Welcome to what I believe is the first edition of Streaking In Public Live! I've done "After Dark" and "I Already Have One Loss" Editions, but this is the first one in which I am actually watching (or at least Flashscore gamecasting) a pick go down as I write the article. That is because sadly if I was going to make any sort of miraculous run at the $30,000 in May, I would need to do one last dance with the devil that is tennis.
Currently, Alize Cornet is up one set to none on Alexandra Dulgheru in the early starter at the French Open. She is struggling in the second set but just broke Dulgheru's serve and then won a quick game on her own to get within one game and forcing a potential tiebreak. We'll come back to this.
Since I stopped foolishly doubling down for doubling down's sake, I'm on a three day winning streak on MLB.com's Beat the Streak. Josh Donaldson brought the rain and a W3 for me with a 4-for-4 day yesterday against the White Sox that included two home runs. I almost think a performance like that should count for two wins. I don't make the rules though so to get to a W4 I need Prince Fielder to come through. The Prince of Texas didn't do so hot his last time out for me (combined with Anthony Rizzo to go 0-for-8 on SIP 127) but is 5-for-9 lifetime against his opposing pitcher today, Cleveland's Carlos Carrasco. Two of those five hits are a long double that should have been a home run and an actual home run. I like my chances for Prince to redeem himself this afternoon.
Cornet has tied the second set up at 5-5 and is on the verge of going up 6-5 and forcing Dulgheru to serve to stay alive. And....she....does it! We'll be back with the conclusion of this shortly.
As expected, last night saw the Hawks swept out of the playoffs. It marks the second straight year that the East's #1 seed has been unceremoniously dumped from the postseason by a LeBron James led outfit. On the bright side for me, I made the right choice between Kent Bazemore and Jeff Teague when it came to Drive To The Finals. Bazemore's 23 PRA was second on the team to Paul Millsap. The rest of the Hawks looked to be content with their fate as they were blown out by 30 points. Glad I didn't watch a second of that mess. I'm hoping to be watching many seconds of tonight's Game 5 between Houston and Golden State. As I said in SIP 131, there aren't any Rockets left that I feel are worthy of selection for this game. Therefore, I will be taking Andre Iguodala tonight as the Warriors try to end Houston's season at home. This will leave me a splendid roster for the Finals of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes, LeBron James, Tristan Thompson, J.R. Smith, and Iman Shumpert.
We are in the middle of a potentially match ending deuce right now in the second set. While this is going on, let me run down the rest of my picks for the day. I won't be giving my reasoning because frankly you've probably already stopped reading by now.
- #9 Ekaterina Makarova wins 1st set over Teliana Pereira (French Open)
- Noah Syndergaard and the New York Mets over Sean O'Sullivan and the Philadelphia Phillies (MLB)
- Manchester City FC does not beat Toronto FC by 3+ Goals (Club Friendly)
- 3+ Players Make 2 or more Three Pointers in Houston vs. Golden State (NBA Playoffs)
- Houston Scores 10+ pts in 2nd Half before Golden State scores 15+ pts. (NBA Playoffs) *subject to change based on how the first half plays out.*
And like clockwork as I type that last bullet point Cornet wins! I have my red star and am on towards another blue one! HAPPY STREAKING EVERYBODY!!!
Image Credits: Fielder BTS (mlb.com), Streak picks (espn.com), Iguodala DTTF (nba.com)