Game Picks - Sunday: May 15, 2011

Saturday was not a good day. Kyle McClellan's perfect season was made less perfect. Josh Beckett again throttled the Yankees while ace, C. C. Sabathia, has not been able to throw zeros. Josh Collmenter was terrific in a rain-shortened game. Didn't see that coming. The Padres destroyed the Rockies' bullpen with the culminating blow hit by their old friend, Brad Hawpe, off of Huston Street. The Reds completely out-played the Cardinals and the Diamondbacks won a 1-0 game over the Dodgers. All those bad picks left this picker sucking wind as this strange season continues. The rained-out game in Cleveland didn't help as that would probably have been a good pick. The downer of a day left the week and the month pretty near the .500 mark.

Perhaps this week will be better. It all starts with Sunday:

• The Tigers over the Royals: This hasn't been a good weekend for the Royals. Today won't be any easier as Max Scherzer is already 6-0 and all the Royals can do is counter with Kyle Davies. Not pretty.
• The Indians over the Mariners: The rain-out yesterday allows the Mariners to skip a weak link in their rotation and get Michael Pineda back out there against the hot Indians. But it won't be enough as the Mariners can't score enough to win. Josh Tomlin gets the win.
• The Cardinals over the Reds: It's been a tough weekend for the Cardinals. And today's game looks tough to pick. The Cards defense and bullpen have been problems and Chris Carpenter has struggled. But the Cards should score enough against Travis Wood to at least win one game of the series.
• The Nationals over the Marlins: Jason Marquis has had a season to match his last name. Meanwhile, the Marlins continue to roll out Javier Vazquez to negative results.
• The Phillies over the Braves: Roy Halladay should dominate and the Phillies hit Tim Hudson pretty well. Not a good day for Braves fans.
• The Orioles over the Bay Rays: Simply can't go with the Bay Rays with Andy Sonnanstine pitching. Going with Jake Arrieta and the Orioles.
• The Mets over the Astros: The Mets have the advantage facing Aneury Rodriguez. Chris Capuano has three quality starts out of his last four. Don't let his record fool you.
• The Brewers over the Pirates: Kevin Correia has been good, but the Brewers have Zack Greinke on the mound. The Brewers are hanging around thanks to see-saw play from the rest of the division.
• The Blue Jays over the Twins: Brandon Morrow has yet to have that lights out game. The Twins offense will allow him to have that today. Brian Duensing won't have enough support to win.
• The Giants over the Cubs: Carlos Zambrano is back to being a very good pitcher for the Cubs. But he's no match for Tim Lincecum.
• The Rangers over the Angels: Ervin Santana has been MIA so far this year. You have to wonder if he is healthy as he's just not fooling anyone. The Rangers, meanwhile, throw out their ace in C. J. Wilson.
• The Padres over the Rockies: Today's upset special is for the Padres to win their second game in a row over the Rockies. Matt Latos isn't as bad as his record and is due for a win. Jason Hammel has had a good season but can be had.
• The Athletics over the White Sox: Trevor Cahill has been the best pitcher in the American League and is starting to make believers out there. The White Sox counter with the usually reliable Mark Beuhrle.
• The Diamondbacks over the Dodgers: Ian Kennedy is starting to make a case as a very good pitcher. Ted Lilly is good but not great. The D-backs have to score four runs to win.

And the Game of the Day:

• The Red Sox over the Yankees: Jon Lester versus Freddie Garcia. Game. Set. Match.

Yesterday: 6-8
Last week: 45-43
Month: 94-90
Season: 306-268
Games of the Day: 23-22