Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Game #905 Thursday 10* Top Play Philadelphia Phillies Money Line (+) @ Chicago Cubs @ 2:20 ET - The Phillies took a 5-3 lead to the bottom of the 9th and then lost 7-5 last night. Look for the bounce back here. Not only is Philadelphia 18-8 this season when off of a loss, they are also one of the top teams in the majors (#4 out of 30) in drawing bases on balls. The Phillies have some patient hitters that work the count well and Tyler Chatwood continues to struggle with allowing too many walks. The Cubs right-hander has walked 15 in his last 3 starts and those outings have spanned less than 11 innings of work! Overall, Chatwood has struggled badly with a 7.59 ERA in his last 3 starts. He'll be opposed by the Phillies Nick Pivetta and he has been pitching quite well of late. The Philadelphia right-hander has a 1.93 ERA over his last 5 starts. Pivetta has racked up 35 strikeouts in the 28 innings spanning these 5 outings. The only time Pivetta faced the Cubs he gave up 3 runs in the first inning but nothing else the rest of the way. Also, that 3-run first was fueled by a throwing error that led off the inning. All balls put in play in that inning were hit on the ground and, in other words, it was a bit of a "fluke" 3-run first. I like the fact that the Cubs have only seen Pivetta that one time and I feel he gives the Phillies a big pitching edge over the struggling Chatwood in this match-up. 10* Top Play PHILADELPHIA

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #901 Thursday 8* OVER the total in Pittsburgh Pirates vs Los Angeles Dodgers @ 12:35 ET - This will be the first start for the Dodgers Dennis Santana at the MLB level. His only other appearance at the MLB level was last week at Colorado and he actually got the win in that game but certainly didn't earn it. Santana allowed 5 earned runs in less than 4 innings of work. Although that outing was at Coors Field and that is a tough place to pitch, the fact is that Santana began this season in the minors at the AA level. In his entire baseball career he has only made two starts above the AA level. Santana made two starts with AAA Oklahoma City this season. In other words, he is jumping from the AA level to the MLB level and I don't expect this to go well against a Pirates team that exploded for double digits in runs in yesterday's wild 11-9 win. The Dodgers should also have a big day at the plate as they have enjoyed success versus Pirates right-hander Jameson Taillon. In his two career starts versus the Dodgers, Taillon has allowed 9 earned runs in 9 innings of work. Los Angeles has gotten hot at the plate lately as a road trip to Colorado served as a confidence booster. The Dodgers have averaged 9.4 runs per game their last 5 games. Taillon is off of a strong start but previously allowed 9 earned runs in 12 and 1/3 innings in his two prior starts. The Dodgers have had just 2 unders in their last 9 games. LA is 6-3 to the over in road games with a money line between -125 and +125 this season. Also, the Dodgers are 27-13 to the over in games this season against a right-handed starter. The Pirates are 12-6 to the over in home games with a posted total of 8 or 8.5 runs this season. Look for another one here. 8* OVER the total in Pittsburgh

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach MLB Game #957 Wednesday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Cincinnati Reds vs Colorado Rockies @ 7:10 ET - The under is 2-0 in Sal Romano's 2 starts versus the Rockies and 2-1 in Jon Gray's 3 starts versus the Reds but I am going contrarian here with the over. The fact is that both of these pitchers are in poor current form and that is resulting in great line value here with the low total posted on this game. Romano has an ugly 11.21 ERA in his last 4 starts. Gray has an ugly 9.33 ERA in his last 4 starts. With yesterday's game totaling 15 runs, Cincinnati is now on a 5-0 run to the over and Colorado is on a 6-0 run to the over. The Rockies have averaged 6.7 runs per game in their last 10 games. The Reds have averaged 5.5 runs per game in their last 4 home games. The ball is known for carrying well at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. The over is a long-term 77-48 in Reds game with a posted total of 8 or 8.5 runs. June games for Cincy are now 36-18 to the over the past 2+ seasons. Only 1 of Gray's 5 road starts this season have resulted in an under. The over is 4-2 in Romano's 6 home starts this season. Also, these guys just faced other at Coors Field and each of them gave up at least 4 earned runs in that one. I expect more of the same here based on the way these two pitchers are currently throwing. 10* OVER the total in Cincinnati

Total Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #963 Wednesday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Toronto Blue Jays vs New York Yankees @ 7:05 ET - Even though there were not a lot of hits in yesterday's game (particularly from the Blue Jays) the teams did combine for 4 homers as each team hit a pair of long balls. There should be a lot more of that coming Wednesday with this pitching match-up. The Blue Jays Sam Gaviglio has allowed a pair of homers in each of his last two starts and now faces the Bronx Bombers. The Yankees Sonny Gray has allowed a round-tripper in each of his last two starts and also has struggled versus Toronto. In his last two starts versus the Blue Jays, Gray has given up 12 hits plus walked 7 as he has allowed 6 earned runs in just 7 and 1/3 innings. None of Gaviglio's 3 starts have resulted in an under and only 3 of Gray's 11 starts this season have stayed under the total. Despite yesterday's game staying just under the total, the over is still 6-2 in the Jays last 8 games and that was just the 4th under in the Yankees last 11 road games. Toronto has played 35 games versus a right-handed starter this season and only 12 stayed under the total. The Yankees are 18-7 to the over this season in their games against teams with a losing record. Look for another one here as the homers keep flying at the Rogers Centre. 10* OVER the total in Toronto 

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #953 Wednesday 8* OVER the total in San Francisco Giants vs Arizona Diamonbacks @ 3:45 ET - This is a contrarian play because each of these starting pitchers have produced good numbers recently and that has been a driving force behind the total dropping from an 8 to a 7.5 this morning. Clay Buchholz has great numbers in his 3 starts at the MLB level since he signed a minor league deal with the Diamondbacks early last month. However, 2 of the 3 starts came against the Marlins and Mets and both of those clubs are currently struggling at the plate. As for the Giants Chris Stratton, he is off of his best start of the season and that certainly adds to the value here. Keep in mind, previous to that outing he had allowed 24 earned runs in the 27 innings for an 8.00 ERA spanning his 6 prior starts. The over was 5-0 in the right-handers 5 starts prior to back to back unders. Arizona is 12-5 to the over this season in road games where their money line ranges from +125 to -125. San Francisco is 5-2 to the over this season as a home favorite in a range of -125 to -175. The Diamondbacks are 6-3 to the over in Wednesday games this season and the Giants are 7-2 to the over on Wednesdays. Arizona entered this series having averaged scoring 7 runs per game in their 6 prior games. The Giants were averaging scoring 6 runs per game in their 5 games prior to being held to just 2 runs yesterday. This is a contrarian play but I love spots like this where there is big value because of recent results not being commensurate with the long-term reality of starting pitchers. Also, though it will be a typical cool afternoon by the bay, the wind will be blowing out to center field at a good clip and the ball does carry better in day games at AT & T Park. 8* OVER the total in San Francisco 

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach MLB Game #913 Tuesday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Toronto Blue Jays vs New York Yankees @ 7:05 ET - The Yankees are off of a double header yesterday so some will shy away from having anything to do with them here. That is where the contrarian aspect to this comes in. That's because I fully expect a very focused effort from the Yankees at the plate in this one after they lost the 2nd game of yesterday's twin-bill by a score of 4-2. The Yankees had won 5 straight games and averaged scoring 6 runs per game before that loss last night. Tuesday they'll take advantage of facing a struggling Marco Estrada. The Blue Jays right-hander hasn't won a game since April 20th. Also, in his last 4 starts he has taken the loss in all 4 while compiling an ugly 6.53 ERA. Going even further back, note that Estrada has allowed at least 4 earned runs in 7 of his last 9 starts. The good news for Blue Jays fans is that they also should enjoy a lot of success at the plate in this one. Toronto will take advantage of facing a struggling CC Sabathia. The Yankees left-hander has given up 20 runs (16 earned) in his last 18 and 1/3 innings! In his last 3 starts Sabathia has walked 9 in only 14 and 1/3 innings of work. The lefty has only gone more than 5 innings 3 times in his 10 starts. The over is 18-6 this season in Yankees games versus teams with a losing record. Also, the over is 24-13 in Yanks games versus a right-handed starter. This will be the 30th game this season in which the Blue Jays have faced a team with a winning record and so far ONLY 10 of those games have resulted in an under. Look for a slugfest north of the border. 10* OVER the total in Toronto

ESPN Smash Pass - Rickenbach MLB Game #953 Monday 10* Top Play OVER the total in San Francisco Giants vs Arizona Diamondbacks @ 10:10 ET - Both teams are off of series sweeps as the Diamondbacks faced the miserable Marlins and the Giants faced the slumping Phillies. That said, there is great value here because we have a low total to work with and yet both of these lineups are loaded with confidence right now. Arizona had been slumping badly at the plate but they've now won 5 of their last 6 games and have averaged scoring 7 runs per game during this solid stretch. The Giants have won 4 straight and have averaged a respectable 4.5 runs per game and a solid 10.3 hits per game in their last 8 games. San Francisco should enjoy success against Zack Godley here. The Giants will be getting their 2nd look at him this season. Though Godley was successful in the first meeting, he was hit hard by San Francisco when he faced them in late September. Considering he has a 5.81 ERA in road starts this season he is unlikely to again enjoy success at AT & T Park here. The Diamondbacks also should have a big day at the plate here as they face lefty Derek Holland. Arizona has a .469 slugging percentage versus southpaw pitchers this season and that ranks them #1 out of all 30 MLB teams! Holland is 1-5 with a 5.93 ERA in his 8 night starts this season. This is no fluke either as the 3 prior years he went a combined 10-18 with a 6.40 ERA and a .303 BAA in evening outings. He was matched up with Godley in that prior start which did stay under the total but the rematch, as you can see per the above, is likely to turn out much different. Neither pitcher is currently in good form. The over is 11-4 this season when Arizona is on the road and the money line ranges from +125 to -125. Look for another one here as both starters struggle and both lineups get revenge in the rematch from April 9th. 10* OVER the total in San Francisco

Afternoon Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #921 Sunday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Kansas City Royals vs Oakland A's @ 2:15 ET - I was handed a tough push with this match-up yesterday but won't hesitate to come right back with the over today. Jakob Junis gets the start for the Royals and the A's did face him in August so this won't be their first look at him. Also, the KC right-hander gave up 6 hits and 4 walks in 6 innings in his most recent home start plus allowed 7 hits in 5 and 1/3 innings in his prior start at Kauffman Stadium. Oakland has averaged 9 runs per game in their last 3 games so they've got plenty of confidence at the plate right now. The Athletics issue however will be their starting pitcher. Even though the Royals have never faced Daniel Gossett it will prove not to matter because he is struggling. Gossett is now 4-14 with a 6.10 ERA and a .305 BAA in his 22 MLB starts. Though he has pitched well at the AAA level, like so many other hurlers before him, he is finding out just how tough it is to make the jump from the minors to the majors. The A's have played 15 road games with a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs this season and, so far, only 3 (20%) have resulted in an under! There have been 3 pushes and the other dozen games went 9-3 (75%) to the over and this match-up is conducive to yet another one flying over the total. The Royals have now scored 5 runs or more in 7 of their last 11 games. 10* OVER the total in Kansas City 

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach MLB Game #906 Sunday 10* Top Play St Louis Cardinals Money Line (-) vs Pittsburgh Pirates @ 2:15 ET - You want to talk about a team really wanting a game, this is it! The Cardinals faced rookie Nick Kingham in his MLB debut and he took a perfect game into the 7th inning against them. Of course, since then, Kingham has quickly come back down to earth. Pitching at the MLB level so much tougher than the minors and, in his 3 starts since then the Pirates right-hander has a 5.29 ERA and allowed 3 homers. Keep in mind this will be just the 5th start of his MLB career and it will be the first time he is facing a team for a second time. Also, this time he faces the Cards in St Louis instead of at home in Pittsburgh. Kingham has made only one other road start this season and he allowed 2 homers in that outing at Milwaukee. Keep in mind, he got rocked at a .396 clip in spring training. The Cards have this game circled as an opportunity to get payback and they've also got the right guy on the mound to do it. Michael Wacha gets the start here and St Louis is 6-1 in his home starts this season. Wacha has a 4-0 record in those outings and has 38 strikeouts against just 15 walks in his 40 and 2/3 innings at Busch Stadium this season. The Cards right-hander has allowed just 2 earned runs on only 8 hits in the 13 innings spanning his last two starts versus Pittsburgh. This line opened up as high as -152 but dropped to as low as a -125 which is offering great value on the Cardinals. Pittsburgh is 1-7 this season as a road dog in a range of +125 to +175 and also an ugly 5-11 in road games with a posted total of 8 or 8.5 runs. The Cardinals improve to 7-3 in Sunday games on the season. 10* Top Play ST LOUIS

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #903 Sunday 8* OVER the total in Atlanta Braves vs Washington Nationals @ 1:35 ET - Yesterday's 14-inning affair certainly didn't do any favors for either team's bullpen. That said, although Saturday's match-up did stay under the total, we've got great value with the over in Sunday's match-up. Both starting pitchers could get knocked out early and the bullpens for these teams burned up a lot of innings yesterday. I know the Nationals Jeremy Hellickson has been solid this season but he has only gone more than 5 and 2/3 innings in 1 of his 8 starts this year. Also, the Braves .485 slugging percentage in day games is #1 in the majors! As for Atlanta starter Anibal Sanchez, his return from the disabled list was not encouraging. He gave up 4 earned runs in just 4 innings and that was versus a Mets team that has struggled at the plate this season. Sanchez now faces a Nationals team that got hot in May and their .439 slugging percentage in the just completed month was 8th out of all 30 teams. They got to Sanchez for 4 earned runs in 6 innings in their most recent match-up with him. The over improves to 7-3 in Washington's Sunday games this season on a hot afternoon at SunTrust Park with the wind blowing out to left. 8* OVER the total in Atlanta

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach MLB Game #957 Saturday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Colorado Rockies vs Los Angeles Dodgers @ 7:15 ET - This total moved down from an 11 to a 10.5 which means we just need 5 runs from each team and we've got a guaranteed winner. Of course that's because the game can't end with anything less than a 6-5 once we're knotted at 5 apiece. Why would I expect each team to get to 5 runs here? Well the Rockies have averaged nearly 7 runs per game so far on this homestand and only 1 of the 7 games thusfar has seen Colorado score less than 5 runs. As for the Dodgers, their bats are starting to heat up and they've scored at least 5 runs in 5 of their last 7 games. We're getting value because Los Angeles rookie Walker Buehler is having a great season and German Marquez is off of back to back solid outings for the Rockies. The key here is to dig a little deeper though and there is much more "under the surface" of this one. Buehler has made only 2 true road starts as the 3rd one was really a neutral site game in Mexico. That said, note that he allowed 13 hits in 10 innings spanning the two true road starts and those were at Miami and San Francisco. Neither the Marlins or Giants are nearly as imposing (not even close) as the Rockies at Coors Field. This is such a hitter friendly venue and tends to be very tough on rookie hurlers. It also helps the Colorado lineup that they just saw Buehler less than 2 weeks ago in LA. As for Marquez, he was great against Los Angeles in that same outing Buehler pitched in 2 weeks ago but that was at pitcher-friendly Dodger Stadium. However, now Marquez is back home and even after a RARE strong home start (versus a horrible Reds team I might add), he still has an ugly 7.54 ERA and 1.99 WHIP in home starts this season. The over is 3-0 in the last 3 road games for Los Angeles and 3-0 in Colorado's last 3 home games. Also, the over is 24-12 in LA's games versus right-handed starters this season and I look for the over to improve to 8-4 in Dodgers Saturday games this season. 10* OVER the total in Colorado

Afternoon Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #971 Saturday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Detroit Tigers vs Toronto Blue Jays @ 4:10 ET - This total opened up at a 9 and, as expected, markets are jumping on the under and that has this total down to an 8.5 and we might even see a few spots end up at an 8 on this one. I will gladly fade the masses here. The Tigers pen has performed surprisingly well the past two days and the Blue Jays pen was called into play in the 2nd inning yesterday and had an unusually strong performance. Toronto and Detroit both are near the bottom of the majors for batting average allowed by relievers as both bullpens are allowing .262 BAA on the season. The Tigers bullpen has a 4.40 ERA which is better than only 2 other American League teams. The starters in this match-up are J.A. Happ and Matthew Boyd. I know Happ has good numbers this season and of late. However, in his last visit to Comerica Park he gave up 6 earned runs in 5 innings. Happ will be dealing with a confident Tigers lineup as Detroit is on a 7-2 run and has averaged 5 runs and 10 hits per game during this solid run. As for Tigers starter Boyd, the Blue Jays lineup (just like the Detroit lineup) is facing a left-handed starter for the 3rd straight game. This type of repetition tends to favor the hitters. The Jays slugging percentage in day games this season is .424 which is 9th out of all 30 teams. Boyd's career began with the Toronto organization and sometimes pitchers try to "overdo it" when facing their former team. He has walked 10 plus allowed 4 homers in his 3 starts spanning just 16 and 1/3 innings versus the Blue Jays. So the Jays will surely "get theirs" this afternoon and one final note about the Tigers - they are hitting .279 versus lefties this season and that ranks them #1 in the American League! Happ will have his hands full with this confident lineup today and none of his four road starts have resulted in an under this season. The over is 16-9 in Toronto's road games this season and 10-6 in Tigers games versus left-handed starters. 10* OVER the total in Detroit 

