Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #902 Friday 8* Philadelphia Phillies Run Line -1.5 runs (+) vs New York Mets @ 6:05 ET - The money line on this match-up is currently as high as a -170 but by taking the Phillies on the run line we can lay the 1.5 runs and get a comeback payout as high as a +140 with this play as of the time of this posting. Of course the benefit is no big juice to lay plus an extra sweet payout. The drawback is that Philadelphia must win the game by 2 or more runs. However, how unlikely is that anyway if they do win? Certainly one has to like the chance of a Phillies win here with staff ace (and All-Star) Aaron Nola on the mound. That said, note that Philadelphia's last 15 wins have featured 0, that's right, ZERO wins by less than a 2-run margin. As for the Mets, 26 of their last 34 losses have come by 2 or more runs. Note that, although Noah Syndergaard is certainly a solid pitcher, the Mets are a long-term 80-116 in games against teams with a winning record. The Phillies are a perfect 4-0 in home games with a posted total of 7 runs or less this season. Also, the Phils are a fantastic 14-6 this season as a home favorite in a range of -125 to -175. Grab the value with the run line here. 8* PHILADELPHIA -1.5 runs (+)

Bulldog's Best - Rickenbach MLB Game #953 Thursday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Philadelphia Phillies vs New York Mets @ 7:05 ET (Game 2 of double header) - The Phillies used a ton of bullpen in last night's win over the Red Sox as starting pitcher Vincent Velasquez was ineffective and had to make an early exit. With that said, and with a rookie starting Game 1 of the double-header today, the Phillies bulllpen is likely to be missing some arms (or at the very least have some tired arms) by the time Game 2 of the double-header rolls around tonight. Philadelphia will be working on its 3rd game in a span of 24 hours. I know Zach Eflin has put up some solid numbers this season and that is why the move for a very short demotion to minors wan't really a demotion...it was just because of roster reasons after some recent trades. However, I do feel this could effect Eflin's effectiveness due to the "mental aspect" of pitching. Also, his last 3 starts have come against the Marlins, Reds, and Padres. Those are the 3 last place teams at the very bottom of each division in the National League! Now I know the Mets also don't have that impressive of a record but New York has averaged scoring 7 runs per game their last 7 games and I do feel Eflin is going to struggle after the "demotion that wasn't" per se! As for Mets starter Steven Matz, struggles are also likely as he had a strained flexor-pronator muscle in his throwing arm and has been awful recently. In his 3 starts since the All Star break the southpaw has a 12.34 ERA! The over is 4-0 in the last 4 starts Matz has made and, per all of the above, another one is very likely here. 10* OVER the total in Philadelphia

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Game #951 Thursday 8* OVER the total in Philadelphia Phillies vs New York Mets @ 4:05 ET (Game 1 of double header) - The Mets are starting Corey Oswalt and this will be his 2nd start against the Phillies in his rookie season. Look for that to be an edge for the Philadelphia hitters and they also have momentum off of a huge performance last night in their 7-4 win over the Red Sox. New York's Oswalt is winless with a 6.75 ERA in his 4 road games (3 starts) this season. As for the Phillies starter in Game 1 of this twin-bill, it is also a rookie hurler. Ranger Suarez gets the call and the southpaw did get the win in his MLB debut but he allowed a pair of homers (and 4 earned runs overall) in his 5-inning start versus the Reds last week. He is facing a Mets team that will have plenty of confidence at the plate in this one as they've won 5 of their last 7 games and have averaged scoring 7 runs per game in their last 7 games! Only 3 of the Mets last 10 games have stayed under the total. The Phillies Suarez is only 22 years old and he had never even pitched above single-A ball in the minors until this year! Suffice to say this is a huge jump for him to face major league hitters and I expect some more "growing pains" for the southpaw like we saw when he faced Cincinnati last week. 8* OVER the total in Philadelphia

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #963 Thursday 8* OVER the total in New York Yankees vs Tampa Bay Rays @ 1:05 ET - The Yankees Masahiro Tanaka got rocked for 6 earned runs in just 5 innings in his most recent start. In his prior outing he gave up 6 hits in less than 5 innings of work. The Yanks right-hander has allowed 4 homers in his last two starts and the Rays have some extra confidence at the plate after yesterday's 6-1 win brings them to 5-3 their last 8 games. The issue for Tampa Bay today will be a match-up issue for their starting pitcher Blake Snell. The Rays southpaw has been crushed to the tune of a 12.54 ERA in his last 3 starts versus the Bronx Bombers and all of those have been recent too. Snell allowed 5 homers in those 3 outings. You can see why this one certainly has the possibility of turning into a slugfest though most, at first glance, would not expect that. Couple this with the fact that we have a low total to work with in this one and there is great value with the over. Also, the weather will be hot this afternoon in the Bronx with a light breeze expected to be blowing out to right field. 8* OVER the total in New York Yankees

ESPN Smash Pass - Rickenbach MLB Game #922 Wednesday 10* Top Play Philadelphia Phillies Money Line (+) vs Boston Red Sox @ 7:05 ET - There is no doubt that the Phillies key problem is at the plate. They continue to get good starting pitching and also their bullpen has been quite solid this season. That said, if the Phillies are virtually "guaranteed" of a decent game at the plate, they have been winning a high percentage of those games. This absolutely looks like one of those games Wednesday. The Red Sox are starting Nathan Eovaldi in this one and the right-hander has allowed 4 earned runs or more in 5 of his last 7 starts! In fact, Eovaldi's ERA during this stretch is an ugly 6.63 and he has been particularly roughed up of late. The righty has given up 19 hits in just 5 and 1/3 innings spanning his last two road starts. Clearly ugly numbers and the Phillies bats certainly are "due" for a breakout game and will take advantage. While hard to trust on the road, Philadelphia is a better hitting team when at Citizens Bank Park. The Red Sox won Eovaldi's most recent road start but previously his team's record in road outings was 1-5 his last 6. The Phillies Vincent Velasquez has been absolutely fantastic at home as he has allowed only 9 earned runs on just 15 hits in the 34 and 1/3 innings spanning his last 6 home starts. That means he is giving up LESS than ONE hit every TWO innings in his home starts the past two months! Boston, of course, is the best team in MLB, but the Phillies have a huge pitching edge here plus are 25-12 in home games with a posted total of 8 or 8.5 runs this season. 10* PHILADELPHIA

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach MLB Game #911 Wednesday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Oakland A's vs Seattle Mariners @ 3:35 ET - The total on this one has dropped from an opener of a 9 down to an 8.5 and I am well aware of yesterday's low-scoring 3-2 A's win as well as the fact that Oakland has been trending under of late. That said, I am going contrarian here and going with the over. For one things, the Mariners have been trending over of late. For another, the ball does carry better in day games at Oakland Coliseum. Additionally, I am not that impressed with either one of the starting pitchers taking the mound today. The Mariners Mike Leake has a low ERA over his last 3 starts but he has allowed 25 hits in 18 and 2/3 innings spanning those 3 outings. Also, in his last 3 road starts, Leake has allowed 25 hits in just 16 innings of work! The Athletics should get to him early and often. The issue for Oakland however will be their own starting pitcher. Southpaw Brett Anderson gets the call here and the lefty is facing a Mariners team that is 4th in the AL with a .261 batting average versus left-handed pitching. Anderson has a "decent" ERA this season but he continues to allow opponents to be a hitting machine. Note that since his "respectable" 2015 campaign with the Dodgers, Anderson has given up 154 hits in 114 and 1/3 innings. That means he gives up about 4 hits every 3 innings and this a 3 year trend! Opponents are hitting well over .300 against him during this 3-year stretch and I love the value we're getting with the low total here. I'll take it! 10* OVER the total in Oakland

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #909 Wednesday 8* OVER the total in Detroit Tigers vs Chicago White Sox @ 1:10 ET - Yesterday's game was 3-3 after 1 inning and 6-3 at the halfway point of the game (top of the 5th). I had the over in yesterday's game and was dealt a frustrating push (total was a 9). As you might expect, I am coming right back with the same play today after getting royally burned by this one yesterday.  With yesterday's win, Chicago has scored 18 runs on 28 hits in their past three games. Also, they have scored 19 runs in their past three road games and are 4-1 their last 5 away from home. As you can see, they carry some confidence stepping up to the plate in this one. The issue for the White Sox however will be the fact that their starting pitcher is likely to struggle in this one. Carlos Rodon is 0-2 with a 7.31 ERA in his 3 career starts versus Detroit. This will be the first time he has faced them in 2018 and the left-hander is facing a Tigers team that ranks 8th out of all 30 teams for batting average versus southpaws this season. The over is 14-4 in Chicago's last 18 games against teams with a losing record. As for Tigers starter Jordan Zimmerman, he has faced the White Sox twice this season and he has been rocked for 10 earned runs in just 9 and 1/3 innings. The over is 9-1 in Zimmerman's 10 career starts versus the White Sox and the over is 2-0 (with one push) in Rodon's 3 career starts versus the Tigers. More of the same here. 8* OVER the total in Detroit

Game of the Week - Rickenbach MLB Game #974 Tuesday 10* Top Play Texas Rangers Run Line +1.5 runs vs Arizona Diamondbacks @ 8:05 ET - The Diamondbacks struggles to hit on the road continue to give them trouble. Yesterday they faced 45 year old Bartolo Colon and finished the game with only 6 hits. The Diamondbacks .230 batting average on the road this season ties them with the Rockies for DEAD LAST in the National League. Tonight Arizona faces a pitcher who has been red hot of late. Yovani Gallardo is 4-0 with a 2.78 ERA in his last 4 starts while holding the opposition to a .213 batting average in those outings. He also is a superb 8-2 with a 2.21 ERA in his 15 starts against the Dbacks in his career. He'll be opposed by Arizona southpaw Patrick Corbin. While the lefty does have good numbers on the season, he is facing a Rangers team whose .446 slugging percentage in home games ranks them 5th out of all 30 MLB teams. Two more big homers led the way for Texas yesterday and they have averaged scoring 8.4 runs per game in going 6-2 in their last 8 home games. We're getting great market value here because the markets overemphasize pitching and that includes looking a lot at long-term numbers and they don't give enough weight to hitting. The summation, Gallardo has pitched just as well as Corbin of late and the Rangers hitting at home is much better than the Diamondbacks hitting on the road. In the last ten home games for Texas at +1.5 runs they have a record of 9-1, 90%! That's right...only one home loss by more than one run in their last ten home games! As for Arizona, at -1.5 runs in road games, they're 3-6 their last 9 games. The Rangers price at +1.5 runs is right around even money which is a true bargain as you can see per the above. I'll take it! 10* TEXAS +1.5 runs

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach MLB Game #961 Tuesday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Detroit Tigers vs Chicago White Sox @ 7:10 ET - Tigers starter Blaine Hardy gave up 3 homers in 5 innings in his most recent start. Though he was pitching better prior to the tough at Los Angeles against the Angels, the White Sox will prove not to be a good match-up for him. Though his numbers show good starts against them this season, keep in mind players change teams in today's MLB more frequently than years gone by. There are a number of hitters on the White Sox roster whom have enjoyed success against Hardy. Chicago has scored 12 runs on 20 hits in their past two games. Also, they have scored 13 runs in their past two road games and are 3-1 their last 4 away from home. Despite yesterday's 9-5 loss, they carry some confidence stepping up to the plate in this one. The issue for the White Sox however will be the fact that their own starting pitcher is also likely to struggle. Lucas Giolito has given up at least 5 earned runs in 2 of his last 3 starts. The Sox lefty has allowed at least 4 earned runs in 8 of his last 14 starts. He is facing a Tigers team that ranks 8th out of all 30 teams for batting average versus southpaws this season. Also, Giolito has allowed 5 earned runs in each of his two starts versus Detroit this season. The over is 14-4 in Chicago's last 18 games against teams with a losing record. Also, when the White Sox enter a game on a losing streak of 3 or more games, the over is 22-7 this season! The over is 3-1 in Hardy's last 4 home starts. More of the same here. 10* OVER the total in Detroit

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Game #951 Tuesday MLB 8* OVER the total in Chicago Cubs vs Milwaukee Brewers @ 2:20 ET - The wind will be rather light but still it will be a south to southwest wind which means it will be blowing out toward left or left-center field on a very warm afternoon at Wrigley Field Tuesday. Of course this favors the hitters and, based on this pitching match-up, we have great value with this rather low total in Chicago this afternoon. Jose Quintana gets the start for the Cubs and he has been rocked for at least 5 earned runs in 2 of his last 3 starts. Jhoulys Chacin gets the call for the Brewers in this one and he has allowed 11 earned runs in 10 and 1/3 innings spanning his last two starts. The over is 8-1 in Chacin's last 9 starts. With this total at a 9 we just need each team to get to 4 runs as the game then can't end with anything less than a 5-4 final. Milwaukee has scored at least 4 runs in 10 of its last 11 games. In fact, the Brewers have averaged scoring 5 runs per game during this stretch. As for the Cubs, they've scored at least 4 runs in 9 of their last 13 games. The over is 8-2-1 in Milwaukee's last 11 games. The over is 20-11 this season in Brewers games against left-handed starters plus they are 9-4 to the over when playing after an off day. Look for another one to fly over today at hitter-friendly Wrigley Field. 8* OVER the total in the Chicago Cubs game

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach MLB Game #903 Monday 10* Top Play OVER the total in St Louis Cardinals vs Washington Nationals @ 8:10 ET - Many will be expecting the Nationals to be flat here after the demoralizing 2-out 2-strike grand slam that turned a 3-0 win into a 4-3 loss in the bottom of the 9th yesterday. However, I disagree. I think the Nats are going to be very feisty here and I expect them to enjoy success at the plate against Miles Mikolas. The issue for Washington is that their own starter, Tom Milone, can't be trusted here. Hence, a big play on the over for me. First off, as for Mikolas, the Cardinals right-hander has been more hittable lately than he was earlier this season. He has given up 26 hits in the 23 and 1/3 innings spanning his last 4 home starts. As you can see, Mikolas certainly has not been unhittable of late! As for Milone, the Nationals southpaw got rocked for 7 earned runs on 10 hits in just 6 innings in his most recent start and that was at home. In his only road start with the Nats he allowed 8 hits in just 5 innings. Look for the Cardinals to do plenty of damage at the plate in a game that should turn into a back and forth slugfest. Look for the over to improve to 3-1 in Milone's starts. Also, the Cards are 15-8 to the over in their last 23 games against teams with a winning record. 10* OVER the total in St Louis

ESPN Smash Pass - Rickenbach MLB Game #921 Monday 8* OVER the total in New York Yankees vs New York Mets @ 7:05 ET - The long-term reputation of both of these pitchers is great plus the Mets certainly aren't known for their run-scoring abilities. However, for this total to be down to a 7 (and possibly even headed toward a 6.5) in an American League park is simply too low in my opinion. The over is actually 6-1 in Luis Severino's last 7 starts. The Yankees right-hander has tailed off since his red hot first half of the season. In his last 6 starts Severino has a 7.31 ERA. The Mets Jacob deGrom had a strong start versus the Yankees earlier this season. However, when the right-hander last faced them in the Bronx (coincidentally last August) he got roughed up for 5 earned runs on 9 hits (including 2 homers) in 7 and 1/3 innings. Since late June, deGrom has only made two road starts and he allowed 6 earned runs on 14 hits in 13 innings. Those are mediocre numbers away from home and possible weather issues in the Bronx this evening (scattered thunderstorms) could cause delays that disrupt the rhythm for both of these pitchers. As a road dog in a range of +125 to +175, the Mets are 13-8 to the over this season. In home games with a posted total of 7 runs or less, the Yankees are a long-term 21-12 to the over (including 5-2 to the over the past two seasons). 8* OVER the total in New York Yankees

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Game #919 Monday 8* OVER the total in Atlanta Braves vs Miami Marlins @ 1:35 ET (Game 1 of double header) - The Braves are expected to have Touki Toussaint start game one of this day-night twinbill. He will be making his MLB debut. Though Toussaint has great minor league numbers this is a guy whom has only made 5 starts above the AA level in minor league ball. Last year he was still in single-A ball for the majority of the season. Give him credit as he has made a quick rise through the minor league ranks but now he faces a major league lineup on a warm afternoon in Atlanta where the ball should be carrying very well. He'll be opposed by a fellow rookie as well. The Marlins are expected to go with Pablo Lopez in game one but there is a chance it could be Merandy Gonzalez. Either way I like this play as, either way, it is a rookie pitcher for Miami that is facing a Braves team that has won 10 of its last 14 games thanks in large part to their lineup scoring an average of 6 runs per game in the 10 wins. Look for Atlanta to stay hot here at the plate. Lopez has a 4.54 ERA in his last 6 starts and has allowed 7 homers in his 7 MLB starts. If Gonzalez gets the call he has a 5.71 ERA and has been hit at a .311 clip working out of the bullpen this season for the Marlins. He has allowed 3 homers in 17 innings. The over is 8-3 in the 11 games between these teams and I expect more of the same here. 8* OVER the total in Atlanta (Game 1 of double header)

