Game Picks - Sunday: May 22, 2011

Bullpen meltdowns are not only hard on their teams and the team's fans, but also on game pickers. It's not like it was a bad night. It wasn't. But how much better could it have been if the Red Sox bullpen hadn't imploded and the Red Sox fielders started playing with Benny Hill's theme in the background? What could have been wasn't because the Twins' bullpen couldn't get any of the Diamondbacks out with a rally Capped by a grand slam off the Twins' closer? And the Fan has to admit here that the Pirates completely own this picker. Hats off to them as they are playing well. Speaking of closers, did you see the way that Hanrahan came in and poured water all over that Tigers' rally? Nails.

So here comes Sunday and the last of this spate of interleague games:

• The Indians over the Reds: Can you really pick against the Indians at home these days? Oh, you could make a case that the law of averages dictates that a good team like the Reds would win one game in this series. But would you put your money down about it? Carlos Carrasco and Edinson Volquez are the starters.
• The Yankees over the Mets: Ivan Nova puzzles this picker. But Mike Pelfrey doesn't. The Yankees will hit him.
• The Blue Jays over the Astros: Wandy Rodriguez is one of the favorites here in the FanDome. But he doesn't pitch complete games. And the Astros' bullpen is a disaster. Kyle Drabek will keep the Blue Jays close.
• The Bay Rays over the Marlins: The Marlins called up Jay Buente to replace Josh Johnson in the rotation. The guy has trouble finding the strike zone. You don't want the Rays on the bases. James Shields with the win.
• The Tigers over the Pirates: Sigh. The Fan knows the Pirates are much better this season. He also knows the Tigers have lost the first two games of this series. But sooner or later, one of the Tigers' good pitchers has to have a good game and the Pirates never score for Paul Maholm. Rick Porcello with the win.
• The Rangers over the Phillies: Matt Harrison stymies the lefty-laden line up of the Phillies and the Rangers score just enough off of Roy Oswalt to win.
• The Nationals over the Orioles: Jordan Zimmermann has been very good and Chris Tillman has been very bad.
• The Rockies over the Brewers: Sooner or later Ubaldo Jiminez is going to win. Randy Wolf is a good opponent to make that happen.
• The Dodgers over the White Sox: Hiroki Kuroda has quietly been one of the best pitchers in baseball this season. The guy doesn't get enough ink. He beats Edwin Jackson.
• The Cardinals over the Royals: Jaime Garcia just has to do his usual thing for this pick to be right. Sean O'Sullivan should be reached by the Cardinal offense. Holliday loves him some DH time, doesn't he?
• The Braves over the Angels: Derek Lowe keeps his team in the game. That's all we have to understand here. He just needs to hang in there long enough for the Braves to get to Tyler Chatwood and then let that bullpen take over.
• The Giants over the Athletics: The Fan truly wants to pick Gio Gonzalez to win this game. But the Giants counter with Jonathan Sanchez and they are the better team right now.
• The Diamondbacks over the Twins: Francisco Liriano showed how good he is the last time out. But Daniel Hudson is coming on and will limit the Twins' run production.
• The Red Sox over the Cubs: The Red Sox will make James Russell or whomever the Cubs put out there in place of Matt Garza pay because that's what they do. But old man, Tim Wakefield, has to pitch effectively.

And the Game of the Day!

• The Mariners over the Padres: The Padres are reeling from all the great pitching they've been facing. Today they get Felix Hernandez. Not fun. Tim Stauffer will hang in there, but gets the loss.

Yesterday: 9-6
Last week: 52-45
Month: 147-135
Season: 360-313
Games of the Day: 28-24