How will Kutter Crawford fare vs. the Yankees? ...

Are the Phillies undervalued? ...

Can the Cardinals bounce back? ...

Can SMU start their first season as a Power 4 program off with a bang?

Northwestern plays at a temporary field when it opens vs. Miami of Ohio. ...

Here are the early bets I made after the NFL schedule release ...

Zac Gallen had a solid start post All-Star break against the Chicago Cubs, going five innings without a run allowed. Yet, he still needs to bounce back at home where his last two starts he has been rocked. This included giving up a season high six runs to the Toronto Bluejays. Look for O’Neill Cruz to have enough success against Gallen and the Diamondbacks bullpen to go over his total bases prop.

This is a play against Padres starter Adam Mazur, who has surrendered a 1.034 OPS against left-handed hitters. The Orioles' lineup features seven left-handed bats Friday, and for the season Baltimore ranks third in OPS against right-handed pitching. Back Baltimore to lead after five.

Both teams are struggling to hit. Seattle is hitting .166 with a .552 OPS over their last seven days as compared to the White Sox hitting .162 with a .466 OPS. These teams have played four times thus far with two out of the four games going under seven runs, with one push. Seattle is still also without JP Crawford and Julio Rodriguez until August. The White Sox have also scored two runs, or fewer, in six of their last seven games and the wind is blowing in this evening.

Really, really was hoping for -1 here but not offered. So I'll just lower the bet as I generally don't like road favorites at this price. Big injury news for both sides as Royce Lewis has been activated for the Twins (and Byron Buxton is in there after an HBP earlier this week), while Riley Greene landed on the IL for Detroit. He's their most important player in the lineup in my opinion. Rookie Tigers pitcher Keider Montero is 0-2 with a 6.30 ERA at home. Detroit also used pretty much every reliever it had Thursday while the Twins were off.

Paul Blackburn returns to active duty on the mound for the A's for the first time since May 10, victimized by a foot injury thereafter. We'll see how he fares tonight at Anaheim after getting roughed up in his last rehab start for AAA Las Vegas a week ago. Oakland, however, is confident it can do business against Halos starter Carson Fulmer, a converted reliever loosely capped at five innings, and hit hard by A's bats on Sunday when allowing 3 runs and 5 hits plus two walks in just 4 2/3 IP. Oakland has also scored 49 runs across seven games vs. the Halos this month, and last night's matchup ended 6-5 in favor of the A's. Play A's-Angels "Over"

The Dodgers took advantage of a homestand vs. some spooked rivals after the All-Star break, but that all changes tonight in Houston, where the Astros and their backers are sick and tired about hearing the Blue complain about the 2017 World Series. Gavin Stone's numbers deceive for LA, as he has done his best in favorable matchups. Yert note the last time he faced a competent side on the road, he was routed at Philly two weeks ago. Tonight he has to outduel Framber Valdez, with a nice 2.97 ERA across his last five starts, all wins for the Astros, who have surged to the lead in the AL West thanks to a 41-25 uptick since mid-May. Play Astros on Run Line

The Pirates play at Arizona for the first time since 2023 when the Diamondbacks won four of their last five. Both teams have made it over .500, the Pirates two games over and Arizona three games over. This is the race to the Wild Card. The Pirates have won 10 of their last 13. The Pirates have won four of their last five with Luis Ortiz on the mound and he's been really good all five of the games. All five have stayed under and he's only allowed three earned runs. Pirates in a low scoring game.

It's hard to believe that the Braves and the Mets have almost the same record with the Mets having one more loss. But when you look at the wins and loss profit margin the Braves are minus-1526 on the year and the Mets plus-470. There's a big difference. The Braves are way overrated and overpriced most of the year. The Mets are playing well at the moment and will be rewarded as Charlie Morton is a weak link in the Braves staff. The Braves have lost five straight.

I think we can stick a fork in the Blue Jays at 46-56. They're done. While on the other side the Texas Rangers have stood up strong for their playoff run trying to recreate their World Series magic. Texas has won five straight and pulled one game under .500. Andrew Heaney has won three of his last four games and pitched quite well while allowing only four earned runs over that span. Texas to win.