Alright we’re mixing in some hockey terminology and boxing terminology and yet we’re about to dive into an article that “majors” in Baseball and “minors” in Psychology but let’s give it a whirl here! After enjoying a baseball run that has been fantastic since the latter part of July, the last two days of MLB – August 29th and 30th – have led to quite a bit of frustration for my clients and I. How best to respond? Resume the winning immediately.

That had been the order of the day during this hot streak. Every 0-fer day (and they’ve been rare) was followed by a big winning day. So, after a tough 0-2 Saturday we felt sure we’d bounce back huge on Sunday. First, about Saturday, the only reason we didn’t profit in MLB was because the Top Play fell short and it was an over that fell short despite Arizona scoring nine runs!

On Saturday, the Diamondbacks were hosting Houston and, amazingly, Houston was shutout. We say amazingly because Arizona had Jon Garland on the mound. He was making his 27th start of the season. In the first 26, not once was his opponent shutout in a game. Sure, he had few decent starts – including some where he didn’t allow an earned run – but not once this season had a Diamondbacks opponent been held scoreless in a game that Garland started! One Astros run would have put us, and our clients, in the winners circle with our Top Play.

The key during our winning streak in MLB has been not only bouncing back after tough days but coming back in a huge way with 3-0 and 4-0 cards. That certainly didn’t work out on Sunday. We suffered a tough 0-2 in day action and have one night game still on the docket. As for the day games, we lost our top play because the Orioles Brian Matusz had his first quality start as a major leaguer. After how poorly he had struggled, anyone who saw that coming is a genius far beyond our capabilities! The Orioles got their five runs in that came and we needed the Indians to get their five runs and we were a guaranteed winner with our Top Play of over 9.5 or 10 runs in the game. However, Matusz pitched uncharacteristically well and the loss is in the books for us.

Our other afternoon game was particularly painful though. The Twins were hosting the Rangers and it was 5-3 Minnesota going to the top of the ninth. The over was an 8.5 across the board and the Rangers loaded the bases with no one out. We needed one run and the bases were juiced and a goose egg was on the board in the outs column. Unbelievably, the Rangers failed to score and a goose egg went up in the run column in the top of the 9th handing us a painful loss.

These two tough days will not take away from what’s gone on here in the past five or six weeks. However, the key to the title of this article is this. We’re dropping the gloves and ready to battle back starting immediately. We plan to immediately resume the winning that has characterized our long-term run in the bases. So, what about the “five rounds” in the title of this article? There are five weeks left in the MLB regular season and we plan to build up to our “knockout punch” during these five weeks.

Here are a few key things to look for in the final five weeks of the MLB season in terms of playing overs in baseball – which is our main focus in the bases. Look for struggling bullpens, red hot lineups, and worn out starting pitchers – remember guys have really racked up the innings pitched by now. Some pitchers respond worse than others when fatigued. Also, look for those “meaningless” games that are on the board occasionally at this time of the year. Often, as an over player, we find our best value in games between two teams that are basically just “playing out the string” on the season. These types of teams often have lineups that are relaxed at the plate (no playoff pressure) and they often are putting pitchers on the hill that might just be “getting in some work” or it could be a young hurler just being given a “chance”.

At this late point in the season, you will see some crazy offensive outbursts and honing in on them means following the pitchers who are struggling and the lineups who are in sync at the plate. Don’t overlook the “lesser” games on the board though as they often offer the best value for “over players”. Now, that said, let’s drop those gloves for the final five “rounds” and make a pile of cash in MLB the rest of the way to supplement our upcoming football profits – the regular season is starting this Thursday for College Football! Indeed, it is a wonderful time of year and we are ready. Are you? Let’s do it! Thank you for checking in here and best of luck always from Scott Rickenbach.

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