The Stephen F. Austin State University club baseball team was in the St. Louis area for a Division II World Series tournament. The Cardinals offered them tickets. What happened next is spreading across the entire league.

The Lumberjacks took over a section of the right-field bleachers at Busch Stadium, twirled their shirts above their heads, and led synchronized chants through an eleven-inning battle against the Kansas City Royals. The section grew and grew until even the Cardinals’ mascot got involved.

The Cardinals won 5-4 on a walk-off and multiple players pointed directly at the energy in right field as a factor. Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol loved it so much that he personally bought tickets for those same fans to come back the next day. Every ticket was gone by the following afternoon.

The movement now has a name, Tarps Off, and its spread to every corner of the country from Tampa Bay to Anaheim. In Tampa, sections of shirtless fans showed up on back-to-back nights. In Philadelphia, fans kept it going in the rain. Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn summed it up simply: it feels like a college atmosphere, and it is hard not to have fun when fans bring that kind of energy.

MLB attendance is already up roughly 1,000 fans per game compared to the same point last season, and if the trend holds, the league could average 30,000 fans per game for the first time since 2016. More importantly, the people driving this movement are young, loud, and showing up specifically to participate and engage.

Baseball has occasionally struggled to convince younger fans that the stadium experience is worth the price of admission. Tarps Off is not a marketing campaign or a sponsored activation. It is an organic movement, spreading on its own, and the tickets are basically selling themselves.

⚾ Home Run Cheat Sheet on Pine

Pine’s Home Run Sheet gives you everything you need to find the best bets before first pitch:

Projections & Odds – See Jaxon's HR projection alongside live over/under odds
Hit Rate – Track how often each player has gone deep over their last ten games and more
Confidence Score – Know which plays Jaxon likes most at a glance

Click on any player to view detailed stats!

🏀 Fade the OT Inflation in Game 2

San Antonio stole Game 1 in double overtime and now have a chance to take an unexpected 2-0 lead back to San Antonio. Wembanyama posted 41 points, 24 rebounds, and 3 blocks in 49 minutes. SGA received his MVP trophy before tip-off and then shot 30% from the field. It was pretty clear who looked like the most exciting player in the NBA.

When games extend that far, minutes inflate, stats accumulate, and the lines for the next game get set against an artificially bloated baseline. Jaxon flagged two unders that take direct advantage of that dynamic.

👉️ Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Under

SGA played 51 minutes in Game 1 and only grabbed 3 rebounds. That is not a quirk either, it is entirely consistent with how he plays. Over his last ten games he is averaging 2.8 rebounds per game and has hit the over on 4.5 in exactly one of those outings. His defensive rebounding rate of 10.3% reflects a guard whose value comes through scoring and playmaking, not crashing the glass.

San Antonio has a 21-rebound advantage over the Thunder right now with Wembanyama patrolling the paint. Even if SGA plays heavy minutes again in Game 2, the boards are not coming his way.

👉️ Stephon Castle Under

Castle logged 49 minutes in Game 1 and finished with 11 assists and 6 rebounds, numbers that look impressive until you account for the extra 20 minutes of game time that he played. His season average for this prop sits at 12.51, and tonight’s line is set right about at his baseline.

Against Oklahoma City specifically this season, he averaged only 10.17 in their regular-season matchups. He also committed 11 turnovers in Game 1, which is the kind of performance that gets a player managed more carefully in Game 2, particularly in a playoff environment. Expect his minutes to normalize toward his season average of 27, and for the offensive opportunities to be harder to come by.

🌲 The Pine Line

⚖️ One legal battle could determine the future of prediction markets. I predict the outcome follows the money.

🏈 Rashee Rice just had to stay out of trouble. He has nobody to blame but himself for his recent decisions.

🎾 Wimbledon just lose one of it’s biggest draws. Injuries shut the door on any possible return.

🏎️ Like him or not, Max is proving why he is the best. No other driver on the F1 grid can compete with this.

💰️ Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Tortorella spun the wheel and its costing Vegas dearly.

🏒 Betting on the NHL Conference Finals Series

by Ed Egros 👉️ Follow on X @EdWithSports

Hockey returns when the Western Conference Finals open Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET, with the East following suit Thursday at 8 p.m. ET.

But, if you go by sportsbook odds, it feels like a formality even playing these games.  On FanDuel, both the Colorado Avalanche and Carolina Hurricanes are -285 favorites to win their series over the Vegas Golden Knights and Montreal Canadiens, respectively.  That’s an implied probability of almost 75%.

Why it Feels so Lopsided

There are two ways to look at how strong the favorites are.  This season, Colorado’s goal differential is +99 while Vegas’ is +15.  Carolina’s goal differential is +56 while Montreal’s is +27.  

If quality of shots on goal is more your thing, Money Puck has these two teams with the highest expected goal rates in the NHL, both in the regular season and playoffs.  

The Avs and Canes have been dominant throughout the season, so it makes sense to think that’ll continue for at least one more round.

How the Underdogs can Bite Back

In the West, Vegas has looked like a completely different hockey team under John Tortorella.  According to Money Puck, in these playoffs, 24% of the Golden Knights 5v5 goals are off rebounds, much higher than the 15% during the regular season, reflecting a much grittier style thanks to a different head coach.

In the East, Montreal has emphasized attacking off the rush.  It’s not just the game-winner, the Habs have eight goals in transition, tied for the second-most these playoffs.  Several skaters like Josh Anderson and Nick Suzuki have multiple 20+ mph bursts.  Carolina will have to contend with Montreal’s speed and zone exits if they want to keep it a short series.

How to Bet It

Let’s see which series bets Jaxon and I recommend:

Colorado -1.5 Series Spread (-128)

While Vegas was able to advance past Anaheim without captain Mark Stone for some of that series, surviving the Avalanche is a much tougher feat.

Stone suffered a lower-body injury more than a week ago and hasn’t practiced since.  Tortorella hasn’t provided an update on Stone’s status, then again, the Golden Knights haven’t exactly been communicating a lot lately.  

Vegas loses one of its key cogs on the power play and a member of its top line.  Games where they may have to outscore the likes of Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog become much tougher.

It may not be a sweep, but there are few reasons to believe Vegas can steal multiple games in this series.  Colorado wins in six or fewer.

🤔 Still not sure what to bet on?

Use the Parlay Generator on our home page for instant picks or discover player props on the consistency sheets! Pine Sports has the tools to give you an edge when it matters most.