Trusted Since 1992

Big Al's Daily Angle: MLB and CFL Previews and Odds - 07/27/2024

The Saturday sports card features MLB and CFL action.Major League Baseball has 16 games on its schedule. The Toronto Blue Jays host the Texas Rangers at 3:07 p.m. ET. Kevin Gausman gets the ball for the Blue Jays to pitch against Michael Lorenzen for the Rangers. Toronto is a -142 money-line favorite with the total set at 8.5 (all odds from DraftKings unless indicated otherwise). The Baltimore Orioles play at home against the San Diego Padres at 4:05 p.m. ET. The Orioles tap Dean Kremer to face the Padres’ Michael King. Baltimore is a -115 money-line favorite with an over/under of 9. Two more MLB games throw out the first pitch at 4:10 p.m. ET. Tampa Bay is at home against Cincinnati with Zack Littell taking the mound for the Rays to go against Andrew Abbott for the Reds. The Rays are a -122 money-line favorite with a total of 7.5. New York hosts Atlanta with the Mets turning to Tylor Megill to battle against the Braves’ Spencer Schwellenbach. The Mets are a -118 money-line favorite with an over/under of 8.5. The Philadelphia Phillies play at home against the Cleveland Guardians at 6:05 p.m. ET. Tyler Phillips takes the mound for the Phillies to challenge Carlos Carrasco for the Guardians. Philadelphia is a -162 money-line favorite with a total of 9. The Detroit Tigers are at home against the Minnesota Twins at 6:10 p.m. ET. The Tigers send out Tarik Skubal to face the Twins’ Joe Ryan. Detroit is a -122 money-line favorite with an over/under of 7. The San Francisco Giants host the Colorado Rockies in the opening game of their doubleheader at 7:05 p.m. ET. Blake Snell takes the ball for the Giants to pitch against Ryan Feltner for the Rockies. San Francisco is a -218 money-line favorite with a total of 8. Three more MLB games start at 7:10 p.m. ET. Kansas City plays at home against Chicago with the Royals giving the ball to Seth Lugo to duel against the Cubs’ Shota Imanaga. The Royals are a -122 money-line favorite with an over/under of 8. Houston is at home against Los Angeles with Ronel Blanco taking the hill for the Astros to battle Justin Wrobleski for the Dodgers. The Astros are a -135 money-line favorite with a total of 9. Milwaukee hosts Miami with the Brewers sending out Aaron Civale to face the Marlins’ Max Meyer. The Brewers are a -160 money-line favorite at BetMGM with an over/under of 8. Three MLB games begin at 7:15 p.m. ET. St. Louis plays at home against Washington with Kyle Gibson getting the ball for the Cardinals to pitch against Jake Irvin for the Nationals. The Cardinals are a -135 money-line favorite with a total of 8.5. Two MLB games are featured on Fox’s regional coverage. Seattle travels to Chicago with the Mariners turning to Bryan Woo to challenge the White Sox’s Erick Fedde. The Mariners are a -148 money-line road favorite with an over/under of 7.5. Boston is at home against New York with Kutter Crawford taking the mound for the Red Sox to battle Marcus Stroman for the Yankees. The Red Sox are a -108 money-line favorite with a total of 10. The Arizona Diamondbacks host the Pittsburgh Pirates at 8:10 p.m. ET. The Diamondbacks send out Brandon Pfaaadt to pitch against the Pirates’ Marco Gonzales. Arizona is a -165 money-line favorite at BetMGM with an over/under of 8. The Los Angeles Angels play at home against the Oakland A’s at 9:38 p.m. ET. Tyler Anderson takes the mound for the Angels to face Mitch Spence for the A’s. Los Angeles is a -122 money-line favorite with a total of 9. The Giants are at home against the Rockies in the second game of their doubleheader at 10:05 p.m. ET. San Francisco taps Hayden Birdsong to go against a Colorado starting pitcher yet to be determined. The Giants are a -218 money-line favorite with an over/under of 7.5.Week 8 in the Canadian Football League continues with one game. The Toronto Argonauts host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on the CBS Sports Network at 7:00 p.m. ET. The Argonauts are a 2-point favorite with a total of 48.5. 

