MLB Game Picks - Monday: September 15, 2014

Sunday ended up being a 10-5 day which erased some of the bad taste of Saturday. The Orioles moved closer to the inevitable division crown as did the Dodgers, Cardinals, Tigers and Nationals. With "magic numbers" now on the standings, it won't be long until some of these teams can start resting people and set up their post season runs.

Clayton Kershaw continued his fantastical season. The A's and Jon Lester took care of the Mariners with ease. Three blown saves actually helped my picks in two of them. Things are becoming clearer all the time with only two weeks left in the season.

I forgot one thing yesterday. Every win streak has been stopped at ten games. The Angels headed into yesterday at ten games. I should have known.

Twelve games are on the Monday schedule. Let's get to them:

• The Orioles over the Blue Jays: The O's have been swatting aside pretenders all season and Wei-Yin Chen has had a great season. The last time he faced the Blue Jays, however, he got cuffed around a little bit. But here is my final logic on the way the game goes: Marcus Stroman, who has been terrific, pitched a complete game his last time out. I have noticed all season that pitcher who do so have little success in their very next outing.
• The Mets over the Marlins: Jacob deGrom and Jarred Cosart have been very successful in their last two months. So who to go with? My rule has always been when both offenses cancel each other out and the pitching match-up cancels each other out, go with the home team.
• The Rays over the Yankees: Chris Capuano has fallen on hard times. Alex Colome is nothing great shakes, but he will look like Roger Clemens against the Yankees' offense. The Yankees hate playing in that trash dome.
• The Braves over the Nationals: Stephen Strasburg never pitches well in Atlanta. Never. Plus, he is weaker on the road than at home. Double whammy. Ervin Santana has had a nice season.
• The Reds over the Cubs: This game all depends on how well Alfredo Simon pitches. You know Travis Wood will give up three or four runs or more. So Simon is the key to the game.
• The Royals over the White Sox: I can't ever pick the White Sox with John Danks pitching. The guy sure is a mystery and he has been bad for a long time. How much longer will he keep getting the ball? James Shields needs to pitch well.
• The Astros over the Indians: I have had good success with Collin McHugh and if he can pitch through the sixth or seventh, he has been golden. Zach McAllister has not fared as well.
• The Rockies over the Dodgers: The Dodgers are likely to have a bit of a letdown after their big series against the Giants. Besides, Roberto Hernandez in Coors is scary. Christian Bergman goes for the Rockies.
• The Giants over the Diamondbacks: The Giants aren't dead despite their series loss to the Dodgers. They are only three back and also in the wild card hunt. Ryan Vogelsong is a weak link in their rotation, though. Wade Miley is unpredictable.
• The Angels over the Mariners: Hisashi Iwakuma is very good. But so is Matt Shoemaker and the Angels have the better offense. I'm going Angels here.
• The Phillies over the Padres: Andrew Cashner cannot seem to put it together after the Padres counted on him so heavily. Jerome Williams is just a fill-in pitcher for the Phillies, but if his sinker is on, he can be too.

And the Game of the Day:

• The Tigers over the Twins: Max Scherzer should have a good day today and Anthony Swarzak has spent most of the season in the Twins' bullpen. That's not a good combination.

Yesterday: 10-5, Sept.: 115-79, Games of the Day: 94-63 (+2), Season: 1245-1013

MLB Game Picks - Saturday: August 30, 2014

There we go! Two good nights in a row have nearly washed from memory the four straight losing nights that came before. The picks came through for eleven correct out of fifteen and are now 17-7 for the last two days.

Of the four incorrect picks, the Nationals hitting four homers off of Felix Hernandez was the biggest surprise. King Felix has not been king-like the last three outings. I did not expect the Yankees to win, but it took a whole lot of sloppiness by the Blue Jays to do so. I should have picked the Indians and not have given the Royals so much credit. And picking Miami to beat the Braves was just dumb.

But that was only four and thus, my coffee tastes that much richer this morning. And I better drink it fast because with two double-headers today, there are seventeen games to march through!

