Brandon Lee
Pittsburgh Pirates vs. St. Louis Cardinals
Play: St. Louis Cardinals -114
St Louis has won each of the first 2 games of the series and I like their chances of finishing off the sweep tonight. The Cardinals are now an amazing 42-16 at home this season and 6-1 in their last 7 overall. St Louis is simply showing too much value here to pass up. They will send out one of the most underrated starters in the game in Lance Lynn, who has a 2.76 ERA in 21 starts and a 2.15 ERA in 11 starts at home. Pittsburgh's Francisco Liriano hasn't been on his game of late, posting a 4.29 ERA and ugly 1.704 WHIP in his last 3 starts.
Steve Rosen
NY Jets vs. Detroit Lions
Play: NY Jets +3½
The Jets will likely have a mini position battle at the quarterback spot, as Ryan Fitzpatrick and Bryce Petty will probably fight for the starting job with Smith out. However, Fitzpatrick will easily win the battle, as Petty is nowhere near ready to be a starter. Still, a lot of eyes will be on Petty during this first game, as he does have more potential than the ever-mediocre Fitzpatrick.Another thing to keep an eye on for the Jets in this game will be how their defense does under Todd Bowles’ leadership. Bowles has a lot of weapons in New York, but he still needs to figure out which ones he is going to use. We could get a look at rookie defensive end Leonard Williams in the game against the Lions, and if he shows that he can produce, he will earn the upper hand in the competition to start in place of Sheldon Richardson.The Lions will probably give some of their young running backs a chance to carry the load in this game as well. I would expect Ameer Abdullah to be heavily involved in the ground game so the team can get a good look at him. Abdullah should perform well in the preseason, and I expect him to be the starter by the time the regular season rolls around. The Jets need this win , especially with all this controversy in the locker room. Grabbing the points and the winning team.
Alan Harris
Kansas City Royals +105
The Kansas City Royals will look for their eighth win in their last nine home games when they take on the Los Angeles Angels tonight at Kaufmann Stadium in Kansas City. Jeremy Guthrie, who has been a bit up and down for the Royals, will get the start for them tonight. He has posted an 8- 7 record here in 2015 with a 5.84 ERA and he defeated the Angels last time he faced them to improve his record against LA to 4-5. Guthrie will be opposed by Garrett Richards, who has been good for the Angels this season but has struggled over last month or so. He is 11-9 with a 3.51 ERA but he's lost three of his last four starts. The Royals, who lead the AL Central by 11 games over the Twins, have been very good in the spot they are in here tonight. They have gone 21-7 in their last 28 games at home when facing a right handed starter and they have posted a 9-4 record in their last 13 games following a loss. The Angels, on the other hand, have really struggled in the situation we find them in tonight as they are just 2-8 in their last ten when facing a team with a winning record and they have gone 1- 10 in their last 11 road games. Throw in the fact that the Royals are a perfect 7-0 in the last seven head to head meetings between the two teams and we'll take them at the small underdog price tonight to get a win over the Angels.
Extreme Sports Picks
Ravens -3
The Saints have low depth when it comes to recievers. The Saints have 2 good starters, but won't play the full game. The Saints have no depth in TE, and will play a inexperienced QB. The Ravens have excellent depth, and will start former super star Matt Schaub, who has plenty of experience on the field. The Ravens have excellent defense, and a well balanced offense. The Ravens win 17-9.
Vegas Butcher
Oakland Athletics +175
No Tulowitzki, no Encarnacion, and no Martin in the lineup for the Blue Jays today. They’re also featuring a pitcher in Buehrle who has a 5.7 FIP and 5.3 xFIP in his two starts in August. Chavez is a decent pitcher and my model has 30+ cents of value with the A’s in this one .
Los Angeles Angeles -115
Richards is a superior pitcher to Guthrie in pretty much every way. That’s been especially evident over the last 30 days when Richards’ projected ERA is at 3.6 while Guthrie’s is at 5.7, more than 2 runs higher. In addition Guthrie has a poor K-rate of only 9% over the 2nd half of the year with a 6.8 FIP and 2.4 HR/9 rate. If there’s ever a time for the Angels bats to break out today is it.
