most recent visit to Arlington he walked 6 in less than 4 innings of work. I would not be surprised to see him struggle here as the Rangers are a dangerous hitting team when at home and are already averaging 5.5 runs per game here this season. After a lengthy road trip, Texas is happy to be back home and should hit well tonight. The issue for the Rangers tonight will be their own starting pitching as Andrew Cashner gets the start. He wasn't sharp at all in his first start this season after returning from injury as he had a tough outing at Seattle that certainly could have resulted in a lot more runs. Also, he wrapped up last season struggling so there are some concerns with Cashner right now. The Royals are coming off of a low-scoring series with San Francisco but did notch 10 hits in each of the last two games versus the Giants. Also, on the road this season Kansas City took 2 of 3 at Houston and averaged 5.3 runs per game. In the Royals 6 road games this season only 1 has resulted in under. Also, in 25 road games the past 2 seasons with a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs, only 9 (36%) have resulted in an under. The big total here is justified as the ball will carry very well tonight and there is plenty of reasoning to support both of these starters struggling. 10* OVER the total in Texas

Total Crusher - Rickenbach MLB Wednesday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Toronto Blue Jays vs Boston Red Sox @ 7:05 ET - Francisco Liriano is off of a fantastic start for the Blue Jays but he previously had an awful start at Tampa Bay. Even though he is back at home like he was in his dominating effort versus the Orioles last week, he faces a red hot Boston team. The Red Sox are 7-3 in their last 10 games and have averaged 5.1 runs per game during this stretch. The BoSox have averaged 11.8 hits per game in their last 8 games. I don't see Liriano shutting down this Boston lineup with how hot they've been. The Red Sox will need all the runs they can get tonight because I expect Rick Porcello to get pounded. The Blue Jays lineup is finally heating up as Toronto has averaged 10 hits per game in their last 4 games and the over was 3-1 in those 4 games. Porcello has been extremely hittable this season as he's allowed 19 hits (including 5 homers) in his two starts even though these outings have spanned just 10 and 1/3 innings. Also he has had some struggles at Toronto throughout his career and, last season, Porcello went 13-1 at home but on the road he is only a combined 13-11 the past two seasons and that included a 5.56 ERA on the road in 2015. The Jays have scored 4 runs or more in 3 of their last 4 games and the Red Sox have scored 4 runs or more in 7 of their last 8 games. Of course a 4-4 game ensures no worse than a 5-4 final and also like the trending of the home plate umpire in this one as he's been trending over in recent games behind home plate. A tight strike zone could frustrate Liriano as he has walked 6 in 7 innings this season and he's walked 12 in the 12 innings spanning his last two starts against the BoSox. The Blue Jays bullpen has a 5.11 ERA on the season and the Red Sox pen was a little shaky last night. Look for more of the same Wednesday evening. 10* OVER the total in Toronto

Rickenbach MLB Tuesday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Minnesota Twins vs Cleveland Indians @ 8:10 ET - Josh Tomlin is not right, to say the least, early this season. The Indians right-hander has given up 13 earned runs in 6 and 1/3 innings in his first two starts this season and until he shows signs of turning things around I'll fade him. In this case I am fading him by using the over because I also expect Phil Hughes to get rocked. The Twins righty gave up 2 homers at Detroit in his most recent start and was fortunate the damage wasn't worse than the 4 earned runs allowed in less than 6 innings of work. Hughes had a surprisingly good start against the Indians in the most recent meeting but prior to that he allowed 11 earned run on 19 hits in 9 and 1/3 innings of work and he's facing an Indians lineup that is starting to get it going again with an average of 11 hits per game in their last 5 games. As for the Twins, they did pound Tomlin the last time they faced him and he's in very poor current form. Look for the over to improve to 78-52 (60%) the last 3 seasons in Twins games against teams with a losing record while Cleveland improves to 4-0 to the over this season in their road games where the line is between -125 and +125. The wind is expected to be blowing out to right in this game! Cool evening but rather hitter friendly. 10* OVER the total in Minnesota

Rickenbach MLB Monday 10* Top Play OVER 8 runs in Minnesota Twins vs Cleveland Indians @ 8:10 ET - The Indians Danny Salazar has pitched well early this season but in last season's 3 starts versus the Twins he struggled in each outing and ended up allowing 12 earned runs in the less than 11 innings of work spanning the 3 outings! As for Kyle Gibson, he is struggling early this season with an 8.00 ERA in his first two starts and now faces a team that has given him fits in recent meetings. The Indians hammered Gibson for 10 runs (all earned) on 20 hits in the less than 11 innings of work spanning his last 2 starts against them. That included 3 homers. By the way, Salazar's numbers against the Twins include 5 homers allowed in his last 2 starts against them. The weather will be chilly this evening with a light wind blowing in but that won't be enough to stop these two lineups as they continue to feast on starting pitchers they have enjoyed great success against. With both teams off of frustrating low-scoring losses yesterday, look for a breakout game from each lineup today. The over is 77-51 in Twins games against teams with a losing record. The over is 4-1 this season in Indians games against a right-handed starter and also a long-term 84-65 in divisional games. The Indians have averaged 12 hits per game in their last 4 games. The Twins had averaged 5.6 runs per game in their 5 home games this season before yesterday's poor performance at the plate. They'll bounce back Monday. 10* OVER the total in Minnesota 

Total Crusher - Rickenbach MLB Saturday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Kansas City Royals vs Los Angeles Angels @ 7:15 ET - Wind blowing out today at Kauffman Stadium and two starting pitchers likely to struggle. Also, before yesterday's under, the Angels had gone over the total in 5 straight games. Also, after yesterday's 7-1 loss, LA has allowed an average of 6 runs per game in their last 7 games. The Angels hitting has slowed down the last few things but they do have a potent lineup and they should enjoy success here. Nate Karns gets the start for the Royals and he is winless with a 5.82 ERA and a 1.65 WHIP in his 3 career starts against the Angels. Speaking of struggling with match-ups, Los Angeles will have Matt Shoemaker on the mound for this one and he is winless with an 8.34 ERA and a 1.99 WHIP in his 5 career starts against the Royals. Also, Shoemaker has struggled early this season with as many walks as strikeouts in his 2 starts. The over is 4-1 in Shoemaker's five starts against Kansas City in his career and the over is a perfect 3-0 in Karns 3 starts against the Angels. The Royals bullpen is 0-3 with a 7.28 ERA this season and I look for Karns to get knocked out early while Shoemaker also gets pounded on a hitter-friendly evening at a hitter-friendly venue. Hopefully they get this game in before the storms move in to the area because this is an ideal situation for what should be a slugfest. 10* OVER the total in Kansas City

Total Crusher - Rickenbach MLB Friday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Cincinnati Reds vs Milwaukee Brewers @ 7:10 ET - The Reds will have Scott Feldman on the mound and he's off of a surprisingly strong start at St Louis in his most recent outing. However, prior to that outing, the veteran right-hander struggled against the Phillies right here at Great American Ballpark. Feldman, over the past three seasons, got hit a clip of .266, .275, and .282 so, as you can see, he's getting a little more hittable with each and every season! The last time Feldman faced the Brewers he got rocked last season in an ugly outing that lasted only 4 innings. The Reds should also enjoy plenty of success at the plate here as Tommy Milone is on the mound for the Brewers. The Milwaukee southpaw had a very tough time with the Cubs in his opening start and in, his last 3 starts dating back to last season, has allowed 13 earned runs in less than 13 innings of work. Prior to scoring just 1 run yesterday, the Reds had averaged 7.5 runs per game in their last 4 games and their offense will get right back on track here. As for the Brewers, with yesterday's 5-1 win, they have scored at least 4 runs in 4 of their last 5 games. The over is 17-10 when Milwaukee enters a game on a winning streak of 3 games or more. Also, the Brewers are 16-8 to the over when they are on the road with a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs. Despite a slow start in terms of runs in home games so far, the Reds are 91-64 to the over in home games the past 2+ seasons. Each of Milone's last 3 starts have gone over the total and the Reds are 3rd in the majors with a .582 slugging percentage against southpaws this season. 10* OVER the total in Cincinnati

Total Crusher - Rickenbach MLB Wednesday 10* Top Play UNDER the total in Toronto Blue Jays vs Milwaukee Brewers @ 7:05 ET - Because this is an interleague match-up there is a lack of familiarity between most of the hitters and the pitchers they are facing. Lack of familiarity almost always favors the pitchers and Marcus Stroman has never faced the Brewers and Chase Anderson has never faced the Blue Jays. That's a big edge for the starting pitchers and Stroman's 19 outs in his first start this season featured 17 via the strikeout or on the ground. As you can see, he was dominant. As for Anderson, he had a fantastic quality start in his first outing and, keep in mind, he did go 5-1 with a 3.02 ERA after the All Star break last season so he is carrying momentum from last season right into this season. The Blue Jays only had 5 hits yesterday and have now been held to 7 hits or less in 5 of their last 6 games. Even though the Brewers hit the ball better yesterday, it was preceded by them averaging just 6 hits per game in their 4 prior games and Milwaukee is known for striking out a lot. In other words, facing Stroman is a nightmare match-up for the Brewers and I also expect the Blue Jays struggles at the plate to continue. Look for the under to improve to 6-2 in Blue Jays games this season and 5-2 in the Brewers last 7 games as the struggles at the plate continue for both clubs. The under is a long-term 92-58 in Milwaukee's games played on turf and the under is 3-0 this season in Brewers games where the posted total is 9 or 9.5 runs. The under is a long-term 45-31 in Jays home games where the posted total is 9 or 9.5 runs. 10* UNDER the total in Toronto early Wednesday evening

Total Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Tuesday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Colorado Rockies vs San Diego Padres @ 8:40 ET - Mild temperatures in Denver this afternoon. Dry air as usual. Wind blowing out to left field at Coors Field. Rockies rookie 22 year old Antonio Senzatela making his first ever start in Colorado (was on road last week) and veteran Jered Weaver coming off of an outing where he had more walks than strikeouts plus allowed 2 homers in 5 innings in a pitcher-friendly venue. Add it all up and you have the perfect ingredients for a slugfest tonight in Colorado. Ironically, because he had spent his entire career in the American League before this season, Weaver has never started at Coors Field either. In extremely hitter-friendly conditions tonight, I expect both hurlers to struggle in their first ever experience with this crazy ball park. Weaver just doesn't get many strikeouts and that means plenty of contact (which leads to problems at Coors Field) and Senzatela was not a strikeout pitcher in the minors and just because he struck out 6 Brewers at Milwaukee does not mean that will translate to the same success here. The Brewers are known for striking out too much and already lead the league in that category this season. San Diego however has already improved in that category early this season and is in the middle of the pack. Stats and trends won't necessarily back this play up but pitchers generally do struggle badly in their first starts at Coors and Senzatela was fortunate to get out of a first inning bases loaded jam in his MLB debut and Weaver got hit at a .323 clip in night games last season! 10* OVER the total in Colorado Tuesday night

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Sunday 10* Top Play OVER the total in St Louis Cardinals vs Cincinnati Reds @ 2:15 ET - Temperatures will be very mild this afternoon in St Louis ans the wind is going to be blowing out to left at a strong clip. Look for plenty of offense as a result. Even though the Reds Scott Feldman only allowed 3 earned runs in his season-opening start he was very fortunate. His outing lasted less than 5 innings and he gave up 7 hits (and 2 homers) and this was against a Phillies team not exactly known for it's hitting prowess (yesterday's unusual Philadelphia results notwithstanding). The point is that Feldman is very likely to get rocked here and the Cardinals did get things rolling with a big 10-run performance yesterday. The over is 19-9 the past 2 seasons when Cincinnati is off of a game where they allowed 10 runs or more. Also, the over is 70-51 long-term in Reds games with a posted total of 8 or 8.5 runs. The Cardinals bullpen has struggled (7.43 ERA) so far this season and they may be called upon early in this one. The Cards Carlos Martinez is off of a strong season-opening start where he struck out 10 and St Louis may not allow him to go real long in this one if they get a big lead with some strong offensive production. Martinez did give up 12 baserunners in 6 innings when he most recently faced the Reds and he was fortunate the damage was minimized in that game. The Reds are 4th in the majors in slugging percentage so far this season and the Cardinals should crush Feldman and that should lead to an easy over in this one. 10* OVER the total in St Louis

Total Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Friday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Houston Astros vs Kansas City Royals @ 8:10 ET - This total is offering great line value on the over as both starting pitchers are likely to struggle. Of course I am well aware of the fact that Kansas City is off to an 0-3 start to the season and hasn't impressed at the plate but Michael Fiers should bring out the best in them. The Astros right-hander is winless in 3 career starts against the Royals and his 6.46 ERA could easily be higher as he does have a 1.96 WHIP against KC. You give up 2 baserunners per inning and things can get ugly in a hurry and that is what I am expecting here as Fiers has a history of slow starts to seasons with some very ugly early season numbers, particularly in April, in recent seasons. He'll be opposed by Jason Vargas and the Royals southpaw is unlikely to enjoy success here. The Kansas City left-hander is winless in his 4 careers starts against Houston and he has compiled an 8.41 ERA against them. The lefty is still trying to battle back from Tommy John surgery and has not been on a major league mound much in recent seasons. He's facing an Astros lineup that has plenty of confidence thanks to a 3-1 start to the season. Houston hasn't been knocking the cover off of the ball early this season but this will be their 3rd game in 3 days against a left-handed starter and that certainly will help them as they look to get to Vargas early and often in this one. Off of their first loss of the season, Houston will be looking to get back on track here but the Astros bats are going to have to do the heavy lifting because I look for Fiers annual early season struggles to be an issue here. Look for the over to go to 3-1 in his career starts against the Royals and to go to 4-1 in Vargas' career starts against the Astros. 10* OVER the total in Houston

Total Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Thursday 10* Top Play OVER 8 runs in Los Angeles Dodgers vs San Diego Padres @ 3:10 ET - The first game in this series was a day game and it easily flew over the total. The next two games were night games and they easily stayed under the total. Now we get a day game to wrap up the 4-game series and the ball just carries better in day games than in night games out west. Couple that with the fact that Jered Weaver's "heater" was only in the low 80s in spring training and you have the type of game that should see plenty of offense. While a tired-arm Weaver gets the start for the Padres, the Dodgers will have Brandon McCarthy on the mound in this one and he's missed a lot of time due to injuries. When healthy and on the mound, the results still haven't been good for McCarthy against San Diego. In his last 3 starts opposing the Padres, McCarthy has given up 13 earned runs in 15 innings. He's given up 6 San Diego homers in those three starts. The Dodgers should have no trouble with the offerings of Weaver either. The veteran righty gave up 10 hits (including 2 homers) in 7 innings in his most recent start at Dodger Stadium. The over is 23-13 the past 2 seasons in Padres games with a posted total of 8 or 8.5 runs. This will be their first of this season and the higher total on this game (first three games were all between 6.5 and 7.5) is absolutely justified. 10* OVER the total in Los Angeles Dodgers Thursday afternoon. 

