Larry Ness

The third pick of my Superstar Triple Play is on the Colorado Rockies 10* (9:40 EST).

Whether Zack Godley or Zack Greinke throws for Arizona in this one, I like German Marquez in this spot for sure (note that whether it’s Godley or Greinke going, I like Marquez in this one. This play is based entirely around the fact that the Rockies are starting Marquez.)

Marquez (12-10, 3.96 ERA) has been on fire of late, and he’s been especially tough on the road (5-6 with a 5.14 ERA at Coors Field and 7-4 with a 2.74 ERA away from friendly confines.) 

The in-decision of who is actually going to get the start here for the home side only strengthens this play. I’m banking on Marquez continuing his strong end of season form, play on the Rockies.

Good luck…Larry

The second pick of my Superstar Triple Play is on the St. Louis Cardinals 8* (8:15 EST).

I don’t think that that home field advantage can be overlooked as a very real deciding factor in this particular match-up.

The visitors hand the ball to Madison Bumgarner (6-6, 3.14 ERA) who was lifted from his last start for precautionary measures with side issues. He’s been given the green light here, but note that while the veteran is a “lights out” 4-2 with a 1.34 ERA at home, he’s just 2-4 with a 5.42 ERA on the road.

The home side counters with John Gant (7-6, 3.53) who continues to throw consistently down the stretch, having allowed two earned runs or less in each of his last seven trips to the hill. 

Note that Gant owns a respectable 3.54 ERA at home so far, along with an elite 2.33 ERA in all night games.

An injured Bumgarner on the road? I’ll take Gant and the hard-hitting home side for what I think is a very reasonable mid-sized price.

Play on St. Louis.

Good luck…Larry

The first pick of my Superstar Triple Play is on the New York Mets 8* (7:05 EST).

I think this line could easily be a lot larger considering the massive talent discrepancy on the mound tonight.

The Nationals’ Joe Ross has actually looked decent in two straight no-decisions in his first action since July 2017, but Mets’ ace Jacob deGrom has been on an entirely different level all year, easily posting Cy Young worthy numbers to this point.

deGrom (8-9, 1.78 ERA) continues to throw at an elite level every night and note that he’s 5-3 with a 1.91 ERA on the road.

Ross (0-0, 3.60) will be given every opportunity as the season winds down, but I think he’s in well over his head in this spot.

I look for deGrom to out-distance his still un-proven counterpart. Lay the price, play on the Mets.

Good luck…Larry

My 10* CFB GAME OF THE WEEK is on Washington State (10:30 EST).

Washington State comes into this Friday night contest on top form, still unbeaten after destroying Easter Washington 59-24 at home Saturday.

USC comes in deflated after losing its second straight, most recently a listless 37-14 setback on the road in Texas. 

The Cougars will be feeling confident here as well, because when these teams played last year on September 29th, it was WSU which left with the 30-27 home win.

So far Washington State is second in the nation in passing with 421 yards per game. Overall the team is averaging 43.7 PPG and conceding just 14.3. QB Gardnew Minshew already had 1,203 yards with eight TD’s and three INT’s. He also has 30 rushing yards another score on the ground. James Williams has 137 yards on the ground and four TD’s. 

The Trojans are averaging just 274 yards per game and just 20 PPG scoring average, which is ranked 114th. The defense hasn’t been great either, conceding 25 PPG. QB JT Daniels has 817 yards, one TD and three INT’s. 

I’ll point out that the Trojans are 0-3-1 ATS in their last four conference games, while the Cougars are 4-0 ATS in their last four after scoring 40 or more points in their previous contest.

I have a hard time seeing USC slowing down the Cougars’ high-flying offense. Washington State has proven to be extremely tough defensively in the early going as well. Grab the point, play on the Cougars.

Good luck…Larry