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

Rickenbach MLB Tuesday MLB 8* OVER the total in Chicago Cubs vs Milwaukee Brewers @ 8:05 ET - South wind blowing out to left at a decent clip. Mild spring evening temperatures and rather dry air in the forecast in Chicago tonight. That means the ball should be carrying very well at Wrigley Field tonight. After last night's game flew over the total there is no reason not to expect more of the same here. As mentioned in my write-up yesterday, Milwaukee has one of the top slugging percentages in the majors so far this season and last night the Brewers offense erupted in a 6-3 win and they're averaging 6 runs per game in their last 5 games. Though the Cubs truly haven't gotten their big bats going yet this season, they certainly have a very potent lineup and they're getting a quick second look at the Brewers Jimmy Nelson here. They struggled with him at Milwaukee but the last two times they faced Nelson here at Wrigley Field they crushed him to the tune of 9 earned runs in 11 innings. Each of the last 3 meetings between these teams have gone over the total and have averaged 12 runs per game and the Brewers should also enjoy success tonight as they get a quick second look at the Cubs Brett Anderson. The lefty had good success versus the Brewers in Milwaukee but the prior time he faced them he allowed 8 hits including 2 homers. The Brewers are 18-9 to the over the L3 seasons in road games with a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs. The Cubs are 14-7 to the over the L3 seasons when they enter a game on a losing streak of 3 games or more. 8* OVER the total in the Chicago Cubs game Tuesday

Rickenbach MLB Tuesday 8* Boston Red Sox Money Line (+) @ Toronto Blue Jays @ 7:05 ET - This is a classic case where the betting markets focus too much on starting pitching rather than the 'complete picture' of a match-up. Keep in mind, the Blue Jays are laying about -175 here and they are only 2-10 this season! To put that in proper perspective, many are betting Toronto here even though no other team in the majors has less than 4 wins and no team in the American League has less than 5 wins. Again, the Jays have won TWO games this season! Yes Brian Johnson of the Red Sox is a bit of an unknown since he's making just his 2nd MLB start but he's pitched at the AAA level each of the past two seasons and he's added polish that other pitchers don't have that jump up the minor leagues too quickly. He's ready and can be deceptive and tough to hit and, keep in mind, the Blue Jays have averaged just 2.3 runs per game in their last 8 games! Even though Marcus Stroman is getting the start for Toronto and has pitched very well so far this season, he allowed 16 earned runs in 16 and 1/3 innings versus Boston last season! The Red Sox come into this series having won 3 straight games and 6 of their last 9 and they've averaged 5 runs per game in their last 7 games. The BoSox bullpen is 4-1 with a 1.84 ERA this season while the Blue Jays pen is 1-3 with a 5.22 ERA so far this season. As you can see, there are number of key edges favoring the Red Sox here and this is great line value being offered to the underdog. 8* BOSTON

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

Rickenbach MLB Monday 8* OVER 7 runs in Chicago Cubs vs Milwaukee Brewers @ 8:05 ET - With this total dropping down to a 7 from a 7.5 we are getting even more line value here on the over. I am well aware of the fact that Chase Anderson has great numbers so far this season but the Brewers right-hander faced Toronto and Colorado in his first two starts and both are struggling miserably at the plate with team batting averages of .212 and .227, respectively. Even though the Cubs are also off to a slow start at the plate this is still a very potent Chicago line up and they're familiar with Anderson. The Brewers lineup has produced a .457 slugging percentage so far this season and that ranks them 2nd out of all 30 teams. While I certainly respect the Cubs John Lackey and know that he's capable of racking up strikeouts, I also know he has a tendency to give up extra base hits. The Brewers have 5 homers against him in the last 2 starts Lackey has made against them. Also, Lackey did get a little "touched up" in his only other start against a divisional foe (St Louis) so far this season. This is a bit of a contrarian play but the Cubs are off of 3 straight losses and that is a situation that saw them go 13-7 to the over the past 2 seasons. Look for their bats to come alive tonight even though it will be a cool evening with the wind blowing in at Wrigley Field. That is what helping to drive this total lower than it should be. 8* OVER the total in Chicago Cubs

Rickenbach MLB Monday 8* St Louis Cardinals Money Line (-) vs Pittsburgh Pirates @ 7:05 ET - The Cardinals have had a tough start this season but they're in a good spot to bounce back here. They are 3-9 on the season and on a 3-game losing streak but have responded with a win each time they've had a 3-game losing streak this season. Also, the last 3 seasons combined, St Louis is now a fantastic 15-4 when they enter a game on a losing streak of 3 games or more. Lance Lynn gets the start tonight and, though he's off of a poor road start, he did pitch well (versus the world champion Cubs) in his only home start so far this season. Also, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Pirates fall a little flat here after their 3-game weekend sweep at Wrigley Field. Keep in mind, prior to that sweep the Pirates had lost 4 straight games overall and also were 0-3 on the road this season. Also, the Pirates 6 losses this season have come by an average margin of 4 runs per game. The Cardinals have been at the other end of the spectrum in terms of having many tight losses. More than half their losses this season have come by 2 runs or less and tonight I expect them to get over the hump. The Pirates Ivan Nova was strong at home last season but had a 5.01 ERA on the road. The Cards Lance Lynn is 34-17 in his career outings at Busch Stadium! Tremendous line value to have STL at this low of a price considering the home/road dichotomy of these two hurlers. 8* ST LOUIS CARDINALS money line

Over Easy - Rickenbach MLB Sunday 8* OVER 7.5 runs in Seattle Mariners vs Texas Rangers @ 4:10 ET - First two games of this three game set both stayed under the total but the Rangers Cole Hamels has allowed 13 earned runs in the 6 innings spanning his last two starts against the Mariners. Also, Seattle's Hisashi Iwakuma has given up 4 homers and 8 earned runs in the 10 innings spanning his last two starts against Texas. In Hamels ten career starts against the Mariners, only 3 have stayed under the total. With yesterday's 5-1 win, the Mariners have tallied at least 5 runs in 5 of their last 6 games as their potent lineup is finally starting to heat up. Though the Rangers have struggled at the plate so far in this series, let's not forget they entered this series having won 4 of their last 6 games and having averaged 6 runs per game on the season before struggling here in Seattle. With past success against Iwakuma, I expect that to be the key to getting the Rangers bats right back on track here. 8* OVER 7.5 runs in Seattle

Slugfest - Rickenbach MLB Sunday 8* OVER 7.5 runs in Los Angeles Dodgers vs Arizona Diamondbacks @ 4:10 ET - The Dodgers bats are heating up again at home and they've been strong in day games all season long. Under the sun, Los Angeles has averaged 7 runs per game and hit .282 with a slugging percentage of .494 on the young season. All of those stats have the Dodgers ranked near the top in all of those hitting categories in daytime action. They should have no trouble with the offerings of Taijuan Walker whom they pounded in his most recent visit to Dodger Stadium. Walker comes into this start having struggled with command of his pitches in his most recent start and having been hit too hard when he did find the plate (in his prior start). I don't expect Walker to slow down the Dodgers on a hitter friendly afternoon in LA. Dry air, light wind blowing out, it sets this one up for a decent offensive showing for both clubs. That said, this total is rather low and the Dodgers two daytime home games this season averaged 14.5 runs per game. Rich Hill gets the start for LA and has looked strong early this season but Arizona did just see him in September and that should help their cause here. The Diamondbacks did get to him for 4 earned runs in 5 and 1/3 innings in that outing. The over is 3-1 this season (and 51-33 the L3 seasons) when the Dbacks face a left-handed starter). Look for the over to improve to 5-2 in Dodgers home games with another wild one today. 8* OVER 7.5 runs in LA Dodgers Sunday

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

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Saturday 8* San Francisco Giants Money Line (-) vs Colorado Rockies @ 4:05 ET - Matt Moore is 5-0 with a 1.59 ERA in his last 5 starts at AT & T Park in regular season action. Tyler Chatwood has allowed 4 earned runs (and 2 home runs) in each of his first two starts this season. The right-hander is facing a Giants lineup that is starting to heat up again with 9 or more hits in 3 of their last 4 games and that included yesterday's offensive explosion in an 8-2 win. To put that in perspective in terms of the difference in the way these two teams are swinging the bats right now, the Rockies have been held to 8 hits or less in 8 of their last 10 games. Colorado has averaged just 2 runs per game in those 8 games and they have not scored more than 3 runs in any of those 8 games. Note that the Giants have scored 4 runs or more in 8 of their 12 games this season. Even though the Rockies have enjoyed some early season success against lefties, Moore is a very tough southpaw (especially at home) and Colorado is just 33-61 against left-handed starters the last 2+ seasons. The Giants come into this game having won 4 of 6 while the Rockies have lost 4 of 6 and I look for the home team to ride the momentum of yesterday's big win. 8* SAN FRANCISCO

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

Situational Slaughter - Rickenbach MLB Friday 10* Top Play Toronto Blue Jays Money Line (-) vs Baltimore Orioles @ 7:05 ET - After opening up as high as a -155, the Blue Jays have dropped to as low as a -128 favorite as of Friday morning. Of course, the Jays have the fewest wins in the majors this season so, from that standpoint, it is understandable. However, in this particular case, Toronto has a decided pitching advantage and I expect that to result into a home rout here! The Orioles have southpaw Wade Miley on the mound and he walked 7 in his first start of the season last week. Also, the left-hander has a 1-4 record and 5.57 ERA in 6 career starts versus the Blue Jays. As for Toronto, they have Aaron Sanchez on the mound for this one and he has allowed a TOTAL of only 3 earned runs in 19 innings in his last 3 starts versus the Orioles. Also, Sanchez was rock solid in his season opener with just 1 earned run allowed on only 4 hits in 7 innings at Tampa Bay. Over the past two seasons Sanchez has allowed 1 earned run or less 14 times in his starts. This is tops in the American League! Even though the Blue Jays have been struggling at the plate, the Orioles have had their fair share of struggles too as they have tallied 7 hits or less in 5 of their last 7 games! Couple that factor with the large pitching edge here and there is great value here with the small home fave! Also, the Orioles are 29-46 the last 3 seasons in road games with a posted total of 8 or 8.5 runs. The Blue Jays went 105-68 in home games the past two seasons and they'll bounce back after an 0-3 start at the Rogers Centre this season. 10* TORONTO on the money line early Friday evening 

Afternoon Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Friday 8* OVER the total in Washington Nationals vs Philadelphia Phillies @ 4:05 ET - These teams just faced each other in Philly over the weekend and they combined for 40 runs in the 3 games. I look for another high-scoring match-up here. Even though Stephen Strasburg is a fantastic pitcher, he has allowed 7 earned runs in the 14 innings spanning his last two starts versus the Phillies. As for the Phils Aaron Nola, he had a rough spring training and that seems to have carried into the regular season as well as he has not looked sharp. Nola has given up 6 earned runs on 15 hits in 11 innings of work spanning his first two starts. Also, he allowed 4 earned runs on 7 hits in less than 4 innings of work in his last road start at Washington. With these lineups having just faced each of these two hurlers this past weekend, that is an added edge for the hitters. The Phillies and Nationals bullpens each rank near the bottom of the league early this season and all signs point to a rather high-scoring afternoon match-up. The Nationals scored just 1 run Wednesday but their slugging percentage on the season ranks them #1 in the majors and they'll bounce back here against Nola. The over is 4-2 this season in Nats games against teams with a losing record. The over is 4-1 in Phillies games against teams with a winning record this season and also a perfect 5-0 this season when Philadelphia is off of a loss. 8* OVER the total in Washington Friday afternoon

