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

Royal Flush - Rickenbach MLB Game #919/920 - 8* OVER in Cleveland Indians vs Kansas City Royals @ 7:10 ET Tuesday - The Royals knocked off the White Sox 8-3 yesterday and that means the over is a ridiculous 19-3 in their last 22 games. Kansas City now travels to Cleveland and, based on tonight's pitching match-up, the hot hitting should certainly continue. The Indians Josh Tomlin has been struggling as he made only 1 start in September after a disastrous August that saw him go 0-5 with an 11.48 ERA in his 6 starts! The Royals Edinson Volquez also comes into this start struggling badly. In August, the KC right-hander compiled a 6.37 ERA and got hit at a .338 clip in 6 start. In his 3 September starts Volquez has compiled a 9.60 ERA and he's been rocked at a .354 clip. The Indians have averaged 5.7 runs per game at home this season and have hit .291 at Progressive Field. It is no wonder that the over is 45-27 in Cleveland's home games this season. Also, the over is 9-3 in Royals road games this season when the posted total is 9 or 9.5 runs. Look for another slugfest here. 8* OVER in Cleveland

#1 Side - Rickenbach MLB Game #918 - 10* Top Play Tampa Bay Rays (-) vs New York Yankees @ 7:10 ET Tuesday - As quickly as the Yankees climbed back into the post-season race they fell back out of it even faster. The Yanks have definitely had the air let out of their balloon as they have lost five straight and seven of their last eight. That makes them an easy fade here as they have struggled with southpaws this season and also are hanging their heads a bit today after their recent collapse punctuated by a 4-game sweep at the hands of the rival Red Sox. Another division foe, the Rays, would certainly love nothing more than to help push the Yanks further toward their inevitable elimination from the post-season picture. Left-hander Drew Smyly is 3-0 with a stellar 2.25 ERA and phenomenal 0.81 WHIP in the five starts he has made against the Yankees in his career. Michael Pineda makes this start for the Yankees and he has not managed to complete 5 innings in any of his last 3 starts. This exposes a Yanks bullpen that, of course, is not what it once was as they lost some key arms (like Aroldis Chapman) earlier in the summer. The Yankees were off yesterday and are 4-8 this season when playing with a day off. Also, the Yanks are an ugly 3-9 in games played on artificial turf this year. The Rays swept the Yankees in late July earlier this season and I look for them to make it 4 straight over the Yanks tonight. 10* TAMPA BAY RAYS

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #930 - 8* Philadelphia Phillies Money Line (-) vs Chicago White Sox @ 7:05 ET Tuesday - The early money on this one has come in on the White Sox but that is largely due to the year to date numbers on the Phillies Jake Thompson. The fact is that Thompson has found his groove of late as he had to first adjust to life in the big leagues. Now, in his last 4 starts, Thompson has compiled a 2.49 ERA while not allowing more than 2 earned runs in any of the four starts. He'll be opposed by James Shields of the White Sox and his rough season has continued in his recent road starts. Over his last 4 road starts Shield has given up 20 earned runs in 16 and 1/3 innings! He is 1-7 with a 7.27 ERA on the road this season and the White Sox come into this game having lost three straight. The ChiSox have been held to 3 runs or less in 5 of their last 6 games. The Phillies are off of a tight loss to Miami but had previously won 4 of their first 6 games on this homestand. They look poised to take the first of this short two-game set with the White Sox as they have a huge edge on the mound in my opinion. 8* PHILADELPHIA

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

Slugfest Smash - Rickenbach MLB Game #967/968 - 8* OVER in Texas Rangers vs Los Angeles Angels @ 8:05 ET Monday - The Angels have a strong lineup but they certainly had been a little quiet of late. Now that they got back on track (back to back wins and 10 runs scored) in their final two games of the Blue Jays series, I look for the sticks to stay hot at Texas. The Angels will be facing the Rangers Martin Perez whom they crushed for 7 earned runs on 10 hits and 3 walks (against just 2 strikeouts) in 6 innings on July 20th. The Angels will have Jhoulys Chacin on the mound for this one and the right-hander has pitched a little better of late but those starts were at home. On the road this season Chacin has gone 1-6 with a 7.40 ERA in 11 starts! Only two of Chacin's last 8 starts have resulted in an under. As for Perez, his last start resulted in the under but, prior to this outing, the over was on a perfect 4-0 run in his starts. The Angels are off of a shutout win yesterday and they are 23-11 to the over the past three seasons when they are off of a shutout win. As for the Rangers, their game yesterday stayed under the total but they entered that one on a 14-4 run to the over and I look for the trending toward high-scoring games to resume Monday with a slugfest likely! 8* OVER in Texas

Over Easy - Rickenbach MLB Game #965/966 - 8* OVER in Baltimore Orioles vs Boston Red Sox @ 7:05 ET Monday - The Red Sox Rick Porcello has certainly had a fantastic year but he has been more dominant at home compared to on the road. Boston is 14-1 in his home starts compared to just 8-7 in his road starts. In his last two starts at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Porcello has given up 5 earned runs in each outing. The Red Sox right-hander was hit very hard in each start including allowing 3 homers in his early June start in Baltimore. The over is 10-5 in Porcello's 15 road starts this season. The Orioles will have Dylan Bundy on the mound and he has already found the powerful BoSox lineup to be a nightmare match-up for him. Bundy will be facing the Red Sox for the 3rd time in 5 weeks and the righty has been rocked for a 7.45 ERA and 2.17 WHIP in the first two meetings. Bundy comes into this start struggling overall as he has given up 8 earned runs in the 9 innings spanning his last two starts. Two powerful lineups matched up here and the Orioles have averaged 5 runs per game in going 8-5 in their last 13 while the Red Sox have averaged 6.5 runs per game in going 9-3 in their last 12 games. Look for more of the same Monday evening. 8* OVER in Baltimore

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #963/964 - 8* OVER in Kansas City Royals vs Chicago White Sox @ 2:15 ET Monday - Carlos Rodon of the White Sox and Yordano Ventura of the Royals face off in a rematch of a game in Chicago on the 9th of this month. That game totaled 9 runs to go over the total and we should again get at least 9 here and the total on this game is currently an 8.5 as of early Monday morning. With both teams getting another look at these hurlers just 10 days after the last meeting, it is an advantage to the hurlers. The Royals, with yesterday's 10-3 win in the books, are now on an 18-3 run to the over their last 21 games. The White Sox are now 12-5 to the over this month. Rodon got rocked by the Indians for 6 earned runs in 5 innings in his most recent start. Ventura has given up 10 runs (9 earned) on 17 hits in 11 and 1/3 innings spanning his last two starts. The Royals right-hander also has been hit hard by the ChiSox in 2 of his last 3 starts against them. The over is 7-3 in the 10 starts Ventura has made against the White Sox in his career. With the wind blowing out at Kauffman Stadium and rather light, dry air in Kansas City this afternoon, the ball should be carrying very well on a warm afternoon. 8* OVER in Kansas City

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

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

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

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #965/966 - 8* OVER 9 in Boston Red Sox vs New York Yankees @ 1:05 ET Saturday - Boston's David Price has certainly been on a fantastic run on the mound. However, the Yankees have given him trouble this season as he is 1-2 with a 7.79 ERA against the Bronx Bombers. The Yanks will have Bryan Mitchell on the mound and he's making just his third start of the year as he has missed much of the season due to injuries. The right-hander has been hit at a .299 clip in his 48 innings at the MLB level in his young career. Getting a start at Fenway Park on a mild afternoon with the wind blowing out is not likely to help those numbers. By the way, don't be fooled by his 2.45 ERA this season as he has been hit hard but his ERA doesn't reflect that as 4 of the runs he has allowed have been unearned. Yesterday's over brings the Red Sox to 6-3 to the over in their last 9 games. As a big home fave in the -225 to-250 range, Boston is on a long-term run of 53-27 to the over. The Red Sox are on a 7-3 run that has seen them average 6.7 runs per game and couple that with the fact Price has struggled against the Yanks this season and you have the perfect recipe for a high-scoring slugfest on a perfect afternoon for big hits at Fenway Park. There were a lot of extra base hits in last night's game and I look for similar results this afternoon. 8* OVER in Boston early Saturday afternoon 

