You'd think the best time to bet against Houston, if there was one, came when guys other than Verlander, Cole or Greinke were starting on the mound. But Sanchez has been good for his new team, and he's been good against Oakland this season. Also, the Astros own advantages with the sticks and in the bullpen comparison. We'll take Houston here.

We're calling the pitching match-up a push, but we're giving Chicago short edges with the sticks and in the bullpen comparison. Plus, the Cubs are getting the underdog price. We'll take the Cubbies for our free MLB pick for Wednesday.

Anderson gets the check-mark in the pitching match-up, and while Minnesota may own an edge with the sticks on paper, it also might be feeling Cruz's absence, scoring a total of just nine runs over its last three games. We like the Brew Crew here for our free MLB pick for Tuesday.

We're calling this pitching match-up a push, along with the splits with the sticks. But we give Cincinnati an advantage in the bullpen comparison, and the Reds are just playing the better ball as of late. We like Cincy in this spot.

Ryu gets the check-mark in the pitching match-up, and Los Angeles receives the check-mark in the bullpen comparison. So we like the Dodgers here. But we don't like that price. So we'll take a chance and play LA against the run line.

Philly might own an edge in this pitching match-up, but for the moment we still don't trust Smyly. And while the Phillies might also hold an advantage with the sticks, it's not by much. Ultimately there's a very good chance this game comes down to the bullpens, and that's where San Francisco owns a significant advantage. So we're going with the Giants here.

Clevinger gets the check-mark in the pitching match-up, and while Minnesota owns an edge with the sticks, Cleveland owns a big advantage in the bullpen comparison. So we like the Indians here for our free MLB pick for Thursday.

Neither starting pitcher deserves a betting recommendation, and while Washington owns an edge with the bats, San Francisco holds a big advantage in the bullpen comparison. Ultimately, it's often a good idea to fade a mediocre starting pitching, like Ross, coming off a quality outing, and we're thinking the home team will be up for avoiding a sweep. We like the Giants here.

We give Arizona short edges in the pitching match-up, with the sticks, and in the bullpen comparison. So we're going with the Diamondbacks, the home team at a short price, for our free MLB pick here.

Minnesota is headed back in the right direction as of late, while Atlanta is stumbling just a bit. Also, the Twins own advantages in the pitching match-up and with the sticks. So we like Minnesota for our free MLB pick.

We gotta give Wacha a short edge in the pitching match-up, and while Los Angeles owns an advantage with the sticks St. Louis holds a short edge in the bullpen comparison. So despite their recent struggles, we like the Cardinals at the underdog price here.

It's always tough going against the team that Corbin is starting for, but this bullpen of the Nats is atrocious. Corbin hasn't made it past six innings in four straight starts and to make matters worse, the team used five relievers yesterday and four in the series opener. That's not to say that the D'backs are the play. The total is where I'm going. Sure Clarke has looked better in his last two, but the long ball has been his downfall, and the combined two runs that he gave up in his previous two starts were by solo shots. He's allowed six HRs at home this season in just 22 2/3 innings, and we could easily see a few more today.

We don't know who's going to win this game. Ray probably owns the edge in the pitching match-up, but Washington hit him hard the last time they met. And Ross is just terrible as of late. So instead, taking into account those two starting pitchers, the Nationals' success against left-handed pitching and their porous bullpen, we're going with the over on the total for our free MLB pick here.

We give Rodriguez the check-mark in the pitching match-up, and while New York owns the better bullpen, Boston owns a slight edge with the sticks. It's not easy setting aside a four-game losing streak, but we see MLB betting value here with the Red Sox at the underdog price.

Kershaw owns the obvious advantage in this pitching match-up, and LA owns the better bullpen. Also, San Diego just signaled it was throwing in the towel on this season with its deadline trade. So the Dodgers are the rather obvious choice here. But that line is a bit much so we'll chase the better price and play LA against the run line.

We give DeSclafani the edge in this pitching match-up, and while Atlanta might own advantages with the sticks and in the bullpen, they're not enough to overcome the price on this game. We see betting value here with underdog Cincinnati.

The pitching match-up is about a wash, but in reality, Tampa might own the edge because its bullpen, one of the best in baseball, will probably throw seven innings. Also, Rays bats are perking up as of late, and with the nice underdog price, we're going with the Rays here for our free MLB pick.

Darvish gets our handicapping check-mark in this pitching match-up, and while St. Louis owns the better bullpen Chicago owns the edge in the splits with the sticks. Also, when we see a good team like the Cubs go 2-5 over a seven-game period, we expect a correction. We like the Cubbies for our free MLB pick here.

Bieber's good but Verlander still gets the check-mark in the pitching match-up. And Houston owns a slight edge with the sticks. We're going with the Astros for our free MLB pick in this spot.

We give Maeda the edge in the pitching match-up, and LA owns advantages with the sticks and in the bullpen. So we like the Dodgers here. And since we also know they'll bat nine times (assuming no rain), we'll play LA against the run line.