Xam’s Daily Gems:
Orioles -1.5 -118 FanDuel
Newly acquired ace Corbin Burnes goes for the Orioles tonight. He’s been solid so far for the Orioles. In 5 starts, he has a 2.76 ERA. He certainly looks comfortable with his new team and now faces one of the worst lineups in the league.
The A’s counter with righty Ross Stripling, who has struggled this year. In 5 starts, he’s 0-5 with a 5.34 ERA. On the road, that ERA is an unsightly 7.36 ERA!
The Orioles come into this game with a massive advantage. They had the day off to rest yesterday while the A’s finished up their series with the Yankees. The Orioles know how to score runs, as evidenced by their 136 runs scored so far this season, the most in the American League. That is a bad combination for the Athletics, who have scored the second fewest runs in the AL so far. They probably won’t have much success against Burnes and a fully rested Orioles bullpen.
If Burnes can continue his recent success, the Orioles shouldn’t have ANY issues scoring and taking the first game of this series tonight.
Marlins Money Line -166 DraftKings
We’ve been burned by the Marlins before, but they’re in a good spot tonight. They had the day off yesterday while the Nationals were finishing their series against the Dodgers. The Marlins have been nothing short of awful so far this season, coming into this game at 6-20. He comes into tonight’s start with a 6.58 ERA! That’s not the level of performance we’ve come to expect from him. However, he managed to put a quality start together in his last start, going 6 innings and surrendering just 2 runs on the road against the Cubs.
The Nationals counter with Trevor Williams, who’s gotten off to a solid start. However, he had a really bad year last year, pitching to an ERA well over 5. There should be some negative regression coming his way shortly.
The Marlins have the better pitcher overall going tonight, are at home, and have the rest advantage. They SHOULD have their entire bullpen available tonight. If they can score some runs tonight, Luzardo and the bullpen should take care of the rest!
Braves -1 -165 DraftKings
Back to one of our FAVORITE PLAYS!
The Braves have been on fire recently, winners of 3 straight and 9 of their last 10. Now, they face a team at a rest disadvantage and a pitcher with over a 5 ERA! The Guardians were finishing up their series with the Red Sox yesterday while the Braves were home resting. It’s a game featuring dueling southpaws, as the Guardians turn to Logan Allen while the Braves counter with Chris Sale. Allen has struggled on the road throiughout his career, coming into today with a 6.17 road ERA. That’s bad news when traveling to Truist Park. The Braves love racking it up at home and making opposing teams uncomfortable.
The Braves will have to score some runs tonight, as the Guardians have been doing so all year. In fact, the Braves have only scored 3 more run than the Guardians this year! Sale has been better at home than on the road this year, and of course it helps that Atlanta’s bullpen will be FULLY rested and ready to go!
If Sale can put up some zeroes and give his lineup time to work, the Braves shouldn’t have ANY ISSUES beating a tired Guardians team in front of their home fans.
Rays -1 -199 DraftKings
Keep fading the White Sox!
There’s not much to say about them that hasn’t been said yet. They’re a woeful 3-22, have lost 7 straight and 9 of their last 10, and have scored the fewest runs in all of baseball.
Now, they turn to Chris Flexen, who comes into today’s start with a 6.41 ERA. That’s welcome news for the Rays, who have struggled scoring at times this year. The Rays counter with righty Zach Eflin. He’s been absolutely locked in recently, coming into tonight with 2 straight starts of at least 6 innings of work and no runs given up.
The key tonight will be what Tampa Bay can do on offense, as is usually the case. Eflin and the rested Tampa bullpen shouldn’t have any issues containing the White Sox lineup. If Tampa’s lineup can get going and put some runs on the board, they SHOULD be able to win their 2nd straight game!
