Game Picks - Friday: April 1, 2011

Opening Day, Part One, is in the books. Part Two happens today. Much like the entire history of the Game Picks series, blown saves played a big factor yesterday. One blown save helped the picks. The other one hurt the picks. Verlander was dominating as expected, but Teixeira changed the dynamic of his outing with one swing. And it appears that Cardinal fans will start calling Ryan Franklin's facial hair a goatee. But at least the first day finished on the positive side. It certainly was a better start than Albert Pujols had.

Alright. Let's get to Friday's picks:

• The Cubs over the Pirates: Ryan Dempster gets the Opening Day nod over Zambrano because of better citizenship apparently. Corriea gets the start for the Pirates. The Pirates will get their share of hits, but the Cubs will score more runs.
• The Indians over the White Sox: The Indians will get a feel good moment as they start their season off with a win. Buehrle gives up ten hits and Carmona gets the job done.
• The Red Sox over the Rangers: In a battle of lefties, Lester is always a Cy Young Award candidate. C. J. Wilson is a bad closer turned into a decent starter. The Red Sox will wear him down since Wilson doesn't own the strike zone.
• The Rockies over the Diamondbacks: Ubaldo Jiminez versus Ian Kennedy. Big advantage to the Rockies, especially at home.
• The Blue Jays over the Twins: The Jays get to Pavano and Ricky Romero gets the Jays season off to a good start.
• The Bay Rays over the Orioles: Jeremy Guthries pitched well under Buck Showalter last year, but David Price won't allow Guthrie any slack. 
• The Marlins over the Mets: We forgot all about Johnson because he was shut down early last season. But he's one of the best pitchers in the National League. Pelfrey goes for the Mets and gets the Opening Day loss.
• The Mariners over the Athletics: King Felix coming off his Cy Young season stakes an early claim for this year's award. Cahill can't match the zeros.
• The Dodgers over the Giants: Billingsley luxuriates with his new contract and Sanchez will be gone by the fifth for a high pitch count. 

And the Game of the Day:

• The Phillies over the Astros: Brett Myers had a good season last year, but Halladay is the best there is. Phillies win by at least three runs.

Yesterday: 4-2
Week:  4-2
Month:  4-2
Games of the Day: 1-0