Game Picks - Wednesday: April 20, 2011

Yesterday was brutal. How brutal? Let's call it, don't-even-want-to-talk-about-it brutal. Elite closers failed, aces pitched like scrubs. Scrubs pitched like aces. Awful. It's days such as Tuesday that makes the Fan question whether he ever really know anything about this game. Humbling. Seriously.

But when falling off a horse, the best thing is to get right back up and mount it again. So here are Wednesday's picks:

• The Phillies over the Brewers: The Brewers have had the best of the series so far and even beat Roy Halladay handily, but Cliff Lee can shut them down and the Phillies win despite Narveson, who has been outstanding thus far.
• The Cardinals sweep the double-header from the Nationals: Rained out yesterday, Westbrook still beats Lannon and then later, Garcia beats the hard luck Zimmermann.
• The Cubs and Padres split their double-header: The Cubs knock out Moseley in the first game. Garza gets his first win. Harang wins the second game over Russell.
• The Rockies over the Giants: A low scoring game with De La Rosa out-pitching Matt Cain. The Giants have already taken the first two games of this series.
• The Athletics over the Red Sox: Brutal umpiring yesterday masked the fact that Oakland pitching dominated the Red Sox. It doesn't get any easier with Gio Gonzalez on the hill. Clay Buchholz has not been sharp thus far.
• The Tigers over the Mariners: The Mariners spiked the Tigers yesterday and two pitchers, Bedard and Porcello, are both winless. Something has to give.
• The Bay Rays over the White Sox: The Rays are on fire and could reach .500 today. Wade Davis gets them there and beats Humber.
• The Orioles over the Twins: The Orioles snapped an eight game losing streak against the Twins, who are struggling mightily. Britton over Blackburn.
• The Yankees over the Blue Jays: Colon gets his first start. The Jays counter with Brett Cecil. Cecil's velocity was up against Boston, but the Yankees should win the game barring another closer meltdown.
• The Diamondbacks over the Reds: Where are the Reds right now? Ian Kennedy out-pitches Bronson Arroyo.
• The Mets over the Astros: Norris confounded last time out and pitched really well. Still think the Mets will get to him. Dickey has lost two in a row. Think he'll win tonight.
• The Pirates over the Marlins: The Marlins are 9-6 and the Pirates 6-9. But Morton has been surprisingly good and beats Nolasco, who has been spotty.
• The Rangers over the Angels: Great pitching match up here. Weaver has been dominant and is 4-0. Harrison has been dominant and is 3-0. Going with the home team: Texas.
• The Indians over the Royals: Each team has won a game in this series. The thinking here is that the Indians score more off of Hochevar than the Royals can score against Masterson.

And the Game of the Day!

• The Braves over the Dodgers: The Braves are really scuffling, but Lowe is consistent. The Dodgers give the ball to Jon Garland. That didn't exactly go well the last time.

Yesterday: 3-10 (ugh)
Week: 20-20 (well, it was a good week)
Season: 130-117
Month: 130-117
Games of the Day: 9-11