4-9 Predictions

Happy Monday everyone!  Hope everyone had a good Easter and is ready to face the work week ahead.  Not every team is playing today and we only have 12 games.  Lets get straight to it.

Away	Home	Time (ET)	Away Probable	Home Probable
Marlins	Phillies	1:05pm	Sanchez (0-0)	Hamels (0-0)
Angels	Twins	4:10pm	Wilson (0-0)	Blackburn (0-0)
Giants	Rockies	4:10pm	Zito (0-0)	Chacin (0-0)
White Sox	Indians	7:05pm	Sale (0-0)	Tomlin (0-0)
Brewers	Cubs	7:05pm	Marcum (0-0)	Volstad (0-0)
Yankees	Orioles	7:05pm	Nova (0-0)	Matusz (0-0)
Red Sox	Blue Jays	7:07pm	Doubront (0-0)	Alvarez (0-0)
Cardinals	Reds	7:10pm	Westbrook (0-0)	Bailey (0-0)
Nationals	Mets	7:10pm	Jackson (0-0)	Pelfrey (0-0)
Braves	Astros	8:05pm	Beachy (0-0)	Happ (0-0)
Mariners	Rangers	8:05pm	Noesi (0-0)	Darvish (0-0)
Royals	Athletics	10:05pm	Mendoza (0-0)	Milone (0-0)

Marlins (Sanchez) vs Phillies (Hamels)

Cole Hamels leads the Phillies in their home opener and is hoping that the team can score a few runs for him.  The Phillies need Hamels to go deep into the game after the bullpen let them down yesterday.  I think that Hamels will go deep into the game and the Phillies will win.  In fact this game is my lock of the day.

Winner: Phillies.  This is my lock of the day.

Angels (Wilson) vs Twins (Blackburn)

The Angels have started out of the gate slow losing 2 of their first 3 games to the Kansas City Royals.  Now they are playing the team that played the worst baseball in the majors over the weekend.  The Twins looked positively futile in their series against the Angels.  C.J Wilson makes his debut for the Angels and I think they get back in the win column.

Winner: Angels

Giants (Zito) vs Rockies (Chacin)

The Giants are off to an 0-3 start after getting swept down in Arizona and the Rockies are 1-2 after losing to the lowly Astros yesterday.  Both teams are struggling to score runs but that should be helped by Coors field and 2 pitchers that frankly aren't very good.  I like the Giants to get into the win column today in a game where both offenses start to break out of their respective funks.

Winner: Giants

White Sox (Sale) vs Indians (Tomlin)

Both teams are 1-2 after 3 games, with the White Sox going down to the Rangers and the Indians losing 2 in extra innings to the Blue Jays.  These division rivals are very familiar with each other and even though the pitchers don't have a lot of history I still think there will be some runs scored.  I like the Indians to come out on top in this game because I trust their lineup more than I trust the White Sox.

Winner: Indians

Brewers (Marcum) vs Cubs (Volstad)

The third part of the three-headed pitching monster goes today for the Brewers as Shaun Marcum matches up against the Cubs.  Aramis Ramirez makes his return to Wrigley Field as a member of the Brewers and expects to receive a warm ovation.  I think Marcum, Ramirez, and the Brewers win this game and the Cubs continue to slide.

Winner: Brewers

Yankees (Nova) vs Orioles (Matusz)

The Yankees are 0-3 after getting swept by Tampa Bay and the Orioles are 3-0 after sweeping the Twins. You would think that these records would be backward but no both teams have started this way.  The last time the Yankees started 0-3 they ended with 114 wins and won the World Series.  I am not going to say they are going to win 114 games but they are going to win #1 today.

Winner: Yankees

Red Sox (Doubront) vs Blue Jays (Alvarez)

This is a battle of 2 young pitchers as 24 year old Felix Doubront is taking on 21 year old Henderson Alvarez.  The Red Sox are reeling after getting swept by the Detroit Tigers and now have to face a team in Toronto that won two of their games in extra innings.  I think that the Red Sox finally get a win and they won't need extra innings to do it.  If this game goes into extra innings the Blue Jays win but since it will go 9 I'm picking the Red Sox.

Winner: Red Sox

Cardinals (Westbrook) vs Reds (Bailey)

This is one of the fiercest rivalries in all of baseball as the 2 teams genuinely do not like each other.  The Reds were the last team to take a series from the Cardinals and that was in September of last year.  That series was the first time since 2006 that the Reds won a series at Busch stadium.  I think the Cardinals will continue the dominance over the Reds and win this one.

Winner: Cardinals

Nationals (Jackson) vs Mets (Pelfrey)

I picked against the Mets all three games over the weekend and all they did was sweep Atlanta.  Meanwhile Edwin Jackson is making his Nationals debut and It feels like he is making the rounds to pitch for every major league team in his career.  I think Jackson and the Nationals make the Mets losers for the first time and yes this means I am picking against them again.

Winner: Nationals

Braves (Beachy) vs Astros (Happ)

Atlanta made me look like a fool by picking them all 3 games and getting swept by the Mets.  So what am I going to do now?  I am going to pick them again as Beachy and the Braves will beat the Astros.  The Astros are a nice story winning the series against the Rockies but it won't take long before people realize that this is the worst team in the National League.

Winner: Braves

Mariners (Noesi) vs Rangers (Darvish)

Yu Darvish makes his American debut and he couldn't pick a better offense to do it against.  I know that the Mariners have scored some runs the last couple of games but that was against Oakland.  Texas is a completely different animal.  Hector Noesi makes his Mariners debut and I think he will have a good year for the Mariners but he will not win today.

Winner: Rangers

Royals (Mendoza) vs Athletics (Milone)

Eric Hosmer is hitting the ball like I thought he could as the upstart Royals took two out of three form the Angels over the weekend.  He hit a home run on Saturday and Sunday and has 4 RBIs and has scored 5 runs in three games.  I think he continues his hot start and the Royals continue as well as they beat the Athletics today.

Winner: Royals