Brandon Lee
Blue Jays vs. Yankees
Play: Yankees -134
New York is worth a look as a small home favorite against the Blue Jays on Monday. The Yankees will send out their ace Masahiro Tanaka, who has been lights out of late. Tanaka has a 0.92 ERA and 0.813 WHIP over his last 3 starts and owns a sizzling 2.28 ERA and 0.994 WHIP in 9 career starts against the Blue Jays. Toronto counters with veteran R.A. Dickey who has been inconsistent, going 9-13 with a 4.32 ERA in 27 starts. Blue Jays are just 2-16 in their last 18 as a road dog of +125 to +150 and 4-11 in Dickey's last 15 starts after a win. New York is 14-3 in Tanaka's last 17 starts as a favorite of -110 or more and 16-4 over the last 2 seasons when he starts in a day game.
Jack Jones
Tigers vs. White Sox
Play: Tigers +100
The Detroit Tigers are right in the thick of the AL wild card race. They have been playing their best baseball of the season over the past month and will continue their surge against the Chicago White Sox, who are 2-5 in their last seven games overall.
Justin Verlander has returned to his ace form this season, going 14-7 with a 3.30 ERA and 0.995 WHIP in 28 starts, including 2-0 with a 2.18 ERA and 0.581 WHIP in his last three. Verlander is 19-13 with a 4.01 ERA and 1.188 WHIP in 38 career starts against Chicago. He is 4-0 with a 2.25 ERA in his last six starts against the White Sox, giving up 11 earned runs in 44 innings.
Chris Sale has been off his game for a while now. The White Sox are only 2-7 in Sale's last nine starts, and 0-5 in his last five starts vs. a team with a winning record. The Tigers are 7-1 in their last eight road games. Detroit is 6-2 in Verlander's last eight starts.
Jimmy Boyd
Red Sox vs. Padres
Play: Red Sox -1.5
Boston is showing some great value here on the run line Monday against the Padres. The Red Sox have won 3 of 4 and are clearly the better team in this one. The biggest key is the starting pitching matchup. Boston will send out Drew Pomeranz, who will be making his first start against the team that traded him to the Red Sox earlier this season.
Pomeranz is going to feel right at home on the road, as he posted a strong 2.64 ERA in 8 starts at Petco Park before being traded. He also has pitched well away from home this season, posting a 2.77 ERA and 1.103 WHIP in 14 road starts. He'll be face a soft-hitting Padres lineup that comes in hitting just .204 as a team over their last 7 games.
Boston on the other hand is scorching at the plate, as they come in hitting .318 as a team and scoring 7.3 run/game over their last 7. They should have no problem putting a big number here against Edwin Jackson. He's 3-4 with a 6.34 ERA and 1.659 WHIP in 8 starts and has awful 13.88 ERA and 2.828 WHIP in his last 3 starts. Boston is 15-4 in their last 19 road games with a rested bullpen that has thrown 2 innings or less in each of their last 2 games and have won these by an average score of 5.1 to 2.8.
Wunderdog
Toronto @ New York
Pick: Toronto +130
Toronto heads to Yankee Stadium, a small and home run happy park, ranked fifth in baseball in runs scored and eighth in on-base percentage and slugging. The Blue Jays are off a 5-3 win at Tampa Bay on Sunday and moved one game ahead of the Boston Red Sox in the East. The Blue Jays are 21-10 against a team with a winning record and face a New York offense that is struggling with consistency at #22 in runs scored, #24 in on-base percentage, and #22 in slugging. Toronto veteran R.A. Dickey started at New York on August 15 and threw well in a 1-0 game. The Yankees are still having some trouble generating offense. All six of their hits on Sunday were singles. New York starter Masahiro Tanaka has a 4.12 ERA at home where he has allowed 12 of his 17 homers. Toronto took two of three at New York last month, part of a 19-7 run against the Yankees, so grab the first-place dog.
Bob Balfe
Cardinals -105
Any game with wild card implications will have me taking Adam Wainwright every single time at this price. Kuhl is having a better season if you just look at the numbers, but heading down the stretch experience in stress situation games mean everything.