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #965 Saturday 8* OVER the total in Kansas City Royals vs Oakland A's @ 2:15 ET - After getting drilled 16-0 yesterday on their home field, there is no doubt the Royals will be ready to go here. They certainly know plenty about the A's Trevor Cahilll too since he did spend time with the organization last year. Though Cahill has enjoyed a resurgence this season as he returned to his long-time team in Oakland, he does have a 5.06 ERA on the road so far this year and Kauffman Stadium is certainly not high on his list of favorite venues! Kansas City, before getting shut out yesterday, had scored 5.3 runs per game in their prior 9 games. So, although I fully expect the Royals lineup to bounce back today, the issue will again be their pitching. Their bullpen has a 5.50 ERA and .280 BAA this season to rank among the worst pens in the majors. Royals relievers could be called upon early here too because starter Jason Hammel is likely to struggle. Yes he is off of a good start but that came against a Rangers team that has been struggling at the plate for much of the season. The A's .424 slugging percentage versus right-handed pitchers ranks them 6th in the majors out of all 30 teams. Also, Oakland got to Hammel for 8 earned runs in his 2 starts against them last season and the outings totaled less than 11 innings. The over is 9-3 this season in A's road games with a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs. The over is 5-1 in the Royals last 6 home games. Look for another one here in KC on a warm afternoon. 8* OVER the total in Kansas City

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #901 Friday 8* OVER the total in New York Mets vs Chicago Cubs @ 7:10 ET - The Mets were held to just 1 run in yesterday's loss but previously had averaged 5.3 runs per game their last 8 games. New York averaged 10.4 hits per game too during this 8-game stretch. The Cubs remained hot at the plate with 5 runs on 11 hits in yesterday's win at Citi Field. Chicago has averaged 5.6 runs per game their last 7 games and 11.8 hits per game their last 5 games. The Cubs should have no problems with the offerings of Zach Wheeler in this one. The Mets right-hander is 0-4 with a 7.36 ERA and 1.82 WHIP in his 4 home starts this season. Though he has been piling up strikeouts of late, Wheeler also has allowed 20 hits in the 16 innings spanning his last 3 starts. The Mets also should enjoy plenty of success at the plate as they take on a Cubs starter, Tyler Chatwood, who can't find the plate this season. The Chicago right-hander has issued 45 walks in his 48 1/3 innings spanning his 10 starts. Chatwood also has allowed 11 earned runs in just 5 and 2/3 innings spanning his last 2 starts versus the Mets. Wheeler gave up 8 earned runs in less than 2 innings of work when he most recently faced the Cubs (last June). The over is 7-2 in Chatwood's last 9 starts. The over is 5-2 in Wheeler's last 7 starts. More of the same here. 8* OVER the total in New York Mets

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach MLB Game #917 Friday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Detroit Tigers vs Toronto Blue Jays @ 7:10 ET - This total opened up at a 10 and has dropped to a 9 and, in typical contrarian fashion, I am on the other side of the move! This game should fly over the total. The reason that Blaine Hardy has been a reliever for most of his MLB career is because he can't get right-handed batters out consistently. Seriously they have given him hell through his career so he has been better used as a "lefty specialist" out of the bullpen. Now, as a starter, certainly match-ups come up that will again "give him hell" and this is one of them. The Blue Jays lineup is loaded with right-handed bats and switch-hitters so Friday it is likely that he'll face almost all right-handed sticks and that is not going to turn out well for him. Yes, Hardy had a good start in his most recent outing but prior to that he was hit hard in each of his first two starts and the betting markets are over-reacting to one good start for him and one good start for Jaime Garcia. The Blue Jays southpaw pitched surprisingly well versus the Phillies but previously had walked 8 batters in less than 9 innings of work spanning his two prior starts. Even with the strong road start at Philadelphia, Garcia has a 7.30 ERA on the road this season and he'll struggle at Detroit this evening. The Tigers have averaged scoring 5 runs per game in their last 8 games. The over is 10-5 in Tigers games versus left-handed starters this season. The over is 7-3 in Toronto's road games with a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs this season. 10* Top Play OVER the total in Detroit Friday

Run Line Rout - Rickenbach MLB Game #915 Friday 10* Top Play New York Yankees Run Line (-1.5 runs) @ Baltimore Orioles @ 7:05 ET - The Yankees have won 26 of their last 33 games and 17 of those 26 wins have come by at least 2 runs. Of course I don't lay big money line prices so that is why I am utilizing the run line here to get the Yankees at a pick'em price. They should win big here as the Orioles are having a miserable season and 29 of their 39 losses on the year have come by 2 or more runs. I know that the Yankees Sonny Gray has been up and down this season but he is a groundball pitcher and he got a bunch of groudball outs in his most recent road start (4 hits in 8 innings at Kansas City) and in his only start against these Orioles this season (4 hits in 6 innings). Couple that with the fact that Baltimore is 3-9 their last 12 games and has been to 3 runs or less in 11 of those 12 games and you can see why I am expecting Gray to have a good start here. As for the O's Andrew Cashner, he is in trouble against the Bronx Bombers. He has had success against the Yankees in recent meetings but his current form suggests this is going to be a very tough outing for him. Cashner has given up 24 hits plus walked 10 in the less than 16 innings spanning his last 3 starts. The Orioles have lost 8 of the 11 starts Cashner has made this season and 7 of those 8 defeats have come by at least 2 runs. 10* Top Play New York Yankees Run Line (-1.5 runs)

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach MLB Game #957 Thursday 10* Top Play Philadelphia Phillies Money Line (+) @ Los Angeles Dodgers @ 7:35 ET - The value here is way too strong to ignore. Yes, the Dodgers have Clayton Kershaw on the mound but he is returning from biceps tendinitis and his velocity had been down. This is his first start in a month and he has had to work through some mechanical adjustments. Don't get me wrong, the big southpaw is still a fantastic pitcher but there is little margin for error here because he is facing the Phillies top pitcher. Aaron Nola is on his way to an All-Star berth this season as he has been nothing short of phenomenal. He has added a devastating to change up to an already devastating curveball and the Dodgers are likely to struggle at the plate here. The Phillies won't have to score much for it to be "enough" here for Nola. He is 6-2 with a 2.27 ERA and 0.98 WHIP on the season. The Dodgers are just 2-5 in Kershaw's 7 starts this season and he allowed 4 earned runs when he faced the Phillies in September while Nola allowed just 2 earned runs in 7 innings when he faced the Dodgers during that same series. Los Angeles is only 4-10 this season as a home favorite of -125 to -175. The Phillies are 16-6 this season when off of a loss. Of course a pitchers' duel is predicted here and the Phils are 6-2 in games with a posted total of 7 runs or less this season while the Dodgers are an ugly 3-8 this season in home games with an O/U set at 7 or less runs. Grab the big dog value here. 10* Top Play PHILADELPHIA money line

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #961 Thursday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Detroit Tigers vs Los Angeles Tigers @ 1:10 ET - As a general rule, I particularly like to look for overs in games where the home team is pitcher is likely to struggle. That's because home teams do tend to hit better in their own venue and so if the road team is also putting up big runs these are generally the types of games that get "crazy" and that is what I am expecting at Comerica Park early Thursday. The Angels are starting southpaw Andrew Heaney and he has had a strong campaign thus far. However, the Tigers do rank 5th in the majors (out of 30) with a .267 batting average versus left-handed pitching on the season. Very warm in Detroit this afternoon with the wind pushing toward the left-field corner so the ball should carry quite well off of right-handed bats in particular and there will be plenty of those in the lineup for both teams as the Tigers are also starting a southpaw here. Ryan Carpenter gets the call for Detroit and the 6'5 lefty has an 8.31 ERA in limited MLB action this season but also has struggled in the minors. His ERA this season with AAA Toledo is a 5.72 and the two prior seasons with AAA Albuquerque Carpenter compiled a 5.17 ERA. All those stats against minor league hitters keep in mind so it is no wonder he has struggled at the MLB level. Behind him is a Tigers bullpen whose 4.53 ERA ranks them 27th out of all 30 MLB teams. While the Angels pen ranks higher, the Los Angeles relievers do rank in the lower half of MLB for BAA as opponents have hit .254 against them on the season. Yesterday the Angels pen got roughed up but the game still managed to stay under the total. Today don't be surprised if both starters "give it up" and so too will the pens! In Angels road games with a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs this season, only 4 of 12 have stayed under the total. The Tigers are 11-6 to the over this season against teams with a winning record and also 10-4 to the over when facing a left-handed starter! 10* Top Play OVER the total in Detroit

Afternoon Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #903 Wednesday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Arizona Diamondbacks vs Cincinnati Reds @ 3:40 ET - The Reds bullpen has improved as the season has gone on but I still don't trust them. Couple that with the fact that Sal Romano is likely to get knocked out early in this one and you have a great situation for taking advantage of a low total and grabbing the over. Cincinnati's Romano is 0-3 with an insane 12.80 ERA and 2.69 WHIP in his last 3 starts. He won't be able to stop a Diamondbacks offense that has taken advantage of facing the Reds sub-par pitching by exploding for 17 runs in the first two games of this series. Yes, it is true that Arizona only had 4 hits yesterday (but 5 runs) and overall the Diamondbacks had been struggling at the plate for an extended stretch. However, facing Romano in a severe down cycle is going to allow Arizona to again explode at the plate. Keep in mind, they rocked him last July for 6 earned runs in just 4 innings of work. Unlike Romano, the Dbacks Pat Corbin has been very strong on the mound this season. However, he has allowed 22 hits in 15 and 1/3 innings spanning his last 3 starts versus the Reds. Cincinnati was averaging 5 runs per game in their 7 games prior to last night's game in which they managed only 2 runs. Look for the Reds (#5 in the NL for on base percentage versus left-handers) to bounce back against the southpaw Corbin. The over is 4-0-1 in Corbin's 5 starts this month! Each of Romano's last 3 starts have been games that have totaled at least 9 runs. The over is a long-term 35-23 in home games with a posted total of 8 or 8.5 runs and I am calling for another one here on Wednesday afternoon. 10* OVER the total in Arizona

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #901 Wednesday 10* Top Play St Louis Cardinals Money Line (-) @ Milwaukee Brewers @ 1:10 ET - Alex Reyes gets the start for the Cardinals here and the young right-hander pitched extremely well for the Cards back in 2016 before having to have Tommy John surgery. While that is always tough to come back from his surgery was 15 months ago and the rehab starts in the minors (single A all the way through triple A) indicate he is "more than ready" here. Reyes threw 23 scoreless innings allowing only 7 hits while striking out 44. This is true and absolute dominance and, keep in mind, in 2016 at the MLB level Reyes held opponents to a .201 BAA while going 4-1 with a 1.57 ERA. The Brewers have never faced him and he will be tough on them. As for Milwaukee's Junior Guerra, the Cardinals are familiar with him and the Brewers are just 2-3 in his 5 career starts versus St Louis. Guerra has compiled a 4.74 ERA those starts with a mediocre 1.46 WHIP. The Cards will look to build off yesterday's 6-1 win and they have the right pitching match-up to do just that. The Cardinals are 17-9 in divisional games this season while the Brewers are only 11-14 in divisional games. 10* ST LOUIS

Primetime Punisher - Rickenbach MLB Game #957 Tuesday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Colorado Rockies vs San Francisco Giants @ 8:40 ET - Yesterday's game was another game at Coors Field filled with wasted opportunities. The total did drop to an 11 at most spots yesterday but I did release at 11.5 and I lost the play. That said, I am coming right back with the same play today as all the "close calls" at Coors with the overs have led to value here. Yes, the Rockies have trended under of late and on the season. However, this total opened at an 11.5 and has already drop to 11 which, as we saw yesterday, is a key number with baseball totals. That's because a 5-5 game can't end with anything less than a 6-5 final and, once again today, I expect both teams to get at least 5 runs. The Giants just saw the Rockies Kyle Freeland and Colorado just saw San Francisco's Jeff Samardzija. Both hurlers fared well in their respective starts but that was at pitcher-friendly AT & T Park. Now, at hitter-friendly Coors Field (and having just seen these hurlers) the lineups hold a big edge tonight. The last time Freeland faced the Giants at Coors Field he allowed 5 runs (3 earned) on 7 hits in just 3 and 1/3 innings. The last time Samardzija faced the Rockies at Coors Field he allowed 8 earned runs on 11 hits in 6 innings of work. Both of these outings occurred within the past 12 months so it is not as if it is "ancient history" either. The over is 5-1-1 in Samardzija's 7 starts this season. The Rockies are one of the top hitting home teams in the majors and the Giants are among the top teams in the National League for batting average versus lefties. The over is 13-8 in San Franisco's games versus left-handed starters this season. More of the same here. 10* OVER the total in Colorado

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach MLB Game #969 Tuesday MLB 10* Top Play Los Angeles Angels Money Line (-) @ Detroit Tigers @ 7:10 ET - The Angels, despite the loss yesterday, are still 17-8 on the road this season. Also, as a road favorite in a range of -125 to -175, Los Angeles has gone 9-1 this season. This line opened up in the -150 range and has dropped to the -120 range as of game day morning. That has led to fantastic line value here in my opinion. I am going contrarian and going against the move as Nick Tropeano gets the start for the Angels and the Tigers have never faced him. Also, he has a 2.33 ERA on the road this season and should certainly outduel Detroit's Michael Fulmer here. The Tigers right-hander gave up 5 earned runs in less than 5 innings of work when he most recently faced the Angels and that was less than year ago. Also, Fulmer gave up 6 earned runs in less than 5 innings of work in his most recent home start. Overall, he has an unimpressive 6.14 ERA in his last 4 starts. Detroit won Fulmer's most recent start and that does hold some significance here as the Tigers have not won back to back Fulmer starts a single time this season. Detroit, in fact, had lost 3 straight Fulmer starts prior to winning his most recent one. The Tigers are 8-17 in night games this season and the Angels are 9-2 this season in road games with a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs. 10* LOS ANGELES ANGELS

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #965 Tuesday 8* OVER the total in Cleveland Indians vs Chicago White Sox @ 6:10 ET - With yesterday's game flying over the total in the 5th inning and totaling 15 runs, the over is now an incredible 19-2 in Cleveland's last 21 home games. Included in this run is a perfect 6-0 to the over in the Indians last 6 at home. The White Sox have had just 1 under their last 6 games and their starting pitcher is likely to struggle this evening. Lucas Giolito is 3-5 with a 7.53 ERA on the season and only lasted 1 and 1/3 innings in his most recent start. He'll be opposed by Mike Clevinger in this one. The Indians right-hander has decent full-season numbers but his recent results indicate more struggles are likely this evening. Clevinger has given up 15 hits and walked 7 in the 11 and 2/3 innings spanning his last two starts. The over is 4-1 in his last 5 home starts. Also note that the Indians are 3-0 to the over this season in home games with a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs this season. Look for another one here. 8* OVER the total in Cleveland

