Game Picks - Monday: June 4, 2012

Sunday was a pretty good day for the picks. It was hard to believe that the star pitcher in the Tigers - Yankees game was Phil Hughes and not Justin Verlander. The observation was made earlier on Twitter that every time the picks have used the word, "mismatch," this season, the pick has been wrong. So the new rule should be that whenever the brain thinks that word, pick the other team? That game happened to be the Game of the Day, so that was a bummer, except that the Yankees won. The Braves win was a surprise. The Mets finally gave up a run to the Cardinals. But it was only one and that pick was right. The Twins pick was right too. How about that?

Monday is a bit of a slow day around baseball as only seven games on the schedule. But the draft starts tonight and that is kind of exciting.  Here are the picks:

• The Cardinals over the Mets: The Cardinals have to explode at some point, don't they? Kyle Lohse will need to hold the Mets down and the Cards need to jump on Dillon Gee early for this pick to come correct.
• The Cubs over the Giants:  Jeff Samardzija has been terrific. The only question is if the Cubs can score on Ryan Vogelsong, who is usually good at his home park. Just feeling the Cubs.
• The Dodgers over the Phillies: That right elbow inflammation that put VanceWorley on the disabled list is a bit of a concern. Clayton Kershaw has suddenly gone a bit too cute with his breaking balls. But he should figure it out and dispatch of the Phillies.
• The Diamondbacks over the Rockies: Not feeling great about this pick. For one, it depends on Joe Saunders. For another, the Rockies' offense is pretty hot right now. But going with Saunders over Christian Friedrich.
• The Royals over the Twins: The Twins start Cole De Vries while the Royals start Will Smith. Yeah, right? How do you pick a game like that? Going with the home team despite the fact that the Royals have stunk at home.
• The Mariners over the Angels: Jason Vargas has always pitched the Angels tough. But he'll have to deal with Trout and Trumbo and Pujols. That may change the story. But Ervin Santana has been hard to decipher this season.

And the Game of the Day!

• The Rangers over the Athletics: Jarrod Parker is pretty good. But the A's don't have much of a lineup. But they face Scott Feldman, who has not exactly lit things up since moving into the rotation. The Rangers are the better team, so that is the pick.

Yesterday: 9-6

Week: 9-6

Month: 26-19

Season: 428-360

Games of the Day: 34-24