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

Rickenbach MLB Game #902 - 8* Chicago Cubs Money Line (-) vs Milwaukee Brewers @ 2:20 ET Friday - The Cubs clinched the division title yesterday but not in the way they wanted. Chicago lost a tight one to Milwaukee but then, late last night, the Cardinals lost at San Francisco and that wrapped up the Central Division title for the Cubs. That means players like Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant are not expected to be in the lineup today. However, there were no big celebrations for the Cubs last night. That was a late night game for the Cards on the West Coast and the Cubs had to be prepared for this early start on Friday. So, when is the celebration? After today's game! That said, the Cubs certainly don't want to have to celebrate a division title off of a losing effort. Hence, the Cubs will give it their all this afternoon, even if some starters sit, and we are getting line value here because the Cubs are priced lower than they would be given the "situation". The fact is that the Brewers are only 4-10 in Chase Anderson's road starts this season and the Cubs will have John Lackey on the mound and he has held right-handed hitters to a .192 batting average this season. The Brewers best hitters are almost all right-handed sticks and Lackey will neutralize them. On an afternoon when the wind will be blowing out at Wrigley Field, Lackey is likely to be giving up a lot less solid contact than Anderson and that should help lead to a home rout for the Cubs. Anderson has a 4.93 ERA on the road this season and that is even after a rare pair of successful road starts this month. The Brewers are only 37-65 against right-handed starters this season. The Cubs are 17-6 in Friday games this season and 34-18 when off of a loss. 8* CHICAGO CUBS Friday afternoon

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

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

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

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #915/916 - 8* OVER the total in Toronto Blue Jays vs Tampa Bay Rays @ 12:35 ET Wednesday - Yesterday's game totaled 8 runs and stayed just under the total. This total opened up at a 9 but is down to an 8.5 as of very early Wednesday morning and this is offering excellent value with the over in this spot. Tampa Bay will have Alex Cobb on the mound and he just faced the Blue Jays on September 2nd so they're getting a quick second look at him. The more frequently the hitters are seeing a pitcher the better. Also, Cobb comes into this start off of a rough out in the Bronx as he allowed 4 runs (3 earned) on 9 hits in 6 innings while striking out just 1. As you can see from those numbers, the damage certainly could have been even worse. In his last 3 starts against Toronto, Cobb has been roughed up to the tune of a 7.20 ERA with 3 homers allowed. He also just gave up 2 homers to the Yankees in last week's start. The Jays will have Marco Estrada on the mound and he is off of an ugly start against the Red Sox where he couldn't even get out of the 3rd inning! Prior to that outing Estrada had begun September with a rough starts against the Rays and he will facing them now for the 3rd time in a span of only about 5 weeks. That's bad news for Estrada because they've already gotten to him for 8 runs (7 earned) on 14 hits and 6 walks in just 10 innings of work. That's an average of 2 baserunners allowed per inning and that will lead to more trouble for the Blue Jays right-hander in this early start Wednesday. The over is 13-5 in the Rays last 18 games. The over is 14-9 in the Jays last 23 games against teams with a losing record. 8* OVER in Toronto Wednesday

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

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

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

Total Crusher - Rickenbach MLB Game #921/922 - 8* OVER the total in Kansas City Royals vs Oakland A's @ 7:15 ET - The A's will have southpaw Ross Detwiler on the mound. Oakland has been an "under" team with him on the mound but that is likely to change here. The Royals are hitting .271 against left-handed pitching this season. Also, the only Detwiler faced Kansas City he gave up 9 hits in 5 innings and that was just last season. The Royals are off of a 2-0 win yesterday at Chicago against the White Sox but, prior that pitchers duel, the over was on a 12-1 run in Kansas City games! The Royals have been hot at that plate and I expect that hot hitting to resume tonight. The issue for KC tonight will be that Dillon Gee is on the mound. I am well aware of the fact that he's pitched surprisingly well recently but I am seeing some signs that his past struggles are likely to rear their ugly head again here. Gee gave up 8 hits in 6 innings at Minnesota in his most recent start and 3 of those hits were homers and he was simply fortunate that they were all solo bombs. The wind is expected to be blowing out to left field at Kauffman Stadium tonight and that will make for hitter-friendly conditions in Kansas City. Gee is 0-2 with a 7.45 ERA and 1.97 WHIP in his two career starts versus Oakland. Overall, Gee is getting hit at a .289 clip this season and opponents hit .329 against him last season. I expect the A's to do some damage tonight as they face a very hittable pitcher and make up for struggling at the plate in their series versus Seattle this past weekend. 8* OVER in Kansas City

ESPN Smash Pass - Rickenbach MLB Game #979 - 8* Chicago Cubs Money Line (-) @ Houston Astros @ 8:05 ET Sunday - After opening up around a -170 this line has come all the way down to a -140 as of early Sunday morning. This gets the Cubs into my "play range" here as long-time followers know I play mostly totals in MLB with some dogs and small faves mixed in. I do not play big faves except on an ultra rare occasion. As for this particular situation, the Cubs are in a great spot. When Michael Fiers last faced Jake Arrieta he outdueled him in May of last year back when Fiers was not even with the Astros. However, you can bet that Arrieta remembers this game well and he's seeking revenge today. Arrieta is a phenomenal 10-2 with a 2.99 ERA and 0.96 WHIP in his road starts this season. In his last 7 starts overall he has given up 2 earned runs or less in 5 of those outings. As for Fiers, he comes into this start struggling. The Astros right-hander's ERA doesn't reflect it (which is part of what helps to give us line value here) but Fiers has given up 15 hits and 4 walks in just 10 innings spanning his last two starts. That means he is allowing nearly 2 baserunners per inning and pitching like that will eventually lead to the levee breaking and the floodwaters rush through the dam! The Cubs are due for a breakout peformance offensively and certainly have one of the top lineups in baseball. After a 2-1 loss yesterday, look for the Cubs to bounce back today. Chicago is 14-5 in interleague game this season. Houston has a long-term mark of 100-168 as a home dog in a price range of +125 to +175. One final note, and another important edge here, is that the Cubs lineup is quite familiar with Fiers but this will be Arrieta's first ever start against the Astros and that is a big edge he'll have over the Houston lineup. 8* CHICAGO CUBS Money Line Sunday. 

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

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

Rickenbach MLB Game #917/918 - Earliest Cash - 8* OVER 9.5 runs in Toronto Blue Jays vs Boston Red Sox @ 1:05 ET Saturday - The Red Sox won 13-3 yesterday and that makes the over 5-2 in the 7 games between these teams so far this season in Toronto. The Blue Jays will have J.A. Happ on the mound and he is fading late this season. The Jays southpaw has a 5.91 ERA in his last 4 starts. The Red Sox will have Eduardo Rodriguez on the mound and the left-hander is off of a stellar outing in his last start but he has had trouble with the Blue Jays in his career as he has compiled an 8.26 ERA in his 3 starts against them. Also, prior to his strong start at Oakland, Rodriguez had given up 5 earned runs in just 5 and 1/3 innings in his prior start. The over is 14-7 in Blue Jays Saturday games this season and the over is 7-4 in Red Sox road games this season where they are an underdog in the +125 to +150 range. Two of the top lineups in baseball squaring off early Saturday north of the border and I look for the Blue Jays to add to their current 6-1-1 over streak in home games! 8* OVER in Toronto early Saturday afternoon.

