The picks are running about as fast as Jose Molina. The legs are churning but I am not getting anywhere. Yesterday, by 10:30 ET, the picks stood at 1-6. I stopped looking after that as it was too painful. But while I was not looking, the picks rallied at least to go 6-1 down the stretch. Face was saved. But the only incorrect pick of the seven? The Game of the Day, of course. May is over. Perhaps the mediocrity will be too.
And, we had another postponement. Our poor midwest is having just an awful time and my heart goes out to those people. The Cardinals will play two games with the Giants today in St. Louis bringing the day's tally to sixteen games.
The picks:
- The Indians over the Bay Rays: Ubaldo Jimenez has to pitch a good game and limit the Rays to three runs or less for the Indians to win. The Rays reach into their system again to pitch Chris Archer. Archer has been a top-100 prospect for five years now. That is a long time without making a mark in the majors as yet. He has a big strikeout arm, but walks too many batters.
- The Twins over the Mariners: The Twins are playing better baseball, but ran into Iwakuma last night. They should recover today and cuff around Aaron Harang. Then again, the Twins have their own meatball pitcher in Kevin Correia going tonight. So who knows.
- The Cardinals over the Giants: The first game of the pair features yesterday's probables and I still think Shelby Miller out-pitches Matt Cain.
- The Tigers over the Orioles: The Orioles are amazing. Justin Verlander better be economical and try to go the distance, because of the Orioles face any kind of relief pitcher, their chances go up like crazy. Jason Hammel keeps winning, but I do not see him keeping up with Verlander.
- The Rangers over the Royals: James Shields has not been as good as I thought he would be for the Royals. That said, he has a history of pitching well against the Rangers in those big games over the years. But the pick has to be with the Rangers at home. Nick Tepesch will need to have a good game though.
- The Brewers over the Phillies: Two struggling teams. What do you do? Wily Peralta is only wily about half the time. Tyler Cloyd has an ERA near six and his WHIP is 1.6. The Brewers have to be the pick.
- The Rockies over the Dodgers: Coors Field will neutralize Zack Greinke, who has not been going deep in games anyway because of high pitch counts. The pick is for Jhoulys Chacin instead. Though he is no picnic either.
- The Marlins over the Mets: Oy. This one bites. First, you have Collin McHugh pitching for the Mets. He has given up homers in his brief MLB career at a frightening pace. He has good control, but has not pitched well. Then there is Jose Fernandez, who at his tender young age is hit or miss, miss, miss. You never know when that hit will be.
- The Cubs over the Diamondbacks: This game is a dangerous pick. I am picking it because of Jeff Samardzija, who was fabulous in his last start and very good all season long. But how will he recover from his first complete game? Ian Kennedy is one of my favorite players. But he has not really gotten going yet and is more of a second half pitcher.
- The Yankees over the Red Sox: The Yankees seemed to have a much different vibe with some of their horses back yesterday. Phil Hughes has to keep the ball in the park. I made the pick this way because Mark Teixeira, Kevin Youkilis and Vernon Wells are all better against lefties. Felix Doubront is that lefty.
- The Pirates over the Reds: This pick did not work out very well yesterday. But my secret weapon is Francisco Liriano, who will overpower the Reds today. Mike Leake has been pretty decent, but I think this is Liriano's game.
- The Cardinals over the Giants: Great match-up between Madison Bumgarner and Adam Wainwright. I am going with the home team and with the Cardinals' ace.
- The Braves over the Nationals: The Braves are a very frustrating offense. There are a lot of strikeouts and they cannot seem to get everyone going at the same time. Tim Hudson has not pitched well. He needs to have a good game. Gio Gonzalez has not been nearly as good as last season.
- The Angels over the Astros: The Astros have been whooping on the Angels and it has cost me in the picks. Jerome Williams has been outstanding though for the Angels and I have to go with him over Bud Norris, the perennial "stuff" guy.
- The Padres over the Blue Jays: After seventeen innings last night, these two teams will be pretty tired today. Logic dictates that Robbie Erlin will not be able to go deep in the game for the Padres, which is a problem. But I think the kid will do okay today. Meanwhile, the softer tosses of Mark Buehrle give the Padres' offense a chance.
And the Game of the Day!
- The Athletics over the White Sox: I have picked against Dan Straily all season and have paid for it. So I am picking him today. The White Sox are not very good. But that is not Carlos Quintana's fault as he has pitched well.
Yesterday: 7-7
Week: 44-43
May: 233-188
Season: 462-350
Games of the Day: 36-23
No comments:
Post a Comment