The Snakes have come out of the gate hot again and their pitching has picked up right where it left off a season ago. Zack Greinke is 13-5 against St. Louis and the D-Backs are 24-10 after allowing one or fewer runs. 

The Cubs offense finally opened up yesterday in whipping Brewers 8-0 and I can see that carrying over again. Hendricks normally pitches well in Milwaukee and the Brew Crew offense is laboring. The Cubs are 72-36 on the road with a money line of -100 to -150.

From a common sense standpoint, Cincinnati being flipped from +120 to -120 over Pittsburgh makes no sense. The Reds are 1-4 while Pittsburgh is a sizzling 5-1. Cincy starter Luis Castillo (0-1, 10.80 ERA) was pounded in his first outing and Pirates hurler Trevor Williams tossed six no-hit innings to begin his season. Castillo has more ability and had a bad outing and has thrown well twice against the Bucs. Nevertheless, I cannot overlook the Reds are 5-18 after batting .225 or worse over a five-game span.

Had an easy winner with the Cards last night and they will take down a hot Arizona club tonight. Snakes starter Robbie Ray was awful in his first outing of the year and has a 6.52 ERA against the Redbirds in three careers starts, all losses for his team. Adam Wainwright is 8-3 against the D-Backs with a fine 2.56 ERA and he and St. Louis is 18-4 vs. NL teams scoring 4.5 or more runs a game on the season.

St. Louis should be up 2-0 over the Brewers but gave up two ninth inning bombs to lose last night. Look for the Redbirds to bounce back with Carlos Martinez on the hill. He will face Jhoulys Chacin who hasn't fared well against St. Louis, going 0-5 with a 6.10 ERA in six career starts. look for the Cards to move to 19-7 18-7 in road games vs. teams whose hitters draw three walks or less a game.

Houston is playing like World Series champions and hammers Baltimore yet again for a run line winner. The O's are 1-12 in road games after scoring three runs or less in three straight games, losing by 3.5 RPG.

Washington handled Cincinnati with ease in sweeping the Reds on the road and building on last year's sensational 51-32 away record. I'm looking for that to continue for the Nationals who are 8-0 in road games with a team slugging percentage of .430 or better on the season and are 12-6 at Atlanta the past two years. 

Happ is soft-tosser and is 8-2 SU against the Yankees. New York might too excited, providing Toronto the chance for an early upset.

They got the win they needed last night, this is what they traded Darvish for and the L.A. bullpen is stronger.

The Chicago Cubs are relying on their experiences of last year to help them, even down 2-0 in the series. Most thought the Cubs were done in playing Game 5 in Washington last week and in all the euphoria of winning last year's World Series, it is easy to forget they trailed 3-to-1 to Cleveland. Being down 3-0 is an entirely different matter and Chicago will have the best starting pitcher, Kyle Hendricks (8-5, 3.05) taking the ball in crucial game. Depending on the sportsbook, the Cubs are -111 to -114 favorites and I will surmise their intense desire to get back in series and rabid fans will help, along with L.A. being 4-11 in road games after a 5-game span with an OBP of .375 or better will be the difference.

Plus, add in this: Play on home favorites with a money line of -110 or higher (CHICAGO CUBS) batting .215 or worse over their last 10 games, against opponent with a starting pitcher whose ERA is less than 2.50 over his last five starts. (35-6, 85.4%, L5Y)

Best Team in Baseball wins again.

The Houston-Texas MLB contest for Monday sports a total befitting of the teams’ combined offensive potential, along with the hitters’ conditions at the Ballpark in Arlington. However, potential and what is actually happening right now are two different things. The Rangers’ lineup is struggling mightily lately, coming off a 3-game series in which they managed a grand total of 2 runs. Going back even further, looking at the 9-game road trip that they are coming off of, the Rangers scored just 25 runs on 56 hits, not exactly potent. What reason is there to believe the bats are going to wake up tonight against Astros’ RH Collin McHugh, who sports an ERA of 3.44 and WHIP of 1.26 currently. The Astros have also been struggling to plate runs, setting up for a nice system: Play Under - All teams where the total is 10 or higher (HOUSTON) - after 4 straight games where they stranded 7 or less runners on base, with a hot starting pitcher- ERA less than 2.50 over his last 5 starts. System record is 45-18 since 1997. Let’s go with the UNDER in Texas tonight.

How do you not take Verlander these days? I'll take a flyer! 

