Game Picks - Wednesday: May 20, 2009

::THUD:: That was the sound of running full speed and hitting a wall. In the immortal words of Marlin the Fish in Finding Nemo: "Good feeling gone." First, Dontrelle Willis threw goose eggs. That's terrific, but who saw that coming? Why wasn't the news about Mike Hampton cutting his pitching finger available BEFORE the game? Why do the Twins keep losing? Why can't the Indians' pitching hold ANY lead? How does Wakefield do it? Those questions and more led to a really bad picking day in the FanDome.

Let's consider last night a speed bump on the road to success. With that in the Fan's hopeful mind, here are today's picks:

• The Marlins over the Diamondbacks: Like Volstad over Davis. Let's see if Davis gets mad again when his new manager takes him out of the game.
• The Pirates over the Nationals: Two good young pitchers in the matchup of Lannon versus Maholm. But the Nationals bullpen is like swiss cheese.
• The Tigers over the Rangers: Another good matchup of Harrison versus Verlander. Experience will win out with a Verlander win.
• The Yankees over the Orioles: The Yankees are on a major roll. Hughes will have a good game.
• Oakland over the Bay Rays: Kazmir himself has mentioned that he is lost at the moment. Hate to hope that he stays lost but...
• The Reds over the Phillies: Harang on the hill for the Reds, Moyer for the Phillies. Has Moyer finally hit the end of the line? The Reds better hope Votto isn't gone long.
• Braves over the Rockies: De La Rosa has had flashes of brilliance for the Rockies, but Vasquez has found a home in Atlanta.
• The Blue Jays over the Red Sox: Penny has been Boston's weak spot. Cecil hasn't lost a game for the Blue Jays. Ortiz went 0-3 last night with two more strikeouts. It's getting really sad.
• Astros over the Brewers: It's been really hard to pick against the Brewers lately as they are on a major roll, but so has Wandy Rodriguez. Sticking with Wandy.
• The Royals over the Indians: Gil (ga) Meche over Carmona. They should remain about even in the game until the Indians' bullpen blows it.
• The Twins over the White Sox: Come on! The Twins can't keep losing like this, can they? Plus, Danks struggled last time out for the White Sox.
• The Cardinals over the Cubs: Carpenter is back and the Cardinals do seem to get inspired when he is pitching.
• The Marlins over the Diamondbacks: Two very inexperienced pitchers in this matchup, so when that happens, you go with the better team.
• The Giants over the Padres: Just because.
• The Dodgers over the Mets: This one could get ugly with Weaver versus Livan. Yikes!
• The Angels over the Mariners: Erwin Santana has to be Jakubauskas, right?

Yesterday: 4-11 (sigh)
Week: 21-16
Month: 118-108