After a thrilling day on Friday, I was hoping to repeat a little magic yesterday. It did not happen. The day finished one game under .500. It would have been a game over .500 if the Padres had not lost their game with two out in the ninth. Good on Evan Longoria for the homer though. There were quite a lot of surprises. The Cubs beat the Nats. Though I should not be surprised that the Nats played like crap when Stephen Strasburg pitched. It seems to happen every time. The Blue Jays beat the Red Sox despite a Clay Buchholz start. And the Indians made Justin Verlander look like a Joe Blow pitcher.
The one game that did not surprise me was the Pirates game. I saw what Francisco Liriano was doing in the minors. I saw the good control. I know that if he throws strikes, he can be real good and I did not pick him. Shame on me for that one.
Sunday's picks:
- The Indians over the Tigers: Zachary Taylor McAllister has pitched very well of late. Has he turned the corner on his career and about to reach his potential? Will Rick Porcello continue to be the pitcher Tigers fans hate? Zach McAllister for the win. Plus, the Indians are hitting well as a lineup.
- The Brewers over the Reds: The Brewers are going to hit Bronson Arroyo. I am pretty sure about that. The question then becomes how good Wily Peralta will be against the Reds. This is one I am torn about.
- The Mets over the Pirates: If you had to pick between Matt Harvey and Jeanmar Gomez, who would you pick? Exactly. But the scary part is that the Mets' offense has been stinky and Gomez might make them pound the ball into the ground all day. I have to go with Harvey.
- The Nationals over the Cubs: The last time I picked against Scott Feldman, he beat his old team pretty badly. Perhaps he will pitch well again. I would not guess that he will. But he could. Gio Gonzalez, then, has to be better than whatever Feldman does.
- The Red Sox over the Blue Jays: I do not get how the meritocracy works with minor league baseball sometimes. Chad Jenkins has not had a pretty minor league career. And yet he has been consistently promoted. Last year, he got a cup of coffee with the Blue Jays and was just as ordinary as he was in the minors. And yet, he, of all pitchers in the Blue Jays' minor league system gets the call. I do not get it. Ryan Dempster with the win.
- The Padres over the Bay Rays: Yeah, I saw how good this worked yesterday and decided to do it again. :::eyeroll::: But I do like Eric Stults better than Ramon Hernandez. I miss Fausto. It was so much more fun to say.
- The Twins over the Orioles: Scott Diamond has been on a roll and has been killing my picks for quite some time. So I decided to look him up. The bad news is that he has only struck out 15 batters in 29+ innings of work. The good news is that he has only walked three batters. Three! That makes him the ultimate Twins pitcher! Going with him over Wei-Yin Chen.
- The Yankees over the Royals: If the Royals do not get to Hiroki Kuroda early, they won't get to him at all. Whereas the Yankees can get to Ervin Santana all day.
- The Rangers over the Astros: The Astros usually play a good three innings or so and then all heck breaks loose. Have you noticed that? Nick Tepesch over Jordan Lyles, who still has a great name for a romance novel.
- The Cardinals over the Rockies: The pent up Rockies are going to explode against somebody. Will it be Jaime Garcia? Could be. But I cannot pick that way. Garcia is pretty tough at home. And the Cardinals should get to Jorge De La Rosa.
- The Braves over the Giants: This pick does not feel great. The Braves just strikeout too much for their own good and their outfield defense has been cruddy lately. But I keep thinking Kris Medlen of last year and he is not. But I keep thinking of Tim Lincecum like 2008 and he is not.
- The Dodgers over the Marlins: The Dodgers should get away with pitching Chris Capuano against the Marlins' offense. And Tom Koehler should be like a leaky faucet. Ha! I kill me.
- The Athletics over the Mariners: There is no rhyme or reason to this series. Either team wins randomly and neither seems to have an edge. So all you can do is kind of try to find the pattern. And there is not a pattern. Tommy Milone over Joe Saunders.
- The Phillies over the Diamondbacks: I cannot get Kyle Kendrick's success. I have never gotten it. But he just rolls along from year to year. Meanwhile, Brandon McCarthy has become an irritant to the Diamondback fans who want him jettisoned from the rotation. I still think he will come around.
And the Game of the Day!
- The White Sox over the Angels: Supermodel fiance or not...nice hair or not...C.J. Wilson is just not a pitcher to count on. But Chris Sale seems like the real deal time after time. So though the Angels have won three in a row, the pick today is the White Sox.
Yesterday: 8-7
Last week: 59-34
Month: 85-60
Season: 314-224
Games of the Day: 28-12
No comments:
Post a Comment