Yesterday was a good day and a rare one this season. The final tally was good and the Game of the Day was correct. I'm almost back to .500 on the latter feature. The only blemishes of the day were somewhat stupid in hindsight.
Did I really pick the Rockies again the way they have been playing? The Pirates absolutely bombed Kyle Lohse and the Brewers. Phil Hughes had stayed away from the dinger bug that plagued his Yankee career until yesterday when he gave up three of them to the Astros. In fairness, two of them were hit on really good pitches.
Saturday's picks:
- The Blue Jays over the Cardinals: I keep having to pinch myself on the Toronto Blue Jays. The Cardinals are the third straight series against supposed top contenders and they haven't lost a single game. And nobody exemplifies the season for the Blue Jays like Mark Buehrle. His hits per inning, homers per nine and ERA are just screaming for regression if you look at his career numbers. But it never seems to come. The Cardinals struggle against lefties too. Shelby Miller could have a big game and foul this pick up.
- The Twins over the Astros: Kyle Gibson is much better at home. In fact, the splits are pretty amazing. It shows two different pitchers. The question then is if Scott Feldman is going to shut down what is a paltry Twins' offense. This could go either way.
- The Indians over the Rangers: It took a gritty Yu Darvish to finally beat the Indians who have been surging of late. Nick Tepesch will look very friendly after that. Josh Tomlin has to pitch well for this pick not to blow up.
- The Cubs over the Marlins: Jeff Samardzija had his worst outing of the season his last time out. But he should bounce back from that at home. The Marlins road / home split is still pretty amazing (22-11 home, 11-18 on the road) and Randy Wolf doesn't fill me with confidence.
- The Brewers over the Pirates: Matt Garza should fare much better than Kyle Lohse did and Edinson Volquez is still Edinson Volquez.
- The Dodgers over the Rockies: I keep picking the Rockies and they have lost four straight. So this is a reaction pick and it will probably go the other way. Zack Greinke's success at Coors will tell the tale. Jhoulys Chacin has not won yet this season.
- The Reds over the Phillies: I got this seriously wrong yesterday. But Roberto Hernandez is no Cole Hamels. And Alfredo Simon continues to surprise. Is Joey Votto ever coming back?
- The Rays over the Mariners: The Rays finally got off the bench yesterday and ended their losing streak. I like Alex Cobb over Roenis Elias in this one.
- The Tigers over the Red Sox: Thing about it...as good as Jon Lester has pitched, his record is still at .500 for the season. The Tigers and Max Scherzer are going to get well at the Red Sox' expense.
- The Yankees over the Royals: The Royals' no-patience approach at the plate helps a guy like David Phelps just like it helped Whitley last night. The only question then is what kind of night Danny Duffy will have. A lot will depend on whether the Yankees can push up Duffy's pitch count early.
- The Athletics over the Orioles: I love me some Sonny Gray. The guy has been my good luck charm for two seasons now. Kevin Gausman has great stuff. It's a question of if he can put it together.
- The White Sox over the Angels: Chris Sale is simply unbelievable. The guy is a beast despite disappearing when he stands sideways. Matt Shoemaker has been serviceable, but he won't be able to match zeroes with Sale.
- The Giants over the Mets: The Giants will hit two homers off of Bartolo Colon and Tim Hudson will do his thing against the struggling offense of the Mets.
- The Nationals over the Padres: The Nats are starting to fire it up. Blake Treinen has too good an ERA to have an 0-2 record. And Andrew Cashner is back to start after missing a couple of starts.
And the Game of the Day:
- The Braves over the Diamondbacks: Check this out for a statistic: The Braves' OPS is 210 points higher against left-handed pitching than the other way around. Isn't that amazing? Wade Miley throws with his left hand. Not good. Tommy La Stella has made himself at home in the big leagues thus far hasn't he? Ervin Santana with the win.
Yesterday: 10-5, June: 43-36, Games of the Day: 31-32, Season: 499-413
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