Washington Nationals -133
There’s a reason why Vogelsong has been moved to the bullpen, as he’s been an ineffective starter this year. He ranks 146th in my database (out of 173) and has room for further regression as his 4.1 ERA is 0.7 runs lower than his 4.8 FIP. Vogelsong hasn’t pitched more than 6 innings since June 30th, and I doubt he lasts that long today. We could see this 18th ranked Giants BP out there for at least 4 innings which is another advantage for the Nationals. Of course the biggest factor here is Strasburg, who is fresh and is coming off a slick 12 K in 7 innings performance. Until his next DL stint, I think there’s value in backing Strasburg going forward.
Sleepyj
NY Mets -1.5 -104
The Mets are now looking to make it 4 straight winners and a clean sweep of the Rockies at home...The Mets pitching has been great in this series and gets the services of Noah Syndergaard today...Rockies struggled in this 4 game set on the road and scoring a total of 2 runs in this series raises an eyebrow...Rockies have total of only 14 hits in this entire series..Last game out they managed just 3 hits and it seems like this team wants nothing more than to get back to Coors Field...mets on the other hand are scoring between 3-6 runs per game and have a 3.5 game lead in the division over the Nats..This looks to be another game in which the Mets SP dominates...I like the fact that Syndergaard is coming off a loss and a rather bad game..He was lit up for 5 ER and he hasn;t done that since June 2nd when he gave up 7 runs to SD...He should settle in here today and get his team a win..The Rockies will counter with Butler and he has been a disaster for the most part...He has given up 3 or more ER in 6 of his last 7 games..He also hasn;t gone past the 6th inning and brining in the Rockies bullpen today should add comfort for the Mets..This line is really high for the ML, so we can only look at laying the RL at a fair price..Mets roll today by a few runs..They will keep the streak going today.
Craig Davis
Your free play of the day is the Cleveland Indians over the NY Yankees on the money line. Both Nathan Eovaldi and Trevor Bauer must start or this play is null and void.
No offense. The Yankees simply can't muster hits, base runners or runs and it's not going to get better anytime soon.
Brian Cashman is a complete idiot for letting the Blue Jays get Tulo and David Price right from under their noses while they did nothing. Absolutely nothing.
It serves them right blowing a seven-game lead in late July... this is exactly what they get!
Now they have not only blown games against Toronto, they've also lost two low-scoring games against the Indians... a team they should easily be beating.
The offense in New York is a joke. No one can hit and there's nothing leading me to believe it's going to start today. Trevor Bauer will likely continue where Carrasco and Salazar left off, stifling the Yankees to only a few hits and very few runs, if any.
Take the Indians as your free play of the day.
2* CLEVELAND
Brad Wilton
Free play for Thursday is the Yankees-Indians Under the total.
This should come as no surprise, as New York could not score with a fistful of fifties in a cat-house right now!
The Yanks have plated just 9 runs total in their last 7 games, and have been held to 2 runs or less in 6 of those 7 games.
Not surprisingly, 6 of the 7 games have stayed Under the total.
Nathan Eovaldi has an ERA of 2.70 in his last 3 starts, while Trevor Bauer of Cleveland's ERA is 2.86 over his last 3 starts.
Just no confidence at all in the Yankees offense these days, so until further notice, play New York Under the total any time they step on the diamond this month.
5* N.Y. YANKEES-CLEVELAND UNDER
Jeff Benton
Your Thursday freebie is the Ravens as the favorite at home over the Saints.
In researching this preseason affair, I uncovered a stat that shows that John Harbaugh takes the first game of the preseason quite serious, as the Ravens enter this lid-lifter with a money-making 7-1 against the spread mark the past 8 years in their first game of the preseason.
Anytime you can get an 87% stat in your favor, I think you would be doing yourself a disservice to ignore it - even if it is ONLY the preseason!
We all know that Joe Flacco is Baltimore's starting QB, but I think the Ravens did well to pick up Matt Schaub to be Flacco's backup, and I think this game will be decided by the reserve players tonight.
New Orleans is trying to get their yielding defense to make some stops on a more consistent basis, but until that actually happens, no issue laying a few with the home team in the preseason, especially when that team totes in a 7-1 week one against the spread mark.
Lay it with the Ravens.
2* BALTIMORE
Bruce Marshall
Yankees at Indians
Play: Indians
The Indians are on the move with four wins in a row, and while several clubs must be hurdled to get into wild card position, they're only 5 1/2 games out and we have yet to hit mid-August. So, hope springs eternal in Cleveland as the Tribe goes for a sweep of the Yankees, out of first place after leading the AL East by 7 games as recently as July 28. Yanks starter Nathan Eovaldi usually gets lots of run support, but that looks iffy on Thursday after his team has scored just six runs and batted a mere .148 on its current 5-game skid. Indians starter Trevor Bauer is off of his first win in five starts.
