Game Picks - Wednesday: June 8, 2011

Well, that was ugly. Yesterday was a bad, bad day for this picker. Only the Game of the Day brightens things a little bit. But, yeah, it was ugly. Chris Capuano pitched great, but Shaun Marcum out pitched him. Brewers' reliever, Marco Estrada, then gave up a two-run triple to that man again: Jose Reyes. Ballgame. Jordan Zimmermann of the Nationals pitched great again...and won! Wow! Felix Hernandez gave up two homers and then a triple to the ancient Omar Vizquel as Phil Humber continues to be the White Sox best pitcher. Carlos Carrasco gave up six runs in his previous outing but none last night as the Indians beat the Twins, 1-0. The Orioles did win with Chris Jakubauskas pitching. Son of a gun! Rick Porcello was excellent and Matt Harrison had nothing for Texas. Alex Cobb beat Dan Haren and the Angels. And the bad pick that hurt the worst? Ubaldo Jiminez was brilliant again, but the Rockies were blanked by Tim Stauffer. Oy.

Perhaps Wednesday will be a little better. Here goes:

• The Indians over the Twins: Going with Justin Masterson at home over Carl Pavano. The Tribe ended their losing streak, perhaps Masterson will too.
• The Reds over the Cubs: If this Fan picked against the Cubs every time for the rest of the year, the pick would be correct 70 percent of the time, right? Bronson Arroyo over Ryan Dempster.
• The Giants over the Nationals: Matt Cain should have no problem beating Yunesky Maya as long as the Giants can score a run or two.
• The Padres over the Rockies: As many of you know who follow this feature, a pitcher who is coming back from the disabled list is rarely ever picked to win. For one thing, their outings are never long and for another, it's asking too much for a win. That leaves us with a rare pick for Dustin Moseley over Aaron Cook.
• The Diamondbacks over the Pirates: Zach Duke and Paul Maholm face each other. Is it cruel and inhumane for Pirate fans to have to watch both pitchers at the same time?
• The Yankees over the Red Sox: A. J. Burnett has to be better against the Red Sox than he was last year. The Yankees should bunt 30 times against Wakefield. That would work.
• The Phillies over the Dodgers: Cole Hamels beats Hiroki Kuroda as the Phillies continue to win Giants' style.
• The Orioles over the Athletics: The A's can't seem to win lately. Zach Britton wasn't very good his last time out, but should have no trouble with this line up. Josh Outman with the hard luck loss.
• The Braves over the Marlins: The Marlins are in a serious slide. Derek Lowe has not been good but gets a quality start. Ricky Nolasco was hit hard by the Braves last time he faced them.
• The Rangers over the Tigers: Sooner or later Alexi Ogando is going to lose. But it won't be against Phil Coke and the Tigers.
• The Brewers over the Mets: Flip-flopped on this pick several times and finally figured the Brewers could hit Mike Pelfrey hard. Randy Wolf needs to keep Reyes off the bases.
• The White Sox over the Mariners: Gavin Floyd is looking better lately and Jason Vargas should give up a few with no offense to support him.
• The Blue Jays over the Royals: Did the Royals draft any starting pitching? Let's hope so. Carlos Villanueva wins his fourth in a row over Danny Duffy. The Royals have one too many Irish pitchers. That's the call from here.
• The Angels over the Bay Rays: The Bay Rays look better since they put Johnny Damon at lead off. Yes, this Fan is taking credit for that idea. But they face Jared Weaver tonight, who should beat James Shields provided the Angels can score a few runs.

And the Game of the Day!

• The Cardinals over the Astros: Welcome home again, Lance Berkman. Kaboom. Albert Pujols: Kaboom. Jaime Garcia with the big night over Bud Norris.

Yesterday: 5-10  ouch!

Week: 19-22   uh oh

Month: 49-44

Season: 492-411

Games of the Day: 41-28