Big Al McMordie

At 2:20 pm, our selection is on the Chicago Cubs over the St. Louis Cardinals.  The Cubs were busy at the deadline, but one move that got lost in the noise a little was their acquisition of Clay Holmes from the Mets.  A contending team wouldn't normally trade for an injured pitcher at the deadline (and give up potentially valuable prospects in return), but Holmes' injury had nothing to do with his arm as he was hit on the leg by a come-backer on May 15 and was out for three months.  Now he's healthy and ready to contribute to a Chicago team that should have a lot to say come playoff time.  Holmes was rolling when the injury occurred as he had gone 4-4 with a 2.39 ERA and 1.10 WHIP in nine starts for the Mets covering 52 2/3 innings.  His first start back for Chicago was nothing more than a maintenance effort against the Royals so draw a line through that one and expect better things this afternoon from the 33-year-old RHP.  Holmes has never started a game at Wrigley, but in eight relief appearances he has a 3.72 ERA and 0.62 WHIP with 11 strikeouts and two walks.  Take the Cubs.  As always, good luck...Al McMordie.

At 10:10 pm, our selection is on the Los Angeles Dodgers over the Milwaukee Brewers.  The Dodgers may have acquired Tarik Skubal at the trade deadline, but most fans would tell you that Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto are still the Kings of the L.A. diamond.  And while Ohtani's pitching workload may be greatly reduced from now until the end of the regular season (if not completely eliminated), Yamamoto will be relied on very heavily on the mound.  Last year's World Series hero is having another sensational season, with an 11-7 record, 2.65 ERA and 0.89 WHIP in 21 starts covering just over 139 innings.  Yamamoto also threw his first complete game in the Majors when he beat the Yankees on July 19.  He'll get start number 22 tonight and it couldn't come at a more crucial time with both the Padres and Diamondbacks slowly making up ground on the Dodgers, who lost last night to the Brewers here at home.  Despite that loss, L.A. is still 6-2 in the last eight meetings with Milwaukee.  Take the Dodgers.  As always, good luck...Al McMordie.

At 10 pm, our selection is on the Seattle Storm minus the points over Portland.  These two teams met last Saturday, and the Fire won at home, 100-93, as a 1-point underdog.  That extended Seattle's losing streak, at the time, to 11 games.  But the Storm snapped that streak on Monday when they upset Chicago, 97-88, as a 2.5-point home underdog.  We'll take the Storm to make it two-in-a-row tonight, as WNBA favorites, with a win percentage of .200 (or less), have cashed 66% when favored at Game 25 forward.  Even better:  .200 (or worse) teams have cashed 58% at home when playing with double-revenge.  Take Seattle.  Good luck, as always...Al McMordie.