Mid-Week Picks (Oct. 26th-27th)
Updated: Oct 27, 2021
Here are the best bets for games on Tuesday and Wednesday to help get you through the week! Last week I went 6-for-11.
Tuesday:
Braves @ Astros (Game 1)
The Pick: HOU -130
The World Series gets underway Tuesday night with an exciting matchup between the Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros. Much of the world will undoubtingly be rooting for the Braves due to the Astros unscrupulous actions in recent years. On the mound, we have Braves' ace Charlie Morton and for the Astros, we have Framber Valdez who went eight innings and only gave up one run against the Red Sox in game four of the ALCS his last time up. In my opinion, the pitchers are on par with each other so this game will be decided on strength of the offenses. The Astros have a far better offense from top to bottom and will be able to wear down Atlanta's pitchers all night. Go with Houston in game one.
Warriors @ Thunder
The Pick: GS -9
The lone NBA pick of the week. The Warriors are 3-0 and playing very well. The Thunder are 0-3 and look every bit the bottom-feeder we expected them to be. OKC has lost by at least 12 in every game this year, so I would feel good about Curry and the Warriors winning by double digits on the road.
Lightning @ Penguins
The Pick: TB -145
It's time to atone for the mistakes of bets past. Two weeks ago, I picked the Lightning to beat the Penguins on the opening night of the NHL. The Lightning got spanked by Pittsburgh and have looked flat all year (most recently Tampa Bay got beat 1-5 by the Sabres, yikes). The Penguins have played very well for the most part, even without Sidney Crosby. I think Tampa comes out on top here though and avenges the opening night loss.
Golden Knights @ Avalanche
The Pick: VGK +150
Neither team has looked very good this year. The Avalanche have struggled to a 2-3-0 record, while Vegas has compiled a 1-4-0 record. The offense has been rather quiet for both teams and the goaltending has not been great. However, Vegas is hurting for a win and desperately needs it. I still have faith that the Golden Knights will be the team to beat in the Pacific this year. In what should be a tightly contested match, the Golden Knights will finally break through and end the losing streak.
Wild @ Canucks
The Pick: MIN -120
The Wild started 4-0-0 on the back of a hot offense and solid goaltending, the perfect season came to end on Sunday though with a 5-2 drubbing at the hands of the Predators. The Wild are looking to rebound and Vancouver is an easy target. The Canucks are 3-3-0 but have losses to the Red Wings and Sabres (two unacceptable defeats for any self-respecting NHL team). Cam Talbot is back in the net for Minnesota and he will help contain the Canucks en route to a Wild win.
Wednesday:
Bruins @ Panthers
The Pick: FLA -118
The Panthers are 6-0-0 and likely are the hottest team in the NHL. The offense is lethal and the goaltending has been excellent. They have won by at least two goals in all but one of their victories this season. The Bruins are also playing well, but the team is going to run into a buzzsaw on Wednesday. Take the Panthers with confidence.
Flyers @ Oilers
The Pick: PHI +130
I'm gonna keep riding the Flyers train, they pulled off the upset last week and I believe they can do it again against the Oilers. The Oilers are playing very good hockey right now and own a 5-0-0 record. Every team has to take a loss at some point though and the Edmonton will be handed their first loss of the season Wednesday night.
Red Wings @ Capitals
The Pick: WAS -1.5 (+120)
The Capitals are scorching hot right now and are scoring goals at will. I expect this trend to continue when the team gets a visit from the Red Wings on Wednesday. Detriot has alternated between hot and cold on a given night, but have no business hanging around with a team as experienced as Washington. Ovechkin will continue his torrid start to the season and guide the Capitals to an easy victory over Detroit.
Braves @ Astros (Game 2)
The Pick: HOU -120
You gotta win your home games. The Astros will be defending home turf in game two of the World Series. Max Fried and Luis Garcia will be on the mound for Atlanta and Houston. Other than the different starting pitchers, the same principles apply to this game that we talked about for game one. Houston's offense is too powerful for the Braves' staff to contain and the Astros go up two games to none.