Wednesday, August 08, 2012

Game Picks - Wednesday: August 8, 2012

If Wednesday is Hump Day, then Tuesday was lump day as the picks took a beating yesterday. The Athletics showed this picker up and made him choke on his own words. The Marlins won again. Whuh? Lance Lynn lost. The Yankees lost. The Red Sox lost. The Mariners had the Orioles and then bad umpiring and lousy relief pitching blew that pick. The Pirates lost. The Reds lost. The White Sox lost. Ugh! It was awful.

Naturally, the bad day tightened up the week's tally. So we have to work on that today. Come on, Wednesday! Here are the picks:

  • The Indians over the Twins: Yes, the Indians have lost ten in a row. Yes, that streak has to end some time. Yes, Brian Duensing is the guy that is going to bust the streak. Yes, Justin Masterson is going to have a good game for a change. Yes, this sure is a pie-in-the-sky pick.
  • The Rangers over the Red Sox: Matt Harrison is a very good pitcher. Matt Harrison is going to get ground balls. Josh Beckett is a back waiting to cramp. Josh Hamilton has some swag back. He even walked yesterday.
  • The Reds over the Brewers: Johnny Cueto seemed like a sure pick yesterday. Mat Latos sure seems like a good pick today. Is that scary? Yes. Randy Wolf can be tough at times. But the Reds are certainly the better team.
  • The Angels over the Athletics: Yeah, how did this pick work out yesterday? Granted. But these games are why the Angels got Zack Greinke. Dan Straily looks like he is going to be a stud. But in this game, Trout and Trumbo do him in.
  • The Padres over the Cubs: Alfonso Soriano is having a hand issue. He is most of the Cubs offense behind Rizzo. So it matters little what Jeff Samardzija does. The Padres will outhit the Cubs and win behind Clayton Richard.
  • The Diamondbacks over the Pirates: Ian Kennedy is back in form and that is what this pick is based on. Kevin Correia is usually tolerable at home but Kennedy is the pick here.
  • The Braves over the Phillies: Yes, this pick was wrong yesterday. But Kyle Kendrick is no Cole Hamels and the Braves should score at least five. Meanwhile, Tim Hudson has been terrific and should get the job done.
  • The Yankees over the Tigers: C.C. Sabathia finally looked like an ace his last time out. He'll need to keep that going and be the stopper here in this one as the Yankees have dropped the first two and their lead in the AL East is shrinking. The Tigers got Anibal Sanchez to win these kinds of games. So we'll see what happens.
  • The Mariners over the Orioles: The Orioles had to use today's starter, Tommy Hunter, in the bullpen in last night's marathon. So they called up some guy named Steve Johnson. That gives the Mariners the edge with Kevin Millwood.
  • The Mets over the Marlins: What is to believe in this game? Nathan Eovaldi was great in his first game for the Fish, but terrible last time. Chris Young has been terrible most of the year but looked terrific his last time out against the Giants. So...which is reality? Who knows.
  • The Blue Jays over the Rays: This pick would feel a lot better if Jose Bautista was not still out. But Alex Cobb struggles at home for some reason and is the Rays fifth starter. He's had some good games. But, still. Carlos Villanueva will need to bounce back from his first loss of the season last time out.
  • The White Sox over the Royals: The Royals are like Ground Hog Day (the movie). It seems like every day, Bruce Chen is pitching. The White Sox win this one behind the well- rested, Jose Quintana.
  • The Giants over the Cardinals: Ryan Vogelsong is quite the story and the Giants have won thirteen of his last sixteen starts. Meanwhile, Joe Kelly has been closing the window with all kinds of gaseous fumes building up and the room has yet to blow up. Sooner or later, all those base runners will catch up to the young man.
  • The Dodgers over the Rockies: The Rockies have won two straight. Imagine that. Jeff Francis will try to keep it going and is capable of a good game. This pick is counting on the Chad Billingsley good version and not the bad one.

And the Game of the Day!

  • The Nationals over the Astros: Those Astros are still spunky which is a credit to them. If Bernadina hadn't made that catch yesterday... Anyway, Gio Gonzalez gets back on track for the Nats and Armando Galarraga continues his fringe career with a fringy performance.

Yesterday: 5-10
Week: 23-20
Month: 55-44
Season: 897-730
Games of the Day: 67-52

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