Jim Feist

The Indiana Fever were the highlight of the draft when they picked Caitlin Clark overall 1st. Clark made headlines with Iowa in the NCAA tournament and went right into the WNBA with little time off. Does Clark have the Fever on track to win a WNBA title in the next four years. Consider that the the three times in WNBA history that a team has had back-to-back No 1 picks (as the Fever did this year and last) they have won a WNBA title within four years. Now that the preseason is over and the regular season is starting, all eyes will be on Clark. There is no place but up for a Fever team that won 13 games last year. So whatever hype Clark has generated, they will be better. Not Championship better, but much better. The Fever are still a young team and will take time to gel and mature into a possible Championship team. As for the Sun, they are a well oiled machine that has made the playoff semifinals in each of the last five years. They return their core players this year and will be even stronger as they return Brionna Jones from an Achilles injury. They added depth in the off season and should challenge the top teams in the league. The Fever will one day be good, but not good enough right now for this seasoned and deep Sun team. Play Connecticut.

The Cleveland Guardians and Texas Rangers play game two of their three game set here on Tuesday. The Guardians took game one on Monday with a 7-0 win. Cleveland has won two straight and is in first place in the AL Central, one game ahead of the Minnesota Twins. They also have a division best +49 run differential. Ben Lively will start Tuesday for the Guardians with a 1-2 record in his five starts. He has an excellent ERA of 2.63 and a 1.207 WHIP. Lively has allowed two runs or fewer in four of his five starts with the other being only three runs allowed. The Rangers have dropped their fourth game in a row after Tuesday's loss. They have scored just six total runs in this four game losing skid. The Rangers are still in 2nd place in the AL West with a 22-22 record, 2.5-games back of the Mariners. The also have a +13 run differential. Jack Leiter will make his third start of the season for the Rangers. Leiter has a 0-0 record with a lofty 12.91 ERA and 2.347 WHIP. He's allowed 11 earned runs over his 7 2/3 innings of work. I'm taking the Indians again here in game two against a suspect Rangers starter.

The New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins play the first game of their three game set here on Tuesday. The Yankees dropped two of their three game set with the Rays over the weekend. They are percentage points behind the Orioles in the AL East race. They also have the best run differential in the AL East with a +54. Carlos Rondon will start for the Yankees with a 3-2 record in his eight starts. Rondon has a 3.14 ERA and 1.233 WHIP. He rebounded from his worst start of the season with a 6 1/3 performance against the Astros, allowing seven hits and two runs for the Win. The start before that he went just four innings vs the Orioles and allowed eight hits and six earned runs for the loss. The Twins took two of their three games from the Blue Jays in their weekend series. They have now won four of their last five and 16 of their last 19 games. Despite the big win streak, they still trail the Guardians by one game in the AL Central with a 24-16 record. They also have a +27 run differential. Chris Paddock will toe the rubber for the Twins. Paddock is 4-1 and has a 4.34 ERA. He's been very good at home with a 3-0 record in four starts and a 1.17 ERA. He's also allowed just one run over his last 11 1/3 innings of work. Two good pitchers here today but the Twins have been red-hot and they have a hot pitcher on the hill too. Play Minnesota.

 Game one of this series between the Washington Nationals and Chicago White Sox was postponed on Monday. They will play two here on Tuesday and this is the first game of the two game set today. This early game of the Day/Night double has Trevor Williams for the Nats taking on Chris Flexon for the White Sox. Washington lost two of their three game set vs Boston over the weekend. The Nationals are in 3rd place in the NL East but a distant 8.5-games back of the Phillies. They have a -7 run differential. Williams is 4-0 in his seven starts for the Nats. He has a nifty 1.96 ERA and 1.064 WHIP. He also hasn't allowed a run over his last 10 innings of work with 11 KO's and four walks. Williams has allowed more than two runs only one time in his seven starts and that was three runs to the A's. The White Sox lost on Sunday to the Guardians, snapping a season best four game winning streak. Still, the Sox are stuck in last place, likely for the season, as they are 13.5-games of 1st place Cleveland and nine games back of fourth place Detroit. They also have the worst run differential in baseball with a -90. Chris Flexen is 2-3 for the White Sox with a 4.91 ERA and 1.364 WHIP. Even though Flexen is a quality pitcher, he's on a bad team. I'll take the Nationals with a very good starter on the hill. Play Washington.

