Friday, June 03, 2011

Game Picks - Friday: June 3, 2011

Thursday's short schedule wasn't kind and the another-year-older game picker got his nose wiped. But the other side of the coin is that with so few games, there couldn't be too much damage done. Writing yesterday's piece, the Fan mentioned that every game was fraught with danger, and so it turned out. Jose Reyes was back with the Mets and they responded with a rousing comeback to bury the Pirates. Lance Lynn was good for the Cardinals and looked like he belonged but shoddy defense and two homers did him in. Carlos Carrasco was awful for the Indians who took it on the chin from the Rangers. Bud Norris was better than Tim Stauffer and the Padres committed three errors to practically hand the Astros a win.

All that was bookended by the only two correct picks as Anthony Swarzak pitched another good game and the Twins won a game and King Felix did what he does and the Mariners scored often against James Shields, who is back to his homer inducing ways again. At least that was the Game of the Day, so that helped. Oh well, bad days happen.

On to Friday:

  • The Rangers over the Indians: Alexi Ogando has the winning tough as the Rangers never lose when he is pitching. The offense of the Rangers is whole and on fire. That's not good news for Justin Masterson, who has struggled lately.
  • The Orioles over the Blue Jays: If Zach Britton can hold on for five or six innings until Carlos Villanueva tires, the Orioles' bullpen will win this over the Blue Jays' bullpen.
  • The Mets over the Braves: Jonathan Niese beat the Phillies his last time out and Atlanta is really struggling to score runs of late. The Mets should hit and run a lot against Derek Lowe.
  • The Reds over the Dodgers: We have two pitchers struggling in this one. Hiroki Kuroda has been crunched in his last two starts and Bronson Arroyo has been murdered in his last two. They cancel themselves out and the Reds win as the home team.
  • The Brewers over the Marlins: Alas, the Marlins never have home field advantage. Ricky Nolasco's career ERA against the Brewers is 8.66. Since Randy Wolf started pitching to catcher Will Nieves, he's become unbeatable. Strange that.
  • The Red Sox over the Athletics: Josh Outman has been good, but he faces Clay Buchholz and the Red Sox will be fierce after their disastrous series against the White Sox.
  • The Tigers over the White Sox: The White Sox had quite a series against the Red Sox. But Andrew Oliver should shut down their offense while the Tigers score enough against Mark Buehrle to win.
  • The Royals over the Twins: This is a tough call. Danny Duffy has been iffy in his three starts but hangs in there. Carl Pavano is not having a good season and has a history of struggling against the Royals with an ERA over six. The Royals slug their way to victory in this one.
  • The Cardinals over the Cubs: Ryan Dempster has been good lately, but most of that good pitching has been at home. The Cardinals should score off him. Jaime Garcia had a really bad first inning last time out and never recovered. That start was a blip on what has been a steady two-year career.
  • The Diamondbacks over the Nationals: Yunesky Maya still hasn't won a major league start. Josh Collmenter has already reached legendary status. The legend continues.
  • The Astros over the Padres: These are two bad teams. J. A. Happ has a 3.32 ERA in his last seven starts. Dustin Moseley is showing cracks in his low strikeout performances. Which defense will kick the most balls around?
  • The Yankees over the Angels: Everything about this game screams an Angel win. Jared Weaver versus Ivan Nova? But somehow, the Yankees win this game.
  • The Mariners over the Bay Rays: Jason Vargas is not the real reason the Mariners win this game. The Rays should score a few off of him. The real reason the Mariners win is because Andy Sonnanstine gets the start for the Rays. Not good.
  • The Rockies over the Giants: Juan Nicasio looks like he has no-hit stuff. Matt Cain has been very hittable. Going with the Rockies in this one.

And the Game of the Day:

  • The Phillies over the Pirates: Cole Hamels has nine quality starts in ten tries and the Phillies have won all nine of those games. That's as close to a lock as you can get. Jeff Karstens goes for the Pirates who have hit a tough patch.

Yesterday: 2-5
Week: 39-29
Month: 12-10
Season: 455-377
Games of the Day: 37-27

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