Game Picks - Saturday: June 30, 2012

There was a pleasant surprise this morning as yesterday's results were tallied. As the light was extinguished last night, it was with the thought that yesterday was a bad picking day. After all, Matt Cain lost. Justin Verlander lost. Cliff Lee lost...again. The Yankees lost. But then the realization dawned that the Yankees were predicted to lose as was Cliff Lee. Well, cool. And the picks ended up north of respectable. Also cool.  The surprise tastes almost as good as this coffee.

But, gosh, this is early in the morning. A buddy is driving us an hour and a half this morning so we can play a golf course we've never been to before. Ah, the lengths we will go to support our passions! And that passion includes bringing you another full day of picks. So here we go for Saturday:

• The White Sox over the Yankees: The White Sox finish the sweep for several reasons. First, Hiroki Kuroda going over .500 is like against the law or something. Second, the White Sox are hitting everything right now. Third, Jake Peavy is very good. Don't worry. The White Sox will see real pitching in the playoffs. See you then.
• The Angels over the Blue Jays: Loving this Garrett Richards kid. He is only 2-0 with a sub-two ERA. The Blue Jays will counter with Henderson Alvarez. It won't be enough.
• The Twins over the Royals: The two teams will play two games on Saturday. The Twins will take the first one behind Scott Diamond as Jonathan Sanchez continues his hair-pulling inducing pitching.
• The Cardinals over the Pirates: So this pick did not work out very well yesterday. In fact, the Pirates schmucked the Cards. But today will be a different day as Lance Lynn recovers a little and Jeff Karstens doesn't last that long.
• The Reds over the Giants: Barry Zito pitched a shutout his last time out. But he faced a Dodgers team that is stone cold at the plate. The Reds are not that team. Instead, Mat Latos shuts the Giants down.
• The Indians over the Orioles: Josh Tomlin was shell shocked against the Yankees. Thinking that he recovers here unless he gets post traumatic stress syndrome. Dana Eveland goes for the Orioles. Not feeling that scenario.
• The Astros over the Cubs: Matt Garza can't buy any runs and J.A. Happ hasn't been allowing them with regularity. And Happ is from Chicago and will have extra incentive.
• The Nationals over the Braves: Stephen Strasburg will have to avoid that one inning he always seems to have where he gives up two or three runs. If he can do that, he wins over the Braves and Mike Minor.
• The Marlins over the Phillies: The Phillies have not won a game since Chase Utley returned. Their problems are much deeper than one superstar second baseman. Cole Hamels is hard to pick against, but the gut is saying that Mark Buehrle is going to have a good day.
• The Royals over the Twins: The Royals win the second game of the double-header. But this pick is based on starting to believe in Luke Hochevar again. How many times has that happened before? Lots. But still, the Royals should hit Cole De Vries.
• The Diamondbacks over the Brewers: Riding the Wade Miley wave for another game. All Star? Could be after this win. Mike Fiers has been great on the road and stinky at home. He is home today.
• The Bay Rays over the Tigers: Jeremy Hellickson returns from the disabled list and is tough to beat at home. He just has to get Cabrera, Fielder and Jackson out and he is home free. Rick Porcello is a BABIP pitcher and the Rays do well against those.
• The Mets over the Dodgers: Poor Nathan Eovaldi. The poor guy never gets any runs to play with. Johan Santana will not allow any either in that big ballpark at Chavez Ravine.
• The Athletics over the Rangers: This isn't so much a pick for Tommy Milone and the A's batters as much as it is a pick against Martin Perez who starts for the Rangers. That won't go well.
• The Rockies over the Padres: Anything can happen in Coors. Christian Friedrich has a chance with his 75 pitches against Edinson Volquez, who should get lit up at Coors.

And the Game of the Day!

• The Red Sox over the Mariners: Josh Beckett makes a guest appearance and should pitch a decent game. Erasmo Ramirez pitched well in his last outing but is still 0-2.

Yesterday; 9-6

Week: 51-35

Month: 226-164

Season: 627-505

Games of the Day: 52-32