Big Al McMordie

At 4:05 pm, our selection is on the St. Louis Cardinals over the Texas Rangers.  This afternoon will be 24-year-old Dakota Hudson's first-ever MLB inter-league start.  And it's fitting since Hudson was an 18-year-old High School student in 2013 when he was drafted in June of that year by the Texas Rangers.  He decided to forego professional baseball at that time and instead enrolled at Mississippi State University (and then was selected in a later draft by St. Louis).  Now, Hudson gets to face the team that initially selected him in the 36th round almost six years ago.  Certainly, Hudson is a work in progress.  But the talent is there.  And nobody would be surprised if, by the second half of the season, the youngster was a solid #3 starter.  Despite the Rangers' win on Friday, the road team is still 6-1 in the last seven meetings between these two.  And Texas is just 3-6 in its last nine home inter-league games.  Take the Cardinals.

At 8:40 pm, our selection is on the San Diego Padres over Pittsburgh.  This game will match-up two rookie hurlers.  The Pirates will hand the ball to Montana DuRapau, a reliever who will be making his first Major League start, while San Diego will start LHP Nick Margevicius.  Pittsburgh has struggled vs. southpaw starters over the last few years.  This season, the Buccos are a poor 5-8 vs. lefties.  And over the last three years, they're a wallet-busting 43-59 (minus 13 games on the money line).  That doesn't bode well for them tonight.  Nor does the fact that Pittsburgh is a dreadful 27-53 (minus 28 games on the money line) vs. National League West division clubs.  The Pirates won last night, 5-3, but they're just 2-5 this season as road underdogs off a win.  Take San Diego.  Good luck, as always...Al McMordie.

At 7:15 pm, our selection is on the Milwaukee Brewers over the Atlanta Braves.  After pounding the Phillies on the road on Thursday, 11-3, the Crew was embarrassed in Game 1 of this series in Atlanta on Friday.  The Brewers' rotation is in a bit of flux at the moment, so having a guy like veteran RHP Chase Anderson, who can fill in and do a more-than-credible job is very important.  After five appearances out of the bullpen to start 2019, Anderson has made a pair of starts and did little wrong.  He currently stands at 2-0 with a 3.20 ERA.  And that's more than enough to earn him his third start tonight as he returns from the IL due to an injured finger, while the Crew awaits the returns of Brent Suter and Jimmie Nelson.  Don't be surprised if the Brewers come back tonight with a similar effort to the one they had against the Phillies as they are 11-3 (+10 games on the money line) in their last 14 vs. teams from the NL East.  The Braves will counter with RHP Kevin Gausman, who threw six strong innings and got the win in his last start.  But they are 0-4 in Gausman's last four after a quality start in his last.  Take Milwaukee.

  As always, good luck...Al McMordie.

At 1:05 pm, our selection is on the Tampa Bay Rays over the New York Yankees.  We played against Tampa LHP Blake Snell in his last start, six days ago (also against the Yankees and RHP Masahiro Tanaka), and got the cash with New York as an underdog of +152.  But we'll switch gears and take Snell and the Rays in the rematch.  Tampa is a super 25-11 (+14 games on the money line) with Snell on the mound when he's pitched with an extra day or two of rest.  And the Rays are 12-5 this season as a road favorite.  Meanwhile, the Yankees have not been profitable as a home underdog over the last three seasons, and they're also dismal as an underdog (whether home or road) priced from +100 to +150 the past three years (21-36, minus 11 games on the money line).  Take Tampa Bay.