MLB Game Picks - Friday: September 5, 2014

Following two 8-7 days, the tally for last night was 4-4. How uninspiring. When I looked at my picks this morning, my first thought was: "Why in the world would I have picked the Texas Rangers!?" Yes, exactly. Sometimes in life, we just make choices that don't make sense.

Friday's picks:

• The Cubs over the Pirates: The Cubs are my new obsession. I love how they have been pitching and how they have been fearless in bringing up young players. And today, I like Tsuyoshi Wada over Vance Worley.
• The White Sox over the Indians: T.J. House pitched really well in his last start which gives me pause for this pick. Also, the Indians are tough to beat at home. However, Chris Sale is the great equalizer and one of the best pitchers in the game.
• The Yankees over the Royals: The Yankees have handled James Shields pretty well over the years although he has an occasionally great game against them. If Michael Pineda is on, it won't matter what Shields does.
• The Nationals over the Phillies: Has Stephen Strasburg finally turned a corner? Is he now a reliable pick? We'll see. Jerome Williams will try to continue his hot pitching for the Phillies.
• The Tigers over the Giants: This is a tough one. The Giants will get to put the Panda at DH and get an extra bat. And Jake Peavy has pitched well for the Giants. My feeling is that Peavy will suffer a bit coming back to an AL park and having to pitch to nine hitters. Rick Porcello with the win.
• The Marlins over the Braves: Hasn't this Jarred Cosart - Aaron Harang match-up already happened like seven times this year? No, just once. And Cosart got the better of the day. I like him again at home this time.
• The Orioles over the Rays: I've said it before: Buck Showalter is the only manager that schools Joe Maddon on a regular basis. Wei-Yin Chen has been reliable and Alex Cobb has seemed more vulnerable lately. The O's seem unstoppable.
• The Mets over the Reds: It is so hard to predict the games that Bartolo Colon will be great. There is the expectation that he will be great for one game out of four. But which one? Great America Ballpark doesn't seem like the obvious choice. We'll see. Alfredo Simon will try to keep his bounce-back going. I feel a Curtis Granderson homer here.
• The Blue Jays over the Red Sox: The loss last night for the Red Sox had to have been devastating. But ballplayers are good at taking things day to day. So this all depends on Drew Hutchison and how well he pitches. Allen Webster will go for the Red Sox who should get Captain Jammypants Dustin Pedroia back tonight.
• The Mariners over the Rangers: I would really like to pick the Fabulous Scott Baker to continue his comeback in style. I learned my lesson last night picking the Rangers. Besides, I'm not picking against Hisashi Iwakuma, even if it is at Texas.
• The Brewers over the Cardinals: John Lackey is due for one of his dominant starts. And the Brewers have been terrible. My only reason for not doing the sane thing by picking the Cardinals is that Mike Fiers is pitching for the Brewers. He's my guy.
• The Rockies over the Padres: How do you pick this one? Tyler Matzek and Eric Stults are a combined 10-24. Fun. I'll go for the Rockies at home in what could be a long, long game.
• The Athletics over the Astros: I'm still disappointed that Jeff Samardzija did not go to the Red Sox. I was looking forward to the pronunciation of, "Sahmahdzah," Anyway, he will beat poor Brett Oberholtzer.
• The Diamondbacks over the Dodgers: Vidal Nuno has been surprisingly effective for the D-backs after throwing nothing but meatballs for the Yankees. He has a 3.23 ERA over his last ten starts. He hasn't won any of those starts though. Dan Haren has had a tough season.

And the Game of the Day:

• The Angels over the Twins: There are two pitchers you can't go wrong picking against. Garza is one and the other is Ricky Nolasco. To top that thought off, Matt Shoemaker is pitching. Ah yes. This can't go wrong........can it?

Yesterday: 4-4, September: 28-23, Games of the Day: 87-60 (+2), Season: 1158-957