Sports Handicapper ASA's Picks & Predictions

#955/956 ASA PLAY ON Over 9 Runs (-105) – San Francisco Giants at Cincinnati Reds, Tuesday at 6:40 PM ET - Very warm weather in Cincinnati today and this ballpark plays out very hitter-friendly when the weather is like this.  Robbie Ray is coming off a solid season and is also pitching well early this season for the Giants.  However, he has allowed 2 homers in 5 innings in each of his last two starts in this ballpark.  It is not his favorite ballpark to say the least.  As for the Reds starter, Brady Singer had a very rough spring training and that has carried right into the regular season as he is winless with a 7.71 ERA in his 3 starts.  The Giants lineup started the season slow but they have scored 4.2 runs per game in the last 6 games and Cincinnati's last 6 games have all reached a total of at least 9 runs.  This one is destined to do the same and we are forecasting double digits in runs on a very hitter-friendly evening at Great American Ball Park.  Our computer math model projects a total of 11 runs here and even if it only gets to 10 that is still a winning ticket for us. Bet the Over in this one. 

#954 ASA PLAY ON Pittsburgh Pirates -1.5 (+120) over Washington Nationals, Tuesday at 6:40 PM ET - The Pirates are a heavy favorite here at home on Tuesday and we love the value with the run line in this spot as we get plus money by laying the 1.5 runs.  Pittsburgh not only has been the better team plus is at home here, they also have a big pitching edge in this one.  Miles Mikolas is off to an awful start for the Nationals and has gone 0-3 with a 12.41 ERA this season.  This is not a huge surprise as his last 3 seasons with the Cardinals saw a decline as well and Mikolas is now 8-14 the past two seasons combined. The Pirates Mitch Keller had a solid spring with 20 strikeouts in 15 innings.  Though his K numbers are down some since the regular season started, he continues to pitch extremely well.  Keller has a 1.00 ERA in his first 3 starts this season and has held hitters to a .188 batting average.  The Pirates bullpen rates only in the middle of the pack this season for bullpen ERA but the Nationals bullpen has an ugly 6.72 ERA which is dead last in the majors.  The Pirates build off yesterday's 16-5 win with another big-margin win in this one.  Lay the 1.5 runs Tuesday with Pittsburgh

#67: ASA NHL play on Montreal Canadiens -150 at Philadelphia, 7 pm ET Tuesday - The Canadiens are fighting hard to finish #2 in the Atlantic Division. Currently they are tied on points with the Lightning but the Bolts have the tiebreaker. This means that if the season had ended yesterday Tampa Bay would have the home ice edge over Montreal in their first round series. The point is that this is an important game for Montreal and it means nothing to the Flyers. Philadelphia finally is back in the post-season. They worked hard to battle back from a 2-0 deficit versus Carolina last night and then won in the shootout to clinch a playoff spot! The Flyers are also locked into their playoff seeding and will face Pittsburgh in the first round with the Penguins already having secured the home ice for the series. That being said, the Flyers are likely to rest guys here and also this Philly team will be flat overall as you know they enjoyed every moment last night of finally getting back to the post-season. The Habs have won 11 of 13 games and this price is likely to rise even more today but is currently in a moderate -150 range as of 3 AM ET. Get in on this one as early as you can and grab the road team here!

Champions League #224221/224222 ASA TOP PLAY ON Over 3.5 Goals (+105) – PSG at Liverpool, Tuesday at 3 pm et - Look for a very wide-open match here. Liverpool is hosting this 2nd Leg match and looking to overturn a 2-0 deficit from the 1st Leg result at PSG. That means the hosts must be very aggressive here. Liverpool will be on the attack from the outset. Prior to the 2-0 shutout loss in France, Liverpool had scored 10 goals in its last 3 matches at home. As for Paris Saint Germain, their scoring surge continues and they will be able to take advantage of the aggressiveness of the hosts here and will get some high quality scoring opportunities on the counterattack. PSG has scored 17 goals in its last 5 matches. Their surge continues here in a high-scoring battle as Liverpool goes all out on the attack in this one and this match will have a great pace for over bettors! We look for a 3-2 or at least 3-1 final when all is said and done in this one. Per all of the above, you can see why we like the over plenty here and why we have no hesitation in grabbing this total and not having to lay any juice with the over at 3.5 goals!

ASA NBA play on Charlotte Hornets -5.5 vs. Miami Heat, 7:30pm ET - Yes, the Heat and Spoelstra have a clear advantage on the bench, but this game is going to be won on the floor and quite frankly, the Hornets have been the much better team since the All-Star break. Charlotte is 18-9 SU since the break with the 2nd best Net rating in the league at +11.1, only behind the Spurs. In that same time frame the Heat have a Net rating of +2.2 which rates 16th. Charlotte has an average plus/minus at home of +10.5ppg at home since the AS break with an overall record of 9-6. Miami finished the season with a 4-8 road run and an average loss margin of -4.0ppg. Charlotte was just favored by -5.5 points at home against the Pistons and were favored by -2.5 points in late March against Boston, -2 versus the Knicks. Those three teams are considerably better than this Heat team that has underperformed all season long. Charlotte is the 3rd best 3PT shooting team in the league and the Heat struggle defending the arc with the 17th worst 3PT% D in the NBA. Lastly, the Heat/Spoelstra are getting a lot of attention in this matchup which has impacted the betting markets in favor of Miami, yet the Books refuse to move their number. It’s the changing of the guard and the Hornets come out on top in this one.