Game Picks - Friday: October 1, 2010

And so it's October. The foliage is at its peak in northern Maine with spectacular reds, oranges and yellows. It's nature's last gasp before everything turns first to gray and then to gray and white. The geese are practicing before the ponds freeze for their trip south and with the ducks, make the skies in front of the Fan's house like a super highway. It would be all quite beautiful if the inner spirit didn't acknowledge that the long winter is approaching. For the Fan that means the double depressing duo of cold and no baseball. There are three more days of the regular season. Three more days with lots of games to pick. Then there will only be a handful of games that will diminish like the leaves here until only two teams are playing. And then the last leaves will fall to the ground and the long wait will begin. It's all a bit sad.

But, the Fan will finish his mission. Not a single day has gone by this season without the Fan plugging away on the picks. So far 2344 games have been picked and the Fan has a 314 game cushion with games correct versus games picked incorrectly. And the last two days have been positive after a seven day stretch of horror. September still finished in the black despite that week of terror. And with a few more good days, the Fan can rescue this week as well. So here we go! With three days remaining, here are Friday's picks:

• The Reds over the Brewers: The Brewers are starting Mark Rogers, a young kid from Brunswick, Maine. He's made one start so far of five innings without giving up a run. But the Reds should prevail with Wood, their own youngster.
• The Tigers and Orioles split a double header: The Tigers have already lost one double header this week and have to play without Cabrera. But they should split here with the Orioles winning the game that Guthrie pitches.
• The Nationals over the Mets: Misch has lost all four of his decisions. He is countered by Zimmermann, who has had his own troubles. Somebody has to win the game.
• The Marlins over the Pirates: It's Mendez versus McCutchen in another game that is impossible to determine.
• The Yankees over the Red Sox: Pettitte versus Dice-K. Both teams will want to win but only the Yankees HAVE to win.
• The Braves over the Phillies: This is the game the Braves have to win because they get Kendrick. The Braves pitch Beachy. Uh oh.
• The Rangers over the Angels: Hamilton is going to play, so cue up the music from The Natural.
• The Astros over the Cubs: Yet another impossible game to pick as it is Norris versus Coleman. Yeesh.
• The Blue Jays over the Twins: The Blue Jays pounded out six more homers last night. That's 260 and counting.
• The Cardinals over the Rockies: Westbrook over De La Rosa as the Rockies are avalanching.
• The Indians over the White Sox: The Indians are hitting well these days. Carmona over Pena.
• The Dodgers over the Diamondbacks: Ely versus Zach Kroenke and his 21.60 ERA. Hide your eyes.
• The Royals over the Bay Rays: Chen can beat Shields in a fair fight. Shields has not been good.
• The Giants over the Padres: Cain beats Richard and the drama will be over. And it's all a bit sad for the Padres.

And the Game of the Day

• The Athletics over the Mariners: Cahill wins his 18th over French.

Yesterday: 7-4  (one rain out)
Week: 33-36
Last Month: 211-194
Season: 1329-1015
Games of the Day: 85-76