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MLB
Cincinnati (Leake) at Pittsburgh (Liriano) (-130) 7:15 ET
5* Pittsburgh (Liriano) (-130)
We come right back with the Pirates in this Division Rivalry reducing the rating a bit only because the linemaker is at last catching up to Pittsburgh success. In recent years the NL Central, including Houston, was considered to be the weakest Division in MLB. Through the end of May, however, the NL East features 3 teams in St. Louis, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati who are all playing > .600 baseball. It is the first time since 1986 when Boston, NYY and Baltimore were greater than .600 that any division has had 3 such winning teams through the end of May. The Pittsburgh loss last night to Cueto who had a great history against them was really not a shock. After all, Pittsburgh is just 6-12 in Game #1 of a series. But in Game #2 plus of every series this season, the Pittsburgh record is 28-9. Following a 1-5 start, Pittsburgh remains on runs of 33-16 and 16-5. And while Cincinnati is a meager 14-14 on the road, the Pirates stand 20-10 at PNC including 10-2 recently. Leake has been a hot starter for the Reds posting a record of 2-0 with 0.43 ERA L3 starts. But in his lone outing vs. the Pirates this season, Leake allowed 5 runs, 10 hits in 6 IP of a 6-5 loss to the Pirates. Through 4 starts, Liriano has a 2.35 ERA and 28/6 KBB. His work is even better from this mound, where in 2 starts, he has an 0.99 ERA.
Game: Los Angeles at Chicago (5:00 PM Eastern)
Pick: Chicago -160 (moneyline)
There is a unique set of circumstances as the COnference Finals feature four teams hat have won a Stanley Cup Championship over the last four years. This is a true round of champions. The reigning Champion, the Los Angeles Kings will start on the road where they have been pretty weak on the season, winning just eight regular season games. The playoffs have been even worse for the Kings as they have just one road win to show for six games. The problem is that the offense that has generated just 8 goals in the six road tilts at 1.25 goals per contest. It's hard to put one in the win column scoring just one time. It runs their road tally to a woeful 1-10 in their last 11. The Blackhawks have been dominating teams that struggle to score as they are 38-13 in their last 51 vs. a team that scored 2 or less in their previous game. The Kings are just 5-12 in the last 17 meetings, including 3-7 in their last 10 trips to the Windy City. Take Chicago.
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