Free Baseball Picks for September 20th, 2006

Written by Mike Rose

Wednesday, 20 September 2006

Free Baseball Picks for September 20th, 2006 Cincinnati Reds (Arroyo) vs. Houston Astros (Clemens) 2:05 ET

Bronson Arroyo has been lights out of late, while the rocket just seems to be running out of gas. Arroyo's won his L/4 starts overall, and is coming off a solid effort vs. the Cubs that saw him pitch 8 innings of shutout ball en route to the 4-0 victory. He's 3-0 his L/3 starts with a 0.72 ERA and has only given up 11 hits in 25 innings of work while striking out 21 and walking 5. Houston's bats are lethargic to say the least, and his off speed wizardry should have them fooled all afternoon long.

As woeful as both these clubs are right now, they've still got a slim shot of reaching the second season. Each boast sub .500 records and have been erratic to say the least this season, but I'm going to back the visitor in this tilt. Cincy picked up a solid win last night after Pettitte was a late scratch after the Astros picked up a Game 1 victory even after Roy O went down with an early injury. Cincy's post-season hopes, while dangling by a thread, are still alive, and they look to be a rabid pup with Arroyo in such fine form.

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San Francisco Giants (Schmidt) vs. Colorado Rockies (Cook) 3:05 ET

The Giants faint playoff hopes have taken a turn for the worse through the first two games of their series with the Rockies. They got pummeled into a bloody pulp two night's ago, and followed that pathetic effort up with another loss as their golden boy Matty Cain got lit up. Now it's all up to the cagey vet, and the Giants need Schmidty to be on top of his game just to be able to salvage one game in this series.

He was scratched from his last start with a stiff back, and will come into this game refreshed after having 11 days to recover. He should be in good form and be able to shut down this Rockies line-up that hasn't been scorching righties of late (.230 BAVG L/10 games). His opponent, Aaron Cook has been tougher in Coors this season, but the Rockies have beaten him all four times they've faced him this year. Look for an inspired effort from the old guys as they salvage just one game.

Chicago White Sox (Garland) vs. Detroit Tigers (Bonderman) 8:05 ET

Jeremy Bonderman's performance has really tapered off since the All Star break, and he seriously hasn't put forth a decent effort since the middle of August. He hasn't fared well in the cell at all in his career, and Garland has beaten the Tigers in three of his four starts he's had against them this year. Once again, the Sox must win this game to make up as much ground as they can with this being their last meeting of the regular season. Look for the champs to get the job done!!!! The pale hose got another fantastic start from Venezuelan Freddy Garcia as he allowed one hit in eight shutout innings for the second straight start and A.J. Pierzynski hit a grand slam to help the slumping Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers 7-0 Tuesday night.

Garcia came within four outs of a perfect game and gave up one hit over eight innings in a 9-0 win over the Angels in his previous start. The loss now has Detroit leading the central by just a half game over Minnesota, and the White Sox gained some ground in the wild card race as well. Tonight's game couldn't be any bigger for the defending champs. They must have it and I believe they'll get the job done behind their best pitcher this season. Jon Garland has been a sensational story in '06. He's followed up his tremendous '05 campaign with an even better effort in '06. He's 17-5 this year with a 4.30 ERA, and comes into this match-up in much better form than his opponent.

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