Game Picks - Monday: May 2, 2011

The Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets' game hung in the balance and as it did so, the day for this picker did as well. A Phillies win would push the day in the plus column. A Mets' win would mean another negative day.  The picks had been tied for the day at 7-7 in yet another tough day of picking. The outcome of the game was intensely important. The Phillies were the Game of the Day pick as well. But then the stepson called. The wife, who had gone to bed answered the phone upstairs. Then the daughter called. Both said to turn on CNN. The wife came downstairs and we turned the channel. And suddenly, the outcome of the game didn't matter anymore. The day of picking became forgotten. Everything was now focused on the news in front of us. The history happened right before our eyes.

It wasn't until the wee hours of the morning when we could sleep. There was so much to digest. Whenever history has been made, the Fan is always reflective. It's as if there is no capacity to want to make a snap judgement that will be regretted later. Plus, there are always so many more facets to the story. What are those families feeling that lost loved ones all those years ago? What new danger are our servicemen and women now facing? Is travel going to be a scary proposition for a while? All those thoughts had to have their moments before sleep could come.

And thus these picks are late. The Fan hopes you understand. Surprisingly, the wife still had to go to work. Fortunately, the Fan could sleep. But the show must go on as they say. So here are Monday's picks. Though again, they feel a lot less urgent this morning.

• The Rangers over the Athletics: Holland and McCarthy sort of even each other out. They are pitchers of similar skill and accomplishment. When the pitching match up breaks even, go with the better offense.
• The Yankees over the Tigers: The Bartolo Colon story is about as good as it gets in baseball. But the Tigers will score four runs off of him and Verlander will give up less than that. Verlander is 4-3 with a 3.90 ERA lifetime against the Yankees.
• The Giants over the Nationals: Bumgarner and Gorzelanny are both winless and are 0-6 combined. One of them has to win. 
• The Angels over the Red Sox: Weaver continues his great pitching. Buchholz still looks to figure it out.
• The Reds over the Astros: It's been a long time since this Fan correctly picked a game involving the Astros. Got to be right some time. Leake should beat Happ.
• The Brewers over the Braves: Yovani Gallardo has caused a great deal of concern so far. His strikeout rate is way down. He hasn't pitched well. But Gallardo is 3-0 lifetime against the Braves with a 1.96 ERA. But will he be that same pitcher this time out against Jair Jurrjens? Who knows.
• The Orioles over the White Sox: The Orioles match up well against Buehrle with all their right handed power. Plus, Guthrie is the Orioles most experienced pitcher. Should add up to another win for the Orioles and another loss for the struggling White Sox.
• The Cardinals over the Marlins: Good match up of Volstad versus Lohse. Lohse has been terrific since the beginning of Spring Training. Volsad pitched a shutout against the Cards last time out, but that was a period when the Cards were really struggling last year. Too much offense for the Cards.
• The Padres over the Pirates: There are two strikes against the Pirates. First, Harang is very good this year, especially at home. Second, the Pirate counter with McDonald. It's that third strike the Fan is worried about.

And the Game of the Day:

• The Dodgers over the Cubs: Kershaw should strike out a bunch of Cubs at home while the Dodgers should tee it up against Russell.

Yesterday: 7-8
Week: 7-8
Month: 7-8
Season: 219-191  (at least there is one positive number in there!)
Games of the Day: 15-17