Monday, September 22, 2014

MLB Game Picks - Monday: September 22, 2014

The streak ends at eight. The Game of the Day feature had been correct for eight straight days but fell yesterday by picking the Cardinals to win. The Reds finally broke through on the team from St. Louis and so it goes. Overall, it wasn't a bad day with the final tally coming in at 9-6.
The Royals kept their hopes alive by at least taking the last game of the Tigers series. The Dodgers inched closer to a division win and two of the three teams that have already clinched lost. The Mets destroyed the Braves to finish that team off. Gosh, the Braves are a mess. Is their manager going to survive this?
Let's finish off this season with one last good week:
  • The Royals over the Indians: This is a really tough one to call. Danny Duffy and Carlos Carrasco have both had really good seasons. Both teams are fighting for a wild card spot and the Royals aren't dead in the division race either. I'm going with the home town Royals.
  • The Yankees over the Orioles: This is the Jeter homestretch too. And he has been swinging much more aggressively with good results. That makes a big difference in the Yankees' lineup. Wei-Yin Chen will just be pitching a tuneup. Michael Pineda is pitching for the Yankees to hold on for another day.
  • The Mariners over the Blue Jays: The M's are going in the wrong direction and are now a game and a half out of the wild card race. They are running out of time. Fortunately, they have good starters coming up to try to accomplish the task. James Paxton is great and should be better than J.A. Happ.
  • The Pirates over the BravesFrancisco Liriano has come on strong just at the right time for the Pirates. The Braves have collapsed almost totally. Aaron Harang will man the ghost ship.
  • The Rangers over the AstrosDerek Holland has been outstanding since returning to the Rangers. I don't believe he has given up more than one run in any of his starts. Nick Tropeano has had one good start and one bad one.
  • The Cardinals over the Cubs: The Cardinals never seem to play well in Chicago. But they need to this time. Adam Wainwright can win his 20th tonight if he can be his ace-like self. Travis Wood had a good outing last time.
  • The Diamondbacks over the Twins: To me, this game boils down to Josh Collmenter versus Ricky Nolasco. The former has had a good season. The latter's season has been a disaster. The D-backs get an extra bat in the lineup.
  • The Athletics over the Angels: The A's are fighting for their lives while the Angels are living the high life. The A's aren't hitting, but did hit better yesterday. C.J. Wilson is just in tune-up mode while Jeff Samardzija is in survival mode.
  • The Rockies over the Padres: I have no idea. Eric Stults is trying to avoid his 18th loss of the season. Tyler Matzek might have a nice day in a big ballpark for a change. I don't know.
  • The Giants over the Dodgers: This is the Giants' last chance to make or break it. One loss in this series will pretty much finish them. Dan Haren has been far too leaky for me to trust in this one and Jake Peavy has been outstanding for the Giants.
And the Game of the Day:
  • The Tigers over the White Sox: A couple of youngsters start this game which makes it hard to call. Kyle Lobstein is a lefty, so I like that. Chris Bassitt got knocked around his last time out.
Yesterday: 9-6, Sept.: 172-119, Games of the Day: 100-64 (-1), Season: 1302-1053

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