NLDS Game 3 Washington Nationals at Los Angeles Dodgers (Series 1-1) 4:00pm EST 

Nationals: Gonzalez (11-11, 4.57) Dodgers: Maeda (16-11,3.48) 

Game 3 heads to Los Angeles, with no extra day off for travel due to Saturday’s rain out.  The Nationals will send south paw Gio Gonzalez to the mound. Gio had his least impressive season since 2009 with a 4.57 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP. Opponents also hit .262 against Gonzalez this year. However the Los Angeles Dodgers were horrible against left handed pitchers this season.  Los Angeles hit .213 against south paws, by far the worst in all of MLB, well behind the Orioles who hit .234. Current Dodgers have only  an .163 life-time batting average against Gio Gonzalez.

Dodgers starter Kenta Maeda has never faced the Nationals or any of their current players. This will be the first postseason start of Maeda’s career, including his years in Japan. The Dodgers were 5-1 against the Nationals during the record season and that one win came on July 20, Gio’s only start against the Dodgers this season. In the winning effort Gio allowed three hits and one earned run over six innings.

I am betting on the Nationals +134 Moneyline .

 ALDS Game 3 Cleveland Indians at Boston Red Sox (Series Indians lead 2-0) 6:00pm EST 

Indians: Tomlin (13-9, 4.40) Red Sox: Buchholz (8-10, 4.78) 

Anything can happen in the MLB playoffs, so I am proud to say that I had a 8-6 record in the first week, however I was 0-3 in picks from this series.

Buchholz was 2-7 with a 5.60 ERA at home this season. Buchholz  also allowed eight earned against the Indians in ten innings pitched this season.

Josh Tomlin allowed three earned runs and seven hits over 7.2 innings pitched against the Red Sox this season, but he did not face them at Fenway Park.

The Tribe is really rolling right now and I am going with the Indians +135 Moneyline to complete the sweep.

NLDS Game 3 Chicago Cubs at San Francisco Giants (Cubs lead 2-0) 9:30 pm EST 

 Cubs: Arrieta (18-8, 3.10) Giants:  Bumgarner (15-9, 2.74)

Here we have two stud pitchers who are among baseball’s best who also have very good numbers against their opponent.

For his career Bumgarner is 8-2 in 12 starts against the Cubs with a 2.25 ERA and a 1.02 WHIP. The Under is 9-3 in those starts.  Bumgarner was 2-0 with a 1.32 ERA and 16 strikeouts against the Cubs this season over 13.2 innings pitched.

Jake Arrieta has made six starts against the Giants  in his career and is 4-2 with 2.25 ERA and also a 1.02 WHIP. On the season Arrieta was 1-1 with a 2.08 ERA against the Giants with 15 strikeouts over 13 innings.

This game is a tough call, but I expect the Giants -124 Moneyline to find a way to keep their season alive in a game that sees UNDER 6 runs scored.