Diamondbacks at Braves MLB Weekend Series Free Pick

Baseball is back in business following this week's MLB All Star break and starting this Friday night at SunTrust Park is an interesting three-game matchup between a pair of second-place NL teams trying to make up some ground in their respective division title race.

Arizona fell to 7.5 games in back of the blazing Los Angeles Dodgers with a 3-7 slide in its previous 10 games before the break, but at 53-36 overall, the Diamondbacks remain in the thick of the NL playoff race. Atlanta is 9.5 games in back of Washington in the NL East with an overall record of 42-45 and while the Braves can still make things interesting over the next few months, their margin for error is pretty slim given the number of teams ahead of them in the wild card standings.

BetAnySports has set the series price at -110 for both teams in what should be a close, hard-fought battle over the next three days. As part of my weekly MLB betting previews for SportsBooks.net, I decided to take a closer look at this matchup for my free weekend series pick. Please check out the link below for my complete preview and pick.

LINK: MLB Weekend Series Betting Report and Free Pick: Arizona at Atlanta

Betting on the Philadelphia 76ers Making the Playoffs in 2018

I have always been a huge Philly fan since I grew up less than 30 minutes from Veterans Stadium and the Spectrum. Both of these storied structures have since been replaced with a trio of venues that include Lincoln Financial Field for the Eagles, Citizens Bank Park for the Phillies and the Well Fargo Center for both the Flyers and the 76ers. I have since moved to sunnier and warmer digs on the southeast coast of Virginia, but in my heart and mind I will always been a die-hard Philly fan.

It has been lean times for the Philly faithful with all four teams floundering through their regular seasons for the past few years. Watching any of the four teams in the playoffs has been a pipe dream right across the board. With the MLB regular season approaching its midway point with next week's All-Star break, the Phillies have the dubious honor of owning the worst record in the Majors. The Flyers missed the playoffs this season in a league where almost every team plays in the postseason. The Eagles are coming off back-to-back 7-9 campaigns and do not even get me started on how bad the Sixers have been over the past four years.

The one benefit of being a very bad basketball team is the chance to draft some of the top college players in the land. The 76ers decided to take the long and winding road towards rebuilding this once proud franchise by drafting some of the top college players that needed to take some serious time off to recover from injury. Joel Embiid had to delay his rookie year an entire season before almost winning rookie of the year honors in the mere 31 games he played in 2016/2017. Ben Simmons was last years No. 1 pick and followed in Embiid's footsteps by missing his first season due to injury. Philly used the No. 1 pick in this year's draft to select Markelle Fultz and the most exciting thing about this acquisition is that we will get to see him play in his true rookie year.

I am not suggesting that the 76ers are ready to take on Cleveland or now possibly Boston for the NBA's Eastern Conference, but I am suggesting that the big three in Philly with some help from a rapidly improving supporting cast are ready to take that next step from "Trust the Process" to "Welcome to the Moment" to make its first postseason appearance since 2011.

Below is a link to a recent article I wrote for ScoresandStats.com detailing my reasons for why I am betting on the Sixers making the playoffs next season.

LINK: BETTING ON THE PHILADELPHIA 76ERS MAKING THE NBA PLAYOFFS IN 2018

Yankees at Astros MLB Weekend Series Free Pick

One of the top MLB series on the slate this weekend is a three-game set between two of the best teams in the American League this season. The New York Yankees are a game off the pace in the AL East at 42-35, while the Houston Astros have jumped out to a 13.5-game lead in the AL West behind a MLB-best record of 54-26. BetAnySports has opened Houston as a -150 favorite on the series price for this matchup with the betting odds set at +130 that the Yankees get the best of things over the next three days.

As part of my weekly MLB betting previews and free picks for Sportsbooks.net, I took a closer look at this big AL tilt to come up with my 'best bet' play on the series price at the link below.