Rickenbach MLB Wednesday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Houston Astros vs Seattle Mariners @ 8:10 ET - The Mariners opened up as the favorite here but the Astros are getting a lot of attention from the markets and are now favored. My take on this situation is that Seattle's James Paxton could struggle some here as he has allowed 11 earned runs in his last 17 innings against the Astros and those were all recent starts. However, the reason the odds makers had the Mariners favored here is because the Astros Charlie Morton could struggle in this spot. I am well aware of his long-term numbers and that he's a ground ball pitcher and put up solid numbers in spring training. However, this is first MLB regular season start in nearly a full year and the Mariners lineup is a potent one. They've been held in check in the first two games in this series but I sense a big breakout game for them today. Morton is being given way too much respect from the betting markets. That is also why we've seen a total that opened up at 9 move all the way down to an 8 with the over available without laying any juice. This is what you call value and I just don't see a 3rd straight pitchers duel in this match-up. Let's not forget, two of Paxton's last three starts against the Astros resulted in games that totaled double digits in runs. I expect that again on Wednesday evening. 10* OVER the total in Houston

Total Crusher - Rickenbach MLB Monday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Cincinnati Reds vs Philadelphia Phillies @ 4:10 ET - No disrespect to these two starting pitchers as both are certainly "quality" starters but when you look at the list of opening day starters this is one match-up where you have to scratch your head a little bit. The Phillies Jeremy Hellickson has a 4.48 ERA over the last 4 seasons combined. The Reds Scott Feldman, other than his solid 2009 season, has gone 54-69 in his career. Opposing batters the past 3 seasons have hit .266, .275, and .282 against him with the average going up in each season. Simply put, neither one of these guys are dominant hurlers. That, of course, is why the odds makers opened up this line at 9o-20 but we've seen it move all the way down to as a low as a 8 in some spots but at the dominant number of 8.5 (and + money on the over) as of late morning Monday, this total is offering great line value for the over. Both teams have questionable bullpens. The Phillies hit better on the road than at home last season. The Reds play in a hitter friendly park and averaged 4.5 runs per game at home last season. In fact, Cincinnati is 44-23 to the over the past two seasons when they are at home and the posted total is 8 or 8.5 runs. Also, 8 of the past 12 meetings between the Reds and Phillies have gone over the total. Look for more of the same on Monday afternoon. 10* OVER the total in Cincinnati 

Top Total Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #951/952 Tuesday - 10* Top Play OVER in Cleveland Indians vs Chicago Cubs @ 8 ET - Unbelievably mild air in Cleveland for this time of year. Temperatures will be near 70 degrees at the time of the first pitch in this one at Progressive Field. The wind is expected to be blowing out to center at a decent clip (10 mph) and couple that with the mild air and these teams getting a 2nd shot at starting pitchers they just recently faced and you have the makings of a solid over here. This total is current sitting at a 7 and the Cubs are 10-4 to the over this season in road games with a posted total of 7 runs or less. The Indians are 5-1 to the over this season in home games with a posted total of 7 runs or less. The Cubs Jake Arrieta pitched well at Cleveland earlier in the series but previously he had compiled a 6.75 ERA in his 4 prior road starts. The Indians Josh Tomlin pitched well in his most recent home start but previously he had compiled a 5.59 ERA in his 4 prior home starts. 10* OVER in Cleveland Tuesday

Rickenbach MLB Game #951/952 Tuesday - 10* Top Play UNDER 6.5 in Cleveland Indians vs Chicago Cubs @ 8:05 ET - Very chilly conditions expected at Progressive Field tonight. The wind will be blowing in from center. The temperatures will be in the upper 40s and the ball will not carry very well at all given the cold dense air. Of course there also may not be a lot of contact made for the ball to even carry. Both of these hurlers - Cubs Jon Lester and Indians Corey Kluber - are capable of piling up big strikeouts. The issue for the Indians sticks could be a long layoff as they wrapped up their series with their Blue Jays on the 19th! Another concern for Cleveland is they averaged only 5 hits per game in that 5-game series with Toronto. As for the Cubs sticks, they certainly showed some life late in the series with the Dodgers. However, the Cubs now face a pitcher they haven't seen much of and the results when they have seen him were not good. In fact, the Cubs current hitters who may face Kluber tonight have combined to go only 4 of 38 lifetime against him. Kluber also has a 0.98 ERA in his three starts in this post-season. Each of those 3 starts stayed under the total. Lester also has been piling up some incredible results as he has allowed 1 earned run or less in 11 of his last 12 starts. This certainly has the makings of a 1-0 or 2-1 type game with the bullpens also rested for this Game 1 match-up. 10* UNDER 6.5 in Cleveland Tuesday Night.

Top Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Game #903/904 Wednesday - 10* Top Play OVER in Toronto Blue Jays vs Cleveland Indians @ 4:05 ET - The Blue Jays erupted for 5 runs yesterday but the total still fell short of going over. Every game in this series has stayed under the total but that appears poised to change in Game 5. Yes, Indians left-hander Ryan Merritt has some impressive stats at the MLB level but he has logged very few innings so it is important to look a little deeper in a pressure packed playoff situation where a rookie is likely to struggle. Note that, at the AAA level in the minors this season, Merritt was rocked at a .279 clip by opposing hitters. Overall, in his minor league career from rookie level all the way up to AAA level, Merritt has been hit at a .267 clip. The point is, it is not like this guy has overpowering stuff and now he faces major league hitters in a situation that is not the easiest for a young hurler. The Blue Jays will counter with Marco Estrada. Though the right-hander has pitched very well this post-season, he is now giving the Indians bats a quick second look at him as they just faced Estrada on Friday. The righty has allowed 4 homers in his 12 innings against the Indians in his two starts against them at the Rogers Centre. One of those outings was earlier this season and the other was last season so it's not like that is ancient history. In fact, he allowed another homer to them in his Game 1 ALCS start at Cleveland, but the Indians are in line to get much more today as they get a quick second look at him here. The over is 5-1 (83%) in Estrada's last 6 home starts and he was hit quite hard in all 5 of those games that ended up going over the total. I expect another one here. 10* OVER in Toronto

MLB Top Total Annihilation - Rickenbach Game #951/952 Monday - 10* Top Play OVER in Toronto vs Cleveland @ 8:05 ET - The bats have been quiet so far in the ALCS but look for plenty of noise from the sticks now as this series shifts to north of the border. Toronto scored 22 runs in their 3 game series against the Rangers and they have scored 12 runs in their last two games played at the Rogers Centre. The Blue Jays will be facing Trevor Bauer who has allowed 4 homers in his last 3 starts and struggled in his only outing so far in this post-season. Bauer gave up 3 earned runs on 6 hits (including 2 homers) in an outing that lasted less than 5 innings. The Indians right-hander also got rocked for 5 earned runs on 6 hits in less than 2 innings of work in his most recent start at the Rogers Centre. Bauer will be opposed by Marcus Stroman. The Blue Jays right-hander has given up 6 earned runs on 13 hits in his last two starts while compiling a 4.15 ERA in those two outings. Respectable numbers but nothing earth-shaking. The Indians have won 4 straight road games and averaged 5 runs per game in the process. The Blue Jays averaged 5 runs per game this season in home games. The over is 3-1 this season in Indians games where they are a road dog in the +150 to +175 range. The bats come alive for both clubs tonight as Bauer struggles again like he did in his most recent start and Stroman struggles against an Indians lineup stepping to the plate with plenty of confidence thanks to the 2-0 series lead. 10* OVER in Toronto Monday night

Total Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #903/904 Saturday - 10* Top Play OVER in Chicago Cubs vs Los Angeles Dodgers @ 8:05 ET - The wind is going to be blowing out at Wrigley Field on a mild evening in Chicago. Even though the Dodgers have to face a tough Jon Lester they have enough pop in their lineup to take advantage of the favorable hitting conditions for this one. Wrigley Field can be one of the most hitter-friendly ballparks in the league when the weather conditions are mild with the wind blowing out to left field. Both lineups will be able to take advantage and Lester did allow 5 earned runs to Cincinnati two weeks ago. The Dodgers will have Kenta Maeda on the mound and he has gone 0-3 with 12 earned runs allowed in less than 10 innings of work spanning his last three starts. This is his first ever start at Wrigley Field and the Cubs lineup is ultra dangerous at home with the wind blowing out. The over is a perfect 7-0 the past three seasons when the Dodgers are a road dog of +150 to +175. Also, the Dodgers come into this match-up having had just 1 under in their last 6 games. The Cubs come into this game having had just 2 unders in their last 11 games! The over is 10-4-1 in Maeda's last 15 starts. More of the same in Game 1 of the NLCS. 10* OVER in Chicago Cubs Saturday

Daytime Smash - Rickenbach MLB Game #901/902 - 10* Top Play OVER in Los Angeles Dodgers vs Washington Nationals @ 4:05 ET Monday - Very warm temperatures, dry air, and a light breeze blowing out at Dodger Stadium Monday afternoon means this game is likely to be much higher scoring than many are expecting. Yes, the Dodgers are known for struggling against southpaws but the Nationals Gio Gonzalez comes into this start struggling. Washington has lost each of the last three starts the left-hander has made. In his last 5 starts Gonzalez has had only one quality start. In the other 4 outings he gave up 18 earned runs on 30 hits in just 16 innings of work. As for Los Angeles, they will have right-hander Kenta Maeda on the mound and he also comes into this start struggling. Maeda has given up 8 earned runs on 12 hits in less than 7 innings of work spanning his last two starts. There have only been 4 unders in Maeda's last 14 starts. As for Gonzalez, his last start stayed under the total despite his poor results on the mound but 5 of his last 7 starts resulted in overs. Before yesterday's under, the over was 5-1 in the Dodgers last 6 games and 4-1 in the Nationals last 5 games. 10* OVER in Los Angeles Dodgers Monday afternoon

Game of the Week - Rickenbach MLB Game #961/962 - 10* Top Play OVER in Colorado Rockies vs Milwaukee Brewers @ 3:10 ET Sunday - The first two games of this series both stayed under the total and, of course, this is not only the series finale Sunday but also the season finale for these two non-playoff teams. The fact is that it is very rare for all games of a series at Coors Field to stay under the total and I feel, based on this pitching match-up as well as the fact that this is an afternoon game in mild conditions in the thin air of Colorado, that we are getting superb line value here. This total is only a 10.5 and that means getting each team to 5 runs guarantees us of no worse than a 6-5 game and, therefore, a winning ticket. The Brewers are starting Tyler Cravy and, though he has pitched well out of the bullpen, he got rocked in his lone start this season. Also, he has faced the Rockies a few times recently out of the bullpen and this helps give the Colorado lineup familiarity with him. Repetition against a hurler helps the hitters greatly and the Rockies are hitting .303 and averaging 6.3 runs per game in their home game this season. German Marquez gets this start for the Rockies and he was rocked for 6 earned runs on 12 hits in 4 and 1/3 innings in his most recent start. Though his prior start did see him enjoy some success, Marquez did hit two batters in that outing and he certainly is having trouble with command of his pitches and placement in the strike zone. Remember this is a young pitcher still adjusting to life in the bigs and he has been hit at a .355 clip in all of his appearances in the majors this season. This is the 58th day game of the year for the Brewers and they've only had 22 unders thus far. I expect a wild one Sunday as there is no pressure on either team and the weather is favorable for a high-scoring slugfest under the sun. Both pitchers are unproven and likely to struggle. 10* OVER in Colorado Sunday afternoon

Total Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #979/980 - 10* Top Play OVER in Atlanta Braves vs Detroit Tigers @ 7:10 ET Saturday - Yesterday's posted total was an 8.5 and the game landed on 8 so it was a tight loss for those who had the over like I did. I won't hesitate to come right back with it here though as the Braves were one of the hottest hitting teams in the league in September and the Tigers scored 6 runs yesterday to notch their 8th win in their last 11 games. Detroit continues to battle hard to stay alive for a Wild Card spot and Detroit is averaging 7.2 runs per game during this 8-3 hot streak. The Tigers are turning to Jordan Zimmerman for this "must win" game and that is a tough situation for Detroit as he has not pitched well at all and has also been battling neck problems. Zimmerman has a 16.61 ERA in his last 3 starts and has allowed an average of 3 baserunners per inning during this very rough stretch. He'll be opposed by the Braves Aaron Blair who is coming off another poor outing where he again had issues with command of his pitches. Blair has gone 1-7 with an 8.02 ERA in his 14 starts this season. The over is 9-3 in Blair's last 12 starts and 8-1-1 in Zimmerman's last 10 starts. That means we are testing a combined 17-4 run to the over with this play and I'll gladly elevated this one to a top play rating! 10* OVER in Atlanta Saturday evening

Best Bet Slugfest - Rickenbach MLB Game #957/958 - 10* Top Play OVER in St Louis Cardinals vs Cincinnati Reds @ 7:15 ET Thursday - Admittedly I got hurt with this same play yesterday but that certainly ended up being a strange game and one that was tough to stomach as my other two plays (one was a free play) were both easy winners with the Mariners in afternoon action and the Rockies under in late night action. As for this match-up, I won't hesitate to come right back with it as, amazingly, there was only ONE INNING in last night's game where the pitcher did not have to pick out of the stretch. That's right, only ONE inning out of NINE (the 7th inning) featured a "1-2-3 inning) with three straight outs. The rest of the game 8 innings - both teams - 16 half-frames had baserunners! The problem? The teams combined to leave 18 men on base and also combined for a pitiful 2 for 19 performance with runners in scoring position. Look for the lineups to make up for that pathetic effort with some clutch hitting coming back to the forefront tonight and I'll gladly fade the early line move here as this total dropped from an opener of 8.5 down to an 8 as of this morning. Daniel Straily gets the start for the Reds tonight and he has a 4.69 ERA on the road this season. Also, he just faced the Cardinals earlier this month and was fortunate to escape virtually unscathed as he walked 7 in less than 6 innings of work! As for the Cards, they will have Alex Reyes on the mound. I am well aware of the fact that the rookie has pitched fairly well overall but note how the Cubs gave him some trouble in his most recent start. That is because he was facing them for a 3rd time (including bullpen work) and they had already seen him for 7 innings. That is similar to this case with Reyes facing the Reds for a 3rd time. He's already logged 7 innings against them (1 out of pen and 6 as a starter) and the more a team sees a rookie hurler, the better the results usually are for that lineup. We saw that already with the Cubs against Reyes and I expect to see a repeat tonight with the Reds. After last night's nonsensical 2-1 final, look for both teams to return to "normal' tonight and that means this one flies over the total. The Cincy bullpen is weak and the Cardinals came into yesterday's game having allowed an average of 6.9 runs per game in their last 7 games. The Reds are 11-6 to the over as a road dog of +175 to +200 this season. Cincinnati is also 10-3 to the over in Thursday games this season. 10* OVER in St Louis Thursday

