We give Houston the check marks in the pitching match-up and the bullpen comparison. Also, the Astros are hot, while we believe Seattle's been playing a bit over its head so far this season. So we're betting Houston Saturday. But we don't like that price, so we'll chase a better one and give the run and a half on the MLB run line. 

We give Atlanta short edges in the pitching match-up and in the bullpen comparison, so we're going with the Braves, the home team at the short price, for our free MLB pick for Friday. 

This game sets up as a play on St. Louis on the MLB streak betting theory, but we do not always abide by that. Maeda is perfectly capable of out-pitching Flaherty, and while LA struggled mightily with RISP the first two games of this series, we expect a little better luck Wednesday.

Washington roughed up Nola last week, but we expect a bounce-back effort Tuesday night. And that Nats bullpen is struggling. We're going with Philadelphia for our free MLB pick for Tuesday.

Chacin was the rock of the Milwaukee rotation last season, and he's continuing in that role this season with a pair of wins already. And we like this Brewers lineup. So we're betting Milwaukee Monday for our free MLB pick.   

The Royals Brad Keller gets the start today, and he's been fantastic this year with a 2.08 earned run average and 0.92 WHIP. Admittingly two games is a small sample size, but dating back to last season he has allowed three or fewer runs in nine of his last ten and two or fewer runs in eight of the ten starts. Today he faces a Tigers club that he has success against last season and a club that has struggled to put up runs on starting pitching all season. The Royals have done an OK job at the plate this season, but Detroit’s starter Tyson Ross has owned them with a .136 career batting average in two starts, and the pen has been good with a 3.00 ERA this season.

Houston's been scuffling a bit out of the gate this season, but perhaps Friday's victory will provide a spark. Meanwhile, Brooks is coming off a fantastic effort his first time out, but we're still dubious of a guy who entered this season with a career ERA over six.

Milwaukee is hot, Chicago is not, and that's really all we need to know for this game. Also, while early betting action leaned toward the Cubs, we never have a problem going against the flow. We're betting  the Brew Crew here.

The Dodgers have erupted for 55 runs in seven games and have surpassed four runs in five of those contests.  Rockies starter Tyler Anderson didn't look good on the road in his opener, and he did get roughed up by the Dodgers last time he started at home against them back in September last season. Anderson has a history of starting the season slow, so I'm not expecting a significant rebound effort today.

The host Rockies bats were cold as ice scoring a combined two runs in their last four games and come into this match ranked 25th in batting average with a putrid .197 mark. They’ve certainly didn’t get to Maeda last season, 19 IP, 5 ERs over three starts but his worst outing of was in Colorado where he gave up three runs over 5 1/3 frames allowing nine base runners. Maeda continued to give up the long ball in his first test this campaign a problem that he had at the end of last season and Coors Field is not the place to try and remedy it. 

Most signs point toward Los Angeles here, and the line on this game reflects that. But Texas is off to the much better start, and hot-vs.-cold always means something when handicapping baseball. So we're going with the value here and the Rangers.

Wednesday's pitching match-up looks pretty even, but we give St. Louis short edges with the sticks and in the bullpen. So we're taking the underdog price with the Cardinals for our free MLB pick here.

Tampa has won four games in a row, while Colorado has lost three straight, so this game sets up as a double play on the MLB streak betting theory. However, we don't always abide by that method. Snell may bounce back after his iffy effort last week but "Cy Young" often brings with it inflated prices. And we won't usually get Freeland at such an excellent underdog price. We're going with the value here and betting the Rockies.

Price gets the check-mark in the pitching match-up, and Boston gets the check-mark in the splits with the sticks. We're betting the Red Sox here, and we'll chase a price with a play against the run line.

The Red Sox have gotten off to a great start in this series winning the first two games at home and are riding a six-game win streak. In the five home games for L.A, in this post-season, they only gave up seven runs, and four of those came in the one loss with Buehler on the hill in that game giving up all four runs. That said, on the season Buehler has been brilliant at home with a 2.20 ERA and excellent 0.84 WHIP. Porcello did not have the sharpest of last outings but got a lot of help from the lineup in the 8-6 win. The Boston starter lasted just five innings and hadn't completed six or more innings in his last nine outings. The Boston bullpen has been ultra-sharp allowing one earned run in the first two games, but they have worked eight innings and may start to show some cracks if they have to come in early for Porcello.

The Red Sox have won five in a row and have to feel good about their Game 1 win knocking around Dodgers’ Ace Clayton Kershaw. Andrew Benintendi had four hits in the game, J.D. Martinez had two RBI, and pinch-hitter Eduardo Nunez hit a three-run HR. Boston's offense led the Majors in runs scored, and they have been getting it done at the dish in their five-game win streak. Price was lights out in his previous game, finally getting his first playoff win and I expect him to win the battle of the starters tonight. I'll lay the money.

The Dodgers are in the World Series for the second straight year and are looking for their first title since 1988. On the other side of the coin, the Red Sox are gunning for their 4th World Series title in the last 15 years. These teams have met once in the World Series way back in 1916 where the Red Sox beat the Dodgers. The Red Sox are rested for this series after taking down the Astros in five games in the ALCS while the Dodgers were taken to seven games in the NLCS. Manny Machado and Max Muncy have combined for five HR in the playoffs and Machado is batting .250 and Muncy is only batting .182 in the post-season.

Boston’s Mookie Betts led the Majors this season with a .346 average and also had 32 HR and 80 RBI, but in the playoffs, he is only batting .205 and has not gone “yard”. This Game 1 is a great pitching matchup between a couple of staff Aces and Kershaw has been great in two of his post-season starts and Sale has been decent in his two outings. That trend will continue in this game, which is sure to be a low scoring affair. I expect Kershaw to out-duel Sale, and the L.A. bullpen will do the rest. The Dodgers will take a close Game 1 in Boston and get home field advantage for the series in the process.

The Brewers are back home where the split the first two games of this series with the Dodgers. This game has the same pitching matchup as Game 2, and while Miley had the better start, the Dodgers got the win getting to their bullpen. Miley has not given up any earned runs in the playoffs so far, and I expect him to have another good outing in this game. Game 6 will be another low scoring game, but this time the Brewers bullpen will be up to the task to force a Game 7.

The Red Sox tied up this series with their win in Game 2, and they have a hot pitcher on the mound in Eovaldi. In his last six starts he has only allowed more than one earned run once and in that game, he gave up just two earned runs. On the other side of the coin Keuchel has given up six earned runs in his last three starts, but he isn’t getting deep in games failing to go past the 5th inning in any of his previous three outings. Keuchel had one start against the Red Sox this season and was not at his best getting tagged for five runs in seven frames of work at Fenway back in September. Additionally, the Astros have lost six of their last seven games at home with Keuchel on the hill facing a team with a winning record. Naturally, Boston fits that metric, who led the Majors in wins this season. I’m forecasting the Red Sox lineup will pick off where they left off in Game 2 scoring runs early, as they will get to Keuchel early and often. Eovaldi will continue his string of strong starts, and the Red Sox will take Game 3 in the Lone Star State and take back home field advantage in the series.

The Dodgers evened this series at 1-1 in their Game 2 win in Milwaukee and are now back in L.A. Where they have won five straight including their last four playoff games. The Dodgers scored all four of their runs in Game 2 off the Milwaukee bullpen, which had been great so far in the playoffs. Chacin has pitched well in his last few starts but was lit up in L.A. facing the Dodgers in his only outing facing them this season. On the other side of the coin, I expect Buehler will return to the excellent form that saw him rack up four consecutive starts. The line is big, so I'm going to take a shot on the run line in this one.