ESPN Smash Pass Late - Rickenbach MLB Game #911 Monday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Colorado Rockies vs San Francisco Giants @ 7:10 ET - 2013: 8.10 ERA, .345 BAA; 2014: 10.06 ERA, .367 BAA; 2015: 4.99 ERA, .302 BAA; 2016: 4.44 ERA, .291 BAA; 2017: 3.45 ERA, .256 BAA; 2018: 6.89 ERA, .317 BAA. Think it is tough to pitch at Coors Field? Just ask the Rockies Chad Bettis. Those stats above are his season by season numbers when pitching at Coors Field. I have gotten burned recently with overs involving Colorado but won with the Giants over yesterday and I am coming right back with the Rockies over today. San Francisco sends rookie southpaw Andrew Suarez to the mound for this one. This will be his 7th start of the season. None of those first 6 starts were at hitter-friendly Coors Field and yet Suarez checks in with a 1-4 record and 5.69 ERA in his rookie campaign. Even more concerning is the fact that he is 0-3 with a 9.00 ERA in his last 3 starts. Suarez is having trouble getting the proper movement on his pitches to fool major league hitters. Now, pitching in the thin air of Colorado, that task for the lefty becomes even more daunting! The Giants game yesterday "only" had 11 runs but 23 men were left on base in that game! The Rockies game yesterday had "just" 10 runs but the teams combined to go an ugly 3 for 13 with runners in scoring position and the Reds lined into a double play to end the game with the bases loaded in the top of the 9th inning. All 3 in the series with the Reds were "close calls" with Colorado's games not going over the total. Admittedly that series was not kind to me but with this pitching match-up Monday and with the way these two teams have swung the bats the last couple days, this evening's match-up should fly over the total. Neither starting pitcher has had an under in any of their last 3 starts. San Francisco is 7-3 to the over this season in road games with a money line between -125 and +125 this season. This is the Rockies 8th Monday game so far this season and so far only 2 have stayed under the total. This one won't stay under either! 10* OVER the total in Colorado

ESPN Smash Pass Early - Rickenbach MLB Game #915 Monday 8* Houston Astros Money Line (-) @ New York Yankees @ 1:05 ET - This line opened up as a high as a -160 and is now down to as low as a -120 as of 4 hours before game time on Monday morning. Of course the reason for this is because the Astros played a 14-inning marathon game yesterday at Cleveland and lost. However, that was a day game yesterday, it did not effect Justin Verlander in the least, and Houston could probably call up their entire lineup from the AAA team and still beat Domingo German. I don't mean any disrespect here but just saying we have Verlander over German and we're only laying -120. This is incredible value. Verlander has allowed 1 earned run or less in 5 straight starts and already faced (and dominated) the Yankees earlier this season. German (since a great season debut) has quickly come back down to earth as expected. He has allowed 12 earned runs in less than 9 innings of work spanning his last two starts. Verlander is 4-1 in his 5 road starts this season and he has allowed a TOTAL of just 1 earned run in those 5 starts. In fact, check out this stat: Verlander has allowed less earned runs (9) in ELEVEN starts this season than German has allowed earned runs (12) in his last TWO starts! Now tell me again that the Astros should only be -120 here. Sorry guys not buying it. Love this spot for Houston. Yes baseball is a team game but the starting pitching is still an extremely important factor and that is why I am taking the Astros even though they're off of a tough 14-inning loss yesterday. They are off of rare back to back losses but previously had lost just 3 of their 16 prior games. As for the Yankees they had lost 3 of their last FOUR prior games before getting a tight win yesterday. 8* HOUSTON

ESPN Smash Pass - Rickenbach MLB Game #961 Sunday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Chicago Cubs vs San Francisco Giants @ 8:05 ET - We had to wait for the total to come out on this one because of the game being played at Wrigley Field and it was worth the wait as the value here demands the Top Play rating. Amazingly, yesterday's game didn't go over the total despite the Giants scoring 5 runs. The Cubs bats should bounce back today and there is every reason to believe the Giants again push across at least 5 runs here. The San Francisco sticks will take on a struggling Tyler Chatwood. The Cubs right-hander has a 1.85 WHIP in his last 3 starts as walks have been a major issue. Too many free passes on a warm hitter-friendly evening at Wrigley Field will likely lead to trouble and Chatwood also has averaged just 4 and 1/3 innings per start his last 3 starts. The Giants also are sending a struggling hurler to the mound for this one. San Francisco left-hander Ty Blach gets the start and he is also averaging only about 4 innings per start his last 3 starts and he has a 7.11 ERA and 1.90 WHIP over these 3 outings. Neither of Blach's two career starts versus the Cubs have stayed under the total. Each of Chatwood's two starts where his team hosted the Giants last year went over the total. Also, the over is 4-1 in Chatwood's home starts this season and all signs point to another one here! 10* OVER the total in the Chicago Cubs game

Game of the Week - Rickenbach MLB Game #957 Sunday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Colorado Rockies vs Cincinnati Reds @ 3:10 ET - Really brutal beats for "over players' in the first two games of this series. That said, don't let the even bigger number on Sunday's total scare you away. It is fully justified as the Rockies German Marquez is winless with a 10.34 ERA and 2.43 ERA in his 4 home starts this season! As for Cincinnati's Matt Harvey, he has enjoyed "new life" with the Reds but he did allow 3 earned runs on 7 hits in just 4 innings of work in his most recent road start as a Red. Also, he allowed 5 earned runs on 11 hits in less than 6 innings of work in his most recent start at hitter-friendly Coors Field. The good news for Cincinnati fans is that Harvey has his confidence back since coming over from the Mets as he needed a new environment. The bad news for Reds fans is that Coors Field is the worst possible place for a "fragile" pitcher to start. This is not a knock on Harvey overall but I am merely stating that things are likely to unravel quickly for him here given his past. This should quickly turn into a slugfest based on warm afternoon conditions, very dry air, and two pitchers destined to struggle. Look for the over to improve to 6-3 in Reds Sunday games and 4-1 in Harvey's road starts as the home struggles for Marquez continue as well. 10* OVER the total in Colorado

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #967 Sunday 8* OVER the total in Tampa Bay Rays vs Baltimore Orioles @ 1:10 ET - This total opened up at an 8.5 and has dropped as low as a 7.5 as of about 4 hours before game time. The Rays continue to use these "bullpen days" and they've survived so far but it is going to catch up with them eventually. You look at how many innings the starters have produced recently and there have been very few lengthy starts. I look for it to catch up to Tampa Bay today as Sergio Romo gets the "start" (hard to even call it that) and he has averaged just 1 inning in his 3 starts thus far. The Orioles hitters will take advantage of a 3rd straight "bullpen day" for TB. As for the Rays lineup, they should enjoy success against Kevin Gausman. The Baltimore right-hander has been piling up strikeouts but he has been giving up plenty of hits too and that includes those coming off of the bats of the Rays. Looking at Gausman's last 3 starts (including one versus Tampa), he has allowed 28 hits in 18 and 1/3 innings. I am well aware of the fact that these teams have been trending under of late but this particular match-up is absolutely calling for an over. 8* OVER the total in Tampa Bay 

Primetime Punisher - Rickenbach MLB Game #909 Saturday 8* OVER the total in Colorado Rockies vs Cincinnati Reds @ 9:10 ET - I am coming right back with this play after getting royally burned with this same pick yesterday. The game was 4-4 after 3 innings so the worst possible (and yet highly unlikely) result that could have happened was a 5-4 game. That is what I got despite this game being at Coors Field and despite the following stats which still hold true today. No team in the National League has a higher ERA in night games than the Reds pitching staff: 5.16 ERA YTD. No team in the National League has a higher ERA in home games than the Rockies pitching staff: 5.57 ERA YTD. With that said, before moving into the information on starting pitchers today lets also mention that the weather will again be very warm in Denver today and the wind will be blowing out! That holds extra significance here because Cincinnati's Tyler Mahle has allowed 13 homers in 10 starts this season and he allowed 3 homers in his most recent start! The Rockies will gladly welcome him to Coors Field in his first ever start here with plenty of smashes out of the park or at least off the wall or in the outfield gaps in this one. As for Rockies starter Tyler Anderson, he has a 6.75 ERA in his last 3 starts and allowed 2 homers in his most recent home start. The Reds are 6-1-1 to the over this season when on the road with a money line range of -125 to +125. Cincinnati is in the +125 range right now and I look for a slugfest to erupt in this one. 8* OVER the total in Colorado

Total Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Game #907 Saturday 8* OVER the total in Chicago Cubs vs San Francisco Giants @ 7:15 ET - Mild evening at Wrigley Field. Wind certainly not a key factor tonight but it also won't hurt us. Light winds expected to be blowing from right to left or possibly even shifting to be blowing out toward left but, again, any impact would only help us and overall light breezes expected. The Giants are actually #3 out of 15 National League teams for batting average versus left-handed pitching this season. They should enjoy success against Cubs southpaw Jose Quintana. The lefty allowed 3 homers in his most recent home start and has an ugly 6.30 ERA at home this season. This is no fluke as he struggles in Chicago. Last season he started the season with the White Sox and his ERA was more than a full run higher at home compared to on the road. Then he went to the Cubs and his ERA was more than TWO full runs higher at home compared to on the road. As for the Giants Chris Stratton, he enters this game with an ugly 7.36 ERA in his last 3 starts. The over is a perfect 3-0 in Stratton's last 3 starts and also 3-0 in Quintana's last 3 starts. The over is 7-2 in San Francisco's Saturday's games this season and the over is 13-7 in Giants games against left-handed starters this year! Only 3 of the Cubs 9 Saturday games have stayed under the total. Look for the high-scoring trends noted above to quickly resume tonight after yesterday's afternoon game stayed just under the total. 8* OVER the total in the Chicago Cubs game

Run Line Rout - Rickenbach MLB Game #928 Saturday 8* Philadelphia Phillies Run Line -1.5 runs +110 vs Toronto Blue Jays @ 4:05 ET - The Phillies lost a tight game yesterday but will bounce back big on Saturday as they have a huge pitching edge on the mound. Aaron Nola has had a devastating change up to his already phenomenal curveball and the Blue Jays will struggle at the plate. Nola is a perfect 5-0 at home this season and all 5 wins have come by 2 runs or more. Of course I am playing the run line here because I don't lay big money line prices but it is not without justification in terms of the expectation of a win by 2 or more runs. The Blue Jays Jaime Garcia has struggled this season (6.75 ERA including 9.68 ERA on the road) and all 8 of his starts have been games decided by 2 runs or more. Overall, 15 of the Jays last 17 losses have come by 2 runs or more. 13 of the last 14 Phillies wins have come by a margin of 2 runs or more. The Phillies were hot before yesterday's loss while the Blue Jays were cold. Look for "normalcy" to return Saturday afternoon. 8* PHILADELPHIA Run Line -1.5 runs +110

Afternoon Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #913 Saturday 8* Kansas City Royals Money Line (+) @ Texas Rangers @ 4:05 ET - I lost with the Royals yesterday but am coming right back with them today. Even though Kansas City's Ian Kennedy has some rough recent numbers, he is a strikeout pitcher. No team in the majors strikes out more than the Rangers. I have watched them closely this season and they are generally (yesterday notwithstanding) one of the worst lineups at the plate in terms of their hitting approach. Kennedy has been fantastic against the Rangers. In his last 3 starts (including 2 in Texas) the Royals right-hander has held them to just 4 earned runs in 20 and 2/3 innings! As for Rangers starter Bartolo Colon, the fade is on in my opinion. He now has a 6.26 ERA in his home starts this season and is winless in those 4 outings. Also, Colon last faced the Royals in September and he allowed 6 earned runs in a start that didn't last even two innings for him! KC had won 3 straight before yesterday's loss and I look for them to get right back on track here. 8* KANSAS CITY

Total Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #959 Friday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Colorado Rockies vs Cincinnati Reds @ 8:40 ET - High temperatures in the upper-80s expected in Denver this afternoon. That means a very mild evening at Coors Field for this one and the air, as is typically the case, will be very dry with great carry on balls put into play! The Rockies Jon Gray is off of back to back rough starts and his most recent outing was at pitcher-friendly San Francisco so that certainly doesn't bode well for his odds of a decent start at hitter-friendly Colorado tonight. Gray has now given up 11 earned runs on 19 hits in 9 innings spanning his last two starts. He allowed 8 hits in less than 6 innings of work in his last start versus the Reds. Cincinnati comes into this game having swung the bats quite well in taking 2 of 3 from the Pirates in a series that wrapped up yesterday. The Rockies bats have not fared well recently but they were on the road. Results at the plate will improve now that they are back at home. Facing a struggling Sal Romano should certainly help matters. The Reds right-hander has allowed 13 earned runs in just 7 and 1/3 innings spanning his last 2 starts. Romano was hit hard plus walked 6 in just 5 innings in his most recent start. He has struggled with fastball command while Gray has struggled with his fastballs simply being too hittable of late - .591 batting average against his fastballs last two starts! The over is 3-0-1 in the Reds last 4 road games. More of the same here. 10* OVER the total in Colorado

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach MLB Game #971 Friday 10* Top Play Kansas City Royals Money Line (+) @ Texas Rangers @ 8:05 ET - I like to grab underdogs against a bad team as long as I have the pitching edge and that is the case here. The Royals Eric Skoglund had a tough time versus the Yankees (after he began with 3 scoreless innings) but of course the Yanks lineup is head and shoulders above this Rangers lineup. Texas has particularly struggled against left-handed pitching as they are hitting only .229 versus southpaws on the season and yesterday's loss dropped them to 5-10 on the season versus lefties. Note too that Kansas City's Skoglund had compiled a 3.21 ERA in his 2 prior starts before struggling with the Bronx Bombers. Unlike the Rangers lineup, the Royals are hitting .261 versus southpaws on the season and that ranks them 7th out of all 30 teams. KC will take advantage of a struggling Mike Minor. The Rangers left-hander has "led" Texas to 3 straight losses in his starts as, even though he has piled up some strikeouts, when contact is being made he is getting crushed! Minor has an 8.22 ERA in his last 3 starts and he allowed 3 homers in 7 innings in his most recent home start. The Royals have won 3 straight games and are 25-17 the past 2 seasons when they enter a game on a winning streak of 3 or more games. The Rangers are just 9-18 in home games this season and they continue to be over-priced at home. 10* KANSAS CITY

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Game #951 Friday 8* OVER the total in Chicago Cubs vs San Francisco Giants @ 2:20 ET - Temperatures in the mid-80s at Wrigley Field this afternoon. Though the winds will be rather light they are blowing out so they will help our cause here too! The Giants Derek Holland is likely in trouble here as the southpaw gave up 4 earned runs in 6 innings in his most recent start at that was at home in a pitcher-friendly park. Now he is on the road in a hitter-friendly park (when the weather is like it is today in Chicago) and Holland's most recent road start saw him walk 5 batters in just 6 and 1/3 innings. Also, in his road start prior to that the Giants southpaw gave up 6 hits (including 2 homers) in just 5 innings of work. Holland is 2-5 with a 4.94 ERA this season. The Cubs counter with Kyle Hendricks and the right-hander has given up 8 runs (6 earned) in 11 innings in his last two starts. When he last faced the Giants - in August - he allowed 5 hits plus walked 3 in less than 5 innings of work. He was fortunate to escape with just 1 earned run given up but that was at AT & T Park and he won't be so fortunate in summer like conditions at Wrigley Field this afternoon. The Cubs most recent home game stayed under the total but previously the over was 7-2 in Chicago's 9 prior home games! The Giants most recent game stayed under the total but prior to that San Francisco was on a 17-7-2 run to the over their 26 prior games. The over is 4-1 when the Giants are playing after an off day this season and the Cubs are 5-2 in that same situation. That makes this a combined 9-3 (75%) spot this season and I'll take it! 8* OVER the total in the Chicago Cubs game

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach MLB Game #913 Thursday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Tampa Bay Rays vs Boston Red Sox @ 7:10 ET - This total has gone from an 8 to a 7 as of early game day morning and let me remind everyone this is an American League game, these are good pitchers but certainly not Cy Young candidates, and there is reason to believe both could struggle some here. Boston's Rick Porcello has a 6.75 ERA in his last 3 starts. Now I know he has enjoyed success against the Rays this season but they have gotten to him for 3 earned runs in each of the past two starts and he is now facing them for a 4th time this season! A lot of repetition tends to favor the hitters much more than the pitchers. As for Tampa Bay's Blake Snell, he has a 6.30 ERA in his last two starts. Now I know those outings were on the road and this one is at home where he has enjoyed success this season. However, the Red Sox are now getting a 3rd look at Snell on the young season and their lineup has been surging of late. Boston has won 8 of its last 11 games and that is thanks in part to run production of at least 4 runs in 10 of those 11 games. Though the TB sticks have been quieter so far in this series, they are still averaging 4.5 runs per game their last 11 games. There is truly no reason this games shouldn't end up being a 5-4 type game and of course that means great value with this low total. The over is 9-2 this season when the Rays enter a game on a losing streak of 3 or more games. There have not been any unders in Porcello's last 3 starts and the over is 6-3 in Snell's last 9 starts. 10* OVER the total in Tampa Bay

