Scott Rickenbach

Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach MLB Game #927 Sunday Free Pick Oakland A's Money Line (+) @ San Francisco Giants @ 4:05 ET - The A's won again yesterday and are now 20-6 their last 26 games. The Giants had been hot recently but have now lost 7 of their last 12 games. It is clear in this match-up that the road team is the hotter ballclub. That said, I also like the pitching match-up here with Sean Manaea holding an edge over Andrew Suarez. I am well aware of the fact that Suarez has been putting up some impressive numbers recently but his stuff is truly not overpowering. Now he faces a red hot and confident A's lineup and I expect Oakland to get to him early and often. Manaea is 5-2 with a 3.39 ERA in his road start this season. The A's left-hander also has a solid 2.08 ERA in his two career starts versus the Giants. San Francisco is only 6-9 in the 15 starts Suarez has made this season. Look for the Giants to drop to 20-30 in inter-league action the past 3 seasons combined while the Athletics add a W to their 8-3 inter-league record and 25-14 record in day game action this season. Free Pick Oakland A's Money Line

1st Half Game of the Year (pre-All Star break GOY) - Rickenbach MLB Game #911 Sunday 10* OVER the total in San Diego Padres vs Chicago Cubs @ 4:10 ET - Yesterday's game flew over the total as the Cubs won 11-6. Chicago is now 3-0 to the over in their last 3 games. The Cubs are also 3-0 to the over in Jon Lester's last 3 starts. The southpaw has not looked quite as sharp in recent starts as he has nearly as many walks as strikeouts in his last two outings. Also, Lester has given up 15 hits in 11 and 1/3 innings in his last two starts while allowing 8 runs (6 earned) in those two outings. In home games with a total of 8 or 8.5 runs, the Padres are 13-7 to the over this season. Also, when the Padres are on a losing streak of 3 or more games, the over is 7-3 this season! I know that Eric Lauer has a low ERA in recent starts. However, his full season numbers do tell more of a complete story on him and also he had been hit hard in each of his past two outings before the surprising success versus the Dodgers in his most recent start. Lauer had allowed 16 hits in the 10 innings spanning his two prior starts and both of those outings went over the total. Lauer has a 1.64 WHIP on the season so it is not as if he is a dominant starter and today he is facing a solid Cubs lineup! Chicago has averaged nearly 7 runs per game in their 8 July wins as they've won 8 of 11 games this month. The Padres have scored 4 or more runs in 6 of their last 10 games and they hit two homers off of Lester in his most recent start against them. The ball does carry better in day games compared to night games at Petco Field and I love the value here with the low total. 10* OVER the total in San Diego

Run Line Rout - Rickenbach MLB Game #922 Sunday 7* Houston Astros Run Line -1.5 runs -160 vs Detroit Tigers @ 2:10 ET - Normally I don't lay big prices and that is why I am reducing the rating on this one so that it is a 7 star play. Of course -160 is not a huge price but it is still a higher price than I generally lay. The reason I am involved here is because this is such a unique situation and one that is so strong that I do not want to pass up on this opportunity. The Astros Justin Verlander, a long-time Tiger, will be making his first appearance against his former team since being dealt from Detroit to Houston last summer. Not only do the Tigers hitters have no experience against him, he also has been one of the most dominating hurlers in the game as a member of the Astros. He went 5-0 with a 1.06 ERA in his 5 regular season starts with the Astros last season. In the post-season, at home he went 3-0 with a 1.23 ERA in his 3 starts. This season in all of his starts on the year he has gone 9-4 with a 2.05 ERA! The Tigers are one of the worst teams in baseball and will prove to be no match for the defending World Series champs here. Detroit is starting Francisco Liriano and the southpaw is 0-2 with an 8.16 ERA in his last 3 starts. On the season the Tigers are 1-8 in his road starts. He has started against the Astros twice in recent seasons and he has compiled a 6.17 ERA in those two outings while getting hit hard in both. The Tigers have lost 6 straight and 9 of their last 11 games and only 1 of those 9 losses has come by less than 2 runs. The Astros have won 8 of their last 11 games and the average margin of victory has been 4.3 runs in their last 6 victories! 7* HOUSTON Run Line -1.5 runs -160

