MLB Game Picks - Thursday: June 4, 2015

When I went to bed last night, both teams with "Los Angeles" in their names were ahead and I figured I was going to finish the day at 11-5. Both teams blew those leads in spectacular fashions and I ended up at 9-7. Bah!

A short schedule on Thursday after 33 games the previous two days. The picks:

• The Athletics over the Tigers: Shane Greene has been getting pounded of late, so I can't really go there. Jesse Hahn looked like an all star against the Yankees, but he isn't. But I'm thinking he'll be better than Greene.
• The Astros over the Orioles: There is no other choice here but to stick with the hot team over the really cold team. Besides, Dallas Keuchel has become one of the game's best pitchers. Wei-Yin Chen is only 1-4 on the season but is much better than that.
• The Red Sox over the Twins: This game is full of contradictions. The Twins are a hot team. The Red Sox are a cold team. The Red Sox do not hit lefties well. But Tommy Milone isn't much of a lefty and has been taking a beating. Steven Wright is a knuckleball pitcher and who knows how that will go. Pick one.
• The Nationals over the Cubs: Gio Gonzalez has been pitching a little bit better. Jake Arrieta gentille Arrieta hasn't blossomed into the star I thought he would be this year. Going with the Nats.
• The Phillies over the Reds: I'm not picking against Aaron Harang. I'm just not. I have too much emotional damage from his wins in the past. The Reds pitch Anthony DeSclafani.
• The White Sox over the Rangers: The hot Rangers' offense will succumb for the second straight day against a power lefty. This time it will be Chicago's Carlos Rodon, who has been most impressive. Yovani Gallardo goes for the Rangers.
• The Mets over the Diamondbacks: The D-backs are fresh off of a bit win and Troy Tulowitzki is perhaps heating up. All that said, Matt Harvey is on the mound for the Mets and the D-backs counter with Jeremy Hellickson.
• The Dodgers over the Cardinals: Carlos Frias stifled the Cardinals the last time he faced them. But that bothers me. Michael Wacha lost his last time out but that bothers me because he is 7-1. So this pick bothers me.
• The Rays over the Mariners: I'm not buying that trade the Mariners just made at all. A #4 and a #12 prospect for Michael Morse and Vidal Nuno!? What is Z, nuts? Apparently so. Meanwhile, the Rays have somehow turned Erasmo Ramirez into some kind of mythical creature and Roenis Elias never fills me with confidence.

And the Pick of the Day:

• The Royals over the Indians: I got too cute with this pick yesterday. The Royals are simply the better team here. I'm not sure about super tall Chris Young, but he wins somehow. The Indians go with Trevor Bauer.

Yesterday: 9-7, June: 25-17, Season: 403-370, Picks of the Day: 31-26 (+1)

MLB Game Picks - Tuesday: May 19, 2015

I was supposed to get up early for an early meeting and somehow, I did not. So I have only a few minutes to list out my picks without comments. I apologize.

• Pirates over the Twins: Francisco Liriano vs. Ricky Nolasco
• Yankees over the Nationals: Nate Eovaldi vs. Gio Gonzalez
• Orioles over the Mariners: Miguel Gonzalez vs. Taijuan Walker
• Blue Jays over the Angels: Aaron Sanchez vs. Hector Santiago
• Marlins over the Diamondbacks: Tom Koehler vs. Jeremy Hellickson
• Cardinals over the Mets: Michael Wacha vs. Jon Niese
• Braves over the Rays: Mike Foltynewicz vs. Erasmo Ramirez
• Rangers over the Red Sox; Yovani Gallardo vs Wade Miley
• Reds over the Royals: Johnny Cueto vs. Yordano Ventura
• The White Sox over the Indians: Jose Quintana vs. Trevor Bauer
• Athletics over the Astros: Sonny Gray vs. Roberto Hernandez
• Phillies over the Rockies: Aaron Harang vs. Chad Bettis
• Padres over the Cubs: James Shields vs. Jason Hammel
• Dodgers over the Giants: Carlos Frias vs. Tim Hudson

And the Pick of the Day:

• Tigers over the Brewers: Anibal Sanchez vs. Jimmy Nelson

Yesterday: 4-3, May: 121-96, Season: 285-261, Picks of the Day: 23-18

MLB Game Picks - Monday: May 4, 2015

Sunday was a good day. Not only did spring arrive in full force in Maine with a beautiful day in the high 60s (f), but the picking went well at 10-5. May has been far kinder than April ever was. It's nice to be on the plus side for a change. The extra-inning thing has even flip-flopped and the last five have gone my way, thanks in large part to the work of the Cardinals at the expense of the Pirates. You had to fee badly for the Pirates this weekend.