Afternoon Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #910 Thursday 10* Top Play Oakland Athletics Money Line (-) vs Seattle Mariners @ 3:35 ET - The A's Josh Lucas is making his first career MLB start and is unlikely to work deep in this game as he will be on a rather strict pitch count. However, the A's were off Monday and then their starting pitcher gave them 7 innings both Tuesday and Wednesday. In other words, the Oakland bullpen is in good shape heading into this match-up and there plenty of available arms to support Lucas. As for Mariners starter Felix Hernandez, he has a 7.02 ERA in his last 3 starts and also has a 7.27 ERA on the season in starts away from home. He has been fortunate in terms of the run support he has received because his numbers certainly show that Hernandez is undeserving of a 3-1 road record on the season. The point is that this is helping give us some line value here because the A's should hit him hard in a day game in their own park. Nice set up here. Oakland has suffered back to back one run losses and is looking to avoid the sweep here. Keep in mind the Athletics entered this series having won 6 of their last 7 games. The A's are 7-2 the last 9 times they've entered game on a losing streak of 2 or more games. They bounce back again here. 10* OAKLAND

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Game #907 Thursday 8* OVER the total in Chicago White Sox vs Baltimore Orioles @ 2:10 ET - I just don't see how anyone can trust either starter in this match-up and I expect plenty of runs in a warm afternoon game at Guaranteed Rate Field. The Orioles Dylan Bundy responded after a horrific outing versus the Royals by throwing 7 shutout innings versus Tampa Bay. However, he then allowed 3 homers to the Red Sox in his most recent start. Bundy has now allowed 7 homers in his last 13 innings on the mound. Also, in his last two starts versus the White Sox the Orioles right-hander has compiled a 5.73 ERA and the over is 3-0 in his 3 career starts versus the ChiSox. They will have Lucas Giolito on the mound and he has 34 walks versus 27 strikeouts so far this season! Of course those numbers are truly "scary bad" and so are these: 1 win in 4 home starts while compiling a 10.19 ERA and a 1.92 WHIP. Look for the over to go to 9-4-1 on the season when Baltimore is on the road in a game which has a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs. 8* OVER the total in the Chicago White Sox game

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #905 Thursday 8* OVER the total in Toronto Blue Jays vs Los Angeles Angels @ 12:35 ET - Yesterday's game stayed just under the closing number of 9.5 runs but both bullpens did struggle in trying to close out the game. Also, there were a ton of men left on base for both teams. In other words, many wasted scoring opportunities prevented what should have been a rather easy over. Look for the lineups to make up for that today as two hurlers likely to struggle take to the mound early Thursday. The Angels Nick Tropeano has allowed 7 earned runs in 8 and 2/3 innings in his last 2 starts with as many walks as strikeouts. The Blue Jays Marco Estrada is 0-3 with a 5.47 ERA at home this season and has allowed 7 earned runs in the 12 and 2/3 innings spanning his last two starts at the Rogers Centre. The over is 5-1 in Thursday games for Los Angeles this season and the over is 5-2 in Toronto's Thursday games. Even though these two bullpens have respectable ERA numbers on the season, the Blue Jays relievers have a .263 BAA and the Angels relievers have a .258 BAA which ranks them 24th and 22nd out of the 30 MLB teams. Look for them to get hit hard again today and we could see another wild finish but this time it flies over the total. 8* OVER the total in Toronto

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach MLB Game #956 Wednesday 10* Top Play Philadelphia Phillies Money Line (-) vs Atlanta Braves @ 7:05 ET - In true contrarian fashion I am going against a major line move here. The very earliest numbers on this one had it priced at a -155 and it has since dropped to as low as a -115. This is offering incredible line value considering the pitching match-up. Don't get me wrong, I know Luiz Gohara has good stuff. However, he is no Jake Arrieta. Yes Arrieta struggled in his most recent start but struggles for him have been rare this season and he pitched in wet conditions in his most recent start and his entire routine was thrown off by a long rain delay before the game could get underway. Arrieta is likely to be much stronger in this start. As for Gohara he has very little MLB experience. The Phillies also have an edge here in that they face him last season. The only other team he has started twice against was the Nationals. In the first start he was successful (just like he was against the Phillies) and in the 2nd start he got rocked (just like I expect him to tonight). This season Gohara has been great out of the bullpen but he has only logged a total of 7 innings. Last season as starter he went 1-3 with a 4.91 ERA. Arrieta is undefeated in his 4 home starts with a 1.07 ERA and 0.83 WHIP. In the month of May, when off of a loss where they scored 3 runs or less, Philadelphia has gone a perfect 4-0. The Phillies are 17-7 at home this season and 13-5 when off of a loss. The Braves are 1-4 in Gohara's starts. 10* PHILADELPHIA

Afternoon Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #953 Wednesday 8* OVER the total in Washington Nationals vs San Diego Padres @ 4:05 ET - I know the Padres are, generally speaking, a weak-hitting team. However, they are facing Erick Fedde of the Nationals here. The 25-year old right-hander has struggled every time he has pitched above the AA level of the minors. Last season in AAA ball he was hit at a .276 clip and compiled a 4.76 ERA. This season so far he was hit at a .280 clip and compiled a 4.35 ERA at the AAA level. At the MLB level Fedde made 3 starts last season and though he did well in terms of strikeouts he did go winless and compiled a 9.39 ERA while getting crushed at a .385 clip by major league hitters. In other words, the Padres should surely "get theirs" today. As for the Nationals, they'll take advantage of facing a hurler whom they've enjoyed success against. San Diego sends Tyson Ross to the mound for this one. The right-hander has been solid so far this season but he has compiled a 6.35 ERA in his 4 career starts versus the Nats and he was hit hard by them two weeks ago and that was in San Diego. Now he faces them on the road and the Nationals had averaged 6 runs per game in their last 4 games versus the Padres before getting shut down yesterday. The over is 3-0 the last 3 times Washington was held to 2 runs or less in their prior game. The Nationals are also a perfect 3-0 to the over the last 3 times they've faced Ross. San Diego's bats have been quiet so far in this series but they'll take advantage of facing a young hurler this afternoon plus the Nats bullpen has struggled this season. The Padres entered this season having averaged scoring 5 runs per game in their 7 prior games. 8* OVER the total in Washington

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #975 Wednesday 8* OVER the total in St Louis Cardinals vs Kansas City Royals @ 1:15 ET - The total on this one opened up at an 8.5 and has now dropped to as low as a 7.5 as of early game day morning. This is offering us great line value on the over. Yes, Jakob Junis and Michael Wacha each have some impressive numbers on the season. However, Junis has been hit at a .283 clip in the month of May. He has compiled a 4.85 ERA in his last 5 starts. The Cardinals Wacha has a 4.50 ERA in his last two starts versus the Royals and they've gotten to him for 15 hits in 12 innings. The St Louis bullpen ranks in the middle of the pack in the majors but is certainly nothing special while the Kansas City bullpen is one of the worst in the majors based on ERA and batting average allowed. The Cardinals scored only one run yesterday but that was deceiving as they reached double digits in hits. This is another reason we're getting great line value here. The Cards have reached double digits in hits in 6 of their last 7 games and they had averaged 7 runs per game their last 4 games prior to yesterday's 5-1 loss. The over is a perfect 3-0 the last 3 times the Royals are off of a game where they allowed 2 runs or less. Each of the last 5 times the Cardinals have been held to 2 runs or less their next game has totaled at least 8 runs all 5 times. More of the same here. 8* OVER the total in St Louis

Rickenbach MLB Game #909 Tuesday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Milwaukee Brewers vs Arizona Diamondbacks @ 7:40 ET - This is a classic contrarian pick for me but of course my big play on this match-up certainly doesn't come without good reason. The fact is that the Diamondbacks have been struggling badly at the plate and the Brewers really haven't fared much better of late. That said, why did the odds makers hang a 9 on this O/U involving a pair of struggling lineups? Precisely! This is one of those situations where it is important to dig a little deeper and there are a number of key factors supporting the over in this one. Matt Koch gets the start for the Diamondbacks and he got absolutely crushed by the Brewers when he faced them Wednesday. Not only that, he has now struck out just 6 in his last 18 and 2/3 innings on the mound. Over this same amount of time he has allowed 7 homers. When a starter is striking out less hitters than home runs allowed over a 3-start period there is definitely cause for concern. As for Milwaukee's Jhoulys Chacin, he is off of a strong start at Arizona Wednesday but, previously, he allowed 11 earned runs in 11 innings in his last 2 starts versus the Diamondbacks. Both of those were just last season so it is not as if this is "ancient history" either. The over is 9-3 this season in Arizona's road games when their money line range is between -125 and +125. The Brewers have scored 4 or more runs in 8 of their last 11 games. 10* OVER the total in Milwaukee

Rickenbach MLB Game #913 Tuesday 8* Los Angeles Angels Money Line (-) @ Toronto Blue Jays @ 7:05 ET - Good news for Angels fans as they are back on the road now! After going just 4-7 on their 11-game homestand, Los Angeles is now back on the road where they are a solid 14-4 on the season. We're getting solid line value here as the Blue Jays are now 3-12 in their last 15 home games! Toronto's J.A. Happ is off of a strong start but he previously allowed 10 earned runs in the 9 innings spanning his two prior starts. Also, Happ faced the Angels in July and walked 4 in 6 innings but managed to limit the damage to just 3 earned runs. LA's Garrett Richards has an edge here as the Blue Jays haven't faced him since 2015. Also, the Angels are 3-1 in his road starts this season and he enters this start on fire. Richards has a 1.42 ERA and 0.79 WHIP in his last 3 starts! The Angels are off of a win Sunday and they've gone 16-9 this season when off of a win. Toronto is 18-26 (-$15,400) when playing after a day off and Sunday's loss was their 7th in their last 8 games. 8* LOS ANGELES ANGELS

Rickenbach MLB Game #925 Tuesday 8* OVER the total in Chicago Cubs vs Cleveland Indians @ 7:05 ET - It will be a cool evening in Chicago with a light wind blowing in also. That, plus this pitching match-up, is helping to keep this total low. The fact is that these lineups did already face these starting pitchers about 4 weeks ago and I expect the rematch to go much better for the hitters. The Indians Trevor Bauer has allowed 12 hits in less than 8 innings of work in his two starts against the Cubs prior to enjoying success in last month's match-up. Chicago's Tyler Chatwood walked 5 in 6 innings at Cleveland in last month's match-up and was fortunate to escape with little damage done. He enters this start having had issues with too many walks all season long. The Indians Bauer is off of a great start but had allowed 5 runs (4 earned) on 11 hits in less than 5 innings of work in his prior start. The Cubs enter this game having scored an average of 7 runs in their last 4 games. Also, in their last 5 home games Chicago has averaged 8 runs per game. The Indians are off of a tough game where they scored just 1 run. However, prior to that game, Cleveland had scored 5 runs or more in 7 of their 9 previous games. Also, the over was 16-5-1 in the Indians 22 games prior to the low-scoring loss. The over is 4-1 in Chicago's last 5 home games and I look for the over to improve to 5-2 on the season when the Cubs enter a game after a day off. 8* OVER the total in Chicago Cubs

Rickenbach MLB Game #956 Monday 8* New York Mets Money Line (-) vs Miami Marlins @ 7:10 ET - The very first number that popped up off shore on this game Sunday afternoon when lines came out was a -156. As of early Monday morning the line is now down to as low as a -123 in some spots. Yes, Jason Vargas has struggled badly so far this season but that is why the Mets skipped his last turn in the rotation and he instead worked a simulated game. The fact is that he should be better after making some adjustments plus the southpaw is going to take advantage of facing a very bad team. The Marlins have lost 5 of their last 6 road games and, prior to yesterday's RARE big game at the plate, Miami had averaged 2.4 runs per game in their 5 previous road games. The Marlins bullpen is dead last in the majors as they have a 5.86 ERA on the season. Elieser Hernandez had a solid first MLB start for the Marlins last week but, amazingly, that was only his 3rd professional baseball start above the single A level of the minors. He had started twice in AA ball this season. He is making a big jump up to the majors and the scouting report on him from his first start is certainly with the Mets hitters for this one. New York has won 3 straight games and 5 of their last 7 as they appear to be turning the corner again. When on a winning streak of 3 or more games the Mets have won 5 of 6 this season. The Marlins are 7-14 on the road this season. 8* NEW YORK METS

Rickenbach MLB Game #953 Monday 8* OVER the total in Philadelphia Phillies vs Atlanta Braves @ 7:05 ET - This is a contrarian play which is typical for me. The total has dropped from an opener of 9 down to an 8.5 as of game day morning and I see value fading the move and going with the over. Ironically, this will be the 4th time already this season that Mike Foltneywicz and Nick Pivetta have matched up. None of the first 3 match-ups resulted in an over. So, why the over here? First off repetition generally leads to more success for the hitters than the pitchers. In other words, it helps that the Braves have seen plenty of Pivetta and the Phillies have seen plenty of Foltneywicz early this season. I also like the fact that left-handed bats are hitting Pivetta at a .288 clip this season and Atlanta's active roster is loaded with left-handed sticks and switch-hitters. The over is 24-11 in Braves Monday games in recent seasons and also Atlanta is 4-1 to the over in their last 5 road games. The Phillies are 3-1 to the over in Monday games this season and also 7-3 to the over this season in home games where their money line range is from +125 to -125. 8* OVER the total in Philadelphia

Rickenbach MLB Game #951 Monday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Washington Nationals vs San Diego Padres @ 7:05 ET - This total was as high as an 8.5 and it briefly dropped as low as a 7 in some spots this morning before settling in at a 7.5 across the board. Another contrarian play for me but, of course, it is certainly not without merit. Of course the Padres are known as a poor hitting team but they actually have a .412 slugging percentage which ranks them 6th in the National League this season. Also, San Diego has some extra confidence at the plate since they have won 3 straight games and 6 of their last 8. In fact, the Padres have averaged scoring 5 runs per game their last 7 games. Another edge is that they just saw the Nationals Gio Gonzalez less than two weeks ago. The Nats southpaw enjoyed success that day but he followed that up by struggling in his start last week. He allowed 6 hits and 4 walks for a 2.00 WHIP in his 5-inning stint in a game that got suspended. Look for the Padres to enjoy some success at the plate against Gonzalez plus they'll take advantage of a Nationals bullpen that ranks as one of the worst in the majors with a 4.72 ERA. Of course San Diego is going to need all the runs they can get here because Washington is angry off of a 3-game sweep at the hands of the Dodgers and they are going to crush Robbie Erlin. The Padres southpaw is making a spot start here. His only other start this season saw him get crushed by the Dodgers. Also, in his only two starts at Washington in his career he has been absolutely hammered both times! Take advantage of the low total here. Look for the over to improve to 8-4 this season when the Nationals are a home fave in a range of -175 to -250. Also, the Padres are 7-0 to the over in Monday games this season! 10* OVER the total in Washington

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #917 Sunday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Toronto Blue Jays vs Oakland A's @ 1:05 ET - The A's Daniel Mengden has some solid overall numbers on the season but note that the road has given him some trouble. Away from Oakland this season, he has compiled a 5.40 ERA with an ugly 1.65 WHIP. Speaking of ugly, the Blue Jays Joe Biagini is winless in his 3 starts this season and has compiled a 7.98 ERA and a 1.84 WHIP. He's facing an A's team that has won 5 of their last 6 games plus has averaged 5.7 runs per game their last 9 games. The Blue Jays have averaged 5.5 runs per game their last 4 games. The over was 5-3 in Oakland's last 8 games and 3-1 in Toronto's last 4 games prior to yesterday's push. The A's are 13-6 to the over including 7-3 to the over in road games, when their game has a posted O/U of 9 or 9.5 runs this season. The A's are averaging 5 runs per game on the road this season and the Blue Jays are averaging 5.3 runs per game versus right-handed starters on the year. Add it all up and this one gets to double digits early Sunday. 10* OVER the total in Toronto