Game five of this NBA Eastern Conference matchup between the Indiana Pacers and NY Knicks returns to New York on Tuesday. The Knicks led 2-0 as they headed to Indiana, but the Pacers took games three and four to even the series at 2-2. The Pacers blew out the Knicks in game four, cruising to a 121-89 win. The Knicks have been shorthanded due to injuries and it showed in the loss. The Pacers were to top scoring team in the regular season and now also in the postseason. They shot a blistering 56.8% from the field in game four and also hit 45.2% from the 3-point arc. The Knicks were shorthanded in game four, still they shot a dismal 33.7% from the field and 18.9% from the 3-point arc. Their stars, Jalen Brunson and Donte DiVincenzo had horrible games. They need them to play well if they hope for rebound win in game five. You have to throw out game four. Everything went right for the Pacers and everything went wrong for the Knicks. Don't expect that again here before the home crowd at Madison Square Garden. I look for the Knicks to rebound here in game five and take a 3-2 series lead. Play New York.

The Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox play the 3rd of their four game set here on Wednesday. The teams split their first two games with the Rays winning on Monday, 5-3 and the Red Sox yesterday, 5-4. The Rays are 4th in the AL East with a 21-22 record and seven games back of the Yankees. The Red Sox are 22-20 and 5.5-games back of the Yankees. The Rays are starting Taj Bradley who is 0-1 in his only start this season. Bradley wend six innings and allowed one run and four hits vs the Yankees. The Red Sox start Tanner Houck who is 3-4 in his eight starts with a 2.41 ERA and 0.974 WHIP. Houck has allowed three runs or fewer in six of his eight starts. Both starters look to be good here tonight and as such I'll take the UNDER.

The Chicago Cubs and Atlanta Braves play the final game of their three game set here on Wednesday. The Cubs look to salvage the final game after dropping the first two. In fact, the Cubs have been shut out the first two games, 0-2 and 0-7 last night. The Cubs are still in 2nd place in the NL Central, 1.5-games back of the Brewers. The Braves are also in 2nd place in the NL East, two games back of the Phillies. The Cubs will start Javier Assad who has been brilliant for Chicago this year. Assad is 3-0 with a 1.70 ERA and 1.063 WHIP. He's 2-0 in his four starts with a 0.81 ERA and 1.030 WHIP. Assad has not allowed more than two runs in any start this year. Charlie Morton is 3-0 in his seven starts with a 3.14 ERA and 1.046 WHIP. Morton has allowed just three runs over his last three starts (20 innings) with 18 KO's and four walks. Both starters are excellent and the Cubs will find scoring today just as tough as the last two days. Play the UNDER.

The Pirates and Brewers play the final game of this three game set here on Wednesday. The Pirates took game one on Monday, 8-6 and the Brewers took game two on Tuesday, 4-3. The Brewers increased their lead in the NL Central to 1.5 games over the Cubs with the win. They also have a division best +34 run differential. The Brewers will start Robert Gasser for just the second time this season. Gassers went six strong innings in his first start vs St Louis, allowing just two hits and no runs for his first win. The Pirates dropped to 19-24 overall, 6.5-games back of the Brewers. They also have a -26 run differential and are 5-5 over their last 10 games. Martin Perez will make the start for the Bucs with a 1-2 record in his eight starts. He also has a 3.60 ERA and 1.400 WHIP. Perez has allowed seven runs over his last 10 1/3 innings as the Pirates have lost both of those starts. Brewers still the best team in the division and have a starter that had a great first start. I'll take Milwaukee here on Wednesday.