Montreal Alouettes vs Ottawa Redblacks

Week 11 in the CFL hasn’t even officially reached the weekend and fans have already witnessed a plot twist. The Edmonton Elks won a game! Is something special waiting for those who will have eyes on Saturday night’s game between the Montreal Alouettes (5-3) and Ottawa Redblacks (3-6) in the Nation’s Capital?

As of Friday, it’s unclear what Montreal QB Cody Fajardo’s status is. He missed last week’s contest as well as some practice this week. The Als signed 24-year-old Reece Udinksi on Monday as an insurance policy. Montreal’s defence has been making teams pay this year though. They’ve given up the second-fewest total points. Granted, they’ve played one game less than many teams, but the numbers aren’t even close. The Redblacks are fifth in points scored and head into battle with Dustin Crum once more under centre. In his defence, Crum has excited at times this season, but his and the team’s play are inconsistent and lack balance.

Best Bet: Montreal Alouettes with the spread

San Francisco Giants vs Atlanta Braves

It seems like an unfair fight on Friday night when the San Francisco Giants (64-57) head east to play the MLB-leading Atlanta Braves (78-42). On the surface, this is true. But the devil is in the details. San Francisco is desperately clinging to an NL Wild Card spot. They’ve held on to one for a while, and even though the last couple of series didn’t go their way, it hasn’t been enough for them to relinquish it. Atlanta, conversely, keeps on marching. They embarrassed the Yankees earlier this week.

The Giants are going with Alex Cobb (6-4, 3.62 ERA) whereas the Braves send the always impressive Spencer Strider (13-4, 3.75 ERA) to the mound. No one disputes that Strider is having a whale of a campaign. Upon closer inspection, he has been rocked a couple of times in the last month and hasn’t struck out nearly as many batters per game as he did earlier in the summer. San Fran’s issue is just that, as they rank fourth-worst in MLB in getting struck out.

 Best Bet: Braves on the runline

Dallas Wings vs Connecticut Sun

The Dallas Wings (16-14) look to fend off the Atlanta Dream’s challenge of taking over fourth place in the playoff standings. To do so they’ll have to survive a game in Connecticut versus the Sun (21-9) on Friday night. This is the second of a home-and-home series in which the Wings soared to a victory last week 91-81. It halted a three-game losing streak. It was also the last time the Sun played a match as well.

There are no injuries to speak of on either side unless some bad last-minute news emerges. The story of last Saturday’s game was Satou Sabally, who erupted for 28 points, even besting the Sun’s Alyssa Thomas’ 26. A great first half from the host Wings paved the way for a second half in which Dallas limited the damage and held on for a double-digit win. Can Connecticut sink to fourth place? Most likely not. Can they usurp the New York Liberty for second? It seems unlikely. Conversely, securing fourth helps Dallas a lot in the first round of the playoffs.

Best Bet: Dallas Wings with the spread