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

Rickenbach MLB Game #979 - 10* Top Play Chicago Cubs Money Line -123 @ Houston Astros @ 8:10 ET Friday - The Cubs have lost two straight games. Since the All Star break Chicago has been one of the hottest teams in the league and they have not lost three straight games a single time! The past two months the Cubs have NEVER lost three straight games and they have their "stopper" on the mound Friday with ace Jon Lester. The southpaw is 15-4 on the season with a 2.61 ERA. Also, the Cubs have won 8 of his 9 starts since the All Star break. The Astros will have Joe Musgrove on the mound and he has an ugly 5.73 ERA on the season and Houston has lost 4 of the 6 starts he has made this season. The Astros are hitting just .246 against left-handed pitching this season and that ranks them 13th out of the 15 AL teams. This is a pitching mismatch and the Cubs improve to an incredible 15-3 this season when playing with a day off while also improving to a fantastic 14-4 in interleague games! 10* Top Play Chicago Cubs Money Line Friday

Rickenbach MLB Game #965/966 - 8* OVER 8 in New York Yankees vs Tampa Bay Rays @ 7:05 ET Friday - The Yankees are one of the hottest teams in the majors with 5 straight wins. Even though they have had some struggles against left-handed pitching this season, the Rays Blake Snell has struggled badly in each of his last two road starts with ugly outings at both Houston and Toronto. The Tampa Bay southpaw now faces a Yankees team that has scored at least 5 runs in 14 of their last 19 games! As for the Rays offense, they have scored an average of 5.3 runs per game in their last 11 games and should have no troubles with the offerings of the Yankees Michael Pineda. In fact, the right-hander has found the Rays to be a bit of a nemesis for him. Pineda has given up 18 earned runs in the less than 15 innings of work spanning his 3 starts against Tampa Bay this season. The over is also an incredible 26-6 in the Rays last 32 games! As a road dog of +125 to +150, Tampa Bay is 7-2 to the over this season. look for another one here! 8* OVER 8 in New York Yankees early Friday evening 

Rickenbach MLB Game #911 - Divisional Dominator - 10* Top Play Tampa Bay Rays Money Line +115 @ New York Yankees @ 7:05 ET Thursday - Both teams are off of wins yesterday but the Rays are still just 59-79 on the season while the Yankees are 73-65 and certainly still have playoff hopes alive. Why then the play on Tampa Bay here? The keys are two-fold. First off I like this pitching match-up. However, even more importantly is the motivational factor here. Being in last place in the division, the Rays could have easily thrown in the towel on the season. However, Tampa Bay certainly still has the motivation of being a "spoiler" to the Yankees and their playoff hopes. After all that is what division rivals strive for when they've had a down season...at least be a "spoiler" late in the year. I also want to add that the Yankees lineup is not what it used to be and the bottom half of the order is particularly weak. That's why I look for Alex Cobb, even though it is just his 2nd MLB start since Tommy John surgery, to have another solid start here. Last week Cobb held a solid Blue Jays lineup to just 2 earned runs in 5 innings while walking only 1 but striking out 7. To me, the line on today's game looked a little "funny" with the Yankees being such a small home favorite even though the public looks and sees a team (the Yanks) that needs to win. As long-time followers know, I like to be a contrarian. Hence, a big play on the Rays today and we fade CC Sabathia. Even though he's pitched better of late, the Yankees veteran southpaw only struck out 1 in his most recent start. Also, at home this season, Sabathia is an ugly 2-8 with a 5.20 ERA. I'll gladly back the Rays in this "spoiler" spot. 10* Tampa Bay Rays Money Line Thursday evening

Rickenbach MLB Game #909/910 - Earliest Cash - 8* UNDER 8.5 in Cleveland Indians vs Houston Astros @ 12:10 ET Thursday - Yesterday's game got over the total but this series has been an under series for quite some time as the under is still 16-3-1 in the 20 meetings between these clubs the last 3 years combined. Today's match-up should see a return to "normalcy" i that regard as this one has the makings of a pitchers' duel. Yes, the Astros are starting a rookie on the mound but David Paulino hits in the high 90s with his fastball and has a solid #2 pitch with a very effective curveball. Prior to yesterday's big game at the plate, the Indians had been held to 3 runs or less in 5 of their last 10 games. They are likely to struggle against a top Astros prospect in this very early start Thursday. Houston's lineup is also likely to struggle at the plate this afternoon as they face Trevor Bauer. The Indians right-hander has allowed just 2 earned runs while striking out 27 in his last 21 innings against the Astros. Bauer also comes into this start in solid current form as he allowed just 3 earned runs on 9 hits in the 14 and 1/3 innings spanning his last two starts. This will be Bauer's 24th start of the season and, so far this year, only 6 of them have resulted in an over. Look for more of the same early today. 8*UNDER in Cleveland very early Thursday afternoon

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

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

Rickenbach MLB Game #965/966 - Earliest Cash - 8* OVER 7.5 in Tampa Bay Rays vs Baltimore Orioles @ 1:10 ET Wednesday - With yesterday's 11-2 Rays loss to the Orioles, the over is now an incredible 24-6 in Tampa Bay's last 30 games! Even though Drew Smyly has had some impressive outings for the Rays this season, the Tampa Bay southpaw is unlikely to enjoy success today. Smyly comes into this start having compiled a 5.60 ERA in his last three starts. Also, the Rays lefty has given up 13 earned runs in the 10 and 2/3 innings spanning his last two starts against the Orioles. The southpaw gave up 5 homers in those two starts versus Baltimore. The O's will have Dylan Bundy on the mound this afternoon and he gave up 3 homers in just 3 and 1/3 innings in his start at Tampa on July 17th. Bundy has a 5.68 ERA in his 4 road starts this season. He also is having issues with command of his pitches as he has walked 11 in his last 15 and 2/3 innings of work. The over is 23-14 in Baltimore's day games this season. Also, the over is an incredible 15-4-2 in Smyly's last 21 starts! As you can see, there is every reason to believe the strong over trend for the Rays improves to 25-6 this afternoon! 8* OVER in Tampa Bay early Wednesday afternoon.

Rickenbach MLB Game #912 - Blowout Smash - 10* Top Play Colorado Rockies Money Line -115 vs San Francisco Giants @ 8:40 ET Tuesday - The Rockies won yesterday's game 6-0 over the Giants. This may have many looking at San Francisco here to bounce back. However, this pitching match-up favors Colorado in a big way. Tyler Anderson gets the start for the Rockies and the southpaw has been piling up strikeouts (a key for success at Coors Field) with 23 in the 18 and 1/3 innings spanning his last three starts. The Giants will be starting Jeff Samardzija whom has seen his strikeout numbers going south since the All Star break. Also, the San Francisco right-hander is giving the Rockies a 3rd look at him this season while the Giants hitters are seeing Anderson only for the 2nd time in his career. SF has been struggling away from home as they've gone 7-18 (.280 winning percentage!) in their last 25 road games! Conversely, the Rockies have won 8 of their last 12 road games. Also, over the past 5 weeks the Giants have only faced 5 left-handed starters and San Francisco has lost all 5 of those games. More of the same tonight. 10* COLORADO Money Line Tuesday night

Rickenbach MLB Game #910 - Run Line Rout - 8* Milwaukee Brewers +1.5 runs -110 vs Chicago Cubs @ 8:10 ET Tuesday - Looking at full season numbers can be "dangerous" and I believe that is the case here and will have many "fooled" with the Cubs in this particular situation. Certainly on the season Jason Hammel has been much stronger for Chicago then Wily Peralta has been for Milwaukee. However, Peralta has been rock solid in the 5 starts he's made since returning to the Brewers rotation in August. In particular, Peralta has dominated at home where, in his last 4 starts, he has allowed only 6 earned runs on 16 hits while striking out 26 in the 24 innings spanning these four outings. Hammel's last 4 road starts, including one at Milwaukee, have seen him rocked for 25 runs (21 earned) in less than 15 innings of work! Even though the Cubs are 7-3 in their last 10 games, 5 of those victories have come by just a single run. That means the Cubbies, at -1.5 runs are on an ugly 2-8 run and I'll gladly fade them here. The Brewers are 8-7 in their last 15 games but 3 of the losses came by just one run so Milwaukee, at +1.5 runs, are on an 11-4 run. The Brewers have excelled as a home dog of +150 to +175 including going 6-3 this season! Though an outright upset would not surprise, I am grabbing the +1.5 runs in case the Cubs are able to sneak out a tight 1-run win. 8* Milwaukee on the RUN LINE Tuesday

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

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

Rickenbach MLB Game #969/970 - Earliest Cash - 8* OVER 9.5 in Minnesota Twins vs Kansas City Royals @ 2:10 ET Monday - Not only are both of these clubs trending over in a huge way, the weather conditions are perfect for another easy over early Monday afternoon in Minnesota. the wind is expected to be blowing out to left field at a good clip on an overcast afternoon at Target Field. The Twins are starting Jose Berrios and this will be his tenth start of the season and he still has not had a single under this entire season! 7-0-2 to the over in Berrios 9 starts this year. Minnesota is on an 11-2 run to the over after yesterday's 13-11 loss to the White Sox. Berrios has a 9.24 ERA and 1.95 WHIP on the season. The Royals will be starting Ian Kennedy and, though he has pitched well on the season, he has shown some concerning signs recently. Kennedy only struck out 1 in his most recent start while allowing 4 earned runs in 6 innings. That start was at home. In his most recent road start, Kennedy gave up 9 hits in only 5 and 1/3 innings. His last start against the Twins was a strong one but that was at home. The last time he faced them at Target Field, Kennedy gave up 5 hits in just 3 and 1/3 innings. 5 of the 6 meetings between these teams in Minnesota this season have gone over the total. The over is 6-3 this season in Royals road games with a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs. The over is an incredible 85-45 in all of the Twins games this season. 8* OVER in Minnesota Monday afternoon

