Sportsline

Will the Giants complete a road sweep over Washington on Sunday?...

Are the Kings undervalued? ...

Jayson Tatum is averaging 12 rebounds in April. ...

The Stars got mauled in Game 1. ...

The total is too high again. ...

Heidenheim is easily the worst team in the Bundesliga. ...

Buffalo plays its first playoff game in 15 years. ...

Freiburg have won five of their last six games. ...

Aston Villa have won 10 of their 16 home games this season. ...

Half Unit. I'm going to fade German Marquez here. Marquez has allowed five home runs in his first three starts and I think he will struggle facing a hot Angels lineup that has put up at least seven runs in five of their last six games. Marquez had one really strong outing against the Pirates but allowed four runs in each of his two other starts. I think we see a similar stat line tonight.

Don't like any of the NBA playoff spreads today and really no playable moneylines not in a parlay so we'll take a half-unit shot here. If you have followed me over the years, I rarely bet a game total Over. Not really sure why. Guess I believe it's easier to miss shots/miss pitches, etc., than it is to succeed against fellow professionals. And obviously any major injuries to stars in-game. The Lakers clearly will struggle to score without Luka and AR, but this is quite low in the modern NBA even for the slower postseason. Could be a rout and if so, that's when teams forget about defense. Our model has this clearing Over by 11 points.

Amen Thompson is an excellent rebounder. He grabbed 7.8 boards per game during the regular season, which included him recording at least eight rebounds in 11 of his last 16 games. He averaged 37 minutes a game this season, which is a number that is likely to only go up in the playoffs. He played at least 41 minutes the last two times he faced the Lakers and came away with 12 and 11 rebounds. Look for him to be active on the glass again.

At -135, this makes for a fair value play and with confirmation Daulton Varsho is out after leaving yesterday's game, I'm siding with Arizona to win. Toronto's in a rut losing five of six and lost another important piece of the lineup last night, while the DBacks get back Lourdes Gurriel off IL here. The Arizona bullpen has been used sparingly the last few games and they rank #1 in MLB over the last two weeks for ERA, as Closer Paul Sewald leads all pitchers in saves. Zac Gallen vs Max Scherzer should favor Gallen at home, but don't love his strikeouts being down. Still, the Toronto lineup is much thinner than usual, and in the end Arizona should be able to outlast them.

Had planned to be done today assuming the Twins and Cubs won. Alas, a wash as the Minny bullpen choked. I'm coming up with a new term for bullpen in future picks because it makes my skin crawl. "Asparagus" is in the lead as that also grosses me out. It's sad the state of Toronto's Max Scherzer these days. Hey, if I can get $15 million I'm not retiring, either. But the former Diamondback and lock first-ballot HOFer looks utterly shot with a 9.58 ERA. And it's ace Zac Gallen for the Snakes, so this seems a quite fair price. The Arizona lineup gets a big boost with the activation off IL and season debut of former All-Star (and Blue Jay) Lourdes Gurriel.

Max Scherzer, 41, hasn’t gotten out of the third inning in either of his last two starts. The D’backs’ offense has been scoring, six-plus in three of four and five-plus in seven of 11. So it should offer support for Zac Gallen, who faces a Toronto offense with a .626 OPS vs. RHPs the last 15 days.