Scott Rickenbach

Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach MLB Rotation #915 Sunday Free Pick OVER the total in Boston Red Sox vs Houston Astros @ 1:05 ET - The top of the 5th is the halfway point of a game as that means 4 and 1/2 out of 9 innings have been completed. Why I am bringing that up here? I say that because yesterday's game between these teams had a posted total of 10.5 runs and what happened was a bad beat to say the least. The game had TEN runs at the HALF way point! It just needed 1 more run for the over and it never got it. On Sunday, don't be surprised when this one makes up for it and flies over the total early. Getting on base is the first key to scoring big runs and the Astros are #1 with a .374 on base percentage against left-handed pitchers this season. The Red Sox are #3 in the majors with a .355 on base percentage in home games this season. Wade Miley for the Astros and Chris Sale of the Red Sox means this one is a battle of southpaws Sunday. Miley has been pitching well overall and Sale seems back on track and enjoying a strong stretch of work but these are two of the most dangerous lineups in the majors. Also, the wind will be blowing out on a very warm afternoon at Fenway Park. Ideal hitting conditions in this one. Free Pick OVER the total in Boston

Total Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Rotation #905 Sunday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Cincinnati Reds vs Los Angeles Dodgers @ 1:10 ET - It will be another hitter-friendly afternoon at a very hitter-friendly venue on Sunday afternoon. No need to rest any hitters here either as both teams have an off-day tomorrow. After the Reds got shutout Friday and the Dodgers got shutout Saturday, look for both teams to finally contribute well to the total in Sunday's match-up. Yes, the Dodgers Hyun-Jin Ryu gives the appearance (from his last 3 starts) that he is practically unhittable, note that this match-up will play out much differently. First off all 3 of those starts were at pitcher-friendly venues - 2 at Dodger Stadium and 1 at San Francisco against the punch-less Giants. In his last 3 starts against the Reds, Ryu has a 5.79 ERA and has allowed 22 hits (including 5 homers) in just 14 innings of work. The Dodgers southpaw gave up 4 earned runs in 7 and 1/3 innings spanning his first two road starts this season. He'll be tested big time this afternoon at hitter-friendly Cincy on a warm afternoon with the wind blowing out to left at a strong clip. The Dodgers should also pound Tanner Roark. He is on the fade right now and gave up 8 hits in 5 innings in his most recent start. Simply put, he was lucky the damage wasn't worse in terms of earned runs and that means his status as a "fade candidate" is currently flying "under the radar". We can step in and take advantage. Roark's recent stats were skewed by facing the A's at Oakland and facing the light-hitting Giants. Note that in his other starts this season he has been consistently hit quite hard and I look for the Dodgers to light him up after being shutout yesterday. This is a contrarian play compared to what the markets are seeing and that is precisely the type of play I love the most as we get the best value. 10* OVER the total in Cincinnati

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Rotation #902 Sunday 8* Philadelphia Phillies Money Line (-) vs Colorado Rockies @ 1:05 ET - Here with go with the "avoid the sweep" theory leading to false market perception which in turns leads to great line value for contrarian bettors. The fact is that the "avoid the sweep" theory is highly over-rated. You really think the Phillies aren't "in it to win it" today? They have a lengthy road trip coming up after this and, as a result, Philadelphia is just as motivated as the Rockies here. The key to the value is that this line has gone from the Phillies being in the -150 money line range to now as low as the -120 range as of early game day morning. Note that Colorado's Kyle Freeland has allowed SEVEN homers in his last THREE starts! Philadelphia's Jerad Eickhoff had allowed ZERO homers in his first FOUR starts this season before running into some trouble against the Brewers in his most recent start. Prior to the loss to Milwaukee, Eickhoff had allowed just 5 runs in his first 30 innings of work this season! As for Freeland, he has allowed 16 runs (14 earned) in the 17 innings spanning his last 3 starts. These two starters are at opposite ends of the spectrum right now plus the Phillies have the home field edge here and the line value edge after the big movement on this money line. Note that Philadelphia is 6-1 this season in Sunday games and 10-4 this season in day games. Also, the Phils are 12-4 this season as a home favorite in a range of -125 to -175 on the money line. The Rockies are 1-5 this season in road games with a posted total of 9 or 9.5 runs. 8* PHILADELPHIA

Afternoon Annihilation - Rickenbach NHL Rotation #21 Sunday 10* Top Play St Louis Blues Money Line (+) @ San Jose Sharks @ 3:05 ET - The Sharks look like an easy choice here, right? They managed to even the series up by winning Game 3 at St Louis and they now have the home ice edge again in the series as a result. However, I love the Blues in this spot. The reasons are multiple. For one thing Erik Karlsson is a key player for San Jose and he does have an injury issue right now. A lot of details are currently known in terms of his availability today but, even if he plays, he is nowhere close to 100%. The key here is that the Sharks had a chance to go in for the kill against the Blues in Game 4 and take a commanding 3-1 series lead. The Blues were on the ropes after a frustrating Game 3 loss. In my mind Game 4 was the game for the Sharks to put away St Louis as the Blues would have been fragile mentally after the way they felt they lost Game 3 in OT on a missed call. As it turns out, San Jose failed to take advantage of the situation and St Louis has new life in this series and they will play like it today. Keep in mind the Sharks blew leads of 2-0 and 3-1 in Game 3 of this series and were a bit fortunate to get the win. Then in Game 4 San Jose was down 1-0 right away and eventually 2-0 and they never managed to tie it up. There is a lot to like about the way the Blues have been playing and I am happy to grab them at the underdog price. What about the home ice edge you say? Well the road team is 11-6 in St Louis' playoff games in this post-season! Also, the Blues have won 6 of their 8 playoff road games. 10* ST LOUIS

Playoff Total of the Year - Rickenbach NBA Rotation #549 Sunday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Toronto Raptors vs Milwaukee Bucks @ 7:05 ET - The Bucks most recent road game stayed under the total but that ended a perfect 6-0 streak of overs in Milwaukee road games. The fact is that the Bucks are truly proving very difficult to stop as they have scored 28 points or more in 6 of the last 7 quarters in this series. In addition to Milwaukee piling up the points, I also like the fact that the Raptors are now back home and they did score 64 points in the 2nd half of Game 2 which gives them some momentum and confidence on the offensive end despite being in an 0-2 hole in the series. Also, Toronto jumped on the Bucks in Game 1 of this series with a 59 point first half. They just couldn't sustain it. But, at home, the Raptors are likely to sustain a strong performance on offense and, at the same time, I just don't see them stopping Milwaukee considering how potent their production on offense has been. The Bucks are not only 6-1 to the over in their last 7 games away from home, they are also 8-4 to the over this season in games in which they are an underdog. Toronto is 19-11 to the over when playing with revenge this season. The Raptors are averaging 114 points in home games this season while Milwaukee averages 117 points per game in road games this season. Yes this is playoff basketball but we've seen huge scoring stretches from both teams already in this series and I like the fact the Raptors are on their home floor and need to respond with a huge performance on the offensive end but also won't be able to stop the Bucks. 10* OVER the total in Toronto