The Scoop

By Dalton Del Don – Senior Writer

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A.J. Burnett has turned in one of the more underrated seasons in baseball this year. Pitching in the AL East (and not for the two top teams), Burnett has posted a 3.40 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 9.6 strikeouts per nine innings. He’s allowed three runs or fewer in eight consecutive starts and opponents are batting just .203 against him. That said, it’s hard to figure out what Toronto is thinking: the team has left him in to throw more than 115 pitches in four consecutive starts, including 120 and 124 during his last two. Already an injury-prone player, the Blue Jays are both out of the pennant race and have personally seen more injuries to their squad than any other team in baseball this year.

Check out this Magical Bat.

The San Diego Padres have 20 shutouts this year with just one complete game. Before this year, the fewest complete games by a team with at least 20 shutouts was 17.

Sean Casey may be the nicest person in sports, but the guy has hit four homers in 432 at-bats this season. That’s not very good.

The Hebrew Hammer – I have to snicker every time I hear someone make the daring claim that Ryan Braun should win the NL ROY this season. Oh really, you think? The only debate regarding end of season awards with Braun is whether or not he deserves to be the NL’s MVP.

Having Braun on your fantasy team is a great feeling, but it doesn’t make me quite as happy as this guy.

Back in June, I told all of you the Yankees would still make the postseason, much to plenty of people’s dismay. Well, I hope you don’t think I’m above congratulating myself by pointing out how spot on I was. My arm is really getting tired of patting myself on the back.

I’d rather drink my own urine than own Ben Sheets in a fantasy league again.

It’s a crime against humanity that a guy with Felix Hernandez’s stuff has a 1.43 WHIP on the year.

As sure as “Good Luck Chuck” will be terrible, Laurence Maroney is going to break out this week.

Steve Smith’s favorite movie is “The Notebook,” and he listens to Carrie Underwood – yes, he’s just about the coolest player in the league.

Start everyone involved in the Bengals/Seahawks tilt this week, which is likely to be another shootout. I like the Bengals and the moneyline, by the way, as that appears to be this week’s likeliest upset. I’m not going to go as far as to say Carson Palmer is as good at football as Jason Whaler is at rapping – that would be hyperbolic – but I get the feeling anyone who drafted Palmer this year is not going to be sorry.

Last week, I stumbled to a 6-9-1 mark against the spread. My overall season record now stands at 12-17-3. For what it’s worth, I feel more confident in this week’s picks; of course, that just means they will be the worst yet.

And now, Week 3’s predictions:

Cardinals +8.5 at Ravens

Bills +17 at Patriots

Lions +6.5 at Eagles

Colts -6.5 at Texans

Dolphins +3 at Jets

Vikings +2.5 at Chiefs (Best Bet)

Chargers -4.5 at Packers

49ers +9 at Steelers

Rams +3.5 at Buccaneers

Bengals +3 at Seahawks

Browns +3 at Raiders

Jaguars +3 at Broncos

Panthers -4 at Falcons

Giants +3.5 at Redskins

Cowboys +3 at Bears

Titans +4 at Saints