Sunday, August 25, 2013

MLB Game Picks - Sunday: August 25, 2013

A second straight sub-.500 picking day does not make me happy. Not only did it ruin my week, but most of it does not make sense. And nothing makes less sense than my record in extra inning games. Again, the Phillies and Diamondbacks play eighteen freakin' innings and of course the team I picked lost after all that. When you think about it, the Phillies had nine walk-off possibilities as the home team and could not score once. Amazing.

And that one game was the difference between a plus night and a negative night. And then, I have been zero for the Angels - Mariners series, zero for the Giants - Pirates series, and can't the Blue Jays win anything!? You look at the Blue Jays and they have some talent. But then simply cannot win a ballgame. It is the freakiest thing. Here is the startling fact: Only four teams in the MLB have more losses than the Blue Jays. Amazing.

Sunday's picks:

  • The Indians over the Twins: I have been rooting for Scott Kazmir all season. I love comeback stories. I am a sucker for them. So naturally I pick him at home to beat Mike Pelfrey and the Twins.
  • The Rockies over the Marlins: At least I got it right yesterday with Jose Fernandez. He is spectacular. And at home, he is unbeatable. Jacob Turner is not the same kind of talent. He is not bad, but not like that. He will give up a few runs and Jorge De La Rosa will hold down the Marlins with the help of the big ballpark.
  • The Mets over the Tigers: Sometimes it is all about timing. Matt Harvey got Max Scherzer. Dillon Gee gets Rick Porcello. That is the way life goes sometimes.
  • The Brewers over the Reds: There are two ways this game can go and unfortunately for me, only one of them gets this pick correctly. Either Marco Estrada holds the Reds to four runs or less and the Brewers score more off of Greg Reynolds, or it is a donnybrook with both teams scoring massive amounts of runs, in which case, the Reds would win.
  • The Diamondbacks over the Phillies: The problem for the Phillies is that both of these teams blew through their bullpens last night. That is not good timing for Roy Halladay to be making his comeback appearance when he probably cannot go deep in the game. Patrick Corbin, however, can go deep in the game.
  • The Athletics over the Orioles: Yeah, I should not let the previous day's results influence my picks. But they do because I am human. Yeah, I should look at the Vegas odds and all of that. But this has never been a gambling feature. I just pick games. :::shrug::: I love Sonny Gray. Just love the guy. I used to love Scott Feldman. That was a long time ago.
  • The Rays over the Yankees: If you were to ask the Yankees if they would rather dive into a volcano or play in Tropicana Field, they would probably prefer jumping into a volcano. They simply have no shot in that crappy dome. Alex Cobb over Ivan Nova.
  • The Rangers over the White Sox: The White Sox have been tough to beat for the last couple of weeks and this pick went wrong yesterday when the Rangers could not score for Darvish. And while John Danks pitched really well his last time out, I think he gets bested by Matt Garza.
  • The Blue Jays over the Astros: Yeah, yeah, I know. But this becomes a law of averages thing after a while. The Blue Jays HAVE to win a game some time. Why not when it is Mark Buehrle against Dallas Keuchel? I still think it is hilarious that a guy named Dallas plays in Houston.
  • The Royals over the Nationals: The Royals, like the Blue Jays are on the tipping point of the law of averages. They too have lost seven straight and all those good feelings Royals' fans were building up. Ervin Santana over Dan Haren.
  • The Braves over the Cardinals: The Cards have trouble with lefty starters and Mike Minor has already beaten them badly once this season. Meanwhile, Lance Lynn has big-inning-itis. He will be cruising along nicely and then, BLAM. It reminds me of A.J. Burnett.
  • The Pirates over the Giants: Speaking of A.J. Burnett, he is going to win today. He will give up less runs than Ryan Vogelsong and that is what it takes to win a game. Baseball is that simple. Yeah, try and predict that simple game day in and day out.
  • The Angels over the Mariners: The Mariners have scored what, like one run in this series? And they have not faced Jered Weaver yet? Snap. They then will score two runs this entire series because Weaver only allows one today. All the Angels have to do is score two or more off of Aaron Harang. Doable.
  • The Padres over the Cubs: This is such a nondescript kind of series. The two teams are so similar. Andrew Cashner has great stuff and should win more than he does. Chris Rusin does not strike people out and depends on bad contact. That has its drawbacks.

And the Game of the Day:

  • The Red Sox over the Dodgers: I might as well make the game of the day the Game of the Day. Jake Peavy should enjoy that big ballpark. Although it is hard to tell when Jake Peavy enjoys anything. The Red Sox should score on Chris Capuano.

Yesterday: 7-8
Last week: 51-46
Month: 187-140
Season: 1090-853
Games of the Day: 82-58   -2

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