The Daily Sweat: MLB Division Series and NHL regular season get underway on Tuesday

For the last few weeks, Tuesday hasn't been a good sports day. It's one of the few days of the week where there is neither college or NFL football on the schedule. The baseball regular season had little intrigue down the stretch. However, I'm happy to report that the days of boring Tuesdays should now be in the past.

The MLB wild-card round wrapped up this past weekend. On Tuesday, the Divisional Series in both the AL and the NL get underway.

Before we look at the games on Tuesday's slate from a micro-level, let's take a look at things from a macro-level and look at the series prices on each team to advance:

• The New York Yankees are -225 favorites to eliminate the Cleveland Guardians

• The Houston Astros are -225 favorites to eliminate the Seattle Mariners

• The Atlanta Braves are -200 favorites to eliminate the Philadelphia Phillies

• The Los Angeles Dodgers are -225 favorites to eliminate the San Diego Padres

At first glance, we have four pretty sizable favorites. All four teams that advanced from the wild-card round are pretty sizable underdogs in the divisional series. It should come as no surprise that the four teams that didn't play this past weekend are the four teams with the best odds to win the World Series at BetMGM:

• LA Dodgers (+275)

• Houston Astros (+350)

• Atlanta Braves (+500)

• NY Yankees (+500)

• Philadelphia Phillies (10-to-1)

• San Diego Padres (10-to-1)

• Seattle Mariners (12-to-1)

• Cleveland Guardians (16-to-1)

Will chalk hold on Tuesday night?

Analyzing Tuesday's MLB slate

The teams that played this past weekend enter the divisional series at a disadvantage, and that was always the intention from MLB.

The Guardians used Shane Bieber and Triston McKenzie. The Mariners used Luis Castillo and Robbie Ray. The Phillies used Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola. The Padres used all three of Yu Darvish, Blake Snell and Joe Musgrove. So while the rested teams are throwing out their aces in Gerrit Cole, Justin Verlander, Max Fried and Julio Urias, the wild-card teams will be going with their third or fourth starters to open the series.

Therefore, it should come as no surprise that all four favorites are favorites of at least -200 on the moneyline on Tuesday. The Braves are -200, both the Yankees and Astros are -225 and the Dodgers are -250.

In terms of pressure, I believe that Gerrit Cole and the Yankees are the team facing the most. There's a lot of pressure on the Yankees' ace after he gave up three runs in just two innings to the Red Sox in last season's wild-card game. Cole gives up plenty of home runs. He's surrendered a long ball in eight straight starts, giving up 12 dingers over that stretch. He gave up multiple home runs in eight starts this season.

For that reason, one play I'm eyeing in the Yankees-Guardians game is for both teams to score a run in the first five innings. That's currently available at -115 odds at BetMGM.

It'll be interesting to see the impact of rust on the rested teams on Tuesday night. The four underdogs were all playing baseball this past weekend. They remain in a rhythm and groove. Of course, they also aren't as rested, having to play and travel while the home teams were waiting for them on the couch. However, the Yankees, Astros, Braves and Dodgers haven't played in a game in six days. Will that lead to a potentially slow start as they shake off the rust?

It's baseball, so there's nothing wrong with playing underdogs. On paper, the pitching matchups are pretty rough for them. However, I think some of that advantage might be evened out by the rust. Whichever way you decide to bet these games, it's a full day of baseball action. First pitch of the Phillies-Braves game is at 1:00 EST. The Padres-Dodgers game gets going at 9:30 EST. It's a good day to work from home and fire up the television and BetMGM account.

Hockey returns

October is a great sports month. Football is in full swing, the baseball postseason is happening and both the NHL and NBA get their seasons underway. The NHL beats the NBA to the punch by a week, as the NBA season doesn't begin until October 18th. However, the North-American part of the NHL schedule gets underway on Tuesday with two games.

In the opener, the New York Rangers are -120 home favorites against the Tampa Bay Lightning. This is a rematch of the Eastern Conference Finals from last season, where the Rangers pushed the Lightning hard but ultimately fell in six games after blowing a 2-0 series lead. The matchup features the two best goaltenders in the world, as Igor Shesterkin and Andrei Vasilevskiy reignite their rivalry from last June.

I don't blame anyone who sees the Tampa Bay Lightning at plus-money in this game and automatically bets it. This team has two Stanley Cups and three Finals appearances in the last three seasons. It's very rare that they'll be available as a betting underdog. However, I think the Rangers will want to make a statement in their home opener against the team that eliminated them last season.

In the night cap, the Los Angeles Kings are slight -115 home favorites against the Vegas Golden Knights. Los Angeles was one of the most surprising teams of last season in a good way, while Vegas was one of the more disappointing teams of the 2021-22 campaign.

The Golden Knights will be without their starting goaltender in Robin Lehner for the entire season. Logan Thompson and Adin Hill are going to split the load between the pipes. Both have shown flashes of their talent, but neither is a proven commodity.

First look at Week 6 lines

Week 5 of the NFL season wrapped up on Monday night in what was a rare thrilling and exciting primetime game. The whole world was on the Kansas City Chiefs last night. They ended up winning the game, erasing a 17-point deficit, but they failed to cover as a 7-point home favorite against the Raiders. The game went soaring over the total.

Week 6 is the first time this season where teams will be on a bye. Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas and Tennessee all have this upcoming week off. Here's the first look at the Week 6 betting lines for the 14 games on the schedule:

• Washington @ Chicago (-1)

• Tampa Bay (-8.5) @ Pittsburgh

• Cincinnati (-1.5) @ New Orleans

• Jacksonville @ Indianapolis (-2)

• New England @ Cleveland (-3)

• NY Jets @ Green Bay (-7)

• Baltimore (-5) @ NY Giants

• Minnesota (-3) @ Miami

• San Francisco (-5.5) @ Atlanta

• Carolina @ LA Rams (-11)

• Arizona (-3) @ Seattle

• Buffalo (-3) @ Kansas City

• Dallas @ Philadelphia (-4.5)

• Denver @ LA Chargers (-5.5)