(MLB) Rangers Money Line -164 FanDuel
Righty Nathan Eovaldi takes the ball tonight for the Rangers for the first game of this weekend series. The dependable veteran ha gotten off to a productive start this year, coming into today with a 3.30 ERA and 2.31 ERA at Globe Life Field. He will need that energy for this matchup against the potent Reds lineup. The Reds counter with Graham Aschraft, who has struggled recently. He’s given up 5 earned runs in 2 of his last 3 starts, and both of those starts came at home!
The Rangers will need to score runs tonight, which means it’s good they have the lineup to do so! If Eovaldi can give the Rangers some quality innings, Texas’s veteran led lineup SHOULD be able to take advantage of a young pitcher who’s struggling. After losing a home series to their division rivals, the Rangers will come into this game mad and ready to go! All of their premium bullpen arms will be READILY available as well!
Avalanche Money Line -170 FanDuel
The Avs and Jets are tied in their best-of-7 series, effectively making this a best-of-5 series now. The Avalanche dominated Game 2 of this series, giving them their first win over Winnipeg in 5 tries! Of course, as everyone knows, the Avs were led by their dominant offense all year. They scored the MOST goals in the league and were 1 of only 2 teams to cross 300 goals on the year! At Ball Arena this year, they averaged 4.20 goals per game!
Scoring hasn’t been an issue for the Avs in this series, despite facing Connor Hellebuyck. They’ve scored 10 goals against him in this series! The Avs played MUCH better defense in Game 2 of this series, and that’ll be the key once again tonight. The offense, led by Nathan MacKinnon, Artturi Lehkonen, and Mikko Rantanen will get going tonight. The Jets did struggle at times to score this year on the road, averaging less than 3 goals per game. If the defense, led by Cale Makar, Josh Manson, and Devon Toews, the Avs SHOULD be able to take this pivotal Game 3 tonight in front of the home faithful!
Suns Money Line -180 FanDuel
To put it simply, Phoenix’s season is on the line tonight. If they want to have ANY chance of coming back to win this series, it HAS TO start tonight. They’re down 2-0 in this best-of-7 series to the Minnesota Timberwolves, and frankly speaking, neither game has been particularly close.
The Suns need ELITE performances from their superstars tonight. Games like this is why Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal, and Devin Booker are here. There will be a sense of urgency from them and the rest of the team. The Timberwolves are a young team that probably isn’t completely ready for a road playoff game quite yet.
The key will be the defense tonight. The Suns will likely do enough scoring tonight to get it done. They scored 116 PPG this season and have enough offensive playmakers to make things happen at home. They HAVE TO contain Anthony Edwards and Karl Anthony-Towns. If they can do that, they SHOULD get themselves their 1st win of this series. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Phoenix’s Big Three play more minutes than usual, as they HAVE TO do whatever it takes to avoid falling to 0-3 in this series.
Look for the veterans to take over this game and keep this series (essentially) alive.
Giants Money Line -148 DraftKings
The Giants are playing solid baseball, as they’re coming off a series win over the Mets. The Mets had won 5 straight series before losing the first 2 games in pretty convincing fashion to the Giants.
The Giants also had the day off yesterday while the Pirates finished up their series with the Brewers. Rookie Quinn Priester will make his 2nd career start tonight. His career got off to an inauspicious start, as he gave up 4 runs and 7 hits in just 4.1 innings pitched to the Red Sox. Southpaw Kyle Harrison goes for the Giants. He’s given up at least 3 runs in 4 straight starts, but 2 of them were quality starts. The Giants will have a fully rested bullpen ready to go tonight.
Harrison and the pitching is key. San Francisco SHOULD be able to score some runs tonight. If the Giant can lock down a tired Pirates lineup, the Giants should be able to snag the win in the first game of this series!
Seth Lugo Over 4.5 Ks -138 FanDuel
Cardinals Team Total Over 3.5 Runs -130 FanDuel
Russell Westbrook Over 14.5 Points + Rebounds + Assists -140 FanDuel
Ivica Zubac Over 23.5 Points + Rebounds + Assists -120 DraftKings
Kevin Durant Over 24.5 Points -162 FanDuel