August 4th, 2009 Picks

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(skip to picks)2-1-0 today though my blog picks got back to .750, I took Edwards in NASCAR and passed on Hamlin, Tampa Bay, and Gefle IF. *d'oh!* At least Verlander and the A's made up for that poor luck. And so on to the picks.

Denny Hamlin Comes From Behind At Pocono

Kurt Busch 9^th, Carl Edwards 18^th

Carl Edwards just didn't have the car to win this race. He consistently lost spots out of the restart.

``Having said Friday that he expected to win the Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway, Hamlin charged to the front from the sixth position with 13th laps left in Monday's rain-postponed race and ended a 50-race drought in the Sprint Cup Series. After beating Juan Montoya to the checkered flag by .869 seconds, Hamlin wept in Victory Lane, overcome with emotion in the aftermath of the recent deaths of his grandmother, Thelma Clark, and the mother of tire specialist Patrick Mullen at Joe Gibbs Racing. With the strongest car in the field car at the 2.5-mile triangular track, Hamlin passed Clint Bowyer for the lead off Turn 1 on Lap 191 of 200 and stayed in front the rest of the way. Montoya slipped past Bowyer for the second spot on Lap 192."

Read More....LeaderboardLap-By-Lap CommentaryPhotosHighlights

Haren, D-Backs Bullpen Survive Mets Rally Arizona Diamondbacks 6 - 5 New York Mets Dan Haren - 7 IP, 3 K

Verlander Hangs Strong, Clete Belts One Past Baltimore Detroit Tigers 6 - 5 Baltimore Orioles Justin Verlander - 8 IP, 8 K

The Mets stayed true to form and kept with their ability to put the ball into play. ``Arizona won three of four in the series behind Reynolds, who put up impressive numbers despite resting during Sunday's 5-2 victory. The slugger went 5-for-12 with four homers and five RBIs against New York. Reynolds has seven long balls in his last seven games to give him 32 on the year and is batting .387 (24-for-62) with eight homers since the All-Star break. He is tied with Wright with four homers at Citi Field this season. Four relievers combined to shut out the Diamondbacks after Figueroa left, giving New York a chance to rally. Castillo hit a two-run single in the Mets' three-run fifth and Murphy went deep for his seventh homer to make it 6-5 in the sixth. New York had a chance to tie it in the eighth but couldn't come up with a big hit." Read More....Box ScorePhotos

Justin Verlander probably would have been pulled early if his poor inning had been the sixth instead of the first. ``For 15 minutes Monday, the Baltimore Orioles made Justin Verlander look like one of baseball's worst pitchers. It didn't last. The Detroit ace allowed five runs before getting his second out, but didn't give up another in his eight innings of work, allowing the Tigers to rally for a 6-5 victory. The Orioles stunned Verlander by scoring the five runs in the first, starting the game with four hits. Brian Roberts led off with a homer, and the next three batters singled to load the bases. Aubrey Huff made it 2-0 by grounding into a force at second before Ty Wigginton doubled in the third run and Luke Scott added a two-run double. "After that, he was a completely different pitcher," Huff said. Baltimore only got three more hits in the game." Read More....Box ScorePhotos

Rajai Davis Caps Oakland Rally With Two Run Triple

Oakland Athletics 3 - 2 Texas Rangers

That was wholly unexpected, considering the A's had 2 hits and 4 total baserunners the entire game going into the 9^th a 3 run rally was... a nice surprise.

``Pinch hitter Rajai Davis tripled down the right field line to drive in two runs and lift the Oakland Athletics to a 3-2 victory over the Texas Rangers on Monday night. A's starter Brett Anderson gave up six hits over 7 2/3 innings with eight strikeouts and three walks. Dustin Nippert, who started in place of the injured Kevin Millwood, gave up a hit in five innings. He walked two and struck out five. C.J. Wilson (4-5) blew his third save in 16 chances after allowing singles to Jack Cust, Tommy Everidge and Mark Ellis, before Davis' triple. `We had the right people in the game to end it right there," Rangers' manager Ron Washington said. "But they pulled it off. We brought in our closer and they beat him.'"

Read More....Box ScorePhotos

Picks
1) FC Vaslui @ Omonia Nicosia - FC Vaslui win or draw
2) Sporting Lisbon @ Twente Enschede - Sporting Lisbon advances
3) San Antonio Silver Stars @ Los Angeles Sparks - Los Angeles
4) Arizona Diamondbacks @ Pittsburgh Pirates - Pittsburgh
5) Boston Red Sox @ Tampa Bay Rays - Tampa Bay
6) St. Louis Cardinals @ New York Mets - St. Louis
7) New York Liberty @ Detroit Shock - 147 points or fewer
8) San Francisco Giants @ Houston Astros - Houston
9) Los Angeles Angels @ Chicago White Sox - Los Angeles
10) Cappie Pondexter vs. Lauren Jackson - Pondexter scores more points
11) Milwaukee Brewers @ Los Angeles Dodgers - Los Angeles
12) How Many Home Runs Will Be Hit In Innings 4 through 6 (Braves @ Padres): Zero vs. 1 or more - Zero