TJ Pemberton
Royals vs. Twins
Play:Twins -142
The Twins put on a show last night at home beating the Royals 17-0. Minnesota is 8 games out of the division behind the Indians but currently hold the 2nd AL Wildcard spot. Ervin Santana will make the start for the Twins. Santana is 14-7 on the season with 176 innings pitched. Santana carries a 3.27 ERA with 146 strikeouts and 57 walks. Santana pitched 6.2 innings in his last start allowing three earned runs on seven hits. Lay it and Play it with the Twins on Sunday. The Twins hold the 2nd Wildcard spot and have a lot more to play for than the Royals right now.
Jimmy Boyd
Kansas City at Minnesota
Play: Kansas City +130
I really like the value here with Kansas City as a decently priced road dog against the Twins on Sunday. The Royals got embarrassed yesterday, as Minnesota laid it on them 17-0. That's the kind of loss that will get a team fired up to come out and play their best the next time they take the field. It also usually results in the line being inflated in that next game on the team that just won and I believe that's exactly what we have here.
Minnesota will send out Ervin Santana, who has pitched very well for them this season, but last time he faced the Royals he was a +115 dog back in June and gave up 7 runs on 8 hits in 5 1/3 innings of a 7-run loss. Santana owns an ugly 4.42 ERA in 10 career starts against Kansas City. Santana is also a mere 2-9 in his last 11 home starts as a favorite of -100 to -150 and 2-6 in his last 8 when taking the mound in Game 3 of a series.
Chip Chirimbes
Diamondbacks vs. Rockies
Play: Diamondbacks +106
With their current 9-game winning streak Arizona has moved 6.5-games ahead of Colorado for the top Wild Card spot in the NL and the Rockies lead over the Brewers for the final spot is down to 1-game. The D'backs will start Zack Godley (6-7, 3.29 ERA) who ended a three-start losing streak with a win over the Dodgers on Tuesday. The Rockies who have lost three straight will start German Marquez (10-5, 4.18) is 0-1 against the D'backs and falls short again today.
Jack Jones
Angels vs. Rangers
Play:Rangers +114
The Texas Rangers are showing great value today as home underdog to the Los Angeles Angels. They are chasing the Angels in the AL wild card race and need a win here in Game 3 to take this series from their rivals.
Martin Perez has pitched very well of late, going 5-0 in his last five starts with a 2.91 ERA during this streak to lower his ERA by more than a half a run. Perez owns the Angels, going 3-4 with a 3.20 ERA in 10 career starts against them. He tossed 7 shutout innings in a 3-0 victory in his last start against them on August 24th.
Andrew Heaney is 1-0 with a 5.62 ERA in three starts this season, including 0-0 with a 9.00 ERA in his lone road starts. Heaney hasn't had much success against the Rangers, either, going 1-1 with a 5.87 ERA and 1.631 WHIP in three career starts against them.
The Angels are 1-4 in Heaney's last five starts. Los Angeles is 0-4 in its last four games vs. a left-handed starter. The Rangers are 5-0 in Perez's last five starts. Texas is 5-1 in its last six games vs. a left-handed starter.
Jimmy Boyd
West Virginia at Virginia Tech
Play: Virginia Tech -4
The transition from long-time head coach Frank Beamer to Justin Fuente couldn’t have went any better for Hokies fans. Fuente stepped in and guided the program to a 10-4 record, which included a trip to the ACC title game and 35-24 bowl victory. Quite an improvement for a team that hadn’t posted a double-digit win campaign since 2011. Virginia Tech did lose a lot from last year, but still have 12 returning starters. The defense should once again be top notch under Bud Foster, as 7 of those starters return on that side of the ball. As for the offense, I have all the confidence in Fuente piecing together the new pieces and still have this team averaging over 30+ ppg. As for West Virginia, I think they come in way overrated this season. They were fortunate to get to 10 wins last year. They had 4 wins by 4-points or less, plus some other close calls that went their way. Not to mention you could argue the three best teams they faced were Oklahoma St, Oklahoma and Miami and they weren’t competitive in any of those matchups, losing all 3 by at least 17. I just think the addition of Grier is getting way to much respect given the circumstances. He’s not playing with the same talent that he was at Florida. At the same time, the Hokies figure to be even better on defense in 2017. Let’s also not overlook the fact that West Virginia only has 3 starters back on defense that wasn’t as good as the 24.0 ppg they allowed. Not to mention they basically have a whole new front on defense. It was so bad they had to go out and bring in a bunch of Juco transfers to try and be competitive. Mountaineers are a mere 6-15 ATS in their last 21 versus the ACC. They are also just 1-4 in their last 5 non-conference games and 0-4 in their last 4 on a neutral site.
