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Big Al's Daily Angle: MLB Previews and Odds - 06/01/2025

The Sunday sports card features MLB action.Major League Baseball has 15 games scheduled. The Texas Rangers host the St. Louis Cardinals on Roku at 1:05 p.m. ET. The Rangers send out Jacob deGrom to pitch against the Cardinals’ Erick Fedde. Texas is a -175 money-line favorite, with the total set at 7.5 (all odds from DraftKings). Four MLB games throw out the first pitch at 1:35 p.m. ET. Boston travels to Atlanta with Garrett Crochet getting the ball for the Red Sox to face Bryce Elder for the Braves. The Red Sox are a -135 money-line road favorite with an over/under of 8. Philadelphia plays at home against Milwaukee, with the Phillies tapping Ranger Suarez to take on the Brewers’ Jose Quintana. The Phillies are a -180 money-line favorite with a total of 8.5. Baltimore is home against Chicago, with Charlie Morton taking the mound for the Orioles to challenge Adrian Houser for the White Sox. The Orioles are a -166 money-line favorite with an over/under of 9. The Toronto Blue Jays host the Athletics at 1:37 p.m. ET. The Blue Jays turn to Kevin Gausman to pitch against the Athletics’ J.P. Sears. Toronto is a -192 money-line favorite with a total of 8. Three more MLB games start at 1:40 p.m. ET. Cleveland plays at home against Los Angeles, with Gavin Williams getting the starting assignment for the Guardians to go against Jack Kochanowicz for the Angels. The Guardians are a -170 money-line favorite with an over/under of 8.5. New York is home against Colorado, with the Mets sending out Clay Holmes to face the Rockies’ Carson Palmquist. The Mets are a -395 money-line favorite with a total of 8.5. San Francisco plays at Miami, with Hayden Birdsong getting the ball for the Giants to battle Ryan Weathers for the Marlins. The Giants are a -130 money-line road favorite with an over/under of 8.Two MLB games begin at 2:10 p.m. ET. Houston hosts Tampa Bay, with the Astros tapping Hunter Brown to challenge the Rays’ Taj Bradley. The Astros are a -205 money-line favorite with a total of 7.5. Kansas City is home against Detroit, with Kris Bubic getting the ball for the Royals to face Keider Montero for the Tigers. The Royals are a -148 money-line favorite with an over/under of 8.5. The Chicago Cubs host the Cincinnati Reds at 2:20 p.m. ET. The Cubs send out Jameson Taillon to pitch against the Reds’ Nick Martinez. Chicago is a -162 money-line favorite. Two MLB games start at 4:10 p.m. ET. Arizona plays at home against Washington, with Corbin Burnes taking the hill for the Diamondbacks to challenge Mitchell Parker for the Nationals. The Diamondbacks are a -238 money-line favorite with a total of 9. Seattle is home against Minnesota, with the Mariners turning to Luis Castillo to take on the Twins’ Chris Paddack. The Mariners are a -135 money-line favorite with an over/under of 8.The San Diego Padres host the Pittsburgh Pirates at 5:10 p.m. ET. Randy Vasquez gets the ball for the Padres to face Andrew Heaney for the Pirates. San Diego is a -142 money-line favorite with a total of 8.5. Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN features the Los Angeles Dodgers playing at home against the New York Yankees at 7:10 p.m. ET. The Dodgers tap Yoshinobo Yamamoto to pitch against the Yankees’ Ryan Yarbrough. Los Angeles is a -175 money-line favorite with an over/under of 8.5.

