Streak for the Cash Picks, July 9

After a frenetically paced opening to the month, things slow down a bit in ESPN’s Streak for the Cash game on this Monday. With Baseball taking a breath for the All-Star game and Wimbledon coming to a close, there’s only seven picks on the board for today. There’s green to be found though…

Yesterday was a mixed bag for our picks as I split 2-2 before dropping the nightcap with the Red Sox. It’s still been a solid beginning to the month as you can see at the bottom of the post. Here’s the picks I like on Monday:

Picks for today

July 8, 2012; Belfort-Porrentruy, FRANCE; Christopher Froome (GBR), right, leads Bradley Wiggins (GBR), in yellow, during stage eight of the 2012 Tour de France between Belfort and Porrentruy. Mandatory Credit: Bernard Papon/Presse Sports via US PRESSWIRE

3:45 AM- Any Other Cyclist: This is a time-trial let where racers don’t all go at the same time so they’ll be different start times throughout the morning. The pick is the field over Fabian Cancellara who is the favorite in this leg. If his time is the best when he finishes this could last until 11:30 AM or so. He’s riding in the middle of the order though which makes things harder since there isn’t as clear of a “target time.” I’ll go any other in this one and look for Tony Martin or Bradley Wiggins to probably come out on top. Confidence Meter: 3

8:20- Any other Batter: If you are in a position where one green tonight is enough this is the safest pick. I like Prince Fielder to do well along with Andrew McCutchen and Mark Trumbo. The fact that you can take the other six in the competition over Robinson Cano and Jose Bautista makes this the most sure pick of the night. Still though, don’t be too confident, remember this is all just a exhibition competition… Confidence Meter: 6

July 13, 2009; St. Louis, MO, USA; National League first baseman Prince Fielder (28) of the Milwaukee Brewers hits a home run after winning the 2009 All-Star home run derby at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-US PRESSWIRE

8:21- Prince Fielder: If you need to go proppy (like I will), go with Fielder to hit more in the first than Beltran. Beltran will be appearing in his first derby while Prince has particpiated in 2007, 2009, and 2011. The last two times he’s made it out of round one and in ’09 he won the whole thing. Fielder’s the better bet, but again it’s an exhibition… Confidence Meter: 5

9:45- 30 HR or less: Here’s the recent numbers 2011-31, 2010-30, 2009-25, 2008-26, 2007-38, 2006-21, 2005-21. The over 31 ballparks were Minute Maid (Houston), AT&T (San Francisco) and Chase Field (Arizona). All those ballparks are generally more homer-friendly than Kauffman. Confidence Meter: 3

10:30- 9 HR of fewer: Only three times in the 11 All-Star games since they revamped the format has the winner made it to double-digit home runs. However, the last two years Cano and Ortiz won with 10 or more. Seems like this year might be low-homer numbers so I’ll go with history and go under. Confidence Meter: 4

Results

Overall Picks: 23-14

Picks with Confidence over 5: 10-6

Current Personal Streak: L1