DAVE PRICE
Dodgers vs. Padres
Play: Padres +205
The San Diego Padres are worth a shot at better than 2-to-1 dogs against the Los Angeles Dodgers today. This is a Dodgers team that has basically packed it in knowing that they have the NL West and home-field advantage locked up in the National League. The Dodgers are 1-7 in their last 8 games overall. They have lost 2 out of 3 to the Padres in this series as -130 and -270 favorites. Now they are huge favorites again and shouldn't be. Jhoulys Chacin has been a great bet at home for the Padres, going 7-3 with a 1.86 ERA and 1.02 WHIP in 14 starts at Petco Park. Chacin is 1-0 with a 1.17 ERA in his last 3 starts against the Dodgers in 2017, giving up only 2 earned runs in 15 1/3 innings.
RICKY TRAN
Diamondbacks vs. Rockies
Play: Diamondbacks +106
The Diamondbacks are rolling right now and this gravy train isn't over yet.
Arizona will be seeking it's 10th straight win when ace Zack Godley takes to the mound Sunday in Colorado. Despite a 6-7 record, Godley has pitched extremely well all year. He has a better ERA (3.29) and WHIP (1.11) then his counter-part German Marquez (4.18 and 1.32).
J.D. Martinez continues his assault against opposing pitchers He drove in four runs, three on a first-inning home run that was his 30th overall and 14th since joining the Diamondbacks on July 18 in a trade with Detroit for three minor league infielders. In 39 games with the Diamondbacks, Martinez is hitting .239 with seven 14 home runs and 34 RBI, and has fit in well in the fifth spot in their lineup.
I like the Diamondbacks to get the sweep today and win their 10th straight.
JOHN MARTIN
Cardinals vs. Giants
Play:Cardinals -115
The St. Louis Cardinals need a big month of September if they are going to make the postseason. They are only 4 games out in the wild card and 7 games out in the NL Central. They still feel like they have a shot. They brought up Luke Weaver from the minors late in the season and it has proven to be a great move. He is 3-1 with a 3.00 ERA and 1.13 WHIP in four starts while striking out 33 batters in 24 innings. Madison Bumgarner is 4-5 with a 4.04 ERA in 10 previous starts against the Cardinals. The Giants are 3-10 (-12.3 units) in Bumgarner's 13 starts this season.
Chris Jordan
My free pick is on the Chicago Cubs Run Line over the Atlanta Braves.
The Cubs continue to distance themselves from Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central. The Braves, meanwhile, continue to sink further from the wild card race, having lost three in a row and seven of 10.
The Braves are six games from being eliminated from playoff contention, and just lost yesterday's marathon with the Cubbies, 14-12. Atlanta is 30-39 on the road, and that won't bode well against a Cubs team that is 40-28 at home.
Chicago has not only won six straight, but seven of 10 and are now 15 games above .500.
Take the defending World Series champs as my free play.
4* CUBS -1.5
Tommy Brunson
Luis Severino has seen each of his last 5 starts ALL play Over the total. He has kept his ERA at a very slender 1.83 over his last 3 however, and since he is looking for some redemption against a Boston team that raked him for 10 runs - 8 of them earned - in just over 4 innings of work at home back on August 12th, I will look for Sevy to be on top of his game this Sunday night when he works against Boston ace Chris Sale.