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

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

Rickenbach MLB Game #917/918 - Earliest Cash - 8* OVER 8.5 in Baltimore Orioles vs New York Yankees @ 1:35 ET Sunday - Unbelievably the Yankees were shutout again yesterday for the 2nd straight game. This futility at the plate has followed a stretch where the Yankees had scored at least 5 runs in 8 of their last 9 games. in fact, the Yanks averaged a tremendous 6.3 runs per game during that 9-game stretch. Facing Wade Miley of the Orioles should help them to "get right" as he has given up 10 earned runs on 16 hits in 10 and 1/3 innings spanning his last two starts against the Yankees. The O's should also enjoy success at the plate this afternoon as they face Michael Pineda who has been rocked for 5 earned runs in 4 of his last 6 road starts! Also, in his last trip to Oriole Park at Camden Yards Pineda gave up 4 earned runs in a start didn't even last 4 innings. The over is 5-1 in Pineda's last 6 starts and 3-1 in Miley's last 4 starts. The Orioles, before being held to 2 runs yesterday, had averaged 4.9 runs per game in their last 10 games. Both lineups get back on track with big hitting today. 8* OVER 8.5 in Baltimore early Sunday afternoon

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

Rickenbach MLB Game #951 - Earliest Cash - 8* San Francisco Giants Money Line +130 @ Chicago Cubs @ 2:20 ET Saturday - Tremendous underdog value here on the Giants and Madison Bumgarner. Yes, I am well aware of the fact that it may seem tough to go against Jake Arrieta and the Cubs at Wrigley Field. However, Arrieta actually has given up at least 5 earned runs in each of his last two home starts. Also, in his last 3 starts overall, Arrieta has more walks (13) than strikeouts (12). Even though Bumgarner has struggled a bit in recent outings it has had more to do with some timely big hits going against him. The Giants southpaw has still been in good form overall as he has struck out 18 while walking just 6 in his last 3 starts. Also, Bumgarner has struck out 30 and walked just 5 in his last 3 starts against the Cubs. I am looking for Bumgarner to improve to 8-2 in his career starts against the Cubs as the Giants are relying on their ace southpaw to "stop the bleeding" after two tight losses to open up this series. The Giants are 29-17 (+6.9 net) in day games this season while the Cubs are 11-9 (-4.6 net) in Saturday games this season. Bumgarner is in better current form than Arrieta and that makes the Giants well worth a shot in this underdog price range. 8* SAN FRANCISCO

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

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

Rickenbach MLB Game #915/916 - Over Easy - 8* OVER 9 in Baltimore Orioles vs New York Yankees @ 7:05 ET - Feeling the pressure of fighting for a post-season spot can be stressful for a young pitcher. That was proven true once again when 25-year old Chad Green and 23-year old Dylan Bundy squared off last week in the Bronx. Both hurlers struggled as neither one was able to complete 5 innings in the Yankees eventual 13-5 win. I look for another wild game in the rematch as these lineups have the added edge of having just faced these pitchers and certainly the pressure is even greater now than it was then as we're now into the final month of the regular season. Both teams are trying to make a playoff push and these young hurlers again take the mound with that added burden on their minds. The over is 3-1 in Green's road starts this season and he has a 5.76 ERA in those outings. The over is on a 5-1 run overall in the Yankees last six games. These teams averaged a total of 13.7 runs per game in their 3 games in the Bronx last week. Look for another high-scoring game to open up this 3-game set in Oriole Park at Camden Yards. 8* OVER 9 in Baltimore Friday

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

Rickenbach MLB Game #951 - Never Lost Day Game - 8* San Diego Padres Money Line +135 @ Atlanta @ 12:10 ET Thursday - The Braves are trying to do something that haven't been able to accomplish this entire season and so I'll gladly fade that with a situational edge that has never lost this entire season. Even with the win yesterday, the Braves are still only 21-43 in home games this season. Today Atlanta is going for the home sweep of the Padres and the Braves have not swept a home series of 3 games or more this entire season! Mike Foltynewicz gets the start for the Braves and he allowed 12 hits in less than 6 innings in his only start against the Padres. Jarred Cosart gets the start for San Diego and he is a perfect 3-0 with a stellar 2.63 ERA in his 4 starts against the Braves. Foltynewicz has a 4.86 ERA since the All Star Break while Cosart has a sparkling 2.40 ERA in the 6 starts he's made since the break. Even with yesterday's win, the Braves are just 1-5 (17%) this season when they are a home favorite of -125 to-150 and I'll gladly grab the underdog value with the Padres as Atlanta is attempting to do something today that they have not managed to accomplish this entire season. 8* SAN DIEGO PADRES money line EARLY Thursday.

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

Rickenbach MLB Game #919 - Daytime Dominator - 8* Seattle Mariners Money Line -107 @ Texas Rangers @ 2:05 ET Wednesday - The Mariners again need their ace to be the stopper and that should be the case again on Wednesday. Off a tough loss on a 2-run bomb in the bottom of the 9th, Seattle turns to Felix Hernandez for the bounce back. He has not taken a loss in any of his 8 starts since coming off of the disabled list. Also, he is 3-0 with a sparkling 1.86 ERA in his four most recent starts. Hernandez has faced the Rangers 3 times in the past 12 months and he has pitched very well with just 3 earned runs allowed in 19 and 2/3 innings against Texas. The Rangers will have Martin Perez on the mound and the southpaw has been struggling for many weeks now. In fact, Perez has compiled an ugly 6.30 ERA over his last 10 starts. The Texas lefty has a 5.29 ERA in his last 3 starts against the Mariners. Perez comes into this start having allowed 6 earned runs in each of his last 2 starts and has now given up at least 5 earned runs in 6 of his last 10 starts. As you would expect, the Rangers have gone 0-6 in those 6 Perez starts. The Mariners are 11-3 in the last 14 starts Hernandez has made. 8* SEATTLE money line Wednesday

Rickenbach MLB Game #917/918 - Earliest Cash - 8* UNDER 9.5 in Boston Red Sox vs Tampa Bay Rays @ 1:35 ET Wednesday - Yesterday's 4-3 Rays win stayed under the total and I look for another tight low-scoring battle Wednesday afternoon. Drew Smyly gets the start for the Rays and he has been fantastic in August with a 3-0 mark in his 5 starts while compiling a 3.03 ERA and teams are hitting only .174 against him this month. In 7 career starts against the Red Sox Smyly has compiled a stellar 1.64 ERA and 0.91 WHIP! In his 3 starts against Boston within the last 12 months, Smyly has held them scoreless in all 3 outings while allowing just 10 hits and striking out 29 in 20 and 1/3 innings of work. Steven Wright gets the start for the BoSox today and, though he allowed 5 earned runs in his most recent start it was his first start after coming off of the disabled list. The knuckleballer allowed all 5 runs in the first inning but definitely worked the rust off after coming off of the DL as he then allowed no runs the next 5 innings while also avoiding solid contact. That's what knuckleballers do and Wright will build off of the scoreless five innings streak. The Red Sox right-hander has a big edge here in that the Rays have never faced him. That is a big edge for the knuckler. The under is 15-6 in Tampa Bay games the past three seasons when they are a road dog of +150 to +175. The under is 14-8 in the Red Sox last 22 games against teams with a losing record. 8* UNDER in Boston Wednesday

Rickenbach MLB Game #975/976 - Underdog Shocker - 8* Oakland A's Money Line +160 @ Texas Rangers @ 8:10 ET Tuesday - The value here is simply too good to pass up. The A's will be ready to bounce back after a shutout loss to the Astros yesterday and the pitching match-up is absolutely conducive to an upset. Oakland has Kendall Graveman getting the call this evening and he has a 1.88 ERA in his last 4 starts and allowed a single earned run or less in 3 of the 4 outings. He also has allowed just 4 earned runs in the 15 innings spanning his last two starts against Houston. The Astros will have Collin McHugh on the mound tonight and he allowed 4 runs in EACH of his last two outings against Oakland. Also, McHugh comes into this start having compiled an 8.36 ERA in his last 6 starts. The Astros have won the last two starts McHugh made but it certainly wasn't a reflection of how he pitched and Houston won each of his FOUR prior starts. The A's are on an 11-3 run in Graveman's last 14 starts. Simply exceptional underdog line value here. Over the past three weeks the A's have had 3 losses where they were held to 1 run or less and the Athletics have bounced back with a win every single time. I expect the same result here! 8* Oakland A's on the money line Tuesday.

