It is always a bummer when I have a good day of picking and one of the few picks that go wrong is the Game of the Day pick. After all, that is the pick I feel the most confident about and that is why it is selected as the Game of the Day. The feature should probably be called the pick of the day, which would be more accurate. Yesterday, that pick was the Red Sox who lost to the Blue Jays. Esmil Rogers had given up 26 earned runs in his last 25 innings pitched. That is a lock, right? Wrong.
Overall, I picked eleven out of fifteen correctly to erase a bit of Tuesday's bad picking. The picks I am proud of include Francisco Liriano shutting down the Cardinals and a good game leading to a victory for Jordan Zimmermann saved by this catch by Span. You have to remain loyal to your main guys.
There are ten games on the schedule with four day games today. I like it. The picks:
- The Yankees over the Angels: Here is my thing: If the Yankees win today and get a good performance from the erstwhile Phil Hughes, then they are poised to make a run. If Hughes is his usual awful self, then they just had three good games against a team even worse than them. C.J. Wilson goes for the Angels.
- The Cardinals over the Pirates: The Cardinals need this game badly and they are set up pretty well for it with Lance Lynn on the mound and facing A.J. Burnett. Burnett could put a crick in that chain if he can get his curve over for strikes.
- The Nationals over the Giants: Dan Haren has found himself and has been the Nats All-Star in his last four outings or so. Ryan Vogelsong has been somewhat decent himself in his last couple of outings. Going with the Nats at home.
- The Red Sox over the Blue Jays: This pick pre-supposes that Jake Peavy is going to pitch well. Of course, there is no guarantee of that, especially with two or three guys in the Blue Jays' lineup that can pulverize the ball. Mark Buehrle has been good too, but he won't be against the Red Sox.
- The Tigers over the Royals: This can be another one of those series where the Tigers smack down a supposed contender, just like they did the Indians. Anibal Sanchez has been terrific and though Jeremy Guthrie has been good, the Tigers' lineup will get to him.
- The Bay Rays over the Mariners: Alex Cobb returns to the mound after his horrific blow to the head by a line drive. The M's go with Joe Saunders, who is capable of pitching well with his slop at home. Tough game to pick here.
- The Twins over the White Sox: How bad are the Twins when Joe Mauer gets five hits in a game and the team still loses? And their bullpen got roasted against the Indians. But they are playing the White Sox, so I am picking them anyway. Mike Pelfrey over Andre Rienzo.
- The Brewers over the Reds: Let's face it. This is a game the Reds should win. They are way better than the Brewers. But they do have to face Kyle Lohse, a guy who knows how to pitch. And Lohse has pitched against the Reds thirteen times and has a 3.26 ERA against them. That means the Brewers have to score four runs against Tony Cingrani. Doable.
- The Mets over the Padres: This game assumes too much perhaps. First, it presumes the Mets can score off of Tyson Ross. Secondly, it assumes Zack Wheeler can put his stuff together for a good game. If those assumptions are off, so is the pick.
And the Game (or pick) of the Day:
- The Athletics over the Astros: I like Sonny Gray. Not only does he have a cool baseball name, but he has a decent arm too. I think he will go six innings and strike out seven. Erik Bedard used to be that kind of pitcher, but not anymore.
Yesterday: 11-4
Week: 35-21
Month: 116-73
Season: 1019-786
Games of the Day: 77-53 -2
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