Situational Slaughter - Rickenbach MLB Thursday 10* Top Play Kansas City Royals Money Line (-) vs Oakland A's @ 8:15 ET - The A's are starting Jesse Hahn but don't be fooled by the decent numbers he put up in last week's start versus the Rangers. When he entered that game Texas was already killing Oakland as the Rangers had jumped out to an 8-0 lead after the first two innings. When a team has that big of a lead early the hitters often change their approach at the plate. Hahn certainly benefited from that and he's coming off of an awful spring training. Also, last season he went 0-3 with a 13.17 ERA in his 4 road starts. The prior season he went 2-5 with a 4.72 ERA in his 10 night starts. Simply put, things have not gone well for Hahn since he put on an Oakland uniform for the 2015 season. That said, look for the Royals to pound him here and I do expect Jason Vargas to enjoy solid success against the Oakland sticks. The southpaw has complete game shutout victories over the Athletics in two of his last three starts against them. Also, the left-hander had a solid start to open up the 2017 season as he held the Astros to just 1 earned run in 6 innings at Houston last week. Oakland is 32-59 against left-handed starters the past 2+ seasons. Even though the Royals have gotten off to a tough start this season, that is merely serving to give us great line value here with them as a short home favorite. Kansas City has a huge pitching edge in this match-up in my opinion and this is still a Royals team that is a combined 105-67 in home games the past 2+ seasons. I don't foresee them getting swept at home in a 3-game set that is their first home series of the season. 10* KANSAS CITY ROYALS

Afternoon Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Thursday 8* OVER the total in Los Angeles Angels vs Texas Rangers @ 3:35 ET - The total on this game has already dropped from an 8.5 to a 7.5 as of early Thursday morning and this is offering fantastic line value on the over. Certainly Yu Darvish is a solid hurler but the over is 9-3-1 in his 13 starts against the Angels in his career and he has allowed at least 3 earned runs (and 2 homers) to LA in 2 of his last 3 starts at Anaheim. It will be a pleasant afternoon at the ballpark with the wind blowing out and the ball does carry better in day games compared to night games on the west coast. The Angels will have Ricky Nolasco on the mound and he got roughed up at Texas last season. He'll struggle again here as the Rangers bats are heating up (7 runs per game in their last 3 games). The Angels struggled at the plate yesterday but previously had scored at least 5 runs in 6 of their 7 prior games. The over is 4-1 in Angels home games this season and Nolasco has struggled with the long ball already this season and Darvish (as is often the case for him) has had some struggles early this season with command of his pitches. The Rangers right-hander has already walked 8 in his first two starts this season while Nolasco has allowed 3 homers in his first two starts. Look for the over to improve to 3-0 in Nolasco's career starts against the Angels. 8* OVER the total in Los Angeles Angels

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Thursday 8* OVER the total in Boston Red Sox vs Pittsburgh Pirates @ 2:05 ET - The Pirates got drilled 9-2 yesterday at home versus the Reds and the Red Sox also got hammered 12-5 at home versus the Orioles yesterday. Needless to say, neither bullpen is in the best of shape heading into this one after yesterday's ugly results. This game is a rescheduled game from the rain-out in the early season series between these two. The weather is likely to favor the hitters in this afternoon affair at Fenway Park as the wind will be blowing out toward right field. Both Pittsburgh's Chad Kuhl (command issues, too many walks) and Boston's Eduardo Rodriguez (two homers allowed) are off of shaky outings in the first starts of the season. The Pirates, after yesterday's result, have had just 1 under in their last 6 games. The over is 39-27 in Red Sox home games with a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs after yesterday's game totaled 17 runs. When these teams first met this year it was the very first series of the new season and the bats were a little cold. The Pirates now are facing a left-handed starter for the 2nd straight game and 3rd time in last 4 days. Look for them to get their sticks back on track as Rodriguez struggles again. As for the Red Sox, they've scored 5 runs or more in 5 of their 8 games this season and Kuhl's late season fade (was hit hard after August of last season) seems to be carrying into this season. 8* OVER the total in Boston

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

Afternoon Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Wednesday 8* St Louis Cardinals Run Line +1.5 runs (-) @ Washington Nationals @ 4:05 ET - The total on this game is only 7.5 and a tight, low-scoring ballgame can be expected. The wind is blowing in from left field and runs could be tough to come by in this one. That has created excellent line value here with the Cardinals on the run line. The Cards Mike Leake only needed 92 pitches to go 8 innings in his first start this season. This built on a strong spring for the right-hander whom is showing improved command of his pitches. Leake took a 2-1 loss at Washington in his most recent start here but was solid as he allowed just 2 solo homers in a 7-inning stint. As for the Nationals, Max Scherzer, he does seem recovered from a finger injury that had bothered him through the off-season and in spring training. However, he did struggle with command and allowed 5 earned runs in his most recent home start versus the Cardinals. This is the finale of a 3-game set and, after being blasted in their last 3 games (including the first 2 of this series), the Cards will be ready to respond here. Don't be surprised if the Cardinals avoid the sweep but, if they do fall short, I expect it to be by just a single run and this is a very fair price being offered on the run line with the Cards. Scherzer's last 3 starts (dating back to last October) have all been one run games. 8* St Louis Cardinals RUN LINE +1.5 runs Wednesday afternoon

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Wednesday 8* OVER the total in Detroit Tigers vs Minnesota Twins @ 1:10 ET - These teams are off of a 2-1 pitchers duel yesterday but I expect much different results today. The Twins Kyle Gibson just doesn't miss many bats and he was fortunate that the two homers he allowed in his first start of the season were both solo bombs. The Minnesota right-hander has a losing record and a 4.84 ERA and 1.51 WHIP in his 10 career starts against the Tigers. Gibson will be opposed by last season's rookie of the year as Michael Fullmer gets the start for Detroit. Though he had a great season and has good stuff, he did allow 7 hits in just 5 innings in his lone start against the Twins last season. Fullmer did give up a lot of contract through the air in his first start this season. The wind, though not a huge factor, will be blowing out toward left in this afternoon match-up at Comerica Park and the over is 3-0 this season in Tigers games against right-handed starters. Also, the over is 82-55 in Detroit's games with a posted total of 8 or 8.5 runs the last 3 seasons combined. The over is 30-18 in Twins Wednesday games the past 3 seasons combined. The Tigers bullpen struggled to close out yesterday's game and their 6.97 ERA so far this season ranks as one of the worst in the majors for bullpen ERA. Gibson gets pounded and Fullmer (and then the struggling relievers behind him) combine to give up enough to send this one over the low total. After opening up at an 8.5o-25 this one has dropped to an 8 as of early Wednesday morning. I'll take it! 8* OVER the total in Detroit early Wednesday afternoon

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

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Tuesday 8* OVER the total in Cleveland Indians vs Chicago White Sox @ 4:10 ET - James Shields had a solid first outing to begin this season. Though he walked 5 he allowed only 2 hits and 1 earned run in his 5+ innings versus the Tigers. However, that was at home and Shields is now back on the road where he went a combined 1-8 last season with the Padres and White Sox. That includes, after coming to the White Sox during the year last season, going 0-5 with an ERA north of 9.00 in his starts away from home! The Indians have a number of hitters who have enjoyed great success against him and Shields allowed 8 earned runs in less than 2 innings of work in his most recent start at Cleveland. The Tribe are likely to rock Shields here but don't be surprised if Carlos Carrasco gets a little "touched up" too. The right-hander has allowed 10 runs (8 earned) on 16 hits in less than 11 innings of work spanning his last two starts against the White Sox. Also, the other concern for the Indians is that behind Carrasco is a bullpen that is getting hit at a .292 clip so far this season. Even though the ChiSox pen has performed well so far this season they could be asked to do too much here as Shields road outings have been, for the most part, shortened greatly by his lack of success away from home. The over is 11-6-1 in Shields' 18 starts against the Indians in his career. As a road of +175 or more the over is 7-3 in White Sox games. Also, the ChiSox are 22-14 to the over when playing with a day off between games. The over is 39-21 (65%) in Indians home games where the posted total is 8 or 8.5 runs. Also, the over is 7-0 (100% PERFECT) when the Tribe are at home and favored in a range of -200 to -225. The over is also 2-0 this season in their games with a posted total of 8 or 8.5 runs and 2-0 in their games against right-handed starters this season. By playing the over here, as you can see, we're testing a combined 11-0, 100% mark! 8* OVER the total in Cleveland Tuesday afternoon

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Tuesday 8* Detroit Tigers Money Line (-) vs Minnesota Twins @ 1:10 ET - The Tigers Matthew Boyd had a poor start in his season debut but he definitely seemed bothered by the cold weather conditions in Chicago against the White Sox. He'll have better conditions to work with today at home against the Twins and he did have a strong spring training plus held Minnesota to just 1 earned run on only 3 hits in 8 innings of work the last time he faced them. Just like today's match-up, he opposed Hector Santiago in that game. The Twins left-hander gave up 6 earned runs in less than 6 innings of work versus the Tigers and I expect him to struggle again here. Detroit is leading the majors with 6 homers against left-handed pitching this season and the Tigers .574 slugging percentage versus southpaws ranks them 3rd out of the 30 teams! The Tigers are 33-18 as a home favorite of -125 to -150 and have won 3 of their 4 home games this season after another win over the Red Sox yesterday. The Twins are 22-40 as a road dog of +125 to +150 and they've gone an ugly 10-25 in road games with a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs. Even though Minnesota was off yesterday, they are 14-28 when playing with a day off. The Twins have been an early season surprise but the Tigers are 26-12 in the last 38 meetings between these teams. Also, we're getting solid line value here in this price range when you consider that no team had fewer road wins (29) than Minny last season. 8* DETROIT on the money line early Tuesday afternoon

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach MLB Monday 10* Top Play Philadelphia Phillies Money Line (+) vs New York Mets @ 7:05 ET - The Mets will be the popular choice tonight but are batting just .200 this season with a .325 slugging percentage and that has them ranked as one of the most anemic offenses in the majors so far this season. As for the Phillies, their .480 slugging percentage ranks them 4th among all teams in the league. The Mets will have Jacob deGrom on the mound and he's certainly a solid hurler but prior to throwing a gem at Philly last year, he did allow 6 earned runs in less than 3 innings of work in his prior start at Philadelphia the prior year. Also, the Phillies Jerad Eickhoff has proven to be a solid starter in his own right. The Phils right-hander has a 2.66 ERA and 1.00 WHIP in the starts he has made against the Mets in his career. Also, he held them to a total of just 5 earned runs in the 19 innings spanning his 3 starts against New York last season. With the Phillies having the home field edge and the better bats so far this season, this is great home dog value being offered. The Phils also have the advantage of playing yesterday afternoon at home against the Nationals while the Mets were doing battle with the Marlins in New York in yesterday's lone night game. The Mets did get the win but they haven't won back to back games all season. The Phillies are loaded with confidence after knocking off Strasburg and the Nats yesterday and winning the prior game 17-3 over Washington. This looks like another good spot for the undervalued Phillies. 10* Top Play PHILADELPHIA

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Monday 8* OVER the total in San Francisco Giants vs Arizona Diamondbacks @ 4:35 ET - This is another match-up where the hitters have the advantage of having just faced these hurlers last week. The Giants Matt Moore gave up 6 runs (3 earned) on 8 hits in just 5 and 1/3 innings of work Wednesday. He was matched up with the Diamondbacks Taijuan Walker in that game and he allowed 4 earned runs on 7 hits in 6 innings in that start. The Giants did get their sticks going again with some big hits in yesterday's 5-3 win at San Diego. San Francisco's bats had been a little quiet, prior to that, in the series with the Padres. However, the Giants are now facing a Dbacks team they crushed for 19 runs on 36 hits in the first 3 games of the 4-game set at Arizona to open up the season. All 4 of those game went over the total and, on the season, San Francisco is 6-1 to the over and Arizona is now 5-1-1 to the over after a low-scoring win over the Indians yesterday. Today I expect the Diamondbacks to again hit Moore hard again. Also, behind the Giants left-hander is a SF bullpen that has been hit at a .302 clip this season and is 0-2 with a 6.48 ERA so far. The Diamondbacks .504 slugging percentage leads the majors thusfar and the Giants .443 slugging percentage has them at #7 out of all 30 teams. Even though AT & T Park is not a hitter friendly park, the wind will be blowing out today and the ball does carry better in day games compared to night games on the West Coast. The over is 50-32 in Dbacks games against left-handed starters and also 25-11 in Monday games! Look for another one here as these teams continue to pound each other like they did in Arizona. 8* OVER the total in San Francisco

