Michael Alexander

Rating: 2 Units on ML

Portland beat the champs in Portland in overtime a couple of days after Christmas despite fact Kevin Durant had a triple double and despite fact the starting Portland guards were just 14 for 42. Durant was not likely to even make the trip to the Northwest for this game. Portland played very well in defeat on Thursday and if C.J. McCollum would have hit the shots he normally makes, this series would now be one and one. Portland was 6th in the league during the season as the home chalk.

Rating: 2 Units

Walker Buehler in his last three starts has pitched to a 2.79 ERA and an even better 0.879 WHIP with a 21-2 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He has seen the Reds twice previously in his career, including once back in mid-April -- only two earned runs allowed in 12.1 innings on eight hits allowed with 16 Ks. Tyler Mahle was lucky to get out of his six innings against the Dodgers in his April start with only four runs allowed as he gave up 11 hits in that outing. I don’t see him getting as lucky here. A 4-12 day game record for Cincinnati suggests that Reds get baked in the sun once again.

Rating: 2 Units

Gausman returns with one extra day of rest after dropping the appeal of a five-game suspension from throwing at Miami’s Jose Urena on May 3, a game in which he lasted just 1 2/3 innings. While appealing the ban, the 28-year-old made one of his best starts of the season in his last appearance May 11 at Arizona, striking out six with two walks and one run allowed on five hits over six innings. Gausman, who has allowed four or more earned runs in three of his first eight starts, gave up one run across eight innings in his only career appearance against Milwaukee last season.

Rating: 2 Units

Philadelphia starter, Nola has not pitched as well overall as he did last year (17-6, 2.37 ERA), but the 25-year-old is receiving strong run support to remain unbeaten. The LSU product, who owns three quality starts in nine outings, gave up three runs over just three innings Monday in a 7-4 victory over Milwaukee. Blackmon is 6-for-10 with a homer and three doubles against Nola, who is 2-0 with a 2.79 ERA in three career starts versus Colorado after permitting three runs - two homers - over 5 2/3 innings last month.

Rating: 2 Units

Tampa Bay starter, Snell struck out 12 in 5 2/3 innings against New York at home on Sunday but was charged with two runs and four hits to suffer the loss in a game Tampa Bay dropped 7-1. The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner received a total of six runs of support in his four losses and is up to 62 strikeouts in 43 total innings. Snell is 3-5 with a 4.25 ERA in 12 career starts against the Yankees, including 1-4 with a 5.63 mark in eight outings at New York. New York starter, Tanaka outdueled Snell in Tampa Bay on Sunday, scattering one run and five hits over seven innings while striking out seven to earn the win. The Japan native yielded a solo home run to Austin Meadows in that outing and surrendered at least one blast in each of his last seven turns. Tanaka, who is 2-1 with a 3.03 ERA in five starts at home in 2019, is 9-4 with a 3.54 ERA in 15 career starts against the Rays.

Rating: 2 Units

The San Jose Sharks and St. Louis Blues are comfortable with their Western Conference final shifting back to SAP Center, as the former is 7-3 in front of their own fans while the latter has made itself at home on the road with a 6-2 mark. The Sharks bid to win Game 5 of their third straight series on Sunday against the Blues, who split the first two games in San Jose. The clinchers:  St. Louis is 7-16 in their last 23 playoff games as an underdog of +110 to +150 while San Jose is 19-8 in their last 27 after allowing 2 goals or less in their previous game.

Rating: 2 Units

Milwaukee will be comfortable in Canada. They beat the Raptors in their own arena in December when Giannis had an ordinary 19-point game. They also beat them on the last day in January when they held Lowry and Leonard to a combined 11 for 31 from the floor. The only time they lost to Toronto this season came when they were playing the second of a back-to-back game and Ersan Ilyasova only had 3 points in that game. Ersan had 17 on Friday. The Bucks bench outscored the Raptors reserves Friday 54 to 39.

Rating: 2 Units

Reports of Sale's demise were greatly exaggerated. Last time out, he recorded 17 K's. That give him 31 K's with ZERO walks his last two starts, 41 K's his last three. Over that 3-game span, he's got a dominant 1.29 ERA and 0.476 WHIP. He's also 5-2 with a 1.83 ERA in seven reg. season starts vs. Houston. Miley has a 2.31 ERA at home but a 4.50 mark on the road. Opposing batters hit just .181 against him at home but .274 against him on the road. The last time that Miley faced Boston was when he was with Baltimore in Sept. 2017. Coincidentally, that matchup also came against Sale. Sale and the Bosox won 9-0. Sale gave up four hits while striking out 13 in eight innings. Miley got rocked. The Sox should roll again this afternoon.

Rating: 2 Units

It is hard to pitch much better than Hendricks is doing right now. In his last three starts, he’s allowed a single earned runs across 25 innings with a 17-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio and only 12 hits allowed. You don’t see many pitchers go that deep into games any more, but when you are as efficient and effective as Hendricks has been, you can get it done. Can’t say the same for Jeremy Hellickson. The Nats’ righty has not completed six innings since his first start of the season and has only gotten past the fifth inning three times. He has allowed five or more total runs in four of his last five starts. Chicago’s offense takes it up a notch on the road where they average 6.6 runs per game with an .849 team OPS. They also feature a very nice 21-12 record against righties. Look for them to come away with this one.

Rating: 2 Units

Left-hander Tyler Skaggs (4-3, 5.05 ERA) is 2-0 with a 2.19 ERA in two home starts on the season and he is 2-1 with a dominant 0.35 ERA in four career starts against KC. That includes five scoreless innings of three-hit ball in a 5-1 win at the K back in April. The Royals counter with left-hander Danny Duffy (2-1, 3.97 ERA) who is is 2-2 with a 4.25 ERA in seven games (six starts) against the Halos. Mike Trout hit his 250th career homer last night and is 7-for-18 with a home run and double off Duffy.  Royals are 5-23 in their last 28 Sunday games and 9-25 in their last 34 games vs. a left-handed starter. They've lost 10 of the last 12 meetings with the Angels.