Tampa started this series with a win yesterday and I’m backing them to get the job done here again at $1.74.

They weren’t particularly impressive offensively, but their pitching staff really clamped down on Houston, which I’d expect to become a theme going forward.

While Houston have had a relatively good playoff run, they were definitely off the pace in the regular season.

They were actually below .500 at 29-31, while Tampa sauntered to the best record in the Conference at 40-20.

The gap between these sides probably isn’t as big as those numbers suggest, but Tampa definitely appears to be the better all-round team.

I think they’ve also got a good pitching matchup here, with Charlie Morton going against McCullers for Houston.

Tampa definitely have the batters to get after McCullers, which I’d expect to prove the difference here.

The Dodgers have been the best sports team in LA this season and they look good value to open the NLCS with a win at $1.70.

They easily put up the best numbers in baseball this season, going 43-17 with a + 136 run differential.

Not only was this 3 more wins than any other side, but their run differential was over 50 runs better than the 2^nd best side.

Atlanta went 35-25 on the season with a + 60 run differential. While these are competitive numbers, the stats suggest the Dodgers have been significantly better this season.

They looked great in the divisional round, taking care of a very good San Diego side in a relatively simple sweep.

Walker Buehler gets the start for them here and I’m backing him to continue his stellar recent form.

Max Fried will start for Atlanta, which favours the Dodgers hitting lineup and likely results in a comfortable LA win.

This figures to be an excellent ALCS and I’m predicting Tampa at $1.65 to start the series with a win.

If we start by looking at the stats from the regular season, Houston just wasn’t a good team at all.

They actually finished below .500 at just 29-31 and would’ve missed the playoffs in any other year.

Tampa had the best record in the American League this season, 11 games ahead at 40-20 with a +60-run difference.

I think Houston caught Oakland at a very fortunate time in the last round, while Tampa dealt with an excellent Yankees side.

The Rays figure to have a favourable pitching matchup here, with former Cy Young winner Blake Snell going against Frambler Valdez.

Houston has some hitters, but the Rays offence has been better this season and should be able to go after Valdez.

I think they carry on their high level of play from the divisional round and go 1 step closer to a world series berth.

I’d be on the Yankees if this was even money, but the $2.35 makes me like Tampa here.

You’re generally paying a premium betting on the Yankees, one which is only exacerbated by it being a game 7 with Gerrit Cole starting.

Tampa has actually been the better side throughout the course of the season and I think they’ve got every chance at pulling off the upset here.

Tyler Glasnow has had an excellent season at pitcher and I’d back him to turn around his relatively poor game 1 here.

Tampa’s hitters have also had a couple of good games in this series, notching 7 runs in game 2 and 8 runs in game 3.

Kevin Kiermaier and Michael Perez have provided some very valuable low order runs and seem to match up well with New York’s relievers.

If the offense shows up here, I like their chances at pulling off an upset.

I’m going to stick with Atlanta again here, currently paying $1.70 to win and get this sweep.

They’ve been the significantly better side through the first two games, winning by a combined score of 11 runs to 5.

They’ve opened as roughly a $1.50 favourite in both of the first two games, yet they’re getting a significantly higher price here.

My assumption is that this is in part because this could be a letdown game up 2-0 and partly because pitcher Kyle Wright hasn’t been great this season.

Even though Wright has tended to struggle, Miami doesn’t exactly have a firing offence right now.

As they showed yesterday, the Atlanta bullpen can also shut down their hitters when needed.

Especially with Sixto Sanchez not pulling up any trees for Miami, I’ll stick with Atlanta at better odds here.

The odds for this one aren’t out yet, but I’m expecting the Dodgers to go for their third straight win and secure the sweep here.

Make no mistake about it, the Dodgers were the best team in baseball this season and are the rightful world series favourites.

They put up an excellent 43-17 record, which was 6 more wins than any other team in the conference.

Their run differential of +136 showed just how dominant they were this season, more than 50 runs better than any other side.

San Diego are no slouches and they’ve been the 2^nd best team in the NL this season, but these first two games suggest they aren’t on LA’s level.

