EARLY D'BACKS @ PIRATES DAYTIME DESTROYER

The Arizona Diamondbacks are playing great baseball at the moment and an 11-2 rout of the Pirates on Wednesday marked their eighth win in 10 games. Pittsburgh on the other hand is trending in the opposite direction with four straight defeats, and here it'll face D'Backs righty Zack Greinke (3-1, 4.60 ERA) who owns a 1.03 ERA in 13 career appearances against the Pirates. We can also note that Greinke has posted a 2.81 ERA through four quality starts in a row.

Jameson Taillon (1-2, 3.12 ERA) will toe the slab for the Pirates. He's coming off a solid outing, but I don't see him being able to shut down an Arizona team which has scored 25 runs through the first three games of this series. 

Pirates are 1-7 in their last 8 home games vs. a team with a winning record. Diamondbacks are 8-0 in their last 8 road games vs. a team with a winning record.

Diamondbacks are 11-1 in the last 12 meetings and a perfect 9-0 in the last 9 meetings in Pittsburgh.

8* play on Arizona Diamondbacks. 

TOP RATED SPURS @ NUGGETS NBA PLAY OF THE DAY

The San Antonio Spurs are in a do-or-die situation here, entering this contest at a 3-2 hole in the series following an 18-point loss in Game 5 of the series on Tuesday.

They're a solid 33-10 SU (25-18) ATS at home on the season while the Denver Nuggets are 21-22 SU (18-25 ATS) on the road and I expect the home team to force an all decisive Game 7. 

The Nuggets had lost 14 straight matchups at San Antonio before coming through with a Game 4 triumph at AT&T Center. To repeat that will be incridibly difficult against this well-coached San Antonio, team, and I expect Spurs coach Gregg Popovich to have his team better prepared for this than last time out. "They just outplayed us in every facet," Popovich said. "We missed a lot at the rim early, or it could have been a much more competitive first half. We've got to have more guys playing well for sure."

Spurs will be ready and fired up, and I don't see them getting knocked out in front of the home town crowd. 

10* play on San Antonio Spurs. 

THURSDAY NIGHT MLB TOTAL

The under is 18-5 in games involving the Cincinnati Reds here in 2019 following a 3-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday. We cashed in BIG with the under as our MLB Total of the Week on that contest, and I expect another low-scoring affair here in the finale of this three-game series. 

Cincinnati right-hander Luis Castillo (2-1, 1.47 ERA) has been on fire through the first couple of weeks this season. His 1.27 ERA is best among all starters across the major leagues and he has not given up more than two runs in any of his five starts.

The Braves turn to right-hander Julio Teheran (2-2, 5.61 ERA) who's not been quite as sharp, but he's shown some good stuff and has recorded 29 Ks through 25 2/3 innings of work. Teheran has alternated good and bad starts, and I like him to bounce back with a solid performance after surrendering five runs at Cleveland last time out. 

Under is 11-3 in Braves last 14 when their opponent scores two runs or fewer in their previous game and 9-1 in Castillo's last 10 starts overall.

8* play on UNDER.