Saturday's games do not look like fun to pick. There is a rookie making his debut. There are other young pitchers who have had various results. There are the enigmas of the Twins and Red Sox. And Bartolo Colon again gives us the question of how long he can keep pitching as well as he has. Let's take a look:
- The Reds over the Cubs: The only question here is if Bronson Arroyo can keep the Cubs in the park after giving up three homers in his last outing. The Reds should hit Casey Coleman.
- The Red Sox over the Twins: Clay Buchholz looked much better in his last outing and while the Twins never seem to lose behind Brian Duensing, you have to go with the Red Sox at home.
- The Bay Rays over the Orioles: Jeremy Guthrie is a lot better pitcher than people give him credit for, but Hellickson can be very good too. Have to go with the Tampa Bay Rays, who simply are the better team.
- The Tigers over the Blue Jays: On paper, this is a good match up between Justin Verlander and Ricky Romero. But Romero was pushed back two days with a strain in his midsection. That's never good. Verlander will be tough. Will Bautista be back for this game? Haven't heard.
- The Cardinals over the Brewers: The Brewers have lost several in a row and the reaction is to want to go with the law of averages that they are bound to win some time. With Yovani Gallardo due to break out of his pitching woes, today would seem like the day. But the Cardinals are rolling and Lohse has been good except for his last start against the Marlins. Torn on this one.
- The Braves over the Phillies: So much is going on in this game. How will Julio Teheran do in his MLB debut? If he can give the Braves five good innings, the Braves' bullpen is good enough to win it. The Phillies go with Kyle Kendrick taking Oswalt's place. Kendrick simply isn't very good plus he hasn't started all year. Won't go long.
- The Astros over the Pirates: Morton has been decent for the Pirates, but Bud Norris has been electric. The Fan never thought he would ever type that last sentence. But it's true.
- The Mets over the Dodgers: Chris Young versus Jon Garland in the battle of the junk-ballers. Young's slop has been more effective than Garland's. How far will Ethier go?
- The Royals over the Athletics: The Royals should bunt about ten times this game as McCarthy can't seem to make the play. Can't give a ringing endorsement to the Royals though as they have to hope Hochevar gives them a decent start. Hosmer gets his first hit today.
- The Nationals over the Marlins: This is the upset pick of the day. Volstad is completely unreliable while Gorzelanny will battle you and keep you in the game. Still waiting for Jayson Werth to have a big game.
- The Yankees over the Rangers: Riding the Colon wave until he proves otherwise. Holland with the loss. The Yankees gave him his only loss of the season.
- The Diamondbacks over the Padres: Daniel Hudson has to have a good first inning to win. Dustin Moseley goes for the Padres. He's been great, but will he get any run support?
- The Giants over the Rockies: Bumgarner is 0-5. Did you ever think that would happen after that World Series? He gets his first win tonight. Emil Rogers started the season great but has fallen apart lately.
- The Mariners over the White Sox: This little voice keeps whispering: "The White Sox aren't this bad. The White Sox aren't this bad." But gee, they keep losing game after game. Doug Fister doesn't inspire a great deal of confidence, but he's not a bad pitcher. Gavin Floyd seems like a good pitcher, but the results aren't there. Ugh! What a hard game to pick!
And the Game of the Day!
- The Angels over the Indians: Alex White was good in his debut, but it's doubtful he will go beyond five innings. He faces Jared Weaver. Angels win.
Yesterday: 9-6
Week: 41-40
Month: 41-40
Season: 253-223
Games of the Day: 17-20 Doggone this feature!
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