Vegas veteran Benjamin Eckstein, author of America’s Line, brings three decades of experience to make weekly picks in his “Ecks & Bacon” column.
MLB Pick
LAS VEGAS — Ferris Bueller, oops, Walker Buehler, does NOT have a day off and we’re gonna ride with the talented righty against the Rockies.
If anyone can shut down Colorado, it’s Buehler. He’s done it to just about every other team in the National League with a SUPERB 7-1 record. And his last three outings have been particularly AMAZING. How about one teeny tiny earned run over 22 innings for an INVISIBLE 0.41 ERA. Throw in 26 Ks and you see why we’re all over the Dodgers.
Oh yeah, the other reason is Rockies starter German Marquez. His last three starts have been atrocious. Like 22 hits and 19 earned runs over 17 innings for a BULBOUS 10.06 ERA. Easy-peasy, L.A. squeezy.
CONCACAF Gold Cup Pick
Of course you’re following the CONCACAF Gold Cup and of course you remember a match back in October of 2017 between the USA and Trinidad & Tobago. If not, let me have a sportswriter from the Guardian sum it up.
“After one of the most devastating nights in the history of American soccer, the US will not be going to Russia next summer after a shock 2-1 defeat to lowly Trinidad & Tobago, which saw them finish fifth in Concacaf World Cup qualifying.”
So, tiny, lowly, little T&T, a country, or is it two countries, knocked the Stars & Stripes out of the 2018 World Cup. Time for REVENGE in Cleveland. HELLZ YEAH!
There’s only one problem. If you wanna bet the red, white & blue, you’ll have to drop $600 to win back $100. That’s WAY too steep, so maybe gonna roll with a total wager, and go OVER 3.5 goals. The USA beat Guyana 4-0 in the Sportsbook match, so they come into this grudge match with a full head of steam. They had 20 shots, 561 passes, 86 percent pass accuracy, a 60 percent possession rate and 18 fouls. So, not only were they attacking and controlling play, they also brought out the nasty.
T&T has not scored in a game in like three months, so I’m not gonna push all my chips in on the total, but thinking at least one goal for each color of the flag, and then one just because.
PLZ hit me on Twitter over the weekend, @vegasvigorish, just in case anything pops on the baseball diamond.
Benjamin Eckstein is a nationally syndicated sportswriter/oddsmaker. His column, America’s Line, with the Ecks & Bacon appetizer, has run in the New York Daily News and over 100 other papers since 1988. You can follow him online at www.americasline.com. He is beloved by most, when he picks Sportsbooks, and detested by others, when he picks the occasional loser. If you wanna piece of Eck, hit his email...ben@americasline.com.
