Sean Murphy Handicapper Reviews & Picks

N.L. Total of the Week. My selection is on the 'over' between Milwaukee and Los Angeles at 7:15 pm et on Saturday.

The presence of Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski on the mound should have a lot of bettors flocking to the 'under' in this game, especially with that attractive hook at 7.5. We'll go the other way and back the 'over' as I think we'll see one, if not both offenses show up and produce. Misiorowski certainly hasn't been untouchable lately. He has allowed six earned runs over his last three starts and eight home runs in six starts dating back to the start of July. On the other side, Justin Wrobleski has really struggled lately for Los Angeles. He has been tagged for a whopping 15 earned runs over his last three starts. He's certainly capable of pitching better but until he gets through this rough patch, I do think he's fade material against quality offensive teams like the Brewers. He allowed five earned runs over five innings in an earlier matchup with Milwaukee this season. Take the over (10*).

My selection is on Texas over the Athletics at 9:40 pm et on Saturday.

A bit of a desperation spot for the Rangers here as they look to end their four-game losing streak following a loss in the opener of this series last night. Texas will be seeing A's starter J.T. Ginn for the second time this season after suffering a 6-5 loss in their first look at him. Ginn labored through that outing but was ultimately bailed out by the A's bats. I expect a different story to unfold here. Rangers starter MacKenzie Gore is pitching as well as he has all season, yielding just four earned runs over his last three starts. The Rangers lone defeat over his last six outings came in a tough matchup on the road against the red hot Rays. Look for Gore to serve as a 'stopper' for the Rangers on Saturday. Take Texas (8*).

Eastern Conference Game of the Month. My selection is on Connecticut plus the points over New York at 1 pm et on Saturday.

We'll grab all the points we can get with the Sun as they look to shake off a blowout loss suffered against the Dream last time out. New York has been a miserable bet for much of the season and that continued to hold true in its most recent game as it almost blew a massive second half lead in an eventual four-point win but non-cover against the Sparks. This is precisely the type of game the Liberty can have a tough time getting up for and I'm confident the Sun can at the very least take it down to the wire. Take Connecticut (10*).

NFC Total of the Week. My selection is on the 'over' between Dallas and Seattle at 8 pm et on Saturday.

The Cowboys were involved in three high-scoring games in last year's preseason, totalling 52, 44 and 44 points. I'm anticipating more of the same in their preseason opener this year as they head to the west coast to take on the Seahawks. Dallas is likely to trot out Joe Milton III and Sam Howell in this game and while that doesn't inspire a great deal of confidence in casual bettors, those that followed along closely last year know that Milton in particular is capable of manufacturing some big plays and getting the offense moving. We'll have to deal with Howell in a new offense but he's been around the league long enough now that I'm confident he can move the offense well enough to contribute some points to this total as well. After all, he's likely to be facing Seahawks third-stringers on defense. On the flip side, Seattle has one of the better backup QB rotations in the preseason with Drew Lock and Jalen Milroe. Lock is a proven preseason performer - always taking advantage of his opportunity to secure the backup role in August. Milroe, like Milton, is an athletic QB that made some noise in last year's preseason and can be a big play waiting to happen against Cowboys second and third-stringers on defense. Take the over (10*).

My selection is on Toronto plus the points over Edmonton at 3 pm et on Saturday.

The Elks got off to a tremendous start this season but have now dropped back-to-back games SU and ATS and will try to get going again as they return home to host the Argonauts on Saturday afternoon. Toronto is trending in the right direction following a difficult start to the campaign. Keep in mind, it was only last week that the Argos finally got to play a true home game thanks to the World Cup taking up residence at BMO Field in Toronto. The Argos check in off back-to-back wins including a come-from-behind victory over Calgary last week. There's plenty of room for improvement for Toronto this week after it turned the football over a whopping five times in that narrow victory. If the Argos can clean that up - and I expect them to - there's certainly a path for them to take this one down to the wire at the very least. Take Toronto (8*).