Vegas veteran Benjamin Eckstein, author of America’s Line, brings three decades of experience to make weekly picks in his “Ecks & Bacon” column.
LAS VEGAS — New York, New York. National League style. Gonna jump on the Mets in their home opener at Citi Field against the Diamondbacks.
The New Yorkers come home after a solid road trip, winning five of the first seven games. One of those wins was courtesy of Chris Bassitt who just came over from the Oakland A's. Bassitt turned in a gorgeous 12-4 (3.15 ERA) mark last year for the A's, and started this season with six innings worth of bagels against the Nationals. The Mets will look at Zach Davies who switched from the Cubs to the D'backs.
Davies struggled to a 6-12 record last season with a PHAT 5.78 ERA. He saw the Mets once and allowed five hits and two earned runs in only four innings. So, we're willing to pay the price and sing 'New York, New York' all the way to the bank!
NBA Play-In Picks
Looks like the play-in games are all about home cooking. The home teams have won ALL four games, and covered three. So we're looking out West and gonna try the Clippers over the Pelicans. The Clips have won five of their last six, including a 119-100 home win against New Orleans. Gonna tickle L.A. to move on and get CRUSHED by the Suns. HOLD that bet. Just got word that Clippers superstar Paul George is OUT with COVID, so we gotta squash our action.
Bouncing on to the NBA hardwood tomorrow, and gonna drop a little two team 6-point teaser in your basket. Start with Utah, and take the Jazz from -5 points to +1 point over the Mavericks. Luka WILL NOT PLAY and neither will Tim Hardaway Jr. Hard to see Dallas posting a win over Utah in this spot. Then we move over to Memphis and take the visiting Timberwolves from +7 to +13 points against the Grizzlies. Minny might not win the opener, but should have NO problem staying under a dozen.
Premier League Pick
Heading to London early tomorrow morning and grabbing Tottenham over Brighton & Hove. The Spurs have been EN FUEGO, winning four in a row, and outscoring the opposition 14-2. Yea, FOURTEEN to TWO! That's like a 56-7 blowout in college football. One of those wins was at Brighton when they fed the Seagulls a 2-0 bagel. Expecting the Hotspur to stay HOT, and dropping a bundle of chips on captain Harry Kane and his boys.
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 winners, and detested by others, when he picks the occasional loser. If you wanna piece of Eck, hit his Email...ben@americasline.com.