Run Line Rout - Rickenbach MLB Game #975 Saturday 10* Top Play Tampa Bay Rays Run Line +1.5 runs (-130) @ Los Angeles Angels @ 9:05 ET - We have to lay a little bit of juice to have the run line here but that could prove key should the Rays fall just short here and lose by a run. The fact is that Tampa Bay (5 in a row) has the longest winning streak in the majors right now while Los Angeles (4 in a row) has the longest losing streak in MLB currently. The Rays are hitting and the Angels are not. TB has averaged 6.5 runs and 12 hits per game their last 4 games. LA has averaged just 2.3 runs per game their last 8 games. The Angels are just 2-6 during this stretch and both wins came by a single run. That said, this is a great spot to have the +1.5 as playing against LA with a +1.5 would have delivered 8 straight wins at the sports books! The Angels are averaging just 5.7 hits per game their last 7 games. While it is true that Andrew Heaney has been pitching well for Los Angeles, the Rays are a very confident team right now at the plate and loaded with right-handed lumber. Though Sergio Romo has been a reliever throughout his career, the Tampa Bay right-hander will not be asked to pitch deep into this game. He'll quickly be relieved by rookie southpaw Ryan Yarbrough and he has pitched very well this season. Also, the Angels are ranked 12th out of 15 teams in the AL in terms of batting average versus lefties and Yarbrough is likely to get the majority of the innings today. As for the Rays facing lefty Heaney, Tampa Bay ranks 5th out of all 30 teams in MLB in terms of batting average versus southpaws. Ride the hot team and currently the better hitting team as well. One more key stat here. The Angels are 2-9 SU their last 11 home games with a posted total of 8 or 8.5 runs. Both wins came by a single run. That means if you just took the +1.5 runs against the Angels in each of their last 11 home games with an O/U posted at 8 or 8.5 runs, you are a PERFECT 11-0! I like the sounds of that! 10* Tampa Bay Rays Run line +1.5 runs

Afternoon Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #953 Saturday 10* Top Play OVER the total in San Francisco Giants vs Colorado Rockies @ 4:05 ET - The Giants have, overall, struggled at the plate this season. But they entered this series having averaged 11.5 hits per game in their 6 prior games. Look for them to get back on track against Jon Gray this afternoon. Yes the Rockies right-hander has been piling up strikeouts but he also gave up 6 earned runs on 10 hits in just 5 and 1/3 innings in his most recent start. Also, Gray's last 2 starts at AT & T Park have seen him allow 9 hits and 5 walks for a total of 14 baserunners in just 8 and 1/3 innings of work! The good news for Rockies fans today is that Gray should get plenty of run support! Colorado will tee off against Chris Stratton. The Giants right-hander was hit hard by the Rockies last September (8 hits in 4 innings) and he is struggling this season. Stratton has a 6.89 ERA in his last 3 starts and 2 of those were on the road. At home this season he has struggled with a 7.00 ERA in his 4 starts thus far. Only 1 of Gray's 4 road starts has resulted in an under. Also, the over is a perfect 4-0 in Stratton's last 4 starts as he has allowed 18 earned runs in 17 innings spanning those 4 outings. Even though AT & T Park is a pitcher-friendly park, afternoon games here do tend to feature more runs and the total on this one has dropped from an opener of an 8 to a 7.5 so even more value is available now. The over is 6-2 in Giants Saturday games and look for the over to go to 8-4 this season in their home games with a money line range of -125 to +125. Big value here raises this one to top rating. 10* OVER the total in San Francisco

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #951 Saturday 8* OVER the total in St Louis Cardinals vs Philadelphia Phillies @ 2:15 ET - The Phillies Zach Eflin has pitched very well but he has made only 2 starts this season and they came against the Giants and Marlins. San Francisco is currently ranked 20th, and Miami dead last at 30th, for slugging percentage this season! Now he'll face a Cardinals team that is starting to surge at the plate with an average of 7 runs and 13 hits in their last 3 games. Also impacting Eflin here is he hasn't started in nearly 2 weeks. Oftentimes too much time between starts effects a pitchers rhythm. As for the Cardinals John Gant, his last MLB start was on the 7th of this month and he gave up 4 earned runs in just 5 and 1/3 innings. Also, in his lone career start versus the Phillies, Gant allowed 4 runs (3 earned) in 5 innings of work. The Cardinals right-hander is only getting this start because Carlos Martinez is out with a sore lat. Gant is 2-6 with a 4.71 ERA in his MLB career. The over is 5-2-1 the last 8 times the Phillies were off of a loss by 3 or more runs. 8* OVER the total in St Louis

Rickenbach MLB Game #905 Friday 8* OVER the total in New York Mets vs Arizona Diamondbacks @ 7:10 ET - When you look at the total on this game you would think Justin Verlander is matched up with a healthy Clayton Kershaw. Seriously...even though both these teams have struggled at the plate recently there is also concern about BOTH of the starting pitchers in this match-up and, as a result, this total is far too low. It opened up at a 7 but the over is now available at significant plus money and some books have even dropped this one to as low as a 6.5 on the O/U. The fact is that the Diamondbacks Zack Godley has a 6.00 ERA in his last two starts and allowed 4 homers in the 12 innings spanning those two outings. The Mets Jacob deGrom is still in "recovery mode" after a hyperextended right elbow. The right-hander was therefore pulled after just 45 pitches in his most recent start and it took all of those 45 pitches just to get him through 1 scoreless inning versus the Phillies. The point is that there is reason to believe that both starting pitchers could labor early and often in this one and we have a very low total to work with here! The over is a long-term 29-10 when Arizona is playing after a day off and the over is also a long-term 18-6 when they are on the road with a posted total of 7 runs or less. The Mets, after a game in which they allowed 10 or more runs, are a long-term 19-7 to the over. 8* OVER the total in the New York Mets game

Rickenbach MLB Game #917 Friday 8* OVER the total in Boston Red Sox vs Baltimore Orioles @ 7:10 ET - It will by chilly in Boston this evening but certainly nothing like those early April games so certainly temperatures around 50 degrees and a rather light breeze is not unbearable. We are getting excellent value with this total because it opened up at a 10 and has dropped to a 9 as of early game day morning. The fact is that the Orioles, prior to their last 2 games, had been swinging the bats better. Baltimore's 7 prior games had seen the O's average 8.3 runs per game and 11 hits per game. Facing Drew Pomeranz should help their lineup get right back on track too. The Red Sox southpaw has consistently struggled this season. In his 5 starts he has a 5.47 ERA and a 1.66 WHIP. In the month of May, out of the 15 AL teams, the Orioles rank 4th in the league with a .441 slugging percentage and the Red Sox rank 2nd with a .463 slugging percentage! Boston has scored 5 runs or more in 13 of their last 16 games and should have no trouble getting to Alex Cobb early and often. The Orioles right-hander is 0-2 with a 10.00 ERA in his last 2 starts versus the Red Sox! Cobb is 0-5 this season with a 7.06 ERA in his 6 starts this season! Yes he has pitched a little better recently but Fenway Park, even on a cool night, is still a hitter-friendly park and the BoSox have been hot at the plate for an extended period. I expect more of the same here. 8* OVER the total in Boston

Rickenbach MLB Game #915 Friday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Toronto Blue Jays vs Oakland A's @ 7:05 ET - The odds makers opened this one up at a 10 and it has dropped to a 9.5 as of early game day morning. I'll gladly take advantage of the additional value here. The A's are red hot at the plate right now and the Blue Jays Marco Estrada continues to be plagued by giving up too many homers. As for Oakland starter Brett Anderson, he wrapped up 2017 as a member of the Blue Jays and will likely be guilty of trying to over-throw here as he hopes for revenge versus Toronto. This won't end well for Anderson and he enters this start having allowed 13 runs (11 earned) on 18 hits and 5 walks in the 8 innings spanning his last two starts. The over is 5-2 in Oakland's last 7 games as the A's have averaged scoring 6.1 runs per game during this hot streak. The Blue Jays haven't been knocking the cover off of the ball but, since getting no-hit by James Paxton of the Mariners, Toronto has averaged about 5 runs and 9 hits per game their last 8 games. They're very likely to enjoy success against a struggling Anderson. Look for the over to improve to 4-0 in Toronto's last 4 games. Each team has played 7 Friday games this season and only 2 of the Jays games stayed under and only 1 of Oakland's games stayed under the total. Plenty of Friday night "fireworks" in this one. Estrada winless with a 6.75 ERA and 3 homers allowed in his 3 career starts versus Oakland. 10* OVER the total in Toronto

NOTE: 10* Top Play rating remains although Doug Fister now getting the start for Rangers. Fister has allowed just 3 earned runs on only 10 hits in the 13 innings spanning his last two road starts. Overall, on the season he has a 2.70 ERA away from home. Fister has had one truly ugly start this season out of 7 overall starts. In the other 6 starts he has a 3.16 ERA and note that he is facing a White Sox team that is hitting .232 in May. Only 2 American League teams are hitting worse! ORIGINAL write-up: Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach MLB Game #963 Thursday 10* Top Play Texas Rangers Money Line (-) @ Chicago White Sox @ 8:10 ET - The White Sox are 3-15 at home this season. Truly dreadful season so far for the ChiSox! However, we're getting line value here because the Rangers certainly haven't been overly impressive this season either AND because James Shields has pitched well in a few of his starts for Chicago early this year. This has led to the better team (Texas) with the better pitcher (Cole Hamels) laying only about a -120 price in this one. I'll gladly take it. Hamels is 2-1 with a 2.54 ERA on the road this season. In his last 3 starts, the Rangers southpaw has compiled a 1.69 ERA. Hamels is also 2-0 with a 2.86 ERA and 0.92 WHIP in his 4 career starts versus the White Sox. As for Shields, he has a 5.06 ERA in his last two starts versus the Rangers and he gave up 3 homers to Texas in less than 11 innings spanning those two starts. Shields is winless with a 5.52 ERA in his 5 home starts this season. Also, he has nearly as many walks as strikeouts in his home starts this season. To put that in proper perspective not that Hamels has MORE than THREE times as many strikeouts as walks on the road this season. The White Sox enter this game having lost 9 of their last 10 while the Rangers have a lot of positive energy after getting 5 runs late in yesterday afternoon's game at Seattle to get a big road win over the Mariners. Look for the Rangers to improve to 10-5 the last 15 times they've been a road favorite in a range of -125 to -175. The White Sox drop to 2-8 this season versus left-handed starters. 10* TEXAS RANGERS

Top Play Special - Rickenbach MLB Game #953 Thursday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Pittsburgh Pirates vs San Diego Padres @ 7:05 ET - I know the Padres are certainly one of the weaker hitting teams in the league. However, so do the odds makers and they opened this game up with a total of 8.5 runs and the markets have forced a drop to 8 runs. Grab the additional value here because the Pirates Chad Kuhl has allowed 6 homers in his last 3 starts! Also, in his two career starts versus San Diego, the Pittsburgh right-hander has walked 9 in 11 and 1/3 innings. As for the Padres Eric Lauer, he is struggling badly. The southpaw has seen the velocity on his fastball dip and plus he is having trouble locating the pitch. Lauer gave up 4 homers versus the Cardinals in his most recent start and he didn't even complete 3 innings. Even more concerning is that the start was at home. Note that on the road this season Lauer has a 10.12 ERA! He has been very hittable of late and now he faces a Pirates team that is averaging 6.5 run per their last 8 games. The Padres, as noted above, aren't known for their offensive production but winning leads to confidence and San Diego has won 3 of their last 4 games plus has scored 4 or more runs in 4 of their last 5 games. The over is 14-6 this season when Pittsburgh is off of a win. Also, when the Pirates have faced a left-handed starter, the over has gone 6-2 this season. More of the same here. 10* OVER the total in Pittsburgh

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Game #951 Thursday 8* OVER the total in Miami Marlins vs Los Angeles Dodgers @ 12:10 ET - This is certainly a contrarian play but I love spots like this. Neither the Marlins nor Dodgers have impressed at the plate this season but I believe yesterday's game is a sign of things to come. With this total currently at an 8 and possibly moving to an 8.5 in some spots, I am in play here. This is a great value as each team just has to get to 4 runs and then we can't lose this play as it can't end any less than a 5-4 final. I am well aware that the Dodgers are struggling bad and that the Marlins haven't hit well (overall) this season either. However, this is not a match-up of top tier pitchers ladies and gentlemen. Yes, Caleb Smith has pitched very well for the Marlins but he is still off of a start where he was quite fortunate as he gave up only 2 earned runs despite allowing 7 hits in just 5 and 1/3 innings of work. Earlier this season he went through a 3-start stretch where he allowed 11 earned runs in just 10 and 1/3 innings of work. Look for the Dodgers sticks to get going here (they did score 5 runs last night) as Smith's most recent start is a sign of a another mini-slump coming for him. Kenta Maeda gets the start for the Dodgers here and he has a 5.94 ERA on the road this season plus a 6.89 ERA in his last 3 starts overall. He is 0-2 in his 3 career starts versus the Marlins and he did allow 8 hits in 6 innings in his lone visit here. Look for the over to improve to 8-4 this season when Los Angeles enters a game on a losing streak of 3 or more games and for the over to improve to 4-1 in Miami's Thursday games. Also, the Marlins are 4-0 to the over the last 4 times they were off of a win. 8* OVER the total in Miami

NOTE: Pitching Change for the Marlins but still going with this play on the over. In fact the change arguably strengthens what was already a Top Play. Elieser Hernandez is now expected to start for Miami. Though the 23-year old has some decent minor league numbers on his resume, he has only made 2 starts above the Single A level in the minors in his entire career! So now he jumps all the way from AA (2 starts) past AAA (0 appearances) to make a MLB start! I don't expect this to go well as Hernandez also has been hit hard in his 2 relief appearances this season for the Marlins. Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach MLB Game #905 Wednesday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Miami Marlins vs Los Angeles Dodgers @ 7:10 ET - This is certainly a contrarian play but I love spots like this. As I have said before and I'll say it again here...the odds makers are quite sharp! Of course this is common knowledge but yet so often many people do underestimate this very important key factor. That said, this game is a prime example as the very first total that came up on this game was an 8 and the markets quickly pushed it to a 7.5 and now it is a 7 in almost all shops. This is a great value as each team just has to get to 3 runs and then we can't lose this play as it can't end any less than a 4-3 final. I am well aware that the Dodgers are struggling bad and that the Marlins haven't hit well this season either. However, this is not a match-up of top tier pitchers ladies and gentlemen. Yes, Caleb Smith has pitched very well for the Marlins but he is still off of a start where he was quite fortunate as he gave up only 2 earned runs despite allowing 7 hits in just 5 and 1/3 innings of work. Earlier this season he went through a 3-start stretch where he allowed 11 earned runs in just 10 and 1/3 innings of work. Look for the Dodgers sticks to get going here as Smith's most recent start is a sign of a another mini-slump coming for him. Walker Buehler gets the start for the Marlins here and his numbers on the season look great but this will be the first time he is giving a team (Miami) a 2nd look at him and his other starts have been against the Reds, Padres, and Giants. He has not faced a powerhouse of opposition and I look for the Marlins to enjoy some success as they get a second shot at him today. Look for the over to improve to 5-2 in Wednesday games for Los Angeles this season. Also, the Marlins are 3-0 to the over the last 3 times they were off of a win. 10* OVER the total in Miami

Afternoon Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #914 Wednesday 8* Seattle Mariners Money Line (-) vs Texas Rangers @ 3:40 ET - This is great line value on the Mariners at home available at a very fair price. The markets have moved this line even lower and that's likely because the Rangers Bartolo Colon has been impressive at times this season while Seattle's Christian Bergman is making his first MLB start of this year. The key to the value here is Colon has faded recently, has been hit hard by the Mariners, and Seattle is the better hitting team. On the flip side, the Rangers have struggled at the plate for much of this season and Bergman was strong against Texas when he faced them last season. Bergman held the Rangers to 4 hits in nearly 6 innings of work in June and that start was at Texas. This season he has a solid 3.40 ERA in his 8 starts at Tacoma in AAA ball. Colon gave up 4 earned runs in less than 6 innings of work when he faced the Mariners earlier this season. Also, he has given up 7 homers in his last 3 starts and certainly is not fooling the hitters the way the veteran hurler was much earlier this season. The Rangers have lost 7 of their last 10 games while Seattle is a solid 13-7 their last 20 games. Texas had 12 hits yesterday but still lost and the Rangers entered yesterday's game having been held to 7 hits or less in 8 of 9 prior games. The Mariners have averaged 10.3 hits per game their last 10 games and stay red hot at the plate here. 8* SEATTLE

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Game #925 Wednesday 8* OVER the total in Minnesota Twins vs St Louis Cardinals @ 1:10 ET - With this total dropping to a 9 in some spots it is "go time" with this one. The Twins Lance Lynn is facing his former team and certainly the Cardinals know him well. As a result, this will not be a good match-up for Lynn and he has been struggling this season as evidenced by his 7.34 ERA on the year. The over is 6-1 in Lynn's 7 starts this season. He is opposed by the Cardinals Miles Mikolas whom shows good numbers on the season. So why would he get hit here? His strikeouts are down in his last two starts even though the most recent one was against light-hitting San Diego. Also what hasn't shown up in the box score yet is the fact that he has been getting hit a little harder in his recent outings. Eventually this will equate to more hits and runs. Keep in mind, the last 5 starts Mikolas made include 2 against the Reds when they were slumping badly plus 1 at pitcher-friendly San Diego. Prior to this his first two starts this season saw him allow 4 earned runs in each outing and a total of 15 hits in just 12 innings. Look for the Twins to get to him early and often here. Minnesota, with yesterday's 4-1 win, has scored 4 runs or more in 13 of last 15 games. Couple that with the fact that the Twins Lynn should get pounded by St Louis here and you have the right "recipe" for a high-scoring day game with warm weather expected at Target Field as well. 8* OVER the total in Minnesota