Teddy Covers
Washington at Cleveland
Play: Over 37.5
We’ve got all the makings of a relatively high scoring game in Cleveland tonight. Last year’s preseason meeting was a 24-23 game that flew Over the total, and there’s no reason to expect a dramatically different result tonight.
There’s a legitimate battle for the Browns starting QB job between Josh McCown and Johnny Manziel, regardless of Mike Pettine’s comments to the contrary. Expect both guys to get an extended look this evening, with McCown likely to play a full quarter while Manziel could get two full quarters worth of action. Veteran backup (with solid preseason histories) Connor Shaw and Thaddeus Lewis round out the QB depth chart.
That’s bad news for Washington’s banged up secondary, with numerous key players expected to sit this evening. By the second half of this game, Redskins head coach Jay Gruden won’t have many good options defensively against the Browns downfield passing game.
But Washington is primed to score a handful of touchdowns here themselves, with one of the better QB rotations in all of football. RG3 is expected to get more playing time than normal for a preseason Week 1 affair. Behind him, experienced veterans Kirk Cousins and Colt McCoy – both of whom started games running this offense in the regular season last year – will get their chance to shine.
The Redskins scored at least 17 points in all four preseason games in 2014 thanks to that QB depth, including a blowout win over the Pats in their opener. No surprise here if both of these teams get into the 20’s this evening, just like they did last year! Take the Over.
Ian Cameron
New York at Cleveland
Play: New York -120
I think we have a good spot and matchup to back the Yankees as short road favorites as they should be poised to bring a level of desperation and intensity as they look to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Cleveland Indians. New York has lost five straight games and can ill afford to get swept by Cleveland with another big series on deck against AL East leader Toronto at the Rogers Centre. Nathan Eovaldi is on an impressive stretch where he’s allowed 3 runs or less in 9 straight outings with the Yankees going 7-2 in those outings. He pitched a gem against the high powered Blue Jays lineup in his last start allowing a single run on 5 hits in 6.1 innings of work and should be able to keep the light hitting Indians in check tonight. Trevor Bauer gets the start for Cleveland tonight and I’ve bet against him a handful of times this season. Bauer has been extremely inconsistent with a 5.60 ERA in 12 home starts this season. He's given up 4+ runs in three of his last five starts and Cleveland is just 1-4 in his last 5 trips to the hill. I’ll support the road favorite here as I expect the Yankees to notch the win and avoid the sweep.
Bob Balfe
Chargers -4
The Cowboys come into this game with a banged up group of running backs. Randle, McFadden and Dunbar are all dealing with injuries. You are going to see a lot of 5th string RB Gus Johnson tonight. The Cowboys are also a mess in the secondary which means guys who are backups will be playing up one level. The Chargers have more talent at the skill positions tonight. The Cowboys are going to be holding out a lot of their offensive weapons. This Cowboys 2nd team offensive line only has one player that ever took a rep in the NFL and he is listed as day to day. San Diego had a ton of injuries last season and it’s expected that they themselves will take it easy, but I just can’t get over the talent gap on the field tonight. If the Cowboys can beat you with a fifth string running back as the starter and later on in the game with two rookie QB’s then so be it.
Royals +105
The Angels had a lot of chances to put last night’s game away, but ended up with a runner left of 3rd in numerous extra inning frames. This is a team that played long last night and had to jump on a plane to head to Kansas City. Richards is pitching better than Guthrie this year, but it won’t do him much good when his team is not plating runs in key spots. This Kansas City team is excellent at home and I like them in this spot tonight.
OC Dooley
Tigers +160
Each of the past couple of nights this series has featured National TV games that have been broadcast on ESPN and MLB Network but in game-three the bright “lights have been turned off” so to speak which in my mind sets us up for an upset. Detroit who is still in the running for a Wild Card postseason berth received GOOD news this afternoon as superstar slugger Miguel Cabrera (out since early July due to injury) is slated to return on Friday. This evening the Tigers lineup will oppose Edinson Volquez who in his carreer (1-3, 4.98 ERA) has had problems handling Detroit. Last night one of Kansas City’s most valuable performers (durable catcher Salvador Perez in the lineup just about every contest) was hit in the wrist and will NOT start Wednesday