ESPN Smash Pass - Rickenbach MLB Game #964 Sunday 8* Chicago Cubs Money Line (+) vs Washington Nationals @ 8:05 ET - This will be Cole Hamels Wrigley Field debut as a member of the Cubs and he has pitched extremely well here. Way back in his rookie season in 2006 he had a disastrous first start at Wrigley Field but he has absolutely dominated at Wrigley Field every time he has started there ever since. Couple that with the fact that he has pitched very well in both of his starts since coming to the Cubs and you have a nice setup here for a solid home dog play. Of course the reason Chicago is a home dog in this one is justified because Max Scherzer is on the mound for the Nationals here. The right-hander has pitched very well against the Cubs and, like Hamels, comes into this one in strong current form. However, not only do we have home field edge, underdog value edge, and the better overall team edge, another interesting advantage lies with the Cubs here. That is that the Cubs lineup will be seeing Scherzer for the 3rd time in a little over a years time while Hamels hasn't started against the Nationals in over 3 years! That means the Washington bats don't have near the recent experience against Hamels that the Chicago hitters have against Scherzer. Again, I have great respect for Scherzer but all the factors above mean that the edges here clearly point to grabbing big value with the sizable home dog in this match-up. I also look for the Cubs to bounce back after the ugly 9-4 loss yesterday as that puts them in revenge mode! The Cubbies are 12-3 the last 15 times they were off of a loss! 8* CHICAGO CUBS money line

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach MLB Game #977 Sunday 8* OVER the total in Los Angeles Angels vs Oakland A's @ 4:05 ET - With yesterday's 7-0 shutout win, the Athletics have stayed under the total in 7 straight games. Couple that with the fact that Mike Trout is currently on the DL for the Angels and most will be looking under in this match-up. In typical contrarian fashion I am going with the over in this match-up and a closer look will show you exactly why that is. The Angels Taylor Cole will be making his first ever MLB start and his average outing of the bullpen for Los Angeles this season is two innings. Cole has never started a game above the AA level in MLB and has a 5.16 ERA this season working out of the bullpen in AAA. I don't expect him to fare well against an A's team that is very confident at the plate right now. Oakland has won 8 of their last 10 games and has averaged scoring 5 runs per plate during this hot stretch. Though Cole struggles here, he may indeed get his first MLB win as a starter because I do expect the Angels lineup to pound Trevor Cahill. The Oakland right-hander has truly been "night and day" between his road starts and home starts this season. At home he has a 0.99 ERA but on the road Cahill has a 6.44 ERA. The over is 5-0 (and one push) in his 6 road starts this season. I am forecasting that record to stay perfect on the year this afternoon! 8* OVER the total in the Los Angeles Angels game

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #971 Sunday 8* OVER the total in Detroit Tigers vs Minnesota Twins @ 1:10 ET - The Twins are starting Kohl Stewart in this one. This will be his MLB debut and it is unlikely to go well. This season he has been pitching in the minors and has logged 68 innings at AA and 40 and 2/3 innings at AAA. The results? He got hit at a .301 clip at the AA level and a .300 clip at the AAA level. In other words, today's start against MLB hitters is unlikely to see him missing too many bats! He'll be opposed by the Tigers Matt Boyd. I know the southpaw has good numbers at home this season but the Minnesota lineup is very familiar with him and Boyd is 0-2 in his last 3 starts against the Twins and has nearly as many walks as strikeouts in those outings. He has not lasted more than 5 innings in any of those starts against Minny and that will be significant here as the Detroit bullpen ERA ranks the Tigers in the bottom third of MLB.  By the way, the Twins bullpen ERA and batting average against ranks them as one of the worst in the majors. 8* OVER the total in Detroit

Total of the Month - Rickenbach MLB Game #905 Saturday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Atlanta Braves vs Milwaukee Brewers @ 7:10 ET - The Braves crushed the Brewers 10-1 yesterday and are also one of the top hitting teams in the majors against left-handed pitching. In other words, the Atlanta bats should absolutely stay hot today as they take advantage of facing southpaw Wade Miley. The Brewers lefty shows some good numbers in terms of his stats but, he has had limited action and will be exposed here. Other than a superb start against the Dodgers Miley's other outings have seen him allow 13 walks and 20 hits (total of 33 baserunners) in 21 and 1/3 innings! The start against the Dodgers was the only one of Miley's last 5 outings that have stayed under the total. The over is 7-1-1 in Milwaukee's games this month and they should pound Julio Teheran. The Braves, overall, have gone 4-1-1 to the over in their last 6 games and Teheran is likely to struggle here. He has lost command of his slider and walks have often been an issue for him of late plus, overall, his ERA is north of 5 over his past ten starts! Teheran allowed 7 earned runs in just 3 innings when he most recently faced the Brewers. The Brewers had averaged scoring 5.4 runs per game in their last 8 games prior to yesterday's loss. They'll bounce back here and the Braves bats (7.5 runs per game last 4 at home) stay red hot. 10* OVER the total in Atlanta

Afternoon Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #902 Saturday 8* Chicago Cubs Money Line (-) vs Washington Nationals @ 4:05 ET - This is a contrarian play. This line opened up with the Cubs as a bit of a pricier favorite and now has dropped to a very low price on Chicago as of early game day morning. Of course I understand what many are looking at here as the Nationals Tanner Roark has better recent numbers than the Cubs Jon Lester does. However, Roark's last two starts were against the cellar-dwelling Reds and Mets. Also, prior to his solid 3-start stretch, Roark had given up 17 earned runs in 16 innings spanning his 3 prior starts. Though Lester has hit a rare tough stretch, prior to the Cubs losing his last two starts, Chicago had gone 10-1 in his 11 prior starts! Lester's most recent start was a rare tough one at home against the Padres. Previously he had allowed 3 earned runs or less in 8 of his last 10 home starts. The southpaw is likely to bounce back at Wrigley this afternoon. The Nationals won Roark's first start this season and they have won each of his last 3 starts. However, in between that Washington went 4-14 in Roark's starts! The Cubs are the #1 team in the National League and the Nats are likely to drop to 12-20 versus left-handed starters this season. The big value with the small home favorite is the way to go in this one. 8* CHICAGO CUBS

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #915 Saturday 8* OVER the total in New York Yankees vs Chicago White Sox @ 1:05 ET - Both of these teams are certainly seeing the ball very well right now. Yesterday's game totaled 19 runs. I know that Lance Lynn is off of a start that looks superb (against the White Sox) when you look at his stats from that one. However, I watched that outing closely and he was very fortunate early and the Sox batters helped him more than they should have too. The point being I don't expect him to have that same success against a Rangers lineup that has now scored 11 or more runs in 5 of their last 9 games! Suffice to say the Texas lineup is rolling with confidence right now as they are averaging 8.6 runs per game their last 9 games! Yesterday marked the 4th time in 5 games that the Yankees have hung 7 on the scoreboard so their lineup is rolling along just fine as well. Certainly I don't expect them to have any problems with the offerings of Drew Hutchison. The Rangers right-hander got rocked for 6 earned runs in 3 innings in his first start with Texas and that came against a bad Orioles team. In other words, things are unlikely to improve for Hutchison against a quality Yankees team! He started this season with the Phillies working out of the bullpen and has a cumulative 1.77 WHIP and 6.29 ERA on the season. He struggles here and Lynn is going to see more hard hit balls that don't end up with his fielders in this one. Again, I know his start versus the Sox was successful but I watched that one closely and he was very fortunate early and then got into a nice groove. That won't happen here. 8* OVER the total in the New York Yankees game early Saturday

Divisional Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Game #971 Friday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Detroit Tigers vs Minnesota Twins @ 7:10 ET - Ervin Santana has not looked right since he returned from the disabled list. The numbers don't lie and the velocity is down on his pitches. Also, he has allowed 20 hits in less than 15 innings of work spanning his 3 starts. In his last two starts Santana has given up 4 homers. Speaking of problems with giving up the long ball, the Tigers Jordan Zimmerman has allowed a pair of homers in each of his last 3 starts! The Detroit right-hander has a 6.91 ERA in his last 3 starts while Minesota's Santana has a 6.14 ERA in his 3 starts. Neither pitcher in good current form and both of these hurlers also have a match-up concern here. I say that because Zimmerman has allowed 15 earned runs in just 12 innings spanning his last 3 starts versus the Twins! As for Santana, he has allowed 12 runs (10 earned) on 21 hits in 15 and 1/3 innings spanning his last 3 starts versus the Tigers. The over is 3-0 in Zimmerman's last 3 starts against Minnesota and 2-0 in Santana's last 2 starts against Detroit. The Twins enters this game on a run of 5-2 to the over after yesterday's game at Cleveland flew over the total. Minnesota is a long-term 10-7-72 to the over in games against teams with a losing record. Both of these bullpens rank in the lower third of the majors too! The over is a long-term 40-23 in Twins Friday games including 11-4 this season! The Tigers have had just 18 unders the last 50 times (36%) that they were playing after a day off. Plenty of offense in this one! 10* OVER the total in Detroit

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach MLB Game #905 Thursday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Colorado Rockies vs Los Angeles Dodgers @ 8:40 ET - The Rockies Tyler Anderson has trended under this season in his home starts. The Dodgers Ross Stripling has trended under this season in his road starts. As a result, you have a situation where the betting markets and public or square bettors are going to help us get some additional value here. That's because both of these pitchers are likely to get hammered here but yet this total is holding at a 10.5 as of gameday morning. Of course 10.5 may seem like a big number but not for a mid-August game at hitter-friendly Coors Field with two very strong lineups. Keys to the value here include the fact that the Dodgers Stripling is returning from a stint on the disabled list with an injury to the big toe on his right foot. Being a right-hander, that is is the foot he pushes off with and certainly could still be "on his mind" in his first start back. Stripling has allowed 9 earned runs in the 8 and 2/3 innings spanning his two starts since the All Star break. He allowed 4 homers in those two outings! The Rockies Anderson has also struggled recently with 11 earned runs allowed in the 10 innings spanning his last two starts. Like Stripling, Anderson has also allowed 4 homers in his last two starts. Stripling has a respectable ERA in his 3 career starts against the Rockies but the only 2 where he pitched more than 2 innings saw him allow 9 hits in 6 innings each time! In other words, he hasn't fooled many Colorado sticks and a "break through" against him is imminent. As for Anderson against the Dodgers, he had a great start at Dodger Stadium this season but, prior to that he was rocked for 9 earned runs in just 7 and 1/3 innings spanning his last two starts against Los Angeles and that included one at Coors Field. He gave up 3 homers in those 7 and 1/3 innings. The over is 7-2-1 (78%) this season in Anderson's starts where is Rockies are an underdog and they are a home dog here. Look for a slugfest to erupt per the above angles! 10* OVER the total in Colorado

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Game #910 Thursday 8* Cleveland Indians Run Line -1.5 runs vs Minnesota Twins @ 1:10 ET - While I certainly respect the Twins Jose Berrios the numbers don't lie. He has struggled this season in day games. Berrios is 8-2 in night games but just 3-6 in day games with a 4.50 ERA. Also, the Minnesota right-hander is 8-2 in home games this season but only 3-6 in road games with a 4.30 ERA. Not only is this Thursday match-up a road game and a day game, he also is matched up with Corey Kluber whom has phenomenal numbers in day games! Kluber is not only 8-3 with a 2.01 ERA in home games this season, he also is a PERFECT 8-0 with a minuscule 1.66 ERA in his 10 day game starts! Those of you thinking that might be a one year thing or just a "fluke", note that Kluber went 10-2 with a 1.81 ERA in his home games last season plus a phenomenal 7-1 with a 1.89 ERA in his day game starts in 2017! He loves pitching at home and he loves pitching in day games. The proof is in the numbers. Of course I am not going to lay a 2 to 1 favorite on the money line but note that the Indians are at even money right now on the run line at -1.5 runs and this is offering superb line value! Cleveland is 9-4 in their last 13 games and 9 of the Indians last 10 wins have come by a victory margin of 2 or more runs. Minnesota, on the other hand, is 3-9 in their last 12 games. Also, 8 of the Twins last 9 losses have come by at least 2 runs. This one shapes up to be a home blowout. 8* CLEVELAND Run Line

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #901 Thursday 8* Atlanta Braves Money Line (+) @ Washington Nationals @ 1:05 ET - The Nationals are just 1-8 in the last 9 starts Gio Gonzalez has made. One could argue that the majority of those points were on the road and his won-loss record has been better at home. While that is true, the fact is that the Nat southpaw has not been pitching well at home lately either. In his last 4 home starts Gonzalez has given up 14 runs (13 earned) on 29 hits and 10 walks in just 16 innings of work! That means he is averaging allowing about 5 baserunners per every 2 innings in home starts since late May. While it is understandable that Washington is favored here because they are at home, the Braves have certainly been the better team this season plus they have the pitching here. Atlanta is starting Anibal Sanchez and he has held the Nationals to just 3 earned runs on only 8 hits in his 13 innings against them this season. Plus the Braves are 6-2 in his road starts this season and Sanchez has a 3.00 ERA overall on the season! While the Nationals are only playing .500 ball against divisional opponents this season, the Braves are now 36-17 on the season against NL East foes! Also, Atlanta is 9-2 in road games with a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs this season and the Braves are 8-2 in Thursday games this year. Washington is a miserable 3-9 in their last dozen games versus teams with a winning record! Tremendous underdog value in this spot and I'll take it! 8* ATLANTA 

ESPN Smash Pass - Rickenbach MLB Game #957 Wednesday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Washington Nationals vs Atlanta Braves @ 7:05 ET - The Nationals Tom Milone is coming off of a great start but he faced the Mets. That outing has to be taken with a grain of salt. Now the southpaw faces a Braves team that ranks among the top teams in the majors against left-handed pitching. Atlanta is hitting .267 this season against lefties with a .450 slugging percentage! As for the Nationals, they are one of the top hitting teams in the National League when on their home field as Washington has a solid .263 batting average at home. Though the Braves Mike Foltneywicz has great overall numbers, the right-hander was hit hard at Washington late last month and has an ugly 1.78 WHIP in his last two starts at Nationals Park. Milone's start prior to shutting down the Mets saw him allow 3 earned runs on 8 hits in just 5 innings of work versus another weak team, the Marlins. That said, he is likely to struggle badly against a Braves team battling it out with the Phillies for the top spot in the NL East. Foltneywicz had a solid start in his most recent outing but this was against a weak Mets team. Prior to that he had some struggles in 4 straight outings and compiled a 6.94 ERA during this 4-start stretch! There have been only 2 unders in his last 8 starts. Look for the "over trend" to resume Wednesday as he and his counterpart on the hill are each likely to get roughed up. 10* OVER the total in Washington

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Game #955 Wednesday 8* Philadelphia Phillies Money Line (+) @ Arizona Diamondbacks @ 3:40 ET - The Phillies blew Monday night's game in the bottom of the 9th. The reason I bring that up is because Philadelphia does have a solid bullpen and that loss was certainly unexpected. Had they not blown that late 2-run lead we'd now be talking about a 7-game winning streak for the Phillies but they continue to not get much respect from the betting markets. Philadelphia is a sizable dog in this afternoon match-up Wednesday despite the fact that the Phillies Vince Velasquez has a 2.18 ERA in his last 8 starts. The Phils right-hander has allowed 2 earned runs or less in 11 of his last 13 starts! The Diamondbacks Patrick Corbin is certainly a solid starter in his own right but he has allowed 3 earned runs or more in 3 of his last 4 starts. The Phillies are 10-6 this season in Wednesday games while Arizona is a horrible 3-12 in Wednesday games this season. While I am not huge on "day of the week" trends some do carry significant meaning. In this case it means the Phillies do a better job of staying on task when a change of venue is coming up. Keep in mind Wednesday games are often getaway days for teams and Arizona is heading to Cincinnati after this game and the Phillies are heading to San Diego for their next series. Don't be surprised if the Diamondbacks Wednesday struggles continue. Also, the Phillies are 8 games OVER .500 in games against teams with a winning record this season while the Dbacks are 12 games UNDER .500 in games against teams with a winning record this season. 8* PHILADELPHIA 