MLB Total of the Year - Rickenbach MLB Game #909/910 - 10* Top Play OVER in St Louis Cardinals vs Cincinnati Reds @ 8:15 ET Wednesday - The Cardinals will have Mike Leake on the mound and he started his career with the Reds. Perhaps from putting so much pressure on himself when facing his former team, Leake has struggled badly against Cincinnati. The right-hander is 0-3 with an 8.31 ERA in the three starts he has made against the Reds. That spells bad news for Leake on Wednesday as the Reds have had some big games at the plate recently are likely to "tee off" against him for the 4th time in the past 3 months! Cincinnati, however, also has a concern of their own on the mound in this one. Anthony DeSclafani makes the start for the Reds Wednesday and he has allowed 11 runs (9 earned) on 12 hits and 6 walks in the 10 innings spanning his last two starts. Overall, in his last three starts, DeSclafani has taken the loss in each game and all 3 games went over the total. 3 of Leake's last 4 starts have gone over the total. Entering Tuesday's action, the over was 5-2 in all meetings between these teams in St Louis. Also, entering the Tuesday action, the Reds were 69-46 to the over in their games against right-handed starters. With the success that Cincy has had against Leake coupled with the fact that the Cardinals are still battling hard to stay alive in the playoff race, you have a game with the makings of plenty run-scoring opportunities early and often. The Cards have hit 2 homers in each of their last 2 games against DeSclafani. 10* OVER in St Louis Wednesday evening

AL East Game of the Month - Rickenbach MLB Game #965/966 - 10* Top Play OVER in New York Yankees vs Boston Red Sox @ 7:05 ET Tuesday - The Yankees rallied for 5 runs in the top of the 9th last night in Toronto to beat the Blue Jays 7-5. Buoyed by that performance and also fired up about facing their most heated rivals, the Yanks should enjoy success at the plate tonight. The Yankees have been a bit of a nemesis for David Price in recent meetings. The ace southpaw of the Red Sox has given up 14 earned runs on 27 hits in the 16 and 1/3 innings spanning his last 3 starts against the Bronx Bombers. His counterpart, Luis Cessa, will certainly have his hands full tonight too. The Yankees right-hander is facing a Red Sox team that has won 11 straight games and averaged 5 runs per game in the process. Also, Cessa just faced the BoSox on the 16th and he allowed 3 earned runs on 6 hits in 5 innings and the damage could have been worse as he had trouble avoiding contact. Only 1 of the 15 outs came via a Cessa strikeout. Cessa gave up 3 homers in his most recent home start. Price has given up 4 homers in his last 3 starts overall. The over is 10-1 in Price's last 11 starts! Look for the over to improve to 6-2 in Boston games this season where they are a road favorite of -175 or more. 10* OVER in New York Yankees Tuesday evening

Rickenbach MLB Game #915/916 - 10* Top Play OVER in Houston Astros vs Seattle Mariners @ 8:10 ET Monday - This total opened up at an 8.5 and has dropped to a 7.5 on gameday morning and that easily makes it "go time" with this one. The last time I checked these team still play in the American League and the last time I checked neither Hisashi Iwakuma or Collin McHugh are Cy Young candidates! All kidding aside, this total dropping below an 8 in an AL game not involving two pitchers with lights out stuff means we are getting exceptional line value here. Iwakuma just got rocked for 6 runs (5 earned) in less than 4 innings in his most recent start. Also, he has been hit hard by (and lost to) Houston in 2 of his 3 starts against them this season. As for McHugh, I know he has enjoyed great success against the Mariners in his career but this is still a guy who has been hit at a .291 clip this season while compiling a 4.61 ERA. Simpy put he is still not pitching like the guy that had better seasons each of the two prior years. Also, the over is 17-7-2 in the last 26 meetings between these teams in Houston. Yes I am aware of the Nelson Cruz injury but that has helped give us even more value than we should be getting with these two hurlers on the mound and that raises this selection to a Top Play for me. 10* OVER in Houston Monday

Total Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #973/974 - 10* Top Play OVER in Houston Astros vs Los Angeles Angels @ 2:10 ET Sunday - The Angels scored 10 runs again on the Astros yesterday so they have now taken the first three games of this series by a combined 22-10 margin. Look for another high-scoring match-up today as neither of these pitchers has electric stuff. The Angels are starting Daniel Wright today and he has allowed at least 3 earned runs in all 5 of his starts this season even though he didn't last longer than 5 and 1/3 innings in any of those outings. Overall, Wright has a 7.04 ERA as a starter and the over is 4-1 in his 5 starts this season. The Astros will have Joe Musgrove on the mound this afternoon and he will be facing an Angels lineup that is simply "feeling it" right now as Los Angeles is enjoying playing the role of spoiler. The Angels should pound Musgrove as he has a 5.89 ERA in his last 7 starts. Yes, he has pitched a little better of late but LA is on fire at the plate right now and Musgrove has gone winless (and been hit at a .283 clip) in his two day game starts this season. This line is hovering around a 9 and could drop to an 8.5 but even at 9 it is a play and note that the over is 22-13 this season in Astros games with a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs. With 30 runs scored in the last two games in this series, I am expecting another wild one to wrap things up in this 4-game set. 10* OVER in Houston Sunday afternoon.

Rickenbach MLB Game #915/916 - 10* Top Play OVER in Toronto Blue Jays vs New York Yankees @ 4:05 ET Saturday - The Blue Jays are still batting for a playoff spot while the Yankees have "realistically" been relegated to playing the role of spoiler although they are mathematically "alive" still. The key here is that this means both teams should still be going with their best lineups in this match-up and, with these two starting pitchers on the mound, that should spell a solid O-V-E-R! The Yankees will have C.C. Sabathia on the bump this afternoon and he gave up 7 earned runs in 6 innings when he faced the Jays last month. The veteran southpaw also has been roughed up in 2 of his last 3 starts with short outings where he has been knocked out after only 5 innings or less. The Blue Jays pounded the Yanks for 9 runs yesterday and have notched at least 10 hits in 5 of their last 8 games. Though the Yankees were shut down at the plate yesterday that was against a left-handed starter and they have often struggled against southpaws this season. Today the Yanks face right-hander Marcus Stroman and the Blue Jays righty gave up 7 hits in just 5 innings in the Bronx earlier this month. His most recent home start stayed under the total but previously the Blue Jays were 9-4 to the over in Stroman's home starts this season and the Yankees are on a 14-10 run to the over after getting shut out. The Yanks bats will respond today while the Jays stay hot at the plate. Look for the over to improve to 16-9 in Blue Jays Saturday games this season. 10* OVER in Toronto Saturday afternoon.

Total Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #955/956 - 10* Top Play OVER in Miami Marlins vs Atlanta Braves @ 7:10 ET Friday - After striking out 10 in his final start in August, the Braves Matt Wisler has struck out a total of only 2 batters in his last two starts! Also, one of those two outings came against the Marlins and Miami absolutely pounded Wisler for 6 earned runs on 10 hits in just 4 and 1/3 innings of work. The Marlins will have Andrew Cashner on the mound and he struggled against the Phillies (3 earned runs on 5 hits and 3 walks in 4 innings) in his most recent start and this followed a very rough start at Atlanta where the Braves pounded him for 7 earned runs in just 2 innings of work. With both of these lineups very familiar with the pitchers they'll be facing today and with both of these starting hurlers struggling, there should be plenty of runs in this one! Adding to the value is the fact that the Braves are 15-4-1 to the over this month. Also, as a road dog of +100 to +125 this season, Atlanta has gone 10-2 to the over! The Braves won 6-3 yesterday and are 34-22 to the over this season when off of a victory. Yesterday's game pushed the closing total of 9 but the over was 11-4 in the 15 meetings between these teams prior to yesterday. The Braves are averaging 5.9 runs per game in their last 10 games overall as they remain hot at the plate. The Marlins have averaged 6 runs per game in their 4 games facing Braves pitching this month. 10* OVER in Miami Friday

Royal Insider - Rickenbach MLB Game #915/916 - 10* Top Play OVER in Cleveland Indians vs Kansas City Royals @ 7:10 ET Thursday - Yesterday's 4-3 Indians win came up a run short of going over the total but the Royals are still on a 19-5 run to the over in their last 24 games. Also, despite yesterday's under, the over is still a solid 45-29 in Indians home games this season. This will be Cleveland's 15th Thursday game this season and so far only 3 have stayed under the total. The Tribe will have Mike Clevinger on the mound and he has a 5.29 ERA on the season with a 1.72 WHIP in his home starts and he is averaging only 4.2 innings per start on the year! The Royals will have Jason Vargas making just his 2nd start of the season and he gave up 8 hits in 6 innings the last time he faced Cleveland. In 6 starts in the minors this season Vargas went winless with a 5.85 ERA and minor league batters hit nearly .300 against him this year. The KC southpaw is trying to work his way back from Tommy John surgery. Cleveland ranks 5th in MLB with a solid .272 batting average against left-handed pitching this season. The over is 9-4 this season in Kansas City road games with a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs. The over is 8-4 in Vargas' 12 career starts against the Indians. With the Tribe still trying to lock up the division and the Royals still not officially eliminated from wild card contention and two 'shaky' starters on the mound for this one, look for plenty of runs. 10* OVER in Cleveland

#1 Total - Rickenbach MLB Game #923/924 - 10* Top Play OVER in Minnesota Twins vs Detroit Tigers @ 8:10 ET Tuesday - The Twins got swept at New York by the Mets but are happy to be back home and they're facing a Tigers team whom they just saw in Detroit. Minnesota took 2 of the last 3 games at Comerica Park and scored 19 runs in the process. The Twins and Tigers have been involved in some "slugfest action" in recent seasons in their match-ups at Target Field. The teams have met here 25 times in the past 3 seasons and only 6 of those 25 games stayed under the total. Based on the pitching match-up for tonight, I look for the high-scoring trend to continue. Matt Boyd gets the start for the Tigers and he gave up 7 earned runs in less than 4 innings against the Twins last Tuesday. Overall, the southpaw is struggling of late with 23 hits allowed in 14 and 2/3 innings of work. The over is a ridiculous 50-23 in Minnesota's home games this season and, with the Twins Hector Santiago likely to struggle, I expect this trend to continue. The Minnesota southpaw got the win against the Tigers last week but he had been rocked (including 3 homers in EACH outing) in his last two starts against Detroit. With the Tigers getting a quick second look at him, Santiago is likely to struggle at home where he has a 5.74 ERA this season. The over is 10-5 in his home starts this year. Both teams had yesterday off and Detroit is 10-5 after a day off and the Twins are 11-5 after a day off this season. 10* OVER in Minnesota

Total Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #957/958 - 10* Top Play OVER in Colorado Rockies vs St Louis Cardinals @ 8:40 ET Monday - After going over the total in 4 straight games it has been back to back unders for Colorado. However, that certainly hasn't been the fault of the Rockies bats and tonight, in the thin air of Colorado, and with light winds likely shifting and blowing out during the game, we should see plenty of runs here. The Rockies have averaged nearly 7 runs per game in their last 6 contests. The Cardinals come into this game off of a shutout win at San Francisco. The over is 7-1 this season in St Louis games when they are off of a shutout win. Also, in road games where the Cards are priced with a money line between -100 and -125, the over is 14-6 this season! This will be the Cardinals 42nd game against a left-handed starter and so far this season only 15 of the games have resulted in an under. The Rockies will have Tyler Anderson on the mound and he had been on a strong run but he struggled badly against the Diamondbacks in his most recent start. He did not seem 'right' at all in that outing and the 6 runs (5 earned) on 9 hits in just 4 and 1/3 innings is a sign of things to come. He'll be opposed by the Cardinals Carlos Martinez tonight. The right-hander has been hit hard by the Rockies (18 hits in 11 and 1/3 innings) in the 2 starts he has made against them in his career. Martinez also appears to be regressing of late as he has given up 24 hits in the 19 innings spanning his last 3 starts. More struggles for him tonight the toughest ballpark for pitchers in the entire league. 10* OVER in Colorado

Div Total of the Year - Rickenbach MLB Game #915/916 - 10* Top Play OVER the total in Boston Red Sox vs New York Yankees @ 8:05 PM ET Sunday - The Red Sox are heating up again as they have won each of the first three games in this series and, overall, Boston has won 8 of their last 11 games. The Red Sox have averaged scoring 8.5 runs per game in the 8 victories and, even though the Yankees have slumped in this series, it truly hasn't been offensive production that is to blame. The Yanks have scored 14 runs on 32 hits in the first three games of this series. The issue for the Yankees is that their pitching has slumped and that is unlikely to change with CC Sabathia on the mound. The veteran southpaw has faced the Red Sox only once this season but he gave up 5 runs (4 earned) on 9 hits in 5 and 1/3 innings while also compiling more walks than strikeouts. Overall he has given up 15 hits and 6 walks in the 10 and 1/3 innings spanning his last two starts against the BoSox. Sabathia is off of a strong start against the Dodgers but LA is not use to seeing him. Now he'll face a lineup that is very familiar with him and, keep in mind, in his start prior to facing the Dodgers he allowed 3 homers in just 4 innings versus Tampa Bay. Sabathia will be opposed by Boston's Drew Pomeranz who has been in a downward cycle. The southpaw is winless with a 6.28 ERA in his last three starts. The Yankees are now seeing him for a 3rd time in a span of two months and they did hit him harder in 2nd meeting than in the first. With Pomeranz having allowed 27 hits in his last 23 innings pitched at Fenway Park, look for the Yankees to get to him early and often in this one as the over improves to 5-2 in Yankees games this season as a road dog in a range of +150 to +175. The Red Sox are 19-11 to the over in home games with a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs this season. 10* OVER in Boston Sunday night

Afternoon Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #923/924 - 10* Top Play OVER the total in Texas vs Oakland @ 3:05 ET Sunday - The A's rolled the Rangers 11-2 yesterday and the bats of Oakland should stay red hot today. The Athletics are 5-1 in their last 6 games and they have scored an average of 10 runs per game during this hot streak. Oakland historically has not enjoyed much success against the Rangers Colby Lewis but the A's are so hot at the plate that I expect that to change today. This is particularly likely because Lewis comes into this start having allowed 9 earned runs in just 10 and 1/3 innings spanning his last two starts. The over is 6-1 in home starts made by Lewis this season. The A's will send a struggling Ross Detwiler to the mound for this one. The southpaw was rocked for 5 earned runs in less than 5 innings of work when he faced the Rangers 5 weeks ago. Detwiler is winless in his five road starts this season and he has compiled a 6.48 ERA and 1.68 WHIP in those outings. The over is 6-0 in the A's last 6 games and 14-4 in the Rangers last 18 games. This season, when off of a game where they allowed 10 runs or more, Texas has gone 8-4 to the over in their very next game. Look for another slugfest at Globe Life Park in Arlington Sunday. Play the OVER in Texas Sunday afternoon.

