Another bad day finished off a bad week in what has so far been a bad month. Yes, that is a
whole lot of bad thrown in there. The Game of the Day feature was rained out. That has
never happened before. Aces like Justin Verlander and C.C. Sabathia were not sharp. And
that Teixeira out call at first? Terrible. The Cardinals keep losing. And, yeah, that Astros pick
was stupid. Sorry. Then again, so was the Red Sox pick. Golly, they are awful. September
has not been kind and it is time to turn it all around.
There are sixteen games today with a double header to make up the rained out game in
Philadelphia yesterday. That is a lot that can go right...or wrong. It should be a fun day either
way. Seriously, this is just a daily feature that doesn't ruin the fact that baseball is the bomb
and the greatest sport on earth. Here are Sunday's picks:
- The Phillies over the Rockies: The pick is the same as yesterday since the match up is the same: Cole Hamels should always be a winner over Tyler Chatwood.
- The Reds over the Astros: Edgar Gonzalez is one of those nice stories of persistence. The guy had been toiling away in the Mexican Leagues and here he is pitching in the majors. The only problem is that he is facing a tough lineup that should scratch out three runs or so and that should be enough for Johnny Cueto to win the game.
- The Pirates over the Cubs: Jeff Locke? Chris Rusin? Whuh? Who are these guys? And how is a picker supposed to pick between them? Who knows.
- The Marlins over the Nationals: Twelve days ago, Ricky Nolasco shut out the Nats. Can he do it again? Maybe not, but he is the Marlins best chance to win today. Edwin Jackson has been his typical inconsistent self. You never know from start to start what you will get.
- The Orioles over the Yankees: Back to wanting rather to be pleasantly surprised than a crushed expectation. Zach Britton over Freddy Garcia.
- The Red Sox over the Blue Jays: Yeah, you're right. The Red Sox are picked day after day like they are still good and they never win. Understood. But geez, Clay Buchholz is still a good pitcher, right? The suckiness of his team doesn't change that, right? Carlos Villanueva is pretty good, but he shouldn't be as good as Buchholz. Not in a normal world. But what about the Red Sox has been normal this season?
- The Bay Rays over the Rangers: James Shields is a first-rate pitcher who knows how to get outs and is consistently good from outing to outing. He is very similar to how Roy Oswalt used to be. The trouble for the Rangers is in that used to be status.
- /The Indians over the Twins: The Twins have been playing much better ball than the Indians. But Esmerling Vazquez just does not provoke any confidence at all. Not that Corey Kluber does, but on the scale of one to ten, Kluber is at least a three while Vazquez is a two or a one.
- The Royals over the White Sox: Jeremy Guthrie! Who would have ever thought after the first month of the season that a Guthrie start would be a glimmer of hope for the team he was pitching for? Guthrie was a brilliant pickup for the Royals. He should beat Hector Santiago, who really isn't a starter and is asked to be one now.
- The Cardinals over the Brewers: Come on, Cardinals, it is UCB Weekend! You have to win at least one of the games! Send those people home happy. Even if Joe Kelly is starting. The good news is that Shaun Marcum isn't that great this season either.
- The Angels over the Tigers: Angels' fans are singing: "Our deadline pitcher is better than yours is." Theirs is Zack Greinke. The Tigers' is Anibal Sanchez. Good, but not as good as Greinke.
- The Padres over the Diamondbacks: Andrew Werner will go six innings and give up two runs. That is exactly what he has done in each of his three starts so far this season. That's pretty darn consistent. Or a fluke and if so, this pick is dead. Patrick Corbin goes for the D-backs and he has been decent.
- The Mariners over the Athletics: Jason Vargas has been an A's killer all season and Vargas has had his best season in the majors. The A's Tommy Milone has been hit or miss lately. He is therefore, tough to rely upon and just as tough to count out.
- The Phillies over the Rockies: Drew Pomeranz will probably be good for his four innings. No guarantees after that. Tyler Cloyd has been a nice surprise for the Phillies since he was called up to join the rotation.
- The Dodgers over the Giants: It seems like whenever this feature picks Clayton Kershaw, he doesn't win. Why is that? But he really should win over Barry Zito on national television, shouldn't he? It would be stupid to expect the pick to be anything else.
And the Game of the Day!
- The Braves over the Mets: The Braves have destroyed the Mets in this series. Granted, both teams will put out their least effective starters out there today in Tommy Hanson and Chris Young. But Hanson is at least supposed to be good even if he hasn't been.
Yesterday: 6-8
Last week: 45-49
Month: 51-59
Season: 1139-916
Games of the Day: 87-63
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