MLB Game Picks - Saturday: September 27, 2014

And then there were two days left. The end of the season is always wistful for me. I love the daily grind of the game. I love that there are games every day. The post season is fun, but it's erratic. Sometimes there are games and sometimes not. I love the seasonal compilation of statistics and seeing the surprises and the new faces that excel for the first time. I love when new teams surge to the limelight. I'm going to miss it after tomorrow. The post season is great, don't get me wrong. But there is nothing to me like the regular season.

September has been really good to me. My correct percentage is over 60% for the month and that almost never happens. And yesterday's 12-4 certainly helped. Even though one of those four incorrect picks (the Mets because Jon Niese had to leave early) was the Game of the Day, that still cannot dampen so much that was positive.

The only other three games that were incorrect were the Twins kicking some Tiger booty. Rick Porcello has really lost it late in the season. The Red Sox game against the Yankees featured a lineup that was unrecognizable. It was like a Spring Training game. So that wrong pick is no surprise. And for some stupid reason, I picked the Rangers to win. Anyway, it was a great day.

Saturday's picks:

• The Red Sox over the Yankees: There will be more of the regular lineups on the field for this game I think. Derek Jeter will be at DH to say goodbye. The pitching line is a good one of Masahiro Tanaka against Joe Kelly, two pitchers these teams will be counting on next season. Tanaka will not go deep into the game, giving the Red Sox the edge.
• The Pirates over the Reds: I can see Francisco Liriano having a bit of a harder time today. The Reds best remaining players are right-handed batters. But the Pirates' only chance is to win, so they must. Alfredo Simon will try to prevent it.
• The Nationals over the Marlins: I called these two teams' double-header perfectly yesterday. I am not sure why Stephen Strasburg is starting today. I figured he would frontline the playoff series. But maybe he will only go a couple of innings as a tuneup. Nathan Eovaldi goes for the Marlins.
• The Giants over the Padres: Eric Stults was put on this earth to teach me humility. I am sure of that. I haven't picked more than a handful of his starts correctly. I think he will be beaten today by Jake Peavy. But that means the Padres will probably win.
• The Blue Jays over the Orioles: The playoff seeding has been established. So the Orioles will probably rest people. Wei-Yin Chen won't go deep in the game. The Blue Jays just want to go up there and bash the baseball. J.A. Happ is the happy beneficiary.
• The Indians over the Rays: Did you know that Colome was the real name of Columbus? Anyway, Alex Colome will probably not beat Carlos Carrasco or the Indians at home today.
• The Phillies over the Braves: Pretend September was a sinkhole. Pretend the Braves were a corvette being swallowed by a sinkhole. A lovely pitching line of A.J. Burnett against Aaron Harang in this one just livens things up all the more.
• The Brewers over the Cubs: Tsuyoshi Wada is not a bad pitcher for the Cubs. He knows what he is doing. But I think this game belongs to Wily Peralta at home. Peralta has had one of the most overlooked seasons of the year.
• The Mets over the Astros: Rafael Montero has been bouncing back and forth between the rotation and the bullpen. But every time he starts he does well. Sam Deduno is a Twins castoff, so what does that tell you?
• The Royals over the White Sox: The Royals will probably be eliminated from the division today because the Tigers are going to win. But the Royals will win today anyway behind Danny Duffy. John Danks gets the start for the White Sox. I do hope that Paul Konerko has some nice moments though. He deserves them.
• The Rangers over the Athletics: I know I chided myself for this pick yesterday, but Derek Holland has been spectacular since he returned. I think he will out-perform Jeff Samardzija.
• The Cardinals over the Diamondbacks: There is no let up for the Cardinals as the Pirates are keeping them honest. Lance Lynn has had a terrific season and should win the game over Wade Miley.
• The Dodgers over the Rockies: Eddie Butler allows the batters to put the ball in play and when that happens, things can happen. The Dodgers should have a good day despite whatever Dan Haren does.
• The Mariners over the Angels: The Mariners' only chance is to win. But I don't think it will make much difference. They will fall short. James Paxton over C.J. Wilson who should not go deep in this one.

