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

Rickenbach MLB Game #903/904 - PA Insider - 8* OVER 7.5 in Los Angeles Dodgers vs Pittsburgh Pirates @ 4:05 ET Saturday - Brandon McCarthy started off strong for the Dodgers when he returned to the rotation in July. However, he has been on the fade in his last three starts. McCarthy has not lasted longer than 4 innings in any of his last 3 starts. He has walked 10 while striking out just 2 in his last 2 starts and all of these baserunners are eventually going to catch up with him. He has managed to escape "major damage" in these starts but I can see the Pirates really crushing him today. It is a day game at Dodger Stadium so the ball will carry a little better than it does in night games. Also, Pittsburgh has a .341 on base percentage in day games and that is good for 4th out of all 30 MLB teams this season. The Pirates will have Gerrit Cole on the mound this afternoon and, even though the Southern Cal native is 3-0 in his last 3 starts against the Dodgers he has given up 3 earned runs in each outing. The Dodgers, like the Bucs, also have a .341 on base percentage in day games this season. Cole has been hit at a .294 clip by left-handed batters this season and the Dodgers will have plenty of lumber in the lineup for that side of the plate today. Yesterday's game stayed under the total but the Dodgers had gone over in 4 straight. 9 of the Dodgers last 14 games against teams with a winning record have gone over the total. The Pirates are 22-14 to the over in day games this year. 8* OVER in Los Angeles Dodgers Saturday

Rickenbach MLB Game #915/916 - Earliest Cash - 8* OVER 8.5 in Toronto Blue Jays vs Houston Astros @ 1:05 ET Saturday - Yesterday's game stayed just under the total but it was no fault of the red hot Astros bats as they tallied 5 runs on 12 hits. Houston has now averaged 9.3 runs per game in their last 4 games and has had at least 9 hits in 7 of its last 8 games. The Astros should stay hot against Aaron Sanchez who is coming off of a rough outing at Kansas City where he allowed 4 earned runs on 9 hits in 6 innings of work. Houston's Collin McHugh will be the other struggling hurler in this match-up. The Astros right-hander is 0-3 with an 8.59 ERA and a 1.91 WHIP in his last 3 starts. The Blue Jays had scored at least 6 runs in 5 of their 8 home games prior to being held to just 3 yesterday. Toronto should fare well against an Astros starter that has been ultra-hittable of late. Look for the over to improve to 12-6 in Jays Saturday games this season. 8* OVER 8.5 in Toronto Saturday

Rickenbach MLB Game #959/960 - 8* OVER 9 in Milwaukee Brewers vs Cincinnati Reds @ 8:10 ET Friday - After surprising success in his first MLB start since Tommy John surgery, the Reds Homer Bailey quickly got a "reality" check at Pittsburgh in his second start. Against the Pirates, Bailey was rocked for 5 earned runs on 8 hits in just 3 innings of work Saturday. In his last two starts at Milwaukee Bailey has lived up to his first name (literally!) as it has been 5 HOMERS allowed in less than a dozen innings of work. The only good news for Reds fans is that their own lineup should enjoy plenty of success at the plate as well. Cincinnati will be able to "tee off" against the Brewers Jimmy Nelson. The right-hander is struggling badly with an 0-3 mark and a 12.46 ERA and 2.54 WHIP in his last 3 starts. Nelson has seen only 1 of his 5 starts since the All Star break stay under the total. The over is 8-4 in Reds games where they are a road dog of +100 to +125. The over is also 11-5 when Cincy is on the road and the posted total is 9 or 9.5 runs. Additionally, the over is 26-14 in Cincinnati's divisional games this season. As for the Brewers, there have been just 2 unders this season in their 10 games against the Reds. This game tonight has the makings of a slugfest with Nelson having allowed 3 homers in his last 3 starts. 8* OVER 9 in Milwaukee Friday

Rickenbach MLB Game #975 - 8* Chicago White Sox Money Line +125 @ Miami Marlins @ 7:10 ET Friday - The White Sox Carlos Rodon was throwing as high as 100 mph on the gun in his most recent start. The southpaw looked great against the Orioles and he now faces a Miami team that is not familiar with him. This is a big edge when you're throwing the way the southpaw is and I really liked what I saw from him versus Baltimore. The Marlins will have Andrew Cashner on the mound and he was hit hard by the Rockies in his most recent start. Cashner will be facing a ChiSox lineup that, before struggling against Duffy and KC yesterday, had reached double digits in hits in 5 of their 6 prior games. I am well aware of the fact that the Marlins have fared well against left-handed pitching this season but Rodon is off of a confidence-building outing and will throwing high heat again tonight. I look for the Marlins to drop to 4-8 in interleague games this season. As for the ChiSox, they are set up well to improve to 4-2 in Rodon's last 6 starts. Underdog line value here with the more proven starting pitcher. Yes, I know Rodon's record is poor this season but the southpaw has given up 2 earned runs or less in 7 of his last 11 starts! 8* CHICAGO WHITE SOX money line Friday

