The Thursday afternoon games went 4-0 yesterday as the Yankees, Rays, Cardinals and
Mets all won as expected. R.A. Dickey might make that Strasburg post moot if he keeps
pitching like that! And Matt Moore would be a Rookie of the Year candidate if it weren't for a
certain Angels outfielder. But after a wonderful start to the day, the night games limped in at
1-4 to leave the day just over .500. And the Royals made sure the Game of the Day pick
was off as Will Smith had his best career start.
The Reds lost their fifth straight game. The Pirates couldn't take advantage and lost too.
And the Red Sox? Well, the Red Sox game went pretty much like their season has gone.
Friday brings us back to a full schedule as new series start and it promises to be an exciting
day of baseball as aces are starting all over the place. King Felix, Halladay, Kershaw and
Strasburg are just a few of the pitchers getting the ball tonight. It should be fun. Here are
Friday's picks:
- The Red Sox over the Indians: Yeah, this pick did not work out too well yesterday. But Clay Buchholz is the Red Sox' most reliable pitcher. The wild card of the game is Chris Seddon because he is a lefty and that can take some of the Red Sox offense away. But then again, Seddon wasn't very good in his first start.
- The Orioles over the Royals: The Royals won the first game of the series. The enigma, Luke Hochevar gets the start tonight. He can either be good or terrible as you never know from game to game. That being said, the pick goes to the Orioles behind Miguel Gonzalez who has been pretty solid so far. Machado looks good, no?
- The Pirates over the Padres: Edinson Volquez is in the same category as Hochevar. What are you going to get? James McDonald has been...well...lousy since the All Star Break. Perhaps he will enjoy pitching to the Padres. He needs a big game.
- The Phillies over the Cardinals: Does anyone outside of St. Louis know that Kyle Lohse is 12-2? Well, make that 12-3 since he runs into Roy Halladay tonight. After his last start, Roy Halladay is going to be wicked good tonight.
- The Yankees over the Blue Jays: The Blue Jays have had more MRI visits than there have been campaign ads so far this season. To say they are depleted is an understatement. Freddy Garcia isn't fun to pick to win, but neither has Ricky Romero. This might be a high scoring game.
- The Braves over the Mets: Matt Harvey has looked great at times and like a young rookie at others. Paul Maholm will need to have a good sinker to beat David Wright and the Mets.
- The Dodgers over the Marlins: Yes, Giancarlo Stanton is back and has already hit two bombs since returning. And Mark Buehrle is always solid. Clayton Kershaw is the difference-maker in the game and pushes the pick to the Dodgers.
- The Rangers over the Tigers: Scott Feldman has been the Rangers' best pitcher this last few weeks. Who thought that would happen? Max Scherzer can be really good at times, but the Rangers at home is a pretty tough row to hoe.
- The Astros over the Brewers: The Brewers swept the Reds. And the Astros are really bad. But Bud Norris is due for a dominating game and a win. He has a chance with Mark Rogers starting for the Brewers.
- The Athletics over the White Sox: Funny. MLB's game preview says that in his last game, Gavin Floyd "struck out six and walked three, all in the first inning." Hmm...must have been a lot of wild pitches or passed balls on those strikeouts. That would be a record, right? Anyway, he's going to lose tonight as Brandon McCarthy is going to reclaim some Twitter relevance tonight with a good performance coming back from rehab.
- The Rays over the Twins: Jeremy Hellickson had quite the hiccup in his last start against the Orioles. He will bounce back here. Cole De Vries always reminds this picker of spam e-mail from DeVry University.
- The Nationals over the Diamondbacks: Yes, there is a dry heat in Arizona and that favors the hitters. But Stephen Strasburg is not your normal pitcher. Perhaps it will effect Trevor Cahill more and it is HIS home ballpark.
- The Mariners over the Angels: How can you pick against Felix Hernandez the way he has been pitching lately? He has been lights out. Plus, he faces Ervin Santana who has an unn-Ervin season. That was bad, wasn't it?
- The Giants over the Rockies: Tim Lincecum has pitched better more often than not in his last ten starts. The Giants are at home and should take care of Tyler Chatwood. With a name like Chatwood, Tyler sounds more like a race car driver.
And the Game of the Day!
- The Reds over the Cubs: The Reds have lost five straight. The Cubs want to keep that losing streak going. Justin Germano pitched well in his first start. But the Reds are too good to keep losing. Homer Bailey gets his tenth win.
Yesterday: 5-4
Week: 36-31
Month: 68-55
Season: 910-741
Games of the Day: 68-53
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