Total Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #977/978 - 10* Top Play OVER in Seattle Mariners vs Houston Astros @ 9:10 ET Saturday - Yesterday's game had 6 runs by the halfway point as it was Houston 6-0 in the top of the 5th. However, the game ended that way and the result was an under as well as the Mariners first loss in 9 games. Keep in mind, Seattle had won 9 of their prior 10 games and averaged 7.3 runs per game in the process. I fully expect the Mariners lineup to bounce right back against Michael Fiers of the Astros. The Houston right-hander has an ugly 7.30 ERA and 2.27 WHIP in his last 3 starts. Fiers also has struggled on the road throughout this season as evidenced by his 5.62 ERA and 1.53 WHIP away from home. The over is 9-3 in the 12 road starts that Fiers has made this season. Also, Fiers has a 7.00 ERA and has given up 4 homers in the 9 innings he's logged against Seattle in two starts against them his career. He'll be opposed by James Paxton of the Mariners and the southpaw has been struggling. Not only are his current numbers a concern but Paxton gave up 6 earned runs in just 5 innings versus the Astros in his only start against them two months ago. The left-hander comes into this start having gone winless in his last three outings while compiling a 5.87 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP! He's facing a Houston team that is now 4-2 in their last 6 road games and the Astros have averaged 6 runs per game during this stretch. Before yesterday's under, the over was 13-6-1 in Houston's last 20 road games. I look for both teams to enjoy plenty of success at the plate tonight and will gladly fade the early line move here as this total went from an 8.5o to an 8u and this is offering great value on the over. Look for the over to improve to 5-1 this season when the Mariners are off of a shutout loss. 10* OVER in Seattle

Rickenbach MLB Game #905/906 - 10* Top Play OVER in Cincinnati vs Pittsburgh @ 7:10 ET Friday - Great American Ballpark is a hitter-friendly ballpark and, right now, the Pirates Ryan Vogelsong has certainly been a hitter-friendly pitcher. Keep in mind, Vogelsong is trying to come back from a devastating injury (that can certainly impact the psyche of a pitcher) as he was hit by a pitch near the eye this summer and it fractured bones and was truly an awful situation to witness. Certainly it is great to see Vogelsong come back from that and get back on the mound in live game action but I think the entire ordeal has impacted him greatly and, definitely, the numbers don't lie. Vogelsong was "okay" in his first few starts after he came back but, in his last three starts, the veteran right-hander has compiled an 11.08 ERA and a 2.00 WHIP. Look for more struggles Friday as he just faced the Reds Sunday and that certainly did not go well with 6 earned runs allowed in 4 innings and no strikeouts against 3 walks. Cincinnati will be "raring to go" after an off day yesterday followed a shutout loss Wednesday. Prior to that shutout the Reds had won 5 straight games and averaged 6 runs per game in the process. As for the Cincy pitcher tonight, an unproven Robert Stephenson takes to the mound. He had a strong start in his first start in September but that was his first MLB start since April. As expected, he regressed in his 2nd start of September and that came against the same Pirates team he is facing tonight. Stephenson allowed 4 earned runs in just 3 innings of work against the Bucs on Saturday. Pittsburgh exploded for 15 runs yesterday at Philadelphia and will be looking to build on that momentum tonight. The Pirates are averaging 5 runs and 10 hits per game over their last 11 games. The over is 41-28 in Pittsburgh games when they are off of a win this season. Also, the over is 63-43 in Reds games against right-handed starters. 10* OVER in Cincinnati Friday evening

Total Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #969/970 - 10* Top Play OVER the total in Los Angeles Angels vs Toronto Blue Jays @ 10:05 ET Thursday - This total opened up at a 9 and has already dropped to an 8.5 as of early gameday morning. This is offering extra value on the over here and I won't hesitate to step in. Even though J.A. Happ is a solid southpaw who has had a great season for the Blue Jays, the Angels have always given him trouble. Happ is 0-5 with a 7.83 ERA and a 1.74 WHIP in the five starts he has made against the Angels in his career. The Jays left-hander comes into this start having struggled in his recent road outings with a 5.51 ERA in his last three starts away from home. Happ will be opposed by the Angels Daniel Wright. He has struggled above the AA level in the minors this season. For AAA Louisville this season he was hit at a .314 clip and compiled a 6.13 ERA. Keep in mind that is against minor league hitters! It's no wonder that in his limited action at the MLB level this year (his rookie season) he has compiled a 7.50 ERA and been hit at a .388 clip. This includes his stats with the Reds before he came over to the Angels. Look for Wright's struggles to continue tonight as the Blue Jays are looking to bounce back off of an 8-1 loss and are in a dogfight with the other top contenders in the AL East. While the Angels are simply wrapping up a disappointing season, they do have a powerful lineup with a number of hitters also having enjoyed success against Toronto's Happ. That is why I am forecasting this game to turn into a back and forth slugfest. The over is 3-0 in Wright's starts this season. Also, there have been only 2 unders in Happ's last 8 road starts. 10* OVER in Los Angeles Angels Thursday

AL Total of the Year - Rickenbach MLB Game #919/920 - 10* Top Play OVER the total in Detroit Tigers vs Minnesota Twins @ 7:10 ET Wednesday - This match-up was 7-1 yesterday in the top of the 4th inning but unbelievably did not end up going over the total as the game ended up an 8-1 Minnesota win. Look for the Twins sticks to stay hot tonight but the difference-maker here is that the Tigers bats will join the party. Detroit should have no trouble with the offerings of Minny's Tyler Duffey. The right-hander has made 9 starts since the All Star break and he's been hit at a .333 clip while compiling a 3-5 record and an ugly 7.97 ERA. Duffey got rocked for 6 earned runs in only 3 innings in a late August start against the Tigers and they now get a quick 'second look' at him here just 3 weeks later. Detroit has a pitching "concern" of their own here on the mound Wednesday. Anibal Sanchez is on the mound and he just hasn't been able to shake his inconsistency this season. The Tigers right-hander has given up 21 hits in less than 16 innings spanning his last 3 starts. Sanchez also has seen his strikeout numbers dwindling with just 11 K's in his last 22 and 2/3 innings. The righty has a 5.97 ERA and 1.50 WHIP on the season and Duffey has a 6.13 ERA and 1.49 WHIP on the year. The Twins have averaged 5.5 runs in their last dozen game. The Tigers have not been hitting as well of late but they will be able to respond against a struggling hurler today. Keep in mind, Detroit is hitting .267 against right-handers this season which ranks the Tigers 5th out of all 30 MLB teams. 10* OVER in Detroit Wednesday

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Game #905/906 - 10* Top Play OVER the total in Washington Nationals vs New York Mets @ 4:05 ET Wednesday - Yesterday's game totaled 7 runs and stayed just under the total. This total opened up at an 8.5 but is up to a 9 as of very early Wednesday morning. Even though the total has moved up half a run, I still see excellent value with the over in this spot. Robert Gsellman of the Mets and Tanner Roark of the Nationals just faced each other last week in New York and that game only totaled 4 runs. However, getting a quick second look in a span of only about a week and a half is a big advantage for the hitters. That said, neither one of these hurlers truly possess overpowering stuff. Roark has surprised this season after going 4-7 with opponents hitting .279 against him last season. What I am seeing from Roark is that the innings have piled up on the season and he may be tiring a bit at this point. In his last two starts against winning teams he has given up 7 runs (6 earned) on 11 hits and 7 walks in just 10 innings of work. As for the Mets Gsellman, he surprisingly held the Nationals to just 1 earned run but in his other two starts since coming into the rotation he allowed 4 earned runs in each outing. Washington will take advantage of having just seen Gsellman last week. The Mets are 20-11 to the over in games where they are a road dog of +150 to +175. The Nats will be playing their 50th day game of the season and so far only 19 of those have stayed under the total. The Nationals were on a 7-1 run before yesterday's loss and they have averaged 5.6 runs per game in the 7 victories. The Mets are 8-2 in their last 10 games and they have averaged 5.5 runs per game in the 8 victories. 10* OVER in Washington Wednesday

Total Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #959/960 - 10* Top Play OVER in St Louis Cardinals vs Chicago Cubs @ 8:15 ET Tuesday - Not only is the Cubs Jason Hammel currently struggling but those struggles, as usual, are mostly occurring on the road. The Cubs right-hander has been great at home this season but, on the road Hammel is 5-7 with a 5.26 ERA away from home. Hitters are hitting .286 against Hammel when he is on the road and that is more than 100 points higher than when he is at Wrigley Field. The Cardinals very nearly got no-hit by the Cubs Kyle Hendricks last night so the Cards hitters will be ready to bounce back large against the struggling Hammel who has given up 41 hits in the 20 and 1/3 innings of work on the road over his 5 road starts since July 1st. His road ERA during this 2+ month stretch is 12.84 ERA. Hammel is not the only pitcher likely to struggle tonight. The Cardinals will have Jaime Garcia on the mound for this one and the southpaw has seen the Cards lose each of his last 4 starts while he has compiled an ugly 8.06 ERA in his last 5 starts! Only 1 of his last 5 outings have seen Garcia produce a quality start. The left-hander has been roughed up in each of his last three home starts and the Cubs .449 slugging percentage against southpaws this season ranks them 4th out of all 30 teams and their .355 on base percentage versus lefties ranks them #1 in the National League! Each of Garcia's last 5 starts have gone over the total while the over is 5-2 in the last 7 road starts Hammel has made. Even with yesterday's under, the over is still 16-8 in the Cardinals last 24 games against teams with a winning record. The over is 33-22 in Chicago's divisional games this season. With 9 being a win number thanks to a low total posted on this game, I won't hesitate to get involved here. 10* OVER in St Louis

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #969/970 - 10* Top Play OVER in Detroit Tigers vs Minnesota Twins @ 7:10 ET Tuesday - With 9 available on this total as of early Tuesday morning, there is exceptional value in this spot. In what would likely be a surprise to many, considering the Twins have the worst record in all of baseball, Minnesota ranks #2 in the American League for slugging percentage against left-handed pitchers with a .438 mark on the season! Though Matt Boyd has allowed just 2 earned runs in each of his last two starts, the southpaw gave up 15 hits in the 11 innings spanning those two outings. Also, he's facing Minny tonight for the 3rd time since the All Star break and familiarity is almost always an edge to the hitters. The more they see of a pitchers repertoire of pitches, the better it is for them! Minnesota hit two homers off of Boyd when they saw him in late August. The Twins will have a struggling Kyle Gibson on the mound for this one. He is 3-6 with a 5.84 ERA in his 14 night starts this season. Also, he has been getting particularly crushed since the All Star break. Opponents hit .348 against him in August and are already hitting .354 against him in his first two September starts. All 8 of his starts since August 1st have gone over the total. Yesterday's game stayed under the total as the Twins had a surprisingly tough time with lefty Daniel Norris. Minnesota is still 24-13 to the over in their games against left-handed starters this season and I expect them to enjoy success today with the added benefit of facing southpaws in back to back starts. The over is also 14-6 in Tuesday games for Minny and 14-7 in Tuesday games for the Tigers this season. 10* OVER in Detroit

Total Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #911/912 - 10* Top Play OVER the total in Arizona Diamondbacks vs Colorado Rockies @ 9:40 ET Monday - Tyler Anderson has been pitching very well for the Rockies. However, the Diamondbacks are hitting .274 against left-handed pitchers this season and that ranks them #1 in the National League against southpaws. Also, the Dbacks did get to Anderson for 8 hits in less than 6 innings against him when they faced him in June. Now Arizona will be facing him for a 2nd time and should enjoy some success at the plate just like the Phillies did when they saw Anderson for a 2nd time this season. The Diamondbacks will have Shelby Miller on the mound and the right-hander is facing a Rockies team that is hitting .276 against right-handed pitching this season and that is good for the #1 spot in the National League. Miller has lost both his starts since returning to the majors and he also has an ugly 9.19 ERA in his three starts against the Rockies this season. Miller is 0-7 in home starts this season and the over has gone 5-2 in his starts at Chase Field. The over is 38-23 in Rockies games with a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs in recent seasons. The over is 46-24 in Diamondbacks home games this season. Also, the over is 12-3 in the Dbacks/Colorado match-ups this season! In the last three seasons combined the over is 33-15 in Diamondbacks Monday games. More of the same tonight! 10* OVER in Arizona Monday.

AL Total of the Month - Rickenbach MLB Game #975/976 - 10* Top Play OVER the total in Los Angeles Angels vs Texas Rangers @ 3:35 ET Sunday - The Angels will have have Jered Weaver on the mound. The veteran right-hander did have to exit his most recent start after being hit by a line drive. Not only could that be impacting to his psyche in this start, his overall numbers have not been impressive so I expect a return to "normalcy" for Weaver and that means he should get hit hard here. Weaver gave up 5 earned runs in 4 innings in his most recent start which was his first September outing. In August Weaver compiled a 5.45 ERA and was hit at a .357 clip so certainly he was fortunate that his ERA wasn't uglier! This season, in home starts, Weaver has been hit at a .316 clip so I don't expect things to improve against Texas today. The Rangers will have Colby Lewis on the mound and he's just coming back from the DL. The way his rehab assignment went (hit hard in the minors) I certainly don't expect things to go well for him here against a tough Angels lineup. LA got their sticks going again yesterday but fell short in the 8-5 loss to Texas. The over is now 11-1 in the Rangers last 12 games! Also, Lewis has allowed 13 earned runs in his last 16 innings against the Angels. Look for him to struggle again here and Weaver will continue his trend of being very hittable as well and that spells o-v-e-r in this one. 10* OVER in Los Angeles Angels Sunday

Rickenbach MLB Game #925/926 - Total Annihilation - 10* Top Play OVER 9.5 runs in Chicago White Sox vs Kansas City Royals @ 7:10 ET Saturday - Yesterday's game between these clubs went over the total and that was the 5th straight over in Royals games and Kansas City's 11th over in their last 12 contests. Based on the wind blowing out at U.S Cellular Field this evening and based on a very favorable pitching match-up for plenty of hitting, another over should be in the offing tonight. The White Sox will have James Shields on the mound and he has a 12.07 ERA in the 28 and 1/3 innings spanning his last 7 starts. The Royals will have Edinson Volquez on the mound and the right-hander has had only one quality starts in his last 8 outings. Quality starts are 3 earned runs or less in a start lasting at least 6 innings. Volquez is struggling as he has a 6.38 ERA in his last 8 outings. The White Sox have had 7 overs in their last 8 games and Volquez has been rocked for 17 hits in his 12 innings against the ChiSox this season. The over is 14-8 in White Sox Saturday games this season. The over is 8-3 in Royals road games with a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs this season. Look for more of the same in this one as the hot hitting continues for both of these clubs and they continue their recent "over" trends. 10* OVER in Chicago White Sox Saturday evening.