Rickenbach MLB Game #965/966 - 8* OVER 9 in Toronto Blue Jays vs Houston Astros @ 7:05 ET Friday - The Astros last 3 games have totaled 46 runs and, as you would expect, all 3 went over the total. They should keep hitting the ball well tonight as Francisco Liriano gets the start for the Blue Jays and he is 6-11 with a 5.34 ERA this season. He'll be opposed by Houston's Joe Musgrove. I am well aware of the fact that Musgrove has had some surprising early success in his first two appearances at the MLB level (once out of the bullpen and once as a starter). However, this is still a guy whom had not pitched above the AA level in the minors until this season. At the AAA level this season he was hit at a .262 clip so it's not like he was mowing hitters down. He now faces a dangerous Blue Jays lineup that just took 2 of 3 from Tampa Bay and scored 7 runs in each of the two wins. The over is 13-3 this season (and 25-10 the last 3 seasons) in Astros road games with a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs. 8* OVER 9 in Toronto

Rickenbach MLB Game #911/912 - Afternoon Contrarian - 6* OVER 8.5 in Oakland A's vs Baltimore Orioles @ 3:35 ET  Thursday - Andrew Triggs gets the start for the A's in this one and he has mostly pitched out of the bullpen this season but the results are not impressive. Triggs has a 5.35 ERA on the season and opposing hitters are batting .297 against him. It is a big jump from AA ball to the big leagues and Triggs did not spend much time at all at the AAA level this season. This has put him in a tough spot here against a solid Orioles lineup as he makes just his 2nd MLB start. This is the 4th game of a 4 game set for Baltimore at Oakland and the first three games have been pitchers duels. That said, the odds maker is no fool in making this total an 8.5 even though the first three games COMBINED have only totaled 9 runs in this series. Today we should get 9 easily as Triggs is just not ready to be a big league starter and the Orioles Chris Tillman has a 5.94 ERA in his last three starts. Remember that Tillman also got hit at a .300 clip in June so, the point is, that he has just not been quite as sharp of late compared to how he was throwing back in April and May of this season. The A's will do much better in this day game setting at the plate as the ball carries better in day games and the wind will be blowing out to right field at a good clip for this one. 6* OVER 8.5 in Oakland

Rickenbach MLB Game #919/920 - Daytime Dominator - 6* OVER 11 in Texas vs Colorado @ 2:05 ET Thursday - Yesterday's game stayed under the total even though both bullpens showed some issues. Lucas Harrell gets the start for the Rangers today and he has some ugly numbers in his 5 career starts against the Rockies. Harrell has been roughed up with a 7.40 ERA and a 1.89 WHIP in his games against Colorado. The over is a PERFECT 5-0 in those starts! In other words, when Harrell has made a start against the Rockies there has NEVER BEEN A LOSS on an over ticket. Considering that the Rockies should again pound Harrell (5.17 ERA in his home starts this season) and that the Rangers are riding the momentum of a 5-game winning streak, I look for a back and forth slugfest here. Chad Bettis gets the start for the Rockies here and he has been hit at a .304 clip in day games this season. Bettis has a 5.40 ERA in day games this year. Look for the over to improve to 9-3 in Colorado's Thursday games this season. 6* OVER 11 in Texas Thursday

Rickenbach MLB Game #901/902 - Earliest Cash - 6* OVER 7.5 in New York Mets vs Arizona Diamondbacks @ 12:10 ET Thursday - I am well aware of the fact that the Mets have injuries that have impacted their lineup and that, overall, they have not been hitting the ball well. However, the Mets should have no trouble with the offerings of Braden Shipley. Not only is the young right-hander struggling but he also will be without the catcher who caught two of his better games. In the only start that Welington Castillo did not catch Shipley, the righty got rocked for 6 earned runs in less than 6 innings of work at Milwaukee. The Mets will have Noah Syndergaard on the mound for this one and he has not been himself for quite some time. Over the last two months he has given up 53 hits in 44 and 1/3 innings. Of course these are ugly numbers by his standards and the over was 8-3 in his 11 starts prior to his most recent outing staying under the total - even though Syndergaard did allow 4 earned runs in that start last week. The over is 23-14 in Diamondbacks day games and yesterday's extra inning affair helps us in terms of using up some extra bullpen as the game took 12 innings to decide. 6* OVER 7.5 in New York Mets Thursday