Scott Rickenbach Sports Picks

Divisional Dominator - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach MLB Rotation #911 Monday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Pittsburgh Pirates vs Chicago Cubs @ 7:05 ET - Jon Lester is coming of a start that featured a good linescore versus the Indians but he was not impressive. He was fortunate in that outing. I like to fade pitchers off a start like that and especially when they are NOT overpowering pitchers. That is is certainly the case with Lester and now he is on the road and I trust the Pirates sticks more at home than on the road. The issue for the Pirates here will be their own starter as JT Brubaker gets the start and has struggled badly at home this season. Brubaker has made 5 starts in Pittsburgh and he has compiled a 7.08 ERA as teams have hit nearly .300 against him at PNC Park. With the Cubs off a shutout loss at home last night at the hands of the Twins, I am expecting a huge response from Chicago at the plate in this one. They'll need it because I look for Lester to get hit hard. Even off a fortunate outing in his last start, Lester has a 6.82 ERA in the 7 starts he has made since mid-August. More of the same here. The Cubs .439 slugging percentage in road games ranks them 8th in the majors. Prior to a 2-1 home loss yesterday, the Pirates had scored 4 or more runs in 10 of their past 15 home games. They bounce right back against Lester in this one. 10* OVER the total in Pittsburgh

NBCSN Blowout Rout - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach NHL Rotation #24 Monday 8* Tampa Bay Lightning Money Line (-) vs Dallas Stars @ 8:05 ET - The situation was ideal for the Stars entering this season and they took advantage of a tired Lightning team as a I predicted. Dallas had a good amount of rest but not too much. The Bolts were a little tired from having just finished off the Islanders and with each of the final two games of that series requiring OT (one was double overtime). That said, the value is now with Tampa Bay in this bounce back spot. The Lightning are 5-0 in the playoffs when coming off a loss and I don't see them being denied here. Andrei Vasilevskiy has been great for the Bolts throughout this postseason and I look for a huge response from here. But really he did not play that poorly in Game 1 either. It was a 2-1 game very late in the 2nd period when the Stars got a key late goal. The Dallas skaters simply outworked the Lightning in that game. In other words, Vasilevskiy will see better play from his teammates in front of him in this one. Also, the final goal for Dallas was an empty-netter. This price is very fair in the -150 range and I won't hesitate to step in here as the Lightning improve to 6-0 when off a loss in the post-season. 8* TAMPA BAY 

Primetime Punisher - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach NFL Rotation #289 Monday 10* Top Play New Orleans Saints (-) @ Las Vegas Raiders @ 8:15 ET - Interesting that the Raiders barely beat the Panthers last week and the Saints were quite dominant against Tom Brady and the Buccaneers and then when you look at yesterday's results. Tampa Bay really "took it" to Carolina yesterday. You can see where I am going with this. I just feel that the Saints are the much better team than the Raiders and that this is especially true at this early stage of the season. New Orleans was better defensively last week and last season in comparison with the Raiders. I know this is the first game in the new stadium here in Las Vegas where I live but it is not the same atmosphere that it would have been had fans been allowed to attend. That said, it is not a huge home field edge really and with the Saints having opened up at nearly a full 7 point favorite and now being available at -5.5 I won't hesitate to step in. The Raiders, though off a win in Week 1, wrapped up last season on a 1-6 run. Also, 6 of their 9 losses last seen came by a margin of 18 or more points! The Saints are off a 13-3 season but very hungry after getting bounced in their first game of the post-season last year. In other words, this is a team on a mission and I don't see them losing a game like this. Not at this early stage of the season at least and based on the Raiders penchant for blowout losses I am comfortable laying the -5.5 here. 10* NEW ORLEANS

Total of the Week - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach EPL Rotation #200041 Monday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Wolverhampton vs Manchester City @ 3:15 ET - I am aware of Manchester City having a few injuries. But this is a team that was one of the highest scoring teams in the league last season and that also lost both match-ups with Wolverhampton. When you are a top team but lost both to a good (but not great) team you absolutely can not wait for the rematch. That said, Manchester City will be ready to go here and they scored an average of 2.7 goals per game last season but did allow an average of 1.2 goals per game when on the road. This one is on the pitch at Wolverhampton and they jumped out to a very early 2-0 lead in their season opener last week but then the game got stuck on that number. That kept it from going over the total but they face a much tougher opponent this week. This is a match-up where each teams attacking units match up well against their opponents defense and I expect plenty of great goal-scoring opportunities as a result. Of course I am not going to lay -200 odds with Manchester City but I do expect them to win this game and score at least 2 goals but not produce a clean sheet either. While a 2-1 final is most likely, a 2-2 draw, or a 3-1 or even a 3-2 game would not surprise me in the least given the circumstances of this one. Manchester City has had to wait extra time to get their season underway and this double-revenge match-up will insure a great effort that leads to an exciting game with a lot of scoring chances in my opinion. The injury situation helping to keep this total at 2.5 goals and we'll grab that extra value for a big play. 10* OVER the total in Wolverhampton