Game Picks - Thursday: August 25, 2011

There was an old television show once called Eight Is Enough which by far was one of the most sickening bits of television ever. This picker hated that show and eight is most certainly not enough when you have sixteen picks to choose from. 

It was a most distressing day. The Yankees got Sorianoed again. Great job, Randy Levine, or whomever outranked and outflanked Brian Cashman to sign that useless relief pitcher. The Cardinals have fallen and can't get up. The Brewers actually lost, which gave the Game of the Day feature its second loss in a row. The Phillies actually lost to Mike Pelfrey? Say what? The Bay Rays won in extra innings. The Reds only split their double-header when they were supposed to sweep it. The Twins were an absolutely dumb pick. And bad defense and a hot Randy Wells beat the Braves. Eight incorrect picks out of sixteen.

There is a weak schedule in MLB today as only nine games are on the schedule. That's the fewest games in a day in quite a long time. Thursday's picks:

• The Yankees over the Athletics: The Yankees have been buzz-sawed so far by a very hot Oakland team. Phil Hughes needs to stop the bleeding. The Yankee bats (outside of Derek Jeter) have been missing. Rick Harden will try to keep it that way.
• The Twins over the Orioles: Let's try this one more time. Francisco Liriano should be better than Jo-Jo Reyes in a battle of bad teams.
• The Bay Rays over the Tigers: Jeremy Hellickson is pitching well and should be better than Doug Fister of the Tigers. Will the Rays score enough? That's a good question.
• The Braves over the Cubs: Brandon Beachy and Matt Garza have both pitched well. If the two pitchers cancel each other out, the better team is the Braves.
• The Nationals over the Diamondbacks: Wade Miley didn't have much going for him in his first start against the Braves. The Nationals have good right-handed hitting to counter the lefty. John Lannon is a marginal major league pitcher, but has a pristine record against the D-backs (SSS).
• The Blue Jays over the Royals: This was one of the best calls yesterday. Said the Jays would hit two homers and they hit two homers. This picker sees at least one more today off of Jeff Francis. Brett Cecil goes for the Blue Jays.
• The Rangers over the Red Sox: Andrew Miller isn't fooling many people and batters are hitting him at a .304 clip. He's the weakest link in the Red Sox armor. Alexi Ogando needs to be really good though.
• The Pirates over the Cardinals: The Cards need to show some life before this picker can pick them again. Edwin Jackson is Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde. Charlie Morton has beaten the Cardinals earlier this season.

And the Game of the Day!

• The Giants over the Astros: Henry Sosa is the sacrificial lamb as he is pitching on three days rest. He won't last but a few innings. Meanwhile, after a rough last outing, Ryan Vogelsong needs to get back in the win column.

Yesterday: 8-8

Week: 34-24

Month: 191-136

Season: 1065-877

Games of the Day: 90-42