First, Play On AL favorites with a money line of -175 to -250 (BOSTON) scoring 4.4 to 4.9 runs/game, against an average AL starter (ERA range of 4.70 to 5.70), with a starting pitcher whose WHIP is 1.30 or lower. (114-26, 81.4%, L20Y and 8-0 this season)

Teams like the Red Sox win by 2.5 runs a game in this system and add when Boston is a -200 or higher favorite  this season, they are winning by 3 RPG. 

Tonight’s Colorado-Arizona game is the continuation of a potential wild card preview series. The price of it is showing a contest that would seem to be a hot versus not matchup, as the D-Backs are about 21 cents underpriced according to my numbers. The Rockies have come on of late, and the D-Backs have lost three out of four. However, it’s way too premature to suggest that Arizona is cooling off after its torrid stretch of the last few weeks. In fact, I wouldn’t say they’ve cooled at all considering they have scored 20 runs or 5.0 runs per game in this recent 1-3 stretch. Two of the losses just happened to come by a run. For tonight, the D-Backs go with Taijuan Walker, who has been outstanding in his last four starts, allowing two runs in his last 22-2/3 innings for an ERA of 0.79 with 21 K’s in that span. Let’s ride him and Arizona tonight.

Minnesota might not have a high team batting average, but teams like them know how to close out a series against an ordinary pitcher. Consider, Sunday AL home favorites with a money line of -150 or more, hitting .260 or less as a team, against an average AL starting pitcher (ERA range of 4.70 to 5.70) are 40-8, 83.3%, the last 20 years.

The Angels are hopeful that Mike Trout can return to the lineup today from his stiff neck injury. Either way, and considering the Halos have put back-to-back wins together without him, they are underpriced today against the Athletics. Oakland has been one of the worst road teams in the majors this season, 21-43 right now. They are also taking on a L.A. team that is right in the thick of the playoff chase, and one that has dominated lesser foes in late season games at home recently: LA ANGELS are 19-4 in home games vs. teams outscored by opp by 0.5 or more runs/game in the second half of the season over the last 3 seasons. The average score was LA ANGELS 5.6, OPPONENT 3.3. Parker Bridwell, today’s Angels’ starter, is in the midst of a nice rookie season and has demonstrated great control while going 7-2. He is a solid choice with the Angels today.

Two of the best pitchers in the American League go head-to-head tonight in New York when the Yankees’ Luis Severino squares off with the Indians’ Corek Kluber. The Yankees are a -110 home favorite and while I don’t think that line is an egregious miss by oddsmakers, I do feel that Cleveland as an underdog with Kluber on the hill is tough to pass up. Let’s quickly look at the basics for each team of late. The Indians are a a bit hotter having won four straight games, their bats have been a bit more lively of late having pounded out 51 hits over the L4 games, and their bullpen has been a bit better than the Yankees, not only lately but all season long. Look at this trend showing how Cleveland tends to ride hot streaks: FRANCONA is 33-11 against the money line after 2 straight wins by 4 runs or more as the manager of CLEVELAND. Kluber has been dominant, seemingly for the last 3-1/2 years. He is as good as underdog as you can get.

Let's not complicate this, Z. Greinke and the D-Backs are 22-5 playing against a team with a losing record, winning by 2.0 RPG. Next, in his career Greinke 23-3 at home vs. a NL team with an on-base percentage .315 or worse in the second half of the season, winning by 2.5 RPG. (Team's Record) With a great history against better San Francisco teams than this one, Arizona wins by at least two runs.

Frankly, it was a miracle the Dodgers lost last night. This is still the best team in baseball and they are 49-15 playing against a team with a losing record this season. Add in their starter Hyun-Jin Ryu  30-8 playing against a team with a losing record in his career (Team's Record) and L.A. is the play.

No idea what Tom Koehler is still doing as a starting pitcher and that is why the Jays lose to Rays today. 

I was perplexed to see this total in AL action sink from 9 to 8.5. Both offenses have been ringing up 5.5 or more RPG of late and each starting pitchers have been troubling in exact situations. Boston's Doug Fister (2-6, 5.56) struggles in the traveling gray's with a 7.27 ERA on the road. Cleveland's Carlos Carrasco (12-5, 3.76) has thrown much better in his past two outings after a bumpy stretch, yet has a 4.80 ERA at home and against the Red Sox checks in at an unsightly 6.43. With Carrasco 25-11 OVER as a home favorite the last few years, I'll grab the OVER. 

