Game Picks - Friday: June 17, 2011

Today starts our trip to Florida, so the picks are early and they have to be on the quick side as we have to hit the road. Yesterday was a sub-par day. Zach Stewart pitched brilliantly for the Blue Jays, but his team didn't score enough runs in the loss. The Mets had the Braves beat until K-Rod blew the save. The Cardinals came back to tie the Nationals only to get beat in extra innings. Both pitchers pitched brilliantly in the Twins/White Sox game, but the team the Fan picked (White Sox) came up on the short end of a 1-0 decision. The light hitting Oakland A's erupted against Jeff Francis and the Royals. And David Price came up short against the Red Sox. The Red Sox will do that to you.

Today starts another round of interleague play. That's not fun for a game picker. Here goes:

• The Yankees over the Cubs: Picking either Freddie Garcia or Doug Davis contains no joy. But the Yankees should win in a trip to Wrigley.
• The Orioles over the Nationals: Zach Britton has to be on his A game to win. But if he is, the Orioles should get to Jason Marquis. They've done it once before this season.
• The Pirates over the Indians: Riding the Pirate wave here with Kevin Correia over Josh Tomlin.
• The Mets over the Angels: The Mets bounce back behind Chris Capuano, who was terrific in his last outing. Joel Pineiro goes for the Angels.
• The Brewers over the Red Sox: The thought here is that the Brewers will get to John Lackey while Shaun Marcum has experience pitching against the Red Sox and has a decent history against them.
• The Reds over the Blue Jays: The Blue Jays lose the DH on the road in the National League. Jo-Jo Reyes will pitch for them and he's been pretty good lately. But Mike Leake is the Reds' secret weapon. They don't lose when he pitches.
• The Braves over the Rangers: Don't like that the Braves are starting Randall Delgado in place of injured Tommy Hanson. But Colby Lewis has been brutal lately.
• The Twins over the Padres: The Padres weak line up is just what Brian Duensing needs to get better than he has been lately. Clayton Richard has been the worst of the Padres' pitchers. Joe Mauer will be back.
• The Cardinals over the Royals: The Cardinals have lost six in a row. Chris Carpenter to the rescue (if his team can catch a few baseballs). The Royals feature Felipe Paulino, who hasn't won a game.
• The Tigers over the Rockies: No DH for the Tigers and that gives them a problem. But Rick Porcello should be better than Jason Hammel.
• The Diamondbacks over the White Sox: No DH for the White Sox means that Dunn sits. Which might be a good thing these days. Daniel Hudson with the win over Edwin Jackson (facing yet another of his former teams).
• The Giants over the Athletics: Tim Lincecum has been a puzzle (just ask any fantasy baseball player). But he should fare well against the A's. The A's counter with Graham Godfrey, who did not fare well in his MLB debut.
• The Dodgers over the Astros: These are the two teams that miss out on the interleague fun. Ted Lilly should pitch well at home and give Brett Myers another tough loss.
• The Mariners over the Phillies: The Phillies have never seen Michael Pineda before and that will make a difference. They need to score a few times off of Roy Oswalt though to win. Dustin Ackley makes his debut.

And the Game of the Day!

• The Bay Rays over the Marlins: The Marlins should get to Wade Davis, but Brian Hand is throwing way too many pitches early in the game.

Yesterday: 5-7

Week: 32-34

Month: 117-100

Season: 560-465

Games of the Day: 48-30