Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Game Picks - Wednesday: July 27, 2011

Now that was an interesting night of baseball. Umpire, Jerry Meals, made one of the worst calls ever in the 19th inning to give the game to the Atlanta Braves. That call made that pick correct, but it really reeks for an umpire to be that wrong in MLB. Elsewhere, the Cleveland Indians had the bases loaded with no outs in the ninth inning of a 2-1 game. Somehow they didn't score as closer, Jordan Walden, somehow induced the Indians to hit into a home-to-first double-play and then struck out Jason Kipnis to end the game. Talk about skating on Walden's Pond on thin ice. That failure by the Indians cost that pick.

Then there was C.C. Sabathia who was unhittable until the rains came. The first and only hit of the game occurred after Sabathia came back after the delay. Then there was another rain delay and for some ungodly reason, Joe Girardi still brought Sabathia back out in the eighth and it almost cost him the ballgame. Out-of-this-world reliever, David Robertson then did a Houdini act and got the Yankees out of the jam with the lead intact. After watching that game, this Fan has no doubt that Sabathia would have thrown a perfect game if not for the rain delay.

But Sabathia's efforts were not enough to save Tuesday's picks as they barely finished in the red for the third straight day. The week is now five games in the red. This picker needs to fix that. Here are Wednesday's picks and they do not take umpires into account:

  • The Indians over the Angels: Who knows how the Indians will rebound from such and epic failure last night in the ninth inning. But Manny Acta seems to be able to motivate this bunch. David (Hassel) Huff goes for the Indians against Ervin Santana.
  • The Mariners over the Yankees: It's all set up perfectly for the Mariners to end their losing streak. They have their ace on the mound (Felix Hernandez) who dominated the Yankees in the past and they get to face Phil Hughes, a pitcher who hasn't fooled anyone this season.
  • The Tigers over the White Sox: The Tigers have the right-handed hitting guns to offset John Danks and Max Scherzer looked really good last time out against the Twins.
  • The Nationals over the Marlins: How do you pick between Livan Hernandez and Javier Vazquez? You close your eyes and pick a name out of a hat. Hey, maybe Gomes will make the difference in this game.
  • The Phillies over the Giants: Tim Lincecum didn't want to face Clayton Kershaw so he got the flu. Instead he'll face Cole Hamels. That's better?
  • The Blue Jays over the Orioles: The Orioles are making a case so far in this series. But Ricky Romero is so due for a win that it's silly. Alfredo Simon goes for the Orioles.
  • The Reds over the Mets: What a frustrating team the Reds are! Going against Mike Pelfrey because he's given up 18 homers and the balls fly out of the Great American Ballpark. Bronson Arroyo goes for the Reds.
  • The Braves over the Pirates: Expect the Pirates to be fired up and the Braves will probably be missing Brian McCann. But Jair Jurrjens shuts them down. Paul Maholm will be a hard luck loser in this one.
  • The Rangers over the Twins: Amazing blown save last night as Elvis Andrus made a critical error. But the Rangers come back to win this one behind the streaking Colby Lewis. Duensing gets the start for the Twins.
  • The Brewers over the Cubs: Carlos Zambrano won his last outing, but he still gave up nine hits...against the Astros. Zack Greinke with the win.
  • The Cardinals over the Astros: The Cardinals face their supposed nemesis in Bud Norris. But Chris Carpenter has been on a roll. They win this one.
  • The Diamondbacks over the Padres: Ian Kennedy! And he gets to pitch in a pitcher-friendly park. Corey Luebke is pretty good too though.
  • The Rays over the Athletics: Not liking this game or this pick. Trevor Cahill is usually as bad against the Bay Rays as he is against the Yankees. But James Shields has been great. The thing that makes this tough is that the Bay Rays look dispirited. 
  • The Dodgers over the Rockies: Hiroki Kuroda has the same luck as Doug Fister. But the Rockies are down and out these days and Aaron Cook gets the ball.

And the Game of the Day!

  • The Red Sox over the Royals: Bruce Chen on the chin and the Red Sox win despite John Lackey pitching. Picking the Red Sox these days is nearly automatic.

Yesterday: 7-8
Week: 18-23
Month: 174-154  Not a great month.
Season: 838-704
Games of the Day: 72-43

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