Matt Fargo

This is a play on the ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS as part of our MLB Friday Triple Play. Take Colorado out of Coors Field and bad things happen to the offense. The Rockies are hitting a MLB-best .284 at home but on the road, they are hitting just .226 which is good for second worst in baseball. It is certainly showing on this roadtrip as they have scored three runs or less in all six games, averaging just 1.5 rpg. While the National League West and the Wild Card playoffs are wide open, no series this weekend is bigger than it is for the Diamondbacks. They can play themselves right back into the playoff chance or by Sunday night, they could be eliminated. Getting off to a strong start is huge and they hand the ball to their ace to do so. Zack Greinke has been great at home with a 2.43 ERA and 1.01 WHIP and in two home starts against Colorado this season, he has allowed just two runs in 13.2 innings. German Marquez has been outstanding since the All Star Break with a 2.78 ERA and 1.02 WHIP in 11 starts, all of which have been quality outings but all that does is keep this number down. Here, we play on National League teams when the money line is +125 to -125 that are hitting .255 or worse and with a starting pitcher whose WHIP is 1.15 or better on the season going up against a starting pitcher whose ERA is 3.70 to 4.20. This situation is 65-32 (67 percent) over the last five seasons. 10* (962) Arizona Diamondbacks

This is a play on the MIAMI MARLINS as part of our MLB Friday Triple Play. The Reds took the opener of this series last night to move to 3-4 on this current roadtrip but have not won consecutive games and are just 30-48 on the highway for the season. Miami is six games worse than Cincinnati in the overall record are five games better with home/road marks yet the Marlins come in as significant underdogs. Luis Castillo is partly responsible for that as he has put together four straight solid outings but it is hard to ignore his 5.56 ERA and 1.42 WHIP on the road in 16 starts with just four of those resulting in quality outings. One of the hard to explain phenomenon in baseball is the home/road splits for pitchers as some just feel more comfortable in their own park and at the top of the list is Wei-Yin Chen. He is coming off another poor outing on the road where he allowed five runs in four innings against the Phillies to drop his ERA to 9.29 and WHIP to 1.85 in 12 road starts and he returns home where he has posted a 1.77 ERA and 0.99 WHIP in 12 starts. Miami falls into a solid contrarian situation where we play on teams when the moneyline is +125 to -125 that are hitting .215 or worse over their last 15 games going up against an opponent with a starting pitcher whose ERA is less than 2.00 over his last three starts. This situation is 42-18 (70 percent) over the last five seasons. 9* (956) Miami Marlins

This is a play on the MILWAUKEE BREWERS as part of our MLB Friday Triple Play. It goes without saying this is a big series for the Brewers as they come in 2.5 games behind the Cubs in the National League Central but they are 4.5-game clear of the Rockies who sit outside the Wild Card standings. Milwaukee has won six straight series openers. Pittsburgh continues to fight as it has won five straight games, the last four coming by one run. This includes a three-game sweep of the hapless Royals but it also includes a pair of wins in Milwaukee where they held the Brewers offense to three runs but that changes here. Jhoulys Chacin continues to dominate as he has a 3.54 ERA and 1.20 WHIP over 32 starts as he has been stable and consistent all season. He has two bad starts against the Dodgers and Cardinals and take those out and his ERA drops to 2.87. Ivan Nova has been on a solid run as well as he has tossed two straight quality outings including one last week in Milwaukee but he is in a tough spot facing a hot offense. The Pirates are 3-13 in his last 16 starts when their opponent scores five runs or more in their previous game. Here, we play on National League road favorites with a money line of -125 to -175 that are hitting .255 or worse and with a starting pitcher whose WHIP is 1.25 or better on the season going up against a starting pitcher whose ERA is 3.70 to 4.20. This situation is 82-34 (70.7 percent) since 1997. 9* (953) Milwaukee Brewers

This is a play on the USC TROJANS for our CFB Friday Enforcer. Everybody is down on the Trojans and with the way they have played, rightfully so. This team is much better than what its 1-2 record shows and to its credit, the Trojans have played the sixth toughest schedule in the nation. Offensively, the line has struggled, especially last week against Texas as it did not generate any push for the running backs while allowing three sacks. The good news is the last two games were on the road and now the Trojans head home and they remain undefeated at home in 16 games during Clay Helton's tenure and they will be looking to increase that streak to 17. The Trojans are 14-5 ATS in their last 19 games following a straight up loss. Washington St. has rolled over its first three opponents as it has outscored Wyoming, San Jose St. and Eastern Washington by a combined score of 131-43. Those three teams have given the Cougars a strength of schedule ranking of No. 135 which is the easiest of any Pac 12 team and is the 28th easiest schedule in the nation. Washington St. brought back only four starters on offense and while it has put up a ton of yards, again, the schedule has a lot to do with that. The USC defense will be tested still but it should pass as long as it does the right things. Between Texas and Stanford, there have been far too many penalties and missed tackles the past two weeks, and if this team wants to keep any hope alive of playing in a respectable bowl game at seasons end, the defense needs to be more consistent from top to bottom. 10* (310) USC Trojans