Cappers Sports Picks

No Doubt Blowout Rout - Rickenbach MLB Game #957 Monday 10* Top Play Philadelphia Phillies Money Line (-) vs Arizona Diamondbacks @ 7:05 ET - The fact that Zack Greinke is on the mound for the Diamondbacks is helping to keep this line in check. The Phillies are off of a loss but have been playing extremely well and Jake Arrieta is looking like the "Cy Young version" of Arrieta recently. These factors should lead to a solid win for the Phils at home in this one. There is a chance of light rain in the Philly area this evening but it is not expected to last long and is expected to be light. Ultimately it should prove to not be an impact to this game. Greinke has a 7.15 ERA in his two road starts this season. He has allowed 7 hits and 3 walks in the 7 innings spanning his last two starts versus Philadelphia. As for Arrieta, he has allowed just 2 earned runs on only 6 hits in the 13 innings spanning his last two starts versus Arizona. The right-hander also has a streak of 10 straight scoreless innings at home for the Phillies. He had a rough first inning in his debut for the Phillies but, since then, Arrieta has given up NO runs on just 2 hits in his last 10 innings on the mound at Citizens Bank Park. Overall he has allowed just 2 earned runs in his last 16 and 2/3 earnings for the Phillies. Philadelphia is 4-0 the L4 times they entered a game off of a loss. Also, the Phils are still 9-2 at home even with yesterday's loss included. 10* PHILADELPHIA

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Game #963 Wednesday 8* OVER the total in Chicago White Sox vs Seattle Mariners @ 2:10 ET - Yesterday's game was a 1-0 win. I like grabbing overs the day after a pitchers duel. The White Sox James Shields is struggling badly and very hittable. I also like grabbing overs in a game where I am projecting the home team pitcher to get hit hard. The reason being is that the home team usually is more comfortable (and hits better) at home so I am always looking for good spots for a road team to get their fair share of runs as well and this one certainly fits the bill. The White Sox are 3-0 to the over this season when off of a shutout loss. Also, the ChiSox are an overall 9-4 to the over off of a loss this year. They should bounce back against Felix Hernandez. The Mariners right-hander has a 7.80 ERA in his 3 road starts this season. Also, he has given up 24 hits in the 19 innings spanning his last 3 starts versus the White Sox. As for Chicago's Shields, he has been absolutely crushed for 14 earned runs in less than 9 innings of work in his last 2 starts versus the Mariners. Also, Shields comes into this start with a 5.96 ERA on the season and he has walked 9 in less than 12 innings of work spanning his last two starts. The over is 3-1 in his 4 starts this season. Also, the over is 8-3 when Seattle is off of a win this season. Additionally, the Mariners are 11-4 to the over against right-handed starters this year. More of the same here. 8* OVER the total in the Chicago White Sox game

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach NHL Game #25 Wednesday 10* Top Play Toronto Maple Leafs Money Line (+) @ Boston Bruins @ 7:35 ET - The Maple Leafs are rolling with confidence right now. Yes the first two games of this series were ugly losses at Boston. However, they won Game 5 here and, overall, have now won 3 of the last 4 games in this series. In those games Toronto has outscored Boston 12-9. After falling behind 3-1 in the series, the Leafs have rallied back to force a Game 7. The confidence of this team, the way that goalie Frederik Andersen has responded after some tough times, the fact that the pressure is on Boston here to avoid another collapse in a playoff series...it all adds up to quite a lot of line value on the underdog Maple Leafs in this one. Toronto has won 8 of the last 12 match-ups between these teams. Andersen was in goal for all but one of those dozen games. Look for him to be a difference maker here. He has a .936 save percentage the last 4 games. As for the Bruins Tuukka Rask, he has an .894 save percentage in the last 4 games. Boston is just 1 for 9 on the power play in the last 4 games while the Maple Leafs are 3 for 10 on the power play in the last 5 games. Of course the Bruins have revenge here after dropping back to back games in this series but they have lost 66 of 119 (money burning -$34,800) when playing with revenge in recent seasons. 10* TORONTO

Game of the Week - Rickenbach NBA Game #713 Wednesday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Houston Rockets vs Minnesota Timberwolves @ 9:35 ET - The very first number that popped up on this total was a 219. The markets have pounced on it and have pounded it down to as low as a 215.5 as of early game day morning. I'll gladly grab the additional line value here. The Wolves are down 3-1 in this series so they have no option but to pull off a huge upset here if they want to stay alive in this post-season. That said, there is great value with the over here because the Rockets are going to push the pace and look to close out big at home. The first two games in this series were played in Houston and both stayed under the total. However, the Rockets shot uncharacteristically poor from 3-point land in those two games. They've gotten hotter since then as they've shot better from beyond the arc in the last two games, both played in Minnesota. That said, I look for them to be even hotter still in Game 5 as they're back on their home floor and have found their shooting stroke again. The Timberwolves have hit 40% of their threes in this series and I look for this one to turn into a run and gun affair. We're simply getting value here because the first two games in Houston stayed under the total. Given this elimination setting and the Rockets game plan to run the Wolves out of the playoffs by running them right of the arena, this will be a shootout tonight. Look for the over to improve to 6-3 when the Rockets are leading in a playoff series. Minnesota is 9-4 to the over when they are off of a loss by double digits. 10* OVER the total in Houston

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach NBA Game #710 Wednesday 8* Toronto Raptors (-) vs Washington Wizards @ 7:05 ET - The Wizards rallied and got the win in Game 4 in DC on Sunday but the Raptors should roar back here. Toronto lost their shooting touch in Washington but are now back home where they've shot 50% or better in 3 straight games. The Raptors are 7-1 SU in their last 8 home games and are perfect 5-0 ATS in their last 5 played north of the border. The Wizards are 1-9 ATS in their last 10 road games and Washington has lost 8 straight games SU away from home. The Raptors let a big lead get away from them in Game 4 and even were in good shape late in the game before a surprising collapse. They'll be ready to roll here on Wednesday. The Wizards are 4-11 SU and ATS when off of an upset win as an underdog. Toronto is 7-2 SU when tied in a playoff series and also 13-3 SU when off of an upset loss as a favorite. The Raptors get the win here and, as far as the cover, the SU winner has also been the ATS winner in each of their last 11 games! 8* TORONTO