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #963 Wednesday 8* OVER the total in Texas Rangers vs Seattle Mariners @ 2:05 ET - The Rangers Yovani Gallardo has pitched just well enough to keep this total lower than it should be. The fact is that he regressed to his usual struggles in his most recent start and this still a guy whom hasn't compiled a respectable full season ERA at the MLB level since 2015. Even though he is 6-1 this season (truly a bit of a miracle), Gallardo has a 5.24 ERA on the season. Also, he has been roughed up in 3 of his last 5 starts. He'll be opposed by the Mariners Marco Gonzales. Though the Seattle southpaw has good numbers, he was hit hard in his lone career start at Texas and the Rangers bats are red hot right now. Part of the reason that Texas has rattled off 8 wins in their last 11 games is that the Rangers lineup has produced an average of 7.5 runs per game during this hot streak. The over is 3-0 in the last 3 starts Gonzales has made and also the over is 7-1 in Gallardo's 8 starts this season! Overall, the over is 5-2 in the Mariners last 7 games and Seattle is a long-term 7-3 in road games with a posted total of 11 or 11.5 runs. 8* OVER the total in Texas

Game of the Week - Rickenbach MLB Game #909 Tuesday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Colorado Rockies vs Pittsburgh Pirates @ 8:40 ET - Yesterday's 2-0 Rockies win continued a rare stretch of low-scoring games at Coors Field. Look for normalcy to return tonight in Denver. The wind will be blowing out and I look for both pitchers to get hit hard. Colorado's Chad Bettis hasn't pitched in over a month and his ERA is 8.75 in his 7 home starts this season. The over is 5-1 in his last 6 home starts. Also, the over is 5-1 overall in the last 6 starts Bettis has made. Also, in his 7 starts since late May, Bettis has compiled an 8.15 ERA in those 7 outings. Bettis has a 7.45 ERA in his last two home starts against the Pirates. He'll be opposed by Jameson Taillon tonight. The Pittsburgh right-hander did have a solid start against the Rockies last season but that was NOT at Coors Field! Taillon will be making his first ever start in the Mile High City and this venue is not known for being kind to first-time starters. Also, he has a 4.12 ERA in night games in his career as he has been much better in day games. The over is 8-4 in Taillon's last 12 starts overall. Only 25 of the Pirates 68 night games have stayed under the total this season. With both Taillon and Bettis likely to get roughed up, this one does not stay under either! 10* OVER the total in Colorado

Afternoon Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #926 Tuesday 8* San Francisco Giants Money Line (-) vs Houston Astros @ 3:45 ET - Unbelievable loss for the Giants last night as they shutout the Astros for 8 and 2/3 innings in yesterday's game but then gave up a 3-run bomb in the top of the 9th as the shot that decided the game. Suffice to say San Francisco is grateful for a quick turnaround and an afternoon game to have a shot at right-back revenge this afternoon. Simply put, the Giants can't wait to get back on the field after the way last night's game ended. Madison Bumgarner gets the start for the home team here and the Giants are 4-2 in his home starts this season and he has produced a sparking 2.01 ERA in those outings. Also, he is 14-6 with a 2.91 ERA in day game starts from 2015 to 2017. He is 4-1 with a 2.45 ERA in his 5 career starts versus the Astros. Houston has been held to 3 runs or less in 8 of their last 11 games so their lineup has not exactly been lighting the world on fire of late. Also, the Astros Dallas Keuchel has been much stronger at home than on the road over the years. Also, he enters this start with a mediocre 4.50 ERA in his last two starts as he has allowed 14 hits in 12 innings spanning those two outings. The past 3 seasons (2015 to 2017) Keuchel went 25-8 at home but only 18-17 on the road and his ERA on the road was 2 runs higher compared to his home ERA! The Giants had averaged 10.4 hits per game in their 7 games prior to last night's loss and their lineup gets right back on track here. Keep in mind, SF is still 32-23 in home games this season while Houston is just 2-6 (and 59-107 long-term) in road games with a posted total of 7 or less runs. 8* SAN FRANCISCO

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #931 Tuesday 8* OVER the total in Washington Nationals vs Atlanta Braves @ 1:05 ET (Game 1 of double header) - The Nationals called up Jeffry Rodriguez from the minors to make this spot start. The Washington right-hander has a 9.64 ERA in his 3 MLB starts this season and the over is a perfect 2-0 in his home starts this year. The Braves will have southpaw Max Fried on the mound in this one. The over is a perfect 2-0 in his road starts this season. The over is 5-1 in the Nationals last 6 games against a southpaw starter and Washington is a very confident team at the plate right now. That confidence comes with an 8-3 winning run their last 11 games. This is a hot stretch during which the Nats have averaged scoring 7 runs per game. Atlanta has scored 4 runs or more in 5 of their last 7 games and should have no trouble with the offerings of Rodriguez. With the Nationals also pounding the ball here and with hot weather in DC and the wind blowing out at Nationals Park this one should fly over the total early this afternoon. 8* OVER the total in Washington (Game 1 of double header)

ESPN Smash Pass - Rickenbach MLB Game #963 Monday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Chicago White Sox vs New York Yankees @ 8:10 ET - Lance Lynn makes his first start for the Yankees. Though he was impressive out of the bullpen in a 4 and 1/3 innings stint coming out of the New York bullpen, Lynn faced a struggling Orioles lineup. While the White Sox certainly are also a bad team, they have won 4 straight games plus they've averaged scoring 5.2 runs per game in their last 10 games. The over is 8-3 in Lynn's 11 road starts this season as he has compiled an ugly 7.08 ERA when pitching on enemy turf. Also, he has given up 16 hits in 11 innings in his last two starts at Guaranteed Rate Field. The White Sox counter with a struggling hurler of their own in this one. Chicago's Dylan Covey has struggled badly over his last eight outings. The White Sox right-hander has compiled an 8.68 ERA and ugly 1-6 record in these 8 starts. Covey has allowed 46 hits plus he has walked 22 in the 37 1/3 innings spanning these outings. Covey got absolutely crushed for 8 earned runs in 5 innings in his lone career start versus the Yankees. The over is 4-2 in his 6 home starts this season. The White Sox enter this game on an 8-3 run to the over in their last 11 games. Look for the Yankees over to improve to 14-8 the last 22 times they've been a road favorite of -175 or more. The Yanks bullpen has had some issues recently (again last night too) and New York has allowed an average of 7 runs per game during their current 5 game losing streak. 10* OVER the total in the Chicago White Sox game

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #953 Monday 8* OVER the total in New York Mets vs Cincinnati Reds @ 7:10 ET - The Mets Noah Syndergaard is off of a strong start versus the Nationals but he did allow 3 earned runs. Also, he has given up 21 hits in 17 innings in his 3 starts since his July return. The point is that he has not been as dominating as the "old" Syndergaard and we're dealing with a very low total on tonight's game considering that the wind is expecting to be blowing out at a good clip on a very warm night at Citi Field. The Mets right-hander will be opposed by the Reds Homer Bailey. He is 1-8 with a 5.87 ERA on the season. Also, Bailey has a 9.90 ERA in his last two starts versus the Mets. The over is 3-0 in Syndergaard's last 3 starts versus Cincinnati. The over is a long-term 37-23 in Reds August games and also the over is 8-3 in Cincinnati's Monday games this season. 8* OVER the total in New York Mets

RL Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #959 Monday 8* Minnesota Twins Run Line +1.5 runs @ Cleveland Indians @ 7:10 ET - The Indians Trevor Bauer has a well-deserved stellar reputation. However, he is over-priced here considering his current form plus his history versus the Twins plus the fact that Minnesota's Kyle Gibson has pitched very well in his own right this season! Bauer has walked 11 batters in his last 3 starts and his most recent start was versus the Twins and he had more walks than strikeouts versus Minnesota. Some struggles against the Twins isn't a big surprise as he actually has given up 14 runs (9 earned) in the 18 and 2/3 innings spanning his last 3 starts versus Minnesota. Also, in the last 2 outings he has walked 7 in 12 innings. As for the Twins Gibson, he has a 2.89 ERA in his last 3 starts versus the Indians. Also, though Minnesota is only 4-5 in his last 9 road starts, 4 of the 5 defeats came by a single run. In other words, at +1.5 runs the Twins are 8-1 in Gibson's last 9 road starts. Hence the huge value here with Minnesota available at a "pick'em" price on the run line in this match-up. The Twins right-hander has a stellar 2.94 ERA on the road this season! Also, the Indians enter this game off of back to back wins and they've managed to win 3 straight wins only ONCE the past 4 weeks. In other words, an outright upset here would not surprise but certainly I like the additional value here should the road team lose this one by a single run. At -1.5 runs, the Indians are just 3-4 in Bauer's last 7 starts. 8* MINNESOTA Run Line +1.5 runs

ESPN Smash Pass - Rickenbach MLB Game #927 Sunday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Boston Red Sox vs New York Yankees @ 8:05 ET - Masahiro Tanaka gets the start for the Yankees here and he has produced two straight scoreless outings. However, he faced the Orioles and Rays! Now the Yankees right-hander faces a Red Sox team that has crushed him for 10 earned runs in 10 and 1/3 innings in his last two starts against them. Tanaka allowed a pair of homers in each of those starts versus Boston and both of those outings occurred this season. Speaking of match-up problems here, Red Sox southpaw David Price is a horrible 2-6 with an 8.43 ERA in his 9 starts against the Yankees since he came to Boston in 2016. Price has been absolutely demolished by New York's bats this season as he has allowed 12 earned runs in just 4 and 1/3 innings. The lefty has allowed 6 homers in those two short outings! Yes the past two games of this series have been low-scoring but I would not be surprised to see this one turn into a high-scoring game like we saw in the first game of this 4-game set. Weather conditions at Fenway Park Sunday evening will also be ideal for an over. The over is 10-5 in Tanaka's last 15 starts. The over is 4-1 this season in Red Sox games where their money line is in a range of -125 to +125. Look for another one here. 10* OVER the total in Boston

Afternoon Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #925 Sunday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Seattle Mariners vs Toronto Blue Jays @ 4:10 ET - The Mariners are looking to avoid suffering a 4-game sweep on their home field at the hands of the Blue Jays. While I do trust the Seattle bats to come to life against a sub-par pitcher in Sam Gaviglio, I also expect the Toronto bats to stay red hot against Mike Leake. As for the Blue Jays Gaviglio, the right-hander has an 8.41 ERA in his last 5 starts. The over is 5-2 in the 7 road starts that Gaviglio has made this season as he has compiled an ugly 8.78 ERA away from home. As for the Mariners Leake, he has a mediocre 4.78 ERA in his last 5 starts. The right-hander's ERA during this stretch could easily be higher as he has been rocked for 38 hits in 26 and 1/3 innings of work. Hence the value here as this is unlikely to be a good start for Leake. The Blue Jays saw him earlier this season plus they come into this game with a red hot lineup! Toronto has scored an average of 5.3 runs per game in their last 10 games and the over is still 10-3 in their last 13 games despite yesterday's game staying under the total. The over is 11-5 in Blue Jays Sunday games this season and they are 17-7 to the over this season as a road dog in a money line range of +125 to +175. The Mariners have stayed under the total in each of Leake's last two home starts but previously Seattle was 7-3 to the over in his home starts this season. The Mariners haven't stayed under in 3 straight home starts for Leake this season and I don't see that trend changing here either! Look for plenty of runs here and take advantage of the drop from 9 to 8.5 runs on this posted total. 10* OVER the total in Seattle 

PA Insider - Rickenbach MLB Game #905 Sunday 8* St Louis Cardinals Money Line (-) @ Pittsburgh Pirates @ 1:35 ET - With the Cardinals 8-4 win yesterday they have now won 6 of their last 9 games. With taking the defeat in yesterday's match-up, the Pirates have now lost 5 of their last 9 games. Of course public/square bettors will be enticed to take Pittsburgh and back Trevor Williams in this one because he has not allowed a run in 3 straight starts. The fact is though that this is not a good match-up for Williams and the odds makers were justified in opening up St Louis as the favorite even though they are on the road in this one. Williams has a 9.00 ERA in his last 2 starts versus the Cards and was hit hard in each outing. The Cardinals Jack Flaherty has a solid 3.27 ERA in his his 2 starts at Pittsburgh this season. Also, Flaherty has struck out 24 in the 15 and 1/3 innings spanning his last 3 outings while Williams has struck out just 9 in the 17 innings spanning his last 3 starts. The point being that Williams has survived more off of pitching to contact while Flaherty certainly has been fooling more hitters. Look for this to be a factor Sunday because the Cardinals have averaged scoring 7 runs per game in their last two games against Williams while the Pirates enter this game having averaged scoring just 3 runs per game in their last 4 games against a right-handed starter. The Pirates are 26-35 this season in games with a posted total of 8 or 8.5 runs. The Cardinals are 4-2 in Williams 6 career starts against them as he has compiled an ugly 7.94 ERA in those outings. 8* ST LOUIS CARDINALS

Total Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #953 Saturday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Pittsburgh Pirates vs St Louis Cardinals @ 7:05 ET - Austin Gomber had a successful outing in his first ever MLB start a week and a half ago. However, he primarily had been used out of the bullpen at the MLB level prior to that outing and one good start doesn't mean he is just going to come out and keep dominating. He goes from facing the NL Central cellar-dwelling Reds to now facing a red-hot Pirates team that became buyers rather than sellers at the trade deadline as they have been so hot that they got back into the playoff picture. With yesterday's win the Pirates are now 15-4 their last 19 games. However, I am playing the over rather than the Bucs here because Pittsburgh starter Ivan Nova is likely to get roughed up just like Gomber is for the Cards. Nova has a low ERA in his last 3 starts but he has been fortunate as he has nearly as many walks as strikeouts in his last two home starts. Overall his K numbers have been down and Nova has given up 13 hits in less than 10 innings spanning his last two home starts. Also, the Pirates right-hander has a 5.40 ERA in his last two starts versus St Louis as they've gotten to him for 19 hits (including 3 homers) and 6 walks in the 15 and 2/3 innings spanning his last 3 starts against them. The fact that Nova has trended under in his home starts this season and the fact that Gomber had a great first MLB start is keeping this total lower than it should be. The over is 13-6 in St Louis' last 19 games. The over is 14-7 in the Cardinals last 21 games versus teams with a winning record. The Pirates are 22-12 in home games with a posted total of 8 or 8.5 runs. Pittsburgh is also 19-10 to the over in games against left-handed starters this season. 10* OVER the total in Pittsburgh early Saturday evening

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Game #965 Saturday 8* OVER the total in Boston Red Sox vs New York Yankees @ 4:05 ET - The Yankees are starting highly touted prospect Chance Adams in this one. Though he has some solid stats at the minor league level overall, Adams is only 3-5 with a 4.50 ERA this season at the AAA level. This year in spring training the right-hander went winless in 3 appearances (2 starts) while getting rocked to the tune of an 11.57 ERA. Now he faces the best home hitting team in baseball. The Red Sox at Fenway Park have compiled a .284 batting average and .496 slugging percentage this season and both of those marks rank them #1 out of all 30 MLB teams! The issue for Boston this afternoon will be on the mound where Nathan Eovaldi gets the start. The Yankees know plenty about him as he was with him in 2015-16. The Yanks faced him earlier this season and got to him for 5 earned runs in a start in the Bronx in mid-June. More of the same expected here in what is likely to turn into a back and forth slugfest with the wind blowing out on a very muggy afternoon at Fenway Park. In fact, rain could be a bit of an issue in this one but I do expect them to be able to get the game in based on the most recent weather reports and any interruptions due to rain will only make the game flow that much tougher on two starting pitchers likely to struggle in this one. Look for the over to improve to 12-6 in Yankees Saturday games and to go to 5-2 this season in their road games with a posted total of 10 or 10.5 runs. 8* OVER the total in Boston Saturday afternoon

