Game Picks - Thursday: May 6, 2010

April flowers have brought May showers here in the FanDome. With a sub par picking day yesterday, this picker is barely over .500 for the month of May. A lot went wrong yesterday. The Padres had the lead but young Richard had to leave after five innings because of too many walks and the Padres' relievers were terrible. Kyle Kendrick, who had been so bad so far, pitched a gem against the suddenly flat looking Cardinals. Picking against Zito was simply a bad idea. Picking the Nationals was almost a good idea, but they couldn't hold down a bad hitting team. The Royals were a bad pick. The Rangers had a golden opportunity to zoom up in the standings in the AL West but let the injury-riddled Athletics walk all over them for the second straight night. The Brewers are on a hitting binge after weeks of slumber and the Fan didn't seem to get that. So, the Fan deserves the lumps he took.

The scheduling has been different this year. Mondays and Thursdays have had a fairly full slate of games so far. Today is no different. Here's what they look like:

• The Phillies over the Cardinals: How can anyone pick against Halladay? Of course, that obvious pick is scary as heck.
• The Cubs over the Pirates: This picker never picks against the Cubs when Randy Wells is pitching. Burres for the Pirates makes this even easier to do that.
• The Braves over the Nationals: Scott Olsen is a tall lefty with a lot of talent. But his concentration skills have never been good. Don't see two good performances in a row for him. But Heyward will be out for the Braves after injuring his groin.
• The Giants over the Marlins: The Marlins continue to be a mystery to this picker. Will probably get this one wrong again too. Nolasco goes against Cain in a good match up. Who knows...
• The Red Sox over the Angels: Kazmir versus Matsuzaka seems like an Angel win, but the Red Sox are heating up and will out slug the Angels in a high scoring contest.
• The Rangers over the Royals: Davies was pretty good last night and Harrison has never really been good for the Rangers. But we are talking the Royals here.
• The Twins over the Orioles: Pavano over Bergesen easily. Have the Orioles has the toughest schedule in baseball? The poor schmucks are always playing the top teams.
• The Blue Jays over the White Sox: Danks hasn't been very good. Eveland needs to go deeper into games, but the Blue Jays should win.
• The Brewers over the Dodgers. Bush goes for the Brewers. Normally that would be a bad thing. But the Dodgers counter with Ely. Who?
• The Bay Rays over the Mariners: The Bay Rays have had a pretty cushy schedule so far. The Mariners are as cushy as they get.

And the GAME OF THE DAY!

• The Diamondbacks over the Astros: Hate to think of Wandy losing again, but he hasn't been nearly as sharp as last year. Plus, he's matched up against Haren.

Yesterday: 6-9
Week: 33-22
Month: 37-33
Season: 237-159
Games of the Day: 11-9