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Game #951 Tuesday 10* Top Play OVER the total in San Diego Padres vs Colorado Rockies @ 3:40 ET - Jordan Lyles gets the start for the Padres here. He used to pitch for the Rockies. As a result, it certainly is noteworthy that he has had struggles with facing Colorado since he game to San Diego. Last season he faced them twice in starts late in the season and he struggled in both outings including allowing 4 homers in those two games and 3 of the home runs came right here at pitcher friendly Petco Park. That is a key element today because even though this is regarded as a pitcher friendly venue the ball does carry a little better in day games here. Also, Lyles has faced the Rockies a few times out of the bullpen this season so they are very familiar with him. Though Colorado's German Marquez has good numbers on the road this season, his last two road starts were against the injury-depleted Mets and the light-hitting Marlins. He still gave up 12 hits in 12 innings versus those two struggling teams and now Marquez has allowed 15 earned runs on 32 hits in 20 innings of work in his last 4 starts overall. In other words, don't be surprised if his struggles continue today. I know that, entering Monday's action, these teams have trended under. However, this pitching match-up is not conducive to a low-scoring game. Look for both teams to enjoy plenty of success at the plate and I'll gladly take advantage of a day game with a low total as early market moves have dropped this one to only 7.5 runs. 10* OVER the total in San Diego 

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #911 Monday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Boston Red Sox vs Oakland A's @ 7:10 ET - Mild temperatures in the forecast for Boston Monday evening and the wind expected to be blowing out toward left center field at Fenway Park. This should lead to plenty of runs as both of these lineups have been quite hot. Before being held to just 2 runs in yesterday's loss Oakland had scored 16 runs in the first two games of their 3-game set with the Yankees in the Bronx. As for the Red Sox, they are off of a 5-3 win at Toronto. That brings Boston to 6-3 their last 9 games and, over their last 13 games, the Red Sox have averaged 5.3 runs per game! The A's Sean Manaea was throwing very well earlier this season but he has allowed 4 earned runs in each of his last two starts. Boston's Rick Porcello is 5-0 this season but he allowed 5 earned runs in 5 and 1/3 innings in his most recent start. Oakland's Manaea allowed 7 earned runs on 11 hits in less than 4 innings of work in his most recent start at Fenway Park. As for Porcello, it is still "early" this season and looking at his last full season numbers, note that in 2017 he went 7-11 with a 5.43 ERA in home games and 8-12 with a 5.47 ERA in night games. Of course this is a night game and it is at home and he got rocked in the Bronx in his most recent start. Signs of things to come Monday in my opinion! The over is 11-5 this season in A's games with a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs. The over is 9-5 in Red Sox home games this season. These trends continue Monday. 10* OVER the total in Boston

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach MLB Game #963 Sunday 10* Top Play Washington Nationals Money Line (+) @ Arizona Diamondbacks @ 8:05 ET - The Nationals won again yesterday and are now 12-2 in their last 14 games. The loss for the Diamondbacks dropped Arizona to 3-7 in their last 10 games. Amazingly, in the month of May, the Dbacks have scored more than 4 runs just once. In their other 10 games they have averaged only 2 runs per game! The Nationals have averaged 4.8 runs per game this month. They should enjoy success against Arizona's Zack Godley. The right-hander has a 6.48 ERA in his last 3 starts versus the Nats and Godley has allowed 23 hits in the less than 17 innings spanning those 3 starts. As for his current form, Godley has allowed 4 or more earned runs in 3 of his last 5 starts. Also, over this span of 5 starts he has given up 32 hits plus walked 17 in 26 innings of work. As you can see that is an average of very nearly 2 base runners per inning! Look for Jeremy Hellickson to give the Nationals the big edge on the mound in this one. The Washington right-hander has a 2.95 ERA in his last 3 starts versus the Diamondbacks. Also, he has given up only 14 hits and walked just 1 in the 18 and 1/3 innings versus Arizona. As you can see from these numbers his WHIP is under 1 in those outings! As for current form, Hellickson has a 1.02 ERA and 0.62 WHIP in his last 3 starts! The Nats are 19-9 versus right-handers this season and Arizona has lost 6 of their last 8 home games. Many will back Arizona here to avoid the 4-game sweep at home but that is why there is such great value here because this is truly a mismatch and I am happy to grab the plus money with the road dog in this one! 10* WASHINGTON

Afternoon Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #977 Sunday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Los Angeles Angels vs Minnesota Twins @ 4:05 ET - Yesterday Yankees pitcher Domingo German struggle in what was essentially his 3rd start after dominating a game he entered early and went 4 innings replacing Jordan Montgomery and then delivering another shutout performance in a start in his next outing. The point is the "3rd time was the charm" in terms of MLB hitters eventually getting to the rookie. I expect that to be the case now that "the book is out" on Angels rookie Fernando Romero today. This will be his 3rd start at the MLB level and he has yet to allow an earned run but he had guys on base in each of the first 5 innings of his most recent start and he also never pitched above the Double-A level of the minor leagues until this season. Also, Romero will be facing an Angels lineup loaded with some very dangerous hitters with plenty of experience. Shohei Ohtani has also found out what it is like when MLB hitters get to see a little more of a rookie hurler. After his stellar start to this season he has a 6.08 ERA and 1.88 WHIP in his last 3 starts. With the Twins extra inning win yesterday, they have now won 8 of their last 10 games, are playing with a lot of confidence, and have averaged scoring 5.3 runs per game their last dozen games. The Angels are 8-3 to the over this season as a home favorite in a range of -125 to -175. Minnesota is 13-7 to the over on the road this season including a PERFECT 5-0 to the over when they are a road dog in a range of +125 to +175 on the money line. 10* OVER the total in Los Angeles Angels

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #971 Sunday 8* OVER the total in Cleveland Indians vs Kansas City Royals @ 1:10 ET - Corey Kluber is a fantastic pitcher but he has been making some "mistake" pitches too frequently in recent starts. That is why the Indians right-hander has allowed 8 homers in his last 4 starts. We have a low total to work with here and Kluber has allowed 3 earned runs in each of his last 4 outings. The Royals only scored 2 runs yesterday but they entered that game averaging 8.5 runs and 13.3 hits per game their last 4 games. The issue for Kansas City today will be starting pitcher Danny Duffy. The southpaw is 0-3 with a 6.14 ERA in his last 3 starts versus the Indians. Also, Duffy enters this start having allowed 10 earned runs on 22 hits in his last 18 innings of work. He's facing a Tribe lineup that has been swinging the bats particularly well at home. In fact, Cleveland had gone over the total in 10 straight home games prior to yesterday's game falling just short. The Indians have averaged 9.1 runs and 12.6 hits per game in their last 7 home games! The over is 8-5 this season in Royals games with a posted total of 8 or 8.5 runs. The over is 12-6 when Cleveland is off of a win this season. Also the Indians are 4-1 to the over in Saturday games and 7-3 to the over this season in home games with a posted total of 8 or 8.5 runs. 8* OVER the total in Cleveland

Divisional Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Game #907 Saturday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Miami Marlins vs Atlanta Braves @ 7:10 ET - First off lets talk about the bullpens here. Miami's pen has a high ERA (5.34) on the season. Atlanta's pen has a lower ERA but they've been fortunate in working out of jams because the Braves bullpen has walked more batters than any other pen in the majors. Guess who is the 2nd worst team for walks surrendered...Marlins of course! That is why both of these bullpens have a very high WHIP so far this season. That certainly could come into play in this one because both starting pitchers are likely to run into some trouble. The Braves Mike Soroka has averaged just 5 innings in his first two starts at the MLB level and he is only 20 years old and had never pitched above the AA level of the minors until this season. As for the Marlins Jarlin Garcia, the southpaw is off of a rough start at Wrigley Field. This is his first year as a starter and last year (his first in majors) working exclusively out of the bullpen he had a solid 2.45 ERA in day games but a 5.49 ERA in night games! The Braves .287 batting average versus left-handed pitching ranks #1 in the majors! As for the Marlins, they will be buoyed by yesterday's confidence-building win in which they pounded out 14 hits. 10* OVER the total in Miami

Afternoon Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #917 Saturday 8* OVER the total in Toronto Blue Jays vs Boston Red Sox @ 4:05 ET - David Price has fantastic long-term numbers versus the Blue Jays but this will be his first start against Toronto since the 2016 season and the fact is he is not in good current form right now! The Red Sox southpaw has an 8.21 ERA in his last 5 starts and he is facing a Jays team that is tied for 2nd in the majors for home runs and for extra base hits so far this season. They have some pop in their lineup and should enjoy success against a struggling price. Boston should also be pounding the ball this afternoon because they have had Marco Estrada's number. The Toronto right-hander has given up 13 runs (12 earned) in the 7 and 1/3 innings spanning his last 2 starts versus the Red Sox. Entering Saturday's action, Boston's .455 slugging percentage is tops in the majors and Estrada has already allowed 9 homers in 7 starts this season. I expect a slugfest here featuring two lineups that notch a lot of extra base hits matched up with a pair of starting pitchers very likely to struggle as you can see per the above. Another nice edge here is that each team held some starters out of their lineup yesterday so those guys will be back in there today. 8* OVER the total in Toronto

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #916 Saturday 8* New York Yankees Run Line -1.5 +115 vs Oakland A's @ 1:05 ET - With yesterday's 10-5 loss, the Yankees have now lost back to back games and I am expecting a big bounce back early Saturday. Of course I am not laying the big money line price but I am fully comfortable looking for the Yankees to win this by 2 runs or more and so we'll lay the -1.5 runs to get a plus money return on the price! The fact is that the A's had averaged scoring only 2.3 runs per game their last 11 games prior to their offensive explosion yesterday. Oakland took advantage of facing former A - Sonny Gray - as I had predicted here yesterday with my play on the over. But today the A's face a red hot Domingo German who has gone 10 scoreless innings (4 in relief of Jordan Montgomery and then 6 more in his first start replacing the injured hurler). The key for German being he is not allowing hard contact so he has truly looked great and his numbers don't lie. As for the A's Andrew Triggs, I know he has good numbers early this season but he has faced the Rangers twice and the Orioles once. Those two teams have two of the worst team batting averages in the American League. When you look at what he has done in his other 4 starts this season it equates to a 7.56 ERA and Triggs is facing an ultra-dangerous Yankees lineup today. Oakland is 19-19 on the season. Their first loss of the season was a 1-run loss. Since then, 18 straight A's defeats have come by 2 or more runs! Lay it! 8* NEW YORK YANKEES Run Line

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach MLB Game #967 Friday 10* Top Play OVER the total in New York Yankees vs Oakland A's @ 7:05 ET - Had to wait for the total to come out on this one since there was a delay in the A's announcing a starting pitcher. It was well worth the wait and it is now "go time" with this one. The total is a 9.5 and Oakland's Kendall Graveman has struggled badly this season plus the Yankees will be fired up off of a loss. I also like the flip side of this equation in that Sonny Gray will be facing his former team for the first time and, though he has pitched a little better recently, Oakland will have great familiarity on what to expect from him here. Also, Gray has had some struggles this season and might put extra pressure on himself in his first shot against his former club. Gray has a 6.00 ERA and 1.76 WHIP on the season. I know the A's have not been hitting well lately but when you look at the pitchers they've been facing that certainly has had a lot do with it. Their sticks should enjoy a breakout game versus Gray. As for the Yankees sluggers, they should feast on Graveman as he enters this start 0-5 with an 8.90 ERA and 1.84 WHIP on the season. Oakland is 3-1-1 to the over this season after an off day. New York is 8-2 to the over when off of a loss this season. Also, the Yankees are 11-2 to the over when facing a team with a losing record. Look for the over to improve to 3-1 in Graveman's last 4 starts and 4-1 on the season in Gray's home starts! 10* OVER the total in New York Yankees

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Game #979 Friday 8* OVER the total in Chicago Cubs vs Chicago White Sox @ 2:20 ET - Had to wait for the total to come out on this one since it is as Wrigley Field and the weather tends to be a significant factor there. It was well worth the wait and it is now "go time" with this one. The fact is that it will be a chilly afternoon in Chicago and the wind will be blowing in. However, in this case that actually helps us because we're getting a low total in which it is quite likely that both pitchers will struggle. The White Sox Carson Fulmer gave up 4 homers in his most recent start and he has nearly as many walks as strikeouts over his last 5 starts. The over in those outings is 4-1 (80%) and and I expect another one here. The Cubs will send Tyler Chatwood to the mound in this one and the right-hander ranks among the league leaders in a category (walks allowed) that you certainly don't want to be a leader in! Just like Fulmer, the over is 4-1 (80%) in his last 5 starts. His last 4 starts have totaled less than 22 innings and yet Chatwood has 20 walks in those outings. The White Sox have lost 5 straight games and the over is 9-1 this season in ChiSox games when they enter the contest on a losing streak of 3 or more consecutive games. The White Sox bullpen is one of worst pens in the majors too! Look for the over to go to 4-1 this season when the Cubs are playing after an off day. 8* OVER the total in the Chicago Cubs game

Game of the Week - Rickenbach MLB Game #917 Thursday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Toronto Blue Jays vs Seattle Mariners @ 7:05 ET - As you would expect, Blue Jays southpaw J.A. Happ has a lot more success against left-handed hitters than right-handed bats. Not only will the Mariners be loaded up on the right-handed side of the plate, the only left-handed bats likely to be in the lineup for Seattle here are guys that have had some success against Happ. Also, the Mariners .266 batting average away from home this season is one of the top marks in the majors. Yesterday's game stayed under the total but the Blue Jays had a dozen hits in the game. As for the Mariners, they had averaged 6.3 runs and 11 hits per game in their 3 games prior to struggling at the plate yesterday. The problem for the Mariners is that, other than the no-hitter by Paxton, they have allowed double digits in hits in each of their other games dating back to Friday of last week! The Blue Jays should enjoy plenty of success against a struggling Mike Leake. The Mariners right-hander has an 8.79 ERA on the road this season and he also has an ugly 9.21 ERA in his last 3 starts overall. The over is 6-1 in Leake's starts this season and only 2 of Happ's 7 starts this season have resulted in an under. Prior to yesterday's under, the over was 12-6 in Seattle's road games this season. Only 2 of the Blue Jays last 9 games versus a right-handed starter have stayed under the total. More of the same here. 10* OVER the total in Toronto

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #901 Thursday 8* OVER the total in Philadelphia Phillies vs San Francisco Giants @ 1:05 ET - The Giants Ty Blach is off of a solid start at Atlanta but he was successful in pitching to contact in that game. The San Francisco southpaw doesn't get a lot of strikeouts. That type of approach is not going to work at Citizens Bank Park early this afternoon with warm temperatures and the wind blowing out toward center at a good clip. The Phillies have won 5 of their last 7 games thanks to an offense that has averaged scoring 6 runs per game during this stretch. Look for more of the same this afternoon. Though i do expect Philadelphia to out-slug the Giants here, it may not be a crisp start for Vincent Velasquez. The right-hander has a 6.75 ERA in his home starts this season. All 3 have gone over the total (3-0) and, though I like the Phillies in this match-up, I feel the best value is with the over. The over is also 3-0 in Phillies home games with a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs this season. San Francisco's Blach got rocked for 6 earned runs in less than 6 innings in his most recent start versus the Phillies. Velasquez compiled a 6.10 ERA at home last season and has a 7.00 ERA in day games this season. Overall, the over is 10-4 in the Giants last 14 games and the over is 10-5 in the Phillies last 15 games. More of the same here. 8* OVER the total in Philadelphia

