Good morning, Pickswise Nation, and welcome to a wonderful Wednesday of sports. We have 2 important games in Major League Baseball as the NLDS continues, the NHL season continues to kick off and we even have a college football game! Let’s get straight to making your next bet better!
About Last Night
MLB playoffs live up to the hype
The Astros were down 7-3 before mounting an incredible comeback that was capped off with Yordan Alvarez hitting a 3-run walk-off home run to give Houston the 8-7 victory. But that wasn’t the only exciting game, as the Phillies upset the Braves 7-6 in Game 1, but Atlanta didn’t go down without a fight as a 3-run bottom of the 9th nearly got the Braves to push the game into extra innings. Who said baseball was boring?
Today’s Slate
MLB playoffs continue
The American League is given the day off on Wednesday, but we still have 2 MLB playoff games today and they’re both worth the watch! The Phillies and Braves play Game 2 in Atlanta while the Padres and Dodgers will also continue their series in Los Angeles. You can read our MLB picks for both NLDS games today.
NHL continues to kick off
The start of the 2022-23 NHL season continues as we have a 6-game slate, with the likes of the Oilers and Maple Leafs in action. Be sure to read today’s NHL predictions.
College football on a Wednesday?
It’s not too often that we get a college football game on Wednesday, but we’re in for a treat today! Kick-off is at 9:30 pm ET, so don’t miss our Louisiana vs Marshall picks.
Best Bet of the Day
NHL: Colorado Avalanche -1.5 over Chicago Blackhawks
9:30 pm ET
The Avalanche are looking to repeat as Stanley Cup Champions. Granted, they lost forward Nazem Kadri and starting goalie Darcy Kuemper to free agency, but this team is still talented and deep. They bring in forward Evan Rodrigues and goalie Alexander Georgiev to play with all-stars Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, who were part of a team that finished 4th in goals scored and 6th in expected goals against last season. The strategy and talent between these teams are on opposite sides of the spectrum. Look for the Avalanche to dominate from puck drop. Read our full Blackhawks vs Avalanche predictions.
Must-read
Our experts are on a 10-4 YRFI/NRFI run, and since we have a small slate of games today, we have one YRFI/NRFI best bet.
Our early NFL Week 6 coverage is live with analysis of the Week 6 opening lines for this week’s games. We’re also already looking forward to this week’s NCAAF Week 7 odds.
In the NFL, our lead betting analyst Jared Smith takes a look back at Week 5 and which teams we should consider going into Week 6 in his Back to the Futures article. Plus, our Commanders vs Bears predictions for TNF are also live.
Keep an eye out for more great sports analysis as it arrives throughout the day on the Analysis tab.
Must-watch
Don’t forget to check out our daily show Let’s Bet It on our YouTube channel at youtube.com/c/Pickswise at 10:00 am ET.
Jared Smith and Mark Zinno are your hosts today and they will be joined by Fangraphs writer Paul Sporer (@sporer) to discuss the MLB playoffs. The group will also be discussing the midweek NFL line movement, plus previewing the CFB Week 7 key games before revealing their Plays of the Day.
You can also access the show at any time through Spotify and Apple Podcasts (search for Let’s Bet It Presented By Pickswise).
Stat of the Day
The over is 4-0 in the last 4 games between the Phillies and Braves. The average total in those 4 games is 11.75 runs.
Pickswise is the home of free sports picks, news and best bets. Check out our expert NFL Picks, NBA Picks, MLB Picks and NHL Picks pages for our latest game Picks.