Rickenbach MLB Game #973/974 - Total Dominator - 8* UNDER 9 or 8.5 in Texas Rangers vs Seattle Mariners @ 8:05 ET Tuesday - James Paxton of the Mariners worked off some rust in his most recent start as he had been on the disabled list. That said, I look for him to be even stronger in his 2nd start since coming back. The Mariners southpaw had allowed 1 earned run or less in 3 of his last 4 starts before going on the DL. Paxton has a stellar 1.38 ERA in his five career starts against the Rangers and I look for another strong outing from him at Texas tonight. The Rangers will have their own ace lefty on the mound as well. Cole Hamels gets the start for Texas tonight and he has a sparkling 1.71 ERA in his last 3 starts against the Mariners. Also, Hamels enters this outing having a 5-2 record and minuscule 1.59 ERA in his 8 starts since the All Star break. The southpaw is simply dominating and there is no reason that this game should not result in a pitchers' duel. Last night's game snuck over the total but this one won't. The M's are 10-5 to the under as a road dog of +125 to +150 this season. The Mariners also are on a long-term 34-18 run to the under when they enter a game on a losing streak of 3 games or more. 13 of the Rangers last 19 games against teams with a winning record have stayed under the total. Also, in August games the past 2+ years, the under is 49-24 in Rangers games. 8* UNDER in Texas Tuesday evening.

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

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

Rickenbach MLB Game #918 - Run Line Rout - 10* Top Play Detroit Tigers -1.5 -105 vs Chicago White Sox @ 7:10 ET Monday - The White Sox James Shields is off of a better start against the Phillies but Philadelphia hadn't faced him since last season. Now he faces a Tigers team that is very familiar with him and seeing him for the 4th time in the last 2 and 1/2 months. That doesn't bode well for Shields who has allowed 14 runs in the 16 innings spanning these three recent starts against Detroit. Also, Shields comes into this start having gone 0-4 in his 5 August starts with a 13.95 ERA and he's been rocked at a .408 clip in these outings. He's likely to get clobbered by the Tigers here and that should provide plenty of run support for Detroit's Matt Boyd to win this game by at least two runs. The Tigers southpaw is 5-0 with a 2.38 ERA in his last 8 starts (and 1 relief appearance) since he moved back into Detroit's rotation. The Tigers are hungry to bounce back after back to back losses to the Angels followed a 5 game winning streak that saw Detroit score 7.8 runs per game with every victory coming by a margin of at least two runs. The White Sox last 16 losses have come by an average margin of 3 runs per defeat and, with a complete pitching mismatch here, this looks like another blowout loss for Shields and the ChiSox. Each of the White Sox last 4 losses with Shields on the mound have come by at least 2 runs with 3 of them by 6 runs or more. 10* DETROIT -1.5 runs on the Run Line Monday Evening.

Rickenbach MLB Game #911/912 - Earliest Cash - 8* OVER 10 in Baltimore Orioles vs Toronto Blue Jays @ 7:05 ET Monday - The Blue Jays rolled to a 9-6 win versus Minnesota yesterday. The Jays have now won three straight games and averaged 10.7 runs per game in the process. Overall it is a 8-4 runs for Toronto in their last 12 games and they have averaged 6.1 runs per game during this solid stretch. They certainly should have no trouble with the offerings of Wade Miley who has an 8.18 ERA and has been hit at a .357 clip since the Orioles acquired him at the trade deadline. The Orioles also should have no problem doing plenty of damage at the plate in this one as they face a struggling Marco Estrada. The Blue Jays right-hander has allowed 11 earned run in just 9 innings spanning his last two starts. Home runs have been an issue too as Estrada has allowed 6 homers among the 22 hits he has given up in the 14 innings spanning his last three starts. Estrada is facing a solid Orioles lineup that has averaged 5.6 runs per game in their last 11 games. The over is 3-0 in Estrada's last 3 starts and 3-0 in Miley's last 3 starts. More of the same on Monday. 8* OVER in Baltimore Monday evening. 

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

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

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

Rickenbach MLB Game #919/920 - Total Contrarian - 8* OVER 8 in Boston Red Sox vs Kansas City Royals @ 7:10 ET Saturday - Friday's game was already 5-1 KC after just one inning of play and the fact is that the Red Sox lineup is known for being tough at home while the Royals have been one of the hottest teams in baseball of late and they also have hit lefties very well this season. I feel this match-up sets up very well for value because the Red Sox David Price and the Royals Danny Duffy both present numbers that push people toward the under but the fact is there are some key intangibles here that point toward the over. Price is off of a stellar outing against his former team (the Rays) and that will likely lead to a letdown here. Duffy is off of another outing where he allowed only 1 earned run but the key is what lies hidden within those numbers. Duffy was "off" in that game in terms of his command and he also was more "hittable" than usual but he managed to escaped unscathed and that is what helps lead to value now in a situation like this. This has resulted in an early line move on this total to an 8 (down from an 8.5). The over is 5-0 in Price's starts this month. Also, there has only been one under in Duffy's last 5 road starts. The Red Sox are the #1 offense in the league in home games. Against left-handed pitching this season, Boston and Kansas City hold the # 1 and #2 spots respectively for team batting average. Grab the line value with this low total. 8* OVER in Boston Saturday

Rickenbach MLB Game #972 - Run Line Rout - 10* Top Play Detroit Tigers -1.5 -105 vs Los Angeles Angels @ 7:10 ET Friday - The Angels, the last two games notwithstanding, have truly struggled on the road this season. After a 2nd straight upset win at Toronto last night, Los Angeles now faces a Tigers team that has won four straight games. Detroit also is happy to be back home as they look at atone for a rare, tough performance in their most recent homestand as they went 2-5 at home before going to Minnesota and getting the series sweep. Again, looking at the long-term numbers here you can see the Tigers at home have a big edge over the Angels on the road. Couple that with a huge pitching edge and we have the makings of a blowout win for Detroit in this one. That is why taking the run line at very nearly even money is offering great line value here. Of the last 14 team wins that the Tigers have had with Verlander on the mound, 11 of them have come by a margin of 2 runs or more. Verlander is 5-1 with a 1.93 ERA since the All Star break and teams are hitting a paltry .170 against him in those 8 starts. The Angels send Rickey Nolasco to the mound and they have lost all 4 of his starts since they acquired him. Overall this season Nolasco is 4-11 with a 5.22 ERA. The Tigers have hit him hard 2 of the 3 times they have faced him this season and the Angels bullpen is certainly not an area of strength. 10* DETROIT Run Line Friday

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

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

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

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

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

Rickenbach MLB Game #971/972 - Earliest Cash - 8* OVER 7.5 in Pittsburgh Pirates vs Houston Astros @ 12:35 ET Wednesday - The Astros Collin McHugh is winless in his last three starts with a 7.05 ERA and a 1.83 WHIP! The Pirates Gerrit Cole is winless in his last three starts and each of his last five starts have gone over the total. Cole has particularly struggled in his last two starts as he has been rocked for 24 hits in 11 innings of work! In his last three starts the Pirates right-hander has compiled a 6.48 ERA. The over is 8-2 in Cole's home starts this season. The over is 14-4 in Pittsburgh's Wednesday games this season. The over is also 25-15 in Pirates day games this season and the Bucs are 13-5 to the over in inter-league games. Look for the Astros to respond at the plate after being held to 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position in last night's game. Houston came into last night's game on a run of 9-4 to the over and the last 4 times they have been off of a game where they were held to 2 runs or less, the next game flew over the total. I look for that trend to continue after the Astros were held to just 1 run in last night's loss. 8* OVER in Pittsburgh early Wednesday afternoon.

