Michael Alexander

Rating: 2 Units

The first game had a final score of 4-1. That said, I am expecting a relatively low-scoring affair. Getting the under five goals, at an underdog price, is providing very fair value. Both goalies are highly capable. While the Habs have seen the 'under' go 14-9-1 after allowing four or more goals, the 'under' is also a lucrative 8-1-2 when Vegas has played in the Conference Finals.

Rating: 2 Units

The DBacks are in a full blown free fall.  Just when it looked like they may actually win a game last night vs SF, they blew leads of 7-0 & 8-3 and lost 9-8.  They have now won just 5 of their last 40 games and they’ve lost 21 straight road games!  Last night’s game was as demoralizing as any of those losses and today will be a tough bounce back for Arizona.  They will send Merrill Kelly to the mound and we look for SF to have a big night at the plate.  Kelly has allowed 100 baserunners in just 75 innings this year and Arizona has lost the last 7 times he’s started.  His last win was way back on April 27th.  The Giants counter with Anthony DeSclafani who owns a solid 2.70 career ERA mark vs Arizona.  In his last 3 starts DeSclafani has allowed a total of 4 earned runs on 11 total hits.  He’s coming off a shutout complete game vs Washington on June 11th.    The Giants have won all 4 games vs the Diamondbacks this season by a combined score of 27-14.  Going back further, the DBacks have won just 5 of last 21 meetings with the Giants. 

Rating:  2 Units

A couple o’ aces are on the hill in Dodger Stadium tonight, always a good potential set-up for a 2-1 ballgame. We’ll take 3-2. 4-3 would work, too. Clayton Kershaw bounced back from a couple of bad starts with 6 innings of 3-hit, 1-run ball vs. Texas in his last start. It was a 12-1 game but the Rangers started Mike Foltynewicz, hanging onto a major league career by a thread. Tonight’s visiting starter, Zack Wheeler, from his last nine starts, has median numbers of 7 1/3 innings pitched, 4 hits allowed, 1 run allowed. Wheeler has a 2.29 ERA, 0.90 WHIP.

Rating: 3 Units

Both of these teams have done what they had to do so far and that is win their home games. The margins of victories has been in the Clippers favor so far. Utah won both games in Salt Lake by an average of 5 points while L.A. won their two games at Staples Center by an average of 20 points. Donovan Mitchell did his best on Monday with 37 points but he did not shoot the ball particularly well. Paul George and Kawhi Leonard both got to the free-throw line for L.A. Monday and the streaky Marcus Morris was on the hot side. When Morris is hot, the Clippers roll. In the 6 post season victories by L.A. Morris has hit at 59% from deep. In the 5 losses in this post season, Morris has hit at only 21% from downtown. He is a huge key here. L.A. has to continue to challenge Rudy Gobert by going to the rack. The Clippers were a plus 12 in free-throw attempts Monday and that will need to continue. Gobert was in foul trouble on Monday and he only had 8 boards after pulling down a total of 32 rebounds in the Utah wins in this series.

Rating: 2 Units

The Mariners beat the snot out of the Twins last night, winning 10-0. Seattle is now 19-14 at home, while Minnesota is 12-20 on the road. Somehow somebody who thinks they are a whole lot sharper than me figures Minnesota should be the favorite here tonight. Justus Sheffield will toe the slab for Seattle, and while his numbers aren't great, he has been his best at home. Sheffield is 4-1 with a 3.58 ERA in five home starts. The Twins hand the ball to Bailey Ober, and the 25 year old makes his fourth start of the season. He's been just average in his first three career starts. The Mariners are 7-2 in their last nine home games.