Scott Rickenbach

Run Line Rout - Rickenbach MLB Game #975 Saturday 10* Top Play Tampa Bay Rays Run Line +1.5 runs (-130) @ Los Angeles Angels @ 9:05 ET - We have to lay a little bit of juice to have the run line here but that could prove key should the Rays fall just short here and lose by a run. The fact is that Tampa Bay (5 in a row) has the longest winning streak in the majors right now while Los Angeles (4 in a row) has the longest losing streak in MLB currently. The Rays are hitting and the Angels are not. TB has averaged 6.5 runs and 12 hits per game their last 4 games. LA has averaged just 2.3 runs per game their last 8 games. The Angels are just 2-6 during this stretch and both wins came by a single run. That said, this is a great spot to have the +1.5 as playing against LA with a +1.5 would have delivered 8 straight wins at the sports books! The Angels are averaging just 5.7 hits per game their last 7 games. While it is true that Andrew Heaney has been pitching well for Los Angeles, the Rays are a very confident team right now at the plate and loaded with right-handed lumber. Though Sergio Romo has been a reliever throughout his career, the Tampa Bay right-hander will not be asked to pitch deep into this game. He'll quickly be relieved by rookie southpaw Ryan Yarbrough and he has pitched very well this season. Also, the Angels are ranked 12th out of 15 teams in the AL in terms of batting average versus lefties and Yarbrough is likely to get the majority of the innings today. As for the Rays facing lefty Heaney, Tampa Bay ranks 5th out of all 30 teams in MLB in terms of batting average versus southpaws. Ride the hot team and currently the better hitting team as well. One more key stat here. The Angels are 2-9 SU their last 11 home games with a posted total of 8 or 8.5 runs. Both wins came by a single run. That means if you just took the +1.5 runs against the Angels in each of their last 11 home games with an O/U posted at 8 or 8.5 runs, you are a PERFECT 11-0! I like the sounds of that! 10* Tampa Bay Rays Run line +1.5 runs

Afternoon Annihilation - Rickenbach MLB Game #953 Saturday 10* Top Play OVER the total in San Francisco Giants vs Colorado Rockies @ 4:05 ET - The Giants have, overall, struggled at the plate this season. But they entered this series having averaged 11.5 hits per game in their 6 prior games. Look for them to get back on track against Jon Gray this afternoon. Yes the Rockies right-hander has been piling up strikeouts but he also gave up 6 earned runs on 10 hits in just 5 and 1/3 innings in his most recent start. Also, Gray's last 2 starts at AT & T Park have seen him allow 9 hits and 5 walks for a total of 14 baserunners in just 8 and 1/3 innings of work! The good news for Rockies fans today is that Gray should get plenty of run support! Colorado will tee off against Chris Stratton. The Giants right-hander was hit hard by the Rockies last September (8 hits in 4 innings) and he is struggling this season. Stratton has a 6.89 ERA in his last 3 starts and 2 of those were on the road. At home this season he has struggled with a 7.00 ERA in his 4 starts thus far. Only 1 of Gray's 4 road starts has resulted in an under. Also, the over is a perfect 4-0 in Stratton's last 4 starts as he has allowed 18 earned runs in 17 innings spanning those 4 outings. Even though AT & T Park is a pitcher-friendly park, afternoon games here do tend to feature more runs and the total on this one has dropped from an opener of an 8 to a 7.5 so even more value is available now. The over is 6-2 in Giants Saturday games and look for the over to go to 8-4 this season in their home games with a money line range of -125 to +125. Big value here raises this one to top rating. 10* OVER the total in San Francisco

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Game #951 Saturday 8* OVER the total in St Louis Cardinals vs Philadelphia Phillies @ 2:15 ET - The Phillies Zach Eflin has pitched very well but he has made only 2 starts this season and they came against the Giants and Marlins. San Francisco is currently ranked 20th, and Miami dead last at 30th, for slugging percentage this season! Now he'll face a Cardinals team that is starting to surge at the plate with an average of 7 runs and 13 hits in their last 3 games. Also impacting Eflin here is he hasn't started in nearly 2 weeks. Oftentimes too much time between starts effects a pitchers rhythm. As for the Cardinals John Gant, his last MLB start was on the 7th of this month and he gave up 4 earned runs in just 5 and 1/3 innings. Also, in his lone career start versus the Phillies, Gant allowed 4 runs (3 earned) in 5 innings of work. The Cardinals right-hander is only getting this start because Carlos Martinez is out with a sore lat. Gant is 2-6 with a 4.71 ERA in his MLB career. The over is 5-2-1 the last 8 times the Phillies were off of a loss by 3 or more runs. 8* OVER the total in St Louis

