Game Picks - Thursday: September 16, 2010

Speed bump! Why is it that you never notice a speed bump or a pot hole until after you've banged your head on the ceiling of your vehicle? The Fan had a bad start in September but things had come around lately and the record for the month was getting back to normal. But yesterday, this picker had eight incorrect picks out of fifteen. Not a disaster, but not a good night either. Carpenter lost. The Yankees lost. The Royals won (whuh?). The Dodgers lost a heart breaker. The Padres lost big. The Braves lost (they are in deep doo doo). It was sort of brutal. The only games that went right were the games that were truly no-brainers. Oh well, on to Thursday.

There are only six games scheduled today. Here's the picks:

• The Reds over the Diamondbacks: Will not pick Rodrigo Lopez until he proves the Fan wrong. Not holding any breath over here. Volquez needs a good game though to be part of the post season rotation.
• The Cardinals over the Padres: It seems the Padres and Cardinals are both heading in the wrong direction at the wrong time. Don't like the match up of Stauffer versus Westbrook. The Cardinals will score more runs than the Padres and that's what wins games.
• The Angels over the Indians: Good match up here with Santana versus Carmona, who was very good last time out. Going with Santana who has a better record and the Angels, who have a better record.
• The Dodgers over the Giants: Lilly over Sanchez. Should be another low scoring affair.
• The Twins over the White Sox: Expect the Twins to rest some people as they have already done their damage in this series. But Pavano will carry the day over Buehrle.

And the Game of the Day

• The Mets over the Pirates: Morton is 1-11 with a 9.05 ERA. Can it be any more obvious? Pelfrey wins.

Yesterday: 7-8
Week: 33-23
Month: 108-98
Season: 1225-919
Games of the Day: 78-68