MLB Game Picks - Thursday: September 4, 2014

Wednesday provided a second straight kiss-your-sister 8-7 result. Whenever you have two aces like Felix Hernandez and Jon Lester, one of them has to win and it is like flipping the coin. I lost the toss. I did not expect Josh Collmenter to continue his really outstanding pitching and he did. I did not expect the Yankees to win. And they did behind a big night from Brian McCann. I did not expect the Angels to lose to the Astros again. And Justin Verlander had nothing yesterday. Those and more sabotaged some good picks like the Cubs, Nationals and Cardinals.

There are only eight games on the schedule today and surprisingly, none are day games. Here are my Thursday picks:

• The Yankees over the Red Sox: Not having Dustin Pedroia in the lineup really hurts the already hurting offense of the Red Sox and while Chris Capuano is not a guy to stake my reputation on, Brandon Workman isn't either.
• The Orioles over the Reds: Mike Leake is very unpredictable and could hurt this pick, but the Orioles are always the team to pick these days, especially behind Chris Tillman who always looks beatable, but always seems to win.
• The Rays over the Blue Jays: I like the Rays chances against Mark Buehrle today. Buehrle will keep it to four runs or under so the key is Jake Odorizzi who has shown flashes of brilliance lately.
• The Rangers over the Mariners: This is probably a stupid pick but I'm feeling Robbie Ross Jr. after his last start and because as a lefty, he might give the Mariners' offense some trouble. Besides, Roenis Elias is not all that reliable and has lost his last three starts.
• The Angels over the Twins: The Angels have gone a little cold here lately and when Mike Trout doesn't hit, this team has problems. That said, they are better than the Twins and I will take Hector Santiago over Kyle Gibson.
• The Brewers over the Cardinals: You should know me by now in that I never trust a pitcher coming back from a long absence on the DL. Though I will say this: If Michael Wacha can come back and be Michael Wacha, that is a huge boost to the Cardinals down the stretch. I like Wily Peralta at home here.
• The Padres over the Diamondbacks: This pick went all wrong yesterday. But I'm feeling good picking against the D-backs today because Randall Delgado is starting. I am not knocking him. It's just that he hasn't gone more than three innings in an outing since early in the season. I will take Ian Kennedy here.

And the Game of the Day

• The Tigers over the Indians: I got this wrong yesterday thanks to Verlander. But also because Danny Salazar was outstanding. I don't think Trevor Bauer can match that performance and Max Scherzer is still the Tigers' ace.

Yesterday: 8-7, September: 24-19, Games of the Day: 86-60 (+1), Season: 1154-953