Scott Rickenbach

*action on pitchers* MLB Wednesday 10* Top Play UNDER 8.5 in Toronto Blue Jays vs Boston Red Sox @ 7:07 ET - Yesterday's game snuck over the total late but this has the look of a pitchers duel and, even if these pitchers do not go, I like the under in this game. Took some late-inning magic for yesterday's game to sneak over the total and I feel we now have value here on the under as a result. Pivetta had a rough April for Boston but he has been a different pitcher ever since. The right-hander has allowed a TOTAL of just 14 runs in his 10 starts dating back to early May. He averaged 6.8 innings in those two starts also. Pivetta is 8-1 in his last 9 starts. Manoah is 9-2 this season with a 2.05 ERA. Keep in mind, he also went 9-2 last season! In home starts he has a 1.94 ERA and in night games he is 4-0 with a 1.23 ERA. Runs will be at a premium in this one. Red Sox had been held to 2 or less runs scored in 5 of last 11 road games before getting late runs yesterday in a wild 6-5 loss. 10* UNDER 8.5 in Toronto

*action on pitchers* MLB Wednesday 10* Top Play San Diego Padres Money Line -130 @ Arizona Diamondbacks @ 3:40 ET - No matter who the starting pitchers end up being in this one, I love the road favorite. San Diego blew a 6-0 lead late in yesterday's game and went on to lose the game 7-6. They are sure to bounce back here! The expected starters are an improving Clevinger against a struggling Bumgarner. Also, Clevinger and Bumgarner just squared off at San Diego and the Padres hurler was definitely the sharper of the two. Clevinger appears to be getting strong since his return from Tommy John surgery. Conversely, Bumgarner has allowed 32 hits in the 20 innings spanning his last 4 starts on the mound. Again these are the expected starters and like this play no matter what. But some other notes about this one are that San Diego is 17-8 versus left-handed starters and Arizona is 6-16 in divisional games. Padres 24-15 in road games and 26-12 against teams with a losing record on the season. Diamondbacks are below .500 at home this season and are 14-26 this season against teams with a winning record. 10* SAN DIEGO -130

*action on pitchers* MLB Wednesday 8* OVER 8 in Tampa Bay Rays vs Milwaukee Brewers @ 12:10 ET - This play more about the sticks than the pitchers so I am going action on the pitchers as per usual. Beeks is the expected starter for the Rays but is truly only an opener as he has pitched no more than 2.1 innings in any start this season. By the way, he has struggled badly last two appearances with 5 earned runs allowed in a combined 3 and 1/3 innings of work! Speaking of struggling, the Brewers Lauer is on an awful run his last 3 starts with 17 earned runs allowed in 17 and 1/3 innings. He has given up 8 homers in his last 3 starts. Back to the hitters angle here, the Brewers have won 10 of 15 games and scored an average of 6 runs per game in the 10 victories. In their last 9 losses, Milwaukee has allowed an average of 7 runs per game. You can see, given those numbers, why I am anticipating at least 8 runs scored for these teams combined. As for the Rays, they have averaged a respectable 4.6 runs per game in last 11 games at home. Yesterday snapped a string of 5 straight games in which they scored at least 4 runs. TB will bounce back at home against Lauer or whoever else is on the mound for the Brewers in this one. 8* OVER 8 in Tampa Bay