Scott Rickenbach

Rotation #920: MLB Friday Philadelphia Phillies Money Line -165 / -170 vs Chicago White Sox @ 6:40 ET - Line value here because Garrett Crochet is starting for the White Sox. Lets not forget this is his first year as a starter and he is only 24 and has made only MLB road start. He did pitch okay in that one but lasted only 5 innings. He followed that up with his most recent start coming at home and piling up strikeouts but allowing 5 runs in 4 and 2/3 innings of work. Crochet has good stuff but he is still adjusting to life as a big league starter and he pitches for one of the worst teams in baseball which is a key in terms of the value here also. White Sox are just 3-15 this season. They have won only one of his 4 starts and he has not lasted as long on the mound in his last two starts. The Phillies are at home where they have won 3 straight and 7 of 11 games. Chicago is off a win but this after starting the season 2-14. The Phillies are the hotter and stronger team and are at home. White Sox bullpen ERA is better than Philadelphia's but the WHIP is the same and the Phillies have the much better SO to BB ratio as well. Spencer Turnbull, like Crochet, is off a tougher start. But, unlike Crochet, Turnbull is a long-time starter and is 31 years old. He bounces back here at home while the young White Sox hurler could struggle on the road and the lack of run support will keep the pressure on him. This Chicago team has 3 games where they scored decently but in the other 15 games they have averaged only 1.3 runs scored per game! Philly has not been pounding the ball but they certainly have been better at the plate than the ChiSox. The Phillies have averaged scoring 4 runs per game at home this season including scoring a dozen runs in their last two games at Citizens Bank Park. More of the same here! PHILADELPHIA (-)

Rotation #557: NBA Friday Sacramento Kings Money Line (-) @ New Orleans Pelicans @ 9:30 ET - This money line is in the -125 range with the Kings favored on the road at New Orleans. The Pelicans are without Zion Williamson. The Pelicans will do their best to step up in his absence but Williamson just scored 40 points before leaving with an injury in the final minutes of the 4 point loss to the Lakers. No one else on New Orleans topped 12 points! The Pelicans were at home for that game, just like this one, and note Williamson had 9 FT attempts in the game while the rest of the team had just 6 FT attempts. Who will be getting to the line in this game for NO? Who is going to be drawing contact inside and taking hard fouls to get to the line? The fact is the Pelicans just lost an absolutely key player. His presence made even more key because Brandon Ingram is not right. It is clear his knee injury is still limiting him. He had only 12 points in the loss to the Lakers and lasted only 23 minutes and his productivity faded as the game went on. Behind Williamson and Ingram (one absent and one hurting) the 3rd leading scorer for New Orleans is CJ McCollum. He will get a lot of attention here from the Kings defensively (just like he did against the Lakers) and he was 1 of 9 from 3-point land versus the Lakers! That was even with so much attention on Williamson which, of course, will not be the case in this game. The Pelicans won all 5 games against the Kings this season PLUS this game is at home BUT the Kings are now favored here ... think about that for a moment ... exactly! Don't be fooled by this! Lay it! SACRAMENTO (-)

Rotation #201321: Italian Serie A: Friday OVER 2 -125 in Genoa vs Lazio @ 12:30 ET - These clubs last met in Coppa Italia action and it was a 1-0 final as was their most recent meeting in Serie A action back in August. However, the long-term history between these clubs is that the goals fly and this is another one, based on situation, that should be a goal-laden affair. Prior to the August meeting, the last 13 meetings totaled 57 goals! 1 totaled just 2 goals but the other 12 all totaled 3 or more goals and those dozen matches averaged 4.6 goals apiece! That said, we have some excellent line value with this total available at 2 goals. Genoa has trended toward higher scoring matches when on their home pitch this season and Lazio has trended toward higher scoring matches when on the road this season. Genoa home matches averaging 2.7 goals apiece. Lazio road matches averaging 2.8 goals apiece. You can see, given all of the above, why I am expecting each club to make the net ripple in this one. That means at least a 1-1 final but what about the likelihood of a draw here? Lazio has the FEWEST draws (4) of any club in Serie A this season and that includes only ONE draw in 16 matches on the road this season. Also, only 2 of the last 15 meetings between these clubs have finished in a draw. In other words, look for at least a 2-1 final here. Lazio enters this match off a huge 4-1 win to get back on track and Genoa has scored in 5 straight matches at home and averaged scoring 1.6 goals per match during this 5-match stretch. OVER 2 -125 in Genoa

Rotation #206941: Romania Liga 1 Play-out: Friday OVER 2 -120 in Hermannstadt vs Botosani @ 10:30 AM ET - Hermannstadt has scored 7 goals in their 4 matches in the play-out and Botosani has scored 6 goals in their 4 matches. Only 1 club (Voluntari) out of all 16 clubs in the play-off and play-out for Romania Liga 1 has scored more than these two clubs. That said, we have some nice value on the over here with this total available at 2 goals. Note that both clubs have momentum coming off big wins last week and Hermannstadt has scored 9 goals in its last 4 matches on its home pitch. They are battling other clubs at the top of the play-out table so getting the full 3 points in the table is the goal here and not settling for a draw. Botosani also has impressed as they look to escape the relegation zone of the play-out table. Their confidence surging with each win and they too will be pushing hard for the crucial 3 points. Considering this factor and the strong likelihood each club makes the net ripple at least once in this one, I am anticipating this gets to 3 goals, at least, via a 2-1 final. Botosani has played 11 matches since the start of February and 8 of the 11 (73%) have totaled at least 3 goals. Botosani visited here in late January and lost 2-0 but had scored at least 1 goal in each of 5 prior matches at Hermannstadt. They carry some momentum from the recent home successes but also have allowed 19 goals in last 12 games and the hosts have scored 29 matches in their last 16 matches at home! OVER 2 -120 in Hermanndstadt