How can the picks go 13-2 one night and the very next night go 2-6? It's called, "baseball,"
where anything can happen and usually does. Think this is easy doing this every day? Try it
for a week. Matt Harvey made the Diamondbacks look like little league batters in his debut.
Pitching debuts can go either way and Harvey was spectacular. Justin Verlander lost and
sunk the Game of the Day pick. Ouch. Those Cardinals are playing great ball and Jake
Westbrook has been a big part of it. His imminent demise did not happen as
predicted. The Orioles got another good start from Chris Tillman and James Shields had a
rough fifth inning and sunk that pick. It just wasn't a good day.
Oh well, Friday is a new day with some new series and a whole new set of possibilities for
figure out. And figure out we go. Here are Friday's picks:
- The Cardinals over the Cubs: The Cubs have had three chances facing Lance Lynn and they must be darn sick of it as he is 3-0 with an ERA under one against them. Can they reverse that trend today? Doubtful. Their only hope is for Travis Wood to come up big filling in for Matt Garza. Speaking of Garza, have you noticed that he always seems to have a problem at the trade deadline? The thought here is that he doesn't want to be traded. **UPDATE** Apparently he is really hurt and this writer is a fool and apologizes.
- The Yankees over the Red Sox: The Red Sox have some of their pieces back but are still scuffling. The Yankees get a break and miss their nemesis, David Ortiz who is on the DL. He kills them. Phil Hughes will need to be good. AaRon Cook has only faced the Yankees once in his career and was creamed.
- The Orioles over the Athletics: Zach Britton is not a lock by any means, but neither is Jarrod Parker on the road. The thought here is that the O's have a better offense than the A's if the pitching cancels each other out.
- The Tigers over the Blue Jays: This is a really tough game to predict. Carlos Villanueva has been very good but seems due for a loss. Rick Porcello has been very good of late, but is always unpredictable. It's nice to see Cory Snider back in the big leagues.
- The Marlins over the Padres: As difficult as it is to count on Carlos Zambrano and his wildness, he faces Kip Wells who still amazes that he is back in the big leagues. Both teams struggle on offense but the Padres have stepped it up some lately in that department. Crap. Who knows.
- The Braves over the Phillies: The Phillies won't be able to rally late against THIS bullpen. The Braves aren't the Brewers. Still a very interesting match up as the newly rich, Cole Hamels, goes against the surprise of the year in Ben Sheets. Come on, Red Sox, call up Mark Prior to make this one of the most fascinating seasons ever!
- The Rangers over the White Sox: Chris Sale has to get a tired arm around here sometime, doesn't he? The guy has never pitched this many innings and he showed a few cracks against the Tigers. Yu Darvish has been somewhat of a disappointment thus far but is still scary enough to pick him.
- The Pirates over the Astros: It truly is sort of inspiring how the Astros fight so hard even though they lose every game. That lack of quit really makes one respect the manager there. Jordan Lyles has hung in there despite the losses. So Jeff Karstens will have to be good.
- The Indians over the Twins: Every time this picker thinks the Indians are dead, they come back and defeat a pick. Josh Tomlin does his ground ball thing and Scott Diamond continues to turn into zirconium.
- The Nationals over the Brewers: Mike Fiers has been impossibly good and still can't get a winning record. He either gets no run support or the bullpen blows up his games. One of those two are guaranteed to happen again today. Ross Detwiler is taking advantage of his opportunity. Good for him.
- The Reds over the Rockies: Drew Pomeranz
gets to pitch on the road and away from Coors. But it is at the Great American Ballpark, which is indeed great, but not in size. Totally screwed this up. Rockies are at home. Pick still stays the same though. The Reds are the better team. Bronson Arroyo with the win. - The Mets over the Diamondbacks: This picker really believes in Jon Niese as a pitcher. He's got everything he needs to be successful. He just needs to do it every inning and every start. The Mets win two in a row after a horrid streak. Josh Collmenter has been good of late.
- The Angels over the Bay Rays: Alex Cobb will not have fun against Trout, Trumbo and Pujols. The Angels have a healthy Dan Haren back and that should help them win this one with relative ease.
- The Royals over the Mariners: This pick counts on Jeremy Guthrie going down on his knees and thanking above for a big ballpark to pitch in. It also counts on Blake Beavan being the weakest link in the Mariners' rotation.
And the Game of the Day!
- The Giants over the Dodgers: Okay, the big showdown. The Giants go with an ace in Matt Cain and the Dodgers counter with...with..a TBO. Gosh, how can you go into the biggest series of July and not know who is going to pitch?
Yesterday: 2-6
Week: 36-30
Month: 175-134
Season: 807-650
Games of the Day: 62-45
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