Game Picks - Thursday: June 16, 2011

Wow! That was a good day. In one fell swoop, the week's deficit was erased and all is right with the world. Only four picks out of sixteen went south. There was a rousing comeback by the Cleveland Indians to show the world that they aren't quite dead yet. The Reds easily beat Clay Billingsley and the Dodgers. Livan Hernandez threw a shutout and the Nationals scored ten runs off the Cardinals. Weird. And Luke Hochevar pitched well but was out pitched by Josh Outman, who has the perfect name for a pitcher. But that's it. Everything else went according to prediction. Amazing.

Once again the scheduling gods have given us plenty of games on a Thursday. We really haven't had a really light Monday or Thursday yet. Strange. But there are twelve games today, and best of all, eight of them are day games. This Fan loves day games. The picks:

• The Blue Jays over the Orioles: Kyle Drabek's spot in the rotation is taken by Zach Stewart, most recently a pitcher for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats in Double A. Stewart is the fourth rated prospect for the Blue Jays according to MLB.com and was part of that Scott Rolen deal a couple of years ago. It's a strange choice for the Blue Jays, but since they always beat the Orioles and Jeremy Guthrie, it will still lead to a win.
• The Tigers over the Indians: Max Scherzer has already won eight games and was good his last time out. Mitch Talbot is essentially a five or six inning pitcher.
• The Phillies over the Marlins: It doesn't get better for the Marlins, who are now 1-14 in June as they face Cliff Lee. All they can offer in return is Javier Vazquez. Uh oh.
• The Yankees over the Rangers: In one of the more interesting games of the month, the Yankees signed a 32 year old journeyman from the minors who was pitching brilliantly for the Phillies in Triple A. But Gordon had an opt out clause in his contract and took it because the Phillies don't need starting pitchers. Gordon has three games to his credit in the big leagues way back in 2008. It's a Ryan Vogelsong kind of story. The Yankees hope it has the same kind of ending. The Rangers counter with their ace, C. J. Wilson, but the Rangers are really flat right now.
• The White Sox over the Twins: This picker bounced this pick around for quite a while before settling on the White Sox and Mark Buehrle. Nick Blackburn goes for the Twins.
• The Pirates over the Astros: Not to get giddy or anything, but the Pirates are just three back in the wild card standings and four back in their division. James McDonald has a nice game and the Pirates beat Jordan Lyles, whose name sounds like a leading character from a soap opera.
• The Brewers over the Cubs: Zack Greinke makes the difference here as he faces the Cubs and the sometimes tough, Matt Garza.
• The Royals over the Athletics: Gio Gonzalez has just lost it. He walked seven his last time out, hit a batter and threw several wild pitches. The young Royals need to stay patient to win this one behind Jeff Francis, who has pitched well lately.
• The Cardinals over the Nationals: John Lannon has been very good. But the Nats can't keep beating the Cardinals, can they? Kyle Lohse goes for the suddenly struggling Cardinals.
• The Bay Rays over the Red Sox: Tough game to call. Clay Buchholz is getting better all the time. But David Price doesn't lose too often at home.
• The Mets over the Braves: R. A. Dickey pitched a complete game his last time out and goes against Mike Minor. hmm...

And the Game of the Day!

• The Diamondbacks over the Giants: Ian Kennedy is one tough customer and he is used to pitching in Arizona where the ball flies. Ryan Vogelsong has been great all season, but is slightly less great on the road.

Yesterday: 12-4  yesssss
Week: 27-27
Month: 112-93
Season: 555-458
Games of the Day: 47-30