Total Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #921 Friday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Texas Rangers vs Baltimore Orioles @ 8:05 ET - Both of these teams have been knocking the cover off of the ball of late. The Orioles have notched at least 14 hits in 5 of their last 6 games. Baltimore has averaged scoring 9.2 runs per game during this stretch. The Rangers have pounded out double digits in hits in 5 of their last 7 games after notching 18 hits in last night's game. Texas has averaged scoring 7.7 runs in their last 9 games. The over is 9-4 in the Rangers last 13 games since the All Star break. The over is 6-0 in the Orioles last 6 games. Even though Ariel Jurado is off of a strong start in his most recent game this will be just the 3rd start of his MLB career. In the minors he has been hit at a .269 clip or higher in each of his last 3 seasons at the minor league level and that includes .302 last season. The point is that I am not putting too much stock into his successful start in his last outing. As for the Orioles David Hess, the over is 3-1 in his last 4 starts as he has compiled a 10.70 ERA in these outings. Hess allowed at least 5 earned runs in each of those 4 starts. Look for another wild one tonight as both of these starters are likely to struggle and neither team has a potent bullpen either! 10* OVER the total in Texas

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Game #901 Friday 8* OVER the total in Chicago Cubs vs San Diego Padres @ 2:20 ET - The Padres got their sticks going in a 6-1 win at Wrigley Field last night. Since the All Star break San Diego has faced a southpaw starter 3 times and they've averaged 10.3 hits in those 3 games. They'll face a lefty for the 4th time today and this will be the 4th time in 6 games that the Padres are matched up with a left-handed hurler. That type of repetition tends to favor the hitters and note that the Cubs Jose Quintana was roughed up for 6 earned runs in just 3 innings in his most recent start. Also, that was on the road and he is now back home where he has a 5.02 ERA on the season. The Padres Tyson Ross has not been as sharp of late and his most recent start saw him compile a 2.00 WHIP versus the Diamondbacks and that was at home. Each of his two career starts at Wrigley Field went over the total and the only career start Quintana has against the Padres also went over the total! 8* OVER the total in the Chicago Cubs game

PA Insider - Rickenbach MLB Game #954 Thursday 10* Top Play Philadelphia Phillies Run Line -1.5 runs (+) vs Miami Marlins @ 7:05 ET - The Marlins Pablo Lopez was slated to go last night at Atlanta but that game got rained out. The delays and waiting around in Atlanta last night won't do any favors for the Marlins here. It also doesn't help that they are 0-11 in Thursday games this season! Miami right-hander Lopez has only made 5 starts and he has been roughed up in 3 of the last 4. Lopez has given up 5 earned runs twice and 4 earned runs once in his last 4 starts. None of his starts this season have gone more than 6 innings. That also holds significance here as the Miami bullpen is one of the worst in the majors. The Phillies certainly have an edge in the bullpen department and they also hold a huge edge in terms of the starting pitchers here. Nick Pivetta gets the start for Philadelphia. He shut out the Marlins for 5 and 2/3 innings while striking out 9 in his scoreless outing versus Miami early this season. Pivetta enters this start having struck out 133 in his 106 and 2/3 innings on the season. These are fantastic numbers and the key for Pivetta is avoiding occasional mistake pitches and he has progressed in this department as the season has gone on. The Phils are 9-3 in Thursday games and 9-4 this season when playing after a day off. In home games with a posted total of 8 or 8.5 runs the Phillies are 21-11 this season. 11 of the Phillies last 13 wins have come by 2 or more runs. Each of Miami's last 9 losses have come by 2 or more runs! That said, of course I am avoiding laying big juice here on the money line as plus money is being offered on the run line. Value! 10* PHILADELPHIA Run Line -1.5 runs

PA Insider - Rickenbach MLB Game #903 Wednesday 8* Chicago Cubs Money Line (-) @ Pittsburgh Pirates @ 7:05 ET - I am expecting Cole Hamels to enjoy his return to the National League and he'll take advantage of facing a Pirates team that hasn't seen him in over two years. Also, the southpaw should plenty of run support here as Pittsburgh starter Nick Kingham will be facing the Cubs for the 3rd time already this season. Though Kingham has a 3.75 ERA against them this season, he did allow 8 hits in less than 6 innings the only time he faced them in Pittsburgh. Now, facing them for a 3rd time this season, look for the Cubs to come up with a very strong effort at the plate against Kingham here while the Pirates sticks struggle against Hamels. Since July of 2015 until now, Pittsburgh has only seen the Cubs left-hander once. The Cubs lost yesterday's game 5-4 but note that Chicago is 4-0 the last 4 times they were off of a loss where they scored 3 or more runs in the defeat. Also, the Cubs are a perfect 4-0 the last 4 times they were off of a loss by the margin of a single run. I am looking for those perfect runs to continue here as Hamels outduels Kingham. 8* CHICAGO CUBS

Afternoon Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #915 Wednesday 8* OVER the total in Oakland A's vs Toronto Blue Jays @ 3:35 ET - Yesterday's game stayed just under the total as there was no scoring after the 6th inning. However, the A's have now won 4 straight home games and have averaged scoring 6.5 runs per game during this hot stretch. After yesterday's 6-2 win, Oakland has now scored at least 6 runs in 7 of their last 10 games. Though Tuesday's game missed going over the total by half a run, the Blue Jays are still on a 7-2 run to the over in their last 9 games. This afternoon the wind will be blowing out to center at a good clip at Oakland Coliseum and the ball does carry better there in afternoon games. The over is 2-0 in Marcus Stroman's last two starts versus the A's. The Toronto right-hander has given up 10 runs (9 earned) on 15 hits (including 3 homers) and 7 walks in just 9 and 1/3 innings spanning his last two starts versus Oakland. None of Sean Manaea's 3 career starts versus the Blue Jays have resulted in an under. The A's left-hander has a 5.25 ERA in his last two starts versus Toronto and he allowed 3 homers in the 12 innings spanning those two outings. Manaea enters this start off of an outing versus the Rockies where he allowed 9 hits in just 5 innings of work. The over is 13-7 in Jays games this season where they are a road underdog in a range of +125 to +175. The A's are averaging 10.4 hits per game their last 9 hits and another game featuring double digits in hits for the Athletics appears likely here. The Toronto bullpen ranks in the lower third of the league for relievers' combined ERA this season. 8* OVER the total in Oakland

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Game #923 Wednesday 8* OVER the total in Detroit Tigers vs Cincinnati Reds @ 1:10 ET - The over is 9-2-1 in the Reds Sal Romano's last dozen starts. The Cincinnati right-hander has a 5.70 ERA on the road this season. The over is 2-1 in the Tigers Michael Fiers last 3 starts versus the Reds. The Detroit right-hander has been given plenty of run support in those outings - 9.3 runs per game - from his teammates! Though Fiers enters this start in good current form, his August / September stats the last 3 seasons show a combined 7-10 record with a 5.31 ERA. The Reds are 26-16 to the over in day games this season. The over trend in Romano starts (including 0 unders his last 6 outings!) continues on Wednesday. 8* OVER the total in Detroit

Total Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #969 Tuesday 8* OVER the total in Minnesota Twins vs Cleveland Indians @ 8:10 ET - The Indians went 0 for 11 with runners in scoring position yesterday. Of course that cost me my big play on the over in their Monday match-up with the Twins. I won't hesitate to come right back with this play after all those wasted opportunities yesterday. Yes I know Kyle Gibson has good numbers on the season for Minnesota but Cleveland has been one of the hottest lineups in baseball in the month of July. Also, Gibson is off of a very strong start at Fenway Park but he previously had been hit hard in 3 of his 5 prior outings. Also, he allowed at least 3 earned runs in 4 of those 5 starts. As for Trevor Bauer, the Twins have been a nemesis for him. Yes he has great numbers this season but, prior to his strong start versus the Pirates last week, Bauer had allowed 6 earned runs on 16 hits in 11 innings spanning his two prior starts. In his last two starts against Minnesota, Bauer has given up 12 runs (7 earned) in 12 and 1/3 innings. The over is 10-5 in Cleveland's Tuesday games this season. Also, the over is 9-4 in the Indians last 13 games against teams with a losing record. The Twins have averaged scoring 5 runs per game their last 8 games. The Indians .490 slugging percentage in the month of July is #1 in the American League. The Tribe and Minny both rank near the bottom of the majors for bullpen ERA this season too. This one makes up for yesterday's nonsense. 8* OVER the total in Minnesota

ESPN Smash Pass - Rickenbach MLB Game #975 Tuesday 8* Philadelphia Phillies Money Line (+) @ Boston Red Sox @ 7:10 ET - You saw yesterday what good pitching can do to the Boston lineup as Aaron Nola shut the Red Sox down though the eventual result was a 2-1 win for the home team in extra innings. The difference today is that the Phillies again have a strong hurler on the mound but the Red Sox don't this time. No David Price today for Boston. Instead it is a struggling Drew Pomeranz and that means excellent underdog line value here with the Phillies and Jake Arrieta. Boston's Pomeranz is 1-4 with a 6.91 ERA on the season! In his home starts the Red Sox southpaw has compiled a 9.00 ERA. In his return to the rotation the lefty faced a bad Orioles team and yet he still got pounded. Now he faces a quality Phillies team currently in a battle for 1st place in the NL East. Philadelphia's Arrieta has allowed 2 earned runs or less in 4 of his last 5 starts. On the season he has allowed 2 earned runs or less in 13 of his 20 starts. Use to pitching in big-game spots, Arrieta is relishing this opportunity against the vaunted Red Sox lineup and the Phillies are 5-0 in his last 5 starts. Look for them to make it 6 in a row here as both teams have solid bullpens but the road dog has a huge edge in terms of this starting pitching match-up and that will ultimately prove to be the difference in this one. 8* PHILADELPHIA

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Game #951 Tuesday 8* OVER the total in San Diego Padres vs San Francisco Giants @ 4:10 ET - The over is 3-0 in Clayton Richard's last 3 starts. The Padres also are 4-0 to the over in the last 4 starts Richard has made against the Giants. The left-hander has allowed 16 earned runs in the 20 and 2/3 innings spanning those 4 starts. Also, the southpaw comes into this outing having logged a 9.64 ERA in his last 3 starts overall. Giants rookie Dereck Rodriguez has been pitching well. However, this will be the 2nd time the Padres have seen him and the only other time he has faced a team twice this season he gave up 3 earned runs on 7 hits in only 5 innings versus the Marlins. In other words, look for the San Diego sticks to have much more success against him in their second look at him in a span of five weeks! In home games with a total of 8 or 8.5 runs the Padres are 15-7 to the over this season and they are also 12-4 to the over this season when on a losing streak of 3 or more games. The ball does tend to carry better in day games at Petco Park and that is what I am expecting here Tuesday afternoon. 8* OVER the total in San Diego

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach MLB Game #903 Monday 10* Top Play Colorado Rockies Money Line (+) @ St Louis Cardinals @ 8:10 ET - The Rockies have won 4 straight games and are now 16-5 in the month of July. Also, Colorado is 17-5 in their last 22 games against teams with a winning record. Of course with the Cardinals at home they are going to get a lot of attention from the betting markets here but I am going contrarian and going with the road dog. St Louis has lost 9 of its last 15 games. Also, starting pitcher Carlos Martinez has a 7.20 ERA in his last two starts (both losses). St Louis is a poor 3-7 in his last 10 starts. As for the Rockies, they are 3-2 in Tyler Anderson's last 5 starts but certainly they could be 5-0 in these! The Colorado southpaw has allowed just 4 earned runs while striking out 35 in the 35 and 1/3 innings spanning these 5 outings. As you can see, Anderson has been in top form while Martinez has been struggling. I expect more of the same Monday evening. 10* COLORADO

Total of the Month - Rickenbach MLB Game #909 Monday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Minnesota Twins vs Cleveland Indians @ 8:10 ET - The Indians Shane Bieber has allowed at least 4 runs in 4 straight starts. In one of the outings only 3 of the runs were earned but the point is that Bieber has consistently struggled in recent starts. Also, his most recent start saw him get completely crushed by the Pirates. Bieber will be facing the Twins for the 3rd time this season and this certainly is an advantage for the Minnesota lineup. Bieber has only allowed 5 earned runs in his first two starts versus the Twins but he has been fortunate to say the least. Bieber has given up 18 hits in 11 and 1/3 innings so certainly he escaped some jams and is unlikely to be so fortunate here. As for the Minnesota starter Monday, Ervin Santana gets the call. I am well aware of the fact that he has great numbers in recent starts versus the Indians but this is a unique situation for him. He is making just his 2nd start of this season after a long stint on the DL and, in his first start back, Santana gave up 3 earned runs on 7 hits in just 5 innings of work and this was against a Toronto team that certainly hasn't been playing at the level of the Indians this season. In fact, Cleveland is hitting .284 in the month of July and averaging 6.2 runs per game this month. Both of those stats have them #1 in the league. The over is 9-3 in the Indians last 12 games versus teams with a losing record. The over is 13-7 in Twins home games with a money line ranging from -125 to +125. Look for another one here! 10* OVER the total in Minnesota

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #901 Monday 8* OVER the total in Atlanta Braves vs Miami Marlins @ 7:35 ET - The Braves Julio Teheran has given up 20 runs (18 earned) in the 15 and 1/3 innings spanning his last 3 starts versus the Marlins. The Marlins Wei-Yin Chen pitched well against Atlanta last week but that start was in Miami. On the road this season, Chen is 1-5 with a 10.47 ERA in his 8 starts. The over is 6-2 in his outings away from home this season. Also, Chen's 7 career starts against the Braves have produced a result of 6-1 to the over. Atlanta is 23-13 to the over this season in their games against teams with a losing record. The over is 18-7 this season in Marlins games where they are a road underdog in a range of +125 to +175. The over is 7-1 this season when Miami is off of a shutout win. Overall, the over is 7-3 in the Marlins last 10 games and the over was 5-0 in the Braves 5 games prior to the pitching-rich Dodgers shutting them down in their last 3 games. Miami is certainly the opposite of a pitching-rich team. 8* OVER the total in Atlanta

ESPN Smash Pass - Rickenbach MLB Game #916 Monday 8* UNDER the total in Boston Red Sox vs Philadelphia Phillies @ 7:10 ET - Not only are the Phillies struggling at the plate right now, they also have to face a tough southpaw Monday. This is bad news for the Phils as they are one of the worst teams in the majors against left-handed starters. Philadelphia is hitting just .232 with a .362 slugging percentage versus lefties this season. Both of those marks rank them among the worst in the league. David Price appears to be back on track for Boston as he has allowed just 3 earned runs in the 13 innings spanning his last two starts. Also, Price has struck out 22 in the 17 and 2/3 innings spanning his last three starts. He has held the Phillies to just 8 hits while striking out 14 in the 13 innings spanning his last two starts against them. The Phils Aaron Nola also should hold an edge on the mound in this one Monday as the Red Sox will be seeing him for the first time in his career and the All Star has been one of the best pitchers in baseball all season long. Nola is 12-3 with a 2.42 ERA in his 21 starts this year. The under is 4-1 this season when the Phillies are off of a shutout loss and the under is 6-1 this season when they enter a game on a losing streak of 3 or more games. The under is also 8-4-1 in their interleague games this year. The under is 54-35 long-term when the Red Sox enter a game on a winnings streak of 3 or more games. 8* UNDER the total in Boston

ESPN Smash Pass - Rickenbach MLB Game #963 Sunday 10* Top Play OVER the total in St Louis Cardinals vs Chicago Cubs @ 8:05 ET - I had this play yesterday and it was also an over 8.5 and I got burned bad as it did not go over the total despite being 6-0 after 1 inning and 6-2 by the top of the 4th. I won't hesitate to come right back with the same play today as the Cardinals John Gant shows good overall numbers as a starter but only 2 of his 7 starts have been quality starts. In most outings Gant labors just to complete 5 innings and his ERA in these other 5 starts is a modest 5.04 combined. The Cubs just saw him last week and Gant certainly wasn't dominant as he was fortunate to hold them scoreless over 5 innings. As for Chicago starter Kyle Hendricks, he just faced the Cardinals last week and he allowed 3 earned runs on 9 hits in less than 5 innings of work. Hendricks has allowed an average of 2 base runners per inning in his last 2 starts and bigger trouble is on the way based on his current hittability. He also has allowed about 2 base runners per inning in his last two starts versus the Cardinals. Hendricks has a 4.70 ERA on the road this season and only 3 of his last 9 road starts have resulted in an under. The over is 6-3 in Chicago's last 9 games versus a right-handed starter and the Cards are 10-5 to the over in their last 15 games versus teams with a winning record. 10* OVER the total in St Louis