ESPN Smash Pass - Rickenbach MLB Game #967 Wednesday 10* Top Play OVER the total in New York Yankees vs Boston Red Sox @ 7:05 ET - This is a contrarian play as most will be looking at the under here because both of these pitchers have great numbers this season. The key here is that Red Sox/Yankees always brings a bit of a different "element" to the equation and I expect both starters to run into trouble here. The Yankees Masahiro Tanaka was pounded for 6 earned runs in 5 innings against the Red Sox last month. Boston's Rick Porcello was pounded for 6 runs (5 earned) the last time he faced the Yanks at Yankee Stadium. The over is 14-6 in Yankees home games this season and this includes 7-1 when New York is a favorite in a price range of -125 to -175. The over is 15-8 in Yankees games versus right-handed starters this season and that includes 3 of the last 4 going over the total. The Red Sox managed only 2 runs in yesterday's loss but they had previously averaged 6.1 runs per game in their last 7 games and scored 5 or more in all 7 games! The Yankees, with yesterday's win, have now won 7 straight. Though that was a low-scoring win, the Yanks previous 6 wins in the streak saw them average 5.5 runs per game. I am looking for a 6-5 type game here and certainly expecting nothing less than a 5-4 result which also puts in the winners circle! 10* OVER the total in the New York Yankees game

Afternoon Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #975 Wednesday 10* Top Play Colorado Rockies Money Line (-) vs Los Angeles Angels @ 3:10 ET - The Rockies are 6-0 in the month of May. Colorado is 10-4 versus teams with a winning record this season and also 14-6 versus right-handed starters. The Angels are just 4-9 versus teams with a winning record this season and I look for Los Angeles to drop to 1-4 in inter-league action with another loss today as the Rockies make it 7 in a row. Colorado's Tyler Anderson is a bit of an anomaly as, unlike most Rockies pitchers, he has performed better at home than on the road. Amazingly, Anderson is 9-5 with a stellar 3.36 ERA in his career outings at Coors Field! Look for the southpaw to hold a huge edge over 21-year old Jaime Barria. The rookie hurler has pitched well early this season but has as many walks (6) as strikeouts in his 13 innings of work. Making a road start at Coors Field for the first time is always tough on a hurler but this is especially true for a 21-year old rookie! Look for the Rockies to make if 5-0 in Anderson's last 5 starts. Also, the southpaw hasn't allowed more than 2 earned runs in a start since March! More of the same here! 10* COLORADO

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Game #961 Wednesday 8* OVER the total in Texas Rangers vs Detroit Tigers @ 2:05 ET - The Rangers got Adrian Beltre back yesterday and he went 3 for 4 and drove in a pair of runs. He also has enjoyed success against the Tigers Francisco Liriano in his career. The Detroit southpaw has struggled in his last two visits to Texas and allowed 5 earned runs in each of those two starts. Also, it is going to be a very hitter friendly afternoon in Arlington with warm temperatures and dry air and this ballpark is already known for favoring hitters under normal conditions. An afternoon game with this type of weather is particularly supportive of a big day at the plate for both teams. The Rangers Bartolo Colon has been quite the story again this season but is he is starting to fade as I expected. He allowed 4 homers in his most recent start and he simply was very fortunate they were all solo bombs. Colon has now allowed 7 homers in his last 3 starts and he also has a 5.68 ERA in his 2 home starts this season. The Rangers have allowed 6.7 runs per game in their last 10 games and Texas has not allowed less than 5 runs in any of those 10 games! The Tigers have pounded out 11.3 hits per game in their last 6 games and this game has the makings of a slugfest. The Rangers have had just 2 unders in their last 12 games. More of the same here. 8* OVER the total in Texas

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #951 Wednesday 8* OVER the total in Cincinnati Reds vs New York Mets @ 12:35 ET - I got burned by this play yesterday (ended up a push for most everyone) as I had the over 9 runs and the Reds scored 7 and yet the game still didn't go over the total. We'll get some payback today as the Reds Sal Romano made the mistake of barehanding a grounder in his last start and is okay to go here but I won't be surprised if he struggles. Keep in mind he has nearly as many walks as strikeouts this season and he is not as impressive on the mound as his ERA would lead you to believe. Also he gave up 8 hits in 5 innings the last time he faced the Mets. New York is starting Zach Wheeler and the right-hander has an 8.40 ERA in his last 3 starts and is struggling. More of the same expected here as the over improves to 4-0 in his last 4 starts and 4-1 in Romano's home starts on the season. New York's over is 5-1 this season when they are on the road in game where the Mets money line ranges from a -125 to a +125. 8* OVER the total in Cincinnati

Total Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Game #903 Tuesday 8* OVER the total in Cincinnati Reds vs New York Mets @ 7:10 ET - I used this team match-up as a free pick yesterday and it easily flew over the total. Today I am using it as a premium pick as I see no reason we won't see another high-scoring game and plus the total on this one has dropped from a 9.5 to a 9 this morning. This is offering great value on the over. The Reds Luis Castillo has great stuff but the numbers don't lie. He currently is slumping. The Cincinnati right-hander is 0-2 in his last 3 starts and has allowed 10 earned runs on 22 hits in just 12 innings spanning those 3 outings! Speaking of struggling hurlers, the Mets Jason Vargas is in a class of his own right now! The New York southpaw will be making his 3rd start of the season and, so far, he is 0-2 with a 16.19 ERA and a 3.00 WHIP in his first two outings! The over is 2-0 in Vargas' starts this season and the over was 5-1 in Castillo's first six starts this season before his most recent one stayed under the total. Even though Castillo allowed only 2 earned runs in that one he was fortunate as he allowed 9 hits in his 6 innings of work. The over is a long-term 18-11 when Cincinnati is a home favorite in a range of -125 to -175. Also, the Reds have had just 14 unders (28%!) in their last 50 Tuesday games. The Mets are 10-5 to the over in road games this season and that includes a PERFECT 5-0 YTD when their money line is in a range of -125 to +125 and it is currently in that range Tuesday. 8* OVER the total in Cincinnati

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach MLB Game #914 Tuesday 10* Top Play UNDER the total in Baltimore Orioles vs Kansas City Royals @ 7:05 ET - Many will be looking at the over in this match-up because the O's Dylan Bundy is off of back to back tough starts and the Royals Danny Duffy has had a tough start to this season. However, this is actually an ideal spot for an under. Back to the pitchers in a minute but, first off, the Royals are averaging only 3.1 runs per game versus right-handed starters this season. The Orioles are averaging just 2.9 runs per game at home. Baltimore is averaging just 7.2 hits per game their last 9 games. The Royals have averaged just 3.3 runs and 6 hits per game in their last 3 games. Bundy had a 1.42 ERA in his first 5 starts this season and 3 of the 5 were at home. Look for him to bounce back here at home as he went 1-0 with a 1.29 ERA and 0.64 WHIP in his 2 starts versus the Royals last season. As for KC's Duffy, he is 2-1 with a 2.28 ERA and 1.04 WHIP in his 7 starts versus the Orioles in his career. The O's are loaded with free swingers and Duffy works off of deception as his key attribute. Don't be surprised when the Orioles struggle again to make good contact tonight. Duffy is off of a tough start at Boston but, prior to that he was quite solid in 4 of his previous 5 outings. In those 4 starts the Royals southpaw allowed only 15 hits while piling up 22 strikeouts in 23 innings of work. More of the same expected here as Duffy gets right back on track. The under is 6-1 in his 7 starts versus the Orioles and the under is 2-0 in Bundy's two lifetime starts versus the Royals. The under is 12-4 when Kansas City faces a team with a losing record this season and also the under is a perfect 5-0 when the Royals are playing after a day off. The under is 10-4 in Orioles home games this season. 10* UNDER the total in Baltimore

No Doubt Blowout Rout - Rickenbach MLB Game #959 Monday 10* Top Play Detroit Tigers Money Line (-) @ Texas Rangers @ 8:05 ET - The Tigers are hitting .265 versus left-handed pitching this season and that has them ranked 3rd out of out 30 MLB teams. Detroit certainly should have no trouble with the offerings of a struggling Matt Moore here. The Rangers southpaw is off of a disastrous start at Cleveland. However, even though he is back home now, that isn't necessarily good new for Moore. In fact, Texas is 0-4 in the left-handers home starts this season and Moore has a 7.79 ERA in his outings at Globe Life Park in Arlington on the year. The Tigers Michael Fulmer certainly gives Detroit a decided pitching edge. He has a solid 2.80 ERA on the season and that includes a 1.89 ERA in his last 3 starts. Even though the Rangers are at home for this one, they're an awful 5-15 at home this season! The Tigers have struggled recently too but they've been swinging the bats much better than the Rangers. Detroit has averaged 11 hits per game in their last 6 road games while Texas has averaged just 5 hits per game in their last 3 games and all were at home. The Rangers are 0-5 in Monday games this season and I expect them to, once again, start the new week with another loss. In doing so, they'll also drop to 0-5 in Moore's home starts this season! 10* DETROIT

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #951 Monday 8* OVER the total in Philadelphia Phillies vs San Francisco Giants @ 7:05 ET - The Giants Jeff Samardzija had a "shaky start" versus the Padres in his most recent outing. Also, the San Francisco right-hander has an 8.18 ERA in his career outings versus the Phillies. Additionally, it is even worse for Samardzija when he is on the road to face Philly as he has compiled a 15.43 ERA in his career games at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies counter with Zach Eflin whom had a great start in what his first outing of this season last week versus Miami. However, the Marlins are really struggling this season and now Eflin has to face a red-hot Giants team. SF is 7-1 their last 8 games and the Giants have averaged 6.5 runs per game in their last 10 games. Eflin's last two starts versus San Francisco have seen him allow 6 earned runs in just 5 innings in each outing! The over is 4-1 in Samardzija's starts versus the Phillies and the over is 3-0 in Eflin's starts versus the Giants! The Phillies struggled on their road trip but they are now back home where they are 11-5 this season and have averaged 5.1 runs per game. In other words, look for back and forth slugfest here as there have been only 2 unders this season in the 8 Phils homes games where the Phillies have had a money line ranging from -125 to +125. More of the same here. 8* OVER the total in Philadelphia

No Doubt Blowout Rout - Rickenbach MLB Game #913 Sunday 10* Top Play Chicago Cubs Money Line (+) @ St Louis Cardinals @ 8:05 ET - The Cubs lost a tough one yesterday as they allowed 2 runs in the bottom of the 9th for the Cardinals to tie it and then allowed a 2-run bomb in the bottom of the 10th as the Cards got a huge walk-off win in extra frames. The fact is that Chicago's bullpen is normally solid but sometimes crazy things do happen and that was the case yesterday. Look for the Cubs to bounce back here as Jon Lester is a stellar 3-1 with a sparkling 1.63 ERA in his 6 career starts at St Louis. The Cubs southpaw will be opposed by the Cardinals Michael Wacha. The Cards are 5-10 in his 15 career starts versus Chicago and this comes as no surprise given the fact that Wacha has compiled a 6.34 ERA in those outings. His struggles against the Cubs continued last season and this one should turn into a road rout. St Louis went 0-4 in Wacha's 4 starts versus the Cubs last season. Chicago went 4-0 in Lester's 4 starts versus the Cardinals last season! More of the same in Sunday night baseball on ESPN as the road team avoids the sweep against their bitter division rivals. 10* CHICAGO CUBS

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Game #919 Sunday 8* OVER the total in Chicago White Sox vs Minnesota Twins @ 2:10 ET - The White Sox James Shields is off of a strong start but, not only is that rare for him, it came on the road. Today he gets the call again in Chicago where he has allowed 11 earned runs in 11 and 1/3 innings spanning his last two starts. The last two times he has faced the Twins, Shields has compiled a 5.73 ERA and he has walked 7 in just 11 innings. Shields will be opposed by Minnesota's Kyle Gibson. The Twins right-hander has allowed 16 hits in less than 13 innings of work spanning his last two starts versus the White Sox. I know Gibson has enjoyed some early season success this year but this is still a guy whom went a combined 18-21 with a 5.07 ERA the past two seasons combined. Those long-term numbers don't lie and the over is 3-0 in the White Sox last 3 games and the over is 13-3 in Minnesota's last 16 games. Also, the Twins are 11-4 to the over in road games this season and 8-2 to the over in games against teams with a losing record. The White Sox are 10-6 to the over in their games against teams with a losing record this season and also 6-2 to the over in home games with a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs this season. 8* OVER the total in Chicago White Sox

Game of the Week - Rickenbach MLB Game #961 Saturday 10* Top Play Colorado Rockies Money Line (+) @ New York Mets @ 7:10 ET - The Rockies don't have a good record versus left-handed starters this season but it truly doesn't make sense. Colorado leads the majors with 18 homers versus left-handed pitchers. Also, the Rockies slugging percentage (.429) versus southpaws is one of the best marks in the majors. We are getting good line value here with underdog Colorado having the starting pitcher whom is currently in better form. The Rockies Chad Bettis is 3-1 with a 2.43 ERA in his 6 starts this season and he has gone at least 7 innings in 3 of his last 4 starts. On the year he is holding opponents to a .202 batting average and he has compiled a 1.05 WHIP. Bettis has been working much deeper into games than his counterpart Steven Matz. The Mets southpaw is averaging only about 4 innings per game start and he has not gone longer than 5 and 1/3 innings in any of his 5 starts this season. Matz is now 3-9 with a 5.81 ERA in his 18 starts spanning last season and this season. The left-hander has particularly struggled against right-handed hitters and he'll face plenty of them in the Rockies lineup Saturday. Colorado has won 3 straight games and the Rockies are 7-4 this season versus teams with a winning record. New York is heading the other direction as the Mets have lost 4 straight and 11 of their last 16 games. 10* COLORADO

Afternoon Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #967 Saturday 8* OVER the total in Kansas City Royals vs Detroit Tigers @ 4:15 ET - The Royals bullpen is 5-7 with a 6.07 ERA (ranks dead last in majors). The Tigers bullpen is not much better as they are 5-10 with a 4.88 ERA so far this season. The relievers could prove to be significant factors here as Detroit's Jordan Zimmerman has a 10.12 ERA and 2.13 WHIP in his 3 road starts this season. Kansas City's Jason Hammel has 5 walks against just 3 strikeouts in his last two starts and he has allowed 12 runs (11 earned) in 11 and 1/3 innings spanning those two starts. Hammel's most recent start went over the total and snapped an under streak. Zimmerman's most recent start stayed under the total but, previously, every start this season (4 of them) in which he pitched at least 1 full inning went over the total. Yesterday's game between these teams stayed under the total but Detroit was previously 8-4 to the over this season in games with a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs. Great weather for an over this afternoon at Kauffman Stadium as temperatures will be warming up into the mid-80s with light winds and very dry air. The ball will carry well. 8* OVER the total in Kansas City

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach MLB Game #919 Friday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Texas Rangers vs Boston Red Sox @ 8:05 ET - Yesterday's game flew over the total and the Rangers bats continue to heat up. Texas has won 5 of its last 8 games. The Rangers have averaged 6 runs per game their last 7 games and have reached double digits in hits in 4 of those 7 games. Rick Porcello has great numbers for the Red Sox so far this season. However, last season he did go 8-12 with a 5.47 ERA in his night starts. Though he was successful at Texas last season he did allow 2 homers in that game and, in his two prior starts versus the Rangers, Porcello was rocked for 23 hits in less than 13 innings of work. He'll be opposed by Bartolo Colon tonight. The veteran right-hander is finally coming back down to earth in his two most recent starts. Colon has allowed 7 earned runs on 13 hits including 3 homers in less than 13 innings of work. He also had just 2 strikeouts in each start. The Red Sox will be putting the ball in play all night as the Rangers bullpen has allowed a .264 batting average which ranks them in the bottom five of the majors! This total opened up at a 9.5 and dropped to a 9. I am going contrarian and going with the over in this one. The Red Sox have averaged 6 runs per game their last 6 games and 4 of the 6 have gone over the total. Boston is 15-8 to the over versus right-handed starters this season and 5-1 to the over in games with a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs. The Texas over is 50-31 in home games with a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs and the Rangers are also 8-3 to the over this season when off of a win. 10* OVER the total in Texas

Early Smash Pass - Rickenbach MLB Game #903 Friday 8* OVER the total in Cincinnati Reds vs Miami Marlins @ 7:10 ET - This match-up features the two worst bullpens in the National League as the relievers for each of these teams have a combined ERA above 5.00 so far this season. That could prove to be a significant factor here as there is reason to believe that neither pitcher will work deep into this game. The Marlins Wei-Yin Chen is making just his 2nd start since coming off of the disabled list and went just 5 and 1/3 innings in his first start. The Reds Sal Romano has averaged just 5 innings per start this season and has not worked more than 6 innings in any outing. We should get at least 3 to 4 innings of bullpen from both of these clubs tonight and that will certainly help this over if needed. The fact is that I expect some success against these starters though too. Chen has allowed 4 earned runs or more in 6 of his last 10 road starts. Romano walked 6 in less than 4 innings the last time he faced the Marlins and he has nearly as many walks as strikeouts this season. He threw a ton of fastballs in his most recent start versus the Twins and that is not going to get the job done against this Miami team. The over is 3-0 in Romano's home starts this season. The over is 8-3 in the Reds last 11 games. When the Marlins are on the road with a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs only 17 of their last 46 games have stayed under the total! 8* OVER the total in Cincinnati