Rickenbach MLB Game #973/974 - 10* Top Play OVER 9 in Minnesota Twins vs Cleveland Indians @ 8:10 ET Friday - The over is an amazing 30-7-1 in the Twins last 38 games including 8 in a row and 14 of their last 16. The Indians also have been trending to the over with 6 of their last 8 games going over the total. Danny Salazar gets the start for Cleveland and he has pitched well recently but Minnesota has given him trouble this season. The Twins have faced Salazar twice and have gotten to him for 9 earned runs in less than 7 innings of work. Included in the dominance has been a trio of homers for Minnesota. The Twins will have Tyler Duffey on the mound and he has also struggled against the Indians recently with 9 earned runs allowed in about 12 innings of work spanning his last two starts versus Cleveland. In Duffey's 12 home starts this season, only 3 have stayed under the total. The over is 7-1 in Salazar's last 8 starts. The Indians have scored an average of 6 runs per game in their last 9 games. The Twins have averaged scoring 6.2 runs per game in their last 9 games. More of the same tonight between these two divisional foes. 10* OVER in Minnesota Friday evening

Rickenbach MLB Game #975/976 - AL Central Total of the Year - 10* Top Play OVER 8.5 in Minnesota Twins vs Kansas City Royals @ 8:10 ET Wednesday - This total opened up at a 9 but has dropped to an 8.5 and this is no surprise since the Royals have Danny Duffy on the mound. However, this is a classic case of getting line value where we should NOT be getting it and I'll jump on it. Duffy has great full season numbers but, in his last two starts he has given up 11 earned runs in less than 11 innings of work. Also, in looking at Duffy's last three starts, he has allowed 26 hits in about 17 innings of work! Wednesday he faces a Twins team that simply has been an "over machine" this season. With last night's 10-3 loss going over the total, the over is now 13-2 in Minnesota's last 15 games. Also, against left-handed starters this season the over is 23-12 in Twins games. As a home dog in a price range of +125 to +150, the over is 31--13 in Minnesota games the past three seasons combined. With Kyle Gibson getting the start for the Twins tonight, all these over trends should remain intact. Each of Gibson's last 7 starts have gone over the total as he was rocked to the tune of a 6.62 ERA and .348 batting average against in August and he started off September with an ugly outing last week. Gibson gave up 5 earned runs on 9 hits in less than 6 innings of work against the White Sox. The Twins bullpen has been struggling and, last night, allowed 7 runs in the top of the 9th. The strong 'over trend' has every reason to continue tonight as KC has averaged 6.5 runs per game in their last 12 games and Minny has averaged 7 runs per game in their last 6 games. 10* OVER in Minnesota Wednesday night

Rickenbach MLB Game #969/970 - Total Annihilation - 10* Top Play OVER 9 in Oakland vs Los Angeles Angels @ 3:35 ET Wednesday - On Monday the A's started a highly regarded pitching prospect, Raul Alcantara, and he got rocked in a 10-7 loss to the Angels. On Wednesday afternoon, another highly regarded pitching prospect, Jharel Cotten, takes to the mound for the Athletics and I expect another high-scoring contest to result. Yesterday's game notwithstanding, the Angels have been been red hot. Los Angeles had won 10 of their last 12 games and averaged scoring 6 runs per game in the process. As for the A's, they should have no trouble scoring big at home in this one. Oakland will be facing Alex Meyer and the 6'9 right-hander has struggled so far in his limited big league appearances. This does not come as a big surprise as Meyer compiled a 4.79 ERA and was hit at a .281 clip in AAA action at the minor league level last year. Oakland Coliseum is a pitchers' park but with this being an afternoon game the air will not be so "heavy" as it does tend to be in the night games on the west coast. Of course drier air (plus the wind blowing out toward right field at a fairly good clip) should help our cause here. Meyer has already given up 7 walks and 12 hits (including 3 homers) in his 6 innings at the MLB level. 10* OVER 9 in Oakland Wednesday afternoon

Rickenbach MLB Game #917/918 - Total Annihilation - 10* Top Play OVER 8.5 in Tampa Bay Rays vs Baltimore Orioles @ 7:10 ET Tuesday - With yesterday's 7-3 Rays loss to the Orioles, the over is now an incredible 23-6 in Tampa Bay's last 29 games! Even though Jake Odorizzi has been pitching very well for the Rays, this will be the 4th time this season that the Orioles have seen him and they've gotten to him for 22 hits in 16 innings in the first three starts he has made against them. Baltimore will have Yovani Gallardo on the mound and he has given up 26 hits in the less than 16 innings he has logged against Tampa in his last three starts versus the Rays. Gallardo comes into this start having been absolutely crushed in his most recent road start. He has particularly struggled on the road this season with a 7.18 ERA and a 1.75 WHIP and the over is 7-4 in his road starts this year. As a road dog of +125 to +150, the Orioles are 11-4 to the over this season. As you can see, there is every reason to believe the strong over trend for the Rays improves to 24-6 tonight! 10* OVER 8.5 in Tampa Bay Tuesday evening

Rickenbach MLB Game #977/978 - Total Annihilation - 10* Top Play OVER 8.5 runs in Cleveland Indians vs Houston Astros @ 7;10 ET Monday - The Indians have won 6 straight games and have averaged 6.6 runs in their last 5 games and are on a perfect 4-0 run to the over. As for the Astros, their bats have also definitely picked up the pace of late as Houston has averaged 5.2 runs per game in going 7-3 in their last 10 games. The over is on a perfect 3-0 run in Astros games. Michael Fiers gets the start for Houston and, his last road start notwithstanding, he has not been the same pitchers away from home that he has been at Minute Maid Park this season. On the road this season, the Astros are only 4-7 in Fiers 11 starts and he has compiled an ugly 5.80 ERA in those outings. I look for him to struggle again here while Mike Clevinger of the Indians is also likely to have challenges of his own this evening. Clevinger has more walks than strikeouts in his last two starts and the over is 4-1 in his starts this season. Looking back at Fiers road struggles it is no surprise that the over is 9-2 in his 11 starts away from home this year. The Indians are 20-7 to the over in home games with a posted total of 8 or 8.5 runs this season. The Tribe are expected to make this a bullpen day with Clevinger making his first start in 3 weeks. That said, the Indians pen wasn't exactly sharp in yesterday's game versus Miami. More of the same tonight as the Astros stay hot at the plate but so too do the Indians. 10* OVER in Cleveland Monday evening.

Rickenbach MLB Game #913/914 - NL Total of the Year - 10* Top Play OVER 12 runs in Colorado Rockies vs Arizona Diamondbacks @ 4:10 ET Sunday - Yesterday and I had the over in Colorado which won for most. It opened up at a 12 and the game landed on 13. It did move to a 12.5 rather quickly but did not move to a 13 until about an hour before first pitch. In any event it was a win for most and I expect another huge win today. This match-up is perfect for a high-scoring slugfest as you have the dry air of the Mile High city with the wind blowing out to center field at a good clip on a mild afternoon at Coors Field. The Diamondbacks have averaged 5.5 runs per game in their last 11 games. Also, the Rockies have averaged 7.5 runs per game in their last 8 games. Jon Gray gets the start for Colorado and the last time he faced Arizona he allowed 4 earned runs on 10 hits while striking out just 1 in 5 and 1/3 innings. Gray is off of a solid outing in his last start but he gave up 20 earned runs in 18 innings spanning his 4 prior starts! The Diamondbacks will have Archie Bradley on the mound for this one and he earned just 1 victory in his 6 August starts while compiling a 7.14 ERA and getting hit at a .331 clip! The over is 13-6-1 in Bradley's 20 starts this season and the over was a on a perfect 4-0 run in Gray's last 4 starts before his last start stayed under the total. 12 of the 15 meetings between these clubs have gone over the total this season and I see no reason for that to change today. Ideal weather conditions help the cause here and both teams continue pounding out hits. 10* OVER in Colorado late Sunday afternoon

Rickenbach MLB Game #921/922 - Total Annihilation - 10* Top Play OVER 8.5 runs in Kansas City Royals vs Detroit Tigers @ 2:15 ET Sunday - Kansas City is hitting .274 against left-handed pitching this season and that ranks them 5th out of all 30 teams. The Royals should have no trouble with the offerings of Tigers southpaw Daniel Norris who took 105 pitches just to get through 5 innings in his most recent start. Norris is getting hit at a .303 clip this season so he is VERY fortunate to only have a 3.86 ERA on the season. The lefty just faced the Royals last month and he gave up 6 hits and walked 4 while striking out only 1 in 5 and 1/3 innings of work. Norris was fortunate to escape with only allowing 1 earned run in that outing. He won't be so fortunate in the rematch. The Tigers will also do their fair share of damage at the plate in this one as they "tee off" against Edinson Volquez of the Royals. The KC right-hander gave up 5 earned runs when he last faced Detroit (in June) and he also comes into this start having allowed 8 earned runs on 15 hits in the less than 8 innings spanning his last 2 home starts! Overall, Volquez starts have resulted in just 1 under in his last 7 outings! Opponents hit .338 against Volquez in August so you have two very hittable pitchers squaring off in a hitter-friendly park with the wind blowing out to left field at a good clip for this game. Add it all up and that equates to what should be an easy over. 10* OVER in Kansas City Sunday afternoon

Rickenbach MLB Game #961/962 - Total Annihilation - 10* Top Play OVER 12 in Colorado Rockies vs Arizona Diamondbacks @ 8:10 ET Saturday - The Rockies will have Tyler Chatwood on the mound tonight as he makes his first start since coming off of the disabled list. The right-hander is facing the wrong team at the wrong time. Coming off of the DL is never easy but especially when you have to face a team that has gotten to you for 6 earned runs in 6 innings the last time you faced them. Indeed Chatwood will be tested tonight and, after last night's 14-7 Rockies win, the over is now 10-3 (77%) this season in match-ups between these clubs. Chatwood allowed 23 earned runs in 41 and 2/3 innings in his 8 starts that preceded going on the disabled list and walks were an issue for him too. Amazingly, there has been just one under in the dozen home starts Chatwood has made this season even though he has a 5.43 ERA at Coors Field this year. In other words, the trending to the under is a fluke. Being opposed by Braden Shipley tonight should help the cause here in terms of tonight's game getting over the total. It will be his first start ever at hitter-friendly Coors Field and he's off a start where he allowed just one earned run versus Cincinnati but note he walked 4 while striking out just 1 in that outing. Additionally, prior to that outing he was rocked for 13 earned runs in his 2 prior starts. Look for more of the same tonight as the Rockies have averaged 9.6 runs per game in their last 5 home games and the Dbacks are averaging a solid 5.2 runs per game in their last 10 games. The over is 12-4 this season in Arizona games when they are off of a game where they allowed 10 runs or more. Also, the over is 40-20 this season in Diamondbacks games against teams with a losing record. 10* OVER in Colorado Saturday night 

Rickenbach MLB Game #911/912 - NL Total Annihilation - 10* Top Play OVER 11.5 in Colorado Rockies vs Arizona Diamondbacks @ 8:40 ET Friday - The Diamondbacks are a perfect 4-0 to the over this season as a road fave of -100 to -125. Arizona is also 8-4 to the over when playing after a day off. The Dbacks also have seen the over go 39-20 in their games against teams with a losing record this season. The Diamondbacks will have Robbie Ray on the mound and he's facing a Rockies team that is averaging 6.3 runs per game (and hitting .304) at home this season. Ray has faced Colorado twice in 2016 and he's allowed 8 earned runs on 16 hits (including 5 homers) in less than 9 innings of work. The Arizona southpaw will be opposed by fellow southpaw Jorge De La Rosa in this one. The Rockies left-hander has given up 14 hits and 7 walks in less than 11 innings against the Diamondbacks this season. That is not a huge surprise as the Dbacks have been tough on left-handed pitching this season and are averaging 5 runs per game against lefties on the year. De La Rosa has a 5.36 ERA in his home starts this season and the over is 7-2 in his starts at Coors Field this year! The Rockies have scored at least 7 runs in 5 of their last 6 home games. Arizona, prior to a loss in their last game of August, had averaged 5.4 runs per game in going 5-3 in their last 8 games. Both teams, after an off day yesterday, resume the hot hitting tonight in the dry air at Coors Field and with the wind blowing out. 10* OVER 11.5 in Colorado Friday

Rickenbach MLB Game #921/922 - AL Total Annihilation - 10* Top Play OVER 9 in Minnesota Twins vs Chicago White Sox @ 8:10 ET Friday - The Twins snapped their 13-game losing streak with an 8-5 win yesterday. Even though Minnesota has been losing it hasn't necessarily kept their bats quiet. In fact, the Twins have averaged 5 runs per game in their last 10 games and the over is on an 8-2 run during this stretch. They have enjoyed success against Carlos Rodon of the White Sox as Minny has got to him for 9 earned runs in 12 innings in his last two starts against them and the Twins hit 4 homers in those two games! Minnesota will have Kyle Gibson on the mound and he has allowed 9 earned runs on 15 hits in 10 and 1/3 innings spanning his last two starts. The over is 6-0 in Gibson's last 6 starts and the over is 8-1 this season in White Sox road games with a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs. The Twins have been an over machine this season including 54-25 to the over in night games. They also are 34-14 to the over when off of a win and 32-15 to the over when facing a team with a losing record. Minny is facing a southpaw again after facing one last night and the over is now 22-12 in Twins games against left-handed starters this season. The ChiSox bullpen has a 4.92 ERA on the road this season and the Minnesota bullpen certainly has played a role in the Twins allowing 7.3 runs per game in their last 12 games! More of the same tonight. 10* OVER in Minnesota Friday

Rickenbach MLB Game #957/958 - Total Annihilation - 10* Top Play OVER 8 in Minnesota Twins vs Chicago White Sox @ 8:10 ET Thursday - With their game going over the total at Cleveland last night, the Twins are now 53-25 to the over in night games this year. In games with a posted total of 8 or 8.5 runs Minnesota has gone 36-18 to the over this season. In games against teams with a losing record the Twins have gone 31-15 to the over this year. Also, against left-handed starters, the over is 21-12 in Minnesota games this year. Certainly the White Sox Jose Quintana has been pitching very well but he has been more hittable on the road than at home. Also, the Twins are very familiar with him as they'll be facing him for the fourth time in less than four months. As for the Minnesota starter today, Ervin Santana has given up 20 hits in his 16 and 1/3 innings against the ChiSox this season and he'll be facing them for the 4th time this season. Familiarity in terms of match-ups almost always favors the hitters. The more they see of a pitcher the better shot they have at making solid contact and Santana is coming off of a start where he struggled with his command and gave up 6 earned runs at Toronto. The White Sox bullpen has a 4.92 ERA on the road this season and the Twins bullpen has played a role in the fact that Minny has allowed 7.4 runs per game during their current 13-game losing streak. Though the pitchers have some decent numbers of late, that is merely serving to give us some extra line value with a low total in this one. 10* OVER 8 in Minnesota Thursday evening.

