Today's picks: Why Cardinals will beat Cubs, plus more MLB and Stanley Cup Final plays for Friday, June 24

Jonathan Coachman is joined by top sports betting experts John Bollman and Alex Selesnick on the Early Edge podcast, powered by SportsLine. Get highlighted plays for MLB and the Stanley Cup Final on Friday, June 24, and you can stream the show live every morning on the SportsLine YouTube page.

John gets us started with a series opener between the Cubs and Cardinals from Busch Stadium, backing the home side: "The Cards' Andre Pallante has been very good this season with a 1.69 ERA in 21 appearances. When he gets in trouble, it is with walks. But he has only had one walk in each of his past two games. He also faced the Cubs earlier this season and allowed just one earned run in four innings. Kyle Hendricks is very hit or miss and he was hit hard in his last outing. The Cardinals head home where they are 21-13 on the season and 6-2 in June. The Cubs are 6-15 in June and 1-7 on the road in June."

PropStarz leans Under 5.5 strikeouts for Boston's Nick Pivetta in Cleveland: "Play this up to -175. He's been held under this line in eight of 14 appearances. My model has him projected at 4.63 strikeouts. Cleveland has the lowest strikeout rate in the majors and also the lowest right-handed pitchers. Pivetta has the lowest swinging strike percentage of his career even while he's running hot. Terrible matchup for Pivetta strikeouts."

All three NHL experts (John, Matt Severance, Jeff Hochman) like Colorado at home to hoist the Stanley Cup tonight in Game 5 against the battered two-time champion Tampa Bay Lightning. The Avalanche enter the potential clincher with a 15-3 playoff record, and since 1987 when all rounds became best-of-seven, only one team -- the 1988 Oilers -- has finished a postseason with fewer than four losses.

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