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 — Last week, we spread the love around and sprinkled our cash in four different spots. We had a little baseball, Sportsbook, NBA hoops, Sportsbook, NHL ice, Sportsbook, and even Premier League soccer, Sportsbook. You know that we don’t pound our chest too often, but 4-0 is FOUR & OH, BAABBBEEE!!!
Now we’re getting greedy and wanna throw a combined SEVEN & OH on the board. C’MON!!!
MLB Pick
Start out on the bases. You might not know how to spell his name, or pronounce his name, but Mike Foltynewicz can throw a baseball. His first start was against the Blue Jays and it was kinda ugly. He was roughed up for four hits and four earned runs in just four innings. After five days’ rest, Folty bounced back with a gem against the Padres, allowing only two hits and one earned run over seven innings.
Looked across the field at Baltimore’s starter, Jorge Lopez, and we noticed a double dose of UGLY. Lopez has started twice and given up 11 hits and 11 earned runs in just 8.2 innings.
My calculator tells me that is a GINORMOUS 11.42 ERA. And if you didn’t look at yesterday’s action, the Orioles had to play a doubleheader against the Mariners and might be a little lethargic down in Arlington. Gimme the Rangers for the money and you can BOOK IT!!!
NHL Pick
Skating on to the NHL ice, and tickling the Wild over the Sharks. This is a sweet little double-revenge spot for Minnesota after getting beat twice at San Jose. But this game is back in Minny, at the Xcel Energy Center, where the Wild have won 13 of the last 14. Yeah, THIRTEEN of the last FOURTEEN. That’s 93 percent. And YEAH, I said NINETY-THREE PERCENT. C’MON and go WILD with me!
EPL Pick
Taking another trip across the pond where we’re gonna roll with Wolverhampton over Sheffield United. The Wolves are sitting in the middle of the table with 38 points. They ain’t gonna get top four or be relegated.
So why drop some chips on the Wanderers? Cuz Sheffield is HORRIBLE. The Blades have only four wins but TWENTY-FIVE losses. And they have the WORST GOAL DIFFERENTIAL in the league, netting just 17 times (again, the lowest in the league) and allowing 55! And there’s MORE.
Sheffield has won just one of its last 13 away league games against the Wolves and is winless in seven at Molineux Stadium since a 3-1 victory 19 years ago. That’s NINETEEN YEARS without a win!
And if you don’t know the Wanderers manager, he has THE BEST name in the Premier League. Say hello to Nuno Herlander Simões Espírito Santo. Or, you can just call him Nuno. And you can also call him a Sportsbook! At least in this match.
And if you’re looking for Sportsbooks during the week, we got ’em on Instagram. I will be doing quick 15-second picks every day here.
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.