We've had our first manager fired. Will it make a difference in his team's performance? Let's check with Monday's picks:

• The Nationals over the Marlins: I have a feeling that this weekend against the Mets is going to propel the Nationals on a long winning arc. Their pitching is starting to settle in and when right, nobody should be able to out-pitch them. Today is Jordan Zimmermann's turn as he faces a lineup he can dominate. The Marlins go with former Yankee, David Phelps.
• The Yankees over the Blue Jays: This could be a high scoring game where any team can win. R.A. Dickey has been a disaster thus far this year. Shane Whitley could get hit had by the Blue Jays too.
• The Phillies over the Braves: I have entered the Aaron Harang zone. I have to pick him after getting burned so many times. Alex Wood is a good pitcher though and the Braves are playing well.
• The Red Sox over the Rays: Clay Buchholz really should wash his hair before starts. Or at least cut it. I cannot even watch him pitch, it is so disgusting. His pitching has been pretty disgusting too. But he faces a weak hitting team and the Red Sox should be mad about getting swept. Jake Odorizzi goes for the Rays.
• The Cardinals over the Cubs: When was the last time the Cardinals played on the road? It seems like they play every game at home. It makes a huge difference. Carlos Martinez has been terrific and has made the most of his opportunity. Travis Wood is a good innings eater.
• The Twins over the Athletics: Phil Hughes has reverted to 2013 Yankees mode. He should pull out of it tonight and join the party as the Twins keep winning. Jesse Hahn will try to prove me way wrong.
• The Astros over the Rangers: Ten in a row for the Astros. The longer the streak, the harder it is to pick for the team as the law of averages weighs heavier and heavier. The thing that prevents me from picking the Rangers is Dallas Keuchel. The guy is a good pitcher. And Ross Detwiler is zero for Texas so far.
• The Rockies over the Diamondbacks: Anything can happen this game. Which can be said at any game at Coors Field. Tyler Matzek seems to do okay at Coors, so he is the choice over Josh Collmenter.
• The Angels over the Mariners: Yes, Felix Hernandez is pitching, so I'm crazy right? Not exactly. Of all the teams King Felix pitches against, he is the most vulnerable against the Angels. He has given up more homers against the Angels than any team and only his ERA against Toronto is worse than his career ERA against the Angels. Plus, Matt Shoemaker is good.
• The Giants over the Padres: If Tyson Ross was pitching at home, I would give him a chance against the Giants. But facing Madison Bumgarner and his history pitching in San Francisco is not conducive to picking Mr. Ross here.

And the Pick of the Day:

• The Dodgers over the Brewers: I am deeply surprised by the choice the Brewers made in their newest manager. They fired a guy and then hired someone with no experience? Whuh? And once again, it was not a minority candidate. Very strange. Did they even do a token interview? Anyway, the new managers faces Clayton Kershaw. Good luck with that. Kyle Lohse will try to keep up.

Yesterday: 10-5, May: 27-18, Season: 191-183, Picks of the Day: 15-13

MLB Game Picks - Friday: April 24, 2015

Thank goodness it is Friday. I've had a crazy two weeks! Yesterday was a mixed day and I came on the wrong side of a couple of ace match-ups. Two extra-inning games occurred and both went against me. And the Pick of the Day was wrong. But the total for the day was in the positive.

Friday's picks:

• The Phillies over the Braves: Aaron Harang kills me. I am tired of him killing me. I will pick him this time. Alex Wood will go for the Braves. I'm sure Harang will get harangued just to spite me.
• The Orioles over the Red Sox: Miguel Gonzalez doesn't have nearly the success over the Red Sox that he does against the Yankees. But he is catching David Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia on really cold spells and Rick Porcello hasn't been all that impressive, which isn't good against a team that can hit like the Orioles.
• The Yankees over the Mets: This series hasn't gone well for the Yankees in recent memory and the Mets are one super-hot team right now. Jacob deGrom is tough. My thought is that Michael Pineda shuts down the Mets and the Yankees squeak out a run or two.
• The Tigers over the Indians: I am cheering wildly for Shane Greene. Go Greene Go! Danny Salazar can be tough too though. I wonder if Detroit will ever warm up any so the players aren't playing in survival gear.
• The Reds over the Cubs: Will Jon Lester turn it around? Will Mike Leake? Which one will be better? Or which team will out-slug the other for another double-digit run tally? We'll find out tonight.
• The Rays over the Blue Jays: Another round in the battle of the Ays. The knuckler of R.A. Dickey will have to dance for the Jays to win and it hasn't gone well for Dickey thus far. Drew Smyly, The Emoticon, gets his first start of the season. I've picked all home teams thus far. Disturbing.
• The Nationals over the Marlins: Things aren't going well for Mat Latos. And it makes me wonder about his health. On the other side, Jordan Zimmermann is too good to pick against. Ah, one for the visiting team!
• The Royals over the Whtie Sox: Danny Duffy has had a bad outing, a good outing and then a bad one. So, then it is time for a good one? I like lefties against the White Sox. Jose Quintana never has much luck, does he?
• The Cardinals over the Brewers: Now I've gone the other way and picked three straight road teams. Ack! I hate patterns! Carlos Martinez is a wild card and you just never know what will happen. Matt Garza is more predictable. He's usually terrible.
• The Rockies over the Giants: The Rockies have a better chance of being explosive at Coors than the Giants. Charlton Chris Heston goes for the Giants and he has been good. But that goes out the window in that atmosphere. Eddie Butler goes for the Rockies. Will he reach six full innings this season?
• The Pirates over the Diamondbacks: Thus far, Josh Collmenter has not repeated his success from 2014. Gerrit Cole will put the Cole in Collmenter.
• The Athletics over the Astros: Really good match-up here as Scott Kazmir faces Dallas Keuchel. I usually pay for picking against Keuchel, but I think the A's take this one as long as Kazmir has a good day.
• The Angels over the Rangers: Garretts and Jareds should all spell their names the same way. Keeping them straight is a yearly task. Garrett Richards looked decent coming off his knee surgery. Wandy Rodriguez is the wild card here. After bouncing around this spring, he is back home in Texas.
• The Dodgers over the Padres: Andrew Cashner has had two brilliant starts in a row. But his one bad start this season was against the Dodgers. Zack Greinke should prevail.