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Monday 8* OVER the total in New York Yankees vs Tampa Bay Rays @ 1:05 ET - Both teams are off of wins and are off of games that went over the total on Sunday. Yankees games have now gone over the total in 3 straight and the Rays have now won 3 straight games and averaged scoring 6.7 runs per game in the process. The point is that you have two very confident lineups stepping into the batters box on Monday afternoon. Also, the weather will be favorable for an over on an mild afternoon with a south wind likely blowing out toward left field. Since these teams just faced each other down in Tampa, both lineups are getting a quick second look at the pitchers they'll face today. Alex Cobb of the Rays and Michael Pineda of the Yankees just squared off on Wednesday. Cobb had a decent start that day but the last time he faced the Yanks twice in the same month he got ripped for 7 earned runs on 9 hits in just 1 and 1/3 innings of work. Also, in his last start at New York, Cobb allowed 4 runs (3 earned) on 9 hits in 6 innings of work. The TB righty gave up 2 homers that day too so the damage easily could have been worse. The Yankees Pineda struggled with the Rays Wednesday and has now given up 19 hits in the less than 14 innings of work spanning his last 3 starts against Tampa Bay. The over is 9-4 in Pineda's 13 starts versus the Rays in his career. Look for the over to improve to 4-0 in Yankees day games (and 3-0 in Rays day games) this season as the Yankees home opener flies over the total. The over is 20-10 in Tampa Bay's Monday games the past 2+ seasons and I expect another one here given the situation and the pitching match-up. 8* OVER the total in New York Yankees

ESPN Smash Pass - Rickenbach MLB Sunday 8* UNDER the total in New York Mets vs Miami Marlins @ 8 ET - This total opened up at a 6.5 and then crept up toward 7.5 before seeming to settle in at 7. Having the under at plus money is a big value here because these two starting pitchers are both capable of shutting down the opposition. Noah Syndergaard gave the Mets 6 scoreless innings against the Braves in his first start this season. The righty has a stellar 1.80 ERA and 1.00 WHIP in his 3 career starts against the Marlins. Miami will have Edinson Volquez on the mound for this one and he gave the Marlins 5 scoreless innings against the Nationals in his first start this season. The Mets are hitting just .192 this season and have been held to 2 runs or less in 3 of their last 4 games. Volquez has held the Mets to just 1 earned run on only 4 hits in 12 innings of work spanning his last two starts against them. That said, look for the Mets struggles at the plate to continue here. As for the Marlins, though they have hit well this season, Syndergaard is a very tough hurler and he can shut them down here. Look for the under to improve to 3-0 in Mets home games with a posted total of 7 or less this season. Also, New York is 68-41 to the under long-term when they are a home fave in a price range of -175 to -200. Look for a tight, low-scoring pitchers duel in this one. 8* UNDER the total in New York Mets

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

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach MLB Saturday 8* Kansas City Royals Money Line (+) @ Houston Astros @ 7:10 ET - Apparently the Royals don't even need to show up at the ball park today. They don't have a chance according to the betting markets. The money line on this game opened up in the -150 range on the Astros and is now up in the -200 range! Like I said, should KC even bother showing up? Of course I am being sarcastic here but the fact is I see tremendous line value here with the Royals as a huge dog. Danny Duffy had a great first start this season. That was against a Twins team that is still undefeated on the year. Also, though the Royals early season bullpen numbers have been bad they did a great job yesterday and definitely outperformed Houston's pen. That said, sometimes it takes only one win to turn a team's fortunes around and KC got into the win column yesterday and there is no reason for Dallas Keuchel to be this big of a favorite in this match-up. Last season when he faced the Royals he allowed "only" 4 earned runs in 6 innings but Kansas City pounded him for 11 hits! In fact they've now had double digits in hits in 2 of their last 3 meetings with the Houston southpaw. As for Duffy against the Astros, he has an edge in that they haven't faced him since 2015 and in those two starts he gave up only 9 hits in about 13 innings of work. Houston has a losing record (and is down $17,700) in their last 118 games against left-handed starters. The Royals are 107-82 (+$21,900) when off of a win and on a 31-21 run in Saturday games. They are being extremely undervalued here. Grab the road dog. 8* KANSAS CITY

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Saturday 8* OVER the total in Baltimore Orioles vs New York Yankees @ 4:05 ET - Masahiro Tanaka can say what he wants but I believe he is being impacted by the opt-out clause in his contract. He had a horrible opening day start against the Rays and this is lingering in his head as he takes the mound at hitter friendly Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Yesterday's game went over the total and, though the Orioles are 3-0 this season, I don't trust Kevin Gausman enough here to back them. Instead, I feel the value is with the over as Tanaka struggles again and Gausman's location issues continue. He walked 4 in the season opener and he did have some trouble with command in spring training too. Gausman is known for bouts with giving up the home ball too frequently and we could see some taters today. The Yankees have hit 5 in 4 games and the Orioles have hit 5 in 3 games. It will be a mild afternoon at Baltimore and, though the bullpens have excelled for these clubs early this season, the Orioles flirted with trouble yesterday and the Yankees did allow 2 runs in the later innings. With warmer temps and an afternoon game where the starters could have some struggles, too much is likely to be asked of the bullpens today. 8* OVER the total in Baltimore

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

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Friday 8* OVER the total in Colorado Rockies vs Los Angeles Dodgers @ 4:10 ET - Weather is so important in Denver and April can be a strange month. You can certainly have snow storms and very cold conditions in Colorado at this time of year. But you can also have days like today's expected weather conditions that are perfect for baseball and perfect for the hitters. Temperatures will reach up into the 70s with winds, though not strong, blowing out toward center. In the thin air at Coors Field where the ball carries so well, this is the type of game that turns into a slugfest. This is especially true when you consider the starting pitching match-up for today. The Dodgers will have Hyun-Jin Ryu on the mound and the southpaw is trying to return from what has basically been two months worth of injuries. The Rockies will have Kyle Freeland on the mound and the southpaw is certainly thankful for this start as he gets the home opener for the Rockies and he is a Denver native. However, that also puts a ton of pressure on the 23 year old hurler and he's facing Dodgers lineup that has scored 24 runs in their two day games this season. The Rockies offense has been rather quiet their past two games but they are a different team when at home and I look for an explosion this afternoon against Ryu. The over went 23-12 the past two seasons when the Rockies are at home and priced between -100 and -125. Look for more of the same on this mild, hitter-friendly afternoon at Coors Field. 8* OVER the total in Colorado Friday afternoon

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Friday 8* UNDER the total in Pittsburgh Pirates vs Atlanta Braves @ 1:05 ET - Chilly, raw conditions expected in Pittsburgh for this early afternoon start. Even though the wind will be blowing out the air is quite dense on a cold PA afternoon and I don't expect a lot of good contact from the hitters here. Both lineups have struggled early this season and this match-up features a pair of solid hurlers on the mound. Mike Foltynewicz gets the start for the Braves and he went 4-0 with a 1.97 ERA in his 5 day game starts last season. He is coming off of a solid spring training as is Ivan Nova. The Pirates right-hander seems rejuvenated since coming over to Pittsburgh during the season last year. Nova went 3-1 with a 2.45 ERA in his 6 home starts with the Pirates and threw 3 complete games. The Braves have scored only 5 runs in their first 3 games this season and the Bucs have scored only 3 runs in their first 2 games this season. Look for a pitchers duel on a very blustery afternoon at PNC Park. 8* UNDER the total in Pittsburgh early Friday afternoon

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

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Thursday 8* OVER 7.5 runs in St Louis Cardinals vs Chicago Cubs @ 1:45 ET - This is a make-up game after yesterday's rain-out and the wind will be blowing out toward right field on a dry afternoon in St Louis. The ball is known for carrying better in day games at Busch Stadium and we are getting a low total here considering the potency of these two line-up. Keep in mind, even though neither of the first two games in this 3-game set have gone over the total, the Cardinals did strand 21 baserunners in those two games and, so certainly, more runs could have been scored. As for the Cubs, I look for their sticks to come alive against Lance Lynn this afternoon. The Cards right-hander is making his first start since 2015 and, in that year, he faced the Cubs 3 times and the results were not good. Lynn allowed 14 earned runs in less than 12 innings of work! As for John Lackey, I certainly respect the veteran hurler but he has been known for slow starts in recent season with sub-par Aprils. That said, after lackluster spring training numbers (just like last year) I look for Lackey to likely have a bit of sub-par April (just like last year). In the Cubs last 44 April games, only 16 have stayed under the total. Look for the ball to carry quite well at Busch this afternoon. 8* OVER the total in St Louis Thursday afternoon.

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Thursday 8* Kansas City Royals Money Line (+) @ Minnesota Twins @ 1:10 ET - After getting trounced by a combined score of 16-2 in the first two games of this series, I look for the Royals to respond in a big way today. Keep in mind the Twins have only had 8 hits in each games so it is not as if Minnesota is knocking the cover off of the ball right now. What I really like here is the pitching edge. I know the Twins Kyle Gibson looked good in spring training but one always has to be careful when looking at spring training stats. Also, the Royals Jason Hammel's numbers were impacted by one 6-run inning. Hammel actually pitched quite well in spring. That said, the big key here is that the Royals have seen plenty of Gibson lately. KC faced him 3 times in August and September of last season and they hammered him for 14 runs (13 earned) on 27 hits in 17 and 2/3 innings! As for the Twins and facing Hammel, Minnesota hasn't faced him since 2014 and, in that start, he held them to just 1 earned run in 6 and 1/3 innings. The Royals had dominated the Twins (even at Minny) in recent seasons and I don't see them getting swept here, especially with the pitching edge this afternoon. Keep in mind, every team in the majors won at least 68 games last season except Minnesota who won just 59 games! The Royals have dropped off from two seasons ago but they haven't fallen this far. I'll grab them as the dog here! 8* KANSAS CITY on the money line early Thursday afternoon.

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

Rickenbach MLB Wednesday 8* Pittsburgh Pirates Run Line +1.5 runs (-) @ Boston Red Sox @ 7:10 ET - The Red Sox are priced very high here considering the Pirates arguably may have the better hurler on the mound in this one. Now certainly I still respect Boston, especially at home, and would not be surprised to see them tough out a one run win here. However, that is why I am laying a small price to have the Pirates at +1.5 runs here on the run line. Pittsburgh is a stellar 40-25 on the money line against left-handed starters the past two seasons combined. Of course some of those losses have come by a single run too so you can see the extra line value here with the run line. I know Chris Sale has fantastic long-term numbers but this is still a guy who had a 4.85 ERA in July last year, went 1-3 in August, then had a combined 4.39 ERA in September and October to wrap up last season. The point is that he is being given a little too much respect here. This is especially true when you consider that Jameson Taillon got stronger as the season went on last year in his rookie campaign. Sale will feel the pressure in his Red Sox debut while Taillon continues his strong run in a carry-over from last year's post-All Star break success. Boston is only 18-17 when playing with a day off the past two seasons while the Pirates are 25-15 and they'll be ready to respond after the 5-3 loss Monday. Grab that extra +1.5 in this one. 8* PITTSBURGH Run Line +1.5 runs

Rickenbach MLB Wednesday 8* Miami Marlins (+) @ Washington Nationals @ 7:05 ET - Formerly with the Reds, Daniel Straily led Cincinnati to a 2-0 in his 2 starts against Washington last season. Not only that, the right-hander has pitched even better than his 3.21 ERA versus the Nationals indicates. The Nats only have managed 4 hits in 14 innings against the Miami right-hander. By comparison, the Nationals Tanner Roark is only 4-7 in his career starts versus the Fish. The Nats right-hander is coming off of a breakout season but his ERA in night games was more than 2 runs higher than in day games last season. Roark is only 10-14 in night games the past 2 seasons combined. Straily caught stride after the All Star break last season and went 10-2 with a 3.10 ERA after the mid-summer classic last season. Look for the Marlins to respond with Straily on the hill tonight after they lost the opener 4-2 Monday. Miami is 28-22 (plus 6 units) the L3 seasons when playing with a day off while Washington went 6-9 (down 7 units!) when playing with a day off last season. There is tremendous line value here with a Marlins team that won nearly half their road games last season, has a pitcher on a 10-2 run on the mound, and is coming off of an off day that followed a season-opening loss. Big response from the Fish here. 8* MIAMI MARLINS money line

