Scott Rickenbach – Sports Handicapper

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach MLB Game #969 Wednesday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Boston Red Sox vs Detroit Tigers @ 7:10 ET - The Tigers are loaded with confidence after earning the sweep yesterday. Detroit has now won 4 of its last 5 games and averaged 11 hits per game in these 5 contests. The Tigers pounded out a dozen hits in each game of the twinbill yesterday. That included Detroit giving the Red Sox beleaguered bullpen plenty of trouble yesterday. Boston's bullpen ERA ranks them among the worst in the majors this season as they are far off the mark from where they were last season. I do look for the BoSox bats to bounce back today and that is why I expect this game to fly over the total because Detroit should stay hot at the plate as well. The Tigers will be facing Eduardo Rodriguez and the over is 3-1 in his 4 starts this season as he has compiled a 7.20 ERA. The Red Sox will be facing Tyson Ross in this one. I am well aware that Ross has some decent numbers early this season but as he continues to throw hanging sliders, more and more damage will be done to his offerings. Ross has given up 9 runs in 12 innings in his last two starts but it is a bit "hidden" due to some unearned runs. He did allow 2 homers in his last start and, prior to that, Ross had more walks than strikeouts in his prior start. Also, his strikeout numbers are down in his last two starts. Both teams also had to use extra bullpen arms yesterday due to the double header. The wind is expected to be blowing out toward right field in this one at Fenway Park. The over is a long-term 53-35 (including 2-0 this season) in Detroit's games against southpaw starters. The over is 5-1 in Rodriguez's last 6 starts dating back to September of last season. More of the same here. 10* OVER the total in Boston

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Game #953 Wednesday 8* OVER the total in Colorado Rockies vs Washington Nationals @ 3:10 ET - Anibal Sanchez will be starting a game at Coors Field for just the 3rd time in his long career. The last time he started a game here he was fortunate to escape damage as he allowed 7 hits in 5 innings. The prior start he had here he was also fortunate that damage wasn't worse as he allowed 3 homers but all were solo bombs. On a mild afternoon at Coors Field, the ball will be carrying very well and I expect this to be the start where Sanchez gives up a lot of hits including multiple homers all in the same game. The result will be an ugly afternoon for him and, keep in mind, behind him is a Nationals bullpen that is dead last in the majors with a 6.97 ERA. As for the Rockies, they are starting German Marquez. He has faced Washington twice in his career and the lone start against them at Coors Field was a disaster as the Nationals got to him for 8 earned runs in just 4 innings. The Nats enter this game having scored 5 or more runs in 3 straight games. The Rockies, prior to yesterday's loss, had won 7 of their past 8 games and averaged 5.4 runs per game during that stretch. Getting each team to 5 runs here would not be a shock at all and a 5-5 game has to end with at least 11 runs scored. This total dropped from an 11 to a 10.5 and I am grabbing the value with the over in this one. The over is 3-0 this season in Washington's Wednesday games. Look for another one here! 8* OVER the total in Colorado

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach NHL Game #23 Wednesday 10* Top Play Carolina Hurricanes Money Line (+) @ Washington Capitals @ 7:35 ET - As long-time followers know, I am a contrarian. In this series the home team has won all 6 games. So who do I have in Game 7? The road team of course! But it is certainly not without good reason. The Hurricanes, arguably (but many hockey experts would agree), have outplayed the Capitals in this series. Carolina has been physical and has seen their star players step up as this series has gone on. It is so hard to repeat as champions in the NHL and that is the uphill battle that Washington is in as they're simply trying to get out of the first round and I feel they won't make it. Very few series in playoff history go 7 games and see the home team win all 7 games. Amazingly this one has gone 6 with home ice prevailing every time. That streak ends tonight. The Hurricanes have stolen the momentum in this series by winning 3 of the last 4 games. The Canes also have won 21 of 32 games this season when off a game which they won by a margin of 2 or more goals. Overall, the Capitals have won just 10 of their last 19 games. Included in that stretch was winning just 3 of their last 6 home games in the regular season. The Hurricanes have outshot Washington 192 to 153 in this series and that includes outshooting them in 2 of the 3 games played in DC. More of the same tonight but this time it translates to a victory for the road team. 10* CAROLINA

TNT Annihilation - Rickenbach NBA Game #517 Wednesday 10* Top Play Utah Jazz (+) @ Houston Rockets @ 8:05 ET - The Jazz played much better defense at home than they did in the first two games of this series at Houston. Look for Utah to carry over that strong play to this game. Keep in mind, the Jazz lost Game 3 by only 3 points and then won Game 4 by double digits. Their confidence is growing with each game and the Rockets are now going to be in a fierce war to try and put this team away. The Jazz are 14-6 SU their last 20 games and 4 of the 6 losses have come by 6 points or less. That means if you had Utah +7 or more in their last 20 games you would have cashed 90% of your bets! The point being that, despite how the first two games of this series played out, the Jazz are not an easy team to blowout. With the strong defense expected to continue here, I look for Utah to hang tough with the Rockets throughout Game 5. The Jazz are getting more points tonight (8 or 8.5) than they did in the first two games of this series (6.5) and this is even though they are playing their best basketball of the series right now. I am grabbing the added value and expecting an absolute war tonight that ends up being decided by just a single possession or two at the most when the final horn sounds. 10* UTAH