Rickenbach MLB Game #925/926 - Total Annihilation - 10* Top Play OVER 8 in Cleveland Indians vs Minnesota Twins @ 7:10 ET Wednesday - My clients and I took a bad beat with the over in the Twins/Indians game yesterday but, the least we can do is get some payback today. Yesterday's game was 4-4 in the SECOND inning and yet did not go over the total. Many crazy things happened that prevented that game from going over but let's focus on going forward rather than looking back. Both bullpens got some extra work yesterday so that helps in terms of today's over. The big key here is that the Twins Pat Dean should get rocked but I also believe the Indians Corey Kluber will give up his fair share as well. Over the past 12 months Kluber has faced the Twins 3 times and he has given up 4 earned runs in EACH of those three outings. Kluber has compiled a 6.61 ERA in those 3 most recent starts versus Minnesota. As for the Twins Dean, he has allowed 13 earned runs in only 5 and 1/3 innings spanning his last two starts. The southpaw has made 7 starts this season and 5 of those have resulted in overs as Dean has compiled a 6.88 ERA as a starter this year. Each of his last 4 starts have gone over the total and I look for the "over streak" to reach 5-0 today. The Twins are 36-18 to the over this season in games with a posted total of 8 or 8.5 runs. The Indians are 19-7 to the over this year in home games with a posted total of 8 or 8.5 runs. Today's play on the over should make up for yesterday's nonsense as the match-up is right for an easy over here! 10* OVER 8 in Cleveland Wednesday

Rickenbach MLB Game #971/972 - Div Total of the Year - 10* Top Play OVER 9.5 in Cleveland Indians vs Minnesota Twins @ 7:10 ET Tuesday - After yesterday's 1-0 battle, today's game is likely to make up for that in terms of runs scored. The Indians Josh Tomlin has gone 0-5 in August and has compiled a 10.80 ERA for the month. Home runs allowed continue to be a problem for Tomlin as he has given up 7 homers in his last 3 starts. The last time Tomlin faced the Twins in Cleveland he gave up 3 homers in a mid-May start. Minnesota will have Andrew Albers on the mound and he is making his first MLB start in 3 years. The big concern with Albers it that, even at at the minor league level, he has been getting hit hard! Albers, at AAA Rochester, has a 3.69 ERA but a .305 BAA. In other words, he's fortunate to have such a low ERA. The prior season, at AAA Buffalo, Albers went 2-11 with a 5.70 ERA and he was hit at a .324 clip. In other words, this guy has proven he still ultra-hittable and he now faces major league hitters that are ready for another breakout game (like the 12-1 Indians win over the Rangers Friday) after some recent frustration at the plate. The over was 6-0 in the Twins last 6 games before yesterday's pitchers' duel. The over is 8-2 in Tomlin's home starts this season. The over is 11-3 this season in Minny's road games where they are a dog of +175 to +200. The over is 9-2 the last 3 seasons combined in Cleveland home games where they are a favorite of -200 to -225. 10* OVER in Cleveland Tuesday.

Rickenbach MLB Game #923/924 - Total Annihilation - 10* Top Play OVER 8.5 in Kansas City Royals vs New York Yankees @ 8:15 ET Monday - Michael Pineda is having a tough season for the Yankees and he has particularly struggled on the road. Away from home this season Pineda has gone 2-6 with a 5.37 ERA and has been hit at a .287 clip. The over is 7-3 with two pushes in his 12 road starts this year. He'll be opposed by Dillon Gee who got hit at a .329 clip last season and is getting hit at a .293 clip this season. The Yankees are a tough match-up for him as they have hit right-handed pitching very well this year. The Yanks will be looking to bounce back after getting shut out yesterday. That was only the 7th time the Yankees have been shut out this season and they've only had 1 under (out of 6 games) in their next game after a shutout loss this season. Prior to yesterday's shutout, the Yanks had scored at least 5 runs in 9 of their last 10 games. During this solid stretch the Yankees averaged 6.4 runs per game. As for the Royals, after smashing the Red Sox at Fenway Park last night, they remain red hot. Kansas City has averaged 6.7 runs per game in going 11-3 in their last 14 games. As a small home dog priced between +100 and +125 this season the Royals have gone 11-6 to the over. The Royals Gee has struggled badly against left-handed bats throughout his career and the Yankees will be loaded up from that side of the plate tonight. 10* OVER in Kansas City Monday evening

Rickenbach MLB Game #971/972 - Primetime Punisher - 10* OVER 9 in Boston Red Sox vs Kansas City Royals @ 8:05 ET Sunday - These teams had been trending under recently but yesterday's game (went over by the 5th inning) is a sign of things to come. The Royals are hitting .275 against left-handed pitching this season and that places them 3rd out of all 30 MLB teams. They'll be facing Eduardo Rodriguez tonight. The Red Sox southpaw missed his last start due to hamstring tightness and the Red Sox are 0-6 in his home starts this season and Rodriguez has compiled a 5.08 ERA at Fenway Park on the year. When people see the stats of Rodriguez over his last three starts they may think he'll come up big tonight but he faced the Orioles and Yankees and they are the two worst teams in the AL in terms of slugging percentage against southpaws. Rodriguez also faced the Dodgers who have only hit .221 against left-handed pitching this season. He faces a much tougher match-up with the Royals tonight and his hamstring may give him issues too. The wind is going to be blowing out to left tonight at Fenway and the Royals Yordano Ventura is off of a start where he did not allow a homer but previously he gave up 6 homers in his last 4 road starts. The KC right-hander has a 5.48 ERA and 1.61 WHIP in his 4 starts against the BoSox in his career. Boston is hitting .304 at home this season and averaging 6 runs per game there! Look for the over to improve to 16-9 in Red Sox home games with a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs this season. 10* OVER in Boston Sunday evening.

Rickenbach MLB Game #977/978 - Daytime Dominator - 10* OVER 9.5 in Texas Rangers vs Cleveland Indians @ 3:05 ET - Yesterday's game was 7-0 in the 3rd inning but miraculously stayed under the total as the Rangers AJ Griffin surprisingly had his best start of the year and the teams also went a combined 2 for 15 with runners in scoring position. The beleaguered Texas bullpen also had a surprisingly successful night as they had gotten pounded the night before and have the highest bullpen ERA of any team in the AL. After last night's surprising result, look for a return to "normal" this afternoon. Danny Salazar gets the start for the Indians and he has been struggling since coming off of the disabled list. In fact, struggling doesn't even describe it properly. Salazar has just been plain awful with a 15.55 ERA in the 11 innings spanning his last four starts. He's running into a Rangers lineup known for pounding the ball at home. The only good news for Salazar is that he should get plenty of run support here as the Rangers hand the ball to Derek Holland and the Indians should respond off of a rare shutout loss. Holland is coming off of a solid start in his last outing but that was his first start in two months and the issue he had was with shoulder inflammation. In other words, don't be surprised if he has a little flare-up of that again here in only his 2nd start since his return. He's facing Cleveland team that is hitting .276 against left-handed pitching this season which ranks them 2nd out of all 30 MLB teams. The over in Salazar's starts is on a perfect 6-0 run. 10* OVER in Texas Sunday afternoon.

Rickenbach MLB Game #911/912 - Slugfest Smash - 10* Top Play OVER 9.5 in Arizona Diamondbacks vs Cincinnati Reds @ 8:10 ET Saturday - The Diamondbacks entered this series having gone 10-2 to the over in their last 12 games. The Reds entered this series having gone 13-4 to the over in their last 17 games. Arizona will have Zack Godley on the mound and the right-hander has struggled this season as he has compiled a 5.87 ERA in his 8 starts. 6 of those 8 outings have resulted in overs. His only starts against the Reds saw him struggle with 5 earned runs allowed on 10 hits in less than 6 innings of work. The Reds will have Anthony DeSclafani on the mound and he'd likely rather not be facing the Dbacks. Against Arizona, DeSclafani has given up 9 earned runs on 20 hits in 11 innings spanning two starts! He comes into this start having allowed 21 hits (including 3 homers) in the 18 inning spanning his last 3 starts. DeSclafani shows some impressive full season stats for the betting markets to ingest but the fact he's on a downward trend of late and has struggled against Arizona in the past has me expecting him to get throttled here. There is little doubt that the Reds should pile onto Godley's struggles. The over is 12-5 the last 3 seasons in Reds games with a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs. Also, entering Friday's action, the over was 57-32 this season in Cincinnati games against right-handed starters. Arizona is 14-3 to the over this season in home games where they are priced between -100 and -125. The Diamondbacks were on a long-term 21-6 run to the over entering Friday's action. Based on this pitching match-up tonight these strong trends are likely to add another W Saturday. 10* OVER in Arizona Saturday.

Rickenbach MLB Game #967/968 - Slugfest Smash - 10* Top Play OVER 10 in Toronto Blue Jays vs Minnesota Twins @ 7:05 ET Friday - Pat Dean is getting this start as a spot start for the Twins because Hector Santiago is dealing with a bruised thumb. This is not a good match-up for Dean as he has been getting rocked by right-handed batters to the tune of a .315 batting average. The Blue Jays are loaded with right-handed lumber up and down their lineup and they'll be ready for a big night after wasting opportunities in last night's 6-3 home loss to the Angels. The Jays will have Francisco Liriano on the mound facing his former team. Facing the Twins has not been kind to Liriano in recent meetings. The Toronto southpaw faced them twice last season and he gave up 10 runs (9 earned) on 15 hits (including 2 homers) in the less than 8 innings spanning the two starts. The Twins are off of a 9-5 loss to the Tigers that went over the total. Minnesota continues to be an "over machine" this season as they are now 77-43 to the over. The over is also 51-23 in Twins night games and 42-21 in their games against teams with a winning record this season. The Blue Jays had scored 6 runs or more in 5 of their last 8 games before coming up short in the final two games of their series with the Angels. They make up for that today as they pound Dean in their second shot against him this season. 10* OVER in Toronto Friday

Rickenbach MLB Game #913/914 - Total Annihilation - 10* OVER 9.5 in Toronto Blue Jays vs Los Angeles Angels @ 7:05 ET Thursday - A big part of pitching is the mental aspect. That said, I am not necessarily saying that J.A. Happ is weak when it comes to the mental side of pitching but I will say that he could be a little "off his game" when it comes to facing the Angels. Not only did Los Angeles pound out 17 hits in yesterday's 8-2 win, the Angels have "owned" Happ in his career. The Blue Jays left-hander is 0-4 with an 8.00 ERA and a 1.83 WHIP in his four starts against the Angels in his career. Happ also comes into this outing off of a start where he allowed 3 homers to the Yankees. Both of these factors could impact his psyche for tonight's match-up with Los Angeles. As for the Angels, they send a struggling hurler to the mound for this one. Jered Weaver gets the start and the right-hander is 0-3 with an 8.40 ERA and a 2.13 WHIP in his last 3 starts. The veteran righty has given up a ridiculous 7 homers in his last 3 starts. With the Blue Jays expected to have slugger Jose Bautista back in the lineup for this one tonight, the formidable task for Weaver just got even tougher. These are two very potent lineups squaring off tonight and the Angels got back on track offensively with their huge performance last night. As for the Blue Jays, they had gone 6-3 (and averaged scoring 7.5 runs in the 6 victories) before they were held "in check" in last night's loss. Look for the Jays to get a boost with the imminent return of Bautista from the disabled list and look for the Angels to enjoy another big night at the plate. 10* OVER 9.5 in Toronto Thursday evening.

Rickenbach MLB Game #909/910 - Earliest Cash - 10* Top Play OVER 9.5 in Minnesota vs Detroit @ 1:10 ET Thursday - Although it may seem enticing to play the Tigers here and look for the Twins losing ways to continue, I just don't trust Daniel Norris. He shows a 3.81 ERA this season but that's just scratching the surface. The fact is that the Tigers southpaw has had as many walks as strikeouts over his last three starts and he's getting hit at a .319 clip on the season! The Twins are a bad team but they have a lineup that hits well enough to do damage against an inconsistent southpaw. Norris won't be the only starting pitcher getting knocked around in this one. Minnesota sends Jose Berrios to the mound and he has a 9.28 ERA on the season as a starter with NONE of his 8 starts resulting in an under. There have been two pushes and a 6-0 over record in Berrios' starts this season. One of those outings came against the Tigers in May and was an absolute disaster. I look for more of the same today on Thursday. The wind is going to be blowing out to center on a pleasant afternoon in Minnesota and so the hitters should absolutely rule the day in this one. Norris has not gone longer than 5 and 1/3 innings in any of his starts this season and Berrios only eclipsed the 5 and 1/3 innings mark once in his 8 starts this season. That means two questionable bullpens have plenty of involvement in this one as well. The over is 41-21 in Twins home games this season. The over is also 41-21 in Minny's game against teams with a winning record this year. No matter how you look at it, this one should be a slugfest. 10* OVER in Minnesota early Thursday afternoon.

Rickenbach MLB Game #965/966 - Total Annihilation - 10* Top Play OVER 8.5 in Toronto Blue Jays vs Los Angeles Angels @ 7:05 ET Wednesday - Though Matt Shoemaker recently enjoyed a solid extended stretch, he has shown signs of falling out of good current form and this has been particularly true on the road. Shoemaker gave up 5 earned runs on 12 hits in just 6 innings of work in his most recent road start. This marked the 3rd time in his last 6 road starts that he has allowed at least 5 earned runs. A trip to Toronto is unlikely to change his fortunes away from home. Not only do the Blue Jays have a rock solid lineup, Shoemaker was rocked for 8 runs (7 earned) in 6 innings in his lone visit to Rogers Centre. Marco Estrada gets the start for the Jays and he has a 4.97 ERA in his two career starts against the Angels. Also, though he has had a solid season, Estrada is fading of late. In his last two starts the Toronto right-hander has given up 7 earned runs on 12 hits (including 4 homers) plus he has walked 4 in only 9 innings of work. Yesterday's game came up just short of going over the total but certainly wasted a lot of opportunity. There were multiple double plays, multiple guys caught stealing, a guy picked off, and also a guy thrown out at 2nd base from the outfield. The point is, anything that could go wrong seemed to go wrong and yet the game still totaled 9 runs. With both of these pitchers shaky of late, and with two solid lineups in play, today's game should fly over the total. Yesterday the teams only combined for 3 of 16 with runners in scoring position. 10* OVER in Toronto Wednesday evening.

Rickenbach MLB Game #953/954 - Daytime Dominator - 10* OVER 8 or 8.5 in San Diego Padres vs Chicago Cubs @ 3:40 ET Wednesday - This total is an 8.5 in most shops as of very early Wednesday morning. However, there are signs it may drop to an 8. I love to fade the masses and we'll gladly grab the value on the over in this match-up. Yes, the Cubs Kyle Hendricks has great numbers on the year but his road ERA is nearly two full runs higher than his home ERA. This is the finale of a 7-game homestand for the Padres and they have averaged 5 runs per game in the first 6 games. The Cubs should certainly enjoy another big day at the plate. The Cubbies come into this one averaging 6 runs per game in their last 12 games and they face a struggling Paul Clemens. The Padres right-hander has seen each of his last three starts fly over the total as he has had plenty of run support but he's also struggled on the mound. Clemens has never worked more than 5 innings in an outing in his 7 starts this season. Also, he has had at least as many walks as strikeouts in more than half of his starts. Clemens has a 5.32 ERA in his career and has been hit at a .277 clip. Wednesday he is facing one of the toughest lineups in the league. The results are likely to get ugly in a hurry. The over is 23-13 this season in Padres games with a posted total of 8 or 8.5 runs including 14-7 in home games! As a road fave of -175 or more, the Cubs have gone 13-7 to the over this season. In day games the Cubs are 33-22 to the over this season. The Cubbies .355 on base percentage in day games is #1 in the majors. 10* OVER in San Diego Wednesday afternoon.

