Game Picks - Monday: September 21, 2009

They say this happens when you get older, but September is just flying. Perhaps it is because the frozen tundra of northern Maine starts to ice over in October and there is a desire to hold on to September as long as possible. That's probably why three idiots tried to play golf on Saturday in a howling wind, no sun and the thermometer sitting at 45 degrees. Yeah, that's life around these parts. But it's supposed to hit 70 today. That's cheerful at least.

Much more cheerful than the meandering of the picks this week. Another day just above the .500 level brings out a bit of the blahs. That's four straight days of such mediocrity in a row (if you are keeping score). But did the Fan peg Zambrano yesterday or what? The Fan knew he would come alive for national television. The bum.

Monday has a fairly full slate of games, which is somewhat unusual. Let's see if we can get more than one game over even today:

• The Pirates over the Padres: We start with a head-scratcher. McCutchen (the pitching one) starts for Pittsburgh while LeBlanc (who doesn't throw shutouts despite his name) starts for the Padres. Flip a coin.
• The Blue Jays over the Orioles: Now that Halladay isn't pitching, the Blue Jays can go ahead and score some runs.
• The Braves over the Mets: Logic dictates that Lowe would beat Misch. But logic happens so seldom lately.
• The Brewers over the Cubs: Gorzelanny versus Looper. Now there is an inspiring duo. Yeesh.
• The Astros over the Cardinals: Go Wandy, go!
• The Red Sox over the Royals: Man, do the Red Sox finish with a cushy schedule or what?
• The Twins over the White Sox: The Twins pretty much have to win them all at this point.
• The Giants over the Diamondbacks: Ditto for the Giants.
• The Rangers over the Athletics: Thinking an old song for this one: "It's too late, baby...it's too late..."
• The Angels over the Yankees: Pettitte is listed, but the Fan thought he was supposed to skip a start?

Yesterday: 8-7 (9-6 in football too)
Week: 8-7
Month: 142-122