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach MLB Tuesday 8* Texas Rangers Money Line (+) vs Cleveland Indians @ 8:05 ET - The Rangers blew a big lead and then lost their home opener in the top of the 9th yesterday. Look for them to bounce back here. Carlos Carrasco gets the start for the Indians and is getting a lot of respect here considering he didn't get a lot of work in spring training and that his last two starts at Texas have been disasters. Carrasco has given up 12 runs (8 earned) in 12 innings in his last two road starts against the Rangers. Also, the Indians right-hander is facing a Texas team that is 64-48 (+$26,100) in games with a total posted at 8 or 8.5 runs. The Cleveland line has risen considerably (from -125 yesterday to -160 this afternoon) and this has opened up great home dog value. The Rangers will have southpaw Martin Perez on the mound and he is 11-4 at home the past two seasons. Last season the left-hander had a 3.24 ERA in home games and he'll be looking to make up for one of his few ugly home outings last season which came against the Indians on August 26th. He used that tough start as motivation and went on to allow just 6 earned runs in his next 4 outings and all 4 were quality starts. Now he gets his chance at payback and so do the Rangers (after what happened yesterday). Look for the home dog to get the job done here. 8* TEXAS on the money line

Total Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Tuesday 8* OVER 8 in Milwaukee Brewers vs Colorado Rockies @ 7:40 ET - The very first total that was posted on this game was a 9 and now it's all the way down to an 8 plus the over is available at plus money. I won't hesitate to step in and grab the value here. Tyler Anderson did have a good start at Milwaukee last season but good starts away from home were rare for the southpaw. Anderson went 0-4 with a 4.71 ERA in his 7 road starts last season. Also, the left-hander had an ERA nearly 2 full runs higher in night games compared to day games last season. Anderson struggles much more against right-handed hitters (.281 BAA) than left-handed sticks and he'll see plenty of right-handed lumber in this one. Though the Brewers didn't hit well yesterday they did get some key extra base hits and they'll do better the 2nd time around against Anderson who finished up last season giving up 27 hits in less than 18 innings of work over his last 3 starts. The Rockies had a big day at the plate yesterday and should enjoy success against Zach Davies. The Brewers right-hander went 0-3 with an 8.78 ERA in his 3 April starts last season and I look for him to again struggle early this season. The Rockies saw him in the same game where they threw Anderson at Milwaukee last season and they'll enjoy better success in their 2nd look at him. Colorado has plenty of confidence at the plate after a big day yesterday. More of the same today. 8* OVER the total in Milwaukee

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

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Monday 8* Toronto Blue Jays Money Line (+) @ Baltimore Orioles @ 3:05 ET - Even though closer Roberto Osuna is currently on the disabled list for the Blue Jays, we saw with yesterday's games how crazy some of the end game results can be no matter who your closer is. The point is that I trust the other Jays relievers to come in and do a good job behind Marco Estrada and, as we saw yesterday, just because the Orioles have Zach Britton as their closer, nothing is guaranteed in baseball and Britton is unlikely to even been need in this game. The key reason I like this match-up is the big edge that Toronto has in terms of the starting pitching match-up. The Jays Estrada has allowed only 13 hits in his last 19 innings against the Orioles and Toronto has won 6 of his 8 starts against the O's. The Orioles Kevin Gausman, unlike Estrada, struggled late last season, and he has also struggled against the Jays. Baltimore has lost 4 of his 7 starts against Toronto and Gausman has given up 14 runs (12 earned) on 21 hits and 7 walks in his last 15 and 1/3 innings against the Blue Jays. Estrada goes deeper and has been the better pitcher in comparing these two guys and the way they wrapped up last season. Also, will the loss of Orioles catcher Matt Wieters have an impacted on the staff with the Orioles? Sometimes there can be an adjustment phase. The Blue Jays opened as a small fave here and now are the underdog. I'll fade the line move and grab the line value. I like the O's overall for this season but this is not a good match-up for them. 8* TORONTO money line

ESPN Smash Pass - Rickenbach MLB Sunday 8* San Francisco Giants (-) @ Arizona Diamondbacks @ 4:10 ET - The Giants won 9 of 10 games at Arizona last season and their series with the Diamondbacks has been dominated by the road team. The Giants have won 15 of 19 game at Arizona the past two seasons and, overall, the road team has taken 28 of 38 games the past two seasons. Zach Greinke has allowed 7 earned runs on 14 hits in 12 innings while taking the loss in each of his last two home starts against the Giants. Overall, in his last 3 starts against SF, Greinke has only registered 8 strikeouts in 18 innings. This in stark contrast to the numbers Madison Bumgarner has put up against the Dbacks. The Giants ace left-hander has 31 strikeouts in the 22 innings spanning his last 3 starts against Arizona. You can see from these numbers above who is more likely to dominate in this game and Bumgarner has given up just 12 hits in his last 22 innings against the Diamondbacks. San Francisco certainly has the stronger lineup in comparison with the Dbacks and I also like the fact that the Giants took care of their biggest need, at closer, by getting Mark Melcanon. Bumgarner has enjoyed success in recent opening day starts while Greinke truly took a nosedive last season after a huge 2015 season with the Dodgers. The veteran right-hander particularly has struggled at Chase Field where he had a 4.81 ERA and a .275 BAA last season. All signs point to the Giants winning this one in a road rout and the price is a manageable one here so I'll lay it on opening day. 8* SAN FRANCISCO on the money line Sunday afternoon.

Post-Season Game of the Year - Rickenbach MLB Game #902 Wednesday - 10* Top Play Cleveland Indians Money Line (+) vs Chicago Cubs @ 8:05 ET - This is the set-up I wanted for my biggest play of the post-season and, if it didn't happen then it simply didn't happen but here it is and here I am! The Cubs managed to force a Game 7 and they now hand the ball to Kyle Hendricks who certainly has had a great season both in the regular season and in the post-season. However, all 4 of his starts in the playoffs have come at home. In his only post-season road start last year he allowed 3 homers. In his most recent regular season road start he got rocked for 4 earned runs by the Reds on October 2nd. Overall on the season, Hendricks was only 7-6 on the road with an ERA that was 1.63 runs higher away from home in comparison with his starts at Wrigley Field. The Indians have a big edge here in Game 7 as they hand the ball to their ace and plus they have the home field edge. Corey Kluber gets the start and the Indians are 13-1 in his last 14 home starts! He has not allowed an earned run in his 3 post-season starts at home in these playoffs and that is a stretch of 19 and 1/3 scoreless innings! Overall, Kluber has a 13-2 record since the All Star break and he is fully capable of shutting down the Cubs at Progressive Field tonight. He's already proven in this series that he can shut down the Cubbies on short rest and I expect him to do it again here. Look for the Indians to improve to 16-2 in Kluber's last 18 starts as the Cubs "curse" continues. It's been a great rally for Chicago to tie this series up but the Indians have the big pitching edge plus home field for the all important Game 7 Wednesday. 10* CLEVELAND INDIANS money line Wednesday

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

Run Line Rout - Rickenbach MLB Game #906 Sunday - Chicago Cubs Run Line -1.5 runs vs Cleveland Indians @ 8:05 ET - The Cubs are now down 3-1 in this series and fighting hard to send it back to Cleveland for Game 6 Tuesday. The key here is the pitching match-up. Though Jon Lester didn't have one of his best games on Tuesday at Progressive Field, he still pitched decently. The key now is that he's back at Wrigley Field where the Cubs are 15-2 in his starts this year and where the southpaw has compiled a 1.61 ERA and a 0.89 WHIP. As for the Indians Trevor Bauer, the damage could have been much worse than it ended up being in his start versus the Cubs Wednesday. As it stands he is still the only Indians pitcher to lose to the Cubs in this series but, even more concerning than that when it comes to this match-up, Bauer allowed 6 hits and walked 2 in less than 4 innings of work. He is fortunate that he only gave up 2 earned runs in the game and I expect him to get pounded now on the road. The Indians have a losing record in road games that Bauer has started this season. We lay the run line here because I don't lay big juice (money line is huge on this game) but also note that the last 6 times the Indians have lost with Bauer on the mound, all defeats have come by a margin of at least 4 runs. 20 of the Cubs 27 wins with Lester on the mound have come by a margin of at least 2 runs. This one has the makings of a blowout. 8* CUBS Run Line -1.5 runs

Situational Smash - Rickenbach MLB Game #904 Saturday - 8* Chicago Cubs Money Line (-) vs Cleveland Indians @ 8:05 ET - The Indians may have gone to the well one too many times with Corey Kluber. With a 2-1 series lead I would have given him one more day of rest and pitched him in Game 5 knowing that you still have Games 6 and 7 at home. However, it's hard to second guess manager Terry Francona's decision-making as all has worked out well for him so far. I think that comes to an end here. The Cubs have only lost back to back games one time in the past 6 weeks. Off of that 1-0 shutout loss last night, I expect a big response tonight. The Cubs just saw Kluber on Tuesday. A quick second look will help. As for the Indians and facing John Lackey, I expect Cleveland to struggle at the plate. The hitters who have the most experience against him in this Indians lineup are also the ones who have had the least success against him. Also, Lackey is the ultimate fiery competitor and I expect the veteran to come up with a huge effort in a must-win spot for the Cubs. He can handle the pressure, has been tough to hit this season, and will take advantage of the home mound and the wind blowing in on a chilly night at Wrigley Field. The Cubs are 7-2 this season after a shutout loss. The Indians are 5-11 this season as a road dog of +100 to +125. Look for the Cubs to even this series up. 8* CHICAGO CUBS money line Saturday

Game 3 Contrarian - Rickenbach MLB Game #901/902 Friday - 8* UNDER 8.5 in Chicago Cubs vs Cleveland Indians @ 8:05 ET - This total has risen from a 7.5 to an 8.5 for Friday's Game 3 and I completely understand the move. Of course understanding the move doesn't mean I agree with it and this is a classic case of getting extra line value because of a false move. Certainly the move makes sense from the standpoint of the weather expected at Wrigley Field this evening. The weather will be mild (by late October standards) and the wind will be blowing out at a decent clip. Normally that leads to an over at Wrigley Field but the key is making solid contact. Balls have to be hit well to carry out of a ball park no matter what the weather conditions are. In this case, I don't expect a lot of solid contact. Not only is Kyle Hendricks 10-3 with a 1.31 ERA in his home starts this season, the Indians have never faced him. Not only is Josh Tomlin 3-0 with a 2.50 ERA and 0.89 WHIP in his last three starts, the Cubs have never faced him. Both pitchers are currently in top form and both lineups will be at a huge disadvantage here having not faced these hurlers. On top of that, both bullpens are rested after yesterday's off day and both bullpens have been rock solid in this post-season. The under is 11-5-1 in Hendricks 17 home starts this season. The under is 7-0 in Tomlin's last 7 starts. Also, the under is on a 13-2 run in Cleveland's October games. The under is on a 38-19 run in Cubs inter-league games the past three seasons combined. Look for another pitchers duel tonight as the hitters struggle to get good wood on the ball. 8* UNDER 8.5 in Chicago

Rickenbach MLB Game #953 Wednesday - 8* Chicago Cubs Money Line (-) @ Cleveland Indians @ 7:05 ET - While the Cubs may seem a little "pricey" here at -150 it is absolutely justified given the edges here. Not only is this play strong from a situational standpoint, with Chicago off of a 6-0 loss in Game One yesterday, but also the pitching advantage is big here in comparing these two starting pitchers. Trevor Bauer continues to have issues with a blister on his pitching hand and that forced him out of his last start before he could even complete one inning. Prior to that, Bauer had not been overly sharp in his last six starts. In other words, this is not just a short-term issue for the Indians right-hander. In his 6 starts prior to the outing that didn't even last a full inning, Bauer compiled an ugly 7.08 ERA. As for Jake Arrieta of the Cubs, he has not been quite as dominant as he was earlier this season but, prior to allowing 4 earned runs to the Dodgers last Tuesday, Arrieta had given up 3 earned runs or less in 5 of his last 6 starts. Also, in road outings, Arrieta has allowed 3 earned runs or less in 4 of his last 5 starts away from home. I expect another big one from him here and the Cubs don't often lose back to back games. In fact, since the All Star break, it only happened 6 times. That is a period of 3.5 months and only 6 times did the Cubs follow up a loss with another loss. Look for the Cubs to respond here and the price in the -150 range certainly still makes this a manageable line. 8* CHICAGO CUBS money line Wednesday

