Monday, September 24, 2012

Game Picks - Monday: September 24, 2012

Sunday was not a good day from any perspective. As a Fan, the favorite baseball team lost. Tiger did not win and the favorite football team lost. To top that day off with a big bow was to have a bad day in picking baseball games. The Twins swept a double-header from the Tigers!? What!? They were predicted to sweep that thing because...you know...that's what contending teams are supposed to do. The Yankees and Orioles both lost and were predicted to keep their winning streaks going. So that's a eight pick swing in the day right there. It was correctly figured that the Giants would be snoozy after clinching their division. But the Red did the same thing and that was not expected. Aw, heck, there is no need to rehash it all. Let's just say it was a bad day.

There are ten games on Monday's schedule. Two of them are a double-header between the Blue Jays and the Orioles. The day's picks:

  • The Nationals over the Brewers: The Nats are still up by five games in the loss column on the Braves. So there is no urgency here. Still, it would be nice to get the division clinched so they can go ahead and get themselves ready for the post season. The Brewers are still desperately hoping for a playoff chance, so will fight hard. Jordan Zimmermann should be tough for the Nats and Marco Estrada should be tough for the Brewers. The home field is why this pick goes to the Nationals.
  • The Orioles over the Blue Jays: Steve Johnson starts for the Orioles. His stats sure look impressive. Is he that good? His minor league career did not predict this. So who knows. He has been part of the charm of the Orioles' season of charms. Henderson Alvarez will keep the Blue Jays in the game. Will he win it? He has a chance. But no pick can go against the Orioles these days.
  • The Orioles over the Blue Jays: This pick is for Wei-Yin Chen, who has been solid all season. The Orioles should be able to do some damage against Ricky Romero, who was better against the Yankees but still walked five batters.
  • The Pirates over the Mets: Hard game to figure here. Prospect, Kyle McPherson makes his second major league start against a struggling Mets' lineup. Meanwhile, the Mets start Jenrry Mejia who has been awful so far this season. Ugh.
  • The Rangers over the Athletics: This is tough. This picker really wants the A's to make the playoffs but, gosh, they have a tough schedule. Derek Holland should be good for the Rangers and the A's are putting an awful lot of their season's hopes on an unproven, Dan Straily
  • The Cardinals over the Astros: How fortuitous for the Cardinals to get the Astros on their stretch schedule. And realistically, there is no way they should lose this game. Lance Lynn should be decent and Fernando Abad's last name is a good moniker for that pitcher's performances so far.
  • The White Sox over the Indians: The White Sox are not exactly staking their claim to the AL Central title. The division race seems more of a race fo which team will lose less games instead of the other way around. Chris Sale should prevail, and yes, that rhymes. The White Sox should defeat Zach McAllister.
  • The Yankees over the Twins: This is another game that should be easy to pick. Liam Hendriks should not be able to contain the Yankees and Andy Pettitte has a history of shutting down the Twins. It is always these seemingly easy picks that worry a game picker.
  • The Diamondbacks over the Rockies: Trevor Cahill has had a very good September, but must deal with Coors Field today. Tyler Chatwood gets his 75 pitches for the Rockies.

And the Game of the Day!

  • The Tigers over the Royals: Gosh, if the Tigers don't win this one, what can you say then? Justin Verlander should beat Luke Hochevar 999 times out of a thousand. But yeah, that's why they play the game.

Yesterday: 7-9
Week: 7-9
Month: 167-146
Season: 1,253-1,004
Games of the Day: 99-65

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