Wednesday, April 18, 2012

4-17 Recap

Full slate of games today and I was looking to keep the momentum going from the last few days.  Lets see how I did.



Away
Home
Result
Winning Pitcher
Losing Pitcher
PIT 5, ARI 4
SEA 8, CLE 9
SF 4, PHI 2


Nationals 1 Astros 0 (Win)

The masterful starting pitching of the Washington Nationals continues as Gio Gonzalez goes 7 innings and only allows 2 hits and 0 runs.  Gonzalez struck out 8 and walked only 2, improving on his command was his biggest need in 2012, and he made the Astros hitters look foolish.  Probably not a tough thing to do but man he made it look easy.

Yankees 8 Astros 3 (Win)

I was correct in predicting that Sabathia would get the win and that Francisco Liariano would continue to struggle.  The Yankees did take out losing yesterday on Liriano, who didn't make it out of the third inning.  Every starter for the Yankees got at least one hit with the exception of Alex Rodriguez as a balanced attack is what led the Yankees to victory.  In a little bit of a surprise here that now makes it 10 games in a row I have correctly picked the outcome of the Yankees game.  Go me.

Blue Jays 7 Rays 3 (Win)

Ricky Romero went 6 innings and gave up 3 runs, and the Toronto offense hit 3 home runs to help lead him to victory.  Jose Bautista, Adam Lind, and Brett Lawrie all left the building for the Blue Jays, who also benefited from turning 4 double plays.  

Marlins 5 Cubs 2 (Loss)

Hanley Ramirez was the hero for the Marlins again, as his 3-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning gave them a 5-2 lead they would not relinquish.  Heath Bell, who is the master of the low pressure 3 run lead saves, got the final 3 outs in the ninth inning for the save in Ozzie Guillen's return from his 5-game suspension.  

Braves 9 Mets 3 (Loss)

Of course the first time I pick the New York Mets to actually beat the Atlanta Braves this happens.  The Braves who suck against left-handers and are going against Johan Santana who beat them on opening day, put up 9 runs as Santana fails to make it past the second inning.  I am now 3-19 in predicting games involving these 2 teams.  That is rough.

Rangers 18 Red Sox 3 (Loss)

Ouch.

Orioles 3 White Sox 2 (Win)

All 5 runs that were scored in this game were scored in the sixth inning.  Just an interesting fact that usually doesn't happen when more than 1 run is scored.  Baltimore won this game on the strength of their pitching today, with 5 different pitchers all helping hold the White Sox to 2 runs.  Both J.J Hardy and Nolan Reimold homered for the Orioles, who have won 4 of their first 5 games on a 10 game road trip.

Tigers 3 Royals 1 (Win)

Drew Smyly pitched well enough to get the win for the Tigers but he had to hand it off to his bullpen with the game tied at 1 in the seventh inning.  Fortunately for him Major League journeymen Ocatvio Dotel (this is his official name at the baseball pickem' blog from now on) came in and slammed the door and the Tigers got RBI singles from Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder in the eighth inning to hand the Royals their sixth straight loss.

Brewers 5 Dodgers 4 (Win)

Milwaukee was trailing 4-3 entering the bottom of the ninth inning but scored 2 runs off of Javy Guerra to win the game.  Guerra had been perfect in save opportunities in the early going for the Dodgers but couldn't hold the lead in this one.  Corey Hart led off the ninth with a single, Mat Gamel walked and George Kottaras hit a double that scored both and sent the Brewers home with a win.

Cardinals 2 Reds 1 (Win)

Kyle Lohse pitched another gem today for the Cardinals, going 7 innings without allowing a run to lower his ERA to .89 after 3 starts, but this game came down to a battle of the bullpens.  Since it did come down to the bullpens I am not surprised that the Cardinals won because they have a better bullpen.  They loaded the bases in the tenth inning and Matt Carpenter hit a game winning Sacrifice Fly for the final run.

Rockies 5 Padres 3 (Win)

Congratulations to Jamie Moyer!! Moyer became the oldest player in Major League history to earn a win tonight by pitching 7 innings and not allowing an earned run.  Six players in the starting lineup for the Padres weren't even born by the time Jamie Moyer made his major league debut, and now he is shutting them down with that blistering 78 mile per hour fastball.  Oh and on a side note that is the fifth straight win for the lock of the day.  Alright!!

Pirates 5 Diamondbacks 4 (Loss)

The Giants needed 8 innings from their bullpen after Jeff Karstens came out after the first inning with inflammation in his right shoulder.  The Pirates got some timely 2-out hits off of Diamondbacks ace Ian Kennedy and got just enough pitching to win.  It was the first loss at home for the Diamondbacks this year and only the second win in 8 games on the road for the Padres.

Athletics 5 Angels 3 (Loss)

This time it was the bullpen that prevented Dan Haren from getting his first win of 2012.  The Athletics were trailing 2-1 in the eighth inning but scored 4 times to take a 5-2 lead.  The Angels only got 1 in the bottom of the ninth inning on a Vernon Wells home run but could get no closer.  Yoenis Cespedes did strike out once today, bringing his total to 16 in 11 games.

Indians 9 Mariners 8 (Loss)

The Seattle Mariners had an 8-1 lead after scoring 6 runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to chase Justin Masterson of the Indians.  However the very next half inning the Indians scored 7 runs to tie the game as Kevin Millwood just could not get an out in the top of the fifth.  The Indians went on to make it 9-8 in the seventh inning and that was the final score.  The Mariners made one last attempt by loading the bases in the bottom of the ninth but John Jaso flew out to right field to end it.

Giants 4 Phillies 2 (Win)

Madison Bumgarner thanked the Giants front office the best we he could after they gave up a new contract over the weekend.  He came out today and pitched like he deserved it.  Bumgarner went 6 innings and only gave up 2 runs and the Giants gave him enough offense to help him get the win.  With the way Lincecum is throwing so far this year Bumgarner and Cain are going to have to step up and today was a great start in doing that.

Days Record: 9-6                  Overall Record: 89-76                Lock of the Day Record: 8-4


1 comment:

  1. Rangers/Red Sox: Ouch. LOL. Yeah... maybe an understatement there. Way to pick Jamie Moyer for the win!

    ReplyDelete