Saturday's picks:

• The Blue Jays over the Yankees: As always, it all depends on Drew Hutchison and which version of him will show up. He has been really good the last two outings. I have a feeling that the Blue Jays will hit a couple of bombs off of Michael Pineda.
• The White Sox over the Tigers: The first of a pair between these two teams today is a really tough choice between Max Scherzer and Chris Sale. Even if they cancel each other out, the two teams have awful bullpens. I like Sale against the Tigers' lineup moer than the other way around and feel like Jose Abreu will hit one out.
• The Cubs over the Cardinals: These two teams also play two games today. Justin Masterson was a huge mistake for the Cardinals in their stretch run. Bad trade. Felix Doubront gets the start for the Cubs and at least he has had some MLB success before.
• The Reds over the Pirates: Will Alfredo Simon's comeback game his last time out be the new norm or a one game reprieve? Can Vance Worley stop his losing streak at two? Tune in today to find out!
• The Orioles over the Twins: It sure seems like these Orioles have the division in the bag. They are just amazing, especially now that Chris Davis is back to being Chris Davis. I'll take Chris Tillman over Kyle Gibson.
• The Bay Rays over the Red Sox: Allen Webster had a big bump in his road his last time out. The Rays are frothing at the mouth for a win. Jake Odorizzi has a good day and the Red Sox stay in the cellar.
• The Royals over the Indians: Let's try this again. Why? Because James Shields is better than Vargas and Trevor Bauer is not as good as Salazar. Hey, that works for me.
• The Tigers over the White Sox: The second game of the double-header features two Major League debuts on the mound. Kyle Ryan and Chris Bassitt were both high round draft picks so have already beaten the odds. Ryan is a lefty with great control and a high contact rate. Bassitt is more of a power pitcher. I think I will go with the control/contact guy.
• The Braves over the Marlins: I am not making this mistake again. Aaron Harang has had a bad August and isn't the ideal pick. And Jarred Cosart has a chance to be dominating. But this may be a knee-jerk reaction to yesterday.
• The Phillies over the Mets: Jerome Williams just might be saving his career. He's had two big starts in a row for the Phillies since joining them. And, yeah, even Ryan Howard can hit a Bartolo Colon fastball.
• The Astros over the Rangers: Robbie Ross Jr. scares me to death with his ERA over six and some of the beat downs he has received. And Scott Feldman is probably a better bet at home than on the road.
• The Diamondbacks over the Rockies: The two starters here are a combined 5-17. What do you do with that? I feel like the D-backs are the better team so we'll go with that. The two pitchers are Tyler Matzek and Vidal Nuno.
• The Cubs over the Cardinals: Wait, the Cards can't lose two games of a double-header, can they? They can if they start Marco Gonzales in the second game. He has walked all kinds of people and has no idea. Tsuyoshi Wada on the other hand has been pro for the Cubbies.
• The Dodgers over the Padres: The Dodgers are playing pretty shabby these days. And the Padres are getting some nice pitching. Did you know, for example, that Ian Kennedy has more strikeouts than innings pitched this season? Blew me away when I saw that. But he is going to lose today anyway to Zack Greinke.
• The Athletics over the Angels: I'm not sure why the Angels would start reliever, Cory Rasmus, in this big game where they could get some distance from the A's. Drew Rucinski from the Arkansas Travelers might have been a better option. But there you go. The default is to go with Jeff Samardzija here.
• The Nationals over the Mariners: Oh, man. I have to pick Stephen Strasburg again. I hate that. I should love it, but he frustrates me every time. The pick is this way because the Nats' hitters are on fire and Roenis Elias won't slow them down much.

And the Game of the Day:

• The Brewers over the Giants: My man, Mike Fiers is on the hill today. I have to ride him like a pony to beat Jake Peavy today.

Yesterday: 11-4, August: 218-173, Games of the Day: 83-58 (+4), Season: 1112-922

MLB Game Picks - Monday: August 5, 2013

Yesterday was another pretty good day with ten out of fifteen correct. I guess I should have picked the Cardinals, eh? And I also guess that Ernesto Frieri is not the most popular member of the Angels right now. But, yeah, it was a good day and August has been excellent so far. I hope I can keep it up.

There are only nine games on the schedule today, but some very interesting match-ups. The red hot Tigers play the red hot Indians. And the Dodgers try to keep their winning streak alive against the slugging Cardinals despite the absence of Hanley Ramirez and Yasiel Puig. It should be an interesting day of baseball.

