At 7:05 pm, our selection is on the New York Yankees over the Kansas City Royals.  The pitching matchup in the Bronx tonight will feature righty Michael King for New York, and lefty Danny Duffy for the Royals.  We'll take the homestanding Pinstripes, as Duffy hasn't had much success vs. New York in his career.  He's made nine starts, and owns a nasty 5.23 ERA and 1.48 WHIP over 43 innings.  Today, Duffy will be on a short leash, as he's making his first start since going on the Injured List with a strained left forearm.  It's estimated that he will throw no more than 65 pitches.  Meanwhile, King is starting to adjust to his newfound role as a starting pitcher in the Yankees' rotation.  A sinkerballer, King has improved his command this season, which has lowered his flyball rate, as well as his ERA (7.76 last season; 4.08 in 2021).  One advantage for King tonight is that (with the exception of Alberto Hanser), none of the Royals hitters have ever batted against him before.  New York is 15-5 the last 20 meetings at home vs. Kansas City.  Take the Yankees to blow out the Royals.  Good luck, as always...Al McMordie.

At 12:35 pm, our selection is on the Chicago White Sox over the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Dylan Cease will get the start for the Pale Hose this afternoon, as Chicago will attempt to snap its 5-game losing streak.  Cease has been brilliant this season in his daytime starts, as he has a 2.87 ERA over those six starts, with a 1.34 WHIP.  And he's also been spotless in Interleague action this season (0.00 ERA; 0.66 WHIP).  He'll match up against Pirates righty Chase de Jong, and Chicago has been installed as a mid-sized road favorite.  That bodes well for Chicago today, as it's 53-19 (+25 games on the moneyline) its last 72 when priced from -125 to -175, while the Pirates are 20-46 (minus 16 games on the moneyline) when priced from +125 to +175.  Even better for Chicago:  de Jong's teams are 0-4 in his career starts when priced as an underdog of +150  (or more).  Take Chicago.  Good luck, as always....Al McMordie.

At 8:35 pm, on Wednesday, our selection is on the Milwaukee Bucks minus the points over Atlanta.  Before the start of the season, I published my NBA futures selection, and predicted the Milwaukee Bucks (at 13-2 odds) would win the NBA title.  But, for much of the season, it did not look like it would come to fruition, as the Bucks, frankly, underwhelmed.  After finishing with the #1 margin of victory in each of 2019 (8.87), and 2020 (10.08), the Bucks took a major step back this season, and only outscored their opponents by 5.89 points per game.  Still, that was good enough for #1 in the Eastern Conference, and #3, overall.  Indeed, only the Utah Jazz (9.25) and Los Angeles Clippers (6.18) ranked ahead of the Bucks at the end of the regular season.  Atlanta, meanwhile, was a distant ninth (2.32).  It's true that the Bucks were unceremoniously bounced out of the playoffs the past two seasons, notwithstanding their #1 ranking in victory margin.  The Toronto Raptors eliminated the Bucks in 2019, while Miami sent the Bucks packing last season.  But a primary reason for Milwaukee's failures was its subpar play away from home.  However, when playing in front of its home faithful, Milwaukee has actually maintained its strong regular season numbers in the playoffs.  Including this season (and dating back to 2018), Milwaukee is 14-2 straight-up, and 11-5 ATS at home, and has covered the spread by an average of 5.47 ppg.  This season, Milwaukee took 2 of the 3 meetings vs. Atlanta, including the only meeting here, in Milwaukee (129-115, on Jan. 24).  The Hawks did defeat the Bucks, as a 5.5-point home underdog, in the most recent meeting (on April 25).  But that's not necessarily a good thing as, in the NBA semi-finals or finals, revenge-minded teams have gone 13-0 ATS at home in the first game of a Playoff series, if they were not getting 4+ points.  Moreover, Atlanta is a wallet-busting 46-76-1 ATS on the road if it upset its opponent in the previous meeting.  Finally, the Hawks are a horrid 7-32 SU and 8-31 ATS on the road when priced from +4.5 to +9.5 points.  Take the Bucks minus the points.  Good luck, as always...Al McMordie.