10* LA Dodgers (8:08 ET): The World Series is now tied at a game apiece after the Rays took Game 2 by a score of 6-4. The Dodgers remain heavily favored to win the series and off a loss, a role they are 16-5 in this season, I am going big on them. This was the best team in baseball during the regular season - both by record and run differential - and it wasn’t even close. After going with a bullpen game in Game 2, they now hand the baseball to Walker Buehler, who has a 10-2 TSR in 2020 and threw six shutout innings his last time out. Despite six runs in Game 2, I still have my doubts about the Rays’ ability to score on a consistent basis.

Tampa Bay will go with Charlie Morton. The team has won his L5 starts including Game 7 of the ALCS where Morton pitched 5 ⅔ scoreless frames. He didn’t allow a run in 10 ⅔ innings of work in the ALCS and he’s allowed 1 ER or less in his five postseason starts. That makes for a worthy adversary, but the bottom line is that the Dodgers are still the better team with the better offense. Before Game 2, the Rays had scored 4 runs or less in 9 of 10 games, the lone exception being when they scored 5. In other words, Morton will have to be near perfect for his team to have a chance here. I don’t see that happening.

Wednesday was basically a “must-win” for the Rays as the Dodgers made it a bullpen game. Sure enough, they got to “opener” Tony Gonsolin early with a Brandon Lowe home run. Quietly, one of the Rays’ best relievers - Nick Anderson - has not looked great this postseason. He’s been scored on in five straight appearances and six of eight playoff games. Buehler has the better numbers compared to Morton over the course of the season, including a 1.76 ERA his L7 starts, a stretch which has seen him give up no more than 2 ER in any one start. Tampa Bay’s offense remains far too reliant on the HR ball and Buehler has allowed only two of those in 19 postseason innings.  If Game 2 was a “must-win” for the Rays, this is a “must-win” for the Dodgers and I’ll back them to get the job done. 10* LA Dodgers

8* Rennes (3:00 ET): At this point, Stade Rennes has to be sick of playing to draw. They did so in Champions League action earlier this week, conceding the equalizer to Krasnodar just three minutes after scoring on a penalty. They’ve also drawn in their last two matches here in the domestic top flight, putting the brakes on what had been a solid run to the top of the Ligue 1 table. Making matters worse is that those draws came against Reims and Dijon, the bottom two clubs in the table. Rennes could clearly use a win right now. 

Enter Angers, who may not currently be in the relegation zone, but probably ought to be. Les Scoistes have one of the worst goal differentials (-7) in the entire table, largely due to an ugly 6-1 loss to PSG three weeks ago. That was followed with their own draw, 1-1 against Metz, leaving Angers with three wins, a draw and three losses. Ironically, they hold victories over both Reims and Dijon, something Rennes could not do. But other than a 3-2 win over Brest, Angers has yet to score more than once in any fixture this campaign nor have they demonstrated any capability to compete with the top teams. 

History is not on Angers’ side here as their last win over Rennes in Ligue 1 action came all the way back in 1976! Rennes has won 11 of the past 14 meetings including 2-1 in the only fixture from last season. While Angers has scored only eight goals and conceded 15 this campaign, Rennes is just the opposite, scoring 15 and conceding only 8. Rennes is the only Ligue 1 side w/o a loss as they’ve got 4 wins and 3 draws. This is a MUST win. 8* Rennes

10* Tulsa (7:30 ET): Tulsa has played just two games in 2020 but both were against good teams (Oklahoma State, UCF) and they came out 2-0 ATS. They upset UCF as a 3 TD underdog and nearly did the same to OK State getting an even larger number (I had them in that game). The Golden Hurricane were scheduled to face a third straight ranked opponent (Cincinnati) last week, but that had to be shelved due to COVID-19. Now, off an unscheduled break, they finally get to face a lesser opponent in USF. 

South Florida looked as if they might pull off their own upset last Saturday in Temple. Getting double digits, they were ahead most of the game, but ultimately lost 39-37. That kind of effort was a “far cry” from what we’d seen from the Bulls previously. Besides Temple, they’ve been outscored 124-31 by FBS opponents. Every loss was by at least 20 points including one here at home to lowly East Carolina. The team’s only win this year was against The Citadel and they’ve allowed 39+ points in three of five games. 

While Tulsa may be unaccustomed to laying this kind of weight on the road, they should be more than ready for what shapes up as their easiest game to date. The Golden Hurricane’s defense has been much improved. After falling behind UCF early, they held the Golden Knights to just 10 points over the final three quarters. That was after holding OK State to just three points in the first three quarters of the season opener. This team was a lot better than its record showed LY and has a senior QB Zach Smith leading an offense that will continue to improve. Tulsa is simply a much better football team than USF. 10* Tulsa