Michael Alexander

Rating: 2 Units

Milwaukee starter, Chacin received a no-decision after allowing two runs, five hits and three walks with five strikeouts in five innings of Milwaukee's 5-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday. The 31-year-old Venezuelan was 0-7 lifetime versus St. Louis before beating the Cardinals twice at the end of last season and on Opening Day 2019, when he yielded three runs and three hits (two home runs) with seven strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings. St. Louis' Marcell Ozuna is 6-for-14 with two doubles, two walks and four RBIs against Chacin, who has a 5.66 ERA versus the Cardinals and is 2-2, 3.55 in five turns at Busch Stadium. ST. Louis starter, Wainwright permitted four runs (three earned), eight hits and three walks in three innings of a 5-4 loss to the New York Mets on Friday. The 37-year-old Georgian allowed three runs and eight hits with 13 strikeouts against two walks over 12 innings in his previous two starts - a loss at Cincinnati and a victory over San Diego. The Brewers' Ryan Braun is batting .208 with two home runs, four doubles and 23 strikeouts in 86 at-bats versus Wainwright, who is 15-9 with a 2.36 ERA in 38 games (31 starts) versus Milwaukee.

Rating: 2 Units

Philadelphia starter, Velasquez has a 2.70 ERA with 1.02 WHIP this season while New York starter, Vargas has a 6.75 ERA with 2.14 WHIP this season. In addition, Vargas is 2-7 at home in his career teams starts against Philadelphia

Rating: 2 Units

Paddack had a 2.10 ERA in the minors last season. This spring, he had a 1.76 ERA through five starts, the final one coming against the Mariners. Through four big league starts, Paddack has a stellar 2.25 ERA and 0.800 WHIP.  Hernandez, on the other hand, has a 4.91 ERA and 1.473 WHIP. Hernandez has an ugly 7.71 ERA and 1.857 WHIP.

Rating: 2 Units

Drew Smyly has allowed four runs in each of his last three starts and while he boasts an excellent 17 strikeouts in that span, it’s only 12 innings with 15 hits and eight walks allowed. He has an ugly 9.00 ERA with a 1.917 WHIP, with rumors of an injury swirling. After the Rangers’ string-pullers digest all of this negative information, they may opt instead for Kyle Dowdy, who has only four MLB appearances, all in relief. He’d be pitching in front of bullpen that’s been exhausted in this series. The A’s offense is at their best against lefties, scoring 5.2 runs per game. Texas is quite good vs. righties, averaging 5.5 runs per game with a .786 team OPS. They are red-hot right now as well, pushing those particular numbers to 6.4 and .838, respectively. Aaron Brooks hasn’t exactly been good for the A’s, with teams scoring 13 times against him in his last 16 innings.

Rating:  2 Units

Royce O’Neale also had a nice game with 11 points, 11 boards and a block, but Royce only scored 5 and had 4 boards during the first 82 games. Despite the Houston starting guards having off games, the Rockets still had Utah right where they wanted them as they were up 3 with 12 minutes to go. But they were outscored 31 to 12 in the last stanza. Clint Capela has respiratory issues and he scored just 4 points in the last game. He probably will not be 100% for this game but Kenneth Faried should slot into his position nicely. The Rockets bench figures to be hungry. The six Houston reserves that played Monday, had a total of 5 points. Also, look for Chris Paul to be more of a facilitator after Houston only had 14 assists on Monday

Rating: 2 Units

Carolina has outscored Washington 12-3 at home, while being outscored 14-5 in the three games in the nation’s capital. The Hurricanes are just 22-22 on the road this year, averaging 2.77 goals and allowing 2.93 in those contests. While Washington on the other hand is 27-17 at home for the season, averaging 3.43 goals and conceding 2.64 in those contests. The experience and the home ice advantage make the Capitals worth a selection