Afternoon Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #923 Sunday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Chicago White Sox vs Kansas City Royals @ 2:10 ET - After Friday's game totaled 15 runs, yesterday's game ended up being a surprising 5-0 shutout win for Kansas City. Prior to that under, the Royals had gone 8-2 to the over their previous 10 games. The White Sox, prior to that shutout loss, had gone 16-6 to the over their last 22 games. The Royals Burch Smith got rocked for 4 earned runs in just 3 and 1/3 innings in his most recent start and the KC right-hander will be facing a Chicago team that was averaging scoring 5.4 runs per game in the month of July prior to yesterday's loss. As for the White Sox starter, Lucas Giolito, he is also likely to get roughed up here. Giolioto has an 8.65 ERA in his 9 home starts this season. Also, the Royals will be seeing him for the 3rd time already this season and this is a big edge for them here. The over is 6-2 in Chicago's last 8 games versus a right-handed starter and these two bullpens are also two of the worst in baseball with Kansas City's ERA actually ranking the Royals dead last in the majors for bullpen ERA. Both bullpens could certainly be called into play early here as Giolito has averaged only 5 and 1/2 innings per start his last 9 starts and the Royals Smith is unlikely to work deep here given his struggles at the MLB level as a starter (2013 too when most recently used in that role). In fact, KC is calling this a bullpen day as Smith is also working on short rest here. 10* OVER the total in the Chicago White Sox game

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #915 Sunday 8* OVER the total in Boston Red Sox vs Toronto Blue Jays @ 1:05 ET - Yesterday's game stayed under the total but Toronto's Marcus Stroman is 2-6 with a 6.05 ERA in his 11 starts this season. Stroman had a solid ERA versus Boston last season but the Red Sox actually got to him for 23 hits in 17 and 1/3 innings. He was fortunate in 2 of the 3 outings is the point I am making here and his good fortune is likely to run out here! With Boston's 6-2 win yesterday, they've won 11 of their last 12 games and have averaged scoring 7.2 runs per game in these dozen games. Prior to the Blue Jays losing yesterday's game, they were 4-5 their last 9 games and they averaged scoring 5.7 runs per game during this stretch. You can see why it would not be a surprise, based on the above, to see at least a dozen runs scored in this game. Toronto should have little trouble with the offerings of Boston's Brian Johnson in this one. Though he has a low ERA, he did allow 8 hits in less than 5 innings of work in his most recent start. Also, the Blue Jays saw him twice last season and got to him for 15 hits in 11 innings of work spanning those two starts. The over is 12-5 this season in Toronto's road games where they are a money line dog in a range of +125 to +175. Also, the Blue Jays are 9-4-1 to the over in Sunday games this season and there is every reason to believe this will be another Sunday afternoon match-up that flies over the total. 8* OVER the total in Boston

Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach MLB Game #917 Sunday Free Pick OVER the total in Cleveland Indians vs New York Yankees @ 1:10 ET - Yesterday's game pushed on the total so the over remains 7-0 this season in Indians home games with a money line between -125 and +125 this season. Overall, on the season, Cleveland's home games are 32-14 to the over. Additionally, the Indians are 11-1 to the over in home games with a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs this season. Cleveland starter Trevor Bauer has allowed 8 runs in his last 7 and 1/3 innings spanning two starts versus the Yankees. He was done in by some poor defense in those start so 6 of the runs were graded as unearned but the Yankees beat him both times so there is some additional confidence at the plate for New York here as a result. Plus, with yesterday's 5-4 win, the Yankees have won 8 of their last 12 games and averaged scoring 6 runs per game during this stretch. As for the Indians, they've averaged scoring nearly 7 runs per game in the month of July so they've been hot at the plate too. They'll faced Masahiro Tanaka of the Yankees here and the right-hander has allowed at least 3 earned runs in 6 of his last 8 starts despite averaging only 5 innings per start during this stretch! The over is 9-3 in Tanaka's last 12 starts. The over is 10-4 in Cleveland's Sunday games this season. The Indians last 6 games have resulted in 0 unders and this one will NOT stay under either! Free Pick OVER the total in Cleveland