Game Picks - Monday: October 8, 2012

Yesterday was a glorious day of baseball as four playoff games happened and allowed us to watch baseball from noon to midnight. The only sad part was a rain delay in Baltimore that caused one of the games to be shifted to TNT. So the remote came in handy to go back and forth. It was a fun day of highly charged baseball.

The playoff picks did not improve here though. Two were correct. Two were incorrect. So the post season is still in the red in total. The Yankees won the improbable way by teeing off on Jim Johnson, who had been untouchable all season. Bronson Arroyo had great stuff and pitched one-hit ball for seven innings while Madison Bumgarner and company could not get it done against the Reds' offense. That pick was wrong. The bullpen that got the Cardinals so far last season gave them a loss last night as the Nationals, in their first playoff game ever, showed no signs of being overwhelmed. And the Tigers put the Athletics in a 2-0 hole in the series and in deep trouble with a walk-off win.

Two games are scheduled today. In a move that is only inspired by ratings and money and not by common sense, the Cardinals and Reds, an hour behind the east coast in time zones, get the early game and the Yankees - Orioles play at eight o'clock. That simply ensures that those two teams' fans have to stay up well past bedtimes in order to watch. Well done, baseball. Well done. Hope you choke on those network dollars.

Monday's Columbus Day playoff picks:

• The Cardinals over the Nationals: Both Jordan Zimmermann and Jaime Garcia had rough outings earlier in the season against the team they are facing today. But Jaime Garcia is usually outstanding at home and should  allow his team to score a few runs off of Zimmerman. Garcia neutralizes Harper too.
• The Yankees over the Orioles: So the Orioles are down a game to the Yankees in the series. That is familiar territory to them. So they won't panic or anything. But let's say this: Even if he is forty years old, Andy Pettitte is the winningest pitcher in the history of post season baseball. Pettitte is also brilliant at limiting damage despite not having the best stuff around. The Orioles are forced to go with Wei-Yin Chen who has no playoff experience and seemed to wear down toward the end of the season. Chen is left-handed though which gives the Yankees a slightly less deadly lineup. Though Eduardo Nunez at DH is an immense upgrade over Andruw Jones.

Yesterday: 2-2

Post Season: 3-5

Season: 1336-1072