👀 Who will dominate Wild Card Weekend?

In Today's Rundown: 

• MLB's wildcard weekend is full of surprises 🤫

• Teams that will bounce back on Sunday 🏈

• Quick Hits: Good boys, great comebacks, and more! 🏆

• Happy Friday! Before we kick things off, an offer we'd love for you to check out...

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October signals the start of postseason baseball, and with the new addition of a three-game wildcard series (buh bye to the winner-take-all wildcard game), we will be treated to an entire weekend of America's Pastime beginning Friday afternoon.Here's a primer on each series:

Tampa Bay Rays vs Cleveland Guardians: Game 1 is the battle of the Shane's! Shane McClanahan, who had the 8th best ERA in baseball this season for Tampa, goes against Shane Bieber, who had the 12th best ERA for Cleveland. Both pitchers were in the top 15 for strikeouts this season as well. The under for Friday's contest (at 6) is +100.Last season, the Rays went on to play in the ALDS against the Red Sox and won game 1. Randy Arozarena was sitting on the dugout steps eating popcorn as if the series was over. They went on to lose three straight. Cleveland is on fire, and the youngest team in the postseason field has a title-winning manager in Terry Francona. They may end up being the feel-good team of the postseason.

Philadelphia Phillies vs. St Louis Cardinals: Philly got in the postseason in the final week, catching fire towards the end of the season. The Cardinals on the other hand bring a strong veteran presence into this series. Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, Yadier Molina, Adam Wainwright, and future HOFer Albert Pujols. These are battle tested veterans. Over the last two weeks, the Cardinals have the 8th best OPS in baseball and were a top-10 pitching unit all season. Full disclosure - I'm a Philly guy. The path to victory for the Phillies is to get out early! They need a big offensive boost from stars Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper, Rhys Hoskins, JT Realmuto, guys that they brought here for this exact scenario. Advantage Cardinals but Phillies will get one and if it goes to game 3 - watch out, St. Louis.

Seattle Mariners vs Toronto Blue Jays: My favorite sophomore is getting game one, as Blue Jays' Alek Manoah has the opportunity to showcase his talents in the postseason. Seattle makes its first playoff appearance since 2001, snapping the longest active playoff drought in any of the four major North American sports. We know who the underdog is here. It's a great story but I do not see the Mariners moving on, even with a rising star in Julio Rodriguez. The Blue Jays offense has the advantage here and will be the difference maker. Look for a big home run from Vladdy Guerrero Jr. or fellow All-Star Alejandro Kirk, and George Springer brings championship experience from the Houston Astros.

San Diego Padres vs New York Mets: This is playoff baseball at its finest! The Padres have the biggest signing this season in young superstar Juan Soto, and Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove headlines an electric staff. The Mets, good Lord! They OWNED the NL East the entire year...minus 8 days. They NEED to make a statement with a game one win before we start to hear the whispers of "The Mets are gonna Met". But I do like the Mets in this one. Elite pitching wins in the postseason and they have two of the best on the planet in Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom. Their bats aren't too shabby either, with Pete Alonso, Francisco Lindor, and NL batting champ Jeff McNeil. I'm backing the Mets in game 1, but Scherzer is prone to giving up the long ball at times as well. Some value on HR props for the Pads.

Moving on to the NFL, we've had a few teams take a big L last week, and one on Thursday, but I like a few of them to bounce back in week 5:

🦁 Lions vs. Patriots ☘️

This may be the biggest mismatch of the weekend. Let's list the things that the Lions can do better than the Patriots:

• Scoring average

• Passing

• Rushing

• Red Zone offense

Now, the caveat is that Detroit's defense is just plain awful... but the Pats offense is mediocre enough with Mac Jones at the helm. If it's Bailey Zappe this weekend, watch out. BTW - Jared Goff is a top-5 fantasy QB. What a time to be alive.

The Lines (via PointsBet): Lions +3 (-107), Lions ML +140, Pats ML -170, O/U 45.5 (-107)

🐬 Dolphins vs. Jets ✈️

This is going to be a quarterbacking (is that a word?) nightmare. In the left corner, we have Teddy "Two Gloves" Bridgewater. In the right corner, stands Zach "The Poacher" Wilson.Neither QB screams excitement to me, however, Bridgewater is actually a sports bettor's delight under center. Teddy simply covers - in 63 career games he is 42-20-1 against the spread. The weapons are far too dangerous for a suspect Jets defense and I see either Jaylen Waddle or Tyreek Hill going off.Add the Jets failures to run the ball (they're 28th out of 32 teams) and Wilson's penchant for picks, and the Dolphins may have the tools to bounce back sans Tua. The Lines: Dolphins -3.5 (-105, -110 the other way), Dolphins ML -180, Jets ML +150 O/U 45.5 (-107)

⚡️ Chargers vs Browns 🐶

Okay, so I may have cheated a bit, but I can not get that Jaguars curb-stomping out of my head. After a closer-than-expected victory over the Texans last weekend, the Chargers travel East to Cleveland for an early matchup. This game has contrasting styles, with the Chargers looking to air it out, and the Browns looking to ground and pound. Myles Garrett is back at practice for the Browns, but it's not likely that he will be 100% on Sunday. LA is 2-1 against the spread this season, and I think this game gets decided by a field goal. The Lines: Chargers -2.5 (-107), Chargers ML -140, Browns ML +120 O/U 47.5 (-105/-110)

• 🐥 The only team undefeated against the spread? These birds.

• 📊 Sometimes... being bad is good.

• 💦 When keeping it real... goes wrong.

• 🦮 Thats a GOOD BOY!

• 🏆 What a beautiful way to cap a great career.

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