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Game #979 Sunday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Colorado Rockies vs Oakland A's @ 3:10 ET - The A's had been one of the hottest lineups in baseball heading into this series at hitter-friendly Coors Field. Of course it only makes sense then that a lot of runs should be expected. Inexplicably however, Oakland has been held to scoring just 1 run in each of the first two games of this series. In other words, look for a huge bounce back here! The A's had averaged scoring 10.3 runs per game in the first 4 games of this road trip - all at Texas. Oakland has averaged 11 hits per game so far on this road trip and should get right back on track in terms of run production by taking advantage of facing a struggling pitcher Sunday. The Rockies German Marquez gave up 5 runs in 5 innings in his most recent start and that was on the road. Note that the Colorado right-hander has a 7.31 ERA in his 10 home starts this season! The A's hurler is also likely to struggle here. Not only is the over 7-2 in Frankie Montas 9 starts this season, this will be his first ever start at Coors Field. This venue is not known for being very kind to first-timers and the Rockies step to the plate with plenty of confidence here as they've gone 15-4 in their last 19 games. Colorado is one of the top hitting teams in the league when at home and the over is 7-3 in Marquez home starts and 4-1 in Montas road starts. More of the same here! 10* OVER the total in Colorado

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #971 Sunday 8* OVER the total in Detroit Tigers vs Cleveland Indians @ 1:10 ET - The Indians Corey Kluber has great numbers on the season but he has been roughed up for 13 runs (9 earned) on 17 hits (including 3 homers) in the 11 and 1/3 innings spanning his last two starts. The over is 13-3-1 in Kluber's last 17 starts as he has been a recipient of strong run support for much of this season. As for the Tigers Jordan Zimmerman, he is also coming off of back to back sub-par starts. The Detroit right-hander has given up 8 earned runs on 18 hits (including 4 homers) in the 11 and 2/3 innings spanning his last two starts. Zimmerman also is 0-4 with a horrible 10.56 ERA in his 6 career starts versus the Indians. The Tigers are 4-0 to the over in their last 4 games with a total posted at 8.5 runs or less. Cleveland is 8-3 to the over in their last 11 games against teams with a losing record. The Indians have also had just 7 unders in their 22 games so far this month. Yesterday the Tigers went 1 for 11 with runners in scoring position and the result was a surprising pitchers duel. Look for today's game to play out much differently given the current form of these two starting hurlers. 8* OVER the total in Detroit 

Game of the Week - Rickenbach MLB Game #903 Saturday 10* Top Play Philadelphia Phillies Money Line (-) @ Cincinnati Reds @ 6:40 ET - The Phillies fell short yesterday but they entered Friday's action having won 26 of their last 40 games. As for the Reds, prior to yesterday's win they had lost 6 of their 8 previous games. Cincinnati's Matt Harvey got rocked for 8 earned runs in less than 4 inning in his most recent start and that was also at home just like today's is. Though he had not allowed a lot of earned runs in prior recent outings, Harvey has now allowed 21 hits in the 14 and 1/3 innings spanning his last 3 starts. Harvey did enjoy success against the Phillies earlier this season but they certainly are a much different team now than they were then. Philadelphia is in first place in the NL East and they've also added Asdrubal Cabrera from the Mets. Even if he does not play today the fact is that the first-place Phillies are serious about not only winning but doing everything they can to win now! Harvey struggled against the Phillies in 2017 and they'll hit him better in the rematch than the first start this year just as was the case last season. Additionally, huge edge for the Phils here because it will be the first-ever start for Vincent Velasquez against the Reds. The Cincinnati hitters have almost zero experience against him as a collective group and Velasquez also comes into this start in top current form. The Phillies right-hander has a 2.38 ERA in his last 6 starts and has held hitters to a paltry .134 batting average in those 6 outings! The Phillies are 29-15 this season when off of a loss. The Reds are a long-term 92-141 when facing a team with a winning record. 10* PHILADELPHIA

Afternoon Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #901 Saturday 10* Top Play OVER the total in St Louis Cardinals vs Chicago Cubs @ 4:05 ET - The Cubs Jose Quintana threw over 120 pitches in his most recent start. Though he got the win and has enjoyed recent success since making some adjustments to his change-up, the issue the southpaw is going to have here is that he is facing the same team he just beat Sunday. Not only could he fatigue early in this one after the lengthy start in his last outing, the Cardinals will also have an edge in having just seen him. That means the tweaks he made to his change aren't going to be effective in the 2nd meeting in 6 days. He'll be opposed by the Cardinals Miles Mikolas. The right-hander has struggled a bit in 2 straight starts now as Mikolas has allowed 5 earned runs on 12 hits and 4 walks in 9 innings spanning his last two starts. The Cards will be seeing him for the 3rd time already this season and, by the way, the Cubs hitters will be facing Quintana for the 4th time already this season. Quintana has been great in night games this season but note that he has a 5.01 ERA in day games this year! As for Mikolas, the recent struggles also could relate to his wife having recently given birth to twins. He was on the paternity list recently and this is a home game for him so, again, the distractions of home will certainly be present again. Look for both starters to struggle here. Even with yesterday's game staying under the total, the over is still 10-4 in match-ups between these teams this season. Also, the Cubs are 10-4 to the over their last 14 games overall and the Cards are 11-4 to the over their last 15 games overall. 10* OVER the total in St Louis

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach MLB Game #973 Friday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Houston Astros vs Texas Rangers @ 8:10 ET - The Rangers Yovani Gallardo gave up 0 earned runs in 6 innings in his most recent start at home against the Indians. However, he walked 4 and struck out 1. This guy has not had a solid season at the MLB level since 2015! This year he has a 7.47 ERA in his 3 road starts and all 3 went over the total. Though his start versus Cleveland stayed under the total that was his first start for Texas this season that has stayed under the total. Gallardo has a 4-1 record on the season but, hands down, this is absolutely the worst pitcher in MLB to have an 80% winning percentage - no questions asked. He is likely to get crushed by the defending World Champs here as his road struggles continue. As for Houston's Dallas Keuchel, of course I am well aware of the fact that he is a very good pitcher and that this is particularly true at home. However, the Rangers are very familiar with him as these division rivals face off so often. In fact, this will be the 4th time in just 2 and 1/2 months that the Rangers are getting a shot at Keuchel. In the two most recent starts Texas has gotten to him for 8 runs (7 earned) on 18 hits in 11 and 1/3 innings. The over is 6-2 in the Rangers last 8 games overall and they have scored 5 or more runs in 7 of their last 10 games. The Astros are averaging 5.2 runs per game this season against right-handed starters and certainly should have no trouble with the offerings of Gallardo. In fact, the Astros have pounded out 22 hits in his last 16 and 2/3 innings against them. 10* OVER the total in Houston

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #953 Friday 8* OVER the total in Cincinnati Reds vs Philadelphia Phillies @ 7:10 ET - This total opened up at a 9.5 and has dropped down to a 9 and this is offering us some great line value in this spot for a play on the over. With yesterday's game flying over the total, the over is now 5-0 in the Phillies last 5 games and 7-1 their last 8. As for the Reds, the over is now 21-6-2 their last 29 games! Cincinnati's Desclafani has struggled in 4 of his last 5 starts. His most recent start stayed under the total but, prior to that, the over was 6-0 in his last 6 starts. Other than a strong start at Cleveland, Desclafani's other 4 recent starts have seen him allow 18 earned runs in 19 and 1/3 innings. With the Phillies riding high right now as they've opened up a small lead at the top of the NL East, their confidence at the plate is growing. The Phillies are starting Pivetta in this one and the over is 6-0-1 in his last 7 starts. The Philadelphia right-hander has a 6.42 ERA in his last 10 starts and he is facing a Reds team that is known for hitting well at home where Great American Ball Park is a very hitter-friendly venue. The Reds are 13-2 to the over in their last 15 games versus teams with a winning record. Philadelphia is 10-5-1 to the over in their Friday games this season and I expect another easy one here! 8* OVER the total in Cincinnati 

Afternoon Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #914 Thursday 10* Top Play Los Angeles Angels Run Line -1.5 runs vs Chicago White Sox @ 4:05 ET - If you like the Angels to win this game you can certainly feel a comfort level playing them on the run line (1.5 runs) at a plus money price (+110 at time of this posting) rather than laying a huge money line price. All three games in this 4-game series so far have been decided by 2 or more runs. The Angels blasted the White Sox last night and I expect a repeat of that in this afternoon affair. Chicago's Dylan Covey, from 2015 to 2017, went 0-6 with a 9.58 ERA in road games as teams hit .349 against him. This season hasn't been much better as he is 2-4 with a 6.06 ERA in road games. Look for Covey to get pounded here as the Angels bats are showing signs of a turnaround in recent games. Los Angeles has averaged scoring 7.5 runs per game their last 4 games. The White Sox, on the other hand, have been slumping at the plate on this road trip as they're averaging just 3.3 runs per game in the first 6 games of this 7-game trip. Their likely to struggle against Nick Tropeano as this will be his first start against them in 3 years. Tropeano, from 2015 to 2017, compiled a 2.58 ERA in his 8 day game appearances (7 starts). This season, though he is 1-3 with a modest 4.50 ERA in afternoon action, Tropeano is holding the opposition to a .184 batting average in 4 starts. Some guys fare better under the sun than under the lights and Tropeano is one of those guys. Look for that trend to continue here. Also, the White Sox are a horrific 11-35 in day games this season while the Angels are a superb 8-2 this season as a home favorite in a money line range of -175 to -250. As long-time followers know, I don't lay big prices but I certainly like the value (currently +110) by laying the 1.5 runs with LA on the run line in this one. 30 of the Angels last 38 games have been decided by 2 or more runs. 26 of Chicago's last 31 losses have come by 2 or more runs. 10* LOS ANGELES ANGELS Run Line -1.5 runs

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Game #901 Thursday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Chicago Cubs vs Arizona Diamondbacks @ 2:20 ET - The wind will be blowing out to right field at Wrigley Field this afternoon and there are two right-handed starters on the mound that will contribute to some extra left-handed pop in the lineup from each of these two teams. In other words, you can expect some long balls to hit in this one. I am well aware of the fact that yesterday's game was a pitchers duel and that each of the first three games of this 4-game series have stayed under the total. The key here is that the pitching match-up Thursday afternoon is absolutely ripe for an over. The Diamondbacks Zack Godley has a 5.37 ERA in his 11 road starts this season. Also, in his 5 day game appearances (including 4 starts) this season, Godley has a 10.00 ERA and has been rocked at a .342 clip by opposing hitters! As for the Cubs Tyler Chatwood, he has more walks than strikeouts on the season. Of course that is never a good sign for a pitcher and this is particularly true when it is past the midway point of the season already! Chatwood's ERA is nearly two runs higher at home compared to on the road this season. Also, in his 3 prior seasons, his home ERA was 6.07 compared to just a 2.57 ERA on the road. Of course that had to do with pitching at hitter-friendly Coors Field but, keep in mind, Wrigley Field plays out as a hitter-friendly venue too when the weather is like it will be today in Chicago. Only 3 of Godley last 10 road starts have resulted in an under. Also, the over is 12-5 in Chatwood's last 17 starts and that includes a perfect 4-0 in his last 4 starts! The Cubs were 9-0 to the over in their 9 games prior to this series and that trending toward high-scoring games resumes this afternoon. 10* OVER the total in the Chicago Cubs game

Afternoon Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #965 Wednesday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Toronto Blue Jays vs Minnesota Twins @ 4:05 ET - The Blue Jays Sam Gaviglio is off of the longest start of his career. That certainly holds significance here as he threw over 100 pitches in that outing and Gaviglio has an ERA above 9.00 in his career when he is off of a start where he threw at least 100 pitches. The right-hander also has given up 4 homers in his 2 starts against the Twins in his career. As for Minnesota's Ervin Santana, he is making his season debut after a long stint on the disabled list recovering from thumb surgery. Not only will he be on a pitch count here, he is unlikely to be 100% right away in his first start of the season. Additionally, Santana has allowed 3 homers in his last 2 starts at the Rogers Centre. Only 4 of Gaviglio's 12 starts this season have resulted in an under and I look for that trend to continue here. Yesterday's game stayed under the total but Minny was previously 9-4 to the over in their 13 prior games. Also, the Twins faced a southpaw yesterday but the over is 8-2 in their last 10 games facing a right-handed starter. As for the Blue Jays, they were 6-3 to the over their last 9 games prior to yesterday's game finishing under the total. Look for the over trending to resume in a huge way giving the pitching match-up in this afternoon affair Wednesday. 10* OVER the total in Toronto

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Game #955 Wednesday 8* OVER the total in Cincinnati Reds vs St Louis Cardinals @ 12:35 ET - Each of the first two games in this series have stayed under the total. However, the Cardinals entered this series having gone 15-4 to the over in their 19 prior games. The Reds entered this series having gone 19-4-2 to the over their 25 prior games. Look for those high-scoring trends to resume in this afternoon match-up in Cincinnati. The ball is known for carrying well at Great American Ballpark and this is particularly true in day games and also particularly true when the weather is forecast to be like it is on Wednesday afternoon. Clear skies, warm temperatures and light breeze blowing out toward right field. The over is 3-0 in the Cardinals Jack Flaherty's last 3 starts. The over is 8-2-1 in the Reds Sal Romano's last 11 starts. This includes 5-0-1 in his last 6 home starts. The over is 2-0 in Flaherty's last two starts versus the Reds and Romano's only start (in April) against the Cardinals also went over the total. Combining that 1-0 mark with the other perfect marks above and you have a situation with combined perfect edges that are 11-0 to the over. I'll take it! 8* OVER the total in Cincinnati

Divisional Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Game #905 Tuesday 10* Top Play St Louis Cardinals Money Line -110 @ Cincinnati Reds @ 7:10 ET - The Cardinals blew last night's game in the bottom of the 9th and that ruined a dominating performance by Daniel Poncedeleon in his MLB debut. Look for the fired up Cards to get payback tonight. St Louis will take advantage of facing Homer Bailey in this one. The veteran right-hander is coming off of the disabled list and his numbers in recent seasons show that he is a long way from his 2014 and prior form. From 2015 to 2017 Bailey was hit at a .320 clip and compiled a 6.39 ERA. This included him going 1-7 with an 8.01 ERA in his 11 home starts during this 3-year stretch. As for this season he is also getting hit hard. Bailey is 1-7 with a 6.68 ERA and opponents have hit .313 against him. The Reds are 6-19 (24%) in the 25 starts Bailey has made against the Cardinals in his career. This gives a huge edge to Austin Gomber as he makes his first ever MLB start in this one. The St Louis southpaw has held MLB hitters to a .239 batting average this season working out of the bullpen. He has been a starter throughout his minor league career and Gomber has a solid 41-23 record with a 2.92 ERA as his full career numbers in the minors. The Cardinals lefty has proven he deserves this opportunity and I like his chances against a Reds team that has scored a total of only 7 runs in their last 4 games. The Cards had averaged scoring 7 runs per game in their 6 games prior to getting shutdown last night. They are sure to bounce back against Bailey. Also, the Cardinals are 6-3 in road games with a posted total of 10 or 10.5 runs while Cincinnati is 6-16 in home games with a posted total of 10 or 10.5 runs. The Cards, despite yesterday's loss, are still 10-4 this season versus the Reds and that dominance resumes Tuesday. 10* ST LOUIS

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #969 Tuesday 8* OVER the total in Toronto Blue Jays vs Minnesota Twins @ 7:05 ET - The Twins rank in the middle of the pack this season when it comes to batting average versus left-handed pitching. However, note that Minnesota has scored 5 or more runs in 5 of their last 6 games against a southpaw starter. The Twins are hot at the plate overall as they have averaged scoring 6.6 runs per game their last 9 games. Now, with this total dropping from a 9 to an 8.5 as of early Tuesday morning, it is "go time" with the over in this match-up. The over is 9-4 in the Twins last 13 games. The over is 6-3 in the Blue Jays last 9 games. Toronto starter Ryan Borucki got crushed at Boston in his most recent start. Minnesota starter Jose Berrios has allowed only 4 homers in his 11 home starts this season but this one, of course, is on the road where he has served up 13 homers in just 9 starts! Berrios is just 2-5 on the road this season and he gave up 3 long balls in his most recent outing away from home. 8* OVER the total in Toronto

