Outside of the Detroit/Baltimore series, which of course I have made no picks from, the Major League Baseball Division Series has been very entertaining. Extra innings, clutch hitting, and terrific pitching performances wasted by inept bullpens have been in abundance through a half a week's worth of games.
The National League-only schedule provided some more drama, even if some of it was unwanted. The Nationals and Giants tussled for over six hours and 18 innings before Brandon Belt's home run provided the final margin. It stayed that way because Hunter Strickland got the save, a day after not being able to go an inning without giving up two home runs to ruin my Streak for the Cash entry. That isn't relevant to this game though. The relevant stat is Anthony Rendon's four hits. I was hoping for more before I turned my full attention to Dodgers/Cardinals as Rendon was 4-for-4 in "regulation." He went 0-for-3 in extras but nevertheless he still leads my band of misfit toys with five hits total. Five hits is the combined output from Matt Carpenter and Jhonny Peralta after their loss to the Dodgers last night. One of Carpenter's two base knocks of the night was huge, a two run home run in the 8th inning of J.P. Howell to tie the game. Matt Kemp would save the day for LA with a homer off Pat Neshek in the bottom of the frame.
The other Los Angeles team could use some saving right about now. They are on the brink of elimination and my AL selection for the World Series isn't getting any help from its top two studs. Mike Trout and Albert Pujols have been invisible this series going 1-for-16 between the two of them. The way Kansas City has been playing, I can't fathom a Halos recovery. If it were just these two faltering I'd maintain a wee bit more faith but the entire Angels' lineup looks zombified at the plate. I feel I'll be losing two-fifths of my roster tonight as they are swept out by the surging Royals.
I am going to go a bit out of order here just to keep with the baseball talk. As you read in the last paragraph, I think the Royals take care of business tonight and dump the best team in the American League out of the playoffs. Personally coming into this series I didn't think the Royals would win more than one game. I've been proven wrong as the Angels look as if they are more than ready to just fold and go home. My second Streak for the Cash pick of the day is the Royals to beat the Angels to get me to a W5. How will I be at a W4 though? I'll be there because QPR is miserable. I mean the drizzling shits miserable. Horrendous. The worst team in the Barclays Premier League bar none. Yes, they are worse than Burnley, a team that scored their second and third goals of the season yesterday in their seventh game. West Ham at home should easily get the three points and get me a W4. But what do you, the reader, get? Well, you get some classic back and forth between two of the greatest stick workers outside of the adult film industry, The Rock and Chris Jericho.
Image Credits: BTS Contest Roster (mlb.com), Streak picks (espn.com)
Video Credit: The Rock/Y2J Promo (WWE/Youtube.com)