I am in rarified air folks! I jumped off the Stanton Express just in time (he went 0-for-4 yesterday) and was brought once again to my apex of MLB's Beat The Streak in 2014. I have yet to surpass the 8 in a row mark but I am back at that number after Dee Gordon and Kyle Seager came through for me last night. After I saw that both players had hit their way into my hearts this morning, I started sweating over who would be my picks to potentially get my streak to double digits. I must've picked and deleted nine or ten guys before settling on Robinson Cano and Todd Frazier. Cano's power may have been sapped this year moving from Yankee Stadium to Safeco Field, but the second baseman is still hitting for a tremendous average. He takes on Colby Lewis of the Texas Rangers. Lewis sports a woeful 1.63 WHIP, good for 515th best in baseball among all pitchers. I know relying on two Mariners in a row to get hits in consecutive days is risky, but if there is any M's player to take that risk with, it's Cano. My other pick is for nostalgia purposes. Probably not the best time to do so but it helps when your pick has good history against his opposing pitcher. I speak of course of Todd Frazier. The nostalgia comes from the past week or so watching the Little League World Series. I remember the first time I ever watched the LLWS was when Toms River, NJ was running amok to win the 1998 event. They were led by Todd Frazier. Now an All-Star third baseman for the Cincinnati Reds, Frazier and company take on Jacob Turner and the Chicago Cubs. Turner was miserable for the Marlins before coming to Chicago's North Side. He had a 5.97 ERA and 1.65 WHIP in Miami. He has been serviceable in two relief appearances for the Cubbies but I think Frazier (3-for-5 against Turner) will rudely welcome his back to the starting rotation. Wish me luck as I wish you the same in your streaking endeavors!
My Streak for the Cash spirit is broken. Celtic were brusquely ousted from the Champions League AT HOME by Slovenian side Maribor. It was a double whammy as it left me with just Liverpool in the competition and put me at my first L2 since I started this series. I attempt to get back in the green with a team in green. Oakland got passed again by the Angels for the moniker "Best in Baseball" but they take on Houston and Brad Peacock tonight. I know I got burned by Mr. Peacock on Beat The Streak (when Michael Brantley took a poop on me with an 0-fer) but I like the A's here. Drew Pomeranz is coming up from Triple-A to make the start and his change of scenery from Colorado to California has done wonders this year. Get me back to the Green Side Oakland!!
Image Credits: Cano/Frazier (mlb.com), Streak pick (espn.com)