Sport: MLBPick Selection: Pirates
At 2:10pm our selection is on the Pittsburgh Pirates over the Kansas City Royals. Call this the battle of the bottom feeders. The worst team in the American League against the worst team in the National League. You may think that this matchup doesn't mean much to anyone but perhaps the two teams, but it could be argued that this series could be a fairly good indicator of which league is tougher from top to bottom and, in turn, which team will have the advantage in the World Series. The Royals have a considerably worse record than the Pirates, so if they can be competitive in this series, then it could be argued that the AL champ would have a reasonable advantage in the fall classic. Well, the Royals have been more than competitive so far, taking the first two games of this series by a combined margin of 16-10. But the Pirates have a clear advantage in the pitching matchup of this third game. Royals righthanded veteran starter Scott Elarton is on a pace to lose almost 20 games this season and, although he has won 2 games, he is winless at home and has a better road ERA than that in his own park. He's also 0-6 in the daytime this year, with a 6.59 ERA. Three of Pittsburgh lefthander Paul Maholm's last 4 outings have been quality starts, and he's given up 3 earned runs or less in 8 of his last 10 starts. Take Pittsburgh. As always, good luck...Al McMordie.
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