Monday's picks:

• The Nationals over the Braves: This series would have been interesting if the Nationals had the kind of season we all expected. As it is, the Braves are in front by a dozen and forget about last year's collapse. They have no contenders. Stephen Strasburg, though, will have a good day against Mike Minor.
• The Indians over the Tigers: Anibal Sanchez could show up as the unhitable version and that would put a wrench in this pick. But I like Corey Kluber at home for this one.
• The Cardinals over the Dodgers: This is a big time match-up between Zack Greinke and Adam Wainwright. If Hanley Ramirez and Yasiel Puig both miss the game, then Wainwright will not have much else to deal with. Meanwhile, Greinke has to face the Cardinals with all their guns.
• The Red Sox over the Astros: Brett Oberholtzer will present some problems for the Red Sox' lineup as he is an experienced pitcher who knows what he is doing. But the Astros cannot finish a game. Therefore, if John Lackey can keep the Astros' run total to a minimum, the Red Sox win.
• The Yankees over the White Sox: The return of Alex Rodriguez? The loss again of Derek Jeter. My, what a weird season for the Yankees this year. Andy Pettitte better have a good game because losing to Jose Quintana and the White Sox would be embarrassing.
• The Angels over the Rangers: Will Nelson Cruz be gone? Will he appeal? This is a picking day for the strong of heart. Jerome Williams figured it out last time after five bad starts in a row. Martin Perez is just okay.
• The Mariners over the Blue Jays: You have to figure that Hisashi Iwakuma will be very good at home in Seattle. He is hard to beat there. R.A. Dickey is having an up and down season. If today is one of those ups, the pick gets shot down.
• The Brewers over the Giants: This pick again is my Chad Gaudin phobia. I think the Brewers will hit him. And Tyler Thornburg has been pretty impressive in his early results. There are still too many walks, but he is pitching well.

And the Game of the Day:

• The Royals over the Twins: The Royals are having a good run lately, but still the fans are unhappy and it is hard to blame them. Another third place finish is hardly consolation over losing Wil Myers. But Jeremy Guthrie will have a good game and Kevin Correia will not.

Yesterday: 10-5

Week: 10-5

Month: 39-17

Season: 942-730

Games of the Day: 73-47

MLB Game Picks - Friday: July 12, 2013

Yesterday was a tough day and it was only a bit of success at the end of the day that led to a 6-6 record. The mediocre day put a bit of a damper on what has been a good week. First of all, I should have picked Danny Salazar, who was terrific. I picked against Danny Salazar and for Ross Wolf, two young pitchers. I got them both wrong even though Ross pitched a good game. His team could not score against Miguel Gonzalez. My beloved Jordan Zimmerman pitched another great game and deserved to win. But his team could not score against Kyle Kendrick. And Edwin Jackson, of all people, shut out the Cardinals. I felt that coming and did not pick it.

And so it was a tough day. Now we enter the final weekend before the All Star Break and I am looking forward to Monday. I need a couple of days as a break myself. Heck, I just write about these games. Imagine the grind of those who play it every day!

Friday's picks:

