Xam’s Daily Gems:
Reds Money Line -120 FanDuel
Hunter Greene goes for the Reds tomorrow. He has been great in his last 2 starts, throwing 12.2 scoreless innings against two quality lineups. Slade Cecconi goes for the Diamondbacks, and he’s struggled this year. He’s only made 3 starts, going 16.1 innings. He’s struggled as well, coming into this game with a 4.96 ERA. The Reds NEED a win. They lost the first 2 games of this series and have lost 7 straight games! The Reds will surely be ready to use their premium bullpen arms as needed to try and get the win locked down, as this is approaching disaster levels for the Reds. It’s a getaway day for the Diamondbacks and they may even give a starter some rest as they’ve already won this series. The Reds are the more desperate team in this game, have the better starting pitcher, are at home, and absolutely NEED this game. If Hunter Greene can throw up some zeroes, the Reds SHOULD be able to hit Slade Cecconi and salvage a game in this series.
Twins Money Line -124 FanDuel
The Twins send their ace Pablo Lopez to the mound in the last game of this series. Lopez has been inconsistent this year, but he’s coming off a solid start at home in his last start. Logan Gilbert goes for the Mariners, and he’s been fantastic. He comes into this start with a 1.69 ERA. However, last year he had a 3.73 ERA, so there SHOULD be some negative regression coming his way. The Twins have been POUNDING out runs lately, scoring 55 runs in their last 10 games! The Twins have been one of the hottest teams in baseball recently, and the Mariners haven’t been particularly good on the road this year. They’ve scored just 3.7 runs per game in their last 10 road games. The Twins have a solid bullpen and SHOULD have their elite arms ready to go in this game. Lopez getting back on track is the key. If he can continue his return to form, the Twins SHOULD be able to score enough to win this game and the series!
Hurricanes 60 Minute Money Line -110 DraftKings
The Hurricanes have lost 2 heartbreaking games to the Rangers to open this series, and this is essentially a must win game for them to avoid falling into an 0-3 hole in this series. They lost 2 games by a 4-3 score, with the 2nd game going to double overtime. The Rangers have been through two highly emotional games, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see a bit of a letdown after that dramatic win in Game 2 and going on the road to play in one of the toughest venues in the league. The Hurricanes have actually done a decent job scoring against Igor Shesterkin, scoring 3 goals in each of the first 2 games. They HAVE TO play better defense, though. They can’t keep surrendering 4 goals per game. During the regular season, they actually played very well defensively, holding the Rangers to just 4 goals in 3 games. Expect to see all of Carolina’s starters log more minutes than usual, as they absolutely HAVE TO get this win. If the Hurricanes can play better defense, Sebastian Aho, Jake Guentzel, Seth Jarvis, and Martin Necas SHOULD be able to do enough to get the Hurricanes on the board in this series!
Nuggets/Timberwolves Over 204 Points -112 FanDuel
The Nuggets suffered what might’ve been the most embarrassing loss in the Michael Malone/Nikola Jokic/Jamal Murray era in Game 2 of this series. They had no answers for Minnesota’s ferocious defense. Now, the series shifts to Minnesota and the Nuggets are in DESPERATE NEED of a win. The only way they get that win is by finding a way to successfully attack Minnesota’s stifling defense. The Nuggets averaged nearly 115 PPG during the regular season and averaged over 111 PPG on the road! In 4 games against the Timberwolves this year, they averaged 104.5 PPG. So, they know how to score against them. Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Michael Porter Jr. HAVE TO step up in ways they’ve done before. Expect them ALL to log big minutes tomorrow in what is essentially a MUST WIN game for the Nuggets! For Minnesota, they are led by Anthony Edwards, Rudy Gobert, and Karl-Anthony Towns. Those guys will be ready and the stadium will absolutely be ROCKING. They have shown that they can score against Denver whenever they want. You don’t usually say this, but the key to this Play is the Nuggets. If they bring their offense tomorrow and find a way to put the ball in the basket, we shouldn’t have ANY ISSUES getting Over this number! These two teams went Over this number in 3 of the 4 games they played in during the regular season. Nikola Jokic will be READY to lead his team into battle and will find ways to keep Denver in this game!