The West Coast was certainly an interesting place last night. Clayton Kershaw (the best pitcher on the planet) threw a no-hitter while striking out 15 (had the pick). The Padres won a rare game (Game of the Day pick wrong) but did so on a night when they honored Tony Gwynn (so I was glad I was wrong). From what I heard, the Padres really did a nice ceremony to honor their city's favorite son.
I cannot believe how often: 1) David Ortiz comes up in the bottom of the ninth in a close game and, 2) he does something spectacular. I really don't like the guy because of his demand that the focus be on him, but, gosh, you have to respect his ability to make the difference every time.
Thursday's picks:
- The Angels over the Indians: This is the same pitching line as last night when the game was postponed. I am surprised the two teams are not playing two. After all, how many times with the Angels visit Cleveland? C.J. Wilson over Justin Masterson. Or maybe this is the make-up game after all on what was supposed to be an off day?
- The Reds over the Pirates: I do not see Jeff Locke shutting down the Reds. So it all depends on which Homer Bailey shows up. Since he is 7-3, I would be fairly safe in saying that the good one has shown up more often than not.
- The Tigers over the Royals: Streaks seem to end after ten games this season. So I am predicting the Royals' win streak gets snapped at ten. Besides, Anibal Sanchez is usually more reliable than Danny Duffy.
- The Diamondbacks over the Brewers: Yovani Gallardo would be the pick if he was at home. But on the road and in Arizona, I can't feel that confident. Chase Anderson has been good for the Diamondbacks.
- The Padres over the Mariners: Jesse Hahn was very good in his second MLB start and the Padres won with emotion last night. Erasmo Ramirez has not given up a run in his last two outings, but his peripherals during the two games were not pretty and he did not go deep into the games.
- The Nationals over the Braves: Jordan Zimmermann has been outstanding in the last month even though his team never scores enough runs for him. The Braves are really floundering these days and Gavin Floyd is not a very good rotation answer.
- The Blue Jays over the Yankees: Much has been made of the Blue Jays' losing streak at Yankee Stadium. Isn't it at ten games now? Maybe. If so, what did I say about ten game streaks? Either way, David Phelps is not good enough to hold down the Blue Jays' lineup and if Drew Hutchison is on, he's very good.
- The Rays over the Astros: I hate picking against Collin McHugh because I like him a lot. Chris Archer needs to pretend that the other team is the Yankees because he always beats them. Archer just hasn't been good for a while and he is better than that.
- The Marlins over the Mets: Andrew Heaney is a very good prospect for the Marlins who is making his first MLB start tonight. He is a lefty with great control and has won often and efficiently in the minors. In other words, he is the opposite of Zack Wheeler.
- The Twins over the White Sox: I have to admit to letting my emotions get in the way here. Yohan Pino is thirty-years-old and has been toiling in the minors for ten years. And after having a fabulous season in the International League, he is finally getting a shot in the Majors. You have to root for a guy like that if you are a human being. Jose Quintana will probably win it though.
- The Cardinals over the Phillies: This is a tough one. The Phillies have been on a roll and face Shelby Miller, who was great his last time out. David Buchanan has made six big league starts but only one has been bad and has shown good control. I don't know. The Cardinals should be so much better than they play.
And the Game of the Day:
- The Athletics over the Red Sox: Yes, the Red Sox won in dramatic fashion last night. But then they flew all the way to Oakland to begin this series and face Scott Kazmir who has been terrific. Jake Peavy hardly ever wins these days. The A's are the better team, but the Red Sox do have this way...
Yesterday: 9-5, June: 137-111, Games of the Day: 38-37, Season: 590-492
2 comments:
So it looks like yesterday's postponement was the very last game that the Angels and Cleveland were supposed to play this season. So they must have pushed the game into an off-day so they could not have to make another trip later in the season.
I wonder if that means we will see a lot of backups playing in that game for both teams.
As far as Ortiz goes, my opinion on him has been, he is amazingly talented hitter, but his home run trot has always rubbed me as showboating. If a rookie did the same thing, likely someone would be getting beaned.
Unfortunately, I've also never been able to shake my wondering if he is really a clean (non-PEDs) player. I would like to give everyone the benefit of the doubt on that, but honestly, we'll never know with him or a lot of other players. :(
Still, he has been an amazingly valuable player to the Red Sox organization and he will continue to be as long as he is healthy and able to DH.
Oh, one other thing. Kershaw had an amazing game. He threw 107 pitches facing 28 batters and rung up 15 of them. 79 of his pitches were strikes. (3.8 pitches/batter ... 2.8 strikes/batter.) It makes me think the Rockies didn't help themselves any by not staying patient -- then again, when a pitcher is that on, maybe they didn't have any choice but to swing (or not swing) at what was offered.
All in all, an amazing gem by Kershaw.
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