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

Blowout Smash - Rickenbach MLB Game #909 Saturday - 8* Los Angeles Dodgers Money Line -130 @ Chicago Cubs @ 8:05 ET - Kyle Hendricks gets the start for the Cubs and he led the league in ERA. However, he has averaged only 4 and 2/3 innings per start in his last 3 outings. Also, his ERA during this stretch is an unimpressive 4.50 and he walked 4 Dodgers in his start against them earlier this week. He was matched up with LA ace left-handed Clayton Kershaw in that one and he faces him again in this one. I again look for Kershaw to outduel Hendricks in this match-up. Kershaw has led the Dodgers to 16 wins in his last 19 starts. He has struck out 24 in less than 19 innings spanning his last 3 starts. Against the Cubs he has fanned 29 in his 22 innings spanning his last 3 starts against them. Kershaw is 6-3 with a 1.93 ERA in his 9 career starts against the Cubs while Hendricks is only 2-2 against the Dodgers in his career and the LA lineup is built to give right-handed pitchers a lot of trouble. In a game that is expected to be tight and low-scoring, I'll take the Dodgers with Kershaw. Los Angeles is 30-14 this season in games with a posted total of 7 runs or less. The Cubs are a mediocre 17-13 in games with a total set at 7 runs or less by the odds makers this season. Also, when Hendricks is on the mound and the game is decided by a single run, the Cubs are 2-4 this season. When Hendricks is on the mound and the Cubs are an underdog, they have gone 0-4 in his starts this season. More of the same Saturday as the Dodgers force an "anything can happen" Game 7 for tomorrow. 8* LA DODGERS money line

Top Side - Rickenbach MLB Game #906 Thursday - 10* Top Play Los Angeles Dodgers Run Line +1.5 runs vs Chicago Cubs @ 8:05 ET - Even though Kenta Maeda did not impress against the Cubs on Saturday, he did allow only 4 hits in his 4 innings of work and I am expecting much bigger things from him now that he is back home in the pitcher-friendly confines of Dodger Stadium. Maeda, even with the sub-par start Saturday, is 14-8 in night games and opponents are hitting only .217 against him under the lights. Also, Maeda has compiled a solid 3.22 ERA in home games this season. Interestingly, Maeda's start against the Cubs on Saturday was the first time he had ever faced the Cubs. He struggled some on the first pass through the lineup but after that the Cubs went 0 for 8 against him. That certainly could be a sign of things to come for Maeda in his next start against Chicago especially since he now faces them at home. Jon Lester gets the start for the Cubs tonight and he was tough on the Dodgers Saturday but now faces them at LA. Lester did allow 5 earned runs in 5 innings in his most recent road start and, overall, was not as dominant on the road as he was at home this season. Look for the Dodgers sticks to bounce back after being on the wrong end of last night's 10-2 final. Though it would not surprise me to see the Dodgers win tonight's game outright I do feel that there is great line value with laying a small price to have them at +1.5 runs. 6 of the Dodgers last 16 games have been one-run games and, in what could very likely be a tight, lower-scoring game, I'll grab the +1.5 runs with Los Angeles. 10* DODGERS on the RUN LINE Thursday evening

Top Blowout - Rickenbach MLB Game #901 Wednesday - 10* Top Play Chicago Cubs Money Line (+) @ Los Angeles Dodgers @ 8:05 ET - It is not just the fact that the Dodgers 20-year old Julio Urias will be the youngest pitcher to ever start an MLB post-season game, it is the fact that he has not pitched very much at all over the past few weeks and the fact that the Cubs have a number of hitters who have enjoyed success against him. Urias will be matched up with the Dodgers John Lackey and he is the polar opposite of Urias. Lackey is a veteran hurler with a wealth of experience and there are very few Dodgers hitters who will be in the lineup tonight that have enjoyed success against him. Lackey is a gritty, hard-nosed pitcher who is generally at his best in games like this. The Cubs are down 2-1 in this series, have dropped two straight games, and are desperate for a win. Look for Lackey to be at his best. The Cubs are 8-2 in Lackey's last 10 starts and he has allowed 2 earned runs or less in 7 of those 10 outings. As for Urias, over the past 7 weeks he has made just 2 starts and 2 relief appearances. It is unlikely he will be as sharp as he should be and he certainly is likely to be impacted by nerves for this all-important post-season start. Righties hit .284 against southpaw Urias this season and the Cubs are stacked with dangerous right-handed hitters. The Cubs are on a 32-17 run in road games where their money line is between -100 and -125. The Dodgers are on a 13-20 run in home games with a money line that is between -100 and -125. With this line in the pick'em price range, the Cubs with the veteran hurler over the 20-year old is a situation I won't pass up. 10* CHICAGO CUBS money line Wednesday evening

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

Top Blowout - Rickenbach MLB Game #954 Tuesday - 10* Top Play Los Angeles Dodgers Money Line (+) vs Chicago Cubs @ 8:05 ET - Rich Hill of the Dodgers has a big edge in this game in my opinion. Not only does the southpaw finally get to make a post-season start in pitcher-friendly Dodger Stadium, Hill gets to face a Cubs team that has never faced him before. That is a huge edge for the left-hander who has struck out 13 batters in his 7 post-season innings thus far. He'll be opposed by Jake Arrieta and the Cubs right-hander no-hit the Dodgers in a start last season and had another great start against them this season. However, Arrieta comes into this start having allowed 12 earned runs on 20 hits in the 16 and 1/3 innings spanning his last three road starts. The Cubs right-hander has only struck out 12 in those 3 starts and the Dodgers lineup is much stronger against righties than lefties. In what is forecast to be a tight low-scoring game, it certainly is noteworthy that the Cubs are an ugly 4-7 this season in road games with a posted total of 7 runs or less. The total currently is sitting at a 6.5 on this game and the Dodgers are a fantastic 17-6 in home games with a posted total of 7 runs or less. The Cubs have lost 12 of the last 22 games that Arrieta has started and Hill was drafted by the Cubs in 2002 so you know he is relishing this opportunity and I expect him to make the most of it. 10* LOS ANGELES DODGERS money line Tuesday evening

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Game #955/956 Tuesday - 8* OVER in Toronto Blue Jays vs Cleveland Indians @ 4:05 ET - This total opened up at an 8 and quickly dropped to a 7.5 which certainly is not surprising when considering that each of the first three games in this series have stayed under the total. However, on Tuesday, the Indians Corey Kluber will be pitching on short rest as he just faced Toronto on Friday. Though he pitched well in that start the outing was at home and, not only are the Blue Jays getting a quick "second look" at him, Kluber got hammered for 5 earned runs in 3 and 1/3 innings in his most recent visit to Toronto in July. The Jays will have Aaron Sanchez on the mound and he's pitching with too much rest. He's been off since the 9th. That start against Texas saw him allow 6 earned runs in less than 6 innings of work and Sanchez had some issues with command of his pitches. Now pitching with over a week off between starts, the issues with command are not likely to improve. Also, Sanchez had a higher ERA at home than on the road this season and Kluber had a higher ERA on the road compared to at home this season. The over is 7-3 in Kluber's last 10 road starts and Sanchez has allowed 6 earned runs in 2 of his last 3 home starts and is feeling the pressure here of a 3-0 series deficit for he and his teammates. 8* OVER in Toronto Tuesday afternoon

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

NLDS Crusher - Rickenbach MLB Game #907 Sunday - 8* Los Angeles Dodgers Money Line (-) @ Chicago Cubs @ 8:05 ET - Though Clayton Kershaw was called upon to close out the Nationals (came out of the bullpen) Wednesday, that would be similar to him getting some work in between starts. In other words, it's not a big deal and now the ace left-hander is making this start one what is essentially normal rest as his last start was on the 11th. The Dodgers are 19-4 in his starts this season and Kershaw has a 1.96 ERA and ridiculous 0.76 WHIP on the season! He's been phenomenal and the southpaw has 32 strikeouts in his last 20 innings against the Cubs. Look for plenty of swings and misses again today as he's fully capable of dominating even the toughest of lineups. As for the Cubs, they'll have Kyle Hendricks on the mound and he has allowed 6 earned runs in less than 9 innings of work spanning his last two starts. Hendricks also has given up 17 hits in less than 15 innings spanning his last three starts. Also, his strikeouts are way down with just 9 in his last three starts. To put that in perspective in terms of comparison with Kershaw, the Dodgers lefty has struck out 18 in less than 12 innings of work in his two post-season starts. LA is a tough team against right-handed starters and they'll have a big night after struggling with southpaw Jon Lester last night. 8* LOS ANGELES DODGERS money line Sunday evening

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

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Game #905/906 Saturday - 8* OVER in Cleveland Indians vs Toronto Blue Jays @ 4:05 ET - The wind will be blowing out at Progressive Field on Saturday afternoon and that strong south wind is bring in milder than normal temperatures for a mid-October day in Cleveland. The hitters will take advantage. I had the under in yesterday's game as I mentioned the layoff for the batters between games would have an impact on the sticks and plus there were two strong hurlers on the mound for that one. That game finished as a 2-0 pitchers duel as expected but much different results are expected today. The Indians will have Josh Tomlin on the mound and he has given up 4 homers among 16 hits in just 10 and 1/3 innings spanning his last two starts against the Blue Jays. Toronto got to him for 6 earned runs in their most recent shot at him in late August. As for the Jays pitcher, J.A. Happ, he allowed 4 earned runs in 2 and 1/3 innings in his most recent start ta Cleveland. Also, even though the Blue Jays southpaw allowed only one earned run in his most recent start (at Texas about a week ago), Happ did give up 9 hits in only 5 innings. He won't be fooling many hitters this afternoon either. The over is 8-5 in Blue Jays playoff games. Also, the over is 23-11 in Indians home games with a posted total of 8 or 8.5 runs this season. 8* OVER in Cleveland Saturday afternoon

ALCS Total Annihilation Friday - Rickenbach MLB Game #901/902 - 8* UNDER in Cleveland Indians vs Toronto Blue Jays @ 8:05 ET - With both of these teams off of sweeps in their respective ALDS match-ups, each club has been off since Sunday/Monday. The layoff doesn't help bats. If you look at what happened after the All-Star break this season (and it's happened a lot in the past too) there are a lot of unders that follow a "break" in the action. The hitters tend to lose their timing a bit and it gives an added edge to the pitchers. That is what I am fully expecting here on a chilly night in Cleveland with the air being fairly dense, two solid rested bullpens, and a pair of starters who are in top form. Add it all up and you have the makings of a tight low-scoring ball game at Progressive Field tonight. The Indians will have Corey Kluber on the mound and he is 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA in his last three starts. Cleveland is 12-5 in his home starts this season and he has a solid 3.05 ERA in those outings. The Blue Jays will have Marco Estrada on the mound and he is also undefeated in his last three starts while compiling a stellar 1.33 ERA. He is 7-2 in road starts this season and has compiled a solid 3.19 ERA away from home. The under is 3-1 in Estrada's last 4 starts and also 3-1 in Kluber's last 4 home starts. As a road dog of +100 to +150 this season, Toronto has gone 7-19 to the under! The Blue Jays are also on a 36-15 run to the under in their games against teams with a winning record. The Indians have gone over the total just once in their five October games. More of the same in Game One of the ALCS. 8* UNDER in Cleveland Friday

Thursday Eliminator - Rickenbach MLB Game #961 - 8* Los Angeles Dodgers Money Line (+) @ Washington Nationals @ 8:05 ET - Tremendous line value here with the Dodgers. While it is true that the Nationals have their "ace" on the hill tonight, it is also true that Max Scherzer has given up 9 earned runs the 11 innings spanning his last two starts. That includes his loss Friday to the Dodgers which was his 2nd straight start allowing a pair of homers. The Dodgers will have Rich Hill on the mound and, though the southpaw labored at times in his start against the Nats Saturday, he also recorded 7 of his 13 outs via strikeouts. Even though he took the loss in that outing, Hill is still 8-2 on the road this season with a fantastic 2.31 ERA and 0.95 WHIP. The left-hander has struck out 84 in his 66 and 1/3 innings of work on the road this season. The Dodgers thrive in games that are projected to be lower-scoring match-ups. This season, in games with a posted total of 7 runs or less, the Dodgers have gone 27-12 on the year! The underdog value here is too good to pass up and Los Angeles has already won 7 of the 10 meetings between these teams this year. 8* LOS ANGELES DODGERS money line Thursday

