Bryan Leonard
Boston / St. Louis Under 7
With the series tied 2-2, both teams turn to their aces to try and a lead before the series heads back to Boston. Jon Lester gets the ball for the Red Sox. In four postseason starts, he has posted a 1.67 ERA and opposing batters are hitting just .204 off of Lester. What's nice for Lester is that he was able to throw some relatively stress-free innings in Game 1 as the Red Sox jumped out to a big lead. He'll also be pitching on regular rest and that's always nice at this stage of the season. The Cardinals ranked 27th against left handed pitching in batting average, 26th in OPS, and 26th in wOBA this season. Allen Craig, possibly the team's best hitter against southpaws, probably won't play since he appears unable to play the field. That should help Lester.
Adam Wainwright looks to bounce back from a terrible Game 1 start. His defense didn't help him much, but Wainwright fought with his command on the big stage. Pitching in front of the home crowd should be a big boost to Wainwright. This postseason, even with his lackluster start in Game 1, Wainwright has a 2.25 ERA over four starts and has a 12/1 K/BB ratio. Wainwright was shaky on too much rest for Game 1 and he'll be back on his regular turn here.
Home plate umpire Bill Miller is 174-117 in unders for his career behind the plate. That's nearly 60% unders. With two pitchers that throw a lot of strikes, it would seem that Miller is a pitcher-friendly umpire and that will make it a very difficult night for the hitters.
Advantage Sports
Seattle vs St. Louis
Pick: Under
With Kellen Clemens at QB, the Rams will have to limit the offense and attempt to control the clock. They know that their defense will have to carry the team against the Seahawks offense. I look for this game to stay UNDER the current total of 43.5
Harry Bondi
ST LOUIS (+13) over Seattle
We had a nice free game winner with San Francisco yesterday and this one looks just as easy on the surface with St Louis starting Quarterback Kellen Clemens in place of Sam Bradford who is out for the year with a blown knee. Seattle has lost two of their last three visits to the Ed and this is the Seahawks fourth road game in the last five weeks. The Monday Night Home Dog angle will really be put to the test here but with everyone in St Louis more interested in game 5 of the World Series going on a couple of blocks away and everybody but the players in their locker room thinking their season is done without Bradford we look for St Louis to keep it close and cover .
Bob Balfe
Boston Redsox +105
This game probably will decide this year’s Champion. This is a crucial game for the Cardinals to win, but in reality as bad as Boston can be with their bats they have 9 innings to put up a crooked number inning. This team is amazing of doing nothing all night and when they get that one shot they put the game away with one swing of the bat. I believe this will be exactly like last night’s game. The Cardinals don’t hit left handed pitching very well so the odds are stacked against them tonight. Take Boston.
JOE WIZ
MLB Monday..... Play Under 7 runs bet. Boston and St. Louis
Jeff Scott Sports
3 UNIT PLAY
St Louis/ Seattle Under 44: I expect a ton of running and clock moving plays in this one. the Rams have no choice but to run Zac Stacy, as Clemens is not their answer at QB. They know that and that is why they were looking to get Brett Favre out of retirement. Running Stacy will help shorten the game and give them their only shot at keeping this game close. On the other side the Seahwaks will also look to pound the rock allot with Marshawn Lynch, as he will be facing the 3rd worst run defense in the league, plus should the Seahawks get a big lead you can also expect them to really take the air out of the ball even more in the 2nd half of the game. Really hard to see the Rams scoring a bunch of points here, while Seattle should be held under 28 points. Lots of running on both sides, a great defense on one side should all lead to a low scoring game in St Louis tonight.
NHL Predictions
New York Rangers -110
The Rangers have opened the season just 3-6, but they have to play a game at home. Tonight will be New York's home opener, as MSG was under some construction which lead to them having a 9 game road trip to start the season. The Rangers had a big confidence boosting win in Detroit on Saturday night winning 3-2 in overtime as they out shot the Red Wings 40-34. They've out shot opponents in 4 straight games (going 2-2 in those games), and are strarting to play much better hockey. The Canadiens are fresh off a 5 game home stand, but went just 2-3 over those 5 games including losing 3 of their last 4. Their latest was a 2-0 loss at home Saturday vs San Jose where they were out shot 37-22. Monday games have been a let down spot for Montreal lately after Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday's, as they are just 2-9 in their last 11 games played on a Monday. While New York hasn't played at home this year, they do enjoy playing at MSG going 53-26 in their last 79 home games overall. While Montreal has had recent success vs New York, the Rangesr are 9-4 in their last 13 home meetings vs Montreal. The Canadiens aren't playing good hockey right now, while New York is coming off their best game of the year and now playing in their home opener with Lundqvist back between the pipes. I'll take the Rangers in a pick'em.