Saturday, September 17, 2011

Game Picks - Saturday: September 17, 2011

We like to think that we humans have evolved into much more sophisticated beings since those Tigris and Euphrates days. After all, those people saw comets and signs in the sky and developed rituals for planting crops based on their fear of natural events they saw all around them. But friends, we are no different. A friend baseball blogger, and one of the best out there, Bob Netherton, actually believes that this picker has the power to change the course of St. Louis Cardinals season. How? It seems that whenever this picker picks against the Cardinals they win. And since the Cardinals have an outside chance for a wild card spot, Bob wants this feature to pick against the Cardinals everyday. There is superstition. We have not evolved. This picker isn't any better. It is actually believed in this household that the picker's favorite team loses whenever the game is watched on television.  And so the wife watches and this Fan sits in the basement agonizing with her cheers or curses. We are silly people.

Oh yeah, the picks. Well, they are late this morning. Yesterday was a decent day, but there were a lot of surprises. The aforementioned Cardinals beating the Phillies was definitely unexpected. The Mariners shutting out the Rangers was unexpected. The Orioles over the Angels big time was unexpected. Tim Stauffer showed how good he is against the Diamondbacks. That was unexpected. But nine out of fifteen isn't that bad. The picks for Saturday look like this:
  • The Astros over the Cubs: How do you pick a game pitched by Henry Sosa and Rodrigo Lopez? Throwing hands up in the air.
  • The Yankees over the Blue Jays: The Yankees struggle against pitchers they haven't seen before and they haven't seen Henderson Alvarez who is pretty good. And the Blue Jays were responsible for one of Bartolo Colon's worst starts of 2011. So why pick the Yankees? Because they are a better team, that's why.
  • The Indians over the Twins: Doesn't it seem like the Twins' players should be actors in that Contagion movie? Anthony Swarzak is a pretty good pitcher. But he has nothing to work with. Jeanmar Gomez has won three in a row.
  • The Athletics over the Tigers: Just a hunch here that this will be a relaxed and carefree Tigers' bunch after clinching the division yesterday. This picker did predict the Tigers to win the division before the season started by the way. Gio Gonzalez should have a good outing and Rick Porcello will work on his secondary pitches and pitch five innings or so.
  • The Mets over the Braves: The Braves are playing tighter than a grandfather that lived through the Great Depression. Tim Hudson has lousy numbers against the Mets and R.A. Dickey continues to pitch well.
  • The Angels over the Orioles: Ervin Santana will pitch a good game and Zach Britton will continue to struggle with walks and pitch counts.
  • The Nationals over the Marlins: It's become standard operating procedure here to pick the Nationals in every game that Stephen Strasburg pitches. There is no logic to it. Just blind awe at his talent. But the Marlins very well could win after Strasburg's day is done. Who knows. Who cares? Chris Volstad pitches for the Marlins if that makes any difference to you.
  • The Phillies over the Cardinals: There you go, Bob. The Phillies should score off of Jake Westbrook and Roy Oswalt doesn't want anyone to take his playoff rotation spot.
  • The Royals over the White Sox: The White Sox need to be dismantled. Their run at .500 hides so many flaws. The Royals, on the other hand are building into a good-looking future. As for today's game, who knows as it features two pitchers that started their year in the minors. Zach Stewart goes for the White Sox while Everett Teaford goes for the Royals.
  • The Brewers over the Reds: Has there been a more mysterious season than that of Edinson Volquez? Puzzling to say the least. Brewers should beat him behind Yovani Gallardo.
  • The Rangers over the Mariners: Can we end the Anthony Vazquez comparisons to Tom Glavine please? Glavine at least had some semblance of a fastball. Colby Lewis will need to keep the ball in the yard.
  • The Giants over the Rockies: This game has tremendous nerd factor as Drew Pomeranz goes for the Rockies while Eric Surkamp goes for the Giants. Phenom alert!
  • The Diamondbacks over the Padres: Simply don't think that Wade LeBlanc can beat the D-backs for two straight outings. Josh Collmenter wins or his teammates do.
  • The Dodgers over the Pirates: Considering they weren't allowed to make any moves before or during the season, the Dodgers have been a decent team. Ted Lilly will win at home and James McDonald will struggle in the fifth inning.
And the Game of the Day!
  • The Red Sox over the Bay Rays: Turn out the lights, the party is over. The Red Sox will beat Jeff Niemann today behind Jon Lestor.
Yesterday: 9-6
Week: 48-30
Month: 132-79
Season: 1264-989
Games of the Day: 104-61

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