The Yankees have only scored 8 runs - 7 earned - in Sale's 29-plus innings of work against them over 4 starts, but somehow Sale is 0-2 in those 4 starts! The southpaw has seen 17 of 27 season starts this year land Under, including 5 of his last 6, so let's not expect too many runs allowed by Sale here on Sunday night.
With Saturday's Under, these teams have now play 5 straight and 8 of their last 11 games this season Under the total.
Nothing to change here. Red Sox-Yankees Under.
2* BOSTON-N.Y. YANKEES UNDER
Jeff Benton
The last time Luis Severino started against Boston was back on August the 12th, and the Red Sox hung a very ugly pitching line - 4.1 innings pitched, 8 hits, 10 runs - 8 of them earned - on the Yankees All-Star. That is Severino's worst start of the year by far, and I am counting on the competitive juices of Sevy to be flowing when he opposes Boston starter Chris Sale.
Sale has established himself as a possible Cy Young Award candidate, and he does bring a 15-6 mark this season into the final regular season game to be played between the Red Sox and the Yankees this season. The problem is, Sale is 0-2 this season in 4 starts against New York, as the Yankees seem to find a way to be the lanky lefty when he hits the mound against them.
New York has won 2 of the first 3 this holiday weekend, and they hold a slight 9-8 season series advantage over Boston for the 2017 campaign.
The Yankees still trail in the division by 4 1/2 games, but they do hold a very slim lead in the A.L. Wild Card standings over a slew of other contenders. Big, big game for both New York and Severino. Much bigger for the Yanks then the Red Sox standings-wise.
I will side with New York as the small home dog in this primetime finale.
1* N.Y. YANKEES
Jack Brayman
My free play for Sunday is on the Under in the American League West battle between the Angels and Rangers, as the two finish up their series in Arlington.
Heaney steps to the hill after delivering his best start since returning from Tommy John surgery on Monday, firing six innings of one-run ball and striking out a career-high 10 against the Oakland A’s. He allowed four runs over five innings in his start against the Rangers last month, and will be out for a bit of redemption here.
Perez, meanwhile, is in after winning his fifth straight game last Tuesday against the American League-leading Houston Astros - the longest winning streak by a Rangers pitcher this year. The left-hander has a 2.91 ERA over 34 innings in that span. He blanked the Angels over seven innings Aug. 24.
Take this one under.
1* Angels/Rangers Under
Eric Schroeder
My free play for Sunday is on the Seattle Mariners, hosting the struggling Oakland Athletics.
I honestly wouldn't have thought this a month ago, or at least think I'd be saying this, but the Mariners are in the thick of the wild card race, just 3 1/2 games behind the pace.
The M's have won two straight, while the A's are mired in a five-game losing streak after last night's 7-6 loss to Seattle.
The M's go for the sweep today.
2* MARINERS
Scott Spreitzer
Kansas City at Minnesota
Play: Minnesota -149
The Royals' righty has been an absolute disaster over his last six starts, saddled with a 9.58 ERA, 2.02 WHIP, and 3.08 HR's per 9 IP ratio. He's allowed 9 HR's in his last 26 1/3 IP. Making matters worse for KC, Kennedy has been almost as bad in his last four starts at Target Field, where he's allowed 14 earned runs, 31 base runners, and 5 homers in 15 2/3 IP. The Royals are 3-9 in his last 12 starts against teams with a winning record and they're 1-6 on the road against winning teams, overall. Ervin Santana, on the other hand, has posted a 2.95 ERA & 1.11 WHIP in his last six starts. His team will look to extend their run at home to 9-1 and to 6-1 with his last seven starts.
Cal Sports
Kansas City at Minnesota
Play: Minnesota -140
The Twins have reeled of 5 wins in the their last 6 games and have won 6 of their last 7 at home. Ervin Santana has won his last 3 decisions and is is in solid current form allowing 34 hits in L6 starts (39 IP) with a 42-10 K/W ratio). Royal’s Ian Kennedy has dropped his last 4 decisions and the Royals bats are still struggling getting shutout an amazing 6 times in their last 13 games!