Game Picks - Tuesday: September 11, 2012

This date still brings anxiety and bad memories. We will never forget.

But there is still a job to do here and that is pick baseball games. Yesterday went well. Seven out of ten picks were correct. The three that went wrong were the Giants, the Tigers and the Angels, all contending teams that took a hit. The Giants are still pretty comfortable though, so it did not hurt them as badly. The Tigers and Angels losses were blows to those teams against playoff contending rivals. There were some seriously good picks in there. The Cardinals' loss was predicted here. And the Braves' loss was correctly predicted too. Nice. The Game of the Day feature continues a very long roll of success. Nice as well.

Back to a full schedule on Tuesday. The picks:

• The Rays over the Orioles: This is going to be an amazing series. If either team sweeps it, that would be a major surprise. The Rays should take the first one as Matt Moore should be able to shut down the Orioles. But the Rays will have to score a couple over a remade Jason Hammel.
• The Blue Jays over the Mariners: Brandon Morrow should be able to shut down the Mariners sleepy offense and the Blue Jays get Erasmo Ramirez, who hasn't pitched since June.
• The Red Sox over the Yankees: This is the best chance the Red Sox have to take a game in this series. Despite how bad they are, for old time sake, they will pull it together against the Yankees. Ciriaco and Pedroia and Ross all kill the Yankees. And the Yankees' lineup against lefties has been weak lately. Of course, Hiroki Kuroda would pitch a gem and make all this moot.
• The Pirates over the Reds: This one is really tough. The Pirates need it more and Kevin Correia has somehow found a way to win quite often in the past couple of months. Mike Leake has not been good, so the Pirates seem to be the right pick.
• The Mets over the Nationals: Going all in for R.A. Dickey. Really want him to win twenty games this season. Jordan Zimmermann is a favorite here, but the Nats never score when he is pitching. This game will be 1-0 or 2-1 or something.
• The Astros over the Cubs: This was a coin tossed up in the air. Both Justin Germano and Jordan Lyles have high ERAs and have been roughed up more often than not lately. Have no idea who will win this one.
• The Rangers over the Indians: The Rangers at home are tough to beat on any day. But Matt Harrison makes it tougher for the Indians. Ubaldo Jimenez might pitch a good game. But then again, he might not. You never know.
• The Braves over the Brewers: Okay, the Braves had their breather game yesterday and get back to rampaging today with their ace, Tim Hudson, on the mound. Marco Estrada said he was ineffective in his last start because he got the game start time wrong and didn't warm up properly. Whuh?
• The White Sox over the Tigers: The Tigers aren't going to make it, are they? All year long, we waited for the big push. It has never come. And now time is running out. That loss last night said it all. Just too many holes in the lineup. Too leaky a defense. Jake Peavy over Doug Fister.
• The Twins over the Royals: Scott Diamond did not have a good time against the White Sox and still got the win in the game. He's had that kind of season. He's been a nice surprise all year. Will Smith has pitched well twice all season that can be remembered in this old head.
• The Giants over the Rockies: The Giants gave up a big early lead yesterday and almost came back in the game. Madison Bumgarner has been a huge concern over his last four starts. Is he okay? Why has he suddenly gone flat? Will he pull out of it? Jhoulys Chacin certainly has the ability to foul up this pick.
• The Diamondbacks over the Dodgers: The Dodgers seem like the NL version of the Tigers. You think they are going to get hot and they don't. Clayton Kershaw was supposed to pitch over the weekend but his hip hurt. Will it be any better after just a few days? Ian Kennedy has a history of defeating aces. Odds are he will do so again here.
• The Athletics over the Angels: Okay, A's, you have convinced this picker. Going with you hard then. Fireballer, Dan Straily goes for the A's against Jerome Williams, filling in for Jered Weaver.
• The Cardinals over the Padres: Sheesh, are these Cardinals ever hot and cold from day to day. What gives with this team? Adam Wainwright should win. He is the ace. He should win. The Padres have been playing very well though and Edinson Volquez has been pitching rather well.

And the Game of the Day!

• The Phillies over the Marlins: You have to give the Phillies credit. They took their hit early, dumped some players and have played good baseball in the second half. Roy Halladay will keep that going today and get the win over Nathan Eovaldi.

Yesterday: 7-3

Week: 16-10

Month: 67-69

Season: 1153-926

Games of the Day: 89-63