Game Picks - Tuesday: June 28, 2011

Yesterday's short schedule couldn't have been less kind to this picker. Blame it on interleague. Blame it on the picker being in Florida. Or more probably the case, just blame it on bad picking. Most laughable was the pick for the Twins. That couldn't have gone any worse as the Dodgers smacked them 15-0. Yeah, that was close. The Nationals ruined Davey Johnson's debut as they lost in extra innings. The Indians got two hits from Lonnie Chisenhall in his debut, so that was cool. But that was a bust of a pick too.

The only two correct picks were the Reds over the Bay Rays as Mike Leake shut down the team from St. Pete as predicted. And the Tigers beat the Blue Jays behind Max Scherzer and good relief pitching. That's the only two games where this picker seemed to have a clue.

Ah well, nothing to do but keep going. Another day of interleague intrigue. Oh goodie. The picks:

• The Giants over the Cubs: Ryan Vogelsong continues his impressive season and wins the first game of a double-header. Doug Davis goes for the Cubs.
• The Phillies over the Red Sox: No DH means no Big Papi. Cliff Lee beats Josh Beckett.
• The Yankees over the Brewers: The Yankees are familiar with Zack Greinke. The Yankees are home. So it doesn't matter that Freddie Garcia is starting.
• The Tigers over the Mets: R. A. Dickey averages giving up four runs a game to the Tigers in his career. The Mets may not score three against Rick Porcello in Tiger Stadium.
• The Cardinals over the Orioles: The Cardinals are in a serious funk and face Zach Britton, who has good stuff. But Kyle Lohse has been their most consistent starter and they get an extra bat in the line up with the DH.
• The Pirates over the Blue Jays: It feels so weird to pick the Pirates so often. But Kevin Correia has been great in interleague plays and the Pirates get another bat in the line up with the DH. Jo-Jo Reyes has bounced back nicely but the Pirates win.
• The Reds over the Bay Rays: Hard to pick against David Price. But again, the Bay Rays don't score much at home and face Johnny Cueto, who has been excellent.
• The Giants over the Cubs: Yeah, it's Barry Zito, back from the DL. Yeah, that doesn't sound like good news. But he's up against Rodrigo Lopez, who is infinitely worse.
• The Rangers over the Astros: It's a night game so Josh Hamilton should be okay to hit. (eyeroll). No, the Rangers win at home as C. J. Wilson is simply better than Jordan Lyles.
• The Dodgers over the Twins: A mini-hot streak last week notwithstanding, the problem is that the Twins simply aren't very good. Ted Lilly is a smart lefty who will know how to use the Twins' big ball park. Brian Duensing with the loss.
• The Rockies over the White Sox: Jason Hammel hasn't been good of late, but he'll know what to do in Colorado more than Gavin Floyd will.
• The Athletics over the Marlins: Javier Vazquez isn't quite the pushover anymore. His velocity has picked up over his last half dozen games. That makes him tougher. But he faces Gio Gonzalez, who is awfully darned good.
• The Royals over the Padres: It's time for Felipe Paulino to win a game. The Padres will send Clayton Richard to the mound and he gives up a lot of hits.
• The Nationals over the Angels: Joel Pineiro has been pedestrian while Jason Marquis simply keeps winning. The combination of Mike Morse and Ryan Zimmerman have been clobbering the ball. Davey Johnson wins his first.
• The Mariners over the Braves: Has this picker been right on a Braves pick more than ten times this year? Don't think so. They are the most confusing team in baseball. Tommy Hanson is supposed to be coming off the disabled list to pitch this one. Michael Pineda has been awesome.

And the Game of the Day!

• The Diamondbacks over the Indians: Daniel Hudson wins his tenth game as the Indians give up too many runs with Josh Tomlin on the mound in a park where the ball will fly.

Yesterday: 2-6

Week: 10-13

Month: 194-170

Season: 630-537

Games of the Day: 56-33