• The Cardinals over the Cubs: I debated on this one a long time. Both teams are starting long relievers. The Cards are going with Joe Kelly and the Cubs with Carlos Villanueva. Both are very useful pitchers who can never quite make a team's starting rotation. I think they cancel each other out and then I go with the better team.
• The Phillies over the White Sox: The White Sox are playing a little better. I should have picked Chris Sale yesterday and did not. But in this one, I see Jonathan Pettibone doing better than John Danks. And the White Sox lose a batter.
• The Indians over the Royals: Early in the season, I picked against Corey Kluber a lot. And then he got hot and it took me a while to come over to picking him. And then he got cold and I was on the wrong side again. He was great his last time out. So I am picking him. Bruce Chen is going for the Royals. Royals' fans have seen this before.
• The Yankees over the Twins: The Twins have traditionally struggled against the Yankees. These are not the same Yankees and it looks like Derek Jeter's return was for a day and won't play today probably. But Hiroki Kuroda is not a pitcher to pick against and Scott Diamond is.
• The Mets over the Pirates: I just wrote about Jeremy Hefner yesterday, so I have to pick him, right? Besides, I am not a big fan of Charlie Morton. Perhaps the Pirates went cold for going back to this blast to the terrible past for a pitcher.
• The Orioles over the Blue Jays: Mark Buehrle has been pitching well, but the Orioles have too good an offense and Chris Tillman is having a good season. It is tough to pick against the Orioles at home.
• The Tigers over the Rangers: Justin Grimm is not pitching well and has not made it past the fifth inning in his last four starts. Doug Fister is a strange case. He either pitches just fine or he is absolutely awful. What will today bring? He lives so much on the margins, that sometimes he just falls too close ot the cliff.
• The Nationals over the Marlins: The Nationals' offense has been so spotty and it wastes great outings from their big three starting pitchers. Stephen Strasburg has been no different. But he is so good that you have to pick him in any given game. Nathan Eovaldi will hope the Nats' bats are cold again.
• The Braves over the Reds: My gut is telling me that the Braves are going to club three homers against Bronson Arroyo today. And with Arroyo's homer-happy past, that is not a stretch. Kris Medlen will have to pitch a good game for this pick to come in though.
• The Diamondbacks over the Brewers: Tom Gorzelanny is one of those pitchers like Kyle Kendrick, who seem to live on the fringes awaiting their chance and do well once they get it. But I have to go with Patrick Corbin here.
• The Red Sox over the Athletics: The Red Sox never seem to lose. Ever. John Lackey has pitched very well this season. Jarrod Parker has had his ups and downs.
• The Angels over the Mariners: Yeah, yeah, Joe Saunders was terrific his last time out. Big deal. The Angels should still beat him up. Jerome Williams was having a great season until his last start. Can he rebound?
• The Dodgers over the Rockies: Suddenly, the Dodgers are relentless. Hairston, Ellis, Puig, Gonzalez and especially Hanley Ramirez, are all hitting the ball really well and the team is getting good pitching. All that could come together here against Juan Nicasio of the Rockies. The Rockies are sinking but have Troy Tulowitzki back. Clayton Kershaw goes for the Dodgers.
• The Giants over the Padres: The Padres are starting Sean O'Sullivan who has not started in the big leagues since 2011. His MLB K/9 is invisible but he was having a good strikeout season for him in the minors. I am not buying it though. But picking Chad Gaudin just goes against everything I stand for. Ugh!

And the Game of the Day!

• The Bay Rays over the Astros: The Astros are featuring the MLB debut of Jarred Cosart. Cosart was a 38th round draft pick the Astros obtained from the Phillies a couple of years ago (Oswalt deal?). He looks like he has a good arm, but his minor league record is filled with too many walks. I cannot pick that. Besides, David Price has come back with a vengeance from the DL.

Yesterday: 6-6

Week: 44-26

Month: 94-58

Season: 771-604

Games of the Day: 61-39

MLB Game Picks - Wednesday: July 3, 2013

There are two ways to look at yesterday. The first is that it was a bit of a letdown after doing so well on Monday. The second is that the day started at 0-4 and then was at 2-6 before pulling it out in the end to have a slightly positive day. I will have to sip more of my coffee before I decide if the glass is half empty or half full.

It sure was a poor start. The Pirates certainly did not start Jeff Locke. Instead, they started Brandon Cumpton. And yeah, I would have thought twice about that pick. Then, Stephen Strasburg threw seven scoreless innings, but so did Wily Peralta and the Brewers eventually won. Chien-Ming Wang was more of an emotional pick and not only did he not pitch well, but he was DFA'd after the game. Ouch. Jeremy Hefner was terrific again and Patrick Corbin lost his first game. The White Sox beat the Orioles. Seriously? And the Mariners blew up the Rangers. Weird.

But all hail Homer Bailey on his second career no-hitter. That pick started the comeback and it was great fun to watch. Thank you, MLB.tv!

Wednesday's picks:

