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Big Al's Daily Angle: NHL, MLB and CFL Previews and Odds - 06/06/2025

The Friday sports card features NHL, MLB, and CFL action.The National Hockey League playoffs continue with Game 2 of the Stanley Cup finals. The Edmonton Oilers host the Florida Panthers on TNT/truTV/Max at 8:10 p.m. ET. The Oilers took the opening game of this best-of-seven series with a 4-3 victory in overtime on Wednesday. Edmonton is a -130 money-line favorite, with the total set at 6.5 (all odds from DraftKings). Major League Baseball has 15 games scheduled. The Miami Marlins travel to Tampa Bay to play the Rays at 1:10 p.m. ET in the lone afternoon game. The Philadelphia Phillies play in Pittsburgh against the Pirates at 6:40 p.m. ET as a -148 money-line road favorite with an over/under of 9. The Texas Rangers play in Washington against the Nationals at 6:45 p.m. ET as a -125 money-line road favorite with a total of 9.5. The New York Yankees play at home against the Boston Red Sox at 7:05 p.m. ET as a -175 money-line favorite with an over/under of 9. Three MLB throw out the first pitch at 7:10 p.m. ET. The Cleveland Guardians are home to take on the Houston Astros as a -112 money-line favorite with a total of 8.5. The Arizona Diamondbacks are in Cincinnati to face the Reds on Apple TV+ as a -112 money-line road favorite with an over/under of 9.5. The Chicago Cubs visit Detroit to battle the Tigers on Apple TV+.The Kansas City Royals play in Chicago against the White Sox at 7:40 p.m. ET as a -175 money-line road favorite with a total of 8. Two more MLB games start at 8:10 p.m. ET. The Toronto Blue Jays are in Minnesota to go against the Twins. The Milwaukee Brewers host the San Diego Padres as a -148 money-line favorite with an over/under of 8.5. The Los Angeles Dodgers are in St. Louis to challenge the Cardinals at 8:15 p.m. ET as a -112 money-line road favorite with a total of 8.5. The New York Mets travel to Colorado to face the Rockies at 8:40 p.m. ET as a -325 money-line road favorite with an over/under of 10.5. The Seattle Mariners play in Los Angeles against the Angels at 9:38 p.m. ET as a -155 money-line road favorite with a total of 9. The Baltimore Orioles are on the road against the Athletics at 10:05 p.m. ET. The Atlanta Braves visit San Francisco to play the Giants at 10:15  p.m. ET as a -135 money-line road favorite with a total of 7.5. Week 1 in the Canadian Football League continues with one game. The Montreal Alouettes play at home against the Toronto Argonauts at 7:30 p.m. ET. The Alouettes finished with an 11-6-1 record last year after losing in the East Division finals in a 30-28 loss at home to the Argonauts last November. Toronto won last year’s Grey Cup in a 41-24 upset victory against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers as an 8.5-point underdog in November. Montreal is a 5.5-point favorite with an over/under of 48.5. 

Big Al's Daily Angle: NBA, MLB and CFL Previews and Odds - 06/05/2025

The Thursday sports card features NBA, MLB, and CFL action.The National Basketball Association continues its playoff season with Game 1 of the NBA finals on ABC. The Oklahoma City Thunder host the Indiana Pacers at 8:40 p.m. ET. The Thunder won for the fifth time in their last six games with a 124-94 victory at home against Minnesota as an 8.5-point favorite to win the Western Conference finals in five games last Wednesday. The Pacers won for the sixth time in their last eight games with a 125-108 victory at home against New York as a 4-point favorite to close out the Eastern Conference finals in six games on Saturday. Oklahoma City is a 9.5-point favorite with the total set at 231 (all odds from DraftKings).Major League Baseball has 13 games scheduled. The Atlanta Braves are home against the Arizona Diamondbacks at 12:15 p.m. ET as a -142 money-line favorite with an over/under of 9. The St. Louis Cardinals host the Kansas City Royals at 1:45 p.m. ET as a -130 money-line favorite with a total of 8.5. The Detroit Tigers travel to Chicago to play the White Sox at 2:10 p.m. ET as a -225 money-line road favorite with an over/under of 8.5. The Philadelphia Phillies play in Toronto against the Blue Jays at 3:07 p.m. ET as a -118 money-line road favorite with a total of 8.5. The Minnesota Twins are on the road against the Athletics at 3:35 p.m. ET. The Seattle Mariners play at home against the Baltimore Orioles at 3:40 p.m. ET as a -170 money-line favorite with an over/under of 7.5. The San Francisco Giants are home against the San Diego Padres at 3:45 p.m. ET as a -122 money-line favorite with a total of 7.5. The Los Angeles Dodgers host the New York Mets at 4:10 p.m. ET as a -142 money-line favorite with an over/under of 10.The Houston Astros are in Pittsburgh to take on the Pirates at 6:40 p.m. ET as a -162 money-line road favorite with a total of 7.5. The Chicago Cubs visit Washington to play the Nationals at 6:45 p.m. ET. The New York Yankees play at home against the Cleveland Guardians at 7:05 p.m. ET as a -265 money-line favorite with an over/under of 9. The Tampa Bay Rays are home against the Texas Rangers at 7:35 p.m. ET as a -155 money-line favorite with a total of 9. The St. Louis Cardinals host the Kansas City Royals at 7:45 p.m. ET as a -118 money-line favorite with an over/under of 7.5.Week 1 in the Canadian Football League kicks off with one game on the CBS Sports Network. The Saskatchewan Roughriders play at home against the Ottawa Redblacks at 9:00 p.m. ET. The Roughriders reached the West Division finals where they lost on the road at Winnipeg as a 3-point underdog on November 9th. They finished the season with a 10-9 record. The Redblacks lost in the East Division semifinals in a 58-38 loss at Toronto as a 6.5-point underdog on November 2nd. Saskatchewan is a 3.5-point favorite with a total of 48.5.

