MLB Game Picks - Tuesday: June 4, 2013

The Astros swept the Angels! Four straight and last night the Astros tallied only three hits and still won the game. How bad can the Angels be? This is really amazing. And it is perhaps time to also acknowledge how bad the White Sox are. And Domonic Brown is playing demonic right now. Wow, is he hot. Now if only the picks could go on a hot streak. Mediocrity has been the norm and I am sure sick of being ordinary.

Perhaps Tuesday will start my own hot strike. The picks:

• The Yankees over the Indians: Last night was encouraging for the Yankees except that Pettitte was not very good. But the runs scored were hopeful and the relief pitching was brilliant. David Phelps should bounce back from his awful start last time out. Scott Kazmir will not last long.
• The Marlins over the Phillies: Ricky Nolasco is always capable of a shutdown game and I am still not convinced about Jonathan Pettibone. This pick is a bit of a stretch, but that is what I am feeling about it.
• The Bay Rays over the Tigers: It is the Matt Moore Show and it sure has been fun to watch. Of course, Miguel Cabrera can hit anybody. Anibal Sanchez could totally shut down the Rays, so that is something to think about. But the sane pick here is Moore.
• The Reds over the Rockies: The Reds and Cardinals are the two best teams in the National League. Homer Bailey had a great start and then a bad start. I wish he was more consistent. If he is the good Homer, the Reds win easy. Juan Nicasio can be pretty decent though.
• The Braves over the Pirates: Great match-up here. Mike Minor has been fantastic and so has Jeff Locke. So if two pitchers cancel each other out, the rule here is always going with the better offense.
• The Red Sox over the Rangers: I would be considerably concerned about Ryan Dempster if I did not know that he is so much better than he has shown so far. And picking him against the Rangers would seem stupid except that the Red Sox should do really well against a young pitcher like Justin Grimm.
• The Orioles over the Astros: Wow! How can you pick against the Astros!? They have won four straight. And they get the Orioles' weakest pitcher in Chris Tillman. But let's be real here. This is the Astros. Lucas Harrell is the pitcher the Orioles will beat.
• The Twins over the Royals: Ugh. Remember going to the lunch line in high school and having to pick one ugly looking slop to eat over another one? :::shiver::: Sam Deduno and Luis Mendoza. Yay! Great choices there.
• The Brewers over the Athletics: I would think that the A's have never seen Kyle Lohse before, so that gives the crafty pitcher an advantage. At the same time, Lohse is 1-6. Whoops. A.J. Griffin goes for the A's.
• The Cardinals over the Diamondbacks: How fun is this! In a battle of first round picks, Michael Wacha and Tyler Skaggs get to go head to head. Both of their first starts were lights out. This is going to be fun to watch. The Cardinals will win though.
• The Angels over the Cubs: It would be easy to pick against the Angels after their last four days, and their season for that matter. But Jered Weaver pitching is a whole other thing. Scott Feldman has been very good for the Cubs, but he is not as good as Weaver.
• The Mariners over the White Sox: Wow. The White Sox are terrible. Why is that just sinking in? Even Jake Peavy has been subpar. And tonight they go against Felix Hernandez at home. Good luck with that.
• The Dodgers over the Padres: I am back on that bad lunch line again and the choices this time are Ted Lilly and Clayton Richard. Yeesh. At least Lilly used to be good before his 157 injuries. So perhaps he has a good game in him. Plus, it is Puig-mania in LA.
• The Blue Jays over the Giants: This one is really tough to call. The Giants are at home. But Tim Lincecum is pitching. The Blue Jays are bashing the ball, but Josh Johnson is coming back from the disabled list. What is a picker to do? Flip and hope I guess.

And the Game of the Day!

• The Nationals over the Mets: My man, Jordan Zimmermann is going to shut down the Mets and the Nats are going to hit Jeremy Hefner. Nats, Nats, Nats.

Yesterday: 5-4

Week: 12-12

Month: 23-17

Season: 485-367

Games of the Day: 39-23