It’s not that the Boston Red Sox are throwing in the towel or anything, but they aren’t kidding themselves about their situation either. They sit 7 ½ games back of the Tampa Bay Rays for the AL Wild Card. The team they are putting on the field looks like a Triple-A aquad and John Beckett is not himself this year. Boston lost their double header yesterday by identical 3-1 scores.

Boston is 3-4 in its last seven games. They face Chicago’s Mark Buehrle, who has allowed more than four runs only once in his last six starts. Lets play the WhiteSox as our best bet of the day.

The departure of Brian Kelly to ND lef the Cincy Bearcats angry. Look for Fresno in their home opener to come out of the chute early. I am expecting big things from the Bulldogs this year as they feature 8 returning offesenive starters feature an experienced QB and offensive line. Cicny lost QB Tony Pike, WR Mardy Gilyard, and six starters on defense. It will take some time for the defenses to improve and going to Fresno under this scenario is not an idle situation. Fresno State returns 15 starters and is always a solid play under Coach Pat Hill as a dog or a small favorite. The Bulldogs have won 10 of their last 11 home openers. The last five games of the 2009 season the Bearcats defense gave up 45, 21, 36, 44, and 51 points. Expect another high scoring game with Fresno getting the job done on Saturday night!

Michigan and Rich Rodriguez is a veteran coach who was 2-0 against UConn when with W. Virginia. Michigan has major edges on offense and special teams and at quarterback. This is an outstanding spot for the Wolverines to rebound from a disappointing year last season. The UConn Huskies have suffered some key defensive injury losses in training camp. The Michigan Stadium has been extended to 110,000 capacity. I Love 3rd year coaches who have had time to implement their players, schemes and systems. Look for Michigan to make a statement in their opener.

This is a must win for Northwestern as they want to get off to a good start and shoot for a 3rd consecutive bowl game. Vandy HC Johnson retired in midsummer replaced by former OL Coach Caldwell but this team is in disarray. The NWestern Wildcats offense is far more advanced at this stage behind QB Persa operating behind an OL that returns intact. QB Dan Persa challenged Kafka for the starting job in 2009 and this kid can play. I expect the Commodores to really struggle running the football with an inexperienced offensive line. Northwestern has a chance to be 6-0 this season before they host Michigan State on Oct. 23rd. I look for a 10-18 point win for Northwestern on Saturday night.

The Reds hit leftys well, play good at night and on grass, so everything lines up tonight! STL returns home after a long 10 game road trip with series losses to Pittsburgh, Washington and Houston.

St Louis is a poor 2-7 as a home favorite vs a team that has won at least their last four games. The Cardinals beat Arroyo 6-1 on August 11th in Cincinnati behind Adam Wainwright. Arroyo is spectacular in the 2nd half of the season and in this revenge spot, going a perfect 5-0 THIS season on the road when seeking revenge for a team loss in his last start vs this opponent. The last time Arroyo pitched, was the last time the Reds lost.

The Reds are 8-0 with Bronson Arroyo when they scored a total of fewer than three runs in his last start. EVERY win was by multiple runs. Also, Cincinnati is 6-0 when Bronson Arroyo starts on the road after losing as a home favorite in his last start. The Cardinals are 0-6 in franchise history with Garcia as a home favorite when they won his last start and he went at least five innings. Cincinnati has all the momentum and we can’t imagine them being flat vs a hated divisional rival and coming off 4 straight losses verus these Cards. 10* NL GAME OF THE WEEK.

UTAH is 15-4 in home openers since I started handicapping professionally in 1991. The Panthers are ranked #15 in the country, but I think that is based on last years results. Pittsburgh lost a ton of players and are ranked #107 in experience.

Last year was supposed to be a rebuilding year and all the Utes did was go 10-3 and win their 9th straight bowl game. This year, the Utes enter the season in much better shape and are tough at home. Pittsburgh is starting a new QB, with a young offensive line playing at night in Utah on National TV in the high altitude. Tough spot for the young Panthers and I like Utah to get a double digit win here as they stack the line and stop the run and force Pittsburgh to pass the ball.

A couple of struggling offenses will try to look sharp in what will likely be a reserve-laden feature attraction Thursday night, when the Philadelphia Eagles welcome the New York Jets to Lincoln Financial Field for each team's final preseason tune-up. The Eagles are not expected to play many starters in this game.

For the Jets, quarterback Mark Sanchez is not expected to play at all, with backups Mark Brunell and Kellen Clemens slated to see time against the Birds. One notable who should see significant time for the Jets is wide receiver Santonio Holmes, who will begin serving a four-game regular season suspension immediately after the Eagles game so he will see a lot time. Holmes has a team-leading 78 receiving yards on five catches during the warm-up period.

The Jets always play good defense in the pre-season and the Jets have finished the pre-season 2-2 or better the last 10 years. The NY Jets currently sit at 1-2 and a win on Thursday night keeps their streak intact.

Roy Oswalt pitched seven scoreless innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers three weeks ago, exactly the type of outing the Philadelphia Phillies were hoping the three-time All-Star could provide down the stretch. He hasn't slowed down since. He has historically been great in the 2nd half of the season. Oswalt has performed like an ace in his past four outings, a standard he'll look to maintain in Wednesday's finale as he tries to lead the Phillies to a series victory at Dodger Stadium. Oswalt is 7-2 with a 2.89 ERA in 10 starts versus the Dodgers and 2-0 with a 1.06 ERA in his last two road starts against them. He's done an outstanding job retiring Los Angeles' 3-4-5 hitters. Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp and James Loney are a combined 6 for 34 (.176) against Oswalt. If you can shut them down you shutdown the Dodgers.

Howard will be happy to see September's arrival. He's a .307 hitter with 49 homers during the month, both career bests. Play the Phillies this afternoon to get another win and take the series before heading to Colorado.