2025 Belmont Stakes Preview

This year marks the first time that separate Kentucky Derby and Preakness winners meet in the third jewel of the Triple Crown since 2013.  That year, Derby winner Orb and Preakness winner Oxbow squared off at Belmont Park but interestingly neither of them were victorious as Oxbow finished second and Orb was third behind the winner, Palace Malice.  Will Sovereignty (Derby) and Journalism (Preakness) suffer the same fate?  There are some interesting challengers (six others in total) this year and below we preview the main contenders in this year's Belmont Stakes.    #6 Baeza: The most successful path to Belmont Stakes victory has been skipping the Preakness and going directly from the Kentucky Derby to Belmont (or in this case, Saratoga).  This strategy has produced 11 winners since 2001, including recent champions Dornoch, Mo Donegal and Essential Quality.  Baeza and (Derby winner) Sovereignty are the only horses in the field that meet this condition.  The deepest closer in the race, Baeza, rallied from 15th at Churchill Downs to finish a hard-charging third.  One thing that's not in Baeza's favor is that this race will be run at 1 1/4 miles, rather than the normal Belmont distance of 1 1/2 miles. #3 Rodriguez:  Bob Baffert's speedy 3YO won his Derby tune-up here in New York at Aqueduct race track (the Wood Memorial) in gate-to-wire fashion.  It will be shocking if Rodriguez is not on the lead today from the moment the gate opens and Baffert has never been shy about trying to steal these big races by going to the front and playing "catch me if you can".  But Rodriguez scratched the week of the Derby due to a foot injury and then did the same thing leading up to the Preakness, so question marks surround him.  And that Wood Memorial victory -- impressive as it was -- was over two months ago.   #7 Journalism:  Any doubts people had about this California invader after the Derby were laid to rest after his incredible Preakness Stakes run at Pimlico three weeks ago (which we cashed).  There is little to knock about Mike McCarthy's colt at this point but you have to wonder if the three races in a five week span, together with the cross-country travel could take something out of him.  Will these factors result in Journalism not being at his best today?  Maybe.  But maybe not.  And, like the Preakness, where he went off at even money, his odds here are relatively short, at 8-5 on the morning line.   #5 Crudo:  If Rodriguez doesn't fire because of his time off, lingering foot issue, or some other reason, this talented Todd Pletcher-trainee could have things all his own way.  If you watch his performance in the Sir Barton on the Preakness undercard, you can't help but be impressed.  He not only beat a pretty good group of 3YOs by daylight, but he galloped out after the race was over looking like he could go around the track again at the same pace.  And clearly Pletcher and co-owner (and Celebrity Chef) Bobby Flay think Crudo has the goods or they would have picked a different spot for him.  Pletcher knows something about winning this race, as he's done it four times and most recently three years ago with Mo Donegal.  If there's a knock against him, it's that Crudo has been beating horses at the equivalent of the AAA Minor League level and he's now stepping up to face Sandy Koufax and Nolan Ryan.    #2 Sovereignty:  His talent is obvious and his skipping of the Preakness was the plan all along by his connections.  You can't deny his incredible performance in the Derby (which we cashed), where he faced almost three times the number of rivals he will this Saturday.  But like Baeza and Journalism, he doesn't possess any early speed so it's hard to say what kind of trip he will get and whether he will be able to make the same type of charge he did on that first Saturday in May.  Closers have had an incredibly hard time winning on the Saratoga dirt track.  And although the extra 1/8 of a mile may help (most dirt route races here are 1 1/8 miles), it might not be enough unless Sovereignty can be much closer to the pack early than he usually is (which he may be).We cashed the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes and go for the 3-0 SWEEP again this year in the Triple Crown races (we've won 15 of the last 31 Triple Crown races, including a 3-0 SWEEP in 2022).  Don't miss our 2025 Belmont Stakes winner.Good luck, as always...Al McMordie

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