Afternoon Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #955 Thursday 10* Top Play Los Angeles Dodgers Money Line (+) @ Arizona Diamondbacks @ 3:40 ET - The very first line that popped up on this game when first released yesterday had the Dodgers as a -110 favorite. Now the markets have reacted and the Diamondbacks are as high as a -135 favorite as of early this morning. Of course Arizona has the better record on the year, is 8-0 when off of a loss this season, and has a 4-0 Patrick Corbin on the mound while Los Angeles has an 0-3 Alex Wood on the mound. As usual, I am going contrarian in a spot like this because the odds makers opened LA as a favorite for a reason. Secondly, Wood has pitched much better than his record shows. The Dodgers southpaw has a 0.89 WHIP on the season. As for the Diamondbacks southpaw, he allowed 3 earned runs on 7 hits in less than 7 innings of work in his most recent start. Of course that is still a quality outing and Corbin has pitched well. However, don't be surprised if Wood outduels him today. This is a rematch of an early April game between these two lefties. Corbin won that one but previously he allowed 6 earned runs on 16 hits in less than 11 innings of work in his 2 prior starts versus the Dodgers. As for Wood, previous to April, he had held the Diamondbacks to just 2 earned runs on only 9 hits in 13 innings in his 2 prior starts versus Arizona. LA is 63-36 in day games while the Dbacks are only 54-54. Look for the Dodgers to improve to 8-4 this season when off of a win. 10* LOS ANGELES DODGERS

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #953 Thursday 8* OVER the total in New York Mets vs Atlanta Braves @ 1:10 ET - The Braves Julio Teheran left his last start due to tightness in the shoulder of his throwing arm. The Mets will be seeing him for the 2nd time in a span of two weeks and should enjoy a lot more success at home. It is going to be hot at Citi Field today with high temperatures getting into the low 90s, dry air, and a strong southwest wind blowing out. Conditions are perfect for the hitters to have a huge day. The Mets Jason Vargas got absolutely rocked in his first start this season. The big concern is that it was against a light-hitting Padres team and was at pitcher-friendly Petco Park in San Diego. In other words, any improvement today is unlikely given that Vargas will be facing a much stronger lineup and also facing them on a hitter-friendly afternoon. The over is a perfect 3-0 in Braves Thursday games this season. Also, when off of a shutout win, Atlanta is a long-term 11-5 to the over. New York is a long-term 24-12 to the over in Thursday games including a perfect 3-0 this season. Also, the Mets have had just just 6 unders the last 17 times they were off of a shutout loss. 8* OVER the total in the New York Mets game

Afternoon Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #903 Wednesday 10* Top Play OVER the total in San Francisco Giants vs San Diego Padres @ 3:45 - Last night's game stayed under the total but, prior to this, both of these teams had been trending over the total. Also, the ball tends to carry better in day games at AT & T Park. Even though temperatures will only be around 60 degrees today in San Francisco, the wind will be picking up and blowing toward left center at a good clip. This will help the "carry effect" even more on balls hit well and we should see plenty of those this afternoon given this pitching match-up. The Giants Derek Holland is winless on the season and he has a 7.07 ERA in his last 3 starts. The Padres Clayton Richard is off of back to back losses and has a 5.35 ERA on the season and his ERA is 6.30 on the road this year. The over is 4-1 the last 5 times San Francisco has faced a southpaw starter. The over was 3-0 in San Diego's 3 games prior to last night's low-scoring win staying under the total. The over is 7-4 in Giants day games, 10-6 in their home games, and 11-6 when facing a left-handed starter. Coming into yesterday's game the Giants had averaged scoring 6 runs per game in their 5 prior games and the Padres had averaged 11.3 hits per game in their 3 prior games. The hot hitting for both clubs is likely to resume Wednesday given the pitching match-up and the favorable hitting conditions in an afternoon game by the bay. 10* OVER the total in San Francisco

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Game #915 Wednesday 8* OVER the total in Boston Red Sox vs Kansas City Royals @ 1:05 ET - Spring is finally here in the New England area and temperatures will rise into the 80s today in Boston. Also, the wind will be blowing fairly strong toward right-center at Fenway Park for this one. This combination should lead to plenty of runs as there certainly is reason to believe the pitchers will struggle today. One of the keys is that the bullpens got stretched out because last night's game went 13 innings. The other keys are named Danny Duffy and Drew Pomeranz. The Royals Duffy has allowed 10 earned runs in 10 and 2/3 innings spanning his last two starts. The Red Sox Pomeranz has struggled since returning from the disabled list. His curveball just isn't breaking sharply like it normally would and his fastball velocity is down a few ticks as well. The Boston southpaw has a 7.27 ERA in his two starts since coming off of the DL and he allowed 3 homers in 5 innings in his lone home start. Today's game has the makings of a slugfest. Kansas City's Duffy allowed 3 homers in his most recent start at Fenway Park. The over is 4-0 in KC's last 4 road games. The over is 9-4 in Red Sox home games. More of the same here early Wednesday. 8* OVER the total in Boston 

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #965 Tuesday 10* Top Play Texas Rangers Money Line (+) @ Cleveland Indians @ 6:10 ET - There is a reason this money line opened up in the -200 range on the Indians but has dropped. There is some sharp money coming in on the Rangers and an upset is in the offing here. The Indians are sending Mike Clevinger to the mound for this one. The Cleveland right-hander has a 7.20 ERA in his last two home starts as he has allowed 4 earned runs in each outing. He has been hit at a .313 clip at home this season. Also, lefties have hit him better than righties this season. This holds some significance here because the Rangers roster of position players includes 6 left-handed sticks and a switch-hitter. Clevinger was hit 77 points higher by lefties than righties last season. The Rangers Doug Fister had an early season trip to the DL but he shook off the rust in his first start back last week. Also, his overall numbers last season don't tell the full story. He allowed 3 earned runs or less in 11 of his 15 starts. He got hit at just a .245 clip after the All-Star break. The 6'8 Fister is an intimidating presence on the mound and he still has "good stuff" and also has plenty of confidence pitching at Cleveland. His last start against the Indians was here at Progressive Field and he held the Tribe to just a single earned run in 9 innings and that was on just 1 hit the entire game as Cleveland managed only a solo bomb as their lone hit in that match-up. Look for Fister to pitch another gem here and the Rangers get the surprising upset on the road. 10* TEXAS 

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #913 Monday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Cleveland Indians vs Texas Rangers @ 6:10 ET - The Rangers Cole Hamels has only 1 win in 6 career starts versus the Indians as he has compiled a 6.11 ERA versus Cleveland. Not surprisingly, given those numbers, the over is 5-0 in Hamels 6 career starts versus the Tribe. The Texas southpaw got crushed at Cleveland in his most recent start here which was in late June last year. The Indians send Trevor Bauer to the mound for this one. The Indians right-hander has decent numbers versus the Rangers in his career but only 1 of the 4 games has resulted in an under. Look for the over to improve to 4-1 in Rangers Monday games on the season. Texas road games have resulted in just 1 under in their last 6 games away from home. Cleveland is 7-1 to the over in their last 8 home games and that includes 4 in a row after yesterday's 10-4 loss the Mariners. I know both of these starting pitchers have decent numbers this season but their long-term history points to overs when matched up with the opponent they'll be facing today. Also, this is a low total of 8 runs and the Rangers, prior to yesterday's ugly loss, had scored at least 4 runs in 6 of their last 7 games. The Indians have scored at least 4 runs in 5 straight games. The significance in this is that a 4-4 game guarantees us of no less than a 5-4 final and that puts us in the winners circle tonight! 10* OVER the total in Cleveland

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach MLB Game #963 Sunday 10* Top Play New York Mets Money Line (-) @ San Diego Padres @ 4:10 ET - The Mets got blasted 12-2 yesterday and, though they have been struggling a bit they certainly haven't been as low as the Padres. Prior to that big win for the home team yesterday, San Diego had lost 8 of its last 10 games. Today the Padres send Bryan Mitchell to the mound and the Padres are 0-3 in his home starts. Mitchell has compiled a 7.07 ERA and has an ugly 2.00 WHIP in his home outings this season. The Mets will have Zack Wheeler on the mound. New York is 2-0 in his road starts this season and he can be expected to bounce back after a tough outing in his last start away from home. On the season Wheeler has still allowed only 15 hits in his 17 innings of work. After getting drilled yesterday, the Mets should respond here. They are 6-2 off of a loss this season and also 6-2 in day games on the year. The Padres are an ugly 1-6 in day games this season. Also, San Diego is just 5-12 versus right-handed starters this season. Nice line value here with a small road favorite against one of the worst teams in baseball. 10* NEW YORK METS

Afternoon Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #979 Sunday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Minnesota Twins vs Cincinnati Reds @ 2:10 ET - Strong south wind and mild temperatures at Target Field this afternoon. It will make for a nice day for the hitters. The south wind blowing out toward the left field corner. The key here is that Jose Berrios is coming off of a rough start for the Twins as he got hit hard by the Yankees in his most recent start. As great as his overall numbers have been last season and so far this year, he is much more susceptible to left-handed sticks than righties. That will prove to be an issue here as the Reds are loaded with left-handed lumber and also have a couple of switch-hitters. Cincinnati is likely to load their lineup from that side of the plate in this one and should enjoy success on a hitter-friendly day at Target Field. As for the Twins hitting in this one, they are likely to pound Tyler Mahle. The Reds right-hander has a 6.51 ERA and 2.17 WHIP in his two road starts this season. He has allowed 5 homers in his last 3 starts. The over was 7-1 in the Twins last 8 games prior to yesterday's game staying under the total. The over was 5-1 in the Reds last 6 games prior to Saturday's low-scoring loss. Long-term the over is 88-53 when the Twins are facing a team with a losing record. 10* OVER the total in Minnesota

Game of the Week - Rickenbach MLB Game #909 Saturday MLB 10* Top Play Colorado Rockies Money Line (-) @ Miami Marlins @ 7:10 ET - UPDATE NOTE: Wei-yin Chen is now expected to get this start for the Marlins. This is still a big play for me. Chen has been better on the road than at home in each of his two seasons with Miami. Chen compiled a 5.49 ERA at home in 11 starts in 2016. Also, in 2017 Chen only pitched in limited action but did compile a 7.20 ERA at home as he again was much better on the road. Look for him to struggle again here. Chen pitched well in his rehab starts (he is working his way back from injury) but those outings were with single A Jupiter. ORIGINAL WRITE-UP: The Rockies opened up in the -150 range and are now down around a pick'em! This is huge value to grab a winning team against a struggling home team. I understand that some are expecting German Marquez to struggle here as he is off of a rough outing versus the Cubs but that was at home in hitter-friendly Coors Field. On the road this season Colorado is 2-0 in Marquez starts and the Rockies right-hander has compiled a 1.64 ERA. Another key to the value here is that Colorado has a .469 slugging percentage versus left-handed pitching this season. Caleb Smith gets the start for the Marlins here and the southpaw could struggle. The southpaw has not worked deep into games. He is off of his best start of the season and logged 6 innings but previously his average start this season had lasted 4 innings. Also, he entered the strong start at Milwaukee having allowed 11 earned runs in the 10 and 1/3 innings spanning his 3 prior starts. Not working deep (Smith) is a problem exasperated by the fact that the Marlins bullpen has been one of the worst in the majors this season. Though the Rockies bullpen has some sub-par numbers that has to do with home games in a hitter-friendly park. Colorado's pen is 7-3 this season and they have a rather low BAA. Some great arms in this Rockies pen and I like Marquez over Smith in terms of the starters. The Marlins are 3-10 in home games and 4-14 in night games and 0-4 on Saturdays this season! The Rockies are 10-5 on the road this season and are 9-3 the last 3 seasons when they are a road fave of -125 to -175. I do expect this line will go back up but either way Colorado is the play here as the Marlins continue to be given more credit than they are due. This is a bad Miami team and the Rockies (and you and I!) will take advantage again today. 10* COLORADO

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Game #915 Saturday 8* OVER the total in Boston Red Sox vs Tampa Bay Rays @ 4:05 ET - Yesterday's game stayed under the total but look for this one to fly over the number. The weather will be very nice in Boston with high temperatures up near 70 degrees and a south wind blowing out toward left field. The key to this match-up is that the Red Sox already saw Yonny Chirinos earlier this month. Though he enjoyed success in that start, he has certainly cooled off since then and a "second look" for the Boston lineup plus facing him on a mild afternoon at Fenway Park is all going to combine to lead to a huge day for the Red Sox hitters. As for Boston starter David Price, he has struggled recently and has a 5.93 ERA and 1.61 WHIP in his last 3 starts. He has enjoyed success against the Rays but that was earlier this season when he was throwing well. Now Tampa Bay is getting a 3rd look at him already in a span of just a month and, with his current form a bit "off", look for the Rays to take advantage. 8* OVER the total in Boston

No Doubt Blowout Rout - Rickenbach MLB Game #959 Friday 10* Top Play Colorado Rockies Money Line (-) @ Miami Marlins @ 7:10 ET - Both of these teams are off of back to back wins but that is where the similarities between these teams stop! The Marlins, prior to their consecutive wins, had lost 8 of their 9 prior games. On the season, the Rockies (14) have twice as many wins as the Marlins (7). Tyler Anderson gets the start for the Rockies and he has a 2.70 ERA with 20 strikeouts in 16 and 2/3 innings over his last 3 starts. He'll be matched up with Jose Urena. Though Urena is a hard-throwing right-hander, the Marlins are 0-5 in his starts this season. Also, he is 0-2 with a 6.60 ERA in his last 3 starts. Another concern with Urena he has averaging only 5 innings a start on the season. The worst bullpen in the National League so far this season in terms of earned run average is the Marlins pen as they are 4-7 with a 5.67 ERA on the year and only 2 saves in just 5 save opportunities. I don't think they'll have a save opportunity here either as the Rockies dominate. Miami is off of their first back to back wins of the season as they had been 0-5 this season when off of a win. The Marlins are just 3-9 in home games and only 4-13 in night games. Colorado is a solid 9-5 in road games this season and, after opening up in the 150 range and now dropping to the 125 range as of early game day morning, there is superb line value here on the Rockies as a small road favorite. 10* COLORADO

No Doubt Blowout Rout - Rickenbach MLB Game #911 Thursday 10* Top Play Seattle Mariners Money Line (-) @ Cleveland Indians @ 6:10 ET - The Mariners James Paxton is off of a bad start but that is rare. He is one of the top southpaw arms in the league right now and he entered that start having compiled a 2.65 ERA in his 3 prior starts while notching 24 strikeouts in 17 innings of work. Now he'll face an Indians team that is tied for the worst mark in the American League with a .209 batting average versus left-handed pitching this season. Look for Paxton to get right back on track as he brings a little extra "juice" to the mound here after being knocked around some by the Rangers in his most recent start. As for the Indians Mike Clevinger, he is off of one of the best starts of his career but he entered that start having allowed 4 earned runs in 4 innings in his prior start. Also, he had given up 13 hits in his last 11 and 1/3 innings prior to the strong start against Baltimore. He'll be facing a Mariners team that has a .464 slugging percentage in night games this season and that ranks Seattle 4th in the majors. The Indians beat the Cubs yesterday but had been 2-5 this season against teams with a wining record. Look for Paxton to bounce back strong while Clevinger comes back down to earth as he faces a much tougher lineup in this one than he faced in dominating the Orioles in his last start. 10* SEATTLE

Afternoon Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #909 Thursday 8* OVER the total in New York Yankees vs Minnesota Twins @ 1:05 ET - With yesterday's game going over the total, it has now been 6 straight overs for the Twins and the Yankees continue to go over on an almost nightly basis! The Yankees are 11-1 to the over this season in their games against teams with a losing record. The Twins are 8-3 to the over in road games this season. Minnesota's Kyle Gibson has allowed 9 earned runs in 10 and 2/3 innings in his last 2 starts. In his career, Gibson is 1-4 versus the Yankees with an ugly 9.31 ERA. The Yanks will have southpaw Jordan Montgomery toeing the rubber this afternoon. He has allowed 14 hits in the 10 and 1/3 innings spanning his last two starts at home. Montgomery was hit hard last season in a July start at Target Field as the Twins got to him. I expect them to get to him again here on a pleasant afternoon in the Bronx. The wind will be blowing out toward right and temperatures will reach the mid to upper 60s. 8* OVER the total in New York Yankees