Don Best Today's Free Picks

REASON FOR PICK: Play On: L.A. Dodgers vs Minor Note: The struggling Dodgers close out a three game set the Braves when they face Mark Minor in Atlanta Sunday afternoon. That's good news for Los Angeles considering Minor is 0-4 with a 6.36 ERA at home in his career team starts during the month of May. In addition, Minor is also 0-2 at home in his career team starts in this series. With that look for L. A. to catch a break here today. We recommend a 1-unit play in the Dodgers. Thank you and good luck as always. Check this out: No less than three awesome angles are inside Sunday's Round Three Game One showdown between the Grizzlies and the Spurs. Best of all Marc has it - and you can, too - if you act now!

REASON FOR PICK: This is a Free play on the Oakland Athletics. The A's won Game 1 in a pitcher's duel between James Shields and Jarrod Parker. Adam Rosales hit an eighth inning home run to seal the deal for Oakland, as they came from behind for the victory. Oakland will send Tommy Milone to the mound in Game 2, and he's coming off a loss to Seattle his last time out. Tommy has always been a better pitcher in his home park, and this season is no exception, posting a 2.63 ERA at O.co Coliseum compared to a 4.93 ERA on the road. He's also been good against the Royals, posting an ERA of 1.20 in his last two starts. Kansas City will hand the ball to Ervin Santana, who's been slipping up after a good start to the season. Santana (3-2, 2.79 ERA) allowed four runs on eight hits over 6 1/3 innings in a 4-2 loss to the Mets his last time out. Prior to that he took the decision in a 4-3 loss to Baltimore. Yoenis Cespedes is 2-for-6 lifetime versus Santana, but both of those hits went out of the ballpark. John Jaso also hasn't been fooled, he's 7-for-14 with a home run versus the veteran right-hander. Oakland appears to have quite a favorable matchup here at home, and the price is very reasonable. Take the A's. GL, Jesse Schule

REASON FOR PICK: The Reds got victimized by some tough luck in the eighth inning last night. Walk, what should have been an error by the pitcher, hit batter, error by the second baseman. Murphy's Law jumped up and bit the normally solid Reds bullpen, and that was it for the latest Cincy winning streak.

Those mishaps followed a top of the eighth where Joey Votto had tied things up with a massive blast, and the Reds would have taken the lead if not for an unexpected outstanding catch by Delmon Young, who is generally an outfield liability. All in all, a tough luck night for the Reds. I don't see luck being as much of a factor today, though, in a game I expect the Phillies to win.

Bronson Arroyo is on the bump for the Reds today, and he has had his share of problems with the Phillies over the years. The overall numbers are pretty bad, and they're even worse at this locale. The likely Philly hitters are 32/103 vs. Arroyo, with six long balls in the mix. The veteran righty is off a sharp effort, but I see him having a potentially rough game here.

Kyle Kendrick has been the most pleasant Phillies surprise this season. Kendrick is on a roll coming into this one and I sure don't mind riding a hot pitcher when he's priced in this neighborhood. This is no cinch for Kendrick, as he's had lots of trouble with the likely Reds starters (21/65, 5 HR) but I like his current form enough to basically override those shaky stats.

The Reds are the better team, but I'm giving the pitching advantage to the hosts. Plus, the Phillies are at least a little better offensively when facing righties, so I'll count on a few runs from them today. With the game in the price range it's at presently, I'm willing to take the plunge with the Phillies.

REASON FOR PICK: Play On: Philadelphia w/Kendrick vs Arroyo Note: The Phillies and Reds meet in Game Two of this three game set Saturday afternoon when Kyle Kendrick matches serves with Bronson Arroyo at Citizens Bank Park. Kendrick toes the slab in strong KW form with 26 strikeouts and 4 walks this season sporting a 3-0 career team start mark at home in this series. With Arroyo 4-8 in his career team starts against the Phils and 1-6 with a 7.84 ERA in his last eight away team starts during may, look for Kendrick to move to 16-5 in his team starts in May here today. We recommend a 1-unit play on Philadelphia. Thank you and good luck as always. Don't make a move on Saturday's Game Six showdown between the Knicks and Pacers until you learn of an amazing winning angle inside the game that has beat the spread 100% of the time in this particular Game Six matchup. You'll be surprised at what you learn. Marc has it and you can too - if you act now!

REASON FOR PICK: The Over is 11-4-1 in the Angels last 16 home games vs. a team with a losing record and the White Sox are in town. This is a good park for offense and the Angels are stuck with starter Joe Blanton (0-7, 6.46 ERA), which will help the Chicago offense. Blanton dropped to 0-7 following his loss to Kansas City on Monday night as he matched his shortest outing of the season at 4 2/3 innings. The Angels are on a 34-16-2 run over the total and the over is 34-16-2 in the Angels last 52 on grass. And when these teams meet the over is 7-3 in the last 10 meetings in Los Angeles. Play the White Sox/Angels over the total.