Game Picks - Friday: June 1, 2012

The really good news is that the picks yesterday were successful 67 percent of the time. The bad news was that there were only three games played. That one bad pick? The Tigers won. The Tigers won? The Tigers WON! But they weren't picked. That was an impressive sweep of the Dodgers by the Brewers, wasn't it? Four games. That is tough to do in Chavez Ravine. What a joy it was to listen to Vin Scully last night on the MLB Network. He is a treasure. And Carlos Gonzalez homered in four straight at bats (over two games). That does not happen every day.

And we turn the page to June. The month of May ended as a morass of mediocrity here for the picks. The final tally for the month was 218-193. That means that for the entire month, the picks were successful only 53 percent of the time. This picker is pretty sure that a computer program picking the winners of each game randomly with no data could have easily done just as well. Perhaps June will be better. Let's get it started with Friday's picks:

• The Nationals over the Braves: On paper, this is a mismatch with Stephen Strasburg facing Mike Minor. Minor won't be much around much longer in the rotation unless he gets better in a quick hurry. And perhaps that will be today to sink this pick. It has been that kind of year. But on paper? Strasburg.
• The Marlins over the Phillies: Kyle Kendrick has done a decent job in the rotation. Which is a surprise. Is it a mirage that will burst today? That is what this picker is thinking. Mark Buehrle goes for the Marlins at Philadelphia.
• The Indians over the Twins: Derek Lowe will try to get back on track against the Twins and Carl Pavano will try to stay alive.
• The Yankees over the Tigers: The Yankees' best pitcher, C.C. Sabathia versus Casey Crosby, making his major league debut. Now that should be interesting to say the least.
• The Red Sox over the Blue Jays: Clay Buchholz has showed signs of putting it together and getting back to where he was in 2010. Henderson Alvarez is a pretty good pitcher against a very good lineup of Boston.
• The Bay Rays over the Orioles: These two teams have been tied for a week now. Both have been struggling. David Price should get the win over Wei-Yin Chen.
• The Mets over the Cardinals: A match up of former great pitchers trying to comeback from major injuries. Johan Santana pitched a shutout his last game. But it was the Padres. The Cardinals are a whole different kettle of fish. But he should keep them off balance enough to prevent more runs than the four or so that Wainwright will allow.
• The Reds over the Astros: The Astros are starting to sink a bit as their talent level shows up the more it is exposed. They are a feisty bunch though. Mike Leake will have to be really good to win. J.A. Happ goes for the Astros.
• The Brewers over the Pirates: The good times will continue to roll for the Brewers as they get Kevin Correia to munch on. Randy Wolf just needs to be decent to win this one.
• The White Sox over the Mariners: The M's aren't likely to score 21 runs against Jake Peavy. In fact, they will be lucky to score one or two. Felix Hernandez is coming on strong though. Tough game.
• The Dodgers over the Rockies: The Rockies are flushed from a sweep of the Astros. And CarGo is on fire. But losing Troy Tulowitzki has to start hurting at some point. Chris Capuano goes for the Dodgers and all he has done is win. Josh Outman gets the spot start for the Rockies and will need a whole lot of bullpen help...thus the pick.
• The Diamondbacks over the Padres: Clayton Richard pitches well in Petco. But so will Wade Miley, who has won three in a row.
• The Angels over the Rangers: The Angels will win the first game of this series as Jerome Williams will prevent more runs than Colby Lewis does. Trout and Trumbo have been terrific.
• The Giants over the Cubs: Madison Bumgarner should have no trouble with the Cubs at home. Paul Maholm can have a good game for him and still lose this one.

And the Game of the Day!

• The Royals over the Athletics: The Royals young hitters love them some fastballs. That is all that Bartolo Colon throws. Feasting time? Felipe Paulino is a good pitcher and should shut the A's down.

Yesterday: 2-1

Week: 37-26

May: 218-193

Season: 407-341

Games of the Day: 33-22