Game Picks - Sunday: June 17, 2012

Yesterday's picks were off to a delightful 5-0 start and after the Yankees won in extra innings, it seemed it was going to be a great day. Wrong. The picks then finished with a 2-8 flourish to sink the day into the red. What went wrong? Well...lots. It did not take the Marlins a thousand games to beat the Rays. But it did take fifteen innings. Ervin Santana, who couldn't buy a good start this season for all his facial hair, pitched a one-hitter. Tim Lincecum fooled this picker again. The Athletics rallied against the usually reliable Padres' bullpen.  Chad Billingsley and Philip Humber each had a bad inning. But the White Sox scored one more run. And then there was A.J. Burnett.

Even with the down day, the week ended with a nice tally and the month is up nicely. The Game of the Day feature is on a four-day roll. Sunday puts a cap on the weekend's series. Let's see if the picks can end them in style too: The picks:

• The Tigers over the Rockies: Something weird is happening. Picking the Tigers hasn't been awful lately. What's with that? Max Scherzer over Jeremy Guthrie.
• The Indians over the Pirates: This pick did not work out yesterday. Jeanmar Gomez doesn't inspire much confidence. But then again, neither does Brad Lincoln.
• The Blue Jays over the Phillies: The Phillies just keep sinking. Kyle Kendrick is still in the rotation and that doesn't help. Brett Cecil is back from Hades to pitch for the Blue Jays. Welcome back to the real world, son.
• The Orioles over the Braves: This pick burned yesterday when the Braves were picked. Those Orioles are good! Wei-Yin Chen has been solid for them as well. Randall Delgado is a different story for the Braves.
• The Yankees over the Nationals: It is all about symmetry. The Yankees win their ninth in a row while Ivan Nova wins his ninth. The sweep will be the third in a row and Edwin Jackson is 3-3. See? It's all numerology.
• The Marlins over the Bay Rays: The Marlins broke the hex yesterday. Josh Johnson slices up a weak lineup and the Marlins get to Alex Cobb.
• The Brewers over the Twins: Nick Blackburn has a 7.68 ERA. Zack Greinke has a 2.97 ERA. Isn't that reason enough for this pick?
• The Cardinals over the Royals: Luis Mendoza had a great game last time out and still did not win. With the Cardinals' lineup, don't expect Mendoza's day to go quite as well this time out. Adam Wainwright has picked up in velocity in his last two starts and his results are improving.
• The Rangers over the Astros: This pick isn't so much a ringing endorsement of Colby Lewis. More so, it's skepticism concerning some kid named, Dallas Kuechel, making his major league debut for the Astros. The kid started the year in Double-A.
• The Angels over the Diamondbacks: This picker needs to stop picking with his heart with Ian Kennedy. He just hasn't been that good this season. Garrett Richards has been good in his first two starts.
• The Athletics over the Padres: Uh...somebody has to win. Bartolo Colon and Clayton Richard. You could pick this either way. The last two picks have featured pitchers named, Richards, and Richard. Strange.
• The Dodgers over the White Sox: Chris Capuano should hold the White Sox down with lots of strikeouts. But Jose Quintana has been pretty darned good for the White Sox.
• The Giants over the Mariners: Felix Hernandez simply isn't right. Whether it is his back or something else. This isn't the same guy. Madison Bumgarner, on the other hand, has been terrific.
• The Cubs over the Red Sox: This could be one butt-ugly game as the Red Sox are forced to start Franklin Morales. That's right, Franklin Morales. The Cubs Paul Maholm could get creamed by the Red Sox lineup too. Yikes. The fans in the stand better duck and take cover.

And the Game of the Day!

• The Reds over the Mets: Johnny Cueto has been pretty much a lock to pick. And the feeling here is that Joey Votto is going to do something special against Chris Young, the pitching version.

Yesterday: 7-8

Last week: 52-38

Month: 122-93

Season: 524-434

Games of the Day: 43-28