Rickenbach MLB Game #915 – Divisional Dominance – 10* Top Play Detroit Tigers Money Line -115 @ Minnesota Twins @ 8:10 ET Tuesday – Not only have the Twins lost four straight games, their 25-37 record in home games is the worst home record in the American League. Minnesota is hosting a Detroit team that has played near .500 ball on the road this season and has a decided pitching edge on the mound. That said, I like grabbing the Tigers in this price range based on the favorable odds.  Last Wednesday, Detroit’s Anibal Sanchez faced a Royals team that is currently the hottest team in the majors (8 straight wins) and he took a no-hitter into the 7th inning of that game. He struck out 8 in that game and he also struck out 10 Twins the last time he faced them and that was only 5 weeks ago. Sanchez is fully capable of dominating Minnesota again Tuesday. He has been a different pitcher (in a good way) in recent weeks after going through some struggles earlier this season. Sanchez has produced a quality start in 4 of his last 6 outings. A big key to this play Tuesday evening is the fact that Kyle Gibson is off of a strong start in his most recent outing but he threw 115 pitches. The last four times that Gibson has thrown 100 pitches or more in a start, he’s given up at least 4 runs in the next start every single time. Overall, Gibson is only 1-5 in his home starts this season and he’s been hit at a .300 clip. Before his strong start (albeit against the Braves!), Gibson had been rocked for 35 hits in his last 20 and 2/3 innings! Look for more of the same here. 10* Detroit Tigers money line Tuesday.

Rickenbach MLB Game #927 – Earliest Cash – 8* Kansas City Royals Money Line -107 @ Miami Marlins @ 7:10 ET Tuesday – Even though the Marlins have won 3 straight games they previously had lost 11 of their 16 prior games. Also, they are barely above .500 at home this season so it’s not as if home field has been a big edge. The true “hot team” here is the Royals as they have 8 straight games. Although they have struggled on the road this season, Kansas City is simply a “team on a mission” right now and they have won 13 of their last 15 games. They are determined to remain in the hunt for a playoff spot and I look for KC to make it 9 in a row Tuesday as they have a big edge on the mound. Andrew Cashner gets the start for Miami and he is winless in his 5 appearances (4 starts) since coming to the Marlins. The right-hander has a 5.48 ERA in these 5 outings and he has only managed to pitch 6 innings a single time. The Royals will have Yordano Ventura on the mound and the righty is on a tear that has seen him not allow more than 3 earned runs in a start since early July. In fact, Kansas City has won each of his last four starts and Ventura has compiled a 2.52 ERA in these outings. The Royals are 53-23 in August games the past 2+ seasons combined. Even though the Marlins are off of a win Sunday, it was the 7th time in their last 12 games that they’ve been held to 3 runs or less! Conversely, the Royals are averaging 6.1 runs per game during their current 8-game winning streak. Look for them to roll again tonight. 8* Kansas City money line Tuesday.

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

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

Rickenbach MLB Game #951/952 - Earliest Cash - 8* OVER 9 in Cincinnati Reds vs Los Angeles Dodgers @ 12:35 ET Monday - Look for the Reds to bounce back after suffering a home shutout loss yesterday. Cincinnati will be facing a left-handed starting pitcher for a 3rd straight game and the Dodgers Scott Kazmir is a soft-tosser who has been struggling. The southpaw has 10 walks in the 16+ innings spanning his last three starts. Kazmir has also given up some big hits but he's been fortunate that the damage has not been worse and that is what is helping to give us some line value with this total Monday. In his most recent start, Kazmir gave up 8 hits and walked 3 for 11 baserunners in just 5 innings of work but, surprisingly, he only allowed 2 earned runs in that start. Now he faces a Reds team getting a 3rd straight look at a left-handed starter and they won Saturday's game 11-1 when southpaw Brett Anderson made the start for the Dodgers. The over is 13-3 in Reds Monday games this season. Cincy will have Homer Bailey making the start in this early game Monday. The right-hander has struggled badly against left-handed hitters in recent seasons and the Dodgers are loaded on that side of the plate throughout their lineup. Bailey took nearly 100 pitches to complete just 5 innings in his most recent start so both of these starting pitchers are currently having trouble with falling behind hitters. Bailey has made only 4 starts this season and only of them was a quality outing. The Dodgers are 11-5 to the over in games this season where they are a road fave in a range of -125 to -150. Yesterday's under was just the 2nd on that Los Angeles has had in their last 13 games. For the Reds it was just their 3rd under in their last 14 games. "Normalcy" returns Monday with hot hitting resuming for both clubs. 8* OVER 9 in Cincinnati early Monday afternoon.

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

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

Rickenbach MLB Game #901 - Earliest Cash - 7* Los Angeles Dodgers Money Line -128 @ Cincinnati Reds @ 1:10 ET Sunday - At the time of this write-up the Dodgers just now got their first hit in the top of the 7th inning Saturday night. The game has now moved into a rain delay at the mid-point of the 7th inning. At this point, the Dodgers have been thoroughly embarrassed in this game and I am expecting a much better effort against Sunday's starting pitcher. LA will be facing Cincinnati's Anthony DeSclafani and, though he's 7-1 on the season, there are a couple of reasons to believe he'll get rocked Sunday. For one thing he turned his ankle running the bases in his most recent start. This could certainly impact his pitching form Sunday. Additionally, he has allowed 13 hits (including 2 homers) in the 11 innings spanning his last two starts so he has been quite hittable of late and DeSclafani has been fortunate the damage hasn't been worse in terms of runs allowed in his recent starts. The Reds will be facing a left-handed starter Sunday and Cincy entered Saturday's action with an 8-17 record this season against southpaws. Lefty Julio Urias gets this spot start for the Dodgers and he pitched a 2 and 2/3 scoreless effort out of the bullpen recently. Also, in his recent starts he has given up just 2 earned runs in 9 innings of work. The Dodgers are 21-11 in day games this season and I look for them to improve to 14-6 in Sunday games on the season. Look for the Reds to drop to 7-13 in Sunday games. The better team with the better pitcher (and the healthier pitcher). I"ll take it considering the very manageable price here. 7* LA DODGERS Sunday  

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

Rickenbach MLB Game #956/966 - Total Crusher - 8* OVER 8 in Tampa Bay Rays vs Texas Rangers @ 6:10 ET Saturday - With yesterday's game going over the total, the over is now 11-2 in the Rays last 13 games. With A.J. Griffin on the mound for the Rangers, that strong trending toward overs should continue here. The Texas right-hander has a 7.41 ERA in his last three starts and has been rocked for an amazing 7 homers in those 3 starts. The Rays will have Jake Odorizzi on the mound and he'll be facing a Rangers lineup that has exploded for 22 runs during their 4 game winning streak. Overall, Texas has scored at least 5 runs in 8 of their last 10 games. Odorizzi has given up 7 earned runs in his last two starts and was also prone to the home run ball with 3 homers allowed in those two starts. The over is 3-0 in Odorizzi's last three starts and he'll be supported by a Rays offense that has averaged 7.8 runs per game in the last 5 games - a 4-1 stretch for Tampa Bay. Look for the over to improve to 7-2 the last 9 times that Texas has played in a dome. 8* OVER 8 in Tampa Bay Saturday.

Rickenbach MLB Game #951 - Afternoon Smash - 8* New York Mets Money Line +140 @ San Francisco Giants @ 4:05 ET Saturday - The Mets were tied with the Giants late in yesterday's game and then things just fell apart. That was not to be expected as New York's bullpen has performed better on the road this season than San Francisco's pen at home. The Mets are now healthier as they've gotten a bunch of key players back into their lineup. Even though Jay Bruce may miss this game that is not a big deal as he is a left-handed bat and the Giants are throwing a lefty this afternoon. Matt Moore gets the start for SF and he's still trying to settle in with his new team. He has walked 18 in the 24 and 2/3 innings spanning his last 4 stars and Moore's inability to have good command of his pitches is certainly a concern. He'll be opposed by Bartolo Colon who is off of a rare, rough road start. The veteran right-hander had previously allowed just 1 earned run or less in 6 of his last 7 road starts! Colon has not had back to back bad outings since mid-May so look for him to bounce back strong here. The Mets are 5-3 (+4.0 net units!) as a road dog of +125 to +150 this season. In day games, New York is 85-55 (+28.0 net units!) the past three seasons combined. The Giants entered this series with the Mets having a 5-10 record so far on the month. I look for their losing ways to resume this afternoon and see great value with the road dog. 8* NEW YORK METS Saturday.

