Will Rogers

The set-up: The Seattle Mariners opened a four-city, 13-day, 12-game road trip this past weekend and took two of three from the Rays in Tampa. The 63-62 Mariners arrive in Atlanta for the first contest of a three-game series on Monday, 1 1/2 games out of the second AL wild-card spot. Designated hitter Nelson Cruz singled Sunday to extend his hitting streak to 12 games and is batting .422 during that stretch with seven HRs and 16 RBI. The Mariners have their work cut out for themselves, as in order to stay in the wild card chase, they will have to navigate a stretch that has them playing 21 away games in 28 contests. The good news is, that after opening 8-20 on the road, the Mariners arrive in Atlanta having gone 21-10 on the road since that awful start. Atlanta salvaged the finale of a three-game home series with Cincinnati on Sunday, winning 8-1 but sit 55-67 on the season with no playoff hopes, having lost 19 of their last 27 games.

The pitching matchup: Andrew Albers (1-0 & 1.80 ERA), who was just purchased from the Braves on Aug. 11 for cash considerations, will face his ex-teammates here for Seattle and match up against Mike Foltynewicz (10-8 & 4.75 ERA). Albers made the most of his first major-league appearance of the season while holding Baltimore to one run over five innings to earn his first big-league victory since his rookie season in 2013. Albers had made 17 appearances in the majors from 2013-2016 with Minnesota and Toronto (2-5 & 4.41 ERA), posted a 2.61 ERA in 26 games for Atlanta’s Triple-A affiliate while going 12-3! Foltynewicz has gotten pounded in his last two starts, allowing 14 runs on 16 hits with seven walks in six innings during losses at St. Louis and Colorado (7.88 ERA). However, those two outings followed a 12-start stretch during which he had posted a 3.58 ERA and went 7-1 (Atlanta won 10 of those starts). Foltynewicz enters this contest with the Braves 13-10 in his 2017 starts, giving him an impressive plus-$695 moneyline mark (10th-best). He is 5-2 with a 3.48 ERA and 47 strikeouts against 19 walks in nine home starts this season (Braves are 7-2).

The pick: Albers pitched well in Triple-A this year (see above) and was sharp in his first start for Seattle. He faces his ex-team here and the lefty faces an Atlanta team which has played just 20 games against a left-handed starter in 2017 (10-10). Foltynewicz is off two 'ugly' starts but both came on the road. He's been very good in SunTrust Park in 2017 (again, see above) and I'll make the Under a 10* play.

The set-up: The Brewers coughed up a 5 1/2 game lead over the Cubs at the All Star break in the NL Central. However, after losing six straight from Aug. 6-11, Milwaukee has managed to win six of seven and climb back to within two games of the Cubs, as they begin a three-game road series against the San Francisco Giants on Monday. Now the Giants own MLB's third-worst record at 50-76 plus MLB's owrst moneyline mark (minus-$3157) but the kicker is, the Brewers have dropped 35 of their last 55 games in San Francisco, including nine of their last 10.

The pitching matchup: Milwaukee gives the ball to staff ace Zach Davies (14-6 & 4.26 ERA), while the Giants send Chris Stratton (1-2 & 4.91 ERA) to the mound, making just the fourth start of this season (seventh of his career). Davies is coming off a strong outing on Tuesday in which he allowed one run and six hits over 6 2/3 innings in a 3-1 home victory over Pittsburgh. The Brewers are 16-9 in all of Davies' 2017 starts, giving him MLB's seventh-best moneyline mark (plus-$-872). Davies been superb on the road this season, posting a 7-0 record and 2.52 ERA in 12 outings (Brewers are 9-3). He will be facing San Francisco for the first time. Stratton takes the mound after posting his first win of 2017 on Aug. 13. He registered 10 strikeouts while scattering five hits over 6 2/3 scoreless innings at Washington for his first major-league triumph as a starter (Giants won 4-2). Stratton made a relief appearance against Milwaukee last season, giving up one hit and one walk over two scoreless frames.

The pick: The Brewers just may have "righted the ship" and winning this series here in San Francisco against the struggling Giants seems like a must, as three games at Dodger Stadium are up this coming weekend! In Davies I will trust. Make Milwaukee an 8* play.

