MLB Game Picks - Wednesday: June 18, 2014

Tuesday was a good day in my game picking world. With only four incorrect picks, a lot of the bad taste of the previous few days disappeared. Never satisfied, I was confounded a bit by the four incorrect picks. I mean, come on, Yu Darvish. Maybe you should go to a baseball shrink when it comes to pitching to the A's. Against everyone else, he is Godzilla. Against the A's, he is a gecko. What the hecko?

The Phillies beat the Braves again and that does two things. First, it points out the inherent problems the Braves have on offense. But secondly, each win delays the Phillies from doing what they need to do to rebuild and start over.

Here are Wednesday's picks:

• The Braves over the Phillies: I am nothing if not stubborn. So I'll try this again. This is the first of eight glorious day games today and features kind of a crappy pitching match-up of Roberto Hernandez against Aaron Harang. I guess I'm going Harang.
• The Marlins over the Cubs: Jake Arrieta gentille Arrieta hasn't given up a run in his last two outings. So why am I picking Miami? I think Nathan Eovaldi matches him and then the Marlins win late against the bullpen.
• The Royals over the Tigers: Okay, I am hopping on the Royals' bandwagon (watch them lose now). Jeremy Guthrie is not great, but he has held his own over the years against the Tigers and I'm not big on The Emoticon, Drew Smyly, as a starting pitcher.
• The Orioles over the Rays: Kevin Gausman has made a strong statement in his last two starts and perhaps his "I've arrived" moment has come. Alex Cobb was much better his last time out, but his mates aren't scoring.
• The Red Sox over the Twins: The Red Sox barely beat Phil Hughes yesterday who threw a complete game in his 2-1 loss. Kyle Gibson has been the Twins' second best pitcher and has had some really good games. But John Lackey has been outstanding.
• The Cardinals over the Mets: Lance Lynn is getting tougher and tougher and hasn't had a lynning in quite a while. Bartolo Colon is game and will face a team that loves hitting fastballs.
• The White Sox over the Giants: I just wrote about Tim Hudson last week and about how the guy just wins and wins, year after year. But Chris Sale is a different beast and should shut the Giants down.
• The Athletics over the Rangers: The Rangers will never catch the A's. It's just not going to ever happen. The A's are in their heads I think. Sonny Gray was not good against the Yankees, but he will beat the A's. Nick Tepesch can be good at times.
• The Reds over the Pirates: Can you realistically pick against Alfredo Simon at this point? The guy has been amazing. Put him up against Edinson Volquez and that seems like a sure thing.
• The Nationals over the Astros: I normally don't like picking a guy coming off the disabled list like Gio Gonzalez. But I just don't trust Scott Feldman against the Nationals' offense. So that's the pick.
• The Yankees over the Blue Jays: Mark Buehrle is tough to pick against with the year he is putting together. But there is too much body of work to think that he will be that good all season. Chase Whitley just seems to throw quality innings day after day. I'm not sure how he does it exactly.
• The Angels over the Indians: Justin Masterson is so inconsistent. He's either brilliant or he's terrible. I can't stand picking games he pitches. But he is facing a team that has all its weapons now and is coming on strong. And C.J. Wilson is better than people think.
• The Brewers over the Diamondbacks: The D-backs are so stupid. I mean, come on. Pound your chests and tell the world about how macho you are and how you are the baseball police. But it would fly better if the team was any good. Matt Garza over Wade Miley (who I thought was pitching yesterday).
• The Dodgers over the Rockies: Clayton Kershaw at home? Yeah, I'll take some of that. Colorado away from Coors? No, I won't take some of that. Jorge De La Rosa isn't bad, but he's no Kershaw.

And the Game of the Day:

• The Mariners over the Padres: Felix Hernandez goes to another big ballpark to pitch. That's killer for him and for the Padres. Andrew Cashner has a big arm, but has not shown any consistency to this point.

Yesterday: 11-4, June: 128-106, Games of the Day: 38-36, Season: 581-487