Cappers Sports Picks

Ricky is taking a shot here on the Kansas City Royals at home up against the Cleveland Indians.

I am situationally capping this game and here are the factors involved.

1. Great odds. The Royals who are fighting hard to earn a Wild Card birth are being given outstanding odds in this match, especially for a home game - Ricky locked his in at +182! So with the mentality that every game here on out counts, this is a great opportunity to score a plus odds win. It's games like these where you have a chance to defeat another teams' best pitcher, which can propel a team to further success.

2. Division game. The Royals are in 2nd place in the AL Central to guess who? Their opponents the Cleveland Indians. Enough said right there, but to top it off the Royals are 10-1 in their last 11 vs. American League Central.

3. Home field. Kansas City has one of the very best home field advantages in the majors. Even more so when it's a night game. Expect a packed house on Friday night.

4. Pitching. Yes the Indians have Corey Kluber on the mound, but this always brings out the A game out of the opposing team when on the road. The Royals will be motivated to get after Kluber and knock him down a peg. For the Royals they are going with Ian Kennedy who's coming off a quality outing stricking out 7 with only 1 walk and allowing 3 runs. The Royals are 4-0 in Kennedy's last 4 starts vs. American League Central. The Indians are 0-6 in Klubers last 6 road starts vs. Royals.

5. Travel. 8 straight games on the road for Cleveland with their 9th being in Kansas City on Friday. The Indians had to play a double-header on Thursday due to a recent cancelled game and I wouldn't expect them to get into Kansas City until very early the next day - expect heavy legs and bats. Meanwhile the Royals had the day off on Thursday and have been resting up at home and will be ready to kick off this 3-game series on the right foot.

Play on the Kansas City Royals moneyline

This is Game 1 of three game series between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Chicago Cubs.

Normally when you see Cubs Jake Arrieta as the scheduled starter you are thinking Cubs m/l or Cubs r/l, but in this situation we can't pass up the generous odds being offered on a hot and motivated Jays ball club.

Toronto just completed a 10 game home stand winning 7 of those games, including their final game on Thursday. They are now neck and neck with Baltimore in the AL East and are now only 3 games back in the Wild Card hunt. Besides coming in riding a high, some of their key players are really heating up. Jays starter on Friday, J.A. Happ, is 3-0 L3 with a 1.45 ERA (1 run scored in each game) and a 1.18 WHIP. Josh Donaldson, who struggled earlier in the year due to injury, hit 7 home runs during their recent 10 games at home. Thursday's hero was Justin Smoak who blasted a 2-run shot in the bottom of the 8th to break a 3-3 tie and seal the game 5-3. It was Smoak's 33rd home run on the year. Toronto is starting to come alive at the right time of year and could very well surprise a sluggish Chicago Cubs team how got drilled for 13 runs in a loss at home on Thursday to the lowly Cincinnati Reds.

The Cubs are no where near who they were last year. A case of a World Series hangover perhaps. Losers of 10 of their last 16 games, their healthy NL Central lead is shrinking. Yes Arrieta is pitching for the Cubs on Friday, but even Happ has a better ERA then him on the season (3.63 vs 3.73) and Arrieta is only 12-8 W/L. In fact, Happ has more strikeouts and less home runs given up over less innings than Arrieta does over their last 5 games combined.

- Blue Jays are 8-1 in their last 9 interleague games vs. a right-hander.
- Blue Jays are 7-1 in their last 8 vs. National League Central.
- Blue Jays are 6-1 in Happs last 7 interleague starts.
- Cubs are 1-4 in Arrietas last 5 starts during game 1 of a series.
- Blue Jays are 7-3 in the last 10 meetings.

Play on the Toronto Blue Jays moneyline