MLB Thursday 10* Top Play OVER 9 in Los Angeles Angels vs Chicago Cubs @ 9:35 ET - Detmers is 0-5 with a 5.15 ERA this season. Smyly has allowed 8 earned runs on 14 hits in 10 innings over his last two starts. Both the Angels and Cubs have hit lefties well this season. I know that lately the Cubs have not been scoring many runs but this looks like the right spot for a breakout game on offense. The Angels will pick up right where they left off in yesterday's 6-2 win. LA has scored 13 runs so far in the first two games of this series. The Cubs Smyly had an ERA about 2 runs higher on the road than at home and about 2.5 runs higher in night games than day games when you look at his numbers from last season. That said, Angels stay hot but Cubs get going here too as Detmers struggles continue. 10* OVER 9 in Los Angeles Angels

NOTE: This game was originally going to go Wednesday but postponed by the air quality issues due to smoke in the northeast from the Canadian wildfires. I still like this play the same for Thursday and now Tyler Holton most likely will start. He has had success out of the bullpen for the Tigers but he struggled as a starter at the minor league level. Maybe Reese Olson will provide relief here too. Either way, the Tigers pitcher today is an unproven guy and the Phillies have big edge at home per ORIGINAL WRITE-UP: MLB Thursday 10* Top Play Philadelphia Phillies Run Line -1.5 -120 vs Detroit Tigers @ 6:40 ET - Philadelphia is off 4 straight wins and plus their bats exploded Sunday and Monday so after yesterday's 1-0 win I look for the bats to wake back up today for Philly tonight. They can carry momentum from those earlier blowout wins (19 runs in 2 games) right into this game Wednesday. Tigers have lost 7 of 8 games and scored an average of only 2 runs in those 8 games. The Phillies outhit Detroit 11-3 Monday and then the Tigers again had just 3 hits yesterday. The Phillies have scored 6 runs per game last 5 games and the first 3 of those were on the road. In last 7 home games, Phillies have averaged 5 runs per game. Tigers will not be able to keep up with the hosts in this one and Detroit ends up getting blown out yet again. The Tigers are starting Reese Olson and he is a great story and had a surprisingly strong first start for Detroit in his MLB debut after making some adjustments in the minors. Trust me the Phillies watched what the White Sox did (and did not!) do against him in his MLB debut and will make the right adjustments here. As for Philadelphia's Zack Wheeler, he has a great long-term history in starts at Citizens Bank Park and I expect a strong outing from him. More of the same Tigers' struggles at the plate here in another Phillies home win. 10* PHILADELPHIA -1.5 -120

NHL Thursday 10* Top Play Florida Panthers Money Line -120 vs Vegas Golden Knights @ 8:20 ET - Florida is 9-3 this season when they enter a game off at least 2 consecutive losses and with the most recent loss being in regulation time. That includes 8-3 in regular season and then 1-0 in post-season. Note that the home team is a perfect 4-0 in the Panthers last 4 games. The Golden Knights are 0-2 in the post-season when they are on the road and off a win by a margin of at least 4 goals. As you know, Vegas just blew out Florida 7-2 Monday and this followed a 5-2 win in the series opener. That first game was much closer than the final score would indicate. The 2nd game was ugly for the Panthers and went perfectly for the Golden Knights. Now it is payback time for Florida. Look for Vegas to drop to 0-3 in this post-season when on the road and off a win by a margin of 4 or more goals. Look for the home team to improve to 5-0 in Panthers last 5 post-season games. The 100% trends continue here as it is now or never for Florida truly and I look for the Panthers to respond huge on home ice while Vegas gets caught feeling a little too good about themselves and gets a dose of reality here. There is still some fight left in these Panthers and they are known for being particularly dangerous in the offensive zone in home games. 10* FLORIDA -120

CFL Thursday 10* Top Play Calgary Stampeders -3 vs BC Lions @ 9 ET - Revenge game for the Stamps. They were knocked out of the post-season by the Lions last fall. Both rosters have made some significant changes heading into this season. Early season games can be tough to call but what I like here about Calgary is the focus and drive of this team entering this season after the disappointing way last season ended. The Stampeders should get a huge game from QB Jake Maier here after the tough playoff game against BC. In looking at the Lions, note that QB Rourke was a big part of the BC offense and he is now in Jacksonville in the NFL with the Jaguars. Also, WR Burnham who was a star for the Lions has now retired. So this is a team that has lost some key pieces from the one that knocked off Calgary in the post-season last year.  Although Vernon Adams, Jr could surprise at QB, he is a little difficult to trust stepping into this new situation. I am expecting the Stampeders to take the playoff rematch here to open up the season the right way and they should cover the short number along the way as well. The Stamps have the right mix of veteran guys and young hungry talent to make some noise again this season and they get it done at home here to open up the season. 10* CALGARY -3

Rotation #203805: Dutch Eredivisie, Europa Conference Playoffs - Final - 1st Leg Thursday 10* Top Play OVER 2.5 goals -130 in Sparta Rotterdam vs FC Twente @ 2 ET - This is a battle for a spot in Europa Conference next season as the winner of this 2-legged contest will qualify for next season's Europa Conference League. The loser will not have European football next season. That said, it is a pretty big battle and I look for an entertaining first leg. Rotterdam is strong on their home pitch but Twente is in great current form. Don't let the full season road numbers for Twente fool you. They have been hot on the road and they keep piling up goals in recent action. As for Rotterdam, they are scoring an average of 2 goals per game in their home matches this season. Dating back to March, the last 13 matches for Twente have seen them score an average of nearly 3 goals per match! As for Rotterdam, they have had just 2 draws in 17 home matches this season so it is fully reasonable to expect at least a 2-1 final here rather than a 1-1 draw. 13 of last 16 Twente matches have totaled at least 3 goals. Sparta off a 1-0 loss to Utrecht but 12 of 15 matches prior to that totaled at least 3 goals! Sparta scored an average of 2.5 goals per match in the dozen matches prior to the 1-0 loss. Per the above, look for plenty of scoring here. 10* OVER 2.5 -130 in Sparta Rotterdam

Rotation #201401: Italian Serie B, Promotion Finals Thursday 10* Top Play OVER 2 goals -140 in Cagliari vs Bari 1908 @ 2:30 ET - The ability to get an over 2, even though we lay a little bit of juice to do so, is a solid edge here. I know these clubs saw their two regular season meetings combine to total just 3 goals. However, Cagliari has scored an average of 2 goals in its last 7 home matches. Bari is off B2B 1-0 matches - one home and one away - but prior to this they had scored an average of 2 goals in last 3 matches away from home. As you can see, some 2 goal averages in play for each club here and all we need is a 2-1 final and we are in the winners circle. One could reasonably argue each club has a decent shot at 2 goals in this one. 10* OVER 2 goals -140 in Cagliari