MLB Game Picks - Tuesday: May 21, 2013

Monday's picks started out at 5-0 and I was thinking that something groovy was going on. But then the Rangers lost, Cole Hamels lost...again, the Red Sox lost, the Royals lost and the Cardinals lost. By then, the day had turned just ordinary and finished with a final tally of, 8-5. But in the grand scheme of things, with so many lives torn by those awful storms in our country, silly little game picks seem puny and meaningless. My heart goes out to all of you affected by these storms that did so much damage in property and casualties.

We are back to a full schedule as the season grinds on for another day. Here are the picks:

• The Pirates over the Cubs: Matt Garza returns and makes his first start off of the disabled list. Those kinds of starts hardly ever get picked around here because the pitcher will only last five innings or so as he builds back up to full strength. Besides, Wandy Rodriguez has been pitching really well for the Pirates.
• The Tigers over the Indians: The Indians have something really special going on right now. But their train is slowed down a bit by Max Scherzer throwing darts and the Tigers getting some runs against Corey Kluber.
• The Yankees over the Orioles: It is almost getting to the point that I hope the regulars on the DL stay there a bit longer for the Yankees. They have become a fun team to root for with rookies and castoffs all over the field. And they are catching the Orioles here in a real flat spot. The O's losing streak hits seven as Phil Hughes bounces back from a horrible start his last time out and the Yankees hit Miguel Gonzalez.
• The Rays over the Blue Jays: The Blue Jays took the first battle of the Ays last night. And Alex Cobb has not been a shut down pitcher. But Cobb should yield fewer runs than the ancient Ramon Ortiz.
• The Reds over the Mets: There does not seem to be much separation from Mike Leake to Jonathon Niese. Both have a WHIP close to 1.5, both have some good games and some bad. The Reds' lineup is better than the Mets' and Leake's bat makes a difference too. Gotta go with the Reds.
• The Braves over the Twins: I saw a statistic the other night that only a half a dozen pitchers or so in rotations around baseball have an average against of .310 or higher and the Twins have three of them. The team's insistence on building rotations on strike throwing, BABIP pitchers is a model they have to break some day. Tim Hudson over Mike Pelfrey in this one as a strikeout-prone Braves' lineup is greatly helped by not facing strikeout pitchers.
• The Marlins over the Phillies: There it is. A Marlins' two-game winning streak. Predicting it to happen is quite frightening actually. But I like the match-up of a flame-throwing Jose Fernandez against an old lineup. Tyler Cloyd was not half bad in his first start.
• The Rangers over the Athletics: The A's have some special mojo against the Rangers. It is uncanny how they single-handedly have stayed in the race the last year and a quarter simply by beating the Rangers every time they play them. But they will not beat Yu Darvish if he is on and Dan Straily should not be able to keep up.
• The Red Sox over the White Sox: Felix Doubront and Carlos Quintana do not have a lot of separation between them. But Doubront does have a tendency to let things rattle him.  Even so, I have to go with the Red Sox here.
• The Astros over the Royals: Something historic will happen today. Both the Marlins and the Astros will win their second game in a row. That will not happen often this season. The Royals are flatter than a pancake right now. Bud Norris is exceedingly talented, but often frustrating. Wade Davis is a lot like Phil Hughes and sometimes he is good and sometimes he is bad.
• The Diamondbacks over the Rockies: I do not like Ian Kennedy's chances in Coors Field. But I am not sold on Jhoulys Chacin either. This should be a high scoring game with the D-backs coming out on top in the end.
• The Angels over the Mariners: Even the Angels should have a fighting chance in this one as Jerome Williams should be better than Aaron Harang.
• The Cardinals over the Padres: This pick did not work out that well yesterday. But Edinson Volquez does not have the bamboozle like Jason Marquis. And I cannot believe that both Shelby Miller and Adam Wainwright can both lose in San Diego.
• The Nationals over the Giants: An on-paper good match-up between Stephen Strasburg against Matt Cain. My only concern with this pick is that the Nationals' offense has gone missing. This is more of a heart pick than a smart pick.

And the Game of the Day!

• The Dodgers over the Brewers: Zack Greinke should beat Hiram Burgos. I hate whenever I say, "Should" though.

Yesterday: 8-5

Week: 15-12

Month: 154-113

Season: 383-277

Games of the Day: 34-15

And a very happy birthday to my beloved son, born this day 34 years ago. I love you, Bill.