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Game #901 Tuesday 8* OVER the total in Miami Marlins vs Atlanta Braves @ 12:10 ET - The Marlins Wei-Yin Chen has been very strong at home this season but the southpaw is facing a Braves team that is #1 in MLB this season with a .275 batting average versus left-handed pitching this year. Chen has a 4.91 ERA in his last 3 starts versus Atlanta and the over is 5-1 in his 6 career starts against the Braves. He'll be opposed by Julio Teheran and he has allowed at least 5 earned runs in each of his last two starts versus Miami. In road games with a posted total of 8 or 8.5 runs, Atlanta is 14-7 to the over after cruising to a 12-1 win yesterday which flew over the total. The Braves are also 5-1 to the over this season in road games where they are a money line favorite in a range of -125 to -175. The Marlins are 8-4 to the over their last 12 games and they have one of the worst bullpens in baseball with a 5.04 ERA on the year while Atlanta's bullpen ERA ranks them a lower level 20th out of all 30 teams. 8* OVER the total in Miami 

ESPN Smash Pass - Rickenbach MLB Game #959 Monday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Chicago Cubs vs Arizona Diamondbacks @ 8:05 ET - The Cubs are 17-6 against left-handed starters this season. However, I am going with the over rather than the Cubs in this match-up. That's because I certainly don't trust Chicago starter Luke Farrell. The right-hander struggled in his only start this season and gave up 3 earned runs in less than 3 innings in a late June outing. In his only MLB start last season he also struggled and gave up 5 earned runs in less than 3 innings of work. Farrell is facing a Diamondbacks team that got their sticks going again in their weekend series with the Rockies in Arizona as they averaged scoring 7 runs per game. The Cubs have certainly been red hot at the plate for an even longer stretch. The Cubs have scored an average of 6.4 runs per game their last 9 games and all 9 of those went over the total. The Cubs rank 5th out of all 30 MLB teams for batting average versus left-handed pitching. Look for Chicago to give the Dbacks Pat Corbin some trouble here. The Arizona southpaw gave up 7 earned runs in just 3 innings in his last start at Wrigley Field. We're getting line value because the wind will be blowing in off of the lake at the old ball park this afternoon. The wind will be light and, based on this pitching match-up, I expect plenty of runs from both clubs in this one. Corbin has a 5.23 ERA in his last two starts on the road and the over is 19-10 in Diamondbacks road games with a money line range between -125 and +125 this season. Also, the over is 9-2 in Arizona's Monday games this season and the Cubs over streak appears destined for 10 in a row! 10* OVER the total in the Chicago Cubs game

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #975 Monday 8* OVER the total in Cleveland Indians vs Pittsburgh Pirates @ 7:10 ET - The Pirates are the hottest team in baseball as they've won 9 in a row. A key to their success has certainly been red hot sticks and Pittsburgh has averaged scoring 8 runs per game in their last 5 victories. Though the Indians Corey Kluber certainly has great full season numbers he will be facing a red hot and confident Pirates lineup. Also, Kluber allowed 6 earned runs in his most recent start. That outing was also at home and the high-scoring loss brought the totals record to 8-2-1 in Kluber's 11 home starts this season. As for the Pirates Trevor Williams, he is off of a strong start in his most recent outing but he previously had allowed 4 earned runs or more in 6 of his 9 prior starts! Williams compiled a 7.02 ERA in those 9 starts and he now faces a Indians team that was red hot at the plate prior to yesterday's rare shutout loss! Cleveland had averaged scoring 9 runs per game in their 7 games prior to being held scoreless yesterday at Texas. The Indians are 15-6 to the over this season in home games with a posted total of 8 or 8.5 runs. Pittsburgh is 8-4 to the over in interleague games this season. 8* OVER the total in Cleveland

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach MLB Game #953 Monday 8* OVER the total in Cincinnati Reds vs St Louis Cardinals @ 7:10 ET - The Reds are off of a 9-2 loss yesterday as they got swept by the red hot Pirates. However, speaking of red hot, Cincinnati's totals continue to trend over in a huge way. The Reds are 19-4-2 their last 25 games! That's right, just 16% of Cincinnati's last 25 games have resulted in an under! The Cardinals are off of a 7-2 loss yesterday and the over is now 15-4 their last 19 games and that includes 8 straight overs! The Cards are starting Daniel Poncedeleon and he will be making his MLB debut. Though he has pitched very well in the minors this season, he did get hit hard in his action, albeit limited, in spring training this year. The point being that a jump from facing minor league hitters to facing major league hitters always can be a trying time for a young hurler. As for the Reds, they have a pitching concern of their own here. Luis Castillo gets the start here and St Louis has already faced him 3 times this season. Suffice to say, the Cardinals hitters are very familiar with him and this will be the 4th time this season (and 3rd time in last 6 weeks) that they're getting a crack at the Reds right-hander. Castillo has a 5.63 ERA in his 3 starts versus the Cards this season. He also enters this start having compiled a 5.67 ERA in his last 9 starts overall. Look for both teams strong over trending to continue here and note that Cincinnati is 8-2 to the over this season in Monday games and the Reds are 21-11 to the over in home games in a pick'em price range of +125 to -125 on the money line this season. 8* OVER the total in Cincinnati

Game of the Week - Rickenbach MLB Game #919 Sunday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Texas Rangers vs Cleveland Indians @ 3:05 ET - The Indians Mike Clevinger has allowed 28 hits in the 23 innings spanning his last 4 starts. The Cleveland right-hander has a 6.00 ERA in his last 3 starts overall. The over is 4-1 in Clevinger's last 5 starts versus AL West opponents. The over is 7-1 in the Indians last 8 games versus teams with a losing record. The first two games of this series have each totaled at least 17 runs and it looks like another wild one can be expected Sunday with Yovani Gallardo getting the start for the Rangers. All 5 of his starts have gone over the total this season and he has a 6.75 ERA on the season. Keep in mind, Gallardo truly hasn't enjoyed success at the MLB level since the 2015 season. He is facing the wrong team at the wrong time too. The over is 7-1-1 in the Indians' last 9 games thanks in part to a Tribe offense that has averaged scoring 8 runs per game during this hot streak! The over is 10-5 in Indians Sunday games this season. The over is a long-term 22-14 when the Rangers are  home dog in a money line range of +125 to +175. While it is true that this is the biggest total on the board Sunday, it is also true that both of these starting pitchers are likely to get rocked and the Rangers bullpen has been struggling and the Indians bullpen has been one of the worst in MLB this season. Currently Cleveland's bullpen has a 5.26 ERA on the season which ranks them 29th out of 30 teams! 10* OVER the total in Texas

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #906 Sunday 8* Philadelphia Phillies Money Line (-) vs San Diego Padres @ 12:05 ET (Game 1 of Double Header) - The Padres have lost 6 straight games. San Diego is 1-5 in the last 6 starts Tyson Ross has made. The struggling right-hander has an 11.48 ERA this month. The Phillies counter with Nick Pivetta. The Philadelphia right-hander is off of a strong start at Baltimore and his prior outing was a rough one in part due to fielding miscues. Pivetta is a tough hurler to face when he is "on" and he has indeed been "on" more often than not in his home starts this season. The home team has won 9 of the last 14 meetings between these teams and the Phillies blasted the Padres on Friday. After Saturday's rain-out, this is the first game of a double header Sunday and all signs point to the Phillies again winning in a rout. Yes Philadelphia is a moderately priced favorite here but they are 12-4 when favored in a range of -125 to -175 at home this season. Also, the Phillies are 8-3 when playing after a day off while the Padres are 1-9 this season after an off day. 8* PHILADELPHIA

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach MLB Game #925 Sunday 8* OVER the total in Tampa Bay Rays vs Miami Marlins @ 1:10 ET - This total opened up at a 7.5 and has dropped to a 7 in a number of books as of early game day morning. I am going contrarian here and going with the over as the 7 is certainly offering us some favorable value here. Certainly I understand the push toward the under with these two hurlers on the mound but some key factors are pointing toward the over in this one. The Rays Chris Archer has given up 18 hits in the 12 and 2/3 innings spanning his last 3 starts. The over is 4-2 in his home starts this season. The Marlins Trevor Richards has a 5.93 ERA and a 1.88 WHIP on the road this season. Also the right-hander just faced the Rays and that was in Miami and he got rocked for 4 earned runs on 9 hits in just 5 innings of work. Things won't get any easier for Richards as he now gives them a quick second look and this time it is on the road at Tropicana Field! Tampa Bay had been swinging the bats very well prior to yesterday's low-scoring loss and the over was 4-0 in their 4 prior games. Miami is 17-7 to the over this season in road games where their money line ranges from +125 to +175. Look for another one here as they are a big road dog Sunday. 8* OVER the total in Tampa Bay

Primetime Punisher - Rickenbach MLB Game #971 Saturday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Los Angeles Angels vs Houston Astros @ 7:15 ET - Yesterday's game ended up a low-scoring pitchers duel. However, there is reason to believe both of these starters get a little roughed up on Saturday afternoon. This game starts at 4:15 local time and the wind (although not strong) will be blowing out toward center field. The point being the ball does carry better in day games in Anaheim and the weather is favorable for it Saturday afternoon with very warm weather in the forecast. Though Justin Verlander has great history versus the Angels, he did get roughed up in his final start before the All Star break as he allowed 5 earned runs in 6 innings. That was the 3rd time in his last 5 starts that Verlander has allowed 4 earned runs or more. The over is 6-2-1 in Verlander's last 9 starts. The over is 4-0-1 in Nick Tropeano's last 5 starts. The Angels right-hander has a 10.00 ERA in his last two starts and has been rocked for 20 hits in the 14 and 1/3 innings spanning his last 3 starts. Tropeano has a 6.97 ERA in his last two starts against the Astros and Houston was on a 5-1 run to the over before yesterday's low-scoring win. Tropeano had been on the DL due inflammation in his throwing shoulder. He'll be rusty here, Verlander's recent trend of giving up big hits will continue, and this one should fly over the total on a hitter-friendly afternoon in Anaheim. 10* OVER the total in the Los Angeles Angels game

Total Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #967 Saturday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Detroit Tigers vs Boston Red Sox @ 6:10 ET - After yesterday's 1-0 pitchers duel most will be enticed to take the under 9.5 in this one Saturday but the pitching match-up should prove to be absolutely perfect for a slugfest here. The Tigers, overall, are certainly not a great team but they are hitting .268 versus left-handed pitching this season and that ranks them among the top five teams in the majors against southpaw hurlers. The Red Sox are starting lefty Brian Johnson here and he gave up 3 earned runs on 8 hits (including 2 homers) in just 4 and 1/3 innings when he faced Detroit last season. The Tigers counter with Michael Fiers in this one. I am well aware of the fact that he has had some success versus Boston in the past. However, this Red Sox team was scoring an average of 6.6 runs per game in the month of July prior to yesterday's 1-0 win. Also, even including yesterday's lackluster performance at the plate, the BoSox are hitting .295 in the month of July which ranks them #1 in the AL. In June, Boston ranked #2 in the AL for batting average and in May their .481 slugging percentage ranked them #2 out of all 30 MLB teams. The point is that a bounce back is likely after scoring just 1 run yesterday. The Red Sox have now stayed under in 3 straight games but only 3 times this entire season have they had an "under" streak go more than 3 games. This streak gets snapped Saturday! Fiers final start before the All Star break saw him allow "only" 3 earned runs against the Astros but they got to him for 9 hits in 6 innings and he struck out only 2. He won't be fooling the bats of Boston either! 10* OVER the total in Detroit

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #966 Saturday 8* UNDER the total in Toronto Blue Jays vs Baltimore Orioles @ 1:05 ET - At first glance one would think of jumping all over the "over" in this match-up. Both of these starting pitchers have high ERAs on the season and yesterday's game totaled 15 runs. However, the fact is that both of these pitchers are better than their full season ERA would lead you to believe and there is reason to believe they each come up with a strong start in this match-up. The Blue Jays Marcus Stroman has allowed ZERO earned runs in the 15 and 1/3 innings spanning his last 3 starts versus Baltimore. He has struck out 18 in those 15 and 1/3 innings and the O's are known as free swingers and also saw their lineup weakened by the departure of Manny Machado to the Dodgers. As for the Orioles Alex Cobb, this is a revenge start. Back on June 10th he did get roughed up by Baltimore but prior to that he had held them to a 1.42 ERA in his 3 prior starts against them! Cobb enters this start having allowed 3 earned runs or less in 9 of his last 14 starts. As for Stroman, he has allowed 3 earned runs or less in 4 of his last 5 starts. As you can see from the above, each of these pitchers has had good long-term success against the opponent they are matched up with today but the markets aren't evaluating this one properly and that has led to some good value here. The very first numbers popping up on this total were 8.5 but, as expected, it quickly moved to a 9 and I'll gladly take it in this one. The under is 7-0 in Stroman's last 7 starts! Only 4 of the Blue Jays 15 Saturday games so far this season have gone over the total. 8* UNDER the total in Toronto

PA Insider - Rickenbach MLB Game #906 Friday 8* Philadelphia Phillies Money Line (-) vs San Diego Padres @ 7:05 ET - The Padres are 1-3 in Richard Clayton's last 4 starts. He has a 5.25 ERA in those outings but truly it could be much worse. The San Diego southpaw has given up 27 hits plus walked 15 for a total of 42 baserunners in his last 24 innings. Of course this equates to an ugly 1.75 WHIP and Richard is going to have trouble in this one considering the Phillies Jake Arrieta is unlikely to give up much! The Philadelphia right-hander is 2-0 with a 1.89 ERA in his last 3 starts overall. Also, on the season, Arrieta is 3-2 with a 2.53 ERA in his home starts and opponents have hit only .214 against him at Citizens Bank Park this season. The Padres are just 6-21 in their last 27 games overall! The Phillies are 12-6 in their last 18 games overall. This one sets up to be a complete mismatch and the Phils are off of back to back losses and have only lost 3 straight games ONCE in the past SIX weeks. In other words, behind a strong start from Arrieta, look for the Phillies to get right back on track here in their first game after the break as they prove to be well worth the moderate price here. 8* PHILADELPHIA

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #925 Friday 10* Top Play New York Mets Money Line (+) @ New York Yankees @ 7:05 ET - The Mets Noah Syndergaard rates a huge edge on the mound over the Yankees Domingo German. Syndergaard is 5-1 with a 2.97 ERA this season while German is 2-4 with a 5.97 ERA on the year. The Yankees German allowed 6 earned runs in 4 innings in his most recent start. Although that one was on the road, note that he allowed 3 earned runs on 6 hits and 3 walks in 4 and 1/3 innings in his most recent home start. As for Syndergaard, he is a strikeout pitcher and that is the type of pitcher known to give the slugging Yankees problems. The Yanks haven't seen him since 3 years ago while the Mets just faced German a month ago. This is certainly an edge for the Mets hitters over the Yankees hitters. As a result of the Mets having a bad first half of the season while the Yankees were solid, the markets jumped all over the Yanks when they opened up in the -130 range as a small home favorite in this one. The line has been driven up all morning long and there is now superb line value on the big dog Mets who rate a massive starting pitching edge here. The Yankees are a mediocre 10-8 their last 18 starts. The Mets are off of a loss but had gone 7-6 their past 13 games. The point is that, while that may not be all that impressive, keep in mind we're getting a huge plus money payback in this one plus have the pitching edge. The Yankees are only 5-5 in German's last 10 starts while the Mets are 8-4 in Syndergaard's dozen starts this season. Also, in road games with a posted total of 8 or 8.5 runs, the Mets are 9-5 (+$6,000) this season! The Yankees are 33-38 (-$15,500) in Friday games since the start of the 2016 season. 10* NEW YORK METS

Total Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #913 Friday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Toronto Blue Jays vs Baltimore Orioles @ 7:05 ET - Dylan Bundy has struggled since returning from the disabled list. The Baltimore right-hander has gone 0-2 with 11 runs (10 earned) given up in 7 and 1/3 innings and he has walked as many as he has struck out in those two outings. The Blue Jays Sam Gaviglio has also struggled in back to back starts as he has been rocked for 7 earned runs in 5 innings spanning his last two outings. The Orioles have been hitting a little better of late and they have scored at least 4 runs in 6 of their last 10 games. The Blue Jays have scored 4 or more runs in 6 of their last 9 games. Keep in mind a 4-4 game guarantees us of no less than a 5-4 final and that equates to a winner with the low total posted on this game. Yes Manny Machado is now a Dodger and not an Oriole but this lineup still has some pop. This is particularly true against a struggling pitcher like Gaviglio. The over is 4-2 in Gaviglio's starts where he is opposed by a right-handed starter this season. The over is 13-7 in Baltimore's road games with a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs this season. The Orioles bullpen is getting hit at a .269 clip this season which ranks them 28th in the majors and the Blue Jays (.254) rank 22nd out of the 30 teams. In other words, both bullpens are susceptible in this match-up too. 10* OVER the total in Toronto

