Scott Rickenbach Free Sports Picks & Handicapper Review

Total Dominator - Rickenbach MLB Rotation #923 Saturday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Boston Red Sox vs Baltimore Orioles @ 7:10 ET - Yesterday's game stayed under the total despite the Red Sox scoring 8 runs. Look for another big game from the Boston bats Saturday but the difference in this one will be the fact that Baltimore will join the party! The Orioles should enjoy success against Boston's Eduardo Rodriguez. Although the Red Sox southpaw has enjoyed success against Baltimore this season, this will be the 3rd time that the Orioles are seeing him and I expect the 3rd time to be the charm. Why would that be? Well, the fact is that Rodriguez is having a rough August. He has been hit at a .310 clip this month and has a 5.60 ERA while walking a dozen in just 3 starts. Another struggling hurler in this one is Asher Wojciechowski. The Orioles right-hander is 0-2 with a 7.36 ERA in his 3 starts this month. Also, he has allowed 2 homers per outing this month and also has walked 3 batters in each of his 3 starts! Though he shut down the Red Sox in his first start this season, he is not in good current form and now faces a powerful Boston team in the venue where they thrive - Fenway Park. As for the Orioles hitters, prior to yesterday's poor effort, the team had scored an average of 6 runs per game in their last 5 games overall. In terms of run scoring on the road, Baltimore had scored an average of 6 runs per games their last 10 games prior to being held to 1 run yesterday. As for the Red Sox offense, as per usual, they've been on a hot tear at Fenway Park. Boston has scored an average of 6.7 runs per game in their past 30 home games. The over is 21-9 in those 30 games at Fenway Park and all signs point to the over trend resuming here after yesterday's rare under. The Orioles bullpen has a 6.09 ERA which ranks them dead last in the majors. The over is 12-3-2 in Baltimore's last 17 games. You read that right. The Orioles have had just 3 unders in their last 17 games. 10* OVER the total in Boston

Total Annihilation - Rickenbach NFLX Rotation #417 Saturday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Indianapolis Colts vs Cleveland Browns @ 4 ET - The Browns put up 30 points last week and had over 400 passing yards. The Colts only scored 16 points last week but I like the fact they scored 13 in the fourth quarter and that they are at home for their Week 2 match-up. This total may look a little high since it opened at 43 but these numbers are not pulled out of thin air so think about that for a moment. The number was set this way because of these QB rotations and the way they are expected to play this one in terms of play-calling, etc. In other words, don't let the big number keep you away. The fact is that the Browns are fully capable of another big day offensively but the Colts will score much better on their home field. Cleveland scored an average of 27.5 points per game in their two road games in pre-season last year. Indianapolis scored an average of 22 points per game in their 4 preseason games last year. The Colts will make some adjustments and throw more after struggling in the first half of last week's game. Of course both teams have some extra rest here since this is a Saturday game and they played on Thursday last week. The over is a long-term 16-9 in pre-season action when the Colts are playing after a week in which they played a Thursday game. 10* OVER the total in Indianapolis

Game of the Month - Rickenbach CFL Rotation #693 Saturday 10* Top Play Hamilton Tiger-Cats (-) @ Ottawa Redblacks @ 4 ET - Both teams have injuries at the QB position but the Tiger-Cats are getting much better play at that spot. Dane Evans helped lead Hamilton back from a big late-game deficit last week and certainly has not been making the same mistakes that the Ottawa QB has. The Redblacks have had to turn to Dominique Davis at the pivot and he has a 5 TD's against 11 INT's! Davis leads the CFL in interceptions and, of course, that is not a category for which one wants to hold that distinction! Though some will view this game as a big motivational edge for the Redblacks as they host the first place team in their division, there is actually another way to look at this that I believe is a key factor in motivation. The first-place Tiger-Cats have lost 5 straight meetings with Ottawa. Their head coach, Orlondo Steinauer, certainly hasn't forgotten as he referenced that they (Redblacks) got them good last year. In other words, the Ti-Cats are out for some revenge this week and I like the fact that Ottawa is going through a lot of personnel changes at all the skill positions plus has a turnover-prone QB. Davis will be throwing to some new starting receivers this week too plus their running back is now out. The Tiger-Cats are not without injuries too but they are a much more "settled team" at this point in the season and they get revenge for last season's series sweep at the hands of Ottawa. Keep in mind, the Redblacks enter this game having lost 5 of their last 6 games. This line opened up at a -4 and has dropped to a -2 on the Tiger-Cats. I love to fade line moves like this one given the above. 10* HAMILTON