Thursday, September 19, 2013

MLB Game Picks - Thursday: September 19, 2013

Wednesday was a brutal picking day. There were five extra-inning games and four of them went the opposite way of the picks. What are the odds of that? There were two blown saves, one by Sergio Romo and the other by Mark Melancon. Both of those went against me. So that is six incorrect picks right there. The Yankees woke up suddenly and I did not expect that. Justin Verlander was terrible again and the Orioles beat the Red Sox, so that is two more incorrect picks. You can begin to get the picture of how bad the day was.

I usually use MLB.com's schedule to get the pitching match-ups. The first picture I see there is Mitch Williams' stupid face. I am not having a good morning.

Thursday's picks:

  • The Pirates over the Padres: Let's try this one more time. Gosh, the Pirates are not going to lose four in a row to the Padres are they? Gerrit Cole tries to prevent it. Ian Kennedy will try to cause it. Not good for the Pirates this week.
  • The Tigers over the Mariners: I did not know what to do with this one. The Tigers are not playing well right now and Doug Fister is hit or miss. Plus, James Paxton has made two starts totally twelve innings and has only given up six hits. I am going with a low scoring game that the Tigers eek out at the end.
  • The Giants over the Mets: Another tough one. Jonathon Niese has had a very good second half. But then Madison Bumgarner is one of the best pitchers in the National League. The Giants blew it yesterday. I look at the Mets' lineup and wonder how they ever score. Going with the Giants.
  • The Cardinals over the Rockies: Who in their right mind thought the Rockies signing Roy Oswalt was a good idea? Sure, Oswalt was once an elite pitcher. And he might do okay in a big ballpark. But in Colorado? Predictably, he is 0-6 with an ERA over seven. His one start at Coors was brutal. Michael Wacha will need to have a good game though or else this will be more of a football score.
  • The Diamondbacks over the Dodgers: This is another game I went back and forth on. Ricky Nolasco had been brilliant and then got bombed in his last start. Wade Miley has had an excellent second half. The Dodgers hit better on the road. The Diamondbacks are playing to delay the Dodgers clinching and won last night. Ugh!
  • The Indians over the Astros: The Indians' schedule sure has been soft. The White Sox and now the Astros? I cannot see them losing this game. Ubaldo Jimenez has had a great second half and Dallas Keuchel is brave if not much else for going out there every five days.
  • The Nationals over the Marlins: The Nats are intent on going out with a bang and they certainly are. They have won ten of their last eleven games. Gio Gonzalez goes for the Nationals and Henderson Alvarez goes for the Marlins. I miss Jose Fernandez.
  • The Yankees over the Blue Jays: Todd Redmond pitched well against the Yankees his last time out and Hiroki Kuroda has sort of hit a wall in his last month of starts. But that late rally gave the dying Yankees some faint hope and they will win the game.
  • The Orioles over the Red Sox: The theme all year is that the Red Sox do not score for John Lackey. On the other hand, he has more often than not, given up more runs than the other team. So you can look at it both ways. The only way this pick works out is if Chris Tillman comes up big.
  • The Bay Rays over the Rangers: I am snake bit when it comes to Yu Darvish. If I pick him, he loses. If I don't, he wins. My thinking here is that Matt Moore can keep up with him and the Rays win late, just like last night.
  • The Athletics over the Twins: The A's would like to clinch and celebrate. The Twins just want the season to be over. Dan Straily over Kevin Correia.

And the Game of the Day:

Yesterday: 6-9
Week: 31-23
Month: 137-115
Season: 1279-1010
Games of the Day: 97-68

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