• The Nationals over the Brewers: Since Strasburg is not pitching, and Ross Detwiler is, the Nats will score a bunch of runs. Look for Harper to do some damage to Kyle Lohse. Let's put it this way: If the Nats lose again, then they may not have a magical run in them that I expect.
• The Pirates over the Phillies: Okay, today Jeff Locke is pitching. Do we have that straight now? I have had good success picking Locke all season. The Phillies go with John Lannon (Imagine there's no strikeouts, it isn't hard to do).
• The Tigers over the Blue Jays: It is getting to critical mass now with Max Scherzer. How long can the streak last. That is the question with every pick each time he starts. He has a tough opponent in Josh Johnson and a tough lineup in the Blue Jays. You have to pick him until he loses, right?
• The Mets over the Diamondbacks: The D-backs sure don't feel like a first place club, do they? I cannot imagine a first place team running Randall Delgado out there again and again. Matt Harvey goes for the Mets and this game is featured on ESPN. Harvey is my first half Cy Young Award winner in the NL.
• The Orioles over the White Sox: We will find out how well Scott Feldman does with the Orioles. They are not wasting any time starting him. Hector Santiago goes for the White Sox and is a fly ball pitcher. A fly ball pitcher does not seem like a good recipe against the powerful Orioles.
• The Braves over the Marlins: I am afraid to pick the Marlins and Ricky Nolasco because he might be traded before the game even starts. Besides, Mike Minor should beat them anyway.
• The Reds over the Giants: Man, the Giants are struggling. And being no-hit is like the ultimate ouchie. Having Barry Zito pitch does not seem to be good timing after that either. Plus, they face Tony Cingrani, who has struck out 57 batters in 47+ innings. The one silver-lining for the Giants is that their lineup, such as it is, is set up well for lefties.
• The Rangers over the Mariners: It would make baseball sense for the Mariners to win with Saunders on the mound and lose with Felix Hernandez pitching, right? Besides, Derek Holland has pitched five times at Safeco Field and has never lost there and has a 0.68 ERA. I think he likes it there.
• The Indians over the Royals: Everything the Indians have done makes little sense, so losing with Scott Kazmir just goes with the flow. Carlos Santana walked three times yesterday and then did a guitar solo.  How can you lose with Santana and Led Zeppelin? Jeremy Guthrie gets a hard luck loss for the Royals.
• The Dodgers over the Rockies: The Dodgers are rolling now. If I was the NL West, I would be pretty nervous. Zack Greinke will give them a decent six innings. Puig will continue to make the highlight reel and the entire cast of characters over there wail on Tyler Chatwood.
• The Yankees over the Twins: The Twins have offered the woeful Yankees very little resistance in this series. P.J. Walters will not help the cause. The only question is how good CC Sabathia will be.
• The Bay Rays over the Astros: The opponent must be really bad when I pick Roberto Hernandez to win. Yup, it is the Astros. Bud Norris will look good but lose. Life will be normal. Great. I have just picked five straight home teams to lose. Criminy.
• The Athletics over the Cubs: Again, I do not want to get sucked in here. I could pick Matt Garza as he is pitching really well. But he might be traded any time now. So I pick him and some minor league pitcher pitches like yesterday. Going with Shrek Bartolo Colon seems safer.
• The Angels over the Cardinals: The Cards are going through a flat period. Their timely hitting with runners in scoring position is regressing to the mean a bit and their starting pitchers all seem to have one bad inning that deflates them. Plus, the Angels are playing well and Jerome Williams has been terrific. Shelby Miller, the victim.

And the Game of the Day!

• The Red Sox over the Padres: This is such a weird series, is it not? The Padres are way cross country from their home and get to play one of the best teams in the AL. Not fun for them. Jon Lester should win and it might not be pretty for Edinson Volquez pitching at Fenway. Speaking of Fenway, do the Red Sox ever play a road game?

Yesterday: 8-7

Week: 23-14

Month: 15-7

Season: 693-553

Games of the Day: 54-37

MLB Game Picks - Saturday: June 22, 2013

Oh, man. Back in the crapper I go. After a successful week that followed a prolonged slump, the picks went into the dumpster last night. The day started off just fine with a 3-1 start. But the lone wrong pick of those four was Scott Kazmir pitching a brilliant game against the Twins. From then on, Led Zeppelin started playing and Robert Plant was singing Kazmir. Whoa, whoa. And the most fitting loss was Cole Hamels whose team scored three runs for him in the second inning and never scored again. That, of course, was the Game of the Day and Hamels is now 2-11. Unfreaking amazing.