Brew Crew have won six of seven, as its offense has perked up recently in scoring 5.9 runs a contest. Brewers starter Zach Davies is 7-0 on the road with an impressive 2.52 ERA and the team has won nine of his 12 away outings. We know how dreadful the Giants have been all year and they are 22-41 vs. a NL team with an on-base percentage .325 or worse this season. Milwaukee continues winning ways. 

Neither Mike Leake or Ivan Nova have been pitching well of late, but I do like Nova and the Bucs are 8-2 at home and Leake is 13-28 in road games vs. a NL team with an on base percentage .325 or worse in the second half of the season. (Team's Record) 

Danny Salazar of Cleveland has been on fire since returning from the disabled list on July 22nd. In five starts since, he has gone 32-1/3 innings striking out 46 hitters while allowing just 5 earned runs. His ERA during that stretch is just 1.39 and his WHIP is a minuscule .835. Even still, the Indians only earned him two wins during that stretch. Today, he and the sizzling Indians finish off a set against Kansas City and are moderately priced at -154 as a favorite. That seems a low price to pay for as good as Salazar has been in combination with the Indians winning eight of their L9 games. The bullpen and bats have also been stellar of late and historically, under Francona, when Cleveland is on a roll, it stays on a roll: FRANCONA is 31-10 (+18.9 Units) against the money line after 2 straight wins by 4 runs or more as the manager of CLEVELAND. Let’s go with the Tribe today.

Tampa Bay has been in a real rut offensively, averaging 2.2 runs per contest going into Saturday. Today we will have a precise indication of just how bad this slump really is when they face Seattle's Yovani Gallardo. The seemingly almost washed up Gallardo is only 31, but he's dropped about 5 MPH on his fastball since his prime with Milwaukee and has a 5.84 ERA. The Rays Blake Snell (4.79 ERA) is not exactly missing a myriad of bats as his 4.89 ERA suggests. With the total at 9.5, my pal Gallardo is 14-4 OVER in road games vs. teams whose hitters strike out seven or more times a contest since last year.

#951 Cardinals -120 ML

St. Louis offense is hot and has edge in starting pitchers.

Do I really have to explain! Dodgers steamrolling. 

Cubs offense scoring, Quintana not great but has excellent against Jays. Toronto starting N. Tepesch? Enough said. 

When you think of Arizona playing Minnesota, even ardent baseball fans cannot visualize an instance of these two teams on the same field ever. Of course it has happened and I can foresee the outcome falling below the sportsbooks post of 9. Zack Godley has been a consistent starter all season and is sporting a fine 2.95 ERA. Statistically, Ervin Santana is having one of his best seasons at 34 and his 3.28 ERA is well below his career-norm of 4.04. To further support this line of thinking, the D-Backs are 25-9 UNDER on the road when the money line is +125 to -125 and Santana is 17-7 UNDER as an underdog of +150 or lower. 

The Texas Rangers offense has hit another gear, averaging better than 11 hits a contest and 6.9 runs in their last seven games. They will face somebody named Reynaldo Lopez (3.00) for the White Sox and if he got any sleep after watching Texas highlight's from last night, I would be shocked. The total of 11 might sound high even with how the Rangers are swinging the lumber, nonetheless, Texas starter Tyson Ross is not exactly mowing down opposing batters with a 7.10 ERA in eight starts. Don't be afraid of big number. 

Lance Lynn (10-6, 3.12) has put together a strong season for St. Louis, but many feel that will not be good enough versus a blistering Boston bunch that has won 11 of 13. The Cardinals have flown from +125 to +140 at Fenway. While Lynn would seem to give the Redbirds a real chance for a win, the Red Sox are a sensational 24-5 at home in inter-league games the last three seasons. 

Last evening St. Louis and Boston totaled 14 runs with the Red Sox a 10-4 winner, as the team's pounded out 25 hits and the famous Green Monster in left field got plenty of background shots on television. Tonight's total has been set at 9.5, but I'm not sure it will be threatened with Lance Lynn (3.12) facing  Eduardo Rodriguez (3.80). Lynn has a 1.45 ERA in his past seven starts and has held opponents to two runs or fewer in an major-league-best 18 starts and one or fewer in 12 starts, which ties him for the major league lead. Rodriguez is 5-1 UNDER at Fenway Park this season and if his team is off a victory, the left-hander is 15-4 UNDER. 

