Monday, May 30, 2011

Game Picks - Monday: May 30, 2011

Happy Memorial Day! The Fan's dad was a World War II hero, so this day means a lot here in the FanDome. Take a moment to honor and thank those who have served us so well and so often.

Yesterday's marathon of baseball was served with a huge heaping of mixed results. This picker certainly didn't expect Ricky Nolasco to get bombed. The Tigers weren't expected to avoid a sweep. But with Justin Verlander pitching, that possibility should have been noted. The Padres proved to be better than the Nationals. Noted. Zach Britton had a rare bad outing. And who would have figured a guy the Fan wrote about yesterday (Jose Reyes) would ruin a Phillies pick and a Worley-gig. Picking against Jeremy Hellickson was just plain dumb. And picking the Twins to win was even dumber.

But more things when right than wrong. The Rangers' bullpen failed, but the Royals' bullpen failed worse.  C. C. Sabathia did what he's paid to do. Boston did win the first game. The amazing Diamondbacks are in first place. Yovani Gallardo and the Brewers were as good at home as expected. Ryan Dempster won for the third straight time at home. Jair Jurrjens was as good as advertised for the Braves. The Cardinals got a good performance from Kyle Lohse and held on to win. And the Blue Jays whacked John Danks as expected who then acted like an idiot with Jose Bautista. So there was more good than bad.

Memorial Day gets a whole lot better because instead of the usual Monday short schedule, every team is in action with almost half of the games being played during the day. Beautiful!

  • The Twins over the Tigers: Yeah, picking the Twins again. Probably stupid, but Nick Blackburn seems like a better pick than Brad Penny.
  • The Phillies over the Nationals: It's stupefying that Livan Hernandez is still pitching effectively. But his bullpen is gassed and Roy Halladay won't be denied.
  • The Braves over the Padres: Tim Hudson is back from the DL which is good news for the Braves but bad news for the Padres and Aaron Harang.
  • The Cubs over the Astros: Everytime a formerly bad pitcher seems to pop up out of nowhere (Zach Duke, Dustin Moseley, etc), the Fan picks against them and gets his head handed to him. Every fiber in this writer's being wants to pick against Rodrigo Lopez. But not touching that hot burner again. Eneury Rodriguez with the loss.
  • The Yankees over the Athletics: The A's can't score that well which helps Bartolo Colon. Trevor Cahill is darn good though.
  • The Angels over the Royals: Two enigmas on the mound in Luke Hochevar and Ervin Santana. The Royals just can't close out games lately.
  • The Mariners over the Orioles: The Mariners continue to surprise this season. They need to give Doug Fister some runs for a change. Jake Arrieta is a way overrated 6-2.
  • The Cardinals over the Giants: Madison Bumgarner and Kyle McClellan cancel each other out leaving us with a better offense getting the pick.
  • The Bay Rays over the Rangers: The Fan still thinks Wade Davis isn't right. But even so, he should beat Derek Holland who never pitches well against the Rays.
  • The Red Sox over the White Sox: Jake Peavy will keep the game close as he won't feed into the Red Sox patience game. But Jon Lester is as good as it gets.
  • The Reds over the Brewers: The Brewers have a really tough schedule coming up and Chris Narveson is not pitching well. Travis Wood has been really good of late. Not a good start for the Brewers on a huge road trip.
  • The Mets over the Pirates: The Mets just never lose with Dillan Gee pitches. It's weirdness. Not much Charlie Morton can do to overcome it.
  • The Dodgers over the Rockies: The Rockies started the season so well and it's all unraveled. Clay Billingsley continues the trend with a big performance at home over Jason Hammel.
  • The Diamondbacks over the Marlins: What the heck, right? So Joe Saunders is pitching. The D-backs are on fire.

And the Game of the Day!

  • The Blue Jays over the Indians: The Blue Jays are just too tough at home and that allows Jo-Jo Reyes to avoid history. Fausto Carmona with the loss.

Yesterday: 9-7
Week: 9-7
Month: 210-179
Season: 425-356
Games of the Day: 34-26  on a roll!

No comments: