Game Picks - Wednesday: August 22, 2012

The Yankees, Dodgers and Rays all lost. And a few other picks went wrong like the Pirates (sad sigh). But overall, not a bad picking day. Heck, for the first time ever, the Mariners were picked as the Game of the Day and they won! Score one for the northwest. Tim Lincecum picked a fine time to show up and Ivan Nova can stop showing up anytime now. David Price shutout the Royals. But the Royals won anyway. Whuh? Not that this picker is complaining about that though. The Orioles beat the Rangers which was totally unexpected here. Give the O's credit, they are hanging tough.

So what lessons were learned on Tuesday? The Royals are better than the Yankees? Perhaps right now they are. There are sixteen games today as the Marlins and D-backs play two. Whatever lessons were learned, let's hope they are put to good use for Wednesday's picks:

• The Rays over the Royals: James Shields has been dominant lately and the Rays should get to Luis Mendoza. But at least the Royals had a great game on Tuesday night.
• The Athletics over the Twins: Tommy Milone has been awful his last three starts and is now 9-9 after a really good start to his season. But he should win today as the Twins have given the starting ball back to Liam Hendriks and that has not been fun for Twins fans all season.
• The Diamondbacks over the Marlins: This is one tough pick to make. It will be a battle of pitching prospects. The Marlins will start Jacob Turner, the pitcher they got from the Tigers in the Anibal Sanchez trade. The D-Backs will give Tyler Skaggs his major league debut. Skaggs was one of the big pieces in the Dan Haren deal. Who kows which prospect will respond better to the pressure.
• The Mariners over the Indians: This picker likes Zach McAllister and it is tough to pick against him. But these Mariners are on a roll and Hisashi Iwakuma is showing why he was such a star in Japan.
• The Braves over the Nationals: The Braves will salvage one game of this series, but it will be too little too late as the Nats have just about buried them for the division. Ross Detwiler has been very good but Kris Medlin has been really good.
• The Reds over the Phillies: The Phillies are going nowhere. So why then are they pitching Vance Worley with a bone chip in his elbow? Geez, Louise, have the kid get that thing out of there and come back strong in Spring Training. Bronson Arroyo starts for the Reds.
• The Tigers over the Blue Jays: The Blue Jays are, of course, in Canada. So it is only fitting that whenever this picker considers Aaron Laffey, an old song by the Canadian group, the Guess Who comes to mind. "Laffey, he he heh heh ha ha. Laffey, ha Ha ha hahaha." Apologies to Laffey's family. Anibal Sanchez goes for the Tigers and it is time to start earning his keep.
• The Red Sox over the Angels: In a battle of aces, Clay Buchholz will out-duel Jered Weaver. That is all.
• The Mets over the Rockies: Matt Harvey only has thirty innings left on his 2012 allotment. He will look to make them count and should be able to shut down the Rockies' offense. Jeff Francis will cough up three or four runs. That will be enough for the Mets.
• The Rangers over the Orioles: Tommy Hunter will pitch against his old team and it won't go well. Derek Holland needs to put it together heading into the post season. This will be a good outing to start that going.
• The White Sox over the Yankees: Picked the Yankees the first two games of the series and got burned. Phil Hughes is inconsistent and Chris Sale has been consistently awesome for the White Sox. The Yankees aren't beating up on lefties as much as they were earlier in the season.
• The Cardinals over the Astros: You do know of course, that this picker could cheat and put the Astros in the Game of the Day every day, right? But that would be cheap and not in the spirit of this series. Then again, this picker is still steaming about the Brad Mills thing. Anyway, Kyle Lohse beats Bud Norris who used to have a hex on the Cards. But that was back when the Astros had a few players.
• The Pirates over the Padres: Skipped over this pick earlier for some reason. James McDonald needs a big game to boost up the sagging Pirates. The Pirates do have the advantage in this game as the Padres are starting a kid named Andrew Werner, whose minor league numbers are not impressive.
• The Diamondbacks over the Marlins: Wade Miley has been very, very good this season. Whoever thought he would be the D-backs' ace this season? He will beat Wade LeBlanc, one of those pitchers that hangs on in the majors because of experience more than talent.
• The Giants over the Dodgers: This series has been a disaster for the Dodgers. And can we stop the "whatever will the Giants do without Melky" meme now? Sheesh, give it a rest already. The Dodgers have already lost the first two games and get to face Matt Cain in the finale. Fun, fun, fun. Chris Capuano will try to make a game of it.

And the Game of the Day!

• The Brewers over the Cubs: Yovani Gallardo is starting to hit as well as pitch well. And he should be a lock at home. Travis Wood will try to give the Cubs a fighting chance. 

Yesterday: 9-6

Week: 25-17

Month: 170-123

Season: 1012-803

Games of the Day: 75-58