Mr. O’s Weekend Picks August 16 to 19 MLB There’s some interesting series going on this weekend with the Rays hosting the Jays, Red Sox hosting the Yankees, Diamondbacks visiting the Pirates, Royals at Tigers and Indians at Athletics. Out of the previously mentioned teams, only the Jays are not in the playoff hunt. But, that doesn’t mean they can’t act like they’re still in it, and just took two of three from the AL East leading Red Sox. I fully expect with the pressure off, the Blue Jays will win more than they lose down the stretch and reach .500 for the season. The Royals lost the first of a five-game series at Detroit on Thursday, but they get a prime opportunity to bounce back with a day-night double header starting at 1 p.m. on Friday. A-Rod heads to Fenway and I hope they throw syringes at him like Padres fans did to Barry Bonds in 2006. Yes, he will be booed, but is booing really enough? I don’t think so and I have faith in the Beantown crowd to treat the Yankees’ slugger as he deserves. Having lost 5-of-6, all on the road, the Pirates return to PNC Park looking to extend a 5-game home winning streak against the D’Backs. Even with the slight road slump, Pittsburgh still leads the Cardinals by 2 games in the NL Central. Arizona, one-time leaders in the NL West, have fallen 7.5 back of the super, duper red hot Dodgers. However, the D’Backs are 5 games over .500 and only 6 back of the final Wild Card spot. The Indians have had a rough stretch lately, 3-7 in their last ten, but remain 3.5 games back of Oakland for the last AL Wild Card spot. The A’s themselves have lost 9-of-14 and let the Rangers move into first in the AL West and build a 1.5 game lead. This could be a make or break series for the Indians, but never count out a Terry Francona team. On to the Picks: Friday, Aug. 16 Detroit (Game 1), K.C. (Game 2), Pittsburgh, Toronto, Boston, Cleveland, NYM, LA Dodgers Saturday, Aug. 17 NYY, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Toronto, LA Dodgers, Seattle, Washington, NYM, Cleveland Sunday, Aug. 18 K.C., Pittsburgh, Tampa, Minnesota, Texas, Oakland, NYM, Boston SOCCER English Premier League Saturday, Aug. 17 Arsenal v Aston Villa Liverpool v Stoke City Norwich City v Everton Sunderland v Fulham Swansea City v Manchester United West Bromwich Albion v Southampton West Ham United v Cardiff City Sunday, Aug. 18 Chelsea v Hull City Crystal Palace v Tottenham Hotspur Monday, Aug. 19 Manchester City v Newcastle United Outlook: The Premier League kicks-off this weekend with five or six teams looking to win the league, five or six more hoping to sneak into European positions for next year and a handful just hoping to avoid regulation. Taking over from a legendary manager at Man United, David Moyes begins his Premier League campaign against an improving and hungry Swansea squad. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger should have stepped down at least two years ago, but here he is back again. Wenger is the EPL’s longest serving manager, having started with the club in 1996. There are lots of story lines and top of the list is the movement, or in this case non-movement, of Tottenham’s Gareth Bale, who has been part of transfer rumours all summer long. Also among the transfer rumour club is United striker Wayne Rooney and Liverpool’s Uruguayan crazy man Luis Suarez. Oh, and I almost forgot, the Special One returns to England. Picks: Aston Villa, Liverpool, Norwich City-Everton tie, Fulham, Swansea-United tie, West Brom, West Ham, Chelsea, Tottenham, Newcastle. Major League Soccer Saturday Quick Picks: TFC, Montreal, Vancouver, New York, LA. FOOTBALL CFL Week 8 Friday, Aug. 16 Hamilton at Winnipeg, 8 p.m. Line: TiCats -4 Saturday, Aug. 17 Montreal at Saskatchewan, 4 p.m. Line: Roughriders -12 Calgary at B.C., 9 p.m. Line: Lions -3 Sunday, Aug. 18 Edmonton at Toronto, 7 p.m. Line: Argos -7.5 Outlook: The Riders and Argos are favoured pretty big, but both are at home playing bad teams. Still, even bad teams can put up a fight once in a while. The TiCats narrowly beat the Eskies in their last game and I think the Bombers keep in within a field goal. The Lions could catch the Stamps napping in this one after Calgary won an emotional game over the Riders last week. Picks: Bombers, Alouettes, Lions, Argos. NFL Preseason Friday, August 16 Minnesota Vikings (+4) at Buffalo Bills Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+3.5) at New England Patriots Oakland Raiders (+6.5) at New Orleans Saints San Francisco 49ers (+1.5) at Kansas City Chiefs Saturday, August 17 Dallas Cowboys (+3) at Arizona Cardinals Tennessee Titans (+3) at Cincinnati Bengals Jacksonville Jaguars (+2.5) at N.Y. Jets Miami Dolphins (+3) at Houston Texans Green Bay Packers (+4) at St. Louis Rams Denver Broncos (+4) at Seattle Seahawks Sunday, August 18 Indianapolis Colts (+1.5) at N.Y. Giants Monday, August 19 Pittsburgh Steelers (+1) at Washington Redskins Picks: Bills, Pats, Saints, Chiefs, Cardinals, Bengals, Jaguars, Texans, Packers, Broncos, Colts, Redskins.
Posted on: Fri, 16 Aug 2013 15:00:00 +0000
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