Money Line Smash Tuesday - Rickenbach MLB 8* San Francisco Giants Money Line +115 vs Chicago Cubs @ 8:35 ET - When you have Jake Arrieta on the mound and, on top of his solid pitching, he hits a three run homer for you, you're supposed to win a game like that. The Cubs had a chance to close out the Giants last night and then even if after blowing the 3 run lead they gave themselves a 2nd chance with a 9th inning rally getting the 2 runs they needed to tie the game at 5 and force extra innings. However, the Cubs went on to lose in 13 innings even after stealing the momentum in the game twice. That doesn't bode well for the Cubs as the Giants have a full head of steam heading into Tuesday's "win or stay home" game. San Francisco's key win last night sets them up well here as the Cubs and manager Joe Maddon have to be questioning some of the mistakes he made in last night's game. Now they have to deal with a tough southpaw (Matt Moore) whom they've never faced. That gives the Giants lefty a nice edge here and he has allowed a TOTAL of earned runs in his last 4 home starts! Moore is very confident at home and he should get plenty of run support here as John Lackey is a gritty veteran but his recent numbers have been helped by the fact that 7 of his last 9 starts have been at home. Note that in his last 6 road starts he has given up 20 earned runs in 33 and 2/3 innings. That equates to a 5.35 ERA and Lackey is facing a Giants team that has won 8 of their last 12 games and averaged 7 runs per game in those 8 victories! I see great line value here with the home underdog. 8* SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS Money Line Tuesday

Run Line Rout Tuesday - Rickenbach MLB 8* Los Angeles Dodgers -1.5 runs -105 vs Washington Nationals @ 5:05 ET - Yes, Clayton Kershaw is on short rest and yes he was not overly sharp against the Nationals in Game One of this series. However, he has a history of performing well on short rest and the ace left-hander has also been dominant in home starts! It will be a big difference for him pitching tonight at Dodger Stadium where, since May 1st his numbers are nearly unbelievable. Kershaw, in 61 innings spanning 8 home starts has allowed a TOTAL OF 2 RUNS! This equates to an unheard of 0.30 ERA in his last 8 outings at Dodger Stadium. That said, the Nationals Joe Ross is unlikely to be able to match-up well in this one. Ross has a 5.73 ERA in his two career outings against the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Also, his last three starts have totaled only 9 and 2/3 innings and he has given up 14 hits in those outings. This one should be a blowout home win for the Dodgers and this is a short price to lay needing LA to simply win by a margin of at least 2 runs. 8* LA DODGERS Run Line -1.5

DS Game of the Year - Rickenbach MLB Game #904 - 10* Top Play San Francisco Giants Money Line (-) vs Chicago Cubs @ 9:35 PM ET Monday - Madison Bumgarner did it again with his dominating effort against the Mets in the Wild Card game Wednesday that allowed the Giants to reach this point. Yes they are down 2-0 in this series but having Bumgarner on the mound and being back at home could easily be the momentum shift that San Francisco needs as a win tonight forces another game and that one will also be at home. The point is that the Giants certainly know they are not dead yet and I love having Bumgarner over Jake Arrieta and the Cubs at a pick 'em price. The two big keys with his match-ups are Bumgarner's ridiculous long-term post-season numbers dating back to 2014 as well as the fact that Arrieta is not "on top of his game" right now. We've seen Arrieta struggle in particular since mid-August. Dating back to August 18th, Arrieta has allowed at least 3 earned runs in 5 of his last 8 starts and he allowed at least 5 earned runs in 3 of those 5 "tougher" outings. This line has moved some but it is still noteworthy that the Cubs are only 1-7 this season when they are on the road and price from +100 to +125 while the Giants are 11-3 when they are at home with a money line of -100 to -125. Bumgarner has not allowed a single run in his last 23 post-season innings on the mound! Arrieta has allowed 10 earned runs in 10 and 1/3 innings spanning his last two road starts of the season. The home team has won 7 of the 9 match-ups between these teams this year! In road games with a posted total of 7 runs or less the Cubs have gone only 4-6 this season while the Giants are 21-11 in home games with a posted total of 7 runs or less this season. Bumgarner's post-season magic continues tonight. 10* SAN FRANCISCO money line Monday Night

ALDS Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #905 - 8* Cleveland Indians Money Line (+) @ Boston Red Sox @ 6:05 ET Monday - This is a contrarian play but the Red Sox are on the brink of elimination and there is reason to believe the Indians close them out on what will be a chilly, raw early evening game in Boston tonight. The Red Sox will have Clay Buchholz on the mound and he has allowed 9 runs (8 earned) in his 10 innings of work spanning his two starts against the Indians this season. Josh Tomlin gets the start for the Indians and he has faced the Red Sox twice dating back to October of last season and he has held Boston to just 5 earned runs on only 12 hits in 14 solid innings of work. Both pitchers come into this match-up in good current form but Tomlin not only appears to have the match-up edge here, he also has led the Tribe to a 10-5 mark in his 15 road starts this season. As for Buchholz, he is an ugly 2-6 with a 5.88 ERA in home starts this season. Perhaps the biggest stat of all is looking at how these teams have fared in October games the past three seasons! The Indians are a solid 7-1 while the Red Sox are an ugly 0-8. I certainly wouldn't lay a price with Boston when you consider those stats and, the fact is, the Indians have the better pitcher on the mound in this one too. It looks like this is the end of the line for Big Papi (career) and BoSox (season). 8* CLEVELAND money line Monday evening

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

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Game #959 - 10* Los Angeles Dodgers Money Line (-) @ Washington Nationals @ 1:05 ET Sunday - The Dodgers will have southpaw Rich Hill on the mound for this one. He hasn't started against the Nationals since 2009 so this is a big edge for Hill as the Washington lineup does not have a lot of familiarity with him. As for the Nats starter, Tanner Roark, he started against the Dodgers in June so the LA sticks have seen him recently. The Dodgers thrive against right-handed pitching and are 70-47 against righties on the year. The Nationals have not fared well as a small home dog (up to +125) as they are 2-4 this season and 7-13 the last 3 seasons combined. Also, with Friday's home loss the Nats are 1-4 in playoff games in recent seasons and 3-7 long-term. The Dodgers are a stellar 28-16 in day games this season and this one is slated for first pitch at 1 PM Sunday - rescheduled from Saturday afternoon. Hill came over from Oakland late in the season and the fact is that he's been a road warrior all season. The Dodgers left-hander is 8-1 with a 1.89 ERA and 0.89 ERA in road starts this year! 10* LOS ANGELES DODGERS early Sunday afternoon

NLDS Profit Pass - Rickenbach MLB Game #961 - 8* San Francisco Giants Money Line (+) @ Chicago Cubs @ 8:05 ET Saturday - Even though neither team hit well yesterday the Giants did double up the Cubs 6 to 3 but fell short on the scoreboard 1-0. The fact is that the Cubbies bats have been struggling for some time now with only 6.3 hits per game in their last 7 games. The Giants have averaged 10.1 hits per game in their last 8 games and I expect them to bounce back strong after being shutout yesterday. San Francisco had won 5 straight games before yesterday's loss and the Giants haven't lost back to back games since mid-September. The Giants are still 13-6 in playoff games the past three seasons combined while, even with the win yesterday, the Cubs are on a long-term 10-20 run in playoff action. San Francisco is 17-9 in Saturday games while the Cubs are 11-14 in Saturday games this year. The Cubs will have Kyle Hendricks on the mound for this one and he recorded just one strikeout when he faced the Giants this season. Also, his strikeout numbers are down a bit in his last two starts to wrap up the season. Hendricks has lost his last two starts against the Giants and he gave up 4 earned runs in his final start of the regular season. Jeff Samardzija, former Cub, gets the start for San Francisco here. He comes in rolling strong with 20 strikeouts in 13 innings spanning his last two starts and he compiled a 1.37 ERA over his final three starts of the regular season. I see great line value here with the Giants as a big dog as I look for Samardzija to get sweet revenge against his former team as the Cubs recent struggles at the plate continue here. 8* SAN FRANCISCO money line Saturday evening

Rickenbach MLB Game #951 - 8* Los Angeles Dodgers Money Line (-) @ Washington Nationals @ 5:35 ET Friday - Max Scherzer has had a great season. However, one decided factor has loomed large this season and it will prove to be the deciding factor in Game 1 of this NLDS in my opinion. The Nationals right-hander has held right-handed batters to a minuscule .156 batting average this season. However, left-handed hitters have hit 86 points higher with a .242 batting average against Scherzer this season. The Dodgers are loaded with left-handed sticks and have hit .264 against righties this season. That is 2nd in the NL to only Colorado and of course the Rockies have an advantage in that they play their home games in one of the most hitter-friendly stadiums in all of baseball while Dodger Stadium is certainly a pitcher-friendly venue. The key "take-away" here is simply the fact that there is arguably no other lineup in the National League that a pitcher would rather avoid than the Dodgers. They are loaded with solid left-handed lumber! With Clayton Kershaw likely to pitch a gem, he's coming into the post-season very rested this year due to a lower than usual workload, the Dodgers should roll here. Kershaw has had some post-season struggles in the past but he certainly put those to the rest in his most recent post-season. Additionally, the fact his arm is very "live" coming into the playoffs spells troubles for the Nats lineup. Kershaw is an insane 7-0 with a 0.67 ERA in his 7 starts against Washington the past 4 seasons combined. Look for more of the same in this huge post-season outing for the big lefty. 8* LOS ANGELES DODGERS Friday 

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #958 - 8* Texas Rangers Money Line -120 vs Toronto Blue Jays @ 1:05 ET Friday - The Rangers didn't just lose yesterday, they were thoroughly embarrassed. But this series is far from over. Texas is happy they have this chance at quick redemption with an early afternoon game today. There are plenty of angles supporting the Rangers in this spot plus a key about the pitching match-up too. First off, with regard to angles, the loss yesterday was the 3rd straight for Texas but the Rangers are 8-3 this season when they enter a game on a losing streak of 3 games or more. Texas also is 9-5 this season when they are off of a game where they allowed 10 runs or more. The Rangers, as a small home fave of up to -125, have gone 16-6 this season. The Blue Jays will have J.A. Happ on the mound and the lefty walked 5 while striking out just 1 in his most recent start. Also, the Jays southpaw will be opposed by the Rangers Yu Darvish who is a big-time strikeout pitchers and whom Toronto has not faced since 2014. That is a big edge for the right-hander and he has struck out 33 Blue Jays in his last 21 and 2/3 innings against them. Darvish comes into this start in great current form with 3 of his last 4 starts being absolutely dominating and overall he has struck out 38 in his last 24 and 2/3 innings spanning his last 4 outings. Look for the domination to continue Friday as Darvish gives the Rangers a great shot at evening this series up. 8* TEXAS Friday

Rickenbach MLB Game #935 - 8* Boston Red Sox Money Line (-) @ Cleveland Indians @ 8:05 ET Thursday - Boston's Rick Porcello went 11-2 both before the All Star break and after the All-Star break! Amazing consistency but what is even more impressive about what Porcello has done is that he has gotten even stronger as the season has gone one. The Red Sox sinkerballer has compiled a 2.62 ERA since the All-Star break with the opposition hitting just .203 against him! As for the Indians Trevor Bauer it has been an entirely different story as he was solid in the first half of the season but in the latter half of the season he has gone just 5-5 with a 5.36 ERA and opponents hitting .270 against him! Bauer particularly struggled in September as he compiled a 6.75 ERA in his five starts. Bauer also has struggled in his only two outings in his career against the Red Sox with 11 earned runs allowed in 7 and 2/3 innings of work. The past three seasons Porcello went 4-1 with a 1.67 ERA in his 6 starts against the Indians. Porcello faced Cleveland once this season and he allowed just 2 earned runs in 5 and 2/3 innings of work. Though we have to lay a bit of a price here it is well worth it as we have a huge pitching edge in Game 1 of this ALDS match-up! 8* BOSTON RED SOX money line.