There are several main principles I also try to keep as religion in my betting process. One of them is to never overlay points or money with bad teams. If you are having to overpay for these teams you are making bad decisions. For tonight, there is a bad team that seems badly overpriced, San Diego. Now granted, I am not going to be spewing any information about how potent the Phillies are as the underdog here, other than to say that their starter Mark Leiter, is on a pretty good run of late. Leiter has made three starts for the Phillies this season and has a 3.31 ERA and 1.16 WHIP with 16 strikeouts over 16.1 innings. San Diego is just 4-9 in its L13 games so it’s not exactly as if the Padres are playing well. On top of all this, 79% of the betting public at a noted sportsbook is on the Padres. Let’s go with the Phils tonight.

With Jacob deGrom (3.21) facing Sonny Gray (3.39), it seems safe to say there will be quite a few more people in the bar at Trump Tower in New York than on base at Yankee Stadium tonight. Both pitchers have been dialed in for some time now and with the total at eight, this does not appear anything they cannot overcome. While both the Mets and Yankees are capable of hanging crooked numbers in several games, they have become inconsonant. For example, the Yanks are 18-9 UNDER after batting .225 or worse over a five- game span, while the Metropolitans are 19-7 UNDER vs. teams outscoring opponents by 0.5 or more runs a game in the second half of the season since last year.

Though Kansas City was losing the first three times on their current road trip eight-game road trip, they were coming out of their offensive funk and have tallied 6.6 runs per contest thus far as they travel to Oakland. The Athletics bats have been in good form also in ringing up 5.6 RPG in their last seven ballgames. A Jake Junis (4.70 ERA) vs. Jharel Cotton (5.72) matchup does not inspire the thought of a low score with the MLB odds at 9.5. Here is something you should consider; AL teams hitting .260 or less, against an opponent with a bullpen ERA 4.50 or higher, batting .305 or better over their last five games, are 34-8 OVER since 2013. 

Both Houston and Arizona are going through a rough patch. Those sensational offenses we witnessed before the All-Star break have cooled and the continual winning with it. The Astros have only scored 17 runs in their past half dozen tries and trying to solve the array of pitches from Zack Greinke (3.14) is never a simple process. Since winning wild 10-8 contest at Wrigley Field, Arizona have averaged 3.77 RPG. While it is true they have faced some tough pitching staffs in that stretch, every team does. Collin McHugh (5.32) has been either good or bad since returning from the DL for Houston and with the D-Backs 11-2 UNDER playing against a foe with a 54% to 62% win percentage, I will support the UNDER 9. 

For those unfamiliar with living in the south desert of Arizona, this is the so-called - Monsoon Season - where from basically July 4th until the end of August, the majority of time there is a chance of rain. Otherwise, you can literally go months without moisture on the ground. My educated prediction is that a Jake Arrieta vs. Zack Godley will be in keeping with sparse production in terms of base-runners plating. After a slow start, Arrieta has only given as many as three earned runs just once in his last seven starts. And with all the pitching prospects the Arizona was thought to have developed over the last five years, Godley is emerging the best of the bunch with a super 2.94 ERA. With the Snakes a -110 to -115 opening favorite and total of 9, you has to ponder in the Cubs past 30 games in which their money line was -125 to +125, the average total runs scored was 7.7 per game, which explains my outcome.

Today’s line in the Cincinnati-Milwaukee game is quite strange considering the pitching matchup in the contest, where yesterday’s game closed, how it finished. The Reds go with Sal Romano today, and he currently owns a +5.30 ERA and +1.6 WHIP, not exactly road favorite type numbers. He is almost that today in terms of pricing. Milwaukee goes with Matt Garza, who prior to his last start had been on a bit of a roll, having not allowed more than four runs in any of his prior 10 starts. He apparently also called a players’ only meeting for the team on Thursday so is clearly taking a leadership role with this team. Milwaukee was a -156 favorite last night with only a slightly better pitching advantage, and figures to get a mental boost from the 6-5 extra inning walk-off win. Let’s go with the Brew Crew today.

Big number on Aaron Nola and Phils but oddsmakers know what they are doing. 

Yesterday's pitching match was pretty good, but today's is much better with Drew Pomeranz (3.36 ERA) going against Luis Severino (2.91) on FS1 at 4:05 EDT. With rare exception, both have been in very good grooves and especially so lately, with the Boston lefty sporting 2.50 ERA in his last three starts and Severino downright stingy at 0.96 in the same amount of games. With the total posted at 8.5, the Yanks are 12-4 UNDER in the second half of the season versus winning teams. 

