Game Picks - Tuesday: May 3, 2011

And the walls came tumbling down. Yesterday was a mess. There are no other words to describe it. Only two correct picks all day. And the silly thing was, one of those correct picks was a typo. If you look at yesterday's picks, all the justifications pointed to a Tigers win with Verlander on the mound at home. But for some reason, the Yankees were listed as the pick. So even one of the two correct picks was pure luck. It takes extraordinary skill to get that many picks wrong in just one day. Judging from how the day went, it's probably a good thing that one of the games yesterday was washed out due to weather.

So now the week is in a deep hole after finishing in the red last week. In the immortal words of Ricky Riccardo: "Lucy, we got work to do."

• The Bay Rays over the Blue Jays: The battle of the "Ays" begins today in St. Pete. It should go well for the Bay Rays against Jo-Jo Reyes who has shown no reason to be in the Blue Jays rotation. Wade Davis simply needs to hold the Blue Jays to four runs to win.
• The Yankees over the Tigers: A tale of two teams going in opposite directions. The Tigers won't be helped by Sabathia on the hill for the Yankees. They counter with Penny.
• The Phillies over the Nationals: Livan always messes with this picker's head. But the Phillies should win behind Cole Hamels.
• The Red Sox over the Angels: The Angels simply can't be the Red Sox, especially at Boston. Lester out pitches Haren in a great pitching match up.
• The Reds over the Astros: The same pitching match up as yesterday's rained out game. Leake still beats Happ.
• The Braves over the Brewers: Another good pitching match up of Estrada and Tommy Hanson. Estrada has been surprisingly good. Hanson has always been good, though his record never seems to show it.
• The Giants over the Mets: R. A. Dickey and Ryan Vogelsong are both great stories. The Giants have been really struggling on offense (ever since they sent Belt down). But they should hit Dickey.
• The Royals over the Orioles: Both Bergesen and Francis are 0-3. Somebody has to win. Both teams have been mild surprises.
• The Twins over the White Sox: How the heck do you pick this game? Two struggling pitchers in Liriano and Jackson. Two struggling teams. Gracious. Going with Liriano with a prayer.
• The Cardinals over the Marlins: Two good pitchers here too in Sanchez versus McClellan. Going with the 4-0 McClellan at home with his offense behind him.
• The Athletics over the Indians: The Indians will get tested in this western road trip. Tyler Ross has been really good for the A's. The Indians go with Carmona, who has been inconsistent.
• The Padres over the Pirates: The Pirates keep winning and Latos keeps losing. Sooner or later, those things have to reverse. Garret Jones has been on fire and Latos will have to get him out. Karstens goes for the Pirates.
• The Dodgers over the Cubs: This one should be easy. That's always a scary thought. But Billingsley at home against Dempster, who can't get anybody out lately, should be a slam dunk.
• The Rangers over the Mariners: The Rangers have too many good right-handed bats to counter Bedard. Ogando should win and shut down the M's.

And the Game of the Day!

• The Rockies over the Diamondbacks: How can the D-backs keep putting Saunders out there? de la Rosa should win easily.

Yesterday: 2-7
Week: 9-15
Month: 9-15
Season: 221-198
Games of the Day: 16-17