Finally a positive day! The day games all went wrong but everything after was positive and the picks went six out of nine for the day. The one big surprise was the Twins exploding in the tenth inning to beat the Royals. You could say the Royals took it off the Bruce Chen.
I don't have much else to say as I am simply relieved to have a positive day, so let's just get to Friday's picks:
- The Pirates over the Reds: I like Mike Leake but I see how his team is playing and I have to think that the Pirates (at home) will be all over the Cincinnati team all weekend. Edinson Volquez goes for the Pirates.
- The Blue Jays over the Yankees: The Yankees have two positives going for them. First, Mark Buehrle has had a heck of a time beating them over the years. And secondly, the Yankees have had the upper hand in the season series against the Blue Jays the past several seasons. But my gut is telling me that the Blue Jays will hit Chris Capuano hard and will win a high scoring game.
- The Red Sox over the Rays: Anthony Ranaudo has not been over-the-top fantastic since he was called up, but he has won both of his starts. So let's call him a good luck charm. Chris Archer is very good but the Red Sox beat him the last time they faced him.
- The Mets over the Phillies: The Phillies are fresh off of sweeping the Nationals so why pick them to lose here? Just because they had a good series, doesn't necessarily make them a good team. David Buchanan will try to prove me wrong. Jacob deGrom has been good for the Mets.
- The Marlins over the Braves: Tom Koehler impressed me very much by having a great outing at Coors Field. So I am picking him to win a pitchers' duel against Ervin Santana.
- The Royals over the Indians: I've looked at this one from every angle. Danny Salazar has been much better in his last two outings and the Indians are better than people think. But they do struggle against lefties and Jason Vargas is one of those. Royals.
- The Tigers over the White Sox: It is hard to predict how good or bad Justin Verlander is going to be these days. So there is that. Scott Carroll has looked awful at times and good at others. I have to go with the Tigers here.
- The Rangers over the Astros: The comeback by Scott Baker has been smile-inducing. It's just nice to see him back. He has pitched well too and beat the Royals his last time out. He doesn't walk people and is a contact pitcher. So the BABIP gods will determine his fate. Brett Oberholtzer keeps taking the ball every fifth day. That's about all you can say there.
- The Cubs over the Cardinals: Kyle Hendricks has had a great start to his MLB career. And some of the young studs recently promoted to the Cubs will ambush Shelby Miller and put the Cubs over the top.
- The Diamondbacks over the Rockies: Both of these teams have big problems. So which one is worse? I would say the Rockies. Josh Collmenter hasn't had a bad season while I have less faith in Christian Bergman.
- The Angels over the Athletics: This is going to be a dramatic game and I like the fact for the Angels that they are at home. Jered Weaver scares me a bit and Jon Lester was brought in to win games like this. What it boils down to me is that the A's are sruggling offensively and that will key the win for the Angels.
- The Padres over the Dodgers: Dan Haren is too iffy to me to pick. Andrew Cashner was rusty in his first outing back from the DL, but I think he'll have a very good game against the Dodgers, especially at home.
- The Mariners over the Nationals: Felix Hernandez has not been as dynamic in his last couple of starts. He will have the benefit of being unfamiliar to the Nationals. Jordan Zimmermann can shut down the Mariners too and then I like the Mariners' bullpen better.
- The Giants over the Brewers: I never like picking Ryan Vogelsong. Ever. And I have been extolling the virtues of Wily Peralta who wasn't very wily his last time out when the Pirates roughed him up. This pick comes down to see the way the Giants have played lately and how hot Buster Posey is at the plate.
And the Game of the Day:
- The Orioles over the Twins: The Twins could continue to play spoilers. They are not that bad of a bad team. That said, I have no confidence in Trevor May after what he has done thus far. Miguel Gonzalez is the O's weakest starter, but I still like his chances here.
Yesterday: 6-3, August: 207-169, Games of the Day: 81-58 (+3), Season: 1101-918
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