The set-up: The Dodgers saw their six-game winning streak ended by Justin Verlander, as they lost 6-1 Sunday afternoon in Detroit. The defeat also ended LA's streak of 13 consecutive interleague wins (it's been quite a season, so far, for LA, which owns a 20-game lead in the NL West). The Dodgers look to begin a new winning streak and further damage the playoff hopes of the Pirates, when they begin a four-game series in Pittsburgh on Monday. Pittsburgh earned a split of its four-game series against St. Louis by winning the final two contests (won 6-3 last night in Williamsport) but that came on the heels of a six-game losing streak. Sunday's win kept Pittsburgh 6 1/2 games behind the first-place Chicago Cubs in the NL Central (Pirates are seven games back of the second wild-card spot). .

The pitching matchup: Alex Wood (14-1 & 2.30 ERA) continues his "career year" by taking the mound for LA and will be opposed by Pittsburgh's Gerrit Cole (10-8 & 4.04 ERA). Wood settled for a no-decision against the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday despite allowing just one run and six hits over seven innings (Dodgers would win 6-1). Wood suffered his first (only) loss of 2017 on July 28, allowing seven ERs over 4 2/3 innings of a 12-3 loss to teh Braves. However, he's 3-0 (team is 4-0) over his last four starts, with Wood posting a 1.89 ERA over his last three. Wood evened his career record against Pittsburgh at 2-2 with a 12-1 home victory on May 8, when he registered a season-high 11 strikeouts while giving up only two hits in five scoreless innings. His ERA is 2.50 in six career starts against the Pirates (teams are just 2-4). Cole has been streaky in 2017 and escaped with a no-decision at Milwaukee on Wednesday after surrendering four runs on five hits (including three HRs) in six innings of a 7-6 Milwaukee win. He has served up six HRs over his last four outings and 26 on the season, which is more than double his previous career high (11). Cole has posted a 5.22 ERA in five career starts against Los Angeles but owns a 3-1 record (Pirtaes are 4-1).

The pick: Cole's 5.22 career ERA against the Dodgers hardly bodes well against MLB's best team, one averaging 5.09 RPG while owning a .793 OPS (3rd-best). The Dodgers are 15-4 in Wood's 19 starts in 2017, giving him MLB's sixth-best moneyline mark (plus-$893). Factoring in that the Dodgers are 8-1 in their past nine meetings against the Pirates, I'll make them an 8* play.

The set-up: It's Monday Night Football on ESPN at FirstEnergy Stadium, as the 0-1 New York Giants and the 1-0 Cleveland Browns wrap up NFL Week 2 preseason action. The Giants ended a four-year playoff drought in 2016 by finishing 11-5 and earning wild card berth. However, the team's postseason hopes were dashed in a 38-13 loss at Green Bay. The postseason has eluded the Browns for 14 straight years, after they finished 1-15 in 2016. Cleveland has had 13 losing season in that span and hit rock bottom with last year's franchise-worst record.

NY Giants: Eli Manning was held out of New York's first game and the offense consistently stalled against the Steelers, getting held to four FGs. Geno Smith has come over from the Jets but threw for a modest 114 yards against Pittsburgh with one INT. He has thrown 28 TDs but also 36 INTs so far in his checkered NFL career. 3rd round pick Davis Webb is in the mix (8 of 16 for 67 yards) and Josh Johnson (5 of 10 for 31 yards) also played against the Steelers. However, Manning will be back under center for the Giants on Monday and second-year head coach Ben McAdoo said the plan is to have Manning play into the second quarter in the team’s second preseason game.

Cleveland: I watched ESPN's E:60 on Sunday morning and one of the segments was on Cleveland's All-Pro tackle, Joe Thomas. He's protected 18 different starting QBs in his 10-year career and it's possible that Brock Osweiler and DeShone Kizer could raise that total to 20 by the end of 2017. Osweiler was just 6 of 14 for 42 yards in getting the start last week but it was Kizer who delivered the much better showing  (11 of 18 for 184 yards, along with the game-winning 45-yard TD pass). The offense HAS to improve, after finishing 30th in the league in total yards (311.0 per) and 31st in the league in scoring (16.5 PPG) last year. The same can be said of the defense which ranked 31st in yards allowed (392.4 per) and 30th in points allowed (28.2 per).

The pick: Eli playing into the second quarter is good news for New York fans (bettors) but not that the Giants were 25th in the league in total offense (330.7 YPG) and 26th in scoring, putting up just 19.4 PPG. The team has NO running game. The Browns own a real QB 'battle,' with Kessler (eight starts in 2016), Osweiler and the current front-runner, Kizer, which I believe will be the difference-maker. Make the Browns a 10*