Stephen Nover

Fresh off a huge victory against Las Vegas two days ago, the Storm are in letdown mode hosting last-place Indiana.

Seattle does not have a good track record in these situations: 8-22 ATS versus below .500 opponents, 3-10 ATS following a victory and 0-5 ATS the past five times hosting the Fever.

Indiana should put forth an effort after being ripped by its coach following a blowout road loss to Phoenix two days ago. The Fever is capable of pulling off upsets. They've pulled off two of them in their last six games beating the defending champion Sky and Lynx.

The Fever haven't matched up well against the rejuvenated Mercury losing to them three times in their last six games. But this is a different opponent.

Yes, it's pricey. But this is a fade on the A's after all.

Oakland has the worst record in baseball at 25-53. The A's have earned this dubious distinction by ranking either last, or second-from-the-bottom, in the major offensive categories. They are batting an MLB-low .212.

So Seattle starter Marco Gonzales should prove trustworthy. He's been pitching well with a 2.29 ERA in his last three starts. He already is 2-0 versus the A's this season.

The A's are 1-13 in Game 1 of their past 14 series. They have yet to win a Friday game and have lost in eight of their last 10 visits to Seattle.

Oakland has a couple of underrated starters. But today's starter, James Kaprielian, isn't one of them. He might not be long to stay in the A's rotation with an 0-5 record and 5.88 ERA. Kaprielian has a 6.26 career ERA against Seattle in seven appearances, including four starts.

Both Edmonton and Hamilton are 0-3 on the season. But these are different types of 0-3.

Rebuilding Edmonton averages 18 points a game and has the worst defense in the CFL.

Hamilton's three losses have come to Calgary, Winnipeg and Saskatchewan. Those three opponents have a combined record of 8-1.

Now the Tiger-Cats finally get to step down in class - way down in class. This is the Tiger-Cats' second home game. They were nipped by Calgary, 33-30 in overtime, during their first home game.

Hamilton is 14-6-1 ATS in its last 21 home contests.

Edmonton is giving rookie QB Tre Ford his first start. This is a tough road setting for Ford, who replaces Nick Arbuckle. Ford couldn't beat out Arbuckle during preseason. Ford has thrown three passes, completing one throw for eight yards. One of his passes was intercepted. The Elks are going to be without injured James Wilder Jr., their best running back.

Note, too, that the Tiger-Cats have covered the last four times they've played Edmonton.

Losers of three in a row, the Mets haven't dropped four straight games all season. I don't see it happening here. Neither does the oddsmaker, who has made the Mets close to a 2-to-1 favorite to beat the Rangers.

I see this as a kill spot for New York. So I'm going to knock down that heavy juice by backing the Mets on the run line laying 1 1/2 runs.

Why such confidence in the Mets? New York's last two defeats occurred to the powerful Astros. Discount those two games and the Mets would be 24-10 at home. Even with those two losses, the Mets still have won 13 of their last 17 home games.

New York is stepping well down in class facing the below .500 Rangers. Texas is stepping way up in class having played its last six games against the Royals and Nationals, whose combined record is 56-96.

I like the pitching matchup very much, too, It's Glenn Otto versus Chris Bassitt.

Otto has tailed off. He has a 5.31 ERA on the season. Otto's ERA during his last three games is even worse at 6.23. The Nationals got to him for six runs in two innings during his last start this past Sunday. The Mets rank fourth in runs. The Nationals are 24th in runs.

Bassitt has been steady especially when pitching at Citi Field where he has a 3.16 home ERA. Bassitt has a 2.53 ERA in his last three starts and lifetime against the Rangers is 5-2 with a 3.07 ERA in 13 appearances, including nine starts.