Game Picks - Friday: August 3, 2012

Thursday was awful and it was the second time in four days that the picks really got schmucked. But you know what? We are not going to discuss it. It happened. It is part of the past. It is over. Let's move on.

There are sixteen big games on tap for today thanks in part to a double-header between the Miami Marlins and Washington Nationals in Washington. That is a lot of ballgames. But nobody is complaining about that! Here are Friday's picks:

• The Nationals over the Marlins: Brad Hand is being called up by the Marlins to pitch this one. Hand was not awful in his starts last year with a 4.25 ERA, but he still went, 1-8. His ERA is 3.88 in Triple-A this season. John Lannon goes for the Nationals and he usually keeps his team in the game long enough to win. And then he'll get sent down again. Poor guy.
• The Nationals over the Marlins: Gio Gonzalez and Josh Johnson seem to cancel each other out and when that is the case, look at the bullpens and look at who is the home team. The Nationals win the nod on all counts including a better offense.
• The Diamondbacks over the Phillies: Dare this picker dip back into the Ian Kennedy pool? He is 3-0 in his last three starts and is starting to look like last year's version. The Phillies counter with their depleted lineup and Joe Blanton.
• The Tigers over the Indians: These are the kinds of games the Tigers should always win. But that hasn't meant much this season. Anibal Sanchez again tries his luck with his new team. He should do better than his last time out with the Indians' lineup. Justin Masterson can be very good at times. Others, not so much.
• The Yankees over the Mariners: Everything points to a Yankees win in this one. They are at home. They get Kevin Millwood again, who they have seen three times already this season. And C.C. Sabathia is on the mound. Sabathia has not pitched well and is not his ace-like self. He puts it together today.
• The Bay Rays over the Orioles: The Orioles are the better hitting team, but Matt Moore is starting to look up to the hype set for him before the season. Moore should hold the Orioles down while the Rays score a few off of Tommy Hunter.
• The Red Sox over the Twins: Felix Doubront should neutralize Mauer, Morneau and company long enough for the Red Sox to score four or five on Brian Duensing. The Twins won the first game of the series.
• The Reds over the Pirates: The first game of this big series this weekend pits Wandy Rodriguez against Mat Latos. Latos should prevail at home and Wandy will give up at least one yard piece.
• The Angels over the White Sox: The Angels had a tough series in Texas to overcome. Zack Greinke was brought over for just this reason. If he does his job, the Angels will take care of Philip Humber and win the game.
• The Rangers over the Royals: The Rangers' arms have to be stiff after doing all that swinging against the Angels. But they should have enough bats left over to give Matt Harrison an easy win over poor Jeremy Guthrie.
• The Cardinals over the Brewers: Randy Wolf and Joe Kelly isn't a match-up to light up a marquee. But the Cards are at home and should take care of the out of it Brewers.
• The Giants over the Rockies: Jonathan Sanchez faces his former team. Should not matter though as Ryan Vogelsong should be good enough despite Coors to win.
• The Mets over the Padres: R.A. Dickey gets a big ballpark to throw his knucker. He should be quite stingy with the runs and give the Mets the win despite Clayton Richard being good at home.
• The Athletics over the Blue Jays: The A's have this inexhaustible well of young pitchers they can keep bringing up from the minors. Today it will be Dan Straily making his major league debut. He only leads the minors in strikeouts. That's all. Sheesh. Brett Cecil isn't having any fun.
• The Dodgers over the Cubs: Chad Billingsley should win at home despite Jeff Samardzija pitching for the Cubs. Should is the operative word though.

And the Game of the Day!

• The Braves over the Astros: Those poor Astros. They have lost 28 times in their last 31 games. Ouch. Make it 29 of 32 as Tim Hudson gets his 100th win as a member of the Braves. Armando Galarraga won't have much to say about it either. Picking the Astros to lose for the Game of the Day is sort of like cheating.

Yesterday: 3-6

Week: 32-34

Month: 12-13

Season: 854-699

Games of the Day: 64-50