The Angels bats were ready last night and knocked around James Paxton, who had been on a major roll and finished off Seattle with Mike Trout's bases clearing double in the ninth inning for the victory. With the total at 9.5, that seems low considering we are talking about starting pitchers Ricky Nolasco (5-12, 5.09 ERA) for Anaheim and Marco Gonzales (0-0, 12.27) for the M's. Both clubs are averaging nearly five runs a contest in their past seven games and with two starting pitchers like this, each team will have an excellent opportunity to reach that same level of scoring by the sixth inning. 

R. Hill and Dodgers do not allow many runs and C. Richard gives up plenty. When the Dodgers face teams that allow 5 or more runs a game, they win by 3.1 RPG this season.  

Lance Lynn has quietly enjoyed one of the best starting pitcher runs in MLB of late, putting together six consecutive quality starts while going 4-0 with an ERA of 1.21 and WHIP of 0.964. His team is also heating up and has closed to within 1.5 games of the front running Cubs in the NL Central. The Cards have won five straight games while scoring 42 runs and pounding out 51 hits in the L4 contests. The Royals are spiraling the opposite way, having lost eight of their L10 games. Ironically, for tonight, my price finds St. Louis about 12 points higher than the -145 listed. With Lynn in the midst of a nice campaign, take a look at this angle: N. YOST is 43-99 against the money line in road games vs. an NL starting pitcher whose WHIP is 1.250 or better in all games he has managed. I love finding spots where hot teams are underpriced. This looks like one of them.

I have been hard on K. Gausman all year and deservedly so, but he is 5-0 with a 2.87 ERA in his past eight starts for Baltimore and pitching like the organization always felt he was capable of. The Halos are down to pitching Troy Scribner with so many pitchers on the DL this season. The Birds lost last night, but they are still 10-2 vs. an AL team with an on-base percentage .320 or worse in the second half of the season. Orioles take the series!

One of the lesser touted trade deadline deals this summer involved the Baltimore Orioles, who quietly obtained Jeremy Hellickson from the Phillies. Hellickson wasn’t exactly having a great year but his current WHIP of 1.23 is certainly respectable and in his first start with the O’s, he held the Royals scoreless on five hits in seven innings. That type of success may have been predictable as Hellickson was quite reliable in his first five years in the AL with Tampa Bay. Perhaps it is a good sign of things to come, as he and the O’s look to creep back into playoff contention. After three straight wins while scoring 23 runs on 37 hits, it looks like the iron may be striking hot for backing them. There is also this little trend to consider: BALTIMORE is 10-1 (+9.2 Units) against the money line vs. an AL team with an on base percentage .320 or worse in the second half of the season this season. The Angels meanwhile have lost three in a row and their pitching is floundering. Let’s take the O’s to outscore the Angels tonight.

#915-16  Astros/White Sox Over 9.5

Here is what you need to know about Houston and the Chicago White Sox. The Astros are the best team in the AL, they average a mind-boggling 6.9 runs per game on the road (Washington is second in baseball at 5.4) and they have been without two of their best hitters, George Springer and Carlos Correa for some time. They will face Derrick Holland (5.27), who is not the same pitcher we remember in Texas before injuries and he has 6.63 ERA in his past three starts, walking nearly a batter an inning, which is making his problems far worse. Dallas Keuchel is 9-1, with a 2.15 ERA, but after a lengthy bout on the DL recovering from a neck ailment, the left-hander has shown signs of vulnerability, allowing a total of six earned runs in eight innings (6.75 ERA) over the two starts. When I look at those MLB odds of 9.5 on the total and uncover Holland is 14-3 OVER vs. teams outscoring foes by one or more runs a game and Houston is 12-4 OVER on the road when the total is 9 to 9.5 this season, I really do not have to do any more research.

The New York Yankees have been hanging around first place all season, which has been rather startling considering they were supposed to do this possibly next season in the remodeling process. Among the reasons for their success has been CC Sabathia (9-4, 3.81 ERA), who looked to be going the way of Matt Cain, an older ace with a big contract too expensive to release, who could barely get hitter's out. Sabathia figured out a new way to pitch, got healthy and has pitched beyond expectations.  J.A. Happ (4-8, 3.92) will go for Toronto and he appears to finally getting healthy and he has a great track record versus the Yankees. With total at 9.5 (now 9), the Yankees big man is 13-4 UNDER versus teams averaging 1.25 or more homer a game and Happ is 16-5 UNDER in home night games since 2015.  

