To quote the late Stuart Scott, call me butter cuz I'm on a roll. My run across both Streak games paired with a decent enough showing on Drive To The Finals has me in good spirits this sunny Monday. I have broken double digits in my winning streaks on BOTH Beat the Streak and Streak for the Cash. For once, I am filled more with feelings of anticipation rather than trepidation. That may change today.
I've shown throughout my Streaking career that I have little trust in teams that have burned me several times over. I may not be very confident, but I am putting my blind faith into one of those teams today (with my trusty mulligan in my back pocket...not literally it isn't tangible). Pairing with Adrian Gonzalez in my latest double down will be the hot bat of Bryce Harper. The phenom has been the catalyst in Washington turning around a sluggish start by hitting home runs and driving in runs even when his hits don't leave the park. On Beat the Streak, I am hoping for that his laying of the lumber will continue. However, he isn't the only Nationals player I need to do well today.
The entire Nationals team needs to follow Harper's lead as I've selected them as my first blue star pick on ESPN's Streak for the Cash. Max Scherzer starts for Washington against his former club, Arizona, and their starter Josh Collmenter. Collmenter is a worthy opponent for Scherzer, especially with the former Cy Young Award winner coming off his shakiest start of 2015 (10 hits, 5 runs vs. Miami). I don't think the Arizona offense will be able to keep up with a Nats' lineup seemingly running on all cylinders but I've been wrong before.
The Rockets were embarrassed last night at the hands of the Clippers to go down 3-1 in their Western Conference semifinals series. I thought James Harden was due for a "This Is Why I Should Have Been MVP" kind of games but instead Houston decided that fouling every two seconds was the better strategy. Harden was still able to produce a 35 PRA, my best showing in a week, but most of that was garbage points and rebounds when the game was all but lost. Tonight I am going with Washington's Marcin Gortat. Yup, I still don't believe in the Washington Wizards. The Hawks and Wizards have injury reports that go longer than Chris Jericho's list of 1004 holds. (ARM BAR!!!!!!) I still think, in the end, the Hawks will advance to be the sacrificial lambs of the winner of Chicago vs. Cleveland. And whoever wins that will surely be ransacked by whomever comes out of the West. HAPPY STREAKING EVERYBODY!!!
Image Credits: Gonzalez/Harper BTS (mlb.com), Streak pick (espn.com), Gortat DTTF (nba.com)