Scott Rickenbach

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Rotation #905 Friday 8* OVER 8.5 runs in New York Mets vs Cincinnati Reds @ 7:10 ET - The Mets only scored 3 runs yesterday but pounded out 12 hits. I am aware that New York has not been scoring that well recently but this is a potent lineup and they deserved better yesterday. They will get it today. Sonny Gray is struggling badly for the Reds and has been pounded in two straight starts. Carlos Carrasco finally gets his first start of the season for the Mets and he'll be on a pitch count and he was inconsistent in terms of his results in his rehab starts at the minor league level. That said, I feel neither starting pitcher can be trusted here. Gray's form in particular is concerning for Cincinnati and the Mets are at home too so they really should pound him. As for the Reds sticks, they have been hot and that continued in yesterday's 7-4 win at Wrigley Field over the Cubs. Cincinnati has now won 5 of 7 games and scored an average of 6.3 runs per game during this stretch. Also, the Reds have scored at least 5 runs in 7 straight games. When you consider all of the above factors, the total is low here and offering solid line value. 8* OVER 8.5 runs in New York Mets

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Rotation #913 Friday 8* OVER 10.5 runs in Toronto Blue Jays vs Kansas City Royals @ 7:07 ET - The Royals are hot and have won 8 of 9 games and scored an average of 5.4 runs per game in the 4 victories. The Blue Jays exploded for 13 runs yesterday and certainly have a very potent lineup. Toronto is now back home and has averaged scoring 6.7 runs per game in their last 15 games as a host. Daniel Lynch is off a rare strong start for the Royals. The Kansas City southpaw had struggled in his 3 prior starts at the MLB level this season and he also struggled, and was currently in poor form, at the AAA level with Omaha in the minors. That said, his prior start can absolutely be considered an aberration and I expect normalcy resumes here and he gets pounded. Speaking of being off an unusual result, Ross Stripling had been struggling badly and then had a respectable start. That said, normalcy resumes for him here too and he has an 11.00 ERA last 3 starts and a 6.06 ERA at home this season. Look for the over to improve to 4-0 in the last 4 games in which the Blue Jays were a host. Also, 3 of the last 4 meetings between these teams here were an over. 8* OVER 10.5 runs in Toronto

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach MLB Rotation #901 Friday 8* Philadelphia Phillies Money Line -124 @ Pittsburgh Pirates @ 7:05 ET - ACTION on pitchers. No matter who pitches here I like the Phillies. The fact that Velasquez, Phillies most inconsistent pitcher, is scheduled to start is merely serving to give us line value here. Philadelphia will ride the momentum of yesterday's double-header Game 2 win when they rallied from an early 7-0 deficit and then won in extra innings on a walk-off grand slam. The Phillies have now won 6 of last 10 in NL action. As for the Pirates, they got crushed again by the Brewers yesterday and have now lost 8 of 10 games including 4 straight by a combined score of 34 to 4. Pittsburgh is struggling badly and Crowe has a 5.82 ERA this season and an 0-4 record at home. Again, no matter who starts in this game I am expecting a road rout. 8* PHILADELPHIA

6* OVER the total in LA Angels - Back to back shutout home losses for the Angels. Now a hot afternoon game in Anaheim and a lefty likely to get pounded. The Angels bats will come back to life here. The over is 23-10 in Angels games against lefty starters this season. Cole Irvin starts for Oakland. He is off a solid start against the Angels the last time he faced them but he was hit hard by LA in his first two starts against them this season. Irvin allowed 4 earned runs in each of these two starts. Also, he enters this outing with a 6.30 ERA in his last two road starts. Jaime Barria starts for the Angels here and must be given credit for allowing back to back homers to begin his outing at Minnesota in his most recent start and yet not allowing any runs the rest of the way. However, Barria did allow a lot of hard hit balls in that start and was quite fortunate. He did not have overly impressive numbers in his starts in the minors this season either. Also, Barria allowed 4 earned runs in 4 innings in his last start against the Athletics. Entering yesterday's game, another A's win, Oakland had won 6 straight against the Angels and scored an average of 6 runs per game in those victories. They are capable of another big game at the plate here but this time the Angels join the party. There is a reason this line is showing signs of moving from 9.5 to 10 early this morning. The sharp money is going to come in on the over on a hot afternoon in Anaheim and I fully expect both teams will light up the scoreboard. 6* OVER the total in Los Angeles Angels

6* Houston Astros Money Line -105 - The Astros opened up in the -120 range but came down as low as even money in early market activity. I am fading the line move here. Two high quality teams matched up and two high quality pitchers but Houston has been scoring runs at a much better clip since the All Star break in comparison with San Francisco. Astros averaging about 6 runs a game and Giants about 4 runs a game. Also, Giants starter Alex Wood has struggled this season against tougher lineups. When you look closely at his game by game results you'll see he has struggled quite a bit against the better teams and feasted on weaker teams. I trust veteran Zack Greinke much more in this spot and he has also has more lengthy starts over the last two months than Wood has. Working deeper into the game could be key here as both bullpens did struggle some yesterday. With the victory yesterday, Houston has won 8 of 10 games and averaged 6.7 runs per game during this 10-game stretch. San Francisco, on the other hand, has lost 4 of 7 games and was scoring an average of only 3.3 runs last 6 games before yesterday's high-scoring loss. Greinke has a 5-0 record on the road this season and has logged at least 7 innings in 4 of last 5 away from home. He is 14-3 in his career against the Giants. The Astros are 3-0 last 3 against a left-handed starter. 6* HOUSTON -105

6* OVER the total in Toronto - The Blue Jays played in a charged up atmosphere yesterday as they were finally back at the Rogers Centre in Toronto after playing previous home games in Buffalo, NY and Dunedin, FL this season. I expect the positivity to roll into this afternoon's game and the Jays should pound Mike Minor. I know the Royals southpaw had a couple decent starts but it included facing a struggling White Sox team. Minor now faces a Blue Jays team that has a potent lineup and has scored 19 runs the past two games and averaged 6 runs per game in its last 4 as a host. Minor's most recent road start was a rare good one as he has a 5.26 ERA on the road this season. Look for his struggles to resume here. As for Toronto's Alek Manoah, he does have great numbers on the season but has been sidelined with a badly bruised back suffered in a fall on slick dugout steps in rainy conditions a few weeks ago. I don't expect him to be as dominant as usual here and the Royals have won 8 of 10 games and averaged 5 runs per game. Neither bullpen has impressed this season. Runs early, often and throughout in this one after yesterday's game fell just short of going over the total. 6* OVER the total in Toronto