1ST 200,000* OF THE BASEBALL SEASON Your winner here is on the Tampa Bay Rays!
Talk about getting the better team plus money!!!! WOW!
Sure Felix Hernandez is an absolute stud and a guy that can be lights out but Jeff Nieman has really come into his own and is no slouch at all. Then when you factor in how much better the Rays are in terms of pretty much everything else including the far superior lineup than I am all about the visitors today at Safeco.
Tampa may not be as good away from the Trop but this team is far from a club that is like the Twins who literally wet the bed outside of their dome. Joe Maddon's club can for sure win games on the highway and this will be another indication of just that. They just outclassed the Red Sox at home and are ready to do the same here to a clear inferior Seattle squad away from home.
Sure Seattle has had a nice little overachieving season and without a doubt Ichiro is a sick sick hitter. But besides the Japanese lefty and Russell Branyan who has had a career season the Mariners are sooo outclassed in this game. Adrian Beltre is back but so what, the guy really has not been all that good in a few years and now just getting healthy again makes him even less dangerous than the mediocre player he has become.
Crawford, Upton, Pena, Longoria and others form a lineup that is flat out nasty. The Rays may not crush Hernandez as the righthander can be filthy and should at least be good here but Tampa has a much better shot to plate runs then the fairly weak Seattle lineup has against a solid and definitely good enough Niemann.
If this game was a pick I would still love the Rays and that pretty much tells me all I need to know!
Don't get me wrong, I would love to see the Rangers win the AL West this season but it just doesn't look like it's going to happen.
Mike Scioscia's Angels somehow just keep on winning. Yes they did just drop that series in the Windy City to the White Sox but things have been golden for a few months now and therefore back home at this cheap price I can't help but lay a small price on Joe Saunders and the Halos.
Texas, like always, can hit the ball and has kept things together very well this season unlike in years past as Ron Washington has done a great job but with Ian Kinsler on the DL and Nelson Cruz banged up and being here on the road and with the Angels having Vlad Guerrero back from injury I just think that Anaheim is too cheap here. Too many and's to overlook at a fairly cheap home chalk with one of the best teams in the majors.
Saunders has struggled a lot more of late unlike Scott Feldman who continues to hurl quality outing after quality outing but I like the lefty and when push comes to shove still truly trust Saunders more than "Scott Feldman".
The Angels certainly don't intimidate many with guys like Morales, Figgins, Kendrick, Napoli and others but they just continue to get the job done game after game and year after year and in the home of the rally monkey I absolutely think they will get take care of business today and open up that division lead some more.
Matt Rivers 8/7
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