July 28th, 2009 Picks

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(skip to picks)1-0-0 today with The Freak, The Franchise, Timothy LeRoy Lincecum. With picks like that there's no limit to how high a streak might go. It was a pretty easy day for the Streak with all the majority picks winning except the Rockies who continued their futility in New York against the Mets (I think they're 2-19 in their last 21 there). Most of the picks won easily like with this Lincecum pick. Tomorrow looks like it might be a bit tougher. I'll wager Felix and the M's would have garnered a high percentage today against Ricky Romero. Think Washburn can do better? Good luck y'all, and on to the picks.

Lincecum Earns First Win Since All-Star Break With 15 Strikeouts San Francisco Giants 4 - 2 Pittsburgh Pirates Tim Lincecum 9 IP, 15 K

King Felix Gives Up 7 In Worst Start Of Season As Toronto Heats Up For West Coast Trip Toronto Blue Jays 11 - 4 Seattle Mariners Felix Hernandez 52/3 IP, 2 K

Tim Lincecum pitched a complete game, striking out his first batter faced and his last along with 13 others in between. ``Tim Lincecum looked like his old self, pitching a four-hitter and bouncing back from a rough outing with a career-high 15 strikeouts in the San Francisco Giants' 4-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday night. The hard-throwing right-hander earned his fourth complete game this season and sixth of his career, finishing his 115-pitch gem in 2 hours, 6 minutes. This marked the sixth time this season and 17th in his career that Lincecum struck out 10 or more." Read More....Box ScorePhotos

Ouch. Felix Hernandez matched his season low for strikeouts as the Blue Jays got to him early and often, finally chasing him in the 6th inning with four earned runs. ``Marco Scutaro matched his career high with four hits and the Toronto Blue Jays took advantage of Felix Hernandez's worst start of the season, beating the slumping Seattle Mariners 11-4 on Monday night. Lyle Overbay and Rod Barajas homered for the Blue Jays, who finished with 15 hits. Ricky Romero (9-4) pitched six innings for his sixth win in seven decisions. Counted on to stop any Seattle skids, Hernandez (11-4) allowed seven runs and 11 hits in 5 2/3 innings. He had won a career-best seven consecutive decisions and was 10-2 with a 1.94 ERA following a Mariners loss this season." Read More....Box ScorePhotos

Picks
1) Dynamo Dresden @ SV Wehen Wiesbaden - SV Wehen Wiesbaden win
2) Benjamin Becker vs. John Isner - Isner
3) New York Yankees @ Tampa Bay Rays - New York
4) Atlanta Braves @ Florida Marlins - Atlanta
5) Phoenix Mercury @ Connecticut Sun - Connecticut
6) Seattle Storm @ San Antonio Silver Stars - San Antonio
7) Houston Astros @ Chicago Cubs - Houston
8) Philadelphia Phillies @ Arizona Diamondbacks - Arizona
9) Toronto Blue Jays @ Seattle Mariners - Toronto

Previews

SV Wehen Wiesbaden were relegated from 2. Bundesliga last season after finishing in last place. They'll try to turn their 3. Liga campaign around at BRITA-Arena against Dynamo Dresden tonight.

1) The second week of Germany's third-tier 3.Liga football gets underway today and Dynamo Dresden make their way to BRITA-Arena to take on SV Wehen Wiesbaden (SVWW). SV Wehen Wiesbaden were relegated from the 2.Bundesliga last season after finishing dead last at 5-12-17 (W-D-L). Clearly, they weren't up to the competition in the second-tier Bundesliga and may enjoy more success in the third-tier league. Unfortunately, their season got off to a rough start with a 1-2 loss away at FC Carl Zeiss Jena. They went down a goal early in the second half and then conceded a second from a direct free kick just outside the box. They manged to pull within one goal in the 74^th minute, but despite numerous chances they were unable to equalize. SVWW's coach, Hans-Werner Moser, was still pleased with the way his team fought after going down by two goals on the road. FC Carl Zeiss Jena were one of the lesser teams in the 3.Liga last season, however, making this an unimpressive result even if it was on the road.

Dynamo Dresden also got off to a rough start with a 0-1 loss at home to VfB Stuttgart II (Stuttgart reserves). VfB Stuttgart II were a middle of the pack team last season. Unlike SV Wehen Wiesbaden, Dynamo Dresden did not put forth a good effort as the media and their coach felt they were more or less outplayed on their home pitch. They failed to create any serious goal opportunities and manager Ruud Kaiser was disappointed in their overall effort though he went on to say it would just be a matter of time for the squad to develop the discipline to make their tactics work.

This is a matchup where the odds indicate picking Dynamo Dresden, hands down. With the sportsbooks profits accounted for and converted into moneylines these odds from BetFair indicate SV Wehen Wiesbaden are a +140 underdog against the win/draw combined. Both teams are trying to integrate new players into their sides as they try and improve. They each also have to deal with some top level talent moving on to larger teams during the offseason. They may be going through a transition period here at the beginning of the season but with SVWW in better form, scoring on the road and creating goal opportunities, I favor them to pick up a win at home.