Saturday, September 21, 2013

MLB Game Picks - Saturday: September 21, 2013

12-3. Now that is one fine picking day. The only three incorrect picks included: the Pirates, who had the lead over the Reds late into that game and could not hold it; the Phillies who lost to Dice-K and guaranteed themselves a losing season and the Rangers whose bullpen was out-pitched by the Royals bullpen. But heck, I cannot complain about a day like that. Nice.

A week and a day to go. It is incredible that the regular season is almost over. Saturday's picks:

  • The Bay Rays over the Orioles: The Orioles had their chances yesterday and battled for eighteen innings! But they could not get it done and that was probably their best chance to win for the weekend. Alex Cobb beats Miguel Gonzalez.
  • The Yankees over the Giants: There is no place like home for the Yankees and Ryan Vogelsong has not had a good year. Ivan Nova has been shaky in his last few starts. But I think he comes up big today as the Giants' offense is not great.
  • The Braves over the Cubs: I want to pick Travis Wood. The poor guy has pitched his heart out all season to no avail. But Kris Medlen has had an excellent second half and the Braves win the game. Too bad Travis Wood could not have pitched against Alex Wood. That would have been fun.
  • The Athletics over the Twins: Pedro Hernandez is somewhat effective as a starter. And his left-handedness might foul up the A's a bit.  But the A's will win. The A's always win and the Twins always lose. So there you go. Jarrod Parker goes for the A's.
  • The Indians over the Astros: Things are starting to look good for the Indians. Easy schedule with everyone else beating each other. Go Tito. Scott Kazmir (woh-oh woh-oh) should win and Paul Clemens gets another loss.
  • The Reds over the Pirates: I am sorry Pirates fans. It looks like the wild card for you. I do not see A.J. Burnett beating Homer Bailey in this one.
  • The Nationals over the Marlins: I don't see the Nationals having enough time to get to the last wildcard spot. So I am not sure about the efficacy of starting Stephen Strasburg when his forearm has been giving him problems. Why not shut him down? He should have no problem beating the Marlins and Tom Koehler.
  • The Tigers over the White Sox: I thought I heard on MLB Network that Chris Sale was done for the season. But MLB.com has him listed today, so maybe I dreamed it. And of course, I cannot check Yahoo Sports because they have totally messed up their MLB page. This is not a ringing pick, but Rick Porcello is the pick.
  • The Brewers over the Cardinals: Yovani Gallardo at home? Yeah. Left-hander against the Cards? Yeah. Lance Lynn starting for the Cardinals? That could help the Cardinals. But I am not feeling them today.
  • The Rangers over the Royals: Jeremy Guthrie has such lousy peripherals. I have no idea how he wins games. But he does. So the Royals have a chance today. But Matt Garza seems the better pick, though Garza has been stumbling a bit lately. The Rangers are in some trouble.
  • The Blue Jays over the Red Sox: I am going with the Blue Jays today because picking against the hung over Dodgers yesterday worked so well. Clay Buchholz won't go deep into the game. Mark Buehrle wins.
  • The Rockies over the Diamondbacks: Collin McHugh was pretty effective against the Cardinals his last time out. I am not liking Trevor Cahill at Coors Field. But maybe I just want the D-backs to lose because of their whining.
  • The Dodgers over the Padres: I hate picking lame-duck teams that have already clinched. You never know how much effort they will produce. But Clayton Kershaw seems like a solid pick and Burch Smith can't be this good, can he?
  • The Angels over the Mariners: Joe Saunders. You never ever know how well he is going to pitch. Seventy percent of the time he is awful and then he will have these shut down games. Jerome Williams gets the nod.

And the Game of the Day:

  • The Mets over the Phillies: Dillon Gee will be rewarded for his excellent second half and Tyler Cloyd will keep missing the mark trying to stake a claim as a Major League pitcher.

Yesterday: 12-3
Week: 52-32
Month: 155-124
Season: 1297-1019
Games of the Day: 98-69

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