We went 1-2 with our picks last week as Max Holloway cashed in for us over New Jersey native Frankie Edgar at UFC 240. Meanwhile, the Cleveland Indians and Philadelphia Phillies let us down last week. Let’s see if we can get back to our winning ways with some NFL odds this week.
Chicago Cubs @ St. Louis Cardinals
- Date: Tuesday, 8:15 PM ET
The Cubs have blown their lead in the National League Central as the Cardinals have pulled even. St. Louis is now 12-4 in their last 16 games while the Cubs are heading in the other direction. Chicago is just 19-22 in their last 41 contests.
On Tuesday, the Cardinals will put Adam Wainwright on the mound. The 37-year-old veteran has been reliable at home this season, going 5-2 with a 2.33 ERA and 1.20 WHIP. That’s far better than he’s been on the road where he is just 2-5 with a 7.16 ERA and 1.61 WHIP.
Wainwright will be on the mound against Yu Darvish, who continues to be quite up and down. He’s allowed one earned run or less in three of his last six outings. However, he’s also given up four earned runs or more in five of his last eight starts too.
He’s faced the Cards twice this season and done the same. He went 6.0 innings while giving up just one earned run in a loss to the Cards on May 31st but also gave up five earned runs in just 4.0 innings of work in the Cubs 6-5 win on May 4th.
The Cardinals have won four straight times when Wainwright has pitched. I’m expecting another win here.
Our Pick: Cardinals
San Francisco Giants @ Philadelphia Phillies
- Date: Wednesday, 7:05 PM ET
The Phillies were 10 games over .500 on June 8th but they’ve been heading in the wrong direction ever since. They are just 18-23 over their last 41 contests and are starting to see their playoff hopes slipping away. On the other hand, the Giants are one of the hottest teams in baseball as they’ve won 17 of their last 22 contests.
Jeff Samardzija has been one of their hot starters as the team has won four of his last five outings. He has posted a 2.48 ERA in the month of July with a sparkling 0.90 WHIP. It just so happens that the Phillies bats have been cold this month as the team is 20th in home runs and 19th in on-base percentage.
The Phillies will counter with Vince Velasquez, who has been passable as a starter. The team has won three straight times he’s pitched but he’s produced some mixed efforts. His 3.52 ERA in July is pretty decent but he’s given up five home runs in just 15.1 innings this month.
He’s been hit pretty hard. He also hasn’t last six innings of any of his three starts, so the Phillies bullpen, which ranks 22nd in ERA, might have to do some heavy lifting.
I’ll take a shot with the Giants here.
Our Pick: Giants
NFL Odds – Denver Broncos @ Atlanta Falcons
- NFL Odds: Broncos -2.5 at PointsBet
- Date: Thursday, 8:00 PM ET
The NFL preseason officially gets underway with the 2019 Hall of Fame Game. The Denver Broncos will face the Atlanta Falcons and it looks like the Broncos should have an edge.
For starters, we know that Falcons head coach Dan Quinn doesn’t care very much about preseason games. In his four years as a head coach, the Falcons have compiled a 5-11 record. This is a veteran team who knows their roster and has little to prove. As a matter of fact, they’ve already endured some training camp injuries and will probably want to play it safe.
As for the Broncos, we don’t really know how motivated new head coach Vic Fangio will be as we’ve never seen him run a team through the preseason (he was never a head coach before this season). However, as a new head coach, he might want to start off on the right foot.
I also like that the Broncos have good depth at key positions. At quarterback, we probably won’t see Joe Flacco but the team does have a highly-regarded quarterback in Drew Lock. Behind him, they have journeyman Kevin Hogan and another prospect in Brett Rypien.
At running back, the Broncos have plenty of depth with Phillip Lindsay, Royce Freeman and Devontae Booker. They’ll want to show well as they compete for carries. Just look at the NFL odds.
I’m expecting the Broncos to put a little more effort into this game than the Falcons and for Fangio to get his first win as head coach.
Our Pick: Broncos -2.5
Other Things To Watch This Week
UFC Fight Night: Covington vs Lawler – Colby Covington has made an impressive ascent up the ranks and now the UFC Welterweight Champion will put his belt on the line against Robbie Lawler at UFC on ESPN 5. Lawler is a former champ in this division but enters the fight having lost three of his last four bouts. This could be the last call for the 37-year-old to show well or he won’t be headlining main events any longer.
CFL Week 8: When will the Toronto Argonauts win a game? The CFL’s worst team is now 0-6 after getting shut out 26-0 in Edmonton. The Argos have now been outscored 214-75 in their six contests. This week, they take on the league’s best team: the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Winnipeg is coming off their first loss of the season and might be in a sour mood.
Citi Open: The men’s and women’s tennis tours are in Washington, D.C. this week for the Citi Open. 15-year-old star Coco Gauff, who made a big splash in Wimbledon when she became the youngest player ever to qualify (and then reached the fourth round), will be in the main draw.
See you same time next week when we start off the week with our Bets Of The Week!
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