Sports Handicapper William Burns's Picks & Predictions

(#961) New York Yankees | ML | . 

Cam Schlittler (2-0, 1.63 ERA) vs. Drew Rasmussen (0-0, 1.80 ERA) .

It's difficult to play on a team that's struggling sometimes. But, I tend to like doing so in baseball, especially for strong teams that don't normally have these types of dips. That's exactly the case here. New York is on a four-game skid and I believe that the Yankees will finally be able to break that losing streak on Sunday. It's already consecutive losing series' for the Yanks. But, avoiding the series sweep against a divisional opponents is always important this early in the season. On the mound, we've got two capable starters. New York's sending out its new big thing in Cam Schlittler while the Rays have a very reliable Drew Rasmussen on the bump. I think that the Yankees lineup has a bit more fire power though and I don't expect Judge to slump for much longer. Give me NYY on Sunday afternoon. 

Burns' Prediction: 7-3 Yankees.

(#972) New York Mets | ML | . 

Aaron Civale (1-0, 2.70 ERA) vs. Freddy Peralta (1-0, 4.80 ERA) .

The Athletics have really turned it on over the past few games, winning four consecutive games now. Even though I believe that they are going to be significantly stronger this year than last, I still find it hard to see them winning this contest against the Mets to complete the sweep on the road this evening. Civale has faced NYM three times over his career, with a 0-1 record & 6.75 ERA against them. 

Yes, the Mets are without Soto currently and are slightly short handed. However, they are still a team that should be strong enough to make the postseason even without their superstar (he'll be back soon enough though.) Freddy Peralta has been one of the strongest pitchers in the game the past couple of seasons and he should improve his numbers here today against the A's. He pitched 5.0 shutout innings against them last year. Give me New York to avoid the sweep. 

Burns' Prediction: 6-2 Mets.

(#207029) Rangers F.C. | 3-WAY ML | . 

Even on the road on Sunday, I'm expecting a big time performance from Rangers in a match that it desperately needs. Rangers enter the weekend one point behind Hearts for the top spot in the division and even though it's unlikely to go in front (Saturday hasn't finished yet,) I believe that Rangers should be able to apply some more pressure on Hearts with three points here going into the Final Phase of the season. 

Falkirk, on the other hand, is in 6th in the Scottish Premiership currently. I know that it's had success for some of the campaign. But, having lost 2-1 against 10th ranked St. Mirren in its last home game, I'm not sold on Falkirk at the moment. Rangers has been the top scoring team in the league this season and Falkirk won't be able to stop in on Sunday. Hammer the favorites. 

Burns' Prediction: 3-0 Rangers.

(#537) Orlando Magic @ (#538) Boston Celtics | OVER | . 

While Boston has already secured the number two seed in the Eastern Conference, Orlando is still trying to avoid the play-in tournament. The Magic have little chance to do so, considering Atlanta holds the tiebreaker on them and Toronto plays against Brooklyn. However, it could definitely happen as stranger things have happened. Therefore, the Magic should go for it on Sunday evening vs. the Celtics. 

The last time that these two teams matched up, the Magic were able to score 129 on Boston. As a matter of fact, they are averaging 119.66 PPG over the three games against the C's this season. Boston's always going to get its points, even with its bench players in, as Joe Mazulla fears nobody. I've got the "over" in this one. 

Burns' Prediction: 119-116 Celtics.

(#533) Atlanta Hawks | ATS | . 

These two teams have played three times so far this season and Miami's been able to win twice. I know that the Heat are probably considered the more high flying offensive team, I do believe that Atlanta should be able to match it and play even better than Miami in this basketball game. The Hawks are currently in 5th place in the East. However, with a Raptors win against Brooklyn (highly likely) & a Hawks loss here, the Raptors would move into the 5th position. Miami is playing in the Play-In Tournament no matter what & I believe that it's going to have a very tough time getting through both of those games, yet alone the first one. The Hawks are going to want this game more and their 3pt shooting dominance should get them the easy win on Sunday evening. 

Burns' Prediction: 132-117 Hawks.

***awful line on Hawks - starters unlikely. Expect Atlanta to still challenge Miami physically and that will take a toll on the Heat's defense as the game goes on. Miami won't be at full strength either.