And the Game of the Day:

• The Tigers over the Twins: Ricky Nolasco has been about as bad for the Twins as any move made by a team this season. He has easily been the worst starter in baseball. It's brutal. Kyle Lobstein should win.

Yesterday: 12-4, Sept.: 217-143, Games of the Day: 103-66 (-1), Season: 1347-1077

MLB Game Picks - Monday: September 22, 2014

The streak ends at eight. The Game of the Day feature had been correct for eight straight days but fell yesterday by picking the Cardinals to win. The Reds finally broke through on the team from St. Louis and so it goes. Overall, it wasn't a bad day with the final tally coming in at 9-6.

The Royals kept their hopes alive by at least taking the last game of the Tigers series. The Dodgers inched closer to a division win and two of the three teams that have already clinched lost. The Mets destroyed the Braves to finish that team off. Gosh, the Braves are a mess. Is their manager going to survive this?

Let's finish off this season with one last good week:

• The Royals over the Indians: This is a really tough one to call. Danny Duffy and Carlos Carrasco have both had really good seasons. Both teams are fighting for a wild card spot and the Royals aren't dead in the division race either. I'm going with the home town Royals.
• The Yankees over the Orioles: This is the Jeter homestretch too. And he has been swinging much more aggressively with good results. That makes a big difference in the Yankees' lineup. Wei-Yin Chen will just be pitching a tuneup. Michael Pineda is pitching for the Yankees to hold on for another day.
• The Mariners over the Blue Jays: The M's are going in the wrong direction and are now a game and a half out of the wild card race. They are running out of time. Fortunately, they have good starters coming up to try to accomplish the task. James Paxton is great and should be better than J.A. Happ.
• The Pirates over the Braves: Francisco Liriano has come on strong just at the right time for the Pirates. The Braves have collapsed almost totally. Aaron Harang will man the ghost ship.
• The Rangers over the Astros: Derek Holland has been outstanding since returning to the Rangers. I don't believe he has given up more than one run in any of his starts. Nick Tropeano has had one good start and one bad one.
• The Cardinals over the Cubs: The Cardinals never seem to play well in Chicago. But they need to this time. Adam Wainwright can win his 20th tonight if he can be his ace-like self. Travis Wood had a good outing last time.
• The Diamondbacks over the Twins: To me, this game boils down to Josh Collmenter versus Ricky Nolasco. The former has had a good season. The latter's season has been a disaster. The D-backs get an extra bat in the lineup.
• The Athletics over the Angels: The A's are fighting for their lives while the Angels are living the high life. The A's aren't hitting, but did hit better yesterday. C.J. Wilson is just in tune-up mode while Jeff Samardzija is in survival mode.
• The Rockies over the Padres: I have no idea. Eric Stults is trying to avoid his 18th loss of the season. Tyler Matzek might have a nice day in a big ballpark for a change. I don't know.
• The Giants over the Dodgers: This is the Giants' last chance to make or break it. One loss in this series will pretty much finish them. Dan Haren has been far too leaky for me to trust in this one and Jake Peavy has been outstanding for the Giants.

And the Game of the Day:

• The Tigers over the White Sox: A couple of youngsters start this game which makes it hard to call. Kyle Lobstein is a lefty, so I like that. Chris Bassitt got knocked around his last time out.

Yesterday: 9-6, Sept.: 172-119, Games of the Day: 100-64 (-1), Season: 1302-1053

MLB Game Picks - Saturday: September 13, 2014

The picks had their second straight good night. They are 25-5 in the last two days. But as good as that sounds, the Game of the Day feature has been wrong three days in a row. Yesterday, I had no idea whatsoever that Nathan Karns was capable of shutting down the Blue Jays on two hits. Seriously!?