East Beast - Rickenbach NHL Game #6 Saturday 7* Tampa Bay Lightning Money Line (-) vs Washington Capitals @ 7:15 ET - As long-time followers I play mostly dogs and totals in money line sports (NHL and MLB). However, when it is playoff time and there aren't as many games on board I'll gladly lay a moderate price when I see the value. I still will never lay a big price. Not even in the post-season. In this case we have great value on the home fave Lightning as they opened up as high as a -185 on the money line but are now as a low as a -162 as of early game day morning. Note that my top play rating is a 10* and most of my other premium picks get assigned an 8* rating. In this case we'll drop to a 7* rating due to the moderate price and that means we're laying about 11* here which is the same lay amount we'd have on any 10* in the spread sports of basketball and football. I know that road teams have dominated in this series but this is the game that changes. After the Bolts got upset on home ice in EACH of the first two games they could have packed it in but they fought back and now have all the momentum on their side. The Capitals have a history of playoff collapses and you know this is weighing heavily on their minds right now. Long-term the Caps have lost 121 of 219 road games with a posted total of 6 goals or more while Tampa Bay has won 26 of 37 home games with a posted total of 6 goals or more this season! The Lightning are a perfect 4-0 this season (and won the games by a combined score of 17 to 7) when they are on home ice and have lost each of their prior 2 home games! In other words, the Bolts have never lost 3 straight home games this season! 7* TAMPA BAY

Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach NHL Game #5 Saturday Free Pick OVER the total in Tampa Bay Lightning vs Washington Capitals @ 7:15 ET - Only 2 of Tampa Bay's last 9 games have totaled less than 6 goals. Every game so far in this series has totaled at least 6 goals and I see no reason for that to change here. You know the Bolts are going to bring another strong effort as they look to keep the momentum going from winning both road games to dig out of the 0-2 hole they had gotten into. Their speed and skill in the offensive zone is what makes the Lightning so dangerous. As for the Capitals, they had scored 4 or more goals in 8 of their 11 prior games before being held to 2 goals in each of the last two games on home ice. Washington should respond here as they have scored 4 goals or more in 8 of their last 12 road games! Only 6 of the Capitals last 19 games have resulted in an under - less than a 33% under rate! Free Pick OVER the total in Tampa Bay

Game of the Month - Rickenbach NBA Game #703 Saturday 10* Top Play Boston Celtics (+) @ Cleveland Cavaliers @ 8:35 ET - Tremendous value here as everyone expects the Cavaliers to bounce back since they are at home and they have dug an 0-2 hole in this series. There are many problems with that theory however. First off, this is LeBron James weakest supporting cast in his tenure with the Cavs. Secondly, the Cavaliers best shot for a blowout home win would be to get hot from the outside and start draining shot after shot. The long layoff in this series won't help in that regard. These teams haven't played since Tuesday and Boston is 5-1 SU and ATS this season when playing with 3 or more days of rest this season while Cleveland is 0-4 SU and ATS with those same parameters this season! The issue for the Cavs is that generally when they are shooting cold (and certainly the Celtics are tough defensively) they stay cold. The Cavaliers this season are an ugly 1-6 ATS when they enter a game having been held under 100 points in each of their 2 prior games. In other words, don't look for the Cavs to start suddenly draining all kinds of shots in this game. In fact, with their loss in Game 2 (scored 94) after scoring just 83 in Game 1, Cleveland is now 4-17 ATS this season when off of a game where they were held under 100 points! Should the Cavs find a way to get a home win and crawl back into this series don't be surprised if it is a non-covering win. Cleveland is only 8-6 SU in their last 14 games and 6 of those 8 wins have come by a margin of 4 points or less! Look for the Cavaliers to drop to 0-5 ATS on the season when they are playing with 3 or more days of rest. 10* BOSTON