Saturday, August 11, 2012

Game Picks - Saturday: August 11, 2012

Friday was a successful picking exercise as ten of the fifteen picks were correct and so was the Game of the Day pick. There is special pride in correctly predicting the win by the Houston Astros. That was pretty sweet. Well...it probably wasn't sweet for fans of the Brewers. But anyway, the successful day did much to prop up the week's and month's numbers so they do not look as mediocre as before. Of course, it always helps if all the aces counted on won. A hat tip to Strasburg, Halladay and Kershaw.
Saturday brings another big day of games to pick. So, William, don't mess up the gains you gained today. Here are Saturday's picks:

  • The Yankees over the Blue Jays: The Blue Jays are decimated. There are no other words to describe it. They are trying to win battles with BB-guns. Aaron Laffey is the type of pitcher the Yankees feed on. The only hedge on this pick is Ivan Nova, who has been stunningly awful of late.
  • The Reds over the Cubs: This game could be high scoring depending on the winds at Wrigley. Bronson Arroyo can give up homers at a frightening pace and Travis Wood isn't the kind of pitcher to shut down the Reds' offense.
  • The Giants over the Rockies: This pick did not work out so well on Friday. And Matt Cain hasn't been lights out for the last few starts. But the Giants should win this one even if Drew Pomeranz is as good as he was against the Dodgers.
  • The Red Sox over the Indians: On paper, the Red Sox should never lose to the Indians. But they did on Thursday. Franklin Morales has been jerked around a bit from the rotation to the bullpen and back again. But he has been very effective when starting. Zach McAllister started well but has faded of late.
  • The Orioles over the Royals: How about that Manny Machado, eh? Wow! Chris Tillman has been very effective for the Orioles while Luis Mendoza has been hit or miss for the Royals.
  • The Brewers over the Astros: With all due apologies to Dallas Keuchel, the guy is not a big league pitcher. His number of base runners allowed is downright scary. Not that Marco Estrada inspires confidence, but perhaps he gets his first win of the season in this one if he can last five innings.
  • The Cardinals over the Phillies: The Phillies lineup right now will make Jake Westbrook look like Mike Mussina. That doesn't bode well for Cliff Lee, who is not the shut down pitcher he once was.
  • The Braves over the Mets: This picker hardly ever picks a pitcher like Johan Santana coming off of the disabled list. Kris Medlen is kind of a sketchy pick as well though.
  • The Dodgers over the Marlins: Joe Blanton is not Kershaw, but he is solid, which is more than you can say about Ricky Nolasco.
  • The White Sox over the Athletics: Those White Sox have spunk, you have to give them that. Losing Konerko for a week won't help, but it's not like the A's offense is that strong either. Travis Blackley goes for the A's and Francisco Liriano goes for the White Sox. That is one hard pitching match-up to figure out. Two pitchers named, "Travis," starting on the same night?
  • The Bay Rays over the Twins: David Price is on fire. Look for another bomb of a performance from him to shut down the Twins. He will be faced by Nick Blackburn. Enough said.
  • The Tigers over the Rangers: Two words: Justin Verlander. He is better than any pitcher the Rangers have, including this current version of Derek Holland. Big comeback win for Tigers on Friday.
  • The Nationals over the Diamondbacks: Not a big fan of Edwin Jackson and Wade Miley has been terrific. Just can't pull the trigger on picking the D-backs though.
  • The Angels over the Mariners: Mike Trout destroyed Felix Hernandez. Wow.The guy is Superman. That was the Mariners' one game to win in this series too. Hisashi Iwakuma won't hold back the Angels. And  Dan Haren will shut down the M's.

And the Game of the Day:

  • The Pirates over the Padres: No, not making the mistake of picking against A.J. Burnett again. The amazing story continues for him in this one against Jason Marquis.

Yesterday: 10-5
Week: 46-36
Month: 78-60
Season: 920-746
Games of the Day: 69-53

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