Rickenbach MLB Game #915/916 - Over Easy - 8* OVER 9.5 in Baltimore Orioles vs Houston Astros @ 7:05 ET Friday - Since a fantastic start at Seattle right after the All Star break, the Astros Collin McHugh has given up 14 earned runs on 25 hits in 14 innings of work spanning his last three road starts. He's in trouble again here as the Orioles bats are heating up again with double digits in hits in 4 of their last 7 games and they've averaged 6 runs per game during this streak. The O's will also have an issue on the mound tonight too though. Baltimore is sending Wade Miley to the mound and the southpaw is struggling with more walks than strikeouts in his last two starts. Overall, in his last 3 starts, Miley has given up 12 earned runs on 22 hits in 15 and 1/3 innings of work. Although Miley has a decent history against Houston he is simply not in good, current form right now. Also, the Astros McHugh has struggled in recent starts against the Orioles, particularly in Baltimore where he allowed 2 homers in his last start there. Overall, the Astros enter this game on a 7-2 run to the over and the Orioles are on a 4-1 run to the over. In road games with a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs, the Astros are 13-4 to the over this season and on a 25-11 long-term run to the over. 8* OVER in Baltimore

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

Rickenbach MLB Game #903/904 - PA Insider - 8* OVER 9 in Philadelphia Phillies vs St Louis Cardinals @ 7:05 ET Friday - The Phillies are starting southpaw Andrew Morgan and he's still recovering from a line drive off the forearm of his throwing arm. Though he's been pronounced as "good to go" for this start I don't expect him to be at 100%. Even when Morgan is at 100%, check out his results: 1-7 with a 6.85 ERA this season. Morgan is facing a Cardinals team that is heating up at the plate as an offense that has produced 7.5 runs per game during a 4-game winning streak marches into Philly tonight. The Phillies are likely to do some damage at the plate as well. Philadelphia has averaged 5.5 runs per game in their last 12 games and they are buoyed by the late come-from-behind win over the Dodgers last night. They'll be facing Adam Wainwright tonight and the Cardinals right-hander has not been himself as he's given up 13 earned runs in the 8 innings spanning his last two starts. His strikeout numbers are down as well.  He has been hit hard in recent outings against the Phillies and Morgan has given up 12 hits in less than 10 innings in his two career starts against the Cardinals. Plenty of fireworks are likely at the ballpark in Philly tonight. The over is 9-2 in the Cardinals last 11 games and 10-0-2 in Philadelphia's last 12 games. That's right, 10 overs and 2 pushes. That trend continues tonight with two struggling starting hurlers on the mound. 8* OVER in Philadelphia

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

Rickenbach MLB Game #967/968 - Over Easy - 8* OVER 8.5 in Cleveland Indians vs Chicago White Sox @ 7:10 ET Thursday - The Indians Danny Salazar is returning from injury and unlikely to be "on top of his game" in his first game back. The fact is the Cleveland right-hander has been struggling for quite some time with 20 earned runs allowed on 34 hits in the 24 innings spanning his last 5 starts. He's facing a White Sox team that exploded for 10 runs yesterday. That game marked the 11th time in their last 16 games that the ChiSox have tallied double digits in hits. The Indians have also been hot at the plate as they've reached double digits in hits in 7 of their last 8 games. Even though Carlos Rodon is off of a very strong start for the White Sox he is likely to struggle here against the Indians. The ChiSox southpaw threw 122 pitches in his most recent start and, before back to back strong starts, Rodon had given up at least 4 earned runs in 3 straight starts. The over is 18-6 this season in Cleveland home games with a posted total of 8 or 8.5 runs. I expect the over to improve to 7-2 in Indians Thursday games this season as the hot hitting continues tonight. The over is 7-2 in Salazar's last 9 starts overall and also 7-3 in his 10 home starts this season. More of the same here. 8* OVER in Cleveland

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

Rickenbach MLB Game #929/930 - Over Easy - 8* OVER 8.5 in Atlanta Braves vs Minnesota Twins @ 7:10 ET Wednesday - Yesterday the Twins got the win but the game stayed under the total. Minnesota, when off of a victory this season, has gone an incredible 33-13 to the over in their next game. Also, the over is 12-3 in Twins games this month and 12-3 in Minny's inter-league games on the season. The Braves have gone 14-7 to the over this season in home games with a posted total of 8 or 8.5 runs. Atlanta had gone over the total in 4 straight games before last night's game stayed under the total. Mike Foltynewicz gets the start for the Braves and he's been having trouble with his slider in recent starts. His start at Washington last week marked the 3rd time in his last 4 starts that he has given up 4 earned runs or more. Each of Foltynewicz's last 4 starts have gone over the total. The Twins will also have a struggling hurler on the mound this evening as Kyle Gibson gets the start for them. The Minnesota right-hander  gave up 5 earned runs in his most recent start and that was the 4th time in his last 7 starts that he has allowed at least 4 earned runs. The over is a perfect 3-0 in his last 3 starts so, with these two starters on the mound, we're testing a double perfect system with this over tonight. Each hurler has a solid "over streak" intact heading into this match-up. 8* OVER in Atlanta

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

Rickenbach MLB Game #926 - Run Line Rout - 8* Tampa Bay Rays -1.5 +105 vs San Diego Padres @ 1:10 ET Wednesday - Chris Archer does not have a good record on the season but he certainly has deserved much better at home than what he's received. At Tropicana Field this season he has a 2.91 ERA in his 12 starts and he'll shut down a Padres team that is struggling to do much at the plate. In yesterday's 15-1 loss, San Diego was held to only 7 hits. Amazingly, that is the 9th straight game in which the Padres have been held to 7 hits or less. As for the Rays, their offense is getting back on track with a 3-game winning streak that has seen Tampa Bay erupt for 35 runs. The Rays should stay hot at the plate against Christian Friedrich as he has compiled an ugly 6.58 ERA in his last 10 starts. By playing the run line we get plus money on the superior pitcher plus we are fading a road team that is tied for the league lead in road losses with 39 already this season. As a road dog of +175 to +200 the Padres have gone 4-23 the past 3 seasons combined so the Rays are very likely to get the win here but of course I am not going to lay a 2 to 1 price on them. However, I will gladly lay the 1.5 runs knowing that the Rays have won by at least 2 runs in 16 of their last 17 victories. 4 of the Padres last 5 losses have come by at least 2 runs. 8* TAMPA BAY

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

Rickenbach MLB Game #973/974 - Over Easy - 8* OVER 10.5 in Texas Rangers vs Oakland Athletics @ 8:05 ET Tuesday - The Rangers bounced back from rare back to back shutout losses by getting a 5-2 win yesterday. Though Texas got their sticks going again the A's struggled at the plate but they faced Martin Perez who had been pitching well. Now the Athletics will be able to tee off against Lucas Harrell who is struggling with a 5.74 ERA in his last 3 starts and a 6.23 ERA in his home starts this season. Harrell got rocked for 6 runs in 6 innings in his most recent start. He'll be opposed by the A's Andrew Triggs who is only a "spot starter" and who allowed 3 earned runs in 4 innings in his most recent start. The Rangers, before the aforementioned back to back shutout losses, had won 6 of their 7 prior games and averaged 6 runs per game in the process. They should have no problem getting to Triggs who does not have overpowering stuff. As for the A's lineup against Harrell, he may have trouble seeing Oakland on the opposition's uniform's! Harrell is 0-3 with an insane 21.00 ERA in his career starts against the Athletics! Look for the over to improve to 4-1 in Harrell's home starts with a slugfest likely to erupt at Globe Life Park in Arlington tonight. The A's had averaged 10.5 hits per game in their last 4 games before being held "in check" last night. They'll bounce back here. 8* OVER in Texas

Rickenbach MLB Game #954 - Underdog Shocker - 10* Top Play Philadelphia Phillies Money Line +150 vs Los Angeles Dodgers @ 7:05 ET Tuesday - Vincent Velasquez gets the start for the Phillies and is from the LA area. That said, he is fired up after having a bad outing against the Dodgers last week in Los Angeles. Velasquez is a fierce competitor and the Phillies are also playing well as they have won 4 straight games since his turn in the rotation. Philadelphia's four game winning streak is tied with Boston for the longest in the majors right now. Velasquez is 4-1 in home starts this season with a stellar 1.72 ERA and a sparkling 0.98 WHIP. He'll be opposed by the Dodgers Kenta Maeda tonight and certainly the right-hander has pitched well. However, the Phillies lineup is surging with confidence right now and the Dodgers are simply way over-priced here considering they truly have no starting pitching edge here and their road record this season is no better than the Phillies home record this season. Tremendous home dog line value for a Philly team that has averaged 6.2 runs per game in their last 12 games. The Dodgers are an ugly 7-13 this season in road games with a posted total of 8 or 8.5 runs. The Phillies have won 5 of their last 6 home games and Velasquez has been fantastic in home starts this season and the bullpen is rested after yesterday's off day. 10* PHILADELPHIA Tuesday