Whelp, all I can do is keep picking because the schedule remains relentless as baseball day follows baseball day. Here are Saturday's picks:

• The Rockies over the Nationals: The Rockies have lost eight of their last ten games and their last five in a row. You tell me if that is a coincidence that it all started by losing Troy Tulowitzki. But I think they snap out of it today against Dan Haren, who has not been fooling very many people so far this year. Jhoulys Chacin will have to have a good day though.
• The Yankees over the Bay Rays: See? No Vernon Wells in the lineup and the Yanks score six runs. Simple. Against another right-handed pitcher in Alex Colombe, maybe Wells will sit again. Zoilo Almonte! CC Sabathia better come up big though.
• The Blue Jays over the Orioles: I cannot lie. I love Chien-Ming Wang. I always have. And I am just thrilled that he has pitched very well in his two starts back in the majors. I wish it was for the Yankees instead of Phil Hughes, but what are you going to do. The Orioles' lineup could wreck him. But I have to pick him. Miguel Gonzalez goes for the Orioles.
• The White Sox over the Royals: A long time ago, I wrote that Wade Davis and Phil Hughes could be brothers. They are the same pitcher. Going with Jose Quintana instead.
• The Cubs over the Astros: Two down teams. One of them has to win. Which one will it be? The Astros lose a bat. The Astros cannot afford to lose a bat. I kind of like Travis Wood in a he-tries-hard-and-was-well-coached kind of way. Bud Norris? I just do not know what to make of the guy.
• The Marlins over the Giants: What has happened to the Giants? They have kind of fallen off the table a bit. Barry Zito is always capable of bamboozling the other team for six innings. He is just as capable of getting whiplash as Giancarlo Stanton hits a smash. So let's go with Jacob Turner again. He has been pitching well.
• The Mets over the Phillies: I have picked against Dillon Gee for the past month and he has been throwing like Greg Maddux. What is up with that? So I will go back to picking him and then he will go back the other way. I would like him over Jonathan Pettibone anyway.
• The Braves over the Brewers: The Braves' offense is so frustrating. There are so many strikeouts and it all depends on the night for them. They can score a ten spot or just as easily get shut out. At least the Brewers are giving them a hand today--Donovan Hand that is. Tim Hudson with the win.
• The Tigers over the Red Sox: Yeah, this pick did not work out well yesterday. And it is scary picking Max Scherzer. Not that he is not terrific. He is. But he cannot win all of his games can he? He has not lost yet. But with Buchholz out, the Red Sox are starting Allen Webster, who still has not shown he can get Major League hitters out. That said, he will pitch a shutout today. Just watch.
• The Diamondbacks over the Reds: Here we go again. Another pitcher with a spotless record in Patrick Corbin. Sheesh. I love the guy and even his no-decisions are the bomb. Mike Leake has been pitching well though and the Reds are a good team.
• The Dodgers over the Padres: The Padres are the hottest team in baseball. The Dodgers not. So why this pick? I think Zack Greinke shuts the Padres down and the Dodgers score just enough off of a rejuvenated Edinson Volquez to win.
• The Indians over the Twins: I have been riding the Corey Kluber wave and will keep doing so until the bubble burst. And his name is still fun to say in The Muppets' chef voice. Besides, I am not a big fan of P.J. Walters.
• The Angels over the Pirates: I hate this series. Both teams seem capable of winning. Jerome Williams has really been the Angels' best pitcher all season. Francisco Liriano has cooled off after a hot start to his season. Tough one.
• The Athletics over the Mariners: This one should be safe. The only games Aaron Harang pitches well are against the Yankees. Dan Straily has to be the pick here.

And the Game of the Day:

• The Cardinals over the Rangers: This pick looks too easy. And that is frightening. I think the Cardinals eat Martin Perez for breakfast and Shelby Miller strikes out ten Rangers. Tell me this is not a setup.

Yesterday: 5-10

Week: 47-39

Month: 147-142

Season: 610-491

Games of the Day: 46-34

MLB Game Picks - Wednesday: June 12, 2013

The picks took another beanball to the head last night. Oh, wait. That was the Dodgers. Which ironically, was one of the few correct picks of the day. I do not think players should be thrown at with baseballs, so I can barely stomach Zack Greinke throwing at a Diamondback player to retaliate for Puig getting hit in the nose with a pitch. But at least I can understand it and Greinke hit the guy where it could do no damage (even though that does not excuse it). But then Ian Kennedy threw a pitch at Greinke's head (and succeeded) and that has no place in baseball at all, and in my mind is a criminal act with a deadly weapon. Kennedy, long one of my favorite players, should be suspended for weeks for that act. All you have to do is look at what Brandon McCarthy has gone through to know that was the worst thing Kennedy could have done and inexcusable. Color it any way you want, but that was brutal, I do not care whose fan you are or what you say to excuse it. You never, ever, ever should throw at a player's head.

