Scott Rickenbach – Sports Handicapper

Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach MLB Rotation #962 Monday Free Pick New York Yankees Run Line -1.5 runs -120 vs Baltimore Orioles @ 7:05 ET - Andrew Heaney makes his Yankees debut and he is off back to back strong outings with the Angels. It has been quite some time since he has faced the Orioles so, unsurprisingly, their lineup has very little experience against and the couple guys who do are hitless. This is an edge for Heaney and note that Baltimore is one of the worst teams in baseball. The Yankees are on a 30-9 run against the Orioles including 13-3 in home games. Also, the Orioles are sending a struggling Jorge Lopez to the mound. He is 2-12 this season and has a 6.51 ERA in road games. Lopez enters this start with a 7.94 ERA last 3 starts and also is 1-3 with a 7.22 ERA in his 6 career starts against the Yankees. He'll be facing a number of hitters whom have enjoyed success against him so this one is a mismatch all the way around. Of course that is why New York is such a pricey home favorite on the money line but we get good value in the -120 range by laying the 1.5 runs. 52 of the Orioles 67 losses have been by 2+ runs and 39 of the Yankees 56 wins this season have been by 2+ runs. Free Pick NEW YORK YANKEES Run Line -1.5 runs -120

ESPN PA Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Rotation #951 Monday 10* Top Play Philadelphia Phillies Money Line -120 @ Washington Nationals @ 7:05 ET - The Phillies certainly proved that they are "going for it" this season with all the moves they made at the trade deadline. With newly acquired starting pitcher Kyle Gibson coming up big for them, the Phillies rolled 15 to 4 yesterday. They had a hugely productive day at the plate as that was the first time in 80 years a Phillies team had scored 15 runs in a game without even a single homer. In other words their run production without home run power was huge in that game. They now are just 3.5 games out of 1st place in the division and this is with 2 months of baseball left. Of course the Nationals still have life in the division too but Washington has been going the wrong direction. Before eking out a 6-5 win yesterday, the Nats had lost 18 of 26 games. I know Josiah Gray was a key prospect for the Dodgers but he is still a young unproven hurler (at the MLB level) and don't be surprised if he struggles some here. He has hardly pitched above the AA level of minors and struggled in spring training action at the MLB level too! As for Phillies starter Ranger Suarez he may not work deep in this game either but the Phils bullpen is ready here and Suarez has a 1.12 ERA and a .152 BAA this season. He has been fantastic and the Phillies are road favorites here for a reason. Neither pen has been impressive this season but the Phils pen was bolstered at the trade deadline and overall they have been the better team over the past month in comparison with the fading Nationals. Lay the small price. 10* PHILADELPHIA

MLB Network Day Game - Rickenbach MLB Rotation #959 Monday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Toronto Blue Jays vs Cleveland Indians @ 3:07 ET - The Blue Jays are on an under trend but a lot of that had to with the opposition they were facing. Toronto has been scoring just fine with an average of 7 runs scored during their 4-game winning streak. Now instead of hosting a Royals team that is again on the fade, the Jays are hosting an Indians team that has an O/U record of 29-10-1 in their 40 games against left-handed starters this season. Yes the Indians lost a low-scoring 2-1 game yesterday but they have still averaged scoring 6 runs per game last 4 games. Cleveland will be facing Robbie Ray. The Toronto left-hander has seen the over go 2-0 in his last 2 home starts and he allowed 3 homers in his most recent start as a host. A big key to this over today is that the Blue Jays should pound the Indians Eli Morgan. The Cleveland right-hander has a 7.47 ERA this season and the over is 5-2 in his 7 starts. This included Morgan getting rocked for 6 earned runs in less than 3 innings of work in his lone start against the Jays this season. The Blue Jays hit will here again as they ride the momentum of happily playing their home games in the Rogers Centre again. At the same time, note the Indians are 3-0 L3 games against a left-handed starter and scored 7.7 runs per game in those victories. With this total dropping from a 9.5 to a 9 it is go time with this one. 10* OVER the total in Toronto