Rickenbach MLB Game #911/912 – Total Annihilation – 10* Top Play OVER 9.5 in Toronto Blue Jays vs Los Angeles Angels @ 7:07 ET Tuesday – The Angels will have Tyler Skaggs on the mound Tuesday. The left-hander has given up 15 earned runs in his last three starts. His most recent start only lasted 3 and 1/3 innings and he is facing a Blue Jays team that had won 7 of its last 11 games before a 3-2 loss Sunday. The Jays will be looking to bounce back in this series opener and the lineup had produced an average of 5.4 runs per game in those 11 games. Toronto should enjoy big run production Tuesday but the problem will be on the mound where R.A. Dickey gets the start. The knuckle-baller is 1-4 with a 6.68 ERA since the All Star break and he has failed to complete 6 innings in 4 of his last 5 starts. Pitch counts are up and success is down for Dickey and note that he has gone 2-8 with a 5.57 ERA at home this season. This one has the makings of a slugfest based on the struggles of these pitchers and, also, the Angels (before their 2-0 shutout win – RARE – on Sunday) had allowed 6.6 runs per game in their 10 prior games. The over is 3-0 in Skaggs road starts this season and also 3-0 in Dickey’s last 3 home starts. 10* OVER in Toronto Tuesday.

Rickenbach MLB Game #953/954 - Total Annihilation - 10* Top Play OVER 9 in Milwaukee Brewers vs Colorado Rockies @ 7:20 ET Monday - The Rockies got their sticks back on track against the Cubs yesterday and I look for carry-over from that strong performance at the plate right into Monday's match-up. Certainly Colorado will take advantage of facing a struggling hurler as Jimmy Nelson gets the start for the Brewers and he has allowed 6 earned runs in 4 of his last 5 starts! This has resulted in an ugly 10.57 ERA in his last 5 starts and more struggles are expected Monday as Nelson's current form won't bode well the way the Rockies are swinging the bats. Colorado will have Chad Bettis on the mound and he's been dropping into a negative cycle of late. Bettis has seen his strikeout numbers drop recently and, in fact, has as many walks as strikeouts over his last three starts. He's also been getting hit harder of late with 21 hits allowed in the 14 innings spanning his last three starts. He'll be tested here by a Brewers lineup that is very powerful at home. In home games this season their .432 slugging percentage ranks them 3rd in the National League! Bettis is 10-6 this season but note the 5.28 ERA and that is NOT just because of Coors Field as he has a 5.20 ERA in road games this season. The over is 6-1 this season in Rockies games with a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs. The Brewers are happy to be back home where they've averaged 6.2 runs and 10.4 hits per game in going 3-2 in their last 5 games in Wisconsin. As you can see, both teams should pile up the runs Monday. 10* OVER 9 in Milwaukee early Monday evening.

Rickenbach MLB Game #909/910 - Sunday Night GOY - 10* Top Play OVER 7.5 in San Francisco Giants vs New York Mets @ 8:05 ET Sunday - Yesterday's 9-5 Mets win easily flew over the total. The over is now on a perfect 6-0 run in the Mets last 6 games and the Giants have not had a single under in their last 8 games. I see no reason for this "over trending" to stop on Sunday night. The fact is that the Mets lineup is finally healthier again as they recently welcomed back a number of key players from the disabled list. Also, the pitching match-up tonight is great for an over because both of these hurlers have a bit of a reputation and that is keeping the total lower than it should be because the reality is that there is plenty of reason to expect both of these hurlers to get rocked. Noah Syndergaard gets the start for the Mets and he has a 2.78 ERA on the season but he has given up 9 earned runs on 22 hits in the 16 and 2/3 innings spanning his last three starts. Also, Syndergaard is 0-2 with a 6.17 ERA in his two career starts against the Giants. San Francisco will have Jeff Samardzija on the mound Sunday night and, though he has a solid 1.22 WHIP on the season, he has been hit harder at home compared to on the road this season. Also, he is 0-3 with an 11.40 ERA in his three career starts against the Mets. From late May through early August, Samardzija gave up at least 4 earned runs in 9 of his 12 starts! He's facing another tough match-up here. 10* OVER in San Francisco Sunday night.

Rickenbach MLB Game #929/930 - Total Annihilation - 10* Top Play OVER 9 in Seattle vs Milwaukee @ 4:10 ET Sunday - The Brewers will be starting Matt Garza in this one. I am well aware of the fact that he has a low ERA of late but I am not "sold" on him as he more walks than strikeouts over his last 3 starts. Garza has given up 12 hits and 6 walks in his last 11 innings and it was not that long ago that he went through a stretch where he gave up at least 4 earned runs in 5 straight starts. Look for him to struggle at Seattle Sunday as the Mariners entered Saturday's action having scored an average of 5 runs per game in going 5-2 in their last 7 games. The Brewers entered Saturday's action having scored 6 runs in back to back games and they should have no trouble with the offerings of Ariel Miranda. Milwaukee has averaged 5.2 runs per game in their games against left-handed starters this season and the southpaw allowed 8 hits in 6 innings in his first start and then walked 4 while striking out just 2 in his 2nd start. In other words, he's been "shaky" so far in his first two starts. The Brewers are on a long-term 12-6 run to the over in road games with a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs. Milwaukee is 27-17 to the over in day games this season. The Mariners entered Saturday's action with a record of 13-5 to the over in inter-league games this season. Look for the hot hitting to resume on Sunday as two sub-par starting pitchers square off. 10* OVER in Seattle Sunday

Rickenbach MLB Game #975/976 - Total Annihilation - 10* Top Play OVER 8.5 or 9 in Kansas City Royals vs Minnesota Twins @ 7:15 ET Saturday - Yesterday's game was 4-4 by the top of the fifth but amazingly it did not go over the total. Both bullpens put in a lot of work as neither starter completed 5 innings in the eventual 5-4 win in the 11th inning for the Royals. Kansas City is surging with confidence right now as they have won 6 straight and 11 of their last 13 games. The Royals have averaged 6.2 runs per game during their current winning streak and they certainly should have no trouble with the offerings of Hector Santiago. The Twins southpaw is 0-3 with an awful 9.42 ERA in his last three starts. As you would expect with those types of numbers, each of Santiago's last 3 starts have gone over the total. The Royals will have Ian Kennedy on the mound. Though he has pitched better of late, Kennedy only lasted 3 and 1/3 innings in his most recent start against the Twins and Minny comes into this game hot at the plate. The Twins have averaged 9.5 hits per game in their last 12 games and have scored at least 4 runs in 8 of their last 12 games. The Royals have scored at least 4 runs in 9 of their last 13 games. Keep in mind that each team getting to at least 4 runs here guarantees over players no worse than a push as the game would have to finish at least 5-4. I look for plenty of runs here as Minnesota is 14-6 to the over as a road dog of +125 to +150 and the over is 48-23 in their night games this season. 10* OVER in Kansas City

Rickenbach MLB Game #905/906 - NL Total of the Month - 10* Top Play OVER 9 in Cincinnati Reds vs Los Angeles Dodgers @ 7:10 ET Friday - This total has dropped from an opener of 9.5 to a 9 in some big books as of early Friday morning. This is offering even more line value with the over here. The Dodgers are likely to have 6 left-handed batters in their lineup tonight (including one switch-hitter) and that is significant because the Reds Tim Adleman has dominated right-handed hitters in his limited appearances this season but left-handed hitters are batting .324 against him. Also, overall, Los Angeles has been ultra-hot at the plate as the Dodgers have averaged 6.4 runs per game in their last 11 games. LA has a pitching concern of their own tonight as Bud Norris is returning from the DL to make this start. Not only does the question mark of Norris coming off of the disabled list loom large tonight but, also, the Dodgers right-hander has struggled on the road this season. Norris has been hit at a .308 clip in road games. Pitching in hitter-friendly Cincinnati is much different than pitching in pitcher-friendly LA and I look for Norris to struggle here. The veteran righty is also 2-7 with a 5.03 ERA in evening games this season. The Reds are 7-4 in their last 11 games and have averaged 5.4 runs per game during this stretch with the over going a fantastic 9-2 in these 11 games. The Dodgers have recorded just 1 under in their last 10 games! The Reds are 55-32 to the over this season in their games against a right-handed starter and the over is also a perfect 5-0 this year when Cincy enters a game on a winning streak of 3 games or more. 10* OVER in Cincinnati Friday. 

Rickenbach MLB Game #969/970 - Slugfest Smash - 10* Top Play OVER 9 in Kansas City Royals vs Minnesota Twins @ 8:15 ET Thursday - The Twins Tyler Duffey is off of back to back solid starts but those were both at home. In his last two road starts Duffey has been rocked for 11 earned runs in 8.1 innings. He has been homer-prone with 16 homers given up in his last 14 starts. The reason the play here is the over rather than the Royals is because Duffey should receive plenty of run support in this match-up. The Twins scored 10 runs yesterday, have been red hot at the plate of late, and they have been an "over machine" for many weeks now. The Royals will do their damage against Duffey as KC has gotten back on track with wins in 9 of their last 11 games, Kansas City has averaged 5 runs per game during this hot 11-game stretch and KC averaged 7 runs per game in a recent 3-game set at Minnesota. The Twins should fare just fine against the Royals Dillon Gee tonight. The Royals right-hander went 0-3 with a 6.04 ERA in July. So far this month he's been rocked in both of his starts (including one against the Twins) and Gee simply has not been able to get the job done as a starter. More struggles for him here and that should lead to another high-scoring match-up between these divisional rivals as they total double digits in runs for the 6th time in their last 7 meetings. 10* OVER in Kansas City

Rickenbach MLB Game #911/912 - Total Blowout - 10* Top Play OVER 10 in Arizona Diamondbacks vs New York Mets @ 9:40 ET Wednesday - The Mets are off of a 7-5 win yesterday and have their offense back on track as they've now scored 5 runs or more in 4 of their last 5 games. Also, New York has notched a dozen hits in each of the last two games. They should have no trouble with the offerings of Zack Godley tonight as the Diamondbacks right-hander has a 6.11 ERA in his last 3 starts and continues to get hit hard. On the season, Godley is getting hit at a .298 clip in his home starts. Chase Field is a hitter-friendly venue and the Diamondbacks games, both home and away, continue to fly over the total with great regularity. The over is 15-4-1 in the Dbacks last 20 games. The Mets are heating up as usual in the late summer as the over is now 42-26 in their August games the past 3 seasons combined. With Jon Niese on the mound for the Mets tonight, another wild game should be expected tonight. The southpaw has a 6.42 ERA and an ugly 2.07 WHIP in his last 3 starts. Also, in Niese's 8 career starts against Arizona only 1 has stayed under the total. The left-hander has a 6.02 ERA in his career outings versus the Diamondbacks. Niese has been hit hard in 6 straight starts and he has given up at least 4 earned runs in 5 of his last 6 starts. Look for more of the same here. 10* OVER in Arizona

Rickenbach MLB Game #903/904 - Daytime Dominator - 10* Top Play OVER 8.5 in San Francisco Giants vs Pittsburgh Pirates @ 3:45 ET Wednesday - Each of these teams had gone over the total in 3 straight games before yesterday's game ended up being a push to the closing number. The Pirates have been an "over machine" in many respects this season. This includes Pittsburgh going 13-4 to the over in Wednesday games this season and 31-21 to the over in games with a posted total of 8 or 8.5 runs and 24-14 to the over in day games. The Giants are 31-18 to the over this season when they are off of a loss. The Bucs will have Ivan Nova on the mound and he allowed just 1 earned run in his most recent start but was very fortunate as many outs were hard hit balls and plus he did allow 9 hits in 5 and 1/3 innings. The Giants starter today, Matt Cain, also was hit hard in his most recent start as he gave up 5 earned runs on 11 hits in only 4 innings of work! The Giants have averaged 5 runs and 10 hits per game in their last 4 games. The Pirates have averaged 6 runs and 10 hits per game in their last 6 games. Neither starter is likely to enjoy success here and the ball carries better in day games at AT & T Park. 10* OVER in San Francisco

Rickenbach MLB Game #959/960 - Total Dominator - 10* OVER 11 in Colorado Rockies vs Washington Nationals @ 8:40 ET Tuesday - Each team had double digits in hits last night and there also were 8 walks issued but the teams combined for 3 double plays and 16 men left on base as the teams fell short of going over the total. Look for tonight to make up for that with some better clutch hitting as a pair of hurlers likely to get hit hard will be on the mound at Coors Field. The Rockies will have Chad Bettis on the mound and his strikeouts are down in his last two starts and he has a 5.82 ERA in his last 3 starts and all 3 went over the total. Gio Gonzalez gets the start for the Nationals and he was rocked for 5 runs (4 earned) in 6 innings in his only career start at Coors Field. He allowed 4 earned runs in 5 innings in his starts Wednesday against Cleveland. Though he has pitched a little better of late, he still has given up 5 earned runs or more in 4 of his last 9 road starts and pitching at Colorado is the toughest road venue of them all! Yesterday was only the 3rd under the Rockies have had in their last 10 games. The over is 40-24 in Nationals games in the month of August the past 3 seasons combined. This will be the Nats 50th game this season against a team with a losing record and so far only 18 have resulted in an under. Each of these teams had gone over the total in 4 straight games before yesterday's game fell just short of going over. The hot hitting resumes today. 10* OVER in Colorado Tuesday

Rickenbach MLB Game #973/974 - AL West Total of the Year - 10* OVER 8.5 in Oakland Athletics vs Seattle Mariners @ 4:05 ET Sunday - Seattle southpaw Wade LeBlanc has a 5.00 ERa in his last 3 starts but it easily could be worse. LeBlanc has been knocked around for 24 hits (including 5 homers) in the 18 innings spanning his last 3 starts. In his last starts he registered more walks than strikeouts as he struggled and that was at home. Now he is on the road and he got crushed in his only start away from home this season. He'll be opposed by the Athletics Zach Neal. Though the right-hander is off of a solid start against Baltimore, his prior start was at Seattle and he got rocked by the Mariners for 7 earned runs in 4 innings of work. As you can see, this is not a good match-up for him Sunday. Yesterday's game was 4-3 in the 6th inning and certainly should have gone over the total but there was no more scoring beyond the 6th. Still it marked the 3rd straight game that the A's reached double digits in hits. As for Seattle, they have now won 9 of their last 11 games and are certainly feeling the extra confidence at the plate as a result. In 48 games against teams with a losing record this season, the M's have had just 19 unders. The over is 19-9 in A's games against left-handed starters this season. 10* OVER in Oakland Sunday