Rickenbach MLB Game #933/934 - 8* UNDER in New York Mets vs San Francisco Giants @ 8:05 ET Wednesday - Noah Syndergaard vs Madison Bumgarner has pitchers duel written all over it and I see no reason NOT to get involved here even though this total is only a 6. A 1-0, 2-1, or (at worst) 3-2 game seems to be in the offering here on what will be a cool evening in New York where it is the pitchers with the big edges. Of course Bumgarner had a phenomenal post-season in 2014 while Syndergaard also fared well in his first post-season last year. The Giants were held to 3 runs or less in 6 of their last 7 road games in the regular season. The Mets are a long-term 50-26 to the under in October games. The Giants are on a 23-13 run to the under in their last 36 games against teams with a winning record. The under is 15-8 in San Francisco games when they are on a winning streak of 3 games or more and SF carries a 4-game winning streak into this Wild Card match-up. The under was 6-2 in Syndergaard's starts against NL West opponents this season and the under was also 4-1 in his starts where he was opposed by a southpaw starter. Syndergaard has allowed 2 earned runs or less in 7 of his last 8 starts. Bumgarner's career numbers at New York are ridiculously dominant. After tossing six shutout innings against the Mets in a 6-1 victory earlier this season, the 2014 World Series MVP has allowed a TOTAL of ONLY two earned runs in 29 innings pitched at Citi Field. Bumgarner is 4-0 lifetime at the stadium, with a 0.62 ERA which is the lowest of any pitcher in baseball at Citi Field! The Giants big lefty also has an 18-inning scoreless streak at Citi Field dating back to 2013. A pitchers duel appears imminent and, of course, both bullpens are rested a ready with the layoff since Sunday's regular season finales. 8* UNDER in New York Mets Wednesday evening.

Rickenbach MLB Game #931/932 - 8* OVER in Toronto Blue Jays vs Baltimore Orioles @ 8:05 ET Tuesday - There will be plenty of opportunities for UNDERS as the MLB post-season gets going but this is not only NOT one of them, it is the precise opportunity to go with an OVER! The Orioles are starting Chris Tillman and he had a "weak" finish to the season with 5 runs (4 earned) on 11 hits and 6 walks in the 7 and 1/3 innings spanning his last two starts. The big concern too was not only the 6 walks but also the fact that he struck out only 2 in the 5 and 2/3 innings spanning his most recent start and that was against the Blue Jays. By the way, this is a Toronto team that has given him a lot of trouble throughout his career. Tillman is 5-10 with a 5.18 ERA in the 24 starts he has made against the Blue Jays in his career. There is so much power in BOTH of these lineups that I would not be surprised to see some big homers hit in this game. The Jays are one of the top home run hitting teams in the league while the Orioles are THE top home run hitting team in the majors! Baltimore feasts on right-handed pitching and should enjoy continued success against Marcus Stroman. The Toronto right-hander has seen the Blue Jays lose 4 of the 6 starts he has made against the O's in his career and Stroman has compiled a 5.84 ERA in those outings. Baltimore went 13-8 to the over as a road dog of +125 to +150 this season. Toronto is 6-3-1 to the over in playoff games. Just 3 unders in 10 games. Look for that trend to continue here. 8* OVER in Toronto in Tuesday's AL Wild Card match-up. 

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

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

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Game #967/968 - 8* OVER in New York Yankees vs Baltimore Orioles @ 4:05 ET Saturday - The Orioles are starting Wade Miley who just became a father for the first time. Even without that distraction, the other concern for the Orioles southpaw here is the fact that the Yankees have had his number. Miley is winless in the 6 starts he has made against the Yankees in his career. In his three most recent starts against the Yanks, Miley has been rocked for 14 earned runs in 15 and 1/3 innings. It will be a cool day in the Bronx with the wind blowing in at Yankee Stadium but that still doesn't warrant this total dropping to an 8.5 given the situation. The Orioles are still battling hard to try and secure a post-season spot while the division rival Yankees would certainly love nothing more than to prevent that. The issue for the Yanks today will be that Luis Severino is getting the start. The right-hander is 0-8 with an 8.59 ERA in the 10 starts he has made this season. Opposing hitters have batted .339 against him in those ten outings. Look for the over to improve to 4-0 in Miley's last 4 road starts while also improving to 4-1 in Severino's last 5 home starts. 8* OVER in New York Yankees Saturday afternoon

RL Crusher - Rickenbach MLB Game #910 - 10* Top Play St Louis Cardinals Run Line -1.5 runs (+) vs Pittsburgh Pirates @ 8:15 ET Friday - The Pirates are 11-19-1 in their last 31 games after yesterday's ultra rare tie. The big key here with the value on today's play is that 13 of Pittsburgh's last 15 losses have come by at least two runs. The Cardinals are battling hard for a playoff spot, they have an edge on the mound in this one, and the odds are they win the game. That said, I'll gladly grab the plus money on the run line as the money line price on the Cards is of course very steep here. The Cardinals win only came by a run yesterday but 10 of their 12 prior wins all came by two runs or more. The Cards will have Carlos Martinez on the mound and he has a stellar 2.65 ERA in his last 8 starts as he allowed 2 earned runs or less in 7 of those outings. He'll be opposed by a struggling Tyler Glasnow of the Pirates. The rookie right-hander has a 6.35 ERA at the big league level as a starter and one of his 3 starts this season was at St Louis in early July. The fact the Cardinals have already seen him certainly benefits their lineup and Glasnow also has pitched out of the pen some for Pittsburgh. Nearly every outing (whether out of the pen or as a starter) has seen him struggle if he goes longer than an inning. That said, he is still adjusting to pitching at the MLB level and I expect another tough start for him here. The Pirates are on an 0-5 run as a road dog of +175 to +200 and the Cardinals are on a 35-14 run as a home fave of -175 to -200. The odds are certainly favoring a Cards victory here and, as shown above, the odds also favor any STL win to come by a big margin over the struggling Pirates. 10* Top Play St Louis on the RUN LINE -1.5 runs Friday evening

IL Blowout - Rickenbach MLB Game #929/930 - 8* OVER in Atlanta Braves vs Detroit Tigers @ 7;35 ET Friday - The Tigers are fighting to stay alive in the Wild Card race while the Braves are playing excellent baseball in recent weeks even though their post-season chances have been over for many months. That sets up a very nice situation here on the total because an 8.5 means we just need to get each team to 4 runs in this game and we're guaranteed of no worse than a 5-4 final score and, therefore, a winning ticket on the over. Detroit has won 7 of their past 10 games and has averaged 7.3 runs during this hot streak. The Tigers have scored at least 4 runs in all 10 games. The Braves are on a 10-1 run in their last 11 games and Atlanta has averaged 6 runs per game and scored at least 4 runs in 10 of those 11 games! In other words, tonight game should have no trouble in getting each team to 4 runs. Matt Wisler gets the start for the Braves Friday and he has a 4.84 ERA at home this season where only 5 of his 14 starts have resulted in an under. The Tigers are going with Daniel Norris who has a respectable 3.33 ERA on the road this season but 4 of his 5 starts away from home have gone over the total. Also, the southpaw was rocked for 5 runs (4 earned) in less than 3 innings of work in his lone start against the Braves (last season). The Tigers are 13-4 to the over in inter-league games this season and have gone over the total in 6 straight games entering this match-up with the Braves who are 22-9 in home games with a posted total of 8 or 8.5 runs this season. Also, the over is 23-10 in the Braves last 33 games against teams with a winning record. 8* OVER in Atlanta Friday

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

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

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Game #915 - 8* Seattle Mariners Money Line (-) @ Houston Astros @ 2:10 ET Wednesday - The Astros will have Doug Fister on the mound and the veteran right-hander has been struggling badly. In his last 9 starts he has gone 2-5 with a 7.36 ERA. Also, Houston has lost EACH of the last SIX starts that Fister has made. As for the Mariners, they will have a southpaw on the mound Wednesday afternoon as James Paxton gets the call. The Astros are hitting only .240 against left-handed pitching this season and that ranks Houston 28th out of 30 teams! Seattle has won 2 of the last 3 starts that Paxton has made as he has been pitching extremely well. Paxton has a 2.25 ERA and minuscule 0.85 WHIP in his last 3 starts. Paxton has produced fantastic starts (2 earned runs in 7 innings each) in 2 of his 3 starts against the Astros in his career. As for Fister, he has struggled in each of his last two starts against the Mariners including 7 earned runs allowed in less than 4 innings of work in his most recent start against them. Houston entered Tuesday's action having lost 4 of their 5 while the M's entered having won 4 of their last 5. The Mariners have been the much better team this month and they have the big edge in starting pitching in the finale of this 3-game set. 8* SEATTLE Wednesday afternoon 

Run Line Crusher - Rickenbach MLB Game #960 - 8* St Louis Cardinals Run Line -1.5 runs vs Cincinnati Reds @ 8:15 ET Tuesday - After getting drilled 15-2 yesterday, the Cardinals have the right pitching match-up today to bounce back and get back on track before it's too late. The Cards are still alive in the wild card race but they must respond today after the Reds took it to them yesterday. Of course I am not going to lay -200+ on the money line but I'll gladly lay the -1.5 runs to get close to even money on St Louis. It is particularly a good value when you consider that Adam Wainwright has compiled a 2.92 ERA in his 14 home starts this season and, overall, the Cardinals are 4-1 in his last 5 starts and each of his last four outings have been games decided by 4 runs or more. The Reds have managed just 7 hits while striking out 15 times in the 11 innings spanning Wainwright's last two starts against them. Cincinnati will have Robert Stephenson on the mound and he has a 10.79 ERA in his last three starts and has averaged just4 innings per outing in those 3 starts. Of course this will expose a Reds bullpen that has been a major weakness all season. Cincy has won 3 straight games but this was preceded by a 1-8 stretch where the 7 of the 8 losses came by two runs or more. The Cardinals are only 11-13 this month but 8 of those 11 wins have come by at least two runs and this certainly looks like a huge mound mismatch where the odds of another big win for the Cards is likely. As a home fave of -200 to -225 the Cardinals are on an 11-4 run while the Reds are on a 9-21 run when they are a road dog of +175 to +200. Odds favor a Cards win here and every one of the losses the Reds have had with Stephenson on the mound came by at least 2 runs. Average margin of defeat in their three losses with him starting is 4.7 runs per game. Look for a BLOWOUT here. 8* St Louis Cardinals Run Line -1.5 runs Tuesday

Royal Rout - Rickenbach MLB Game #971/972 - 8* OVER in Kansas City Royals vs Minnesota Twins @ 7:15 ET Tuesday - The Royals were off yesterday off of a huge 12-9 win at Detroit Sunday. The over in Kansas City games is now on a 22-6 run their last 28 games. With no pressure and post-season hopes vanquished, the Royals will continue to be very relaxed at the plate and pounding out big hits. KC should have no trouble with the offerings of the Twins Jose Berrios. The Twins right-hander is facing the Royals for the 3rd time in span of less than two months and he has already been rocked for 9 earned runs in the 9 innings spanning his two starts against Kansas City. Berrios has an 8.88 ERA and only 2 of his 12 starts this season have managed to stay under the total. He'll be opposed by the Royals Ian Kennedy who has struggled in 2 of his 3 starts against the Twins this season. Also, KC's Kennedy is coming off of a start at Cleveland where he was rocked for 10 hits in less than 6 innings in his most recent outing. The over is 61-32 in Twins night games this season. Also, the over is 39-22 in Minnesota games where the posted total is 8 or 8.5 runs. I see a lot of value with the low total posted on this game and I won't hesitate to step in. 8* OVER in Kansas City Tuesday evening

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

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

Rickenbach MLB Game #911 - 8* Cleveland Indians Money Line (-) @ Detroit Tigers @ 7:10 ET - The Indians are 13-2 against the Tigers this season including a perfect 6-0 at Detroit! Cleveland has Corey Kluber on the mound and he is 10-1 with a 2.32 ERA in his last 14 starts. The Indians are 10-1 in Kluber's last 11 starts. The Tigers will have Buck Farmer on the mound and his first start this season didn't get into the books as it was a rainout after 3 innings. However, what we do know about Farmer is that he only went 5-6 with a 4.32 ERA in his 20 starts at AAA Toledo this season. Keep in mind that, although he has pitched decent out of the bullpen this season, he has struggled as a starter at the MLB level. He has only made 7 starts in his MLB career but just take a look at his overall career numbers. Farmer is 0-5 with a 6.81 ERA in 31 games (7 starts) at the MLB level. The Tigers got drilled 12-9 yesterday and they have not shown a penchant for bouncing back after games like that. In fact, Detroit is an ugly 3-8 this season (and poor 15-27 last three seasons) when they are off of a game where they allowed 10 runs or more. As for the Indians, they are off of a shutout loss yesterday and they have displayed a knack for bouncing back after a game like that. After getting shutout, the Tribe has gone 4-1 this season (and 16-8 the past three seasons) and, though I don't normally lay much juice in money line sports, this is a very manageable line and a great spot for a road rout. 8* CLEVELAND money line Monday

