Things are getting a bit exciting in Major League Baseball. Suddenly, the wild card spots don't seem locked up. The AL West race is tighter than most people imagined. And the Arizona Diamondbacks have become the best show on earth. On the mundane side, the picks are rolling along and finished off a very good week. Two straight 10-5 days helped end the week in style.
Oh, there were a couple of stinkers in the picks. Didn't see the Yankees losing a third of their line up and Sabathia pitching like a rookie. Didn't see the Royals winning so easily. The Rangers loss was baffling. Alex White gave up five homers and still won his game (a good argument for the wins are meaningless debate). And Randy Wells should have been given more credit. Though a blown save by Bobby Parnell certainly sunk that pick more than anything else.
But all in all, it was a very good picking day. Today starts a new week and the picks feel a certain weight of a certain date that we all know about. More on that later perhaps. For now, here are the picks:
- The Tigers over the Twins: Wouldn't be surprised if the Tigers rested a few guys. But even so, the Tigers should win the game. Doug Fister will give the Tigers a quality outing and beat Scott Diamond, who really isn't that bad a pitcher. How good do you feel for Inge who accepted his demotion to the minors and came back to contribute for the Tigers?
- The Orioles over the Blue Jays: Dustin McGowen is one of the more inspiring stories in baseball on how he battled back after three lost years. But inspiring doesn't win games. Tommy Hunter will do that.
- The Marlins over the Pirates: James McDonald is very good. But the Pirates have fallen and can't get up. Javier Vazquez is pitching very well for the Marlins.
- The Nationals over the Astros: Stephen Strasburg makes his second start and perhaps will go a bit longer in this one. Henry Sosa has been good of late for the Astros but they can't score.
- The Bay Rays over the Red Sox: The Red Sox have their ace on the mound in Jon Lester but James Shields has been incredible this season. The wild card gets tighter.
- The Indians over the White Sox: Ubaldo Jimenez comes up big today and shuts down the White Sox. Zach Stewart can be brilliant too, so we'll just have to see who is going to have the big game today.
- The Phillies over the Brewers: Sweep. Vance Worley just never loses and the Phillies have won the last fourteen games he has started. That's pretty much as good of a lock as you can get. Yovani Gallardo will be game but it won't be enough.
- The Braves over the Cardinals: Tim Hudson comes up big and stops the bleeding. Jake Westbrook allows the sleepy Braves' line up to come a live a little.
- The Rangers over the Athletics: Josh Outman will not help the Angels' cause as he will not be able to keep up with C.J. Wilson.
- The Rockies over the Reds: Drew Pomeranz! Is this the most anticipated opening act since Strasburg? We'll see. Edinson Volquez is back but will he be any better?
- The Yankees over the Angels: The Yankees have to find a way to win this game. The key to it all will be Freddie Garcia. He was terrible last time and must be good in this one because you know Ervin Santana will be good.
- The Giants over the Dodgers: Madison Bumgarner has been the only Giants' pitcher to win lately. He'll just down the Dodgers attack and will win despite another good performance from Hiroki Kuroda.
- The Mariners over the Royals: Let's see...Anthony Vazquez goes for the Mariners and is a lefty with guile but no stuff. He goes against Everett Teaford, a lefty with guile but no stuff. Should be interesting.
- The Mets over the Cubs: How did ESPN get this clunker for it's Sunday Night Baseball telecast? Must be the 9/11 - New York thing. Somehow, Miguel Bautista wins. Don't know how exactly, but he does. Matt Garza will be good though.
And the Game of the Day!
- The Diamondbacks over the Padres: This should be an easy win with Josh Collmenter riding a bunch of runs off of Wade LeBlanc.
Yesterday: 10-5
Last Week: 60-39
Month: 81-49
Season: 1213-959
Games of the Day: 102-57
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