Sunday, June 03, 2012

Game Picks - Sunday: June 3, 2012

Saturday was unkind to this baseball prognosticator and most of the gains of Friday were given back with a pretty crummy day. Another Angel win and the Yankees failure to score with runners on base hurt badly. Man-crush, Wandy Rodriguez, had nothing on a night when nobody could pitch in that game. The Mets came up big again, which wasn't expected. The Marlins, thanks to Hanley Ramirez, came back on Cole Hamels. And not picking Stephen Strasburg? Well, that was just stupid. It just wasn't good.

Sunday's picks:

  • The Blue Jays over the Red Sox: Perhaps this pick is shortchanging Daniel Bard. Or perhaps it is a shoulder tap to Drew Hutchison.
  • The Nationals over the Braves: The Nationals couldn't have asked for a better season from Gio Gonzalez from the one he is currently giving them. Tommy Hanson will have to throw a lot of zeroes to match him.
  • The Marlins over the Phillies: Any pick that includes Carlos Zambrano is questionable. But so is picking Joe Blanton. The Marlins are red hot.
  • The Bay Rays over the Orioles: The Orioles unexpectedly won a game yesterday. The picks weren't happy about it. But Brian Matusz was very good. Jake Arrieta won't be as good and Matt Moore will put the Orioles away.
  • The Reds over the Astros: It could be another wild one as Bronson Arroyo and Jordan Lyles aren't exactly shut-down pitchers. Keep your hats on for this one.
  • The Athletics over the Royals: Vin Mazzaro is facing his old team. Will that help him? Perhaps. Tommy Milone will win though. It's nice to see Cespedes back.
  • The Pirates over the Brewers: Michael Fiers shut down the Dodgers in his first start. So logic will dictate that he should shut down the weaker-hitting Pirates. That logic backfires though since he is up against James McDonald who has been terrific this season.
  • The White Sox over the Mariners: The Mariners stole a win to end the White Sox losing streak and that was one of the few good picks yesterday. But Kevin Millwood should have some trouble against the hot White Sox bats and Chris Sale was spectacular his last time out.
  • The Twins over the Indians: That's right. That's two picks in a row for the Twins. Pajamas Walters won his start as predicted and now Scott Diamond will win his. Justin Masterson goes for the Indians.
  • The Dodgers over the Rockies: Have no clue for this game. First, it is at Coors Field. Second, it features Alex White versus Nathan Eovaldi. What do you do with that?
  • The Angels over the Rangers: Dan Haren was great his last two starts. He looks fairly unhittable at this point. Matt Harrison hasn't exactly had a shut down season for the Rangers. Down to two and a half games after this one.
  • The Giants over the Cubs: Barry Zito. Ugh. But the Cubs will find a way to lose and Travis Wood doesn't exactly look like someone to pick either. Could be a wild one.
  • The Diamondbacks over the Padres: Too bad the Diamondbacks got Trevor Cahill instead of Gio Gonzalez from Oakland. But he should have a good game against the Padres. It doesn't matter much what Eric Stults does in his start, the outcome will be the same.
  • The Mets over the Cardinals: Imagine if the Mets can shut out the Cardinals for the third straight game? Jon Niese has the stuff to do it. Jake Westbrook is not having fun lately.

And the Game of the Day!

  • The Tigers over the Yankees: Justin Verlander versus Phil Hughes sounds like a mismatch. And that will be the biggest understatement of this post today.

Yesterday: 6-9
Last week: 54-39
Month: 17-13
Season: 419-354
Games of the Day: 34-23

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