Las Vegas Pro Sports
Kansas City at Minnesota
Play: Kansas City -130
Kansas City has dropped four of its last five encounters, including Sunday’s 6-5 loss to Detroit, and stands four games out of the American League’s second wild card. The Royals hope to have Alex Gordon (sore right ankle) back in the lineup and Lorenzo Cain (left wrist inflammation) is day-to-day as Ian Kennedy goes to the mound Monday with a 2-0 record in three starts versus Minnesota in 2016. The Twins split four against the Chicago White Sox to start a 10-game homestand and have lost 15 of their last 17 games, but boast two red-hot hitters in Brian Dozier and Byron Buxton. Dozier recorded homers in his last three games and has gone deep seven times against Kansas City this year while Buxton is 9-for-16 with three blasts and nine RBIs in four games since being recalled.
Vegas Butcher
Diamondbacks +140 1st 5
Over the last 30-days Maeda’s HR/9 rate is at 2.0. He’s allowed at least one HR in 8 of his last 10 appearances, as a long MLB season could possibly be catching up with him a bit. Arizona’s offense has gotten stronger with addition of Pollack, and there’s some really good power in the lineup. With Greinke facing his former team in LA for the very first time (he faced them in ARZ earlier this year), I’d expect him to really step up in this one. Can’t trust Arizona’s BP against LA’s in this one, so 1st 5 is the play.
Red Sox -220
The best offense in the league faces off against my worst rated starter as Edwin Jackson is 170th out of 170 qualified pitchers. The fact that Jackson is pitching in the majors is an indication of how poor San Diego’s farm system is right now when it comes to pitching. Pomeranz is going up against the team that traded him away this season, and I like his chances against an offense ranked 28th in the last 30-days.
Rocketman
Texas vs. Seattle
Play: Texas -119
The Texas Rangers travel to Seattle to take on the Mariners on Monday afternoon. Texas is 82-55 SU overall this year while Seattle comes in with a 69-67 SU overall record on the season. Cole Hamels is 14-4 with a 2.91 ERA overall this year, 9-2 with a 1.91 ERA on the road this season and 2-0 with a 3.20 ERA his last 3 starts. Texas is scoring 8.3 runs per game their past 7 games overall while allowing only 4.4 runs per game during that time. Seattle is scoring only 3.9 runs per game against left handed starters this season and 4 runs per game their past 7 games overall where they have a 1-6 SU record. Seattle is allowing 7.7 runs per game their past 7 games overall. Texas is 11-4 SU overall vs Seattle this year. Texas is 62-38 against right handed starters this year and 37-20 against division opponents this season.
Anthony Redd
Let's take a look at the Under in tonight's Dodgers-Diamondbacks game fortoday's free pick. These two N.L. West rivals will stay low.
I like the starting pitchers to stay under the posted number. This should be a good battle between two good pitchers.
Arizona has Zack Greinke going, and I liked what I saw from him in his last start. He only gave up one earned run in six innings against Frisco. Now he takes on another division rival and it is his former employer. He will keep the Dodgers in check.
But Kent Maeda should be able to do the same, in that he he can handcuff Arizona's lineup, which can be good at times, including on the road. The Diamondbacks road success will have Maeda on top of his game.
3* Dodgers-Diamondbacks Under
MICHAEL ALEXANDER
Ole Miss vs. Florida State
Play: Florida State -6
Normally, I am not impressed with a team who had a bunch of returning starters, but I just can't ignore the fact that FSU returns their entire offense from last year's 10-win season, and that includes running back Cook who averaged 7.4 yards per rush with 19 TDs. Mississippi has gone 19-7 SU the L2 years, are at 44.0 points per game in their last 4 games and QB Kelly who had 4,042 passing yards, with 31 TDs is back, but their offensive line is completely new.
FRANK JORDAN
Ole Miss vs. Florida State
Play: Florida State -6
This game is being played at a "neutral" sight in Orlando, but it is basically a home game with the game in Florida. Ole Miss comes into this season as the 11th ranked team in the country but has a rough road test as an opener. Florida State comes in as the 4th ranked team in the country and are opening just three and half hour drive away from their campus as a neutral game in Orlando. Ole Miss went 10-3 in 2015 finishing off the year with a 48-20 victory in the Allstate Sugar Bowl over Oklahoma State. Ole Miss went 5-1 against ranked teams last season and went 4-2 away from home in 2015. Florida State also went 10-3 on the season, but after opening the season 6-0 they went just 4-3 in their final seven games including a Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl loss to Houston 38-24. FSU was 1-2 in 2015 against ranked teams and were just 3-3 on games away from home. FSU has played 10 times in Orlando since 1952 and in those games they are 8-0-2. Look for FSU to get the bad taste from last years bowl loss out of their mouth with a win over Ole Miss and will need the defense to step up late in the game to put an end to the hot play Ole Miss will have on offense as they come up with stops for a Florida State win 38-31.