Game Picks - Wednesday: May 2, 2012

Mayday! May day! The first day of May was not a good picking day. And only a late West Coast rally prevented it from being a disaster. At one point, the picks were 1-6 as the Yankees, Red Sox, Rangers, Braves, Nationals and Mets all lost. And once again, there was a rain out. There seems to be a lot of those lately. Oh well, at least the Ricky Nolasco over Matt Cain pick was a good one.

Wednesday's picks:

• The Blue Jays over the Rangers: Taking Ricky Romero over Matt Harrison in this one. Romero has been terrific and Harrison struggled in his last outing. Blue Jays are at home.
• The Tigers over the Royals: Justin Verlander should cruise in this one. And all the Tigers have to do is wait out Ollie Perez...Jonathan Sanchez.
• The Astros over the Mets: Wandy Rodriguez might be on his best stretch of pitching in his career. Chris Schwinden was allowed to pitch decently in his debut and then inexplicably left out there to give up six runs in his last inning of work. Hope Collins didn't ruin the kid.
• The Dodgers over the Rockies: Drew Pomeranz had some forearm tightness in his last outing. That's not good. Plus, he faces Clayton Kershaw. Kershaw should be dominant, Coors or no.
• The Diamondbacks over the Nationals: Let's see, this should be Edwin Jackson's off start, right? He was good his last time out. So that's right. This is Mr. Hyde's turn. Plus, can't pick against Joe Saunders anymore. Burned all season by doing that.
• The Yankees over the Orioles: Those pesky Orioles have been daunting this picker all season. Jake Arrieta has been part of that. But, hey, picking against Ivan Nova and his stupendous winning streak would be crackers.
• The Cubs over the Reds: The Cubs and Reds were rained out yesterday. The same pitching match up is listed for today. Jeff Samardzija and Bronson Arroyo.
• The Red Sox over the Athletics: Really want to pick Brandon McCarthy over Daniel Bard. But can't pull that trigger. The Red Sox at home. The A's have little for a lineup. Got to go Red Sox.
• The Braves over the Phillies: Really tough one to pick. Roy Halladay versus Tommy Hanson. Both have been terrific. Toss up.
• The Bay Rays over the Mariners: The Bay Rays just keep winning and winning. Who needs Evan Longoria? James Shields is 4-0. Still not used to him being this good. Blake Beavan is the victim in this one.
• The White Sox over the Indians: Will likely be the debut of Johnny Damon. It won't matter. Phil Humber will beat Josh Tomlin.
• The Cardinals over the Pirates: A.J. Burnett has already beaten the Cardinals once this year and has a good record in St. Louis. But Lance Lynn has been too good to pick against.
• The Angels over the Twins: Wasn't it nice of the Twins to stop by and make the Angels feel better about themselves? Jered Weaver over Liam Hendriks.
• The Marlins over the Giants: April is over, so the real Barry Zito can re-emerge. Carlos Zambrano sure is walking a lot of people. But the pick for him is easier to swallow than one for Zito.

And the Game of the Day!

• The Brewers over the Padres: It is Yovani Gallardo, who hasn't been great, but is pitching against...wait for it...Jeff Suppan. Jeff Suppan. Let that sink in a few minutes. Stir and then laugh some more.

Yesterday: 6-8

Week: 20-20

Season: 195-157

Games of the Day: 16-10