Scott Rickenbach

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach MLB Rotation #915 Wednesday 8* OVER the total in New York Yankees vs Los Angeles Angels @ 6:35 ET - Yesterday's game was 8-0 through 4 innings and ended 8-0. A tough loss for me with the over but I won't hesitate to come right back with the same play today. The Angels lineup, of course, is not what it used to be as they are without Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. However, they are not going to shut down by CC Sabathia. The veteran left-hander has been struggling and pitching very few innings in his recent starts. Sabathia also struggled against the Angels earlier this season. He enters this outing 0-4 with a 7.48 ERA in his 7 starts since the All-Star break. Similarly, the Angels Dillon Peters is also struggling. Peters has struggled in 5 straight starts and has a 7.85 ERA over his last 4 starts. The Yankees sticks will have no trouble here as they stay hot and Peters struggles continue. Also, note that the two key guys missing from the Angels lineup Ohtani (never faced Sabathia) and Trout (just a .182 BAA) shouldn't be viewed as big losses in this match-up. The Angels have other hitters with experience (and success) against Sabathia and, again, his current form is not good at all. After yesterday's game went scoreless after the 4th inning, you'll see no such nonsense today. The Angels bullpen ranks in the lower 3rd of the league and the Yankees bullpen will be asked to do too much as Sabathia has averaged less than 4 innings per start his last 6 starts. 8* OVER the total in New York Yankees

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Rotation #903 Wednesday 8* OVER the total in Colorado Rockies vs New York Mets @ 3:10 ET - I actually feel bad for Noah Syndergaard because I have a strong feeling what we're about to witness here. He has been asking to pitch to either Rene Rivera or Tomas Nido rather than Wilson Ramos because things have not gone well when his battery-mate is Ramos. However, they still gave him Ramos in his prior start and he struggled as per usual. Now Mets management is finally conceding to Syndergaard and it is expected that Rivera will be between the plate this afternoon. That is the good news for Syndergaard so what is the bad news? This is his first ever appearance at Coors Field, a hitters paradise. It also is an afternoon game and day games here are known for being particularly crazy. The Rockies, whether home or away, or have had only 19 unders in 50 day games this season. Prior to being held to just 1 run yesterday, the Rockies had scored an average of 10 runs per game in their 4 prior games. They'll bounce back here as Syndergaard gets a rude introduction to what it is like pitching at Coors Field. The only true good news for the Mets right-hander here is that he should get plenty of run support. That's because Jeff Hoffman gets the start for the Rockies here. Hoffman entered this season with a 7.43 ERA and .300 BAA in Coors Field appearances the 3 prior years combined. How has this season gone? Similarly as Hoffman has a 7.24 ERA and a .328 BAA! More of the same here. 8* OVER the total in Colorado

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Rotation #902 Wednesday 8* St Louis Cardinals Run Line +1.5 runs vs Washington Nationals @ 1:15 ET - The Cardinals will be looking to bounce back off last night's 6-2 loss. St Louis entered Tuesday's action on a long-term 26-11 run. Also 5 of those 11 losses came by just 1 run. That means if you had played the Cardinals at +1.5 runs in their 37 games heading into last night's 2-run loss, you had a record of 31-6 in those games! Considering the Cardinals are off a loss and laying very small juice here on the run line, that is why I am recommending grabbing St Louis at +1.5 runs in this one. The Nationals are getting a lot of respect from the marketplace here but Max Scherzer has a 4.15 ERA in his 6 starts since the All Star break. He has struggled at times as he is still trying to get back in top form following missing time with injury issues. As for the Cardinals Adam Wainwright, he is red hot heading into this start. He is 3-0 with a 0.45 ERA in the month of September. Also, Wainwright is 8-3 with a 2.26 ERA in home games this season and 5-1 with a 1.87 ERA in day games this season. As you can see, the Cardinals have a great shot at the outright upset in this battle between teams with high hopes for the post-season. In a game that is expected to be a pitchers duel (posted total is just 7.5 runs) I like having the extra 1.5 runs should this one end up being a 1-run loss for the home team. 8* ST LOUIS Run Line +1.5 runs