Game Picks - Friday: July 15, 2011

There were more ayes than nays in yesterday's limited scope of games, but the eyes still couldn't believe what they were seeing. The two picks that were wrong were really wrong as the Blue Jays pounded the Yankees in Toronto. The Yankees didn't pitch well or field well and the Blue Jays took full advantage and scored sixteen runs without the benefit of a home run. In the other bad pick, the Royals start well but never seem to end well as the Twins scored eight runs in the blink of an eye to win going away.

The five games that were predicted correctly were also wild ones. The Marlins couldn't score all day against the Cubs' Matt Garza. But Carlos Marmol and Kerry Wood couldn't find home plate and in the few times they could, they got pounded. The bottom line was six runs in the ninth for the Marlins and the win. The Rangers got three homers with one each by Josh Hamilton, Nelson Cruz and Mike Napoli to back up Derek Holland, who threw his second straight shutout. As feared here, Yovani Gallardo is just not the same this season and he was crushed by the Rockies. Ubaldo Jiminez was good enough for the win. The Giants needed twelve innings and a Luke Gregorson meltdown with his arm and his fielding to finally win their game against the Padres in the twelfth inning. And finally, in the Game of the Day, Justin Masterson wasn't terrific, but the Indians scored enough runs to make him a winner. Poor Jeremy Guthrie is now 3-13 and Buck Showalter's team has lost eight in a row.

Today, everyone gets back in action for the first time since Sunday. Finally, this picker has a full slate of games to pick!

• The Marlins over the Cubs: The Cubs sure can find creative ways to lose, can't they? The Marlins are rolling after their dirge like June. Ricky Nolasco over Ryan Dempster.
• The Tigers over the White Sox: The All Star Break and the day off yesterday allows the Tigers to come back with Justin Verlander after his start on Sunday. That's good news for them and not for Gavin Floyd or the White Sox.
• The Blue Jays over the Yankees: With the Tigers jumping Verlander ahead, why wouldn't the Yankees do the same to C. C. Sabathia? Instead, the Yankees will stick to the soft side of their rotation and Freddie Garcia will get the ball. Hmm.. The Blue Jays counter with their best arm, Brandon Morrow.
• The Indians over the Orioles: The improbable seasons of the Indians and Josh Tomlin will continue with another win tonight at the expense of Jake Arrieta, who is 1-3 after starting the season 8-3.
• The Bay Rays over the Red Sox: This is a tough game to call. David Price hasn't looked like much of an ace lately. But his big left arm has got to bring it around sooner or later. Meanwhile, Andrew Miller is 3-0 for the Red Sox. That seems too good to be true.
• The Phillies over the Mets: Who is going to close for the Mets? Well, it won't matter this game because Vance Worley is going to shut down the Mets' offense and the Phillies will damage R. A. Dickey.
• The Reds over the Cardinals: This great rivalry is back in action, this time in Cincinnati. This picker just can't seem to warm up to a start for Jake Westbrook, especially against Johnny Cueto.
• The Braves over the Nationals: Tim Hudson used to own the Nationals. But he's lost two of his last three against them. No team benefited more from the break in action more than the Braves did though and they should score against Livan Hernandez.
• The Pirates over the Astros: You would think Brett Myers is going to be traded. But it hasn't been going well for him lately. Meanwhile, Jeff Karstens doesn't have great stuff, but he seems to keep winning.
• The Twins over the Royals: Picking the Royals just causes too much heartache. Luke Hochevar has an ERA of 5.46 but has been even worse lately. Nick Blackburn has a 4.24 ERA but has a lifetime ERA against the Royals of 5.40.
• The Brewers over the Rockies: Not exactly a warm feeling picking Chris Narveson to win a game against a good hitting team. But Juan Nicasio hasn't exactly looked good lately either.
• The Dodgers over the Diamondbacks: Clayton Kershaw has been throwing strikes and if he continues to do that, he'll be unstoppable. Joe Saunders has been surprisingly effective but it won't be enough today.
• The Angels over the Athletics: The Angels can certainly compete well in their own division and with Dan Haren pitching, that will continue against Brandon McCarthy and the Athletics. How did so many Brandons get in the major leagues? Weird.
• The Giants over the Padres: The Padres had their chance last night and blew it. Tim Lincecum will beat Dustin Moseley.

And the Game of the Day!

• The Rangers over the Mariners: Doug Fister is much better than his 3-10 record, but he never, ever, ever gets any runs support. Colby Lewis isn't exactly Tom Seaver, but against the Mariners, he doesn't have to be.

Yesterday: 5-2
Week: 13-9
Month: 82-70
Season: 736-631
Games of the Day: 66-37