ESPN Smash Pass - Rickenbach MLB Game #951 Thursday 8* St Louis Cardinals Money Line (+) @ Chicago Cubs @ 7:05 ET - The wind is expected to be blowing out at Wrigley Field this evening. This should prove to be a big edge for the visitors in this one. The key to that edge is Cardinals starting pitcher Carlos Martinez has allowed only 4 homers in his 16 starts this season. That is in stark contrast to Cubs pitchers Kyle Hendricks. The Chicago right-hander has allowed 17 homers in his 19 starts this season. Also, Hendricks has allowed 9 homers in his 9 home starts this season while Martinez has allowed only 1 homer in his 7 road starts on the year! The Cardinals are 7.5 games back of the Cubs in the NL Central but there is still a lot of baseball left this season. In other words, this is a crucial divisional series that St Louis is looking forward to and I love the underdog value we are getting here in Game 1 of this 4-game set. The Cubs took 2 of 3 from the Cards in mid-June but St Louis had won 4 of the first 5 meetings this season and has their sights set on revenge here. The Cubs are an ugly 2-6 in Hendricks divisional starts this season. Dating all the way back to his first start in the month of April, the Cardinals are 4-2 in the last 6 road starts Martinez has made. St Louis lost the final start Martinez made before the All Star break but the Cardinals had gone a perfect 3-0 in his last 3 starts. Given all of the above factors, I'll gladly take the road dog value in this one! 8* ST LOUIS CARDINALS

1st Half Game of the Year (pre-All Star break GOY) - Rickenbach MLB Game #911 Sunday 10* OVER the total in San Diego Padres vs Chicago Cubs @ 4:10 ET - Yesterday's game flew over the total as the Cubs won 11-6. Chicago is now 3-0 to the over in their last 3 games. The Cubs are also 3-0 to the over in Jon Lester's last 3 starts. The southpaw has not looked quite as sharp in recent starts as he has nearly as many walks as strikeouts in his last two outings. Also, Lester has given up 15 hits in 11 and 1/3 innings in his last two starts while allowing 8 runs (6 earned) in those two outings. In home games with a total of 8 or 8.5 runs, the Padres are 13-7 to the over this season. Also, when the Padres are on a losing streak of 3 or more games, the over is 7-3 this season! I know that Eric Lauer has a low ERA in recent starts. However, his full season numbers do tell more of a complete story on him and also he had been hit hard in each of his past two outings before the surprising success versus the Dodgers in his most recent start. Lauer had allowed 16 hits in the 10 innings spanning his two prior starts and both of those outings went over the total. Lauer has a 1.64 WHIP on the season so it is not as if he is a dominant starter and today he is facing a solid Cubs lineup! Chicago has averaged nearly 7 runs per game in their 8 July wins as they've won 8 of 11 games this month. The Padres have scored 4 or more runs in 6 of their last 10 games and they hit two homers off of Lester in his most recent start against them. The ball does carry better in day games compared to night games at Petco Field and I love the value here with the low total. 10* OVER the total in San Diego

Run Line Rout - Rickenbach MLB Game #922 Sunday 7* Houston Astros Run Line -1.5 runs -160 vs Detroit Tigers @ 2:10 ET - Normally I don't lay big prices and that is why I am reducing the rating on this one so that it is a 7 star play. Of course -160 is not a huge price but it is still a higher price than I generally lay. The reason I am involved here is because this is such a unique situation and one that is so strong that I do not want to pass up on this opportunity. The Astros Justin Verlander, a long-time Tiger, will be making his first appearance against his former team since being dealt from Detroit to Houston last summer. Not only do the Tigers hitters have no experience against him, he also has been one of the most dominating hurlers in the game as a member of the Astros. He went 5-0 with a 1.06 ERA in his 5 regular season starts with the Astros last season. In the post-season, at home he went 3-0 with a 1.23 ERA in his 3 starts. This season in all of his starts on the year he has gone 9-4 with a 2.05 ERA! The Tigers are one of the worst teams in baseball and will prove to be no match for the defending World Series champs here. Detroit is starting Francisco Liriano and the southpaw is 0-2 with an 8.16 ERA in his last 3 starts. On the season the Tigers are 1-8 in his road starts. He has started against the Astros twice in recent seasons and he has compiled a 6.17 ERA in those two outings while getting hit hard in both. The Tigers have lost 6 straight and 9 of their last 11 games and only 1 of those 9 losses has come by less than 2 runs. The Astros have won 8 of their last 11 games and the average margin of victory has been 4.3 runs in their last 6 victories! 7* HOUSTON Run Line -1.5 runs -160

Afternoon Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #923 Sunday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Chicago White Sox vs Kansas City Royals @ 2:10 ET - After Friday's game totaled 15 runs, yesterday's game ended up being a surprising 5-0 shutout win for Kansas City. Prior to that under, the Royals had gone 8-2 to the over their previous 10 games. The White Sox, prior to that shutout loss, had gone 16-6 to the over their last 22 games. The Royals Burch Smith got rocked for 4 earned runs in just 3 and 1/3 innings in his most recent start and the KC right-hander will be facing a Chicago team that was averaging scoring 5.4 runs per game in the month of July prior to yesterday's loss. As for the White Sox starter, Lucas Giolito, he is also likely to get roughed up here. Giolioto has an 8.65 ERA in his 9 home starts this season. Also, the Royals will be seeing him for the 3rd time already this season and this is a big edge for them here. The over is 6-2 in Chicago's last 8 games versus a right-handed starter and these two bullpens are also two of the worst in baseball with Kansas City's ERA actually ranking the Royals dead last in the majors for bullpen ERA. Both bullpens could certainly be called into play early here as Giolito has averaged only 5 and 1/2 innings per start his last 9 starts and the Royals Smith is unlikely to work deep here given his struggles at the MLB level as a starter (2013 too when most recently used in that role). In fact, KC is calling this a bullpen day as Smith is also working on short rest here. 10* OVER the total in the Chicago White Sox game

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #915 Sunday 8* OVER the total in Boston Red Sox vs Toronto Blue Jays @ 1:05 ET - Yesterday's game stayed under the total but Toronto's Marcus Stroman is 2-6 with a 6.05 ERA in his 11 starts this season. Stroman had a solid ERA versus Boston last season but the Red Sox actually got to him for 23 hits in 17 and 1/3 innings. He was fortunate in 2 of the 3 outings is the point I am making here and his good fortune is likely to run out here! With Boston's 6-2 win yesterday, they've won 11 of their last 12 games and have averaged scoring 7.2 runs per game in these dozen games. Prior to the Blue Jays losing yesterday's game, they were 4-5 their last 9 games and they averaged scoring 5.7 runs per game during this stretch. You can see why it would not be a surprise, based on the above, to see at least a dozen runs scored in this game. Toronto should have little trouble with the offerings of Boston's Brian Johnson in this one. Though he has a low ERA, he did allow 8 hits in less than 5 innings of work in his most recent start. Also, the Blue Jays saw him twice last season and got to him for 15 hits in 11 innings of work spanning those two starts. The over is 12-5 this season in Toronto's road games where they are a money line dog in a range of +125 to +175. Also, the Blue Jays are 9-4-1 to the over in Sunday games this season and there is every reason to believe this will be another Sunday afternoon match-up that flies over the total. 8* OVER the total in Boston

Primetime Punisher - Rickenbach MLB Game #973 Saturday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Cleveland Indians vs New York Yankees @ 7:15 ET - Yesterday's game went over the total and the over is now 7-0 this season in Indians home games with a money line between -125 and +125 this season. Overall, on the season, Cleveland's home games are 32-14 to the over. Additionally, the Indians are 11-1 to the over in home games with a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs this season. Cleveland starter Mike Clevinger has been getting hit harder of late as he has allowed 21 hits in the 17 innings spanning his last 3 starts. Also, he allowed 5 earned runs in his most recent start. The over is 6-2-1 in Clevinger's home starts this season and he does have a higher ERA at home compared to on the road this season. As for CC Sabathia, the Yankees left-hander allowed 5 earned runs in his most recent start too. Like Clevinger, he has been getting hit harder of late. Sabathia has allowed 37 hits in his last 31 innings. Look for the over to improve to 10-5 in Yankees Saturday games this season. The Indians last 5 games overall have all gone over the total and this one does too! 10* OVER the total in Cleveland

Afternoon Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #955 Saturday 10* Top Play Cincinnati Reds Money Line (+) @ St Louis Cardinals @ 4:10 ET - The Reds blasted the Cardinals 9-1 yesterday so many will be looking for a bounce back here from St Louis but Cincinnati is currently the better team with the better lineup also. In terms of the pitching match-up, the Reds also have the better starter on the mound with Luis Castillo going up against a struggling Jack Flaherty for the Cardinals. With yesterday's big win Cincinnati is 20-9 their last 29 games! St Louis is an ugly 11-17 their last 28 games. This is clearly a case of two teams going opposite directions right now but market perception is still siding with the Cardinals here which is why we get great underdog value in a spot like this. Although Castillo lost to St Louis in his most recent match-up versus the Cardinals, he struck out 10 while allowing only 4 hits in 6 innings! The problem for Castillo was that he allowed big hits in that game but you can see that he did enjoy quite a lot of success in that start but was victimized by a couple of mistake pitches. As for the Cards Flaherty, he has a 7.11 ERA in his two career starts versus the Reds and he also is on the "fade" of late after pitching a little "over his head" earlier this season. The point is that Flaherty is not as good as his full season numbers show and Castillo is much better than his full season numbers show. At the same time we have the much hotter team and the much hotter lineup. Note too that Flaherty has a 7.30 ERA in his last 3 starts. 10* CINCINNATI

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #967 Saturday 8* OVER the total in Chicago White Sox vs Kansas City Royals @ 2:10 ET - Yesterday's game totaled 15 runs and I expect more of the same on Saturday. The Royals are now 8-2 to the over their last 10 games. The White Sox are 16-6 to the over their last 22 games. Kansas City's Danny Duffy has an 8.10 ERA in his two starts versus Chicago this season and the White Sox have hammered 4 homers against him in those 10 innings. As for White Sox starter Reynaldo Lopez, he has given up 28 hits while striking out just 3 batters in the 18 and 2/3 innings spanning his last 3 starts against the Royals. As you can see from those numbers, when he is facing KC he is not missing many bats! Overall, the over is 4-0 in the last 4 starts Lopez has made. As for Kansas City, they are 9-5-1 to the over in Duffy's last 15 starts. 8* OVER the total in the Chicago White Sox game

Primetime Punisher - Rickenbach MLB Game #909 Friday 10* Top Play OVER the total in St Louis Cardinals vs Cincinnati Reds @ 8:15 ET - Both teams were off yesterday. The Reds are 14-3-2 to the over their last 19 games! Cincinnati is averaging scoring 6.6 runs per game their past 11 games. The Cardinals are off of a shutout loss Wednesday but they entered that game having gone 7-3 to the over in their 10 prior games. St Louis had averaged scoring 6.3 runs per game in that 10-game stretch. Friday marks the 15th time this season the Cardinals are playing after a day off and so far only 5 of these spots have stayed under the total. The Reds are 30-18 to the over this season when off of a loss. Also, Cincinnati is on a 7-1 run to the over when they're facing a team with a winning record. The Reds hand the ball to Matt Harvey for this one and though he allowed only 2 earned runs in his most recent start he did give up 9 hits in less than 6 innings of work and the road hasn't been kind to Harvey this season. On enemy mounds this season, Harvey is 1-4 with a 5.21 ERA on the year. The Cincinnati right-hander faced the Cardinals last month and allowed 5 earned runs in 6 innings thanks in large part to allowing 3 homers in that one. He'll be opposed by Carlos Martinez Friday. The St Louis right-hander allowed 5 earned runs in less than 4 innings in his most recent start versus the Reds and that was just last month. Martinez has walked 14 in less than 17 innings of work in his last 3 starts versus Cincinnati. Only 2 of his 8 home starts this season have resulted in an under as he has received great run support in home games and that should certainly continue here. 10* OVER the total in St Louis

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #913 Friday 8* OVER the total in Baltimore Orioles vs Texas Rangers @ 7:05 ET - The Rangers were off yesterday while the Orioles lost 5-4 in a make-up game versus the Phillies. As bad as Baltimore is this season, they should take advantage of facing a struggling Cole Hamels Friday. The Rangers southpaw is winless in his last 3 starts and he has compiled an ugly 11.81 ERA and 2.44 WHIP in those 3 outings. There have been no unders in any of his last 3 starts. As for the Orioles Alex Cobb, he has been roughed up in 5 of his last 6 outings. The over is 4-2 in his last 6 starts and he has a 6.57 ERA on the season. Cobb has gone 0-4 in his five home starts this year. Though Cobb was successful last season in a start against the Rangers, he did allow two homers in that outing and he is clearly not the pitcher this season that he has been in prior seasons. As for Texas left-hander Hamels, facing Baltimore is unlikely to cure what ails him. Hamels is 1-4 in 6 career starts versus the Orioles and has been roughed up to the tune of a 6.62 ERA in his 3 most recent starts against the O's. That includes allowing 3 homers at Baltimore in his most recent meeting with them! The Orioles enter this game having had just 2 unders in their last 7 games. While the Rangers have been trending under lately, this pitching match-up is going to bring out the best in both lineups. This will be the 12th time this season that the Rangers are playing after an off day. So far only 4 of those spots resulted in an under. More of the same here. 8* OVER the total in Baltimore

Money Line Game of the Week - Rickenbach MLB Game #969 Thursday 10* Top Play Philadelphia Phillies Money Line (-) @ Baltimore Orioles @ 6:05 ET - Starting pitchers have so much focus on them in terms of setting MLB lines and the way betting markets react, that this can actually work to a sharp players advantage in certain situations and this is one of those spots! The Phillies, of course, are the much better team in comparison with the Orioles and yet they are in a "pick 'em" price range here. The reason for that is because of Kevin Gausman having earned far more respect than Nick Pivetta this season. In theory, the line here makes sense but, at the same time, a closer look shows you why there is so much value going with the perceived weaker pitcher in a match-up like this. For one thing, Pivetta pitched at Baltimore in May and allowed only 1 earned run on 2 hits while striking out 11 in 7 innings of stellar work! Both of these teams are off of shutout losses yesterday but that was the 10th time in 14 games that the Orioles have been held to 2 runs or less! As for the Phillies, they had won 8 of their 10 prior games and averaged scoring 5 runs per game in their 11 games previous to yesterday's extra-inning shutout at the hands of the Mets in New York. Also, though Pivetta's last two starts have been rough and short, he previously had pitched quite well over his 8 prior starts. As for the O's Gausman, he has given up 36 hits in the 32 and 1/3 innings spanning his last 5 home starts. The Phillies can do some damage here while I expect the Orioles struggles at the plate to continue. Keep in mind, Baltimore is known for a "free-swinging" lineup and Pivetta does pile up a lot of strikeouts. Also, the Orioles are 1-9 in Gausman's last 10 starts! Baltimore is also 15-47 against right-handed starters this season while the Phils are 40-30 versus right-handed pitching on the season. Also, the Phillies are 26-14 this season when off of a loss. The Orioles are 1-7 this season after getting shutout. You can see which team is more likely to bounce back here! 10* PHILADELPHIA

Afternoon Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #951 Thursday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Colorado Rockies vs Arizona Diamondbacks @ 3:10 ET - With Robbie Ray having strong numbers on the season and Kyle Freeland having strong numbers at home this season, this total is being kept lower than it should be. Although the wind will be blowing in this afternoon it won't be a strong wind and, keep in mind, the ball carries even better in afternoon games than it does at night. The hitter-friendly nature of Coors Field helped produce 21 runs and that was the 2nd time in 4 games that the Diamondbacks have been involved in a game that produced more than 20 runs. Both of these teams hit lefties well and this afternoon game is a match-up of southpaws. In the National League, only the Braves have a higher slugging percentage versus left-handers than the Rockies and Diamondbacks do. Also, Arizona's Ray comes into this game having allowed 5 homers in his last 2 starts and he has compiled a 9.64 ERA in those two starts. As for Freeland, though his recent numbers are strong, the Diamondbacks lineup is known for giving him some trouble and they just faced him a month ago, In his last 3 starts versus Arizona, Freeland has a 6.23 ERA and a 1.77 WHIP. As you can see, allowing nearly 2 base runners per inning in his last 3 starts versus the Diamondbacks he is actually fortunate the damage hasn't been even worse. I suspect the damage will be worse today! In road games where their money line is between -125 and +125, Arizona is 19-7 to the over this season. 10* OVER the total in Colorado

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #959 Thursday 8* OVER the total in Houston Astros vs Oakland A's @ 2:10 ET - Most will look at the under here based on two solid starting pitchers on the mound. In fact this total has already moved from an 8.5 to an 8 as of game day morning. However, the A's Trevor Cahill is making his first in nearly six weeks as he had been on the disabled list. Also, the over is 3-0 in his 4 road starts this season and Cahill has a 5.66 ERA away from home this season. The Astros, especially off of a loss yesterday, should get to him early and often here. As for Houston's Charlie Morton, he has a rather mediocre 4.50 ERA in his two career starts versus Oakland and he allowed 6 hits in 5 innings in his most recent start versus the A's. Oakland has been very hot at the plate and I just don't see Morton shutting them down. In fact, the A's have scored 4 runs or more in 7 of their last 8 games. Keep in mind, a 4-4 game guarantees us of a win here as the game would have to end with at least 9 runs if each team gets to 4. I look for Cahill to be a little rusty and for his less than stellar road performances to continue. As for the A's, they are averaging 5.1 runs per game their last 8 games and they have had some success versus Morton. Oakland is 6-2 to the over this season as a road dog in a range of +175 to +250. The Astros are playing their 30th day game this season and, so far, only 11 of their day games this season have stayed under the total! 8* OVER the total in Houston

ESPN Smash Pass - Rickenbach MLB Game #919 Wednesday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Boston Red Sox vs Texas Rangers @ 7:10 ET - I know it seems tough to take an over with Chris Sale on the mound but the Red Sox have been giving him plenty of run support. Each of his last two starts have gone over the total as Boston has averaged scoring 10.5 runs per game. Also, the Red Sox enter this game absolutely red hot at the plate. The over is 7-3 in Boston's last 10 games as they've averaged scoring 7.5 runs per game. Even though Sale has been fantastic on the mound, this will be the 2nd time in a span of two months and the last time he hosted the Rangers at Fenway Park he allowed 4 runs (3 earned). Texas scored 4 runs last night and they've averaged scoring 5.2 runs per game their last 23 games! Of course the key to this play is the Rangers Bartolo Colon getting rocked and I have little doubt about that! Though he held the Red Sox to 4 earned runs in his early May start against Boston, all 4 runs came via the long ball! Yes Colon allowed 4 homers in that game and now he faces the powerful (and red hot) BoSox lineup at Fenway Park! This could get ugly in a hurry and I expect it to fly over the total early as a result. Colon has allowed 22 homers in his 16 starts this season and, even off of a solid road start against a poor Tigers team at Detroit, he has compiled a 7.24 ERA in his last 5 road starts! Look for the over to improve to 5-1 in the last 6 games the Red Sox have played against teams with a losing record. 10* OVER the total in Boston

Afternoon Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #903 Wednesday 10* Top Play OVER the total in San Francisco Giants vs Chicago Cubs @ 3:45 ET - This total has dropped from an 8.5 to a 7.5 and this is offering huge value on the over. The drop is understood because the Giants Johnny Cueto has great full season numbers and so too does Mike Montgomery. Also, these teams have scored a total of only 5 runs in the first two games of this series. That said, the move on this total does make perfect sense. However, the reason it does not make sense is absolutely why I am all "over" the "over" at AT & T Park this afternoon. The ball does tend to carry better in afternoon games in San Francisco and temperatures will warm to near 70 degrees and the wind will be blowing out a good clip. Additionally, Cueto is still unproven since his time on the disabled list. He made one start (last week) and he allowed 5 earned runs on 10 hits (including 2 homers) in just 5 innings of work! As for Montgomery, he is in poor current form. The Cubs southpaw has a 1.63 WHIP and a 5.62 ERA in his last 3 starts! The over is 2-1 in Montgomery's last 3 starts and the over is 3-0 in Cueto's 3 home starts this season! The over is 16-10 this season in San Francisco's home games where their money line is in a range of -125 to +125. The Giants are also 10-4 to the over this season in Wednesday games. 10* OVER the total in San Francisco

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #915 Wednesday 8* OVER the total in Minnesota Twins vs Kansas City Royals @ 1:10 ET - The Royals are starting Burch Smith. He has been working out of the bullpen and it will be his first MLB start since 2013. The Kansas City right-hander has a major match-up issue in this one. He has been hit by a better than .300 average by left-handed hitters this season. Smith is going to be facing a Twins lineup that is loaded on that side of the plate. Other than catchers, nearly every single Minnesota position player is either a left-handed stick or a switch-hitter. While the Twins should certainly crush the ball this afternoon, look for the Royals to also join the "hit parade" today! KC should pound Lance Lynn. I am well aware of the fact that Lynn is coming off of a strong start but he entered that start having allowed 12 runs (11 earned) in less than 7 innings spanning his two prior starts. Only 1 of Lynn's 5 career starts versus the Royals has resulted in an under. Though Lynn has only allowed 2 earned runs in each of his last two starts versus Kansas City, he has been fortunate. Lynn had a 1.67 WHIP in those two outings! He won't be so fortunate here. The Royals are confident coming off of last night's big win where they scored 9 runs and KC has averaged 10 hits per game their last 7 games. The over is 6-2 in the Royals last 8 games. The over is a long-term 100-69 in Twins games versus teams with a losing record. 8* OVER the total in Minnesota

TV Game of the Week - Rickenbach MLB Game #969 Tuesday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Minnesota Twins vs Kansas City Royals @ 8:10 ET - Yesterday's game stayed well under the total but the Royals were 7-3 to the over in their 10 prior games. Kansas City hasn't recorded back to back unders since two weeks ago. The Twins bullpen and the Royals bullpen are ranked as the two worst in the majors in terms of opponents batting average. KC's relievers are also ranked dead last for bullpen ERA on the year. Both bullpens could certainly be called upon early here. The Royals Ian Kennedy averages just 5 and 1/3 inning per start and he has allowed 5 homers in his last 3 starts. He also has allowed 4 homers in his last 3 starts versus the Twins even though these 3 outings saw him compile a total of only 10 and 2/3 innings! As for Aaron Slegers, his first start of this season was a good one but it came against the free-swinging Orioles and yet he still recorded only 2 strikeouts. I am well aware of the fact that the Royals, of course, fall into the same class of team as Baltimore. However, the point is that Slegers one start against a bad O's team does not mean he has "arrived". In his few MLB appearances (6 games with 4 starts included) he has a 4.73 ERA. In the minors this season he has been hit a .260 clip and last season he was hit at .266 clip. With these types of numbers in the minors it would not surprise to see him get hit at a .300 clip in the majors. In other words, Slegers one good start (in my book) is a bit of a fluke. Long-term the over is 100-69 in Twins games versus teams with a losing record and both lineups get back on track after yesterday's pitchers' duel. 10* OVER the total in Minnesota

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #951 Tuesday 8* OVER the total in Pittsburgh Pirates vs Washington Nationals @ 7:05 ET - I had the over in this match-up yesterday and I did release it early when 8.5 was still available. However, it quickly moved to 9 yesterday and then eventually even move to a 9.5 as the day went on. Inexplicably, even though the game had 7 runs by the 2nd inning and 9 runs by the top of the 6th, the game did end with exactly 9 runs. I am coming right back with the same play today as this is another pitching match-up that should lead to an over. Jeremy Hellickson of the Nationals has allowed 12 runs (11 earned) on 16 hits (including 3 homers) in the 8 and 2/3 innings spanning his last two starts! Joe Musgrove of the Pirates has struggled in each of his last two home starts as he has allowed 11 earned runs on 15 hits in 8 and 1/3 innings! Pittsburgh has gone 4-0 to the over in his last 4 starts. Washington has allowed double digits in runs quite often of late and the last 4 times they did not, their following game went over all 4 times - a perfect 4-0 to the over. That said, after allowing "only" 6 runs yesterday, look for the Nationals to give up big runs today and this match-up with the Pirates flies over the total. I am happy to test the double perfect angles here combining for an 8-0 run. 8* OVER the total in Pittsburgh

Run Line Rout - Rickenbach MLB Game #966 Tuesday 10* Top Play Boston Red Sox Money Line -1.5 runs vs Texas Rangers @ 7:10 ET - The Red Sox rolled 5-0 last night as the Rangers struggles continue. Texas has lost 6 of its last 8 games and they've scored an average of only 1.5 runs per game their last 4 games! Boston, on the other hand, is rolling and has won 7 straight and 14 of their last 17 games! The Red Sox have averaged scoring 7 runs per game their last 13 games! Boston is using Hector Velazquez for a spot start here. Though he is mostly used as a long reliever, Velazquez has been solid nonetheless in his MLB career as this is his 2nd season and so far he has compiled a 9-1 record with a 2.82 ERA in the majors. Texas is not familiar with him and is likely to struggle. Speaking of struggles, the Rangers Yovani Gallardo has incredibly gone 3-0 as a starter for Texas even though he has a 5.87 ERA in his 4 starts. Keep in mind he has not had an ERA below 5.42 since the 2015 season! Gallardo has a 2.13 WHIP in his last two starts versus the Red Sox as both walks and hits allowed have been an issue. This one has the makings of a complete mismatch on the mound and we can get a great number on this game by laying the 1.5 runs with Boston on the run line. The Red Sox last 37 victories have featured 34 wins by 2 or more runs. In other words, when they win they almost always win by a multiple run margin. As for the Rangers, only 10 of their 52 losses this season have been one-run defeats. Great odds on a home blowout here! 10* BOSTON Run Line -1.5 runs

Run Line Rout - Rickenbach MLB Game #903 Monday 10* Top Play Philadelphia Phillies Run Line -1.5 runs -110 @ New York Mets @ 7:40 ET (Game 2 of double header) - This should be a dominating road win for the Phillies but, of course, I am not going to lay nearly 2 to 1 odds on the money line. The value here is on the run line where we get the Phillies at a pick'em price in a game that should prove to be a complete mismatch. Note that the Mets are 0-8 this season in home games where they are an underdog in a range of +125 to +175. Overall at home this season, New York enters Monday with one of the worst records in MLB at 15-28 on the year. The Phillies Aaron Nola has been one of the best pitchers in baseball this season and Philadelphia has won each of his last 5 starts and 12 of his last 14 overall. In terms of "comfort level" with laying the 1.5 runs with the Phillies here, note that 16 of the Mets last 17 losses have come by a margin of 2 runs or more. While Nola has been dominant this season, a struggling Corey Oswalt gets the start for the Mets here. The young right-hander has a 10.79 ERA in his two starts this season and 2018 is the first year that Oswalt has pitched any higher than the AA level in the minors. The fact is that it has not gone well. Even at AAA Las Vegas, Oswalt has compiled a 5.32 ERA in his 10 starts. He'll be in trouble here trying to match Nola in putting up zeros on the scoreboard. 10* PHILADELPHIA Run Line -1.5 runs (Game 2 of double header)

Primetime Punisher - Rickenbach MLB Game #913 Monday 8* OVER the total in Boston Red Sox vs Texas Rangers @ 7:10 ET - With Boston's 7-4 win yesterday, the over is now 6-2 in their last 8 games. The Red Sox have averaged scoring 7 runs per game in helping lead the way to an 11-2 record in their last 13 games. While their offense is hot the key to the over here is that Boston starter Eduardo Rodriguez can not be trusted in this spot in my opinion. He faced the Rangers earlier this season and though he piled up strikeouts, Rodriguez allowed 3 homers in that game. The wind will be blowing out to left field tonight at Fenway Park which means it will be a very hitter-friendly night at a very hitter-friendly venue. Though Rodriguez is off of a strong start in his last outing that came against an NL team that was not familiar with him. In his last two starts versus AL teams Rodgriguez gave up 10 runs (9 earned) in 10 innings of work! Tonight will mark the 30th time this season that Texas has faced a left-handed starter and, so far, only 10 games have resulted in an under! Also, the Rangers are 7-3 to the over in Monday games. Boston will tee off against Mike Minor tonight as the Red Sox have a .492 slugging percentage at home this season. Minor has been pitching well of late but this is a very tough assignment for him and he has a 6.82 ERA in road games this season. The Red Sox have an added edge here in that they already faced him this season. Minor had a quality start then but facing them at Fenway Park where he has allowed 3 homers in his last 2 starts will prove much tougher. 8* OVER the total in Boston

ESPN Smash Pass - Rickenbach MLB Game #901 Monday 8* OVER the total in Pittsburgh Pirates vs Washington Nationals @ 7:05 ET - The Nationals are off of another wild game yesterday as they lost 10-2 to the Marlins. That means that in 4 of the Nats last 6 games they've either allowed double digits in runs or they've scored double digits in runs! In fact, in one of those games both they AND their opponent reached double digits. Suffice to say this hasn't been easy on their bullpen and that could be an issue here. That's because Washington starter Jefry Rodriguez has only lasted a total of 9 innings in his first two starts! He has a 9.00 ERA in those two outings and those were both at home as this will be his first road start! Rodriguez will be facing a Pirates lineup that got a boost in confidence yesterday thanks to a 4-1 win over the NL East leading Phillies. The issue for Pittsburgh today won't be their lineup it will be their own starting pitcher. They hand the ball to Ivan Nova for this one and he has an 8.18 ERA in his last two starts and has allowed 6 homers in the 11 innings spanning those two outings! Also, facing Washington is unlikely to help Nova as he has a 7.52 ERA in his last 3 starts versus the Nationals. Also, in Nova's lone start versus the Nats this season he did allow a pair of homers. The over is 2-0 in the two starts Rodriguez has made this season. Pittsburgh, even with yesterday's low-scoring win, are 5-2 to the over in their July games. The Pirates 52 night games this season have seen only 19 stay under the total! More of the same here as Washington's recent penchant for wild games continues. 8* OVER the total in Pittsburgh

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #925 Monday 8* Philadelphia Phillies Money Line (-) @ New York Mets @ 4:10 ET (Game 1 of double header) - Both teams are off of losses yesterday. However, only one of them is likely to bounce back. The Phillies had won 6 straight games and 8 of their last 9 prior to yesterday's loss. As for the Mets, their losses simply keep piling up as they have now been on the wrong side of the scoreboard in 13 of their last 17 games! This is a case of two teams going in opposite directions and, even though Zack Wheeler has some decent numbers on the season, the Mets are 0-8 in his home starts this year! As for the Phillies, when Zach Eflin is on the mound they've gone 6-0 in his last 6 starts. Overall, the Mets have lost 11 of Wheeler's last 12 starts. Look for New York to remain win-less in Wheeler's home starts this season as the Phillies take the first game of this Monday twin-bill. 8* PHILADELPHIA (Game 1 of double header)

ESPN Smash Pass - Rickenbach MLB Game #979 Sunday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Los Angeles Angels vs Los Angeles Dodgers @ 8:05 ET - The over is 10-4-1 in the last 15 starts that the Dodgers Alex Wood has made. Though he has pitched quite well of late he has allowed 8 earned runs in his last 8 innings on the road which spanned two starts. Of course that did include a trip to Coors Field but also note that Wood has given up 23 hits in the 20 innings spanning his last 4 road starts. The point is that, overall, the Dodgers lefty has been quite hittable on the road. As for the Angels Andrew Heaney, he is off of a strong start at Seattle. However, in the left-hander's 4 prior starts he did compile a 6.33 ERA. Heaney had allowed 5 earned runs or more in 3 of his prior 6 starts. In his most recent start against the Dodgers, the Angels lefty was reached for 5 earned runs in 5 innings. Entering Saturday's game, the Dodgers were 4-1 in their last 5 games thanks to production on offense averaging 7.8 runs per game. That production keyed a 4-1 run to the over for the Dodgers. Regardless of Saturday's final outcome, note that the Dodgers are 3-1 to the over in their last 4 games against a left-handed starter. Additionally, the Angels entered Saturday's afternoon game having trended under of late but the Halos slugging percentage in night games this season does rank them in the upper half of the majors. The Dodgers slugging percentage in night games ranks them 2nd in the National League. This is a contrarian play but it is not without good reason and I expect plenty will be surprised at the struggles of both Wood and Heaney in this one. 10* OVER the total in Los Angeles Angels