Game Picks - Monday: July 4, 2011

The last day of interleague play went out with a bang. But not the right kind of bang. It was more like an atom bomb. Never in the history of this daily feature has a day gone so completely wrong. It's stunning. It was so bad that laughing seems to be the only way to confront it. The entire day consisted of one moment of amazement after another. The Yankees had a lead going into the ninth. Mo blew it. Ayala and Ramiro Pena stomped on it until the pick was dead. The Giants held a lead with Ryan Vogelsong on the mound heading into the seventh inning. It was one too many innings for the guy. The Tigers tied it and then the Giants' bullpen, that vaunted and powerful bullpen, gave up the farm.

And it continued all day. Cliff Lee held the lead. That's a lock right? Three home runs later, Lee was the loser. The Braves had a 4-2 lead late in the game. Scott Proctor came in. He saw Buck Showalter in the other dugout and must have thought he was Joe Torre. He got all shaky. When the dust settled, the lead was gone and so was the pick. Zack Greinke wasn't great, but he left the game with the lead. Zach Braddock and Kameron Loe made sure it didn't hold up and another pick was dead. C. J. Wilson had the lead heading into the eighth inning. He got an out but allowed a base runner. He was pulled. By the time Darren Oliver, Mark Lowe and some amazingly bad defense got the next two outs, the game was lost.

There were six picks lost in the bullpens and by shoddy defense. That's enough to sink any day of picking. But it didn't stop there. The Royals decided to go crazy at last and feasted and scored ten runs on the Rockies' bullpen. MLB.com said that Jordan Zimmermann was going to start for Washington. He didn't. Jason Marquis did. The Pirates won in a romp.  Ian Kennedy didn't have it on Sunday and Gio Gonzalez did. Clay Billingsley had the lead late in the game but gave up three runs in the eighth. Ball game. Kyle Lohse couldn't stop the Bay Rays. Another bad pick.

The day was brutal. It was sad. It was funny. It was historic. The good news is that interleague play is dead. Ding dong the thing is dead. And the Fan has the rest of the week to clean up the mess. But it's a rather large mess. Here are your Independence Day picks. Enjoy the holiday:

• The Nationals over the Cubs: Oh sure, now Jordan Zimmermann is going to start. Just a day late. He shouldn't have trouble winning against Casey Coleman.
• The Pirates over the Astros: Brett Myers and Paul Maholm have been two of the hard luck pitchers all year. But Maholm still pitches for the better team.
• The Blue Jays over the Red Sox: Brandon Morrow has been on a roll. He'll need to pound the strike zone against the walk-loving Red Sox though. John Lackey simply isn't having a good season.
• The Bay Rays over the Twins: The lefty, David Price, should neutralize the Twins' line up while the Bay Rays hit well on the road and should get to Brian Duensing.
• The Mariners over the Athletics: Two reasons for this pick. Number one, Michael Pineda has been terrific. Number two, Brandon McCarthy is starting after a long stint on the disabled list.
• The Diamondbacks over the Brewers: It's hard to pick against the Brewers at home, especially with Shaun Marcum on the mound. But the D-backs start Daniel Hudson and he hasn't lost a decision in his last nine outings. The D-backs' bullpen needs to hold it though.
• The Marlins over the Phillies: Say what!? Well, Ricky Nolasco threw a shutout his last time out and Vance Worley can be had by the hot Marlins' line up.
• The Cardinals over the Reds: Chris Carpenter is on a roll and is back to being the guy we all expect him to be. Johnny Cueto is great too, but this is Carpenter's game.
• The Yankees over the Indians: Josh Tomlin continues to defy logic. There is no logic ever for A. J. Burnett. Derek Jeter is back. The Yankees find a way.
• The Braves over the Rockies: The Braves at home. The Rockies on the road. Ubaldo Jiminez has been inconsistent. Tommy Hanson has been great. It all seems to add up to a Braves win.
• The White Sox over the Royals: Well, the Royals had a one game winning streak. Mark Buehrle ends that against Jeff Francis. Adam Dunn gets to play again. Is that a good thing though?
• The Rangers over the Orioles: The Orioles haven't even announced a pitcher yet. That can't be good. Colby Lewis is a scary pick for the Rangers though.
• The Tigers over the Angels: The Angels are remarkably resilient for a terrible team. How do they do it? Joel Pineiro starts for them and Charlie Furbush has the funniest name in baseball. But he's not funny to face.
• The Mets over the Dodgers: If Jose Reyes doesn't play, that's not good for the Mets. But Chris Capuano should shut down the Dodgers and the Mets should get to Rubby de la Rosa.

And the Game of the Day!

• The Giants over the Padres: Clayton Richard isn't often very good. Tim Lincecum isn't often very bad.

Yesterday: 2-13  holy cow that was bad.

Week: 2-13  and it's fair that has to be typed twice!

Month: 19-23  ugh

Season: 672-581  finally, a positive number

Games of the Day: 60-35