Sometimes the easy way is the best way. Instead of trying to find that diamond in the rough yesterday, I just went to the jewelry store. Giancarlo Stanton and Miguel Cabrera both came through with hits and it is back to the grind again. I enjoyed the Artist Formerly Known as Mike Stanton's work so much yesterday that I actually picked him again. He is taking on the immortal Christian Bergman and the Colorado Rockies. A 7.20 ERA doesn't bode well for Bergman shutting out the mighty Marlin. I could have picked Miguel Cabrera again today, but I decided to go with Jose Abreu of the White Sox. He has a 1 at-bat sample size against Yankee lefty Chris Capuano, an out, but even with a bum wheel the Cuban has hit safely in 7 of his last 8. Cap's meaty ERA and WHIP figures give me promise that those numbers with become 8 out of 9.
The Stash is in jeopardy on Streak for the Cash as the top man on the leaderboard is sitting on a W24 after some ballsy picks last night. This just means that everybody chasing him needs to up the ante that much more. I am still chasing him after both Chelsea and Seattle provided me with green and by proxy a W8. I am going to attempt the same formula for success today with an EPL/MLB combo. The Premier League team whom I am reluctantly rooting for today is another Liverpool rival, Manchester United. After a shock defeat at home to Swansea in their opener, I expect Man U to get a win at Sunderland's Stadium of Light. Wayne Rooney will have some help with the return of Robin Van Persie and the imminent arrival of Real Madrid's Angel di Maria should spur the Red Devils to victory. I go back to the Emerald City after that. I take that back. I pick the Seattle Mariners to once again beat the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. I know I am playing with fire going with a team to complete a sweep but I like my chances with Hisashi Iwakuma against the underwhelming Allen Webster. Boston got to Chris Young yesterday but Brandon Workman got got. Shit, now I sound like R-Truth. Hopefully if all goes well I'll be dancing like R-Truth with a blue star and a W10 going into the afternoon where I don't have the luxury of not picking like I did yesterday. I know Barcelona +3 is off the table and the 4:05 preseason football nightmare is almost certainly unpickable. That leaves me with MLS, WNBA Playoffs, another preseason NFL game, and a dicey A's/Angels tilt. I don't know what I am going to do just yet but whatever it is I'll be sweating it out. You know, unless I lose either of these first two picks. Then I'll probably just be sweating because I'm fat.
Image Credits: Stanton/Abreu (mlb.com), Streak picks (espn.com)