Rickenbach MLB Game #904 - RL Game of the Week - 10* Top Play Colorado Rockies +1.5 runs +105 vs Washington @ 8:40 ET Monday - The Rockies Jorge De la Rosa has pitched much better than his full season records show. In his 11 starts since mid-June he has allowed more than 3 earned runs only 1 time! In the other 10 starts he has made over this two month period De la Rosa has compiled a fantastic 2.69 ERA. De la Rosa also has a stellar 5-2 record in his career starts against Washington and he has a 1.86 ERA against the Nationals in his last 3 starts. Max Scherzer gets the start for the Nats in this one. Though he has pitched very well of late, pitching at Coors Field is always a challenge. Also, in his last two starts against the Rockies (both last August) Scherzer was quite hittable with 7 earned runs on 16 hits in his 12 innings of work. Scherzer is only 1-4 in his career against the Rockies. With the wind expected to be blowing in at Coors Field tonight I expect it to be tough for the Nationals to get any kind of big inning against De la Rosa in this one and the Rockies are likely to be in this one all the way which is why I see big value with the +1.5 runs available at plus money for this one. The Nationals are 4-3 in their last 7 games but two of those wins came by just a single run. The Rockies have been in a tough stretch on the road but 3 of their last 6 losses have come by a single run and certainly they are happy to be back home where De la Rosa is a fantastic 52-19 in his career! Fantastic underdog value here with the Rockies. 10* COLORADO Run Line +1.5 RUNS Monday

Rickenbach MLB Game #919/920 - Total Dominator - 8* OVER 8 in Tampa Bay vs San Diego @ 7:10 ET Monday - When you think of the Padres, you likely don't think of a powerful lineup. However, against left-handed pitching this season San Diego's .451 slugging percentage ranks them 4th out of all 30 teams! That said, I expect the Padres to enjoy success against Drew Smyly of the Rays as he had more walks than strikeouts in his most recent start and he faces a Padres team that just faced a lefty yesterday and had a rare "off day" at the plate. The over is 11-4-2 in Smyly's last 17 starts and the Padres now will be seeing a southpaw in back to back games after having not faced one for awhile. The over is 11-3 in Padres inter-league games this season. Also, the over is 19-11 in San Diego games this season when the posted total is 8 or 8.5 runs. A big key to this play today is that Luis Perdomo gets the start for the Padres and he seems to have arm fatigue as he has faded in each of his recent starts. He'll generally get off to a good start with his sinker and then he'll fade and become more and more hittable as the start goes on. The over is 8-4 in Perdomo's starts this season and he's particularly struggled in his last 3 starts with a 6.23 ERA that easily could be even higher as he has amassed a 1.96 WHIP in these 3 outings. Perdomo is getting hit at a .337 clip this season and the Rays have averaged 5.5 runs per game in their last 11 games. 8* OVER 8 in Tampa Bay

Rickenbach MLB Game #909/910 - Earliest Cash - 8* OVER 9 in Cleveland vs Boston @ 1:10 ET Monday - The Red Sox won 16-2 yesterday and have now won 3 straight games and scored an average of 10.3 runs per game in the process. The Indians are off of a 5-4 win yesterday and have now won 4 straight games and scored an average of 9.3 runs per game in the process. The point is that two very confident teams with surging lineups are matched up early Monday afternoon and this should lead to plenty of "fireworks" on offense. The Indians are an incredible 34-17 to the over in home games this season. The Red Sox have seen both games at Cleveland go over the total this season. Boston should have no trouble with the offerings of Josh Tomlin as his recent struggles continue. The over is 7-1-1 in Tomlin's 9 home starts this season and he comes into this start having allowed 4 earned runs or more in 4 of his last 6 starts and this includes 7 earned runs in each of his last two starts. He'll be opposed by Boston's Drew Pomeranz who has a 5.26 ERA in his last 5 starts. The southpaw has given up 28 hits and 13 walks for a 1.60 WHIP in his last 5 starts. 5 of Cleveland's last 7 games against left-handed starters have gone over the total and I look for another one here as both of these lineups remain red hot. 8* OVER in Cleveland

Rickenbach MLB Game #951/952 - Primetime Piledriver - 8* OVER 9 in Chicago Cubs vs St Louis Cardinals @ 8:05 ET Sunday - Even though the Cardinals are missing some key players in their lineup they still managed to rally for a big 8-4 win yesterday. They will build off that victory today. Also, when they got to the Cubs John Lackey for 3 runs on 7 hits (including 2 homers) in defeating him in June, the guys who did the majority of the damage are guys who are healthy and available for tonight's game. So the Cards should get their fair share of runs as they are now seeing Lackey for the 4th time already this season. A big key to tonight's play is the fact that the Cubs should absolutely piledrive the Cardinals Mike Leake. He comes into this start with a 9.00 ERA in his last three starts and Leake is facing a Cubs team that, even with yesterday's loss, is 14-2 in their last 16 games and has averaged 5.5 runs per game during this hot streak. The over is 6-2 in the Cardinals last 8 games and the over is 13-4 in the Cards Sunday games this season. As a road dog of +150 to +175, the over is 6-3 in St Louis' games the past 3 seasons. The over is 27-16 in Cubs divisional games this year. 8* OVER 9 in Chicago Cubs game Sunday

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

Rickenbach MLB Game #969/970 - Early Play - 8* OVER 9 in Minnesota Twins vs Kansas City Royals @ 2:10 ET Sunday - Newly acquired Twin Hector Santiago has struggled in his first two starts with Minnesota. Overall, looking at his last 3 starts, the Minny southpaw has a 5.87 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP. The over is 8-4 in Santiago's home starts this season. He'll be opposed by Royals right-hander Edinson Volquez who certainly has also been enduring his share of struggles of late. Volquez is winless in his last three starts with an 8.47 ERA and a 2.12 WHIP. On the road this season has been where the veteran righty has particularly struggled as evidenced by a 2-7 record and a 6.67 ERA away from home. Each of the last 3 starts that Volquez has made have resulted in overs. The Twins, before yesterday's game stayed just under the total, have been an "over machine" of late. Minnesota had been on a 13-1 run to the over prior to yesterday's result. At home with a money line of -100 to -150 this season, the over is an incredible 17-3 (85%) in Twins games and I look for the high-scoring results to resume today. Overall, only 40 of Minnesota's 117 games this season have stayed under the total. With two struggling pitchers matched up and the wind expected to be blowing out on a mild afternoon in Minny, this one should easily eclipse the reasonable number. 8* OVER in Minnesota Sunday

Rickenbach MLB Game #955/956 - Early Play - 8* OVER 9 in Philadelphia Phillies vs Colorado Rockies @ 1:35 ET Sunday - The Phillies are playing with a lot of confidence at the plate right now and that helped lead the way to yesterday's 6-3 win. Buoyed by some recent big clutch hits from Ryan Howard, there is a renewed enthusiasm in the Phils clubhouse lately and I expect that to carry into Sunday. The Phillies have averaged 6 runs per game in their last 11 games and 10 of those 11 have gone over the total. I expect more of the same today as the Rockies Tyler Chatwood gave up 4 earned runs in 5 innings and had more walks than strikeouts when he faced Philadelphia last month. I am well aware of the fact that Chatwood has had great success on the road this season but the Phillies are simply "in the zone" right now when in the batters box. Of course the other key to this play this afternoon is that the Phillies Andrew Morgan should get absolutely rocked here. He is 0-5 in his home starts this season and he has a 7.26 ERA at Citizens Bank Park on the year. Morgan gave up 6 earned runs in 5 innings when he faced the Rockies last month. The Rockies have averaged 6.5 runs per game in their last 8 games and only 2 of those stayed under the total. The over is 8-3 in Morgan's starts this season. The over is 5-1 this season in Rockies games with a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs. 8* OVER in Philadelphia Sunday

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