Boston @ Chi. White Sox | 05/25 | 12:10 AM UTC
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ANALYSIS: The Red Sox visit the White Sox on Tuesday. Join SportsLine here to see the full pick!
ANALYSIS: The Red Sox visit the White Sox on Tuesday. Join SportsLine here to see the full pick!
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ANALYSIS: The Over is 7-3 in the past 10 meetings. ... Join SportsLine here to see the full pick!
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ANALYSIS: The Diamondbacks are on a roll lately, and had it not been for a four game series against the Dodgers, they would have won even more. They head home to face a Royals team that just blew a 6-0 lead yesterday. Both their best relievers threw about 30 pitches in that game too. Zack Greinke will probably be good against his former team but Zach Davies should also have success against a Royals team that struggles against righties.
ANALYSIS: This was north of -200 and I'm not really sure why it has come so far down -- perhaps because it potentially was going to be Zach Plesac on the mound but will be Triston McKenzie instead for Cleveland. He's pretty good but all his strong numbers come in day starts. His one night outing was not good (not clear if roof will be open in H-Town). Astros starter Luis Garcia is holding opponents to a .201 average through seven outings. The Houston pitching staff has been dominant at home, posting MLB-bests in ERA (2.22) and WHIP (1.01). Cleveland has lost its past six vs. a right-handed starter.
ANALYSIS: The Phillies send Zack Wheeler to the mound here and he's in a good place right now. He had two rough starts in his first three, but since then he's pitched to a 1.04 ERA (1.98 FIP) with 30 strikeouts in 26 innings while holding foes to a .189/.240/.289 slash. The Braves hit righties worse than lefties and Wheeler dominated them last year in five starts (1.60 ERA, 0.89 WHIP with 41 K in 33 2/3 IP). He's stretched out enough to give the Phillies a big workload, maybe even eight innings or a complete game. On the other end, the Braves send lefty Tucker Davidson and while he was good last time out, his track record suggests he can be gotten to. Plus, the Phillies are 8th in the majors in wRC+ against lefties. Almost everything turns up Phillies here except that they're on the road, but they've been better there than at home so far anyway.
ANALYSIS: I just think the wrong team is favored here. At first, I couldn’t get over the fact that Vladimir Gutierrez hasn’t even had one good start yet and that means a lot of innings for the Reds struggling bullpen. However, the Reds get Nick Senzel back to make their lineup stacked with righties. Drew Smyly allows a .311 batting average against righties and it won’t get any easier in that small stadium. The Cubs will be without Wilson Contreras again, and I think the Reds would win in a slugfest. I like the value on the home team.
ANALYSIS: I may need to have my head examined for backing Vladimir Gutierrez (0-5, 8.65), but he's simply not that bad -- and he was quite good against the Cubs as a rookie in 2021. The Reds have won nine of 15 games since a 3-22 start. They got Joey Votto back from the injured list over the weekend and he had a hit in every game of the Blue Jays series, including the game-winning homer on Sunday. Nick Senzel has been activated off the COVID list for this game. I simply don't think the Cubs -- who are without Willson Contreras -- should be road favorites over anyone. I believe Cincinnati has a very good chance of winning (FiveThirtyEight has Cincy winning 51 percent of time) but will take the RL at -150. Chicago's Drew Smyly is 0-4 with a 5.85 ERA at night this year.
ANALYSIS: Really weird that there is back-to-back in the playoffs, and honestly, I hate it. However, I think that benefits the home team and whichever team currently has the momentum, and that team is the Lightning for both. The Panthers have been completely shut down in this series and they aren’t set up to win a defensive type of game. The Lightning have the chance to sweep them on home ice tonight and honestly, I haven’t seen anything from the Panthers yet to show me they have some fight left. I like the Lightning at this price.
ANALYSIS: Five straight Cardinals games would have cashed the over at 7.5. Unfortunately, Toronto's offense hasn't been hot, but they've managed to play well enough to pick up some low-scoring wins. On the other hand, the Cards offense just scored 18 runs in Pittsburgh yesterday. Jose Berrios has been hit or miss, but still worse on the road. There's no doubt that Miles Mikolas has been excellent, but I still expect Toronto to keep it somewhat competitive. The under has been the move for recent Jays games, but at 7.5, there's value in the over at +105.
ANALYSIS: David Peterson has won all three of his starts for New York this season. But more important to me here is the Giants being in a funk. They are riding a four-game losing streak and were just swept at home by San Diego. San Francisco has scored just one run in each of its last two contests. The Mets own an eight-game lead in the National League East and have won five of their last seven. Look for them to continue to roll.