Rickenbach MLB Game #909/910 - 8* OVER in Toronto Blue Jays vs New York Yankees @ 7:05 ET Monday - The first three games of this four game set all stayed under the total but the Yankees at least finally got on the scoreboard yesterday with 3 runs. Look for the Yanks to build off that performance as they face J.A. Happ today and the Yankees hit three homers off the southpaw the last time they faced him. Luis Severino gets the starts for the Yankees and he's winless with a 6.91 ERA in three career starts against the Blue Jays. Though he has pitched better out of the bullpen recently, he has struggled horribly as a starter this season with an 0-8 record and 8.58 ERA on the season. Look for more of the same tonight and with this total currently at an 8.5 it is time to pull the trigger on this one. 8* OVER in Toronto Monday

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

KC Insider - Rickenbach MLB Game #969/970 - 8* OVER in Detroit Tigers vs Kansas City Royals @ 1:10 ET Sunday - The Royals rallied for the 7-4 win yesterday and they'll look to continue to play the role of spoiler here. The over in Kansas City games is now on a 21-6 run their last 27 games. Edinson Volquez gets the start for KC today and he is off of a strong start at Cleveland. However, his overall form is the key and he has been consistently roughed up in recent outings. Before shutting down the Tribe, Volquez had given up 20 earned runs in the 18 and 1/3 innings spanning his last 4 starts. Now he faces a Detroit lineup that has gotten to him for 9 earned runs in his last 13 innings against the Tigers. Detroit will have Matt Boyd the mound today and the southpaw is off of a strong start at Minnesota but, similar to Volquez, he had been struggling prior to his one good outing. Boyd had allowed 11 earned runs on 23 hits in the 14 and 2/3 innings spanning his 3 prior starts. Also, Boyd has a 7.43 ERA in the 5 starts he has made against the Royals in his career. Look for the over to improve to 10-4 this season in Kansas City road games with a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs. 8* OVER in Detroit Sunday

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

Rickenbach MLB Game #901 - 8* St Louis Cardinals Money Line (+) @ Chicago Cubs @ 1:05 ET Saturday - With the Cubs 5-0 win yesterday afternoon over the Cardinals, Chicago was able to secure home field through the National League Divisional Series and Championship Series. That means I would not be surprised to see some of the regulars sitting today for the Cubs. As for the Cards, they are still battling to stay alive in the Wild Card race and they also have a solid hurler on the mound for this one. Alex Reyes has been solid in his first three starts for the Cardinals this season as he has compiled a 1.53 ERA thusfar and has also averaged about a strikeout per inning. He'll be opposed by the Cubs Jason Hammel whom has great numbers on the season but has struggled some recently. Hammel has given up 29 runs (24 earned) in the 30 innings spanning his last 6 starts. That equates to a 7.20 ERA and St Louis has roughed him up a bit the last two times they have faced him whereas the Cubs have never faced Reyes. Big edges for the Cardinals in this one. 8* ST LOUIS on the money line Saturday

Rickenbach MLB Game #925/926 - 8* OVER in Detroit Tigers vs Kansas City Royals @ 1:05 ET Saturday - With the Royals 8-3 loss to the Tigers yesterday, the over is now on a 20-6 run in their last 26 games! Kansas City is looking to play the role of spoiler here as the Tigers are still alive for a playoff spot. The problem for the Royals is that their pitcher, Yordano Ventura, is likely to struggle here so KC will have to do it with their bats. Ventura just faced the Tigers recently and he was very lucky to only allow 1 earned run as he allowed 12 baserunners (6 walks and 6 hits) in his his 6 innings of work. Each of Ventura's last 3 starts have gone over the total as he has given up 13 runs (12 earned) on 26 hits and 7 walks in his 20 and 1/3 innings of work. The Tigers have averaged 7.6 runs per game during their 5 game winning streak and certainly should stay hot here. The Royals may match Detroit run for run however as Kansas City has given the Tigers Daniel Norris some trouble. Norris has had more walks than strikeouts in 2 of his 3 starts against KC in his career and the Royals .274 batting average against southpaws this season ranks them 3rd out of all 30 MLB teams. 8* OVER in Detroit early Saturday afternoon

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

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Game #951/952 - 8* OVER in Chicago Cubs vs St Louis Cardinals @ 2:20 ET Friday - We able to take advantage of a low total here. The total is lower than normal because Jake Arrieta is on the mound for the Cubs and because the wind will be blowing in at Wrigley Field this afternoon in Chicago. However, here are the facts as to the value for this play on the over. The Cardinals will have Mike Leake on the mound this afternoon and he has a 5.34 ERA and a .322 batting average against since the All Star break. The Cubs are coming off of an off day so I don't expect to see a lot of players rested in this match-up. Also, the Cubs still have not officially clinched best record in the National League so they still have some motivation here. They'll take advantage of seeing Leake for a 3rd time in a span of less than 6 weeks. As for the Cardinals, they certainly are highly motivated as they are very much alive in the wild card race. I expect them to enjoy some success against Arrieta as he has not been as sharp recently. He has allowed 18 runs (16 earned) in his last 4 home starts spanning 24 innings. That equates to a 6.67 ERA in his last 4 starts at Wrigley Field. He has had some recent trouble with fastball command and, as a result, he has also been issuing far too many walks. Look for the Cards to make him pay today! The over is 5-1-1 in Arrieta's last 7 starts and the over is 8-3 this season in St Louis games when they are off of a game where they allowed 10 runs or more. The Cardinals are also on a long-term run of 28-15 to the over when they are a home dog in the +175 to +200 range. 8* OVER in Chicago Cubs Friday afternoon

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

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Game #921/922 - 8* OVER in Minnesota Twins vs Detroit Tigers @ 2:10 ET Thursday (Double Header GAME ONE) - After yesterday's rainout these teams are matched up for a double-header. While Game Two has the looks of a potential pitchers' duel with Justin Verlander and Ervin Santana on the mound, Game One looks like anything but with Anibal Sanchez and Pat Dean taking to the hill. In the 13 road starts that Sanchez has made this season the over is 10-2-1 a he has compiled a 7.22 ERA in those outings away from home. The over is also 17-7-2 in the last 26 meetings between these teams in Minnesota and the Twins Dean is likely to struggle here. The southpaw has just ONE WIN in EIGHT STARTS this season and he has compiled a 7.52 ERA in those outings with the over going a solid 6-2 in those outings. As a home dog of +125 to +150, the over is 33-14 in Twins games the past three seasons combined. Both the Tigers and Minnesota are 11-6 to the over this season when they were off the prior day. The Twins have slowed down some at the plate in recent games but they faced Sanchez a week ago and pounded him for 6 earned runs in 4 innings. As for the Tigers they come into this game having scored 8 runs or more in 3 of their last 6 games and Dean just hasn't shown much at all as a starting pitcher this season. 8* OVER in Minnesota in Game One of the DH on Thursday

Rickenbach MLB Game #968 - 8* Seattle Mariners Money Line +107 vs Toronto Blue Jays @ 3:40 ET Wednesday - The Mariners will be looking to respond after last night's 10-2 beating at the hands of the Blue Jays. Keep in mind this game has big playoff implications and the Mariners veteran ace Felix Hernandez is looking to respond after a recent, rare rough patch. He struggled at home against Houston after pitching 6 shutout innings on the road in his prior start. Hernandez now faces a Toronto team that hasn't seen him in a year. That helps and also the fact that many of the Blue Jays hitters have struggled against King Felix. Even with yesterday's loss, the Mariners are still a phenomenal 11-2 this season when they are a home dog of +100 to +125. Also, prior to losing the last time he was on the mound, the Mariners were on a 13-4 run in the last 17 starts Hernandez made. The Mariners have hit a tough patch now with 4 losses in their last 5 games but this followed an 8 game winning streak and Seattle will keep battling to stay alive in the wild card race. Look for Hernandez to "reach back" for a huge effort this afternoon. The Blue Jays will have Aaron Sanchez on the mound and he'll be starting for the first time in nearly two weeks. Not only is Toronto trying to limit his workload late in the season but he also is recovering from a blister that was giving him problems on his throwing hand. I wouldn't be surprised to see some struggles from him here as a result. Sanchez has compiled more walks than strikeouts over his last 3 outings and his most recent outing saw him give up 6 earned runs in less than 4 innings of work. Before back to back wins over the M's, the Jays had gone 5-11 this month and I look for Hernandez and the Mariners to avoid what would be a rare home 0-3 sweep for them. Look for the Blue Jays to lose a Sanchez start for the 3rd straight time. 8* SEATTLE on the money line Wednesday afternoon

Rickenbach MLB Game #965/966 - 8* OVER 8.5 in Oakland Athletics vs Houston Astros @ 3:35 ET Wednesday - Yesterday's game was a tight 2-1 battle decided in 10 innings but this pitching match-up coupled with better weather for hitters in a day game at Oakland Coliseum should result in a much better day for the batters today. The ball does carry a little better in day games at Oakland compared to at night and the wind will be blowing out at a good clip for this one. Collin McHugh is off of a very strong road start for the Astros but that certainly has been the exception rather than the rule for the right-hander away from home in the 2nd half of this season. McHugh had given up 28 earned runs on 48 hits in just 26 and 1/3 innings away from home prior to that strong start at Seattle. As for the A's Daniel Mengden, he is facing a bit of a nemesis today. Against the Astros, Mengden has gone winless with an 8.38 ERA and a 1.86 WHIP in two starts. Both of those starts were in July so Houston will now be getting a third look at him in a span of only about two months. This favors the hitters and note that Mengden is 0-6 with a 6.95 ERA and a 1.78 WHIP in his home starts this season! Even after yesterday's under, the over is still 24-11 in Astros road games over the past three seasons when they are a favorite in the -125 to -150 range. Houston is battling in the wild card race and the A's would love to play the role of spoiler here. Look for good battle here with a lot more offense than we saw in last night's game. The Pacific Coast air is not so heavy in day games here and the wind will be blowing out at 15 to 25 mph for this one. 8* OVER in Oakland Wednesday afternoon

Rickenbach MLB Game #951/952 - 8* OVER 12.5 in Colorado Rockies vs St Louis Cardinals @ 3:10 ET Wednesday - Yesterday's game totaled 15 runs and there is every reason to believe another Coors Field "slugfest" is on tap for this afternoon. The Rockies will start rookie German Marquez. Even though he was the Eastern League Rookie of the Year this year, that is Double A ball and he now makes what will be just his 6th ever start above the AA level. He made 5 at the Triple A level this season and had a 4.35 ERA with AAA Albuquerque. As you can see, that is not the dominance he displayed at the AA level (2.85 ERA) and now he'll be making his first ever MLB start. So far, out of the pen with the Rockies he has compiled a 5.06 ERA in 3 appearances. He gave up 2 hits in just 1 inning in his only appearance at home. Marquez will have a tough time on a warm afternoon at Coors Field as he faces a Cardinals team battling in the post-season race and having won four straight games off of a big 10-5 win yesterday. St Louis has a pitching "concern" of their own in this one as Luke Weaver takes to the mound. The Cardinals right-hander has made limited appearances this season but has been great at home but has struggled on the road. Weaver is 0-3 with a 4.15 ERA but that ERA certainly could be even higher as he has been hit at a .311 clip away from home and now pitches in the most hitter-friendly venue in all of baseball and I don't expect this to go well for him. The Rockies have averaged 6.1 runs per game in their last 8 games overall and have averaged 6.3 runs per game at home on the season and hit over .300 for the year at Coors Field. Look for the over to go to 3-0 in Weaver's September road starts. 8* OVER in Colorado Wednesday afternoon