Saturday, July 28, 2012

Game Picks - Saturday: July 28, 2012

After one of the best picking days ever on Wednesday, the last two days have turned completely ugly and have given back all of Wednesday's gains. And yes, this picker is pretty darned ticked off about the entire thing. The Game of the Day was typical of how the entire day went. The Giants started Matt Cain, one of the best pitchers in the majors against an emergency minor league pitcher for the Dodgers. And the Dodgers won. Kip Wells won another game. Talk about your improbable. And the usually reliable Orioles' bullpen totally pooched another pick. It was just that kind of day.

Saturday has to be better. It is going to be better. The picks:

  • The Cardinals over the Cubs: Jeff Samardzija just threw a gem against the Pirates and the Cardinals never score for Joe Kelly. But, the pick is the Cards. They have the better team and the lineup is deeper with Berkman in there.
  • The Tigers over the Blue Jays: This is another pick that went south yesterday. Everything depends on how Anibal Sanchez does in his first start for the Tigers. And much will depend on if the Tigers can get to Henderson Alvarez in the first inning when he is the most vulnerable.
  • The Dodgers over the Giants: Okay, so this pick was wrong yesterday. What about today? Chad Billingsley is the hardest pitcher in baseball to predict. Barry Zito has been uncommonly and unexpectedly good. Which one will pitch worse?
  • The Mariners over the Royals: Can the Royals fall any harder? Gosh, this has been a bad season for this franchise. Bruce Chen goes for the Royals against Kevin Millwood. Yeah, not a fun match up to figure.
  • The Athletics over the Orioles: This picker has to ride the A's as long as they are out of their minds. The big reservation is going with Bartolo Colon. But Tommy Hunter is about the same and thus the hotter team should win.
  • The Pirates over the Astros: So Wandy Rodriguez makes his first start as a Pirate against his former team. Nice symmetry there. The Astros will go with the seventh life of Armando Galarraga. Yes, you heard that right.
  • The Twins over the Indians: Right now, the Twins are a better team than the Indians. Their offense is much better. Whether Sam Deduno is better than Justin Masterson, well, that seems doubtful. It just feels like a Twins win. Now isn't that scientific?
  • The Braves over the Phillies: Another loss pretty much seals the Phillies' fate this season. And they turn to Joe Blanton, who should not be able to hold back the Braves' offense. Mike Minor needs to be good for the Braves though and that is counting on him a lot more than this picker probably should.
  • The Padres over the Marlins: Ross Ohlendorf is the unlikeliest of pitchers to pick here. But the Marlins are dead in the water and a start by the newly acquired Nathan Eovaldi won't help.
  • The Nationals over the Brewers: Jordan Zimmermann should shine in this one. Few people know that the young Nats pitcher is near the top of the leaderboard in WAR this season. He's been that good. The Brewers counter with Randy Wolf, who can be pretty good in his home ballpark.
  • The Rangers over the White Sox: It was Phil Humber that threw the perfect game right? Doesn't that seem like an eternity ago? Has the thrown a good game since? Nope. Matt Harrison, on the other hand, is one of the most underrated pitchers in the majors.
  • The Reds over the Rockies: Johnny Cueto would be a Cy Young Award candidate if the vote were to happen this week. He's had that good a season. Whether that translates to Coors will remain to be seen. Christian Friedrich has shown flashes of okay at times this season.
  • The Diamondbacks over the Mets: Chris Young does not inspire a whole lot of confidence. The D-backs have several hot hitters in Goldschmidt, Kubel and their second baseman. Ian Kennedy must pitch well though for this pick to work out.
  • The Angels over the Bay Rays: The Rays just can't hit. And they are running out of time until Evan Longoria comes back. Matt Moore has shown signs of his promise but too often does not live up to the hype. C.J. Wilson should win the game.

And the Game of the Day!

  •  The Yankees over the Red Sox: After watching this series start yesterday, the Red Sox sure are a lifeless, joyless bunch. It is sad to watch. Jon Lester has not been good. C.C. Sabathia has a lot of holes in the Red Sox lineup to exploit.

Yesterday: 6-9
Week: 42-39
Month: 181-143
Season: 813-659
Games of the Day: 62-46

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