Matt Fargo Handicapper Reviews & Picks

This is a play on the TEXAS RANGERS as part of our MLB Late Double Play. Texas has won five straight games including the first two in this series and the Rangers now come in as a very slight underdog and we will ride the streak with Mackenzie Gore who has a 3.96 ERA and 1.19 WHIP through 12 starts while pitching to a 3.95 xERA. He has been outstanding of late with a 1.69 ERA over his last four outings and while his home and road splits are not ideal, he was hurt by a pair of bad starts against the Mariners and Yankees on the highway. The Cardinals got off to a surprisingly good start but they are now struggling with a 2-7 run and have gone from two games out on May 23rd to 6.5 games out in the National League Central. Andre Pallente has been up and down and he has really struggled at home with a 5.52 ERA and 1.61 WHIP in six starts and this includes a 6.58 ERA in his last five in St. Louis. 10* (973) Texas Rangers

This is a play on the TORONTO BLUE JAYS as part of our MLB Late Double Play. The Blue Jays lost a tough one in the series opener 4-3 despite outhitting the Braves 9-6 and they have now lost three straight games since the Jeff Hoffman debacle. Toronto signed Patrick Corbin to fill in its injury plagued rotation and the Blue Jays have gotten more than expected as he has a 3.65 ERA through nine starts. This includes six road outings where he has pitched better than at home with a 2.97 ERA and 1.22 WHIP and overall after allowing two home runs in his season opener, he has allowed only three since then. Atlanta has won four of five games and holds a comfortable 9.5-game lead in the National League East. Grant Holmes is putting together a good season with a 3.95 ERA but is pitching to a 4.10 xERA which is only slightly better than that of Corbin. He has a 3.90 ERA at home with just two quality starts. 10* (971) Toronto Blue Jays

This is a play on the NEW YORK METS for our MLB Afternoon Dominator. We are coming back with the Mets as three pitches accounted for five runs last night to give Seattle its eighth straight win. It was some uneasy going early on for Freddy Peralta who had a 4.05 ERA through his first five starts but has settled into his role as the ace of the staff as he has a 3.20 ERA over his last seven outings. He has allowed more than two runs only twice over this stretch and overall, he has solid reverse splits with a 3.13 ERA and 1.13 WHIP on the road and now we get him in by far the biggest underdog role of the season. We went against Logan Gilbert last night because of his reverse splits and he was very average and George Kirby fits the same mold to a lesser degree as he has a 3.23 ERA on the road and a 4.15 ERA at home and while it is not an extreme difference, it is a big variance from his prior three season splits. 10* (967) New York Mets

This is a play on the SAN ANTONIO SPURS for our NBA Playoff Game of the Year. The Knicks have been rolling as they have won 11 straight games in the postseason and have done so in historical fashion as those wins have been by an average of 23.8 ppg with only one of those being decided by single digits. Now what looks like an advantage because of the rest disparity, nine days versus four days for the Spurs, it might be beneficial here. Since 2002 from the second round on, 13 teams have been in this rest situation and while those teams have gone 10-3 straight up and ATS, the caveat is that 10 of those teams opened the series at home. The Knicks open on the road as underdogs despite the never seen 11-game run and this has not been a good spot as since 2005, underdogs in Game One of the NBA Finals are 3-18 straight up and 4-17 ATS and these teams playing with six or more days of rest are 1-10 straight up and ATS. The Spurs obviously had the tougher of the two Conference Finals Series as they had to go seven games similar to what Cleveland endured before facing the Knicks and it ran out of gas but it was playing with only one day off and San Antonio will have had four days off which is plenty to recover from. Here, we play against road teams after successfully covering the spread in six or more consecutive games, playing five or less games in 14 days. This situation is 46-17 (73 percent) since 1997. 10* (502) San Antonio Spurs