The Dodgers have won 43 of their last 50 games, the best 50-game stretch in 105 years! I don't how you bet against them, especially with a System like this: Play Against home underdogs with a money line of +125 to +175 (NY METS) with an overused bullpen that pitches more than 3.2 innings per game, with a cold starting pitcher whose WHIP is 2.00 or higher over his last three starts. (55-13, 80.9%, L5Y)

The Big A in Anaheim has for a long time been known to favor lower scoring games. Though Anaheim is quite a ways inland from the Pacific Ocean, the nightly heavier air keeps enough fly balls in the park. Yet in the last three seasons when rival Oakland comes to town, the game could be played in a dense fog (OK a slight exaggeration) and these two clubs would still score runs. No doubt the pitching staffs for both teams have not been great and this the key rationale behind them having 17-6-1 OVER record. Today, a scuffling Sal Manaea (5.17 ERA, L3G) is opposed by a seemingly always scuffling Rick Nolasco (5.40 ERA, L3G). With the A's a +115 underdog and the total at 9, Manaea is 11-3 OVER in that role this campaign. 

One of the hottest pitchers in the league is underpriced today, and strangely enough, it comes against one of the league’s worst lineups. That pitcher is Gerrit Cole, and his opponent for today is San Diego. The Padres are 12-games under .500, have lost back-to-back games, and are just 19-33 on the road in 2017. They are also a very poor underdog: GREEN is 30-63 against the money line as an underdog of +125 to +175 as the manager of SAN DIEGO. Cole has been stellar of late, with five straight quality starts in which he has compiled a WHIP of 1.09 with 34 K’s in 32 innings. He has also thwarted poor lineups: COLE is 12-3 against the money line vs. a NL team with a team batting average of .255 or worse this season. (Team's Record). Let’s go with Cole & the Pirates tonight.

Milwaukee and Tampa Bay remain in playoff contention in part because of how well their starting pitchers have performed, with both in the Top 7 in the majors in ERA. Two hurlers who have made huge contributions will start this evening, Zach Davies for the Brewers and Alex Cobb for Tampa Bay. Davies is 6-0 on the road this season with a sterling 2.83 ERA and 1.21 WHIP. Cobb was knocked around in his last start at Houston, but for the season has an excellent 2.58 ERA when pitching under the dome in Clearwater. Add in the Brew Crew is 15-2 UNDER after scoring four runs or less in three straight games this season, this will be low scoring affair.

I just cannot see how you back Phillies on the road at 16-39 and after a slow start, Colorado is 19-7 at Coors Field. The Phillies are 9-26 after scoring four runs or less in three straight games and have lost 47 of 67 after losing previous contest. The Rockies will Rock!

There is quite an attractive underdog betting system available for tonight in the NL Central duel between St Louis and Cincinnati: It says to Play on All underdogs with a money line of +100 to +150 after being shut out in a loss to a division rival, a bad team (38% to 46%) playing a team with a losing record. The record of the system is 64-35 in its L99 games, good for 64.6%. That is certainly noteworthy on an underdog. Tonight that underdog is the Reds. St. Louis isn’t in much of a place right now to be a road favorite, as they are just floundering along, 3-4 in their L7 games and sitting 2-games under .500 overall. Starter Mike Leake has also been wildly inconsistent of late. Cincinnati starter Asher Wojciechowski hasn’t been unstoppable, but his WHIP of 1.12 and his 35 K’s in 34 innings certainly show potential to be.  Let’s ride him and the Reds tonight in the underdog role.

As we are all aware, baseball's a fickle sport. Philadelphia off five straight wins flew to Anaheim and has scored one time in two games versus two below average Angels starters and been whipped twice. They will attempt to salvage one game in the series, but have blown up from +130 to +150 underdogs. With suddenly no offense and Jerad Eickhoff (2-7, 4.56) hardly inspiring confidence, this is easy to understand. They will take on the Halos best pitcher, Parker Bridwell (5-1, 2.83), who is making the most of his opportunity, having just turned 27. Though the Angels offense is hardly reliable at 4.2 RPG, in their past eight contests they have averaged 6.2 RPG.

Colorado right-hander German Marquez has gotten back in a good groove with a 3.05 ERA in his past three starts. Though the Rockies fell last night, they have still scored five runs in each of the first two games in this series and should be able to knock Mets starter Rafael Montero (1-7, 5.56) around.

Consider that info and this system: Home favorites like the Rockies with a money line of -125 to -175, batting .290 or better over their last 20 games, against opponent starting pitcher who is working on five or six days rest are 41-10 since 2013.