Other incorrect picks from yesterday included the first game loss of the Yankees. They had the game at 1-0 and brought in Adam Warren in the bottom of the 11th. Terrible decision. Boom and goodnight. And by the way, the Yankees are officially dead. I did not expect the Red Sox to beat the Royals. Wow, those Royals fans must be in full panic mode now. Gosh, I was hoping for a team over than the Tigers in that division. Lastly, the Mets beat the Nationals again.

So, are two great days of picking worth not having the Game of the Day feature correct? No. Hey, that's the way I roll. I want it all.

Saturday's picks:

• The Braves over the Rangers: There should be a moratorium on weird baseball names. It's getting out of hand. The latest addition is the Rangers' starter today, Lisalverto Bonilla. I mean, come on already. Can't these scouts in South and Central American only scout guys with easy names? Julio Teheran sounds tame by example.
• The Orioles over the Yankees: I have officially given up on the Yankees and their offense. Watching their offense is like watching the desert sky waiting for a rain cloud. Don't be surprised if Kevin Long is the designated scapegoat after the season is over. Miguel Gonzalez over Shane Greene.
• The Rays over the Blue Jays: I have to think about my bias against R.A. Dickey after the season is over. I think I might have picked him once or twice this year. But I always seem to find a reason. Today's is that the Rays' offense is an opportunistic one to make up for their lack of talent. Dickey is good for opportunists. Jeremy Hellickson goes for the Rays. The Blue Jays are just about dead too.
• The Twins over the White Sox: These two teams play two today after a rain out yesterday. I still like Phil Hughes over the hard luck of Jose Quintana in the first game.
• The White Sox over the Twins: The second game has a troubling pitching match-up which makes it hard to pick either team. But I guess I'll take Scott Carroll who has thrown a decent game once in a while over Logan Darnell who has seemed out of his element thus far.
• The Pirates over the Cubs: I have a little harder time picking against the Cubs in this game. Felix Doubront has been pitching very well since heading to Wrigleyville. But I will stick with Jeff Locke and the Pirates.
• The Marlins over the Phillies: I have picking against Kyle Kendrick all season so why stop now? I have also been picking against Brad Hand and he was good his last time out. I just wonder where the Marlins will get any offense to win the game.
• The Tigers over the Indians: The #$%## Tigers are going to win this division again. How freaking boring is that? I can't count on Danny Salazar and Kyle Lobstein has made me look foolish for four starts in a row now.
• The Royals over the Red Sox: If the Royals cannot beat Rubby De La Rosa, I don't know what else to say. Of course, I would feel a whole lot more confident if Jeremy Guthrie wasn't the Royals' starter today.
• The Brewers over the Reds: Once again, I am going with Yovani Gallardo at home even though he is not as much of a lock there as in the past. David Holmberg was pretty good in his last start even if I have no idea who he is.
• The Nationals over the Mets: Maybe Jayson Werth can get on the field today despite his "dead legs." Whoever heard of such a thing? I like Zack Wheeler a lot. But I like Doug Fister more.
• The Padres over the Diamondbacks: Chase Anderson has had a decent season. But he does not get a whole lot of decisions in his starts. Tyson Ross gets lots of decisions but has only won half of them. When Ross is on, he is awfully good.
• The Angels over the Astros: I have not given Jered Weaver his due. No pitcher does more with less stuff. And he is 16-8. You can't argue with that. Scott Feldman will be today's victim.
• The Dodgers over the Giants: At 9-10, Tim Hudson is in serious danger of breaking his streak of winning seasons. He has never had a losing season in his long and brilliant career. Zack Greinke might be the one to seal that fate.
• The Mariners over the Athletics: For the first time in his career, Felix Hernandez is going to pitch a meaningful game that could vault them into the post season. I think he will bask in the moment. Sonny Gray will not get any support.

And the Game of the Day

• The Cardinals over the Rockies: Franklin Morales will give the Cards some trouble simply because they don't hit lefties well. That said, Shelby Miller has been on fire in his last three starts.

Yesterday: 11-4, Sept.: 98-65, Games of the Day: 92-63 (-3), Season: 1228-999