Rickenbach MLB Game #975/976 - Top Play - 10* UNDER 7 in Miami Marlins vs Chicago White Sox @ 1:10 ET Sunday - The ChiSox Chris Sale has never faced the Marlins and Miami's Tom Koehler has only faced the White Sox once and that was a successful outing 3 years ago. That said, the lack of familiarity these lineups will have with these starting pitchers is a big edge to the hurlers. Considering both pitchers are also in top current form one should absolutely expect a pitchers duel in this game Sunday. Sale has a 3.00 ERA in his last 3 starts and has struck out 17 in his last two starts. The Chicago southpaw is 7-3 on the road this season with a stellar 2.28 ERA. Miami's Koehler is 3-0 with a 0.67 ERA in his last 4 starts! Amazingly the Marlins right-hander has given up only 12 hits in the 27 innings spanning those 4 starts. He also has 18 strikeouts in the 19 innings spanning his last 3 starts. The under is 10-5 in White Sox Sunday games this season. The ChiSox have played 5 road games with a posted total of 7 runs or less this season and only 1 of the 5 went over the total. The under is 9-5 in the Marlins last 14 games against teams with a losing record on the season. 10* UNDER in Miami Sunday

Rickenbach MLB Game #925/926 - IL Game of the Month - 10* Top Play OVER 8.5 in Miami Marlins vs Chicago White Sox @ 7:10 ET Saturday - As I mentioned in my most recent write-up involving James Shields, the veteran right-hander has been one of the streakiest pitchers in baseball this season in terms of his performance. He has not varied from start to start. He is simply either "on or off" and right now he is "off" again. Shields had a good cycle of 10 starts to begin the season, then had 5 rough starts, then had 6 solid starts, and now he is in a "down" cycle again. Shields has been reached for 14 runs in the minuscule 6 and 1/3 innings spanning his last two starts. Overall, in a White Sox uniform, Shields has a 6.68 ERA and it certainly looks like the "fade" is on for him once again. He will be opposed by a fellow struggling hurler tonight as Adam Conley gets the starts for the Marlins. The Miami left-hander, since the All Star break, is simply not the pitcher he was before the break. Perhaps fatigue - both mental and physical - are kicking in but Conley is not pitching deep into games and has walked 13 in this last 3 starts which have spanned less than 16 innings! Conley also has given up 26 hits in his last 21 and 1/3 innings of work. In his 5 starts since the break only 1 has stayed under the total. The over is 12-5 in Miami's Saturday's games this season and 9-3 in Marlins interleague games this year. This total is still a 9 in many places as of early Saturday morning but we're seeing some 8.5 starting to pop up. Note that the White Sox are 7-1 to the over this season in road games with a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs. 10* OVER in Miami Saturday 

Rickenbach MLB Game #907/908 - Slugfest Smash - 10* Top Play OVER 9 in Milwaukee vs Atlanta @ 8:10 ET Tuesday - Last night's game went 12 innings so some extra bullpen work was required. That is significant here because neither pitcher is likely to go deep in this game. The Braves Tyrell Jenkins has not gone longer than 6 innings in any of his starts since moving into the rotation. Also, he's been stellar at home but has struggled in his road starts with a 6.43 ERA and a 1.86 WHIP in his 3 starts away from home. The Brewers will have Wily Peralta on the mound and he's only getting this start because of the injury to Junior Guerra. The Milwaukee right-hander has a 7.79 ERA in his 7 home starts this season and the over is a PERFECT 7-0 in his home outings this year! Peralta was so ineffective that he was sent to AAA. Even at the AAA level he has struggled too as he was roughed up for a 6.31 ERA in his 10 starts at the minor league level. Even though it did take extra innings to get there, the fact is that the Braves reached double digits in hits yesterday for the 8th time in their last 12 games. The over was 7-4 in Atlanta's last 11 games before yesterday's game fell short. Jenkins gave up 3 homers in his most recent road start and the Brewers offense had been producing well in home games. They bounce back here and turn this one into a slugfest. 10* OVER in Milwaukee

Rickenbach MLB Game #955/956 - Slugfest Smash - 10* Top Play - OVER 8.5 or 9 in St Louis Cardinals vs Cincinnati Reds @ 8:15 ET Monday - This is a rematch of a pitching match-up in Cincinnati on Wednesday. That game got "stuck" at 9 runs after a fast start but this one should easily get over the total as these lineups get a quick "second look" at hurlers they just faced last week. Cody Reed of the Reds and Michael Wacha of the Cardinals combined to allow 14 hits in their 10 innings of work and strikeouts were few and far between. In other words, they certainly weren't fooling a lot of hitters. The over is a perfect 4-0 in Reed's road starts this season and he is 0-6 on the season with a 7.30 ERA .The over is 15-6 in Wacha's starts this year and he has struggled more at home than on the road. In his starts in St Louis, Wacha has compiled a 4.67 ERA and a 1.56 WHIP! The over is 8-2-1 in the Cardinals last 11 games and though the Cards were held to 3 runs yesterday, they previously had scored at least 5 runs in 6 of their last 10 games. St Louis is hosting a Reds team that has averaged 5.3 runs per game in their last 18 games. The over is 24-13 in Cincinnati's divisional games this season and the over is 11-3 in their Monday games. The over is 18-11 in Cardinals games against left-handed starters this season. The Reds bullpen has a 5.01 ERA this season and the Cards pen has an ERA up in the range of 4.00 in home games. 10* OVER in St Louis Monday

Rickenbach MLB Game #929/930 - Sunday Night Game of the Month - 10* Top Play OVER 7 or 7.5 in Los Angeles Dodgers vs Boston Red Sox @ 7:10 ET Sunday - Saw some early 7's on this game but it quickly jumped to a 7.5 and that is absolutely justified as there should be plenty of offense in this one after yesterday's 3-0 win for the Dodgers. The Red Sox are 2-1 to the over this season after getting shutout but the lone under was a game which totaled 9 runs. In other words, with a low total like we're seeing on this Sunday night match-up, the over would be a perfect 3-0 in Red Sox games off of a shutout loss. They should have no trouble with the offerings of Brandon McCarthy. The right-hander came back strong in his early outings after returning from Tommy John surgery. However, "the fade" has since already begun. McCarthy has a 7.71 ERA in his last two starts with a 2.00 WHIP as walks allowed and giving up big hits have both been problems for the righty. David Price gets the call for the Red Sox and though he is a "big name" pitcher that gets plenty of respect from the odds makers as well as the betting markets, the lefty hasn't been himself of late. Price has given up at least 3 earned runs in 6 of his last 8 starts. During this 8-game stretch the southpaw has allowed 69 hits in 51 innings of work! Price has a 4.41 ERA over his past 8 starts but, as you can see by those hits, he has been fortunate the damage hasn't been worse. As a home dog of up to +125, the Dodgers have gone 3-0 to the over this season. Yesterday's win was the Dodgers 10th shutout win of the season. So far this year, when off of a shutout win, the next game has stayed under just 3 of 9 times. 10* OVER in Los Angeles Dodgers

Rickenbach MLB Game #959/960 - Slugfest Smash - 10* Top Play OVER 9.5 in Arizona vs Milwaukee @ 8:10 ET Saturday - Yesterday's game stayed under the total but the over was 7-1-1 in the Diamondbacks 9 prior games and, based on Saturday's pitching match-up we should see the hot hitting in Arizona games resume tonight. Before diving into the pitchers, note that the Brewers are 12-4 to the over in Saturday games this season and the Dbacks are 10-3 to the over in home games where their money line is -100 to -125. Milwaukee will have Matt Garza on the mound tonight and the Brewers are 0-6 this season in his road starts as he has a 5.93 ERA and 1.78 WHIP in his starts away from home. He is again matched up with Patrick Corbin (just as he was on July 26th) and that game went over the total and the rematch should as well as these lineups are getting a quick 'second look' at these hurlers. Arizona's Corbin has given up at least 4 earned runs in each of his last seven starts and is winless during this stretch while compiling a 7.08 ERA. Also, Corbin is an incredibly poor 0-7 with a 7.23 ERA and 1.68 WHIP in his home starts this season. There is simply every reason to believe that both of these hurlers will get rocked Saturday evening. The over is 15-6-1 in Corbin's starts this season and this includes 7 in a row! I expect that over streak to reach a perfect 8-0 tonight. 10* OVER in Arizona Saturday.

Rickenbach MLB Game #919/920 - AL West Total of the Year - 10* OVER 8 or 8.5 in Houston vs Texas @ 8:10 ET Friday - This is a battle of southpaws here with Dallas Keuchel facing Martin Perez and both lineups will be helped by the fact that they just faced a left-handed starting pitcher yesterday as well. The big keys to this play are the fact that Perez has been struggling badly and Keuchel has struggled all season against the Rangers. Versus Texas this season, Keuchel has gone 0-3 with 17 earned runs allowed on 32 hits in only 19 and 1/3 innings spanning three starts. As for the Rangers Perez, he is off of a rare, strong start. Prior to holding Kansas City to just one earned run in seven innings, Perez had given up 29 runs (22 earned) on 34 hits in 21 and 2/3 innings spanning his four prior starts. As you can see, there is plenty of reason to believe that both starting pitchers will struggle this evening in this divisional battle. Neither lineup has been hitting the ball particularly well of late but the odds makers knew what they were doing when they hung an 8.5 on this game even though it involves a "big name pitcher" like Keuchel. By the way, the Rangers are hitting .286 against left-handed pitching this season and that ranks them 1st out of all 30 teams. The over is 3-1 in the last 4 starts Perez has made against AL opponents. Also, heading into yesterday's game with Toronto and southpaw J.A. Happ, the over was 4-1 in Astros games against left-handed starters since the All Star Break. Though yesterday's game stayed under, they will enjoy plenty of success facing the struggling Perez tonight. 10* OVER in Houston Friday

Rickenbach MLB Game #951/952 - Top Total - 10* OVER 9 in Cincinnati vs St Louis @ 12:35 ET - Yesterday I used this play as my free pick and the game was 4-2 after just ONE inning! Inexplicably, the game did not go over the total. It ended up being a push at 9 runs. I expect to get some payback today as both of these starting pitchers are likely to get roughed up. Mike Leake gets the start for the Cardinals and he has allowed 6 earned runs in each of his last two starts. Coincidentally, Leake also gave up 6 earned runs the last time he faced the Reds which was in Cincinnati less than 2 months ago. Cincy will have Brandon Finnegan on the mound and the southpaw is off of a strong start at San Diego. However, prior to the solid effort versus the Padres, Finnegan had given up 21 earned runs on 24 hits and 12 walks in just 17 and 1/3 innings spanning his 4 prior starts. Each of those 4 starts went over the total and each of Leake's last 3 starts went over the total as well. The over is 7-3 in Finnegan's home starts this season and 7-4 in Leake's road starts this season. The Cards lineup has the edge of facing a southpaw starter for the 2nd straight game and the over is 18-10 in their games against left-handers this season. The over is also 31-18 in Cardinals road games this season. As for the Reds, the over is 9-1 in their Thursday games this season and 23-10 in their divisional games. 10* OVER in Cincinnati Thursday

Rickenbach MLB Game #911/912 - Slugfest Smash - *10* Top Play OVER 9 in Texas vs Kansas City @ 8:05 ET - The Royals finally got their offense back on track even though it took a strange play on a bunt to "open things up" for Kansas City last night. Still it was a much needed 7-5 win for KC who will now look to build on that in this road trip to Texas. The trouble for the Royals is that their pitching staff has given up 6.5 runs per game in their last 8 games and they will have Yordano Ventura on the mound this evening. He is 2-5 with a 5.26 ERA in his road starts this season. Also, he just faced the Rangers in Kansas City on Saturday and that means the Texas sticks are getting a quick "second look" at him. The same holds true for Cole Hamels as the Rangers southpaw just faced the Royals in that Saturday match-up in Kansas City so the KC lineup is getting a quick second look at him. Hamels has a 6.55 ERA and a 1.91 WHIP in his two career starts against the Royals. Also, the left-hander did give up 5 earned runs in each of his first two starts of the month and one of those was a situation like this where a team (in that case the Twins) was seeing him in consecutive starts. The over is 10-3-1 in Hamels last 14 starts. Also, Ventura has a 6.33 ERA in his last 5 starts and he has averaged less than six innings per outing in those starts. Look for the over to improve to 4-1 in Royals road games with a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs this season. The over is also 20-10 in Rangers home games with a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs this season and the Texas bullpen has a 5.58 ERA at home this year. 8 of the Rangers last 9 games against teams with a losing record on the season have gone over the total. More of the same here. *10* Top Play OVER in Texas

Rickenbach MLB Game #917/918 - Contrarian Total of the Month - *10* Top Play OVER 9.5 in Minnesota vs Baltimore @ 7:10 ET - The Orioles Ubaldo Jimenez has not pitched since prior to the All Star Break. His first daughter was born Saturday. Needless to say there are multiple reasons to believe this start is unlikely to go well for Jimenez and that certainly includes the fact that he is unlikely to be sharp. The Orioles right-hander has had a rough season as he has gone 5-9 with a 7.03 ERA and a 1.95 WHIP. Of course giving up an average of 2 baserunners per inning can certainly result in a lot of trouble and that is what Jimenez has experienced throughout this season. He now faces a Twins team that has scored 7 runs or more in 3 of their last 4 games and has allowed 8 runs or more in 4 of their last 6 games. The "contrarian" aspect to this play is the fact that Baltimore has recorded 15 straight unders. How could I possibly fade that, especially with a "big" play? There a couple of key factors here. Kyle Gibson gets the start for the Twins and he is off of a fantastic outing but previously allowed 4 earned runs or more in 5 of his 8 prior starts. In his start just before the break and just after the break Gibson gave up a total of 8 earned runs on 17 hits in 11 innings of work. Gibson also gave up 4 earned runs on 7 hits and 5 walks in 5 innings of work in his only start against the Orioles this season. Even though the O's have the long "under streak" noted above, note that Jimenez has not only seen each of his last 3 starts go over the total, the over is an amazing 10-1 in his last 11 starts including 5-0 in his last 5 road starts. The over is also 11-4 in Orioles road games with a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs this season and the over is 38-17 this season in Twins night games. *10* Top Play OVER in Minnesota Thursday 

Rickenbach MLB Game #975/976 - Slugfest Smash - *10* Top Play OVER 9 in Baltimore vs Colorado @ 7:05 ET - Yesterday I played the over in the Yankees game and saw their streak of unders snap. Today I expect to do the same with the Orioles. With yesterday's 6-3 O's loss to the Rockies staying just under the total, Baltimore has now stayed under the total in 14 straight games! However, today they have Dylan Bundy getting the start and he is off of a successful start against the Indians but allowed 3 homers in less than 4 innings of work in his prior start and that was against light-hitting Tampa Bay. He'll be facing a tough test today as Bundy faces a confident Rockies lineup as Colorado has won 5 of their last 6 games and averaged 6 runs per game in doing so. The Rockies will have Jon Gray on the mound and certainly he has put up some impressive numbers of late. However, Gray faced the Braves twice and the Phillies once in his last 3 starts. Prior to facing these weak-hitting teams, Gray had gone through a three-start stretch where he had compiled a 5.82 ERA. The Orioles, though they hadn't been knocking the cover off the ball, did have a 5-game winning streak prior to yesterday's loss. That said, they step to the plate with plenty of confidence today and Gray gets a reminder of what is like to face a tough lineup (i.e. NOT the Braves or Phillies). The over is 22-12 in Orioles games with a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs this season. The over is 5-1 in Colorado's games with a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs this season. *10* OVER in Baltimore