The set-up: Two competent starters go head-to-head in this one, but Zack Greinke has the advantage still in this matchup in my opinion. The home side counters with Brett Anderson. 

The pitchers: Greinke (11-4, 3.08 ERA) has put together back-to-back gems for his new team and he’s 6-2 with a 3.11 ERA in 16 appearances vs. the A’s, including 3-1 with a 2.74 ERA in ten games in Oakland.

Anderson (10-8, 3.95) is 1-4 with a 6.58 ERA in six games vs. Houston lifetime.

The pick: Oakland has taken the first three games of this four game set, which means that Greinke and company aren’t going to be lacking for motivation here. 

8* UPPER DECK CRUSHER on the Houston Astros.

The set-up: After dropping the opener of this interleague series in late innings, the Mets bounced back with a convincing 4-1 victory last night. I believe the playoff hopeful National League side will once again find a way to get the job done here with what I believe to be the clearly superior starting taking the hill for it. The Mets see Zach Wheeler toe the slab, while Glen Sparkman gets the nod for home side.

The pitchers: Wheeler (9-7, 4.36 ERA) comes in off a terrible start vs. the Braves, but overall he’s 3-1 with a 2.84 ERA over his last four trips to the hill. 

Sparkman (3-8, 5.45) is 0-3 with an 8.06 ERA over his last five starts. 

The pick: The Mets have won 17 of their last 22 games, but before yesterday’s victory they’d lost four of five. With much “stiffer” competition on the immediate horizon, I believe New York makes the most of this matchup. The Royals have scored five runs total over their last five games and they’ve lost 12 of their last 16. Lay the price.

8* EARLY DESTRUCTION on the New York Mets.

The set-up: The Vikes rolled to a big 34-25 road victory in New Orleans, but I believe they’ll have a much more difficult time here vs. the hard-hitting Seahawks. Seattle enters off a 22-14 home win over Denver. Seattle was 10-6 in the regular season last year, but 0-4 in the preseason. That included a 21-20 loss to these very Vikings. Can anyone say “revenge” spot? 

The pick: The Vikes offense looked great against a terrible Saints secondary, but Seattle used six of its 11 draft picks on the defensive side of the ball and it just held Denver to 291 total yards. Outright victory?! Very possible of course, but in the end I’m grabbing the points.

Seattle Seahawks 10* play

The set-up: Saint Etienne enjoyed a massive home pitch advantage last year, earning 41 of a possible 57 points, winning 13 games and losing only four. And note, three of its four losses were vs. clubs that finished above it in the standings (PSG, Lille and Lyon), as its form on the “lesser competition” was completely dominant. St. Etienne retains its core from last year and it started off the season with a convincing 2-1 win over Dijon. 

The pick: Brest is newly promoted. Brest had a great campaign in Ligue 2, but while it had the best home form in the league, its away form was just third best, picking up 31 points from 19 games. I think Brest struggles with its form in this difficult venue. Lay the price.

AS Saint Etienne 10* play

The set-up: I expect this one to go the distance in regulation and end in a draw. Sheffield had a dominant 2018/19 Championship season and it looked good in its first Premier League game last week vs. Bournemouth, holding the experienced club to a draw. It was a dramatic “draw” as well, with Sheffield drawing even at the 88th minute, breaking the hearts of the home town faithful. Crystal Palace is the much more experienced team, having played against the best in Europe over a regular basis. 

The pick: Crystal Palace has also won four of the last six head-to-head match ups in this series. I do think each club will find the back of the net, but this one has “war of attrition” written all over it.

Crystal Palace/Sheffield United DRAW 7* play