Scott Rickenbach Free Sports Picks & Handicapper Review

MLB Sunday OVER 9 in Kansas City Royals vs Colorado Rockies @ 2:10 ET - I know that the Royals do not have great overall hitting numbers but they are decent in terms of batting average against southpaws and also have a respectable slugging percentage in home games as they rank in the middle of the pack in that category. Here they take on a struggling Kyle Freeland. The Rockies left-hander has seen his strikeout numbers way down and he has been hit hard in 3 straight starts. No it is not a Coors Field issue either as he has allowed 5 earned runs in each of his last two road starts. As for Royals starter Brady Singer here, the righty is off a decent start in his last outing but this was preceded by him allowing at least 5 earned runs in 6 of 9 starts. Singer has not just been getting hit a little bit as you can see, he has been getting hammered. Now enter a Rockies team that has been swinging the bats decently and you have the recipe for another game at Kauffmann Stadium that reaches the double digit mark in runs. Both clubs have had bullpen issues this season too. Colorado has scored 17 runs in last 3 road games and they stay hot here. Royals get rolling against a struggling Freeland as he wakes their bats up. OVER 9 in Kansas City

MLB Sunday OVER 9 in Houston Astros vs Los Angeles Angels @ 2:10 ET - The Angels Canning has been pitching quite well but does have a 5.40 ERA on the road and a 7.90 ERA in day games this season. The Astros have won 7 of 9 games and scored an average of 7 runs in those 7 victories. Houston's France has decent numbers on the season but he has been roughed up in both of his home starts. He just made his MLB debut last month and he is facing an Angels lineup that certainly can be tough. Los Angeles has a .263 batting average on the road and that is 5th in the majors. The Angels scored 6 runs yesterday and have averaged scoring 5 runs on this road trip. LA also is 6th in the majors for batting average in day games. I look for them to come up big here in this one but they won't be able to slow down the world champs at the plate either. That means another OVER is likely here. OVER 9 in Houston

NBA Sunday Miami Heat Money Line +300 @ Denver Nuggets @ 8 ET - For those of you that prefer taking the points of course you can do that instead if you wish (currently +8.5 is out there) but I am going with the +300 on the money line here. Note that Miami saw Martin, Strus and Robinson combine for 2 of 23 from the field Thursday. The Heat also had only 2 free throw attempts in the game. Miami also saw Jimmy Butler score just 13 points. All of these insane numbers and yet the Heat still won the game. Wait, you are telling me Denver won and not Miami? Well technically you are 100% correct but the fact is Miami won the game from the field despite those numbers above. Indeed the Nuggets scored 14 more points than the Heat from the free throw line. This means that Miami (104-93 losers in Game 1) actually won the game by 3 points from the field. When I look at this series I feel certain that the Nuggets can win at Miami and the Heat can win at Denver. The Heat will respond here and are very well coached (admittedly Denver is too) and I could see the Nuggets getting caught feeling a little too good about themselves after the way Game 1 went. In further support of this pick and in terms of having the guts to take a +300 money line, note that the Heat are 9-0 SU (STRAIGHT UP) the last 9 times they have entered a game off a loss by a margin of a dozen or less points. The points are a generous offer here for sure but we won't need them so I am going for a triple your money wager here. Take the Heat on the money line as this streak reaches 10 in a row! MIAMI +300

Rotation #201337: Italian Serie A Sunday OVER 2.5 in AC Milan vs Verona @ 3 ET - AC Milan is locked into the #4 position in the table so they can play loose and relaxed here. At the same time, this is their season finale in a rather lackluster campaign by their standards. That said, they would love nothing more than to knock off Verona and help facilitate their demotion. Verona is fighting for their lives at the Serie A level. They are in a battle with Spezia to avoid relegation. No club has scored fewer goals on the road than Verona in this campaign in Serie A. However, it is now or never for the travelers in this one and they have no choice but to be aggressive here. At the same time, they are up against a foe that is tied for the league lead in goal-scoring on their home pitch. AC Milan has scored an average of 2.1 goals per match in their home matches this season. I am looking for at least a 2-1 final here as a result. Verona is a bit banged up but, again, they must go for it here. Also, 4 of the last 5 meetings between these clubs have seen BOTH clubs score at least 1 goal and those 4 matches have averaged 4 goals apiece. Additionally, Verona enters this match having scored in 3 of last 4 matches. AC Milan has scored 12 goals in last 7 Serie A matches. OVER 2.5 in AC Milan