Anyway, it was another awful picking night in what has been an awful week and now even the month is in the red. Does anyone want to buy this feature from me? I obviously suck at it after four years of doing this. Sheesh. Maybe it is time for another opposite day. An opposite day is where I pick every team I think should lose to win to reverse gears. Nah. I cannot.

Wednesday's picks:

• The Angels over the Orioles: Maybe this is an opposite pick. Maybe I cannot believe what I see for stats from Jason Hammel. Maybe I think Jerome Williams is the best Angels' pitcher. Maybe I have nothing to lose. Maybe Mike Trout should be batting third so there might be someone on base when he hits a homer (29 of his 46 career shots are solos).
• The Tigers over the Royals: I would pick James Shields on just about any other occasion except pitching against Justin Verlander.
• The Reds over the Cubs: So I picked the Cubs twice in this series. Shame on me. So I learn my lesson the hard way and pick the Reds. But now watch Travis Wood beat Mike Leake. I am ready for it emotionally. It will happen.
• The Braves of the Padres: So now I have picked four straight home teams to lose. And I have that sinking feeling. But geez, the Braves should beat the Padres. The Braves should hit ten homers off of Edinson Volquez. Paul Maholm should be even better in a big ballpark. Should. Oh, crap.
• The Pirates over the Giants: Some of that Giants' mystique has been missing in recent weeks. And the only guy winning consistently is Barry Zito. So I might as well pick against him, right? But there is a reason. Francisco Liriano has been awesome. Ugh.
• The Bay Rays over the Red Sox: Come on, man, give me an easy one will ya!? Chris Archer is the kind of pitcher the Red Sox should eat for lunch. High homer rate. High walk rate. Young, inexperienced guy. All good so far. But then they start Alfredo Aceves, who could be awesome or awful depending on how the non-existent wind in that dome blows.
• The Marlins over the Brewers: Egads. Is this Alfredo night, or what? This time it is Alfredo Figaro Figaro Figaro pitching for the Brewers. Kevin Slowey benefits perhaps from Giancarlo Stanton and Logan Morrison being back in the Marlins' lineup.
• The Rangers over the Indians: The Indians have had a good series at the Rangers' expense. But sooner or later, you would think the Rangers would explode at home. While I am not a big fan of picking the Rangers to win when Nick Tepesch is pitching, the thought is that the Rangers hit Ubaldo Jimenez at home.
• The Twins over the Phillies: So the Phillies could not beat the Twins with Hamels on the mound. Are they going to win with Tyler Cloyd and his 4.91 K/9 rate? It does not seem likely except that Mike Pelfrey is pitching for the Twins. Oy.
• The White Sox over the Blue Jays: This pick went south yesterday late in the game when the Blue Jays pulled it out with a White Sox' blown save. Perhaps a save will not be in the offing with Chris Sale on the mound against Esmil Rogers.
• The Rockies over the Nationals: The Nationals were supposed to be in the World Series this year. But Bryce Harper is wearing a brace on his knee. Strasburg has a pulled muscle. And the Nats are reduced to starting Ross Ohlendorf. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Jorge De La Rosa should take advantage.
• The Yankees over the Athletics: Phil Hughes pitches better outside of Yankee Stadium and the A's lost Cespedes to yet another leg muscle injury. Dan Straily, though, will have a wimpy Yankees' offense to deal with. I will be in bed by the time this pick goes wrong.
• The Dodgers over the Diamondbacks: Yes, Patrick Corbin is 9-0 and deservedly so. He has been that good. But he goes against Hyun-jin Ryu in this one and that should be the difference  with the Dodgers at home. Hopefully, the bean ball wars are over.
• The Mariners over the Astros: The Astros made Aaron Harang look like Tom Seaver last night. So Jeremy Bonderman should look like a Cy Young Award candidate. Meanwhile, Jordan Lyles is 3-1 so far this season, so I could look like a dope again.

And the Game of the Day!

• The Cardinals over the Mets: Dillon Gee has been pretty good lately. But he is facing the Cardinals. The awesome Shelby Miller is pitching for the Cardinals and is facing the Mets. Now that is a pick I can at least feel good about. That makes one today.

Yesterday: 6-9

Week: 16-25  Isn't that pretty

Month: 74-75  man oh man

Season: 537-425

Games of the Day: 42-28