We had a nice 6-3 Saturday (3-2 MLB, 3-1 College Football) spearheaded by our 4* ELITE Padres coming through with a 12-3 trouncing of the Twins as they banged out 14 hits. San Diego used a 7 run 7th inning to blow it open to overcome a rare middling effort from ace Nick Pivetta who allowed 3 runs on 5 hits over 5 innings. Taj Bradley was surprisingly very good for the Twins in his 2nd start since joining the team as he held the strong Padres lineup to just 1 run on 1 hit in 5 innings. The win brought the Padres back to within 1 game of the Dodgers, who lost 6-1 to Arizona, in the NL West. Our 3* VERY STRONG release on the Opioles was an 11-1 Winner behind the great Trevor Rogers who did it again as he limited the Giants to just 1 run on 5 hits in 7 innings. Rogers is a glorified ATM machine as his ERA now sits at 1.39 with an unbelievable .82 WHIP. Our 2* Reds continued their tailspin as they dropped another one 4-2 to the Cardinals. We split our last two 1* STRONG MLB selections as Tampa Bay was a 4-1 Winner over the Nationals and the Braves lost a tight one 3-2 to the Phillies in 10 innings. Our Week 1 College Football plays went 3-1 led by 2* STRONG LSU topping Clemson 17-10 as an Underdog. In a battle between Heisman hopefuls, LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier (28-38-230) outclassed counterpart Cade Klubnik (19-38-230) while the LSU defense held the Clemson running game to an embarrassing 32 yards on 19 rushes. The Bengals shut out the Tigers in the 2nd half in the comeback victory. Our 1* SOLID play on Ohio St won 14-7 as the Buckeye defense completely shut down Arch Manning (17-30-170) and the Longhorns offense. Manning looked lost throughout while repeatedly missing open receivers. We also Won on our 1* Tennessee play as they took care of Syracuse 46-26. Our lone Loser in College came as we unfortunately backed Alabama as a sizable favorite in a miserable showing versus rejuvenated Florida St. The Tide lost 31-17 and it really did not even seem that close. Whether Alabama is that bad, and/or the Seminoles are that much better, remains to be seen but on this day Florida St was dominant. Adding 7.2 Units brings our rolling 185 day record to 273-194 for PLUS 317.51 Units.
8-30-25 4* ELITE – (MLB) Padres -154 (11-1) WIN
8-30-25 3* VERY STRONG – (MLB) Orioles First 5 Innings -128 (7-1) WIN
8-30-25 2* STRONG – (College Football) LSU +4.5 (17-10) WIN
8-30-25 2* STRONG – (MLB) Reds -135 (2-4 (LOSS)
8-30-25 1* SOLID – (MLB) Tampa Bay -156 (4-1) WIN
8-30-25 1* SOLID – (College Football) Tennessee -13.5 (45-26) WIN
8-30-25 1* SOLID – (College Football) Ohio St -1.5 (14-7) WIN
8-30-25 1* SOLID – (College Football) Alabama -13.5 (17-31) LOSS
8-30-25 1* SOLID – (MLB) Braves +122 (2-3 – 10 Innings) LOSS
8-30-25 4* ELITE – Padres -154
The Padres enter this matchup versus the Twins off a loss as they desperately try to keep touch with the Dodgers in the NL West. Today they put their trust in ace Nick Pivetta to get the job done and we are ALL IN making the Padres our Top Play on the MLB card. Pivetta has been excellent this season as he enters this contest with a 2.82 ERA and, amazingly, has had exactly 1 clunker over his last 11 starts. Over those outings Pivetta has tossed 69.1 innings allowing just 14 runs on 40 hits. For the Twins it’s Taj Bradley making his 2nd start since being acquired from Tampa Bay. Bradley has been all over the place this season, mixing in great starts with bad ones, but we simply do not trust him facing off against this deep and talented Padres lineup. In his last 8 starts Bradley has been raked for 26 runs on 40 hits in just 37.2 innings and he looks to be up against here. This game is much more important for San Diego and we see them getting it done in style behind a big effort from the stellar Pivetta.
8-30-25 3* VERY STRONG – Orioles (First 5) -128
It’s Trevor Rogers to the bump for Baltimore which means we will be riding the O’s as a Top Play, even though they are in the midst of a 6 game losing streak. No pitcher has been better than Rogers as he enters this contest with a miniscule 1.40 ERA and has not given up more than 1 run in his last 6 starts. In those starts Rogers has allowed a ridiculous 5 runs on 26 hits over 42 innings. That does not bode well for the inconsistent Giants offense. For San Fran it’s a bullpen game leading off with Carson Seymour who has yet to go past 3 innings. Seymour has been OK but for him, and whoever follows, to match zeroes with Rogers is highly unlikely. Look for Baltimore to jump out quickly versus Bradley as they will be extremely motivated to stop their skid behind the nearly unhittable Rogers. Our numbers place the First 5 line at the Orioles -150 which elevates this play to the 3* VERY STRONG level.