The Dodgers appear to be better in all major facets of the game, boasting better pitchers, hitters, and relievers.

I think they want to secure the win here and advance to the NLCS with the confidence that only a sweep can bring.

Since we’re getting them as similar $1.50 favourites today, I’m inclined to repeat my bet from yesterday and back Atlanta here.

They won fairly comfortably in game 1, proving the gulf in quality with a 9-5 win.

Their bats were really able to get after Miami’s pitching, with the trio of Ozuna, d’Arnaud, and Swanson combining for 8 RBI.

Max Fried was a little shaky early on, but good work from the bullpen shut down Miami’s offense.

I think they’ve got a good pitching matchup on deck here, with rookie Ian Anderson having outplayed counterpart Pablo Lopez so far.

Atlanta have also shown they’ve got a much better bullpen and batting lineup.

Especially on a neutral field, I’ll just take the better side here.

This series is very delicately poised and I’m leaning towards the Yankees at $1.80 today.

Zig-zag theory suggests they’ll have a motivational edge today, especially after losing a game they could’ve won yesterday.

While Tampa has been the better side this season, I think this pitching matchup really favours the Yankees.

Despite some recent struggles, I’d still put my faith in Masahiro Tanaka on the biggest stage.

Charlie Morton just hasn’t been as consistent for Tampa and could struggle against the Yankee hitters.

The Yankees definitely appear to have lifted their game since the start of the playoffs, averaging 9 runs a game on offense, while only allowing 4.5 on defence.

Behind a stellar pitching performance, I think they do just enough to get the job done here in this crucial game 3.

In taking a look around, the $1.50 currently on offer is about as good as you’ll find for Atlanta today.

Although Miami have technically never lost a playoff series, I think Atlanta is the better side here and should start this series with a win.

Atlanta put together another stellar regular season, going 35-25 with a + 60 run differential.

Miami just weren’t as good, going 31-29 and having a – 41 run differential.

That indicates a huge difference between these sides of nearly 2 runs a game, which I expect to play out throughout the series.

Max Fried has been a very good pitcher for Atlanta this season and he should be able to limit the relatively weak Miami offense.

While Sandy Alcantara has probably been Miami’s best pitcher this season, I think their weak bullpen and Atlanta’s strong batting lineup should prove the difference.

Going down 1-0 is a much bigger deal in the 2020 playoffs and I’d expect Tampa to be very motivated here as a result.

They’ve proven their quality throughout the regular season, where they were comfortably the best side in the American League.

The Yankees have been fairly inconsistent this season and an off night is definitely possible here.

I’m not exactly inspired by their pitching options, with Deivi Garcia getting the start here.

The 21-year-old has looked shaky in his limited action thus far and will likely struggle against a good Tampa offense.

Tyler Glasnow has been Mr. Consistent for Tampa Bay of late and you can reliably expect 6-7 solid innings from him.

Throw in Tampa’s solid bullpen and I think they make life difficult for New York’s bats en route to victory.

I’m going to take Oakland in the first MLB bubble game, currently listed as a $1.67 favourite.

With no home field either way this series, I think a lot of the externalities are reduced and the better team should win more often.

Oakland have proven themselves to be the better side throughout the regular season, amassing 7 more wins than Houston and a +36-run advantage.

I like the pitching matchup for them here too, with Chris Bassitt coming off one of the best seasons of his career.

While Houston still have a good batting lineup, they aren’t quite as good as they once were, and I’d expect Bassitt to enjoy some success here.

Lance McCullers will pitch for Houston here and I’ve found him to be fairly inconsistent this season.

I’d expect some of Oakland’s top hitters to get after him, which should prove the difference here.

I usually like to take chalk in the MLB playoffs, but I’m going with Tampa here as the $2.30 underdogs.

They’ve been the much better team throughout the regular season and I’m surprised to see them at this price.

They were far and away the best team in the American League throughout the regular season, going 40-20 straight up with a +60 run differential.

These marks are significantly better than what the Yankees put up, going just 33-27 with a +45 differential.

The main reason why the Yankees are such heavy favourites here has to be the fact that Gerrit Cole is starting at pitcher.