LINK: New York at Houston MLB Weekend Series Betting Report and Free Pick

NASCAR Takes its Turns on the Road Course at Sonoma

Twice a year NASCAR's Monster Energy Cup Series abandons its weekly ritual of left turns around an oval for a road course layout similar to Grand Prix racing. The first stop on this two-race circuit for the 2017 racing season takes place this Sunday at Sonoma Raceway in California. The Toyota/Save Mart 350 provides an excellent test of driving skills for all the Cup Series drivers while also offering a great opportunity for motorsport bettors when it come to cashing in a winning ticket for this event.

Please check out the link below at SBR Picks for my complete preview for Sunday's race as well as my free betting picks to win based on the odds posted by BetAnySports.

LINK: NASCAR Betting: Road Course Racing at Toyota/Save Mart 350

Free NBA Draft Position Prop Picks

The clock is winding down to the start of tonight's NBA Draft at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn; however it is not too late to place a few timely bets at BetAnySports on some of the position props that have been released in conjunction with this highly anticipated event. Last minute trades could alter the entire proceedings to add even more drama as the night unfolds, but I have come up with my "best bet" prop bet picks for a trio of top prospects as far as when they should come off the board.

Please check out the link below for my top NBA position prop bet picks in an article I wrote this week for Scores & Stats.


LINK: 2017 NBA Draft Position 'Best Bet' Prop Picks

2017 US Open Top 5 Finish Free Betting Picks

One of the best ways to bet on any professional golf tournament is on the odds for a Top 5 finish. When it comes to a Major such as the US Open, there is quite a bit of value to be found in this type of bet given the strength and depth of the field. The best golfers in the world will tee it up in the toughest test they will face all season long. Trying to find an outright winner in this group is a very hard thing to do, but there are plenty of clues to point you in the right direction to a few players that have a really good chance at being at the top of the leaderboard come late Sunday afternoon.

This year's US Open gets underway on Thursday with the first of four rounds of action at Erin Hills Golf Club. This is a brand new venue for one of golf's most prestigious titles and the early reports out of Erin, Wisconsin is that this could be one of the toughest USGA setups in recent memory. Knee high rough combined with slick greens could keep most of the scores above par all weekend long. After breaking down the betting odds at BetAnySports for a Top 5 finish, I have come up with my Top 5 golfers that could be up for the challenge that the next four days should present.

Please checkout the link below for my Top 5 "best bet" picks in this year's US Open as part of a recent article posted on Sportsbooks.net

LINK: Betting on a Top 5 Finish in the 2017 US Open

Can Irish War Cry Deliver as the Belmont Stakes Favorite?

Always Dreaming won the 2017 Kentucky Derby as a 9/2 favorite and Cloud Computing came through with the upset victory in the Preakness Stakes at 12/1 odds but neither of these three-year old thoroughbreds is in the field for this Saturday's Belmont Stakes to create a wide open battle for the third and final leg of this year's Triple Crown racing season.

Classic Empire would have probably been set as the early favorite to win this year's Belmont Stakes, but he was a late scratch right before the post positions were announced with a foot issue. I actually had him penciled in as my top pick to win following his second-place finish in the Preakness.

That leaves 12 entries to compete at Belmont Park in Saturday's main event with Irish War Cry listed as a 7/2 favorite on the morning line. Epicharis will be making his Triple Crown racing series debut as a 4/1 second-favorite and the opening betting odds for Lookin At Lee are 5/1 as the only three-year old in the field to run in the first two races. He took second at Churchill in the Kentucky Derby before finishing fourth at Pimlico in the Preakness.

Irish War Cry closed as a 9/2 co-favorite along with Always Dreaming to win this year's Kentucky Derby, but following a strong start he faded to 10th in the crowded field of 20. Trainer H. Graham Motion held this New Jersey-bred colt out of the Preakness to train for the added distance of this Saturday's 1 1/2 miles run on the dirt at Belmont with jockey Rajiv Maragh getting the ride. I went with Irish War Cry as my top pick to win the Kentucky Derby and with Classic Empire along with Always Dreaming and Cloud Computing out of the way in the Belmont Stakes, I honestly believe that this is his race to lose.

My official trifecta pick for Saturday's Belmont Stakes can be found at the link below in this week's horse racing report for SBR Picks.


LINK: With Classic Empire Out Of The Belmont Stakes, Who's the Favorite?