Game Picks - Saturday: April 23, 2011

Yesterday was terrific! Even with three games postponed due to rain, this picker had ten of twelve correct. The only blemishes were Toronto coming back on the Bay Rays (more on that in a coming post) and stupidly picking against Verlander against the White Sox. That one was a case of not doing enough research. Verlander--in the words of one tweet on Twitter--owns the White Sox. But that was it. Those were the only two bad picks. That's pretty darned exciting.

Which leads to the picks for Saturday. Two great days in a row would be sweet. None of those three Friday washouts will be made up on Saturday (which seems strange):

• The Cubs over the Dodgers: Ryan Dempster can't seem to get his game out of the dumpster. Perhaps the Dodgers will help as Dempster has always done well against them (7-3, 2.23). He'll beat Lilly today.
• The Bay Rays over the Blue Jays: It's always dicey picking a pitcher just coming back from the DL like Morrow. So going with David Price and the Rays.
• The Mets over the Diamondbacks: Gee, who will win this game? Heh. The Fan loves that. But Gee will win because he faces Barry Enwrong.
• The Twins over the Indians: Yesterday's match up becomes today's match up and Duensing will beat Carmona.
• The Giants over the Braves: Lincecum is back in 2009 form. Which means he's not hittable. Hudson is a worthy opponent, but Lincecum takes it.
• The White Sox over the Tigers: A bad Penny always turns up. Love that pun. But it's true too. Jackson is always either terrible or terrific. He better be terrific today.
• The Cardinals over the Reds: The Cards and Reds are going in opposite directions. Carpenter keeps that trend going against Travis Wood.
• The Nationals over the Pirates: Picking against Livan always burns this picker. Karstens is better in relief than as a starter. It's surprising that after a rain-out, the Pirates wouldn't bump Karstens, who was an emergency starter in the first place.
• The Rockies over the Marlins: Hammel is the weakest of the Rockies' starters, but he's better at this point in his career than Javier Vazquez. Plus, the Marlins offense will really miss LoMo.
• The Brewers over those plucky Astros: You have to give the Astros credit. They never give up. But Marcum's change up will bamboozle them today. Myers with the tough luck loss.
• The Rangers over the Royals: Read a piece the other day that said Kyle Davies is the worst starter in history. It built a strong case too. He didn't have enough starts to make the Fan's version last week of the worst starting pitchers in history. Ogando should bounce back from a bad start against the Yankees.
• The Padres over the Phillies: The upset pick of the day. Stauffer has been very good and Blanton has been a weak link for the Phillies.
• The Red Sox over the Angels: The Red Sox have their swagger back. Dice-K over Santana.
• The Athletics over the Mariners: Boy, are these two offenses weak. But Cahill is terrific. He beats Vargas.

And the Game of the Day:

• The Yankees over the Orioles: They simply moved yesterday's match up to today. Sabathia still beats Bergesen.

Yesterday: 10-2 Yowza!
Week: 48-32
Month: 158-129
Season: 158-129
Games of the Day: 11-12