Matt Fargo Handicapper Reviews & Picks

This is a play on the SEATTLE SEAHAWKS for our NFL Thursday Enforcer. Seattle heads home for its lone preseason game here and there will be some added incentive in front of the home crowd especially coming off a loss to Pittsburgh last week. Head coach Pete Carroll has taken winning in the preseason more importantly than some other NFL head coaches and he will be expecting his team to bounce back tonight. Word came out Wednesday that Seattle quarterback Drew Lock tested positive for COVID and will not play on Thursday meaning Geno Smith will get the start and it is far from a downgrade. Smith has gotten almost all of the reps with the first-team offense in training camp practices as well as all but one series in its mock game. He is expected to play the entire first half. It is a rebuilding season in Chicago as they have a new coach in Matt Eberflus and the players are still getting used to the new schemes. Chicago is coming off a win over Kansas City in its preseason opener and does not have a lot of room to get ready for this one with just a five-day window in-between games. Eberflus plans only to play his starters between six to 10 snaps against the Seahawks. This includes starting quarterback Justin Fields who looked decent against the Chiefs in the win last week but the first string offense failed to put points on the board. In the preseason, Seattle is 29-13 ATS after one or more consecutive straight up losses. 10* (402) Seattle Seahawks

This is a play on the NEW YORK YANKEES for our A.L. East Game of the Year. Both Toronto and New York have been playing some poor baseball recently. The Blue Jays had lost eight of 10 games prior to their win on Wednesday against Baltimore that got them back into the No. 2 spot in the American League Wild Card, tied with Tampa Bay and a game and a half behind Seattle. There has been a four-game flip over the past 10 games and now this makes this a huge series with the Yankees before starting another big one next week at Boston. They are in a tough spot with Jose Berrios on the hill as he currently is the worst pitcher in baseball among qualified starters as he has the worst wOBA, xWOBA and xISO and it is not really even close. His road numbers are even worse as just as a general guide, he has a 7.50 ERA in 11 road outings. New York had dropped 11 of its last 13 games prior to its extra-inning win over Tampa Bay on Wednesday and even with that, the Yankees have lost five straight series. Going back further, New York is 9-17 over its last 26 games and it has lost hold of the best record in the American League so while this is a big series for Toronto, the same goes for the Yankees. Frankie Montas is making his third start with the Yankees and after getting lit up by the Cardinals in his first one, allowing six runs over three innings, he settled down against Boston and gave up two runs over five innings and now he makes his Yankee Stadium debut as a member of the home team. Here, we play on home teams when the money line is +125 to -125 batting .240 or worse over their last 20 games going up against an opponent with a starting pitcher whose ERA is 6.50 or worse over his last 10 starts. This situation is 38-15 (71.7 percent) since 1997. 10* (966) New York Yankees