While Cole has been his usual strong self this season, Blake Snell has had a great year of his own for Tampa Bay.

I’d go as far as to say that this is a relatively even pitching matchup and Tampa have been the better hitting side.

Especially getting $2.30, I’ll take the Rays in this one.

Yesterday’s preview was all about how much better the Cubs have been than the Marlins this season and then they lay an egg in a terrible 5-1 defeat.

With the first round being best of 3 this season, I expect that we’ll see a more complete performance from them here.

Miami has the worst run differential of any team in recent memory, clocking in at -41.

For reference, that is significantly worse than the 25-35 Orioles, the 26-34 Royals, ad the 26-34 Mets.

While they did manage an impressive 5-1 win yesterday, I think a lot of that was due to unsustainably good pitching.

Sixto Sanchez doesn’t have much experience at all at this level and I can see him struggling against a strong Cubs batting lineup.

If Yu Darvish can deliver a respectable performance, they should advance to game 3 with a win.

Despite a very impressive regular season campaign, a single loss has San Diego on the brink of elimination.

The Padres were the much better of these two sides throughout the season, winning 7 more games and having a +73 advantage in run differential.

St Louis were a fairly average team by most metrics, but the 37-23 Padres definitely looked like one of baseball’s best sides.

Much like the Cubs, I think they’ll be all in here, doing whatever it takes to push this series to a game 3.

I’d expect their pitching to be better than it was in game 1, largely because ace Zach Davies is returning to the lineup.

Adam Wainwright has been good for St Louis, but this strong Padres batting lineup should enjoy at least some success.

I’m treating yesterday as an aberration and taking what I consider to be the much better team here.

While Miami were a great story during the regular season, I don’t see them getting past the Cubs here.

Miami were a very average team for large parts of the season and definitely wouldn’t make the post-season in a traditional year.

They were barely above .500 at 31-29 and their -41 run differential suggests they were fairly lucky in close games.

The Cubs, on the other hand, have clearly established themselves as one of the 4 best teams in the National League this season.

They had a respectable 34-26 record and their +25 run differential is 66 ahead of their opponents.

I also favour them in the pitching matchup here, with trusty veteran Kyle Hendricks going up against playoff debutant Alcantara.

The Chicago hitters should be able to get after him here in a comfortable win.

The Lightning brought a championship back to Tampa in the NHL and the Rays have every chance to do the same in MLB.

They had comfortably the best record in the American League this season, going 40-20 with a +60 run differential.

Much like Miami, Toronto was a below average team this season and wouldn’t make the post-season in a regular year.

Their 32-28 record is decent enough, but a negative run differential is generally unheard of for a playoff team.

Hyun-Jin Ryu is pitching for them here, which is probably why they’ve gotten a lot of action so far.

I think Tyler Glasnow has matched him in terms of quality this season and should be able to contain the Toronto bats.

Tampa simply have too many advantages here and look like good value at the $1.70 price point.

I’m going to take the A’s here, currently listed as $2.05 home underdogs in game 1.

Oakland were an excellent side this season, securing 2^nd place in the American League with a 36-24 record.

Their stats look to be fairly even with Chicago’s, but I think home field will prove especially valuable here.

Travelling across the country has been made much more difficult this year and I can see this adversely affecting Chicago here.

This line should probably be even money at least, but the betting public isn’t high on A’s rookie pitcher Jesus Luzardo.

He doesn’t have the same pedigree as Giolito for the White Sox, but I’d expect him to hold his own after some strong recent performances.

If their hitters can do some damage, they’ve got a good chance of winning here.

These two sides are dead even in terms of odds here and I like Cleveland at $1.92.

This is another matchup where the two sides have been very even all season, but Cleveland have home field by way of 2 extra regular season wins.

I think this is a decent pitching matchup for them, with Shane Bieber having been every bit as good as Gerrit Cole this season.

Cleveland also appear to have the better batting lineup of these two sides, something which could prove crucial.

You often pay a bit of a tax on big market teams like the Yankees to start the playoffs, which is probably magnified with Cole starting.

The Indians can definitely match their talent and I think the edge for home field means there is value at the current number.