The Ascension of the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference

The Indiana Pacers are champions of the Eastern Conference after a 125-108 victory at home against the Knicks on May 31st to take the conference finals in six games. The Pacers phoned in their Game 5 effort on Thursday. After taking a 3-1 lead in this series on Tuesday with a 130-121 victory on their home court, the Pacers were flat in Game 5 in a 111-94 loss at Madison Square Garden. Indiana missed 20 of their 30 shots from 3-point land, and they only shot 40.5% from the field. Tyrese Haliburton only scored eight points on 2 of 7 shooting and he missed both his shots from 3-point land. That disappointing effort came off one of the best performances in NBA history when Haliburton scored 32 points in Game 4 in 38 minutes with 15 assists, 12 rebounds, four steals, and zero turnovers. Asking Haliburton to repeat those numbers will be too much, yet he should play much better than he did on Thursday. He has been a better player at home where he averages 20.4 points per game this season on 50.0% shooting and a 41.5% clip from 3-point range. He averages 10.0 assists per game at home. On the road, Haliburton averages 16.7 points per game on 43.8% shooting and a 34.9% clip from 3-point land. His assists average drops to 8.0 assists per game on the road this year. Indiana had covered the point spread in nineteen of their last twenty-eight games when playing with revenge from a loss to their opponent in their previous game against each other. They had covered the point spread in eleven of their last sixteen games at home when the oddsmakers installed them as a favorite of six points or less. The Pacers had covered the point spread in six of their last nine games in the Eastern Conference finals with Rick Carlisle as their head coach.New York kept this series alive by shooting 49.4% from the field in their best shooting performance since Game 1 of this series. Yet the Knicks had covered the point spread in four of their last eleven games on the road after winning at home in their previous game. They had covered the point spread just twice in their last eight games on the road after playing a game where they did not allow more than 100 points. Karl-Anthony Towns was a game-time decision with a knee injury, yet he was excellent by making 10 of 20 shots for 24 points, and he added another 13 rebounds. Yet if this injury that had him limping badly in the final moments of Game 4 lingers and he is not 100%, the Knicks are in deep trouble. The road team had only covered the point spread (or won) once in the last nine playoff games between these two rivals in Game 4, 5, or 6. New York had covered the point spread three times in their last eleven games on the road when the oddsmakers installed them as an underdog of 3.5 to 9.5 points. Haliburton bounced back in Game 5 by scoring 21 points on 9 of 17 shooting. He added 13 assists. Pascal Siakam scored 31 points for Indiana. Towns scored 24 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, yet the Knicks got outscored by 17 points when he was on the court. The Pacers shot 54% from the field and made 17 of their 33 shots from 3-point land for a 52% clip. New York made 48% of their shots yet missed 23 of 32 shots from the 3-point line for a 28% shooting percentage from 3-point range. When Indiana got swept by the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals last year, it was easy to conclude that the Pacers were simply also-rans and a tier below the Celtics in a conference Boston dominated. Yet a year later, maybe more credit should have been given to Indiana (and head coach Rick Carlisle) as being close to taking the next step to become a real threat to win an NBA title. Game 1 of that series went to overtime before the Pacers lost Games 3 and 4 by just three points in both games. Indiana will be the underdog against Oklahoma City when the NBA finals begin next week. Yet after the Thunder only advanced to the Western Conference semifinals last year (before losing to Dallas), it will be the Pacers with more recent playoff experience. Good luck - TDG.

Paris Saint-Germain: Finally Inevitable to Win the UEFA Champions League

Paris Saint-Germain had never won a UEFA Champions League title despite being the premier professional football club in France and one of the elite programs with deep pockets in all of Europe. But that all changed on May 31st in their dominant 5-0 victory against Inter Milan in what was the largest margin of victory ever in the finals of the Champions League. This was not the roster expected to bring the European championship back to Paris. The previous strategy by ownership was to assemble a roster of superstars headlined by Lionel Messi, Neymar, and Kylian Mbappe. The latter two forwards led PSG to the UEFA Champions League title game in 2020 before losing against Bayern Munich. They added Messi to the mix two seasons later after reaching the semifinals of the Champions League in 2021. But even with that trio of superstars, Les Bleus could not advance past the Round of 16 in the Knockout Stage of the Champions League in 2022 and 2023. Ownership said goodbye to both Messi and Neymar for the 2023-24 season — and Mbappe led Les Parisiens to the Champions League semifinals again before losing to Borussia Dortmund.When ownership then said goodbye to Mbappe last summer when he signed with Real Madrid, PSG was expected to take a step back. But manager Luis Enrique was able to get more out of his roster this season who all bought into his tactics. The biggest development this season has been the emergence of striker Ousmane Dembele who has shined in the role of replacing Mbappe. His improved finishing skills make him one of the best players in the world — and he is on the shortlist to win the Ballon d’Or awarded to the player who enjoyed the best season in all of soccer. The roster was talented and balanced — and keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and right-back Achraf Hakimi may very well be the best players in the world at their position. Adding Khuicha Kuaratskhelia in the January transfer from Napoli was a shot in the arm for the scoring attack. Overall, the unity and cohesion of this team are better than the ones they had when Mbappe was the clear superstar and Talisman. The squad also had depth.PSG proved themselves against some of the best competition from the English Premier League in their march to the European championship. It has been a remarkable campaign for PSG who needed to win their final three matches in the Group Stage of the Champions League to claim the 15th seed. But Les Parisiens beat the EPL champion this season, Liverpool, in the Round of 16 before taking care of Aston Villa in the quarterfinals. PSG also beat Manchester City in the Group Stage of the Champions League. In the semifinals, they defeated Arsenal by an aggregate 3-1 score. Thoroughly dominating Inter Milan is a testament to just how much this group improved during what looked like a lost season late in the Fall. The Nerazzurri have proven themselves to be one of the best clubs in Europe after reaching the UEFA Champions League final two years ago in a loss to Manchester City. They outlasted an excellent Barcelona squad in the semifinals by an aggregate 7-6 score after surviving what might have been the match of the year in the second leg in a 4-3 victory in extra time. PSG won the expected goals battle against Inter Milan by a 3.51-0.50 margin. Les Parisiens concluded their season with five clean sheets in their final nine matches in the UEFA Champions League. They also pulled off the rare treble by winning the Champions League, the Ligue 1 title, and the Coupe de France after a 3-0 victory against Reims on May 24th.PSG’s ascension offers some lessons for handicappers. First, assembling superstars is not necessarily the formula for success. Les Bleus were stronger by the sum of their parts than previous squads that had superstar talent. Second, be open to the possibility that teams improve their form as the season progresses. Bettors who assumed that PSG was destined for a down season after their early struggles lost themselves a lot of money. Those of us who appreciated the improvement Les Parisiens made in the second half of the season profited. Best of luck — Frank.

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