Game Picks - Sunday: July 17, 2011

After correctly picking the Mets to beat Cole Hamels and the Phillies, one would think that kind of brilliant pick would lead to a good day. Well, it didn't. Oh, the Yankees behind C. C. Sabathia and the Rangers behind C. J. Wilson did what they were supposed to do. But the Braves lost to the Nationals which led to a rare Game of the Day failure. Both ends of the double-header between the Angels and Athletics were wrong. The teams did indeed split, but not in the manner the Fan picked, making both picks wrong. The Bay Rays had John Lackey on the ropes in the first couple of innings and couldn't put him away and then couldn't hold the Red Sox down. So yes, the Astros and San Diego picks were awesome as were the Cardinal and Brewers picks. But the Orioles won and Twins won and the White Sox won and they were all bad picks. And we won't even get into the Cubs pick. That was just plain silly.

One week ends on a mediocre note and another week starts. Sunday's picks:

• The White Sox over the Tigers: The White Sox have had their way in this series, so why keep fighting it? Philip Humber over Brad Penny.
• The Yankees over the Blue Jays: Everything in this game points to a Blue Jay win. Phil Hughes has been awful. Carlos Villanueva has been terrific. So why pick the Yankees then? Just a feeling...
• The Mets over the Phillies: Again? Yes, again. Mike Pelfrey over Kyle Kendrick.
• The Cardinals over the Reds: Jaime Garcia has had three strong outings in a row. But there is still something that doesn't feel right about his season. But Albert Pujols is back to being Albert Pujols and David Freese is back, all of which isn't good news for Homer Bailey.
• The Orioles over the Indians: The bad news for the Orioles is that they are starting Mitch Atkins. The good news for the Orioles is that the Indians are starting Jeanmar Gomez. Yeesh. What a match up.
• The Braves over the Nationals: Tom Gorzelanny always keeps his team in the game. But Jair Jurrjens doesn't lose very often. So that's the pick.
• The Pirates over the Astros: The Pirates are surprisingly balanced when it comes to whatever arm they face. So the offerings of Wandy Rodriguez shouldn't be that damaging. Kevin Correia finds a way to hold on for the win.
• The Twins over the Royals: Felipe Paulino's record is misleading. He's a power arm that has really pitched quite well for the Royals. But he pitches for the Royals. Brian Duensing for the win.
• The Marlins over the Cubs: The Cubs are simply a bad baseball team. Randy Wells has had a season to forget. Chris Volstad has been better of late for the Marlins.
• The Athletics over the Angels: Gio Gonzalez will take care of the Angels, but the A's have to scrape up a few runs off of Joel Pineiro.
• The Giants over the Padres: This Fan just loves Matt Latos, but he gets no run support. Matt Cain loves pitching in the daytime and has a 2.54 ERA during the day.
• The Diamondbacks over the Dodgers: Daniel Hudson has had two bad outings in a row, but that should change today against the Dodgers. Ted Lilly has not looked good at all for the Dodgers.
• The Rangers over the Mariners: The Fan wanted to go with Blake Beavans to beat his former team. But he won't get any runs behind him as Matt Harrison has been great as long as he is with Mike Napoli, his favorite catcher.
• The Red Sox over the Bay Rays: Jeff Niemann pitches great against the Yankees but can't beat the Red Sox. The Red Sox have a long history of tattooing him. The wild card in this game is Josh Beckett. Will he go? Will he not go? Will he last? Stay tuned.

And the Game of the Day!

• The Brewers over the Rockies: The thin air at Coors might mess a bit with Shaun Marcum's movement, but the Brewers face Aaron Cook who has been meat thus far this year.

Yesterday: 8-8
Last Week: 31-22
Month: 100-83
Season: 754-644
Games of the Day: 67-38