NFL Hall of Fame Game Preview: Texans vs. Bears

The annual NFL preseason kickoff matchup in Canton, Ohio - otherwise known as the Hall of Fame Game - takes place in less than a week as the Houston Texans battle the Chicago Bears. Here's a quick look at what to expect in this year's preseason opener.Early prices have the Bears installed as 1.5-point favorites with the total set at 33 points.The Texans are brimming with optimism after making great strides in QB C.J. Stroud's first year under center. Of course, we won't see much from Stroud or the rest of Houston's projected regular season starters in this game. Last year, head coach DeMeco Ryans gave his number ones just a single series of action in their first preseason game and even that may be optimistic with this being an additional preseason instalment to the standard three games.Houston figures to have an advantage in terms of quarterback rotation with experienced passers in Davis Mills and Case Keenum likely to see plenty of snaps in this contest. With that said, given the rather vanilla gameplan that is likely to be employed, it's unlikely we'll see Mills or Keenum letting it fly too often in Canton. The Bears usher in a new era of sorts with Caleb Williams taking over at quarterback. While rookies generally get the bulk of the action in the preseason, that's unlikely to be the case with Williams serving as Chicago's number one guy right out of the gate. Behind Williams is the uninspiring trio of Tyson Bagent, Brett Rypien and Austin Reed. Bagent has shone in the preseason before so perhaps we'll see a little more creativity from the Bears offense in this contest as they look to instill some confidence heading into a critical campaign. In the backfield, the Bears do boast considerable depth. Even as you go down the depth chart you'll find guys that have been more than just bit players in Roschon Johnson and Travis Homer. If Chicago elects to impose its will on the ground as this game progresses, it is likely to find some success. Both of these teams have been successful in recent preseason campaigns but we don't have a lot to go on with briefly-tenured head coaches in Ryans and Eberflus. Last year, the Texans went 2-1 in exhibition play while the Bears settled for 1-2.Bears fans obviously travel well and with alumni Steve McMichael, Devin Hester and Julius Peppers all entering the Hall of Fame this year, there's even more reason for the stands to be packed with navy and orange on this night. Any sort of emotional boost can help in 'meaningless' August games such as this one.

3 ACC Teams To Watch

ACC Football: 3 Teams To WatchCollege football is less than one month away! It will be here before you know it. I’ve been doing deep dives into the teams one by one. I’ve recently been in the ACC. I want to take a look at three ACC teams I’ve got my eye on in one way or another for the season ahead.  Georgia Tech- I really like Offensive Coordinator Buster Faulkner. Haynes King was fantastic in Faulkner’s system last year, and I see no reason to expect anything other than a very good season from King. This is a quarterback who wasn’t put in the right position to succeed at Texas A&M, but he was very highly touted and he showed why last year. I don’t think Georgia Tech’s offensive success last year was a fluke at all. Head Coach Brent Key knows offensive lines very well and the Yellow Jackets offensive line will be a major strength this year. They averaged 5.4 yards per carry last year and allowed only 15 sacks. Can the Georgia Tech defense improve? That is up in the air. I expect big numbers from the offense though. Virginia Tech- Kyron Drones should have been starting from the beginning of the year last year in Blacksburg. Drones really took off late last year as he learned the offense much better. The Hokies are much improved at wide receiver with Jennings and Gallo back from injury. The offensive line is the one question mark I have on offense. If they can gel, this could be a special offense. The Hokies is very strong in the secondary and solid on the defensive line as well. Virginia Tech’s special teams are so good that they will win a game or two solely because of that unit. The Hokies are a team I like as a futures play. The potential upside here is high. Duke- The Blue Devils lost so much in the offseason. They lost a top notch coach in Mike Elko. They lost a star quarterback in Riley Leonard. They lost their top running back in Jordan Waters. Manny Diaz has a lot to prove as a head coach. Murphy could be a good quarterback in the right system, but I’m not convinced this is the spot. Duke’s offensive line is going to be a major weakness. The Blue Devils lost their top five defensive linemen and are going to struggle in a big way to stop the run. Diaz should do a good job coaching up the secondary, so I see Duke as a matchup specific team. The Blue Devils should do far better against pass heavy teams than run heavy teams. 

Pittsburgh Pirates vs Arizona Diamondbacks Prediction, Preview and Odds - 07/27/2024

New York Yankees vs Boston Red Sox Prediction, Preview and Odds - 07/27/2024

Los Angeles Dodgers vs Houston Astros Prediction, Preview and Odds - 07/27/2024

Chicago Cubs vs Kansas City Royals Prediction, Preview and Odds - 07/27/2024

Minnesota Twins vs Detroit Tigers Prediction, Preview and Odds - 07/27/2024

Cleveland Guardians vs Philadelphia Phillies Prediction, Preview and Odds - 07/27/2024