And the Pick of the Day:

• The Mariners over the Twins: Felix Hernandez should enjoy pitching against Minnesota. Phil Hughes has reverted back to a homer-giving machine. I don't see Hughes out-pitching King Felix.

Yesterday: 7-5, Season: 117-120, Picks of the Day: 9-9

MLB Game Picks - Tuesday: August 19, 2014

There are times when I wake up in the morning and I compare the actual results to my picks and figure I must have made a pick because the final score makes sense. Then, when I look at what I picked, it's the total opposite and I can't believe I made the pick I did. For example, the Cincinnati Reds are 10-20 since the All Star Break. These days, the odds are that they are going to lose. Yet, I have picked them three games in a row (all losses). I am indeed a slow learner.

How about Adam LaRoche giving the Nationals a third straight walk-off win? Pretty incredible. And it meant an extra-inning game went my way. Imagine that.

Tuesdays picks:

• The Nationals over the Diamondbacks: This is nothing against Chase Anderson, who has pitched very well this season. But the Nationals are ridiculous right now. Of course, that means I have to count on Stephen Strasburg. Oy. At least he is home where he is better.
• The Braves over the Pirates: Francisco Liriano has pitched fairly well in his last two starts and has two losses next to his name. The Pirates are a bit lost without Andrew McCutchen. Aaron Harang is my pick. Heaven help me with that.
• The Yankees over the Astros: I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop (cliche alert!) on Chris Capuano. He is not as good as he is pitching for the Yankees. On the other hand, the Astros give the Yankees an advantage of sorts. Brett Oberholtzer goes for them.
• The Mariners over the Phillies: This pick did not work out yesterday. However, Hisashi Iwakuma has been better than Elias. The on-again, off-again offense of the Mariners has to score against A.J. Burnett. The Mariners lose the DH.
• The Angels over the Red Sox: Jered Weaver has no velocity and he seems to bend every game but doesn't break. He is like the non-level-headed, right-handed Buehrle. But he has thirteen wins. So argue with that. Allen Webster has not pitched well at all for the Red Sox but keeps getting gobs of run support. So who knows.
• The Rays over the Tigers: I have a feeling about this one that Chris Archer is going to have a big night, Max Scherzer will give up three runs and the Rays will win, 3-1. The other scenario is that the Rays' bullpen outshines the Tigers and wins that way.
• The Marlins over the Rangers: The Rangers will be highly familiar with Jarred Cosart, but the same goes for he of them. That's a big ballpark in Miami which should help him. Miles Mikolas is hanging in there.
• The Cubs over the Giants: I'm going a little Cubs crazy the last couple of weeks. I have been right more often than not. I like what Tsuyoshi Wada is doing for them and I think the Cubs can hit Ryan Vogelsong at Wrigley.
• The Orioles over the White Sox: I have such empathy for Jose Quintana. He gets nothing to show for quality pitching outing after outing. And then his bullpen is just awful. Chris Tillman seems like he does it with mirrors, but it works.
• The Twins over the Indians: I have picked against Kyle Gibson all season because he doesn't strike anyone out. He has won more often than not though and I have to give him his due. Trevor Bauer still doesn't do it for me.
• The Brewers over the Blue Jays: Should I say it? Okay: Mike Fiers is on FIRE! Heh. I kill me. Fiers at home is a good pick as long as he stays away from Bautista and Encarnacion. J.A. Happ has had a nice season and is starting to hit a bit of a wall.
• The Cardinals over the Reds: Do not pick the Reds. Do not pick the Reds. Do not pick the Reds. Okay, I think I have it. Alfredo Simon has gone from All Star pitching over his head to Alfredo Simon of the rest of his career. John Lackey gets the ball for the Cards.
• The Royals over the Rockies: I am a bit worried about this one and James Shields pitching at Coors Field. This could be a wild one. Tyler Matzek goes for the Rockies.
• The Padres over the Dodgers: I can't for the life of me understand why the Dodgers picked up Kevin Correia. They must see something I don't. Ian Kennedy has had a nice season, all things considered.

