MLB Game Picks - Tuesday: May 7, 2013

May continues to be a struggle for the picks. I had a pretty good day going and then both games on the West Coast involving the Dodgers and Giants both went awry. I did not expect Madison Bumgarner to give up five runs to the Phillies. And I should have known better than to pick Chris Capuano. Earlier in the day, Scott Feldman exacted revenge on his old Rangers team and beat them handily. And next time, it would be a good idea for the Royals to let James Shields finish his own shutouts instead of letting the bullpen blow the game for him.

About the only thing going really well is the Game of the Day feature which is now 26-9 for the season.

We are back to a full schedule today, so let's get to Tuesday's picks:

• The Nationals over the Tigers: This is a fun match-up but hard to pick. I have to go with my man, Jordan Zimmermann to out-duel Anibal Sanchez. Both pitchers have been terrific this season but Zimmermann has been lights out. Plus, the Tigers are in an NL park and lose a bat in Victor Martinez (not that Martinez is doing much).
• The Orioles over the Royals: While I am not much feeling Wei-Yin Chen as much as last year, I think the Orioles will hit a couple of homers off of Ervin Santana and are tough to beat at home.
• The Indians over the Athletics: The Indians are the most improved team in the last couple of weeks. The A's are tough too so this will be interesting. It comes down to whether Tommy Milone or Zach McAllister pitches better.
• The Pirates over the Mariners: Yet another American League team losing its DH for a series. And the Mariners cannot afford to lose bats. The Pirates still are not hitting well, but if James McDonald has a good night, he should be better than Aaron Harang a-dang-dang.
• The Reds over the Braves: The Braves struck first in this series and tonight features a couple of pitchers that have been disappointing thus far this season. Which one will step up tonight? I will go with Homer Bailey for his pure strikeout stuff. Kris Medlen goes for the Braves.
• The Mets over the White Sox: This will be a low scoring game. Matt Harvey will strike out his share of Sox batters and Hector Santiago's lefty slinging could defeat most of the Mets' lineup. Look for David Wright to be the difference.
• The Red Sox over the Twins: Ryan Dempster has been up and down for the Red Sox. When he gets hit, he gets hit hard. But he should be okay against the Twins' lineup and the Red Sox should hit Scott Diamond.
• The Blue Jays over the Rays: I was correct in picking the Blue Jays yesterday even though it took a Herculean comeback to do it. For the Rays, Ramon Hernandez is simply a stop-gap starter until they decide to pull a young kid from the minors. Now that he is no longer invincible, can Fernando Rodney straighten out his hat please. J.A. Happ goes for the Jays.
• The Angels over the Astros: Doesn't Jordan Lyles sound like a soap opera name? There will not be much drama in this one as C.J. Wilson should have no problem putting up a W.
• The Rangers over the Brewers: There are four interleague series this week and all four cost the AL a DH. The Rangers should still have enough offense to do some damage against Wily Peralta. The rest will depend on how good young Justin Grimm will be.
• The Rockies over the Yankees: Hiroki Kuroda has pitched four times in Coors Field and has an ERA over eight there. The Yankees' offense cannot afford to lose a bat. Jorge De La Rosa should win this game.
• The Diamondbacks over the Dodgers: Between Brandon McCarthy and Josh Beckett, the two pitchers are a combined 0-7. One of them has to get off the schnide thought. That is unless it becomes a bullpen game and the D-backs have the advantage there too.
• The Padres over the Marlins: I am still zero for Eric Stults this season. Maybe tonight will fix that. He gets a weak team and the Padres should be able to score a few off of Alex Sanabia.
• The Giants over the Phillies: Tim Lincecum is about as unpredictable as a pitcher gets. The Phillies present a poor-hitting lineup and could give Lincecum the advantage here at home. Kyle Kendrick is surprisingly good though for a guy that has little stuff.

And the Game of the Day!

• The Cardinals over the Cubs: This is a series the Cards should win. But will they? Well, tonight should be a good start as Lance Lynn is off to a flying start. If he pounds the strike zone, he should do well again tonight. Travis Wood should yield four runs or so.

Yesterday: 5-4

Week: 13-11

Month: 38-37

Season: 268-201

Games of the Day: 26-9