Game Picks - Sunday: March 31, 2013

It is Sunday morning and the sun is shining. Upon awakening, there were two chocolate bunnies on the kitchen counter--one hollow and the other solid. It is Easter and it is the first day of baseball season. Can any day be more perfect?

The first day of baseball season also means the first Game Picks post of the season. For those of you new to the site, each day of the season, a prediction is made on which team will win each game. This is not a gambling feature. There are no point spreads, there are no Vegas odds. Lord knows, it is hard enough just predicting which team will win.

This feature goes back four years. Or is it five? It started because a faithful reader asked for it. Not a single game has been missed for the past three years making this the Lou Gehrig of prediction features.

The success rate is traditionally around 58%. That does not sound like a great success rate, but go ahead and try it someday and see how accurate you are. The old saying is true: On any given day and in any given game, anything can happen.

A new year's baseball season begins and a new Game Picks season starts as well. Here we go!

Sunday's pick:

• The Astros over the Rangers: Welcome to the American League, Astros! Your first assignment? The Texas Rangers. The Rangers have been predicted here to win the AL West over the Angels and  the A's simply because of their pitching. This is an "on any given day" pick. A team has to win its inaugural game in a new league right? Besides, Rangers fans are already full of angst if Twitter is any indication, so we might as well start the season with some hand wringing. Besides, the Astros are the home team and Bud Norris could have a good day over Matt Harrison.