And the Game of the Day:

• The Athletics over the Mets: The A's need to get back on track and so does Scott Kazmir. Both the pitcher and the team have struggled of late. The Mets should help out there as they haven't scored at all lately. Dillon Gee hasn't been the same since going on the DL.

Yesterday: 5-3, August: 138-105, Games of the Day: 75-55 (+2), Season: 1032-854

MLB Game Picks - Saturday: July 19, 2014

Did you soak it in last night when baseball finally got back to our living rooms or at the ballpark? I know I did. And it was a fairly good day. Heck, any day of a baseball season where I am in the black is a good day. I needed a walk-off by Josh Donaldson and a bullpen meltdown by the Orioles, but I'll take it.

That's the one problem with doing this and also by playing fantasy baseball: You end up happy when you know the heartbreak the fans for those teams are feeling. Oh well, it goes with the job description I suppose.

Saturday's picks:

• The Yankees over the Reds: Brandon McCarthy will make his presence felt and the Yankees will score enough on Alfredo Simon to make it work out. Simon is due for a loss and the Yankees are going to start playing better at home.
• The Blue Jays over the Rangers: The Rangers probably got the only win they will get this series. It is not safe for children when Colby Lewis pitches and Marcus Stroman will take care of what little offense the Rangers have.
• The Indians over the Tigers: These two teams are playing two games today. In the first game, the Tigers will give Drew VerHagen his MLB debut. His MiLB numbers are not overpowering and he is not considered a top prospect. So Corey Kluber is the pick.
• The Dodgers over the Cardinals: Joe Kelly wasn't great his first game back from the DL. I am a little worried about Zack Greinke getting Cardinals out, but his pitch count should stay in control since the Cards are a bit swing-happy.
• The Pirates over the Rockies: While I am not a big fan of Charlie Morton, I am going to pick him because nothing good ever happens when Brett Anderson pitches.
• The Nationals over the Brewers: Strasburg got me again last night. But Tanner Roark has been good to me this season. So I am going with him over Matt Garza. The Brewers look better after the break. They were a bit moribund before it.
• The Astros over the White Sox: Dallas Keuchel has given up at least four runs in his last four starts. But being lefty, he does pose a problem for Dunn and Adam Eaton. I think the Astros' young hitters will star in this game against Hector Noesi.
• The Red Sox over the Royals: The Red Sox will force Danny Duffy's pitch count up early and then feast on the middle relievers. Rubby De La Rosa needs to have a good game or this pick blows up. Until the Royals get a new manager, I will always find it hard to pick them.
• The Braves over the Phillies: Cole Hamels is 11-19 in his last 49 starts for the Phillies despite pitching well. So 38 of his last 49 games have either been losses or no decisions. Poor blighter. I'm going with the Braves and Aaron Harang.
• The Marlins over the Giants: Henderson Alvarez is always a good choice at home. He does have to face Tim Hudson though. Hudson has been shaky in his last few starts, but he is one of the best of his generation.
• The Rays over the Twins: Everything in this game points to a Rays' win. That's what scares me. David Price is on the mound and he has been terrific. Phil Hughes might run into a few bats, particularly Ben Zobrist or Matt Joyce.
• The Diamondbacks over the Cubs: Wade Miley has been on a nice run and seems back from the dead. Travis Wood is only throwing 88 MPH fastballs these days and hasn't had a great game in a while.
• The Mets over the Padres: In all the years I have been doing this, Dillon Gee has been my lucky charm. Picking him hardly ever goes against me. Of course, I probably just jinxed myself. Tyson Ross goes for the Padres.
• The Athletics over the Orioles: Wei-Yin Chen has done nothing but win games this season. But I like Josh Donaldson and Derek Norris against him today. Jason Hammel has to pitch well.
• The Angels over the Mariners: This one will be fun to watch! Felix Hernandez versus Garrett Richards. Both pitchers are 11-2. Both have been dominant. I'm going with the Angels because The King has been mostly just so-so against the Angels in his career. Huston Street closes the game?

And the Game of the Day:

• The Tigers over the Indians: The Tigers take the second game behind Max Scherzer who gets Zach McAllister for an opponent. Scherzer has been on a roll.

Yesterday: 9-6, July: 115-86, Games of the Day: 56-44, Season: 798-661