Monday was the second straight day of really good success in the picks department. Of the last 24 picks, 20 of them have been correct. Nice. The best call of yesterday was a shout out to Cory Luebke of the Padres who totally shut down the Rockies en route to his first victory of the season. Of the two incorrect picks yesterday, one was a loss by the Yankees (Carl "Freakin" Pavano) and the other, a loss by the Braves. Those Mets are winning New York right now.
Tuesday brings us back to a full schedule and a quick glance gives the impression that today will be a difficult picking day. There are lots of questionable pitching match-ups. Lord knows, the picking is due for a regression to the mean, but perhaps they can again beat the odds for another day. The picks:
- The Nationals over the Astros: Gio Gonzalez has pitched well for the Nats and though he faces a tough pitcher in Wandy Rodriguez, the Nationals should win.
- The Yankees over the Twins: If Liriano puts his stuff together, he could be tough to beat. And C.C. Sabathia has had trouble commanding his fastball in the early going. But you still have to pick the Yankees in this one.
- The Blue Jays over the Bay Rays: Really like Ricky Romero in this one, especially against Jeff Niemann. The Rays are still a struggling offensive team.
- The Marlins over the Cubs: Ryan Dempster is not as effective on the road as he is at home. And it is time for Josh Johnson to put together a good outing. Ozzie should be back for this one, right?
- The Mets over the Braves: Johan Santana has been a great story so far. Now he just needs to show that he can go deeper in games. If he does in this one, he should beat Randall Delgado.
- The Red Sox over the Rangers: The thought here is that Jon Lester has a very good game and Colby Lewis gets pounded by the Red Sox' offense. But it is hard to pick against the Rangers the way they are playing.
- The White Sox over the Orioles: Still skeptical about Wei-Yin Chen, though he was effective against the Yankees. John Danks will have to throw a good game against the Orioles' revived offense.
- The Royals over the Tigers: Yes, Bruce Chen is pitching. And yes, it's hard to imagine how he gets hitters out with that slow-ball stuff. But he just pitches well time after time. The Tigers counter with their fifth starter and emoticon, Drew Smyly. :) <---a smyly.
- The Dodgers over the Brewers: The two MVP candidates from a year ago get to play against each other. Chad Billingsley has looked superb. Yovani Gallardo has not.
- The Cardinals over the Reds: Kyle Lohse has been terrific for the Cardinals but you keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. Until it does, it's hard to pick against him. Johnny Cueto is the opposition and he can be quite good. Do you need a reminder that these two teams hate each other?
- The Rockies over the Padres: Jamie Moyer has to win one! This picker is scrunching his eyes and wishing it into existence. Anthony Bass can't go deep enough in the game to matter much.
- The Diamondbacks over the Pirates: No, this picker never picks against Ian Kennedy. It is against the house rules. Jeff Karstens isn't bad a pitcher himself though.
- The Indians over the Mariners: Call this picker crazy, but Kevin Millwood? Uh. No thanks. Let's go with Justin Masterson instead.
- The Giants over the Phillies: If the Giants are going to win a game in this series, this would be the one with Joe Blanton pitching for the Phillies and their own Madison Bumgarner facing him.
And the Game of the Day:
- The Angels over the Athletics: Dan Haren is due for a good game and faces Tyler Ross, who shouldn't impress tonight.
Yesterday: 8-2
Week: 20-4
Season: 89-62
Games of the Day: 8-4
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