MLB Game Picks - Thursday: September 11, 2014

Never forget.

Several streaks ended for me yesterday. The first was the Game of the Day feature. I picked Oakland and their offense again took a dive and the streak ends at seven. I also had a two-day hot streak with the picks. That ended with a crash of a 6-8 day (one postponement). And lastly, the puppy had gone two good days in a row, but yesterday wasn't a good day. Puppies will be puppies. By the way, his name is Jeter.

Oh! Nick Tropeano beat the odds yesterday. Congrats to him.

Thursday's picks:

• The Indians over the Twins: These two teams play two today after getting rained out yesterday. Kyle Gibson now picks up Corey Kluber. Those are the breaks.
• The Indians over the Twins: I'm feeling a sweep here. As mentioned yesterday, T.J. House is putting things together nicely and I have no trouble picking against Ricky Nolasco.
• The Reds over the Cardinals: Okay. Now the Cardinals have me confused again. They were starting to roll and headed into play one of the most struggling teams in the first half. And they lose. Now they face Johnny Cueto. Lance Lynn can save them though...and defeat me.
• The White Sox over the Athletics: Chris Sale has nine no-decisions this season. Sheesh. If you look at all his numbers, they are just sick. They are like video game numbers. He is so good. Scott Kazmir goes for the A's.
• The Giants over the Diamondbacks: I picked the Diamondbacks yesterday. That was dumb. Jake Peavy has been really good for the Giants. I am a bit worried about picking all home teams thus far and about how well Randall Delgado pitched in his first start last week.
• The Pirates over the Phillies: A.J. Burnett has been on the every-other-merry-go-round in his last four starts. This would be the bad turn. But who knows with Burnett...ever. Francisco Liriano will give the Phillies some problems.
• The Nationals over the Mets: I believe the Nats will jump all over Bartolo Colon. Their offense is just too good. And Tanner Roark is still my guy even if he hasn't won in a while. The Mets and Yankees are home at the same time!?
• The Angels over the Rangers:  I still don't know what the Angels are doing by starting Cory Rasmus for the third time. Even so, in a series and in a setting where even Albert Pujols can hit a triple, I have to go with the Angels against Nick Martinez.
• The Red Sox over the Royals: I shouldn't pick against the Royals and I was quite impressed with their win yesterday over the Tigers. That showed me something. But this pick is based on the Royals starting Liam Hendriks to cover Danny Duffy and because Clay Buchholz has been super impressive lately.
• The Brewers over the Marlins: Mike Fiers, he's my guy. Pick against him? No, not I. Heh. Nathan Eovaldi starts for the other team.

And the Game of the Day:

• The Rays over the Yankees: Alex Cobb just destroys the Yankees. They never can do anything against him. Plus, they never score for Michael Pineda either. But who knows, who would have thought Chris Young would have a three-hit game?

-Yesterday: 6-8, Sept.: 77-60, Games of the Day: 92-61 (-1), Season: 1207-994

MLB Game Picks - Saturday: August 2, 2014

Friday made it three days in a row where the picks finished just under .500. Mediocrity is my name. Hey, did you notice that my Game of the Day was the Oakland A's and they were shut out a day after trading Yoenis Cespedes. Coincidence? Something to keep an eye on at least. Another bad pick was when Peralta was more Wily than Adam Wainwright. Oof. Another wrong pick was when Mike Minor's problems got more major on Friday as he was wrecked by the Padres.

I did get the Cubs over the Dodgers as Dan Haren continues to get hammered. And I also got the Red Sox over the Yankees. The young Anthony Renaudo did pitch well, but it really was a BABIP game as the Yankees hit a lot of at-em balls. And that Mookie Betts catch? Unbelievable...

Saturday's picks:

• The Athletics over the Royals: Jon Lester has arrived in Oakland and makes his debut against the Royals. Jason Vargas is the Royals' pitcher and he has good his last two starts. Runs will be at a premium today.
• The Red Sox over the Yankees: First, Shane Greene does not fill me with overwhelming hope for the Yankees. Secondly, Cespedes is going to have a big day and him and David Ortiz will be partying it up. The only question is how Allen Webster pitches. The Yankees' offense just cannot get going.
• The Nationals over the Phillies: This pick was wrong yesterday. And if A.J. Burnett has one of his good day, it could be bad today too. Will the real Jordan Zimmermann please stand up?
• The Orioles over the Mariners: James Paxton is a major talent. But he hasn't pitched since early April. Miguel Gonzalez is not a major talent, but he is a typical Oriole that seems to rise to the occasion--not to mention three great starts in a row. The M's offense is mired.
• The Indians over the Rangers: Ugh, this one is ugly. Miles Mikolas can shut down the Yankees, sure. But he has been awful against everyone else. But then there is T.J. House who hasn't exactly been impressive. High scoring game?
• The Angels over the Rays: C.J. Wilson has had a really bad stretch of starts (four bad ones in a row) and Chris Archer has been very good. So the Rays seem to be the pick. But this feels like a trap and the roles will reverse today. Ah, you know I was just looking to pick a road team to break up the program.
• The Reds over the Marlins: I have been getting some outside pressure for not picking the Marlins and rightly so as they were hot and at home. So I went with them last night and they lost. Well screw that then. Besides, I trust Nathan Eovaldi as far as I can throw him. Homer Bailey with the win.
• The White Sox over the Twins: Did I dream somewhere that Yohan Pino is not very popular with his teammates? I must have because I cannot find a reference. Weird. Anyway, Scott Carroll doesn't fill me with peace about the pick, but there he is over Pino.
• The Mets over the Giants: This pick was way wrong yesterday. However, Jacob deGrom is my guy. He has been great. And Jake Peavy seems cursed for some reason and cannot get run support from any team he pitches with.
• The Blue Jays over the Astros: I would feel better about this pick if I knew Houston's roof would be closed with R.A. Dickey pitching. I still think the Jays win despite a nice outing last time out by Brett Oberholtzer.
• The Brewers over the Cardinals: Forgive me for not being excited about Justin Masterson pitching for the Cardinals. Unless his velocity picks up from before his DL stint, he is not the same guy. Besides, Kyle Lohse is going to give his former team fits in his old haunts.
• The Pirates over the Diamondbacks: Both Vance Worley and Chase Anderson have been winning pitchers for their respective teams. That seems to even out the pitching equation here. If that is the case, then the Pirates are the pick as the much better team.
• The Padres over the Braves: The Braves seem to be fading a bit. That uneven offense has to get them in trouble eventually. I will say that Ervin Santana is earning himself a nice contract when he hits the market after the season. But despite his walks spiking, Ian Kennedy has been pretty good since the start of July and frankly, I am surprised he wasn't scooped up before the deadline.
• The Dodgers over the Cubs: It is Korea versus Japan in this one as Hyun-jin Ryu goes against the 33-year-old rookie, Tsuyoshi Wada. Wada picked up his first MLB win his last time out. Ryu should best him at home.

And the Game of the Day:

• The Tigers over the Rockies: Dang, all home teams picked so far. I hate when that happens. Rick Porcello should win though. Tyler Matzek seems perpetually frozen at a 2-5 record.

Yesterday: 7-8, August: 7-8, Games of the Day: 64-50, Season: 901-753