Game Picks - Wednesday: May 18, 2011

Three more washed out games. The Northeast has been one perpetual cloud. Since that's where this game picker happens to reside, it's almost time to go stark raving loony. And the postponed games did have an effect on the outcome of yesterday's mundane results. Yes, it was over .500. But after the giddy days of Sunday and Monday, it's a bit of a letdown. The Fan can't blame the weather completely. There were some bad picks. Francisco Liriano out-pitched Felix Hernandez, who once again gave a brilliant performance in a losing cause. Ivan Nova was indeed a stopper. Surprise! The Cubs game with the Red was going according to plan until Kerry Wood got into the game. Picking the Royals to beat the Indians was truly misguided. And Matt Harrison was sailing along until Brent Morel stepped to the plate. Brent Morel? Oh well.

There are no double-headers on Wednesday, which is surprising. When are all these games going to be made up? Here are Wednesday's picks:

• The Phillies over the Rockies: Jorge de la Rosa has nearly a ten ERA against the Phillies in his career. Cole Hamels should win this one easily enough.
• The Yankees over the Orioles: Bartolo Colon can't continue to throw 85 percent fastballs can he? We'll see as he squares up against young Zach Britton. The Yankees haven't faced Britton before.
• The Blue Jays over the Bay Rays: Jesse Litsch is a Fan favorite, which is a stupid reason for picking the Blue Jays. This feature never claimed to be scientific. Litsch will have to be better than Jeremy Hellickson. No easy task.
• The Marlins over the Cubs: Ricky Nolasco always pitches good against the Cubs, his former team. Ryan Dempster has been better of late, but the Cubs always find a way to lose.
• The Reds over the Pirates: Bronson Arroyo should have no trouble with the Pirates' line up and the Reds will score off of Charlie Morton.
• The Nationals over the Mets: Let's see. No Ike Davis. No David Wright. Yeah, not good. Tom Gorzelanny over Jonathan Niese.
• The Indians over the White Sox: Sort of an important series for the Indians as they have to prove they can beat the formerly good White Sox. Justin Masterson needs to throw a gem while the Indians need to jump on Jake Peavy early.
• The Rangers over the Royals: Danny Duffy makes his major league debut. He could be impressive, but it's doubtful he'll go more than five innings. If you leave the Royals' bullpen twelve outs to get, well, that's not good. Alexi Ogando keeps his perfect record.
• The Astros over the Cardinals: This pick looks stupid on the outside looking in. The secret weapon here is Bud Norris, who always looks like Sandy Koufax against the Cardinals for some reason. Kyle Lohses with the hard luck loss.
• The Braves over the Diamondbacks: Tough game to pick. Julio Teheran goes for the Braves and he didn't look ready for the majors in his first start. But the Braves face Joe Saunders, who literally has nothing to offer.
• The Brewers over the Padres: Yovani Gallardo pitches a great game and hits a homer and the Brewers beat Dustin Moseley.
• The Athletics over the Twins: Really tempted to pick the Twins behind Carl Pavano, who has to be better than he has looked so far. But logic just couldn't let that pick happen. Brandon McCarthy will hold the Twins' meager offense down.
• The Angels over the Mariners: Jason Vargas has been good enough to stick with Jared Weaver, but the Mariners have to score to win. They won't.
• The Dodgers over the Giants: Like Clayton Kershaw over Matt Cain in this one. But with these two pitchers, anything can happen.

And the Game of the Day:

• The Red Sox over the Tigers: Clay Buchholz versus Phil Coke seems like a mismatch and that's how the Fan is playing it. The Tigers had a rain out. Why not skip Coke? [shrug]

Yesterday: 6-5

Week: 26-11

Month: 121-101

Season: 334-279

Games of the Day: 25-23