This story was originally published by Dead Spin
Clayton Kershaw displayed his former All-Star form while winning his last two starts. That’s not good for National League batters, but it’s a good development for bettors.
The Los Angeles Dodgers have been decimated by pitching injuries all season. Now an ace-like Kershaw attempts to silence the visiting Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday night.
College football season kicks off Saturday with Week Zero as Florida State and Georgia Tech battle in Ireland and Atlantic Coast Conference newcomer SMU visits hapless Nevada. We will look at the Mustangs-Wolf Pack matchup.
There are two WNBA games on the schedule, and one involves Caitlin Clark. OK, no suspense; you know which one we will dissect.
TAMPA BAY RAYS AT LOS ANGELES DODGERS
Kershaw is making just his sixth start after undergoing shoulder surgery in the offseason. He made his season debut on July 25 but needed time to shake out the kinks—not the rock band—after so much inactivity.
The 36-year-old gave up one run and three hits over 5 2/3 innings against the Milwaukee Brewers on August 12 and tossed six shutout innings of four-hit ball against the St. Louis Cardinals last Sunday. While Kershaw is unlikely to win a fourth Cy Young Award before his career ends, the 2014 National League MVP still has top-rate stuff when his arm is healthy.
Kershaw is 2-0 with a 3.26 ERA in three career starts against Tampa Bay. Los Angeles also figures to have plenty of momentum after Shohei Ohtani’s walk-off grand slam for Friday’s 7-3 victory. The Dodgers have won five consecutive games and own the best record in the majors.
Tampa Bay punted on the season prior to the trading deadline in late July and has scored just nine runs over its last five games. Rays right-hander Taj Bradley has allowed 18 runs over 20 innings while dropping four straight starts, and that poor stretch is not going to end on Saturday.
Dodgers -1.5 run line, +114 (DraftKings)
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SMU AT NEVADA
This game has all the looks of a mismatch as the Mustangs play their initial game as an ACC program. SMU has a top-notch quarterback in Preston Stone, while the Wolf Pack are coming off consecutive 2-10 seasons.
Stone passed for 3,197 yards, 28 touchdowns and six interceptions in 12 games last season before missing the final two contests due to a broken fibula. The Mustangs finished 11-3 and have excess momentum as a program by the move from the American Athletic Conference to the ACC.
Jeff Choate will be guiding Nevada for the first time, and his only previous head coaching experience came at FCS program Montana State (28-22 from 2016–19). Brandon Lewis threw just two TD passes in 12 games (10 starts) last season but is again at the helm after Nebraska transfer Chubba Purdy (younger brother of Brock) missed most of fall camp with a shoulder injury.
The Mustangs won’t have any trouble winning this game, but the spread is too large. A bad Nevada squad lost by just seven at home to Kansas last season, so look for the Wolf Pack to cover with a late TD.
Nevada +27 spread, -108 (DraftKings)
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INDIANA FEVER AT MINNESOTA LYNX
Clark is playing like one of the top players in the league and has averaged 26 points and 9.5 assists over the last two games. Indiana won both games and has taken four of its last five.
Minnesota is also a hot squad with five consecutive victories, including four straight by double digits since play resumed after the Olympic break. The Lynx won a home-and-home with the Las Vegas Aces, including Friday’s 87-74 home victory that saw star Napheesa Collier record 27 points and a career-best 18 rebounds.
Minnesota is a stellar 13-3 at home, but one of those setbacks was an 81-74 loss to the Fever on July 14. Indiana rallied by outscoring the Lynx 28-14 in the fourth quarter of that contest, one that Collier missed due to a foot injury. Clark scored 17 but was just 5-of-17 shooting.
Count on a close game. Riding Indiana to cover—and perhaps win—is the direction to go.
Fever +5.5 spread, -110 (DraftKings)
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