The calendar is about to reach June and the highest streak we have right now is 24 games.

Not that getting to 24 isn’t a stellar accomplishment, but come on people! Does anybody want to win $3,000,000?

I know this game takes incredible patience and a tiny bit of research but we’re not trying to solve Good Will Hunting math problems or attempting to put together one of those exile puzzles from Fresh Meat II here; it’s baseball for crying out loud!

Sincerely,

Expert guy who only has a three-game streak right now.

Time for Monday’s picks …and there’s only four games. This should be a doozy

Oh, hello there …

? Ben Zobrist: .500 AVG (14-for-28) over seven-game hitting streak.

? Shin-Soo Choo: .462 AVG (6-for-13) lifetime vs. White Sox starter John Danks

? Orlando Cabrera: .455 AVG (5-for-11) lifetime vs. Pirates starter Brian Burres

? Russell Branyan: .800 AVG (4-for-5) lifetime vs. White Sox starter John Danks

Feeling kinda spicy?

? Victor Martinez: .500 AVG (1-for-2) lifetime vs. Rays starter Wade Davis. Small sample size much?

You’ll thank me later …

? Vernon Wells: .158 (3-for-19) lifetime vs. Angels starter Joe Saunders

? Jason Bartlett: .214 (3-for-14) lifetime vs. Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz

Leaderboard time!

“postbud32” is enjoying his/her 15 minutes of fame atop the leaderboard with a 24-game streak and is officially 42.1 percent on the way to buying as many KFC Double Down sandwiches he could ever dream of.

That just can’t be a good idea.

Top MLB streakers

? Travis Hafner: 11 games

? Jeff Mathis: 10 games (DL)

? Adam Jones: 10 games

? Michael Young: 10 games

Ryan Braun (7.7 percent) and Jayson Werth (4.1 percent) were Thursday’s notable dragon slayers, as five of the day’s top six picks each got hits to combine to extend the streaks of about 30 percent of our users combined.

And with that, a graceful warning to all of those sitting at their computers without a seatbelt on:

This weekend is going to be a bit bananas because it’s …Interleague Play!!! Hiyooooo!

And you know what that means: an endless amount of hitters looking absolutely cross-eyed at the plate because they’re facing a bounty of pitchers they’ve never seen before, and likely won’t be seeing again.

Like beating a pinata full of peanut butter M&Ms (how good are those?), this is never not fun.

This would be even more thrilling but for the whole trying to win $3,000,000 thingy.

Oh, well…

On to the weekend picks.

Oh, hello there …

Friday

? Russell Martin: .500 AVG (4-for-8) lifetime vs. Tigers starter Dontrelle Willis; 15-game hitting streak.

? Michael Cuddyer: .429 AVG (6-for-14) lifetime vs. Brewers starter Dave Bush

? Raul Ibanez: .375 AVG (14-for-48) lifetime vs. Red Sox starter John Lackey

 

Saturday

? Orlando Cabrera: .444 AVG (4-for-9) lifetime vs. Indians starter Fausto Carmona

? Jack Cust: .400 AVG (4-for-10) lifetime vs. Giants starter Matt Cain

? Mark Teixeira: .308 AVG (4-for-13) lifetime vs. Mets starter Mike Pelfrey

 

Sunday

? Chipper Jones: .524 AVG (11-for-21) lifetime vs. Pirates starter Zach Duke

? Derek Jeter: .423 AVG (11-for-23) lifetime vs. Mets starter Johan Santana

? Bobby Abreu: .565 AVG (13-for-23) lifetime vs. Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter

 

Feeling kinda spicy?

Friday

? Jamey Carroll: .455 AVG (5-for-11) since ’05 vs. Tigers starter Dontrelle Willis. Anything goes when it comes to the D-Train.

Saturday

? David Eckstein: .333 AVG (7-for-21) lifetime vs. Mariners starter Ian Snell. Yeah, why not?

Sunday

? Martin Prado: .500 AVG (6-for-12) lifetime vs. Pirates starter Zach Duke. Actually, considering Prado’s .322 average, this one isn’t so crazy. At all.

 

You’ll thank me later …

 

Friday

? Justin Morneau: .188 AVG (3-for-16) lifetime vs. Brewers starter Dave Bush

? Jason Bay: .167 AVG (2-for-12) lifetime vs. Yankees starter Javier Vazquez

Saturday

? Ryan Braun: .154 AVG (2-for-13) lifetime vs. Twins starter Kevin Slowey

? Prince Fielder: .182 AVG (2-for-11) lifetime vs. Twins starter Kevin Slowey

Sunday

? Jorge Cantu: .200 AVG (1-for-10) lifetime vs. White Sox starter Freddy Garcia

? Alex Rodriguez: .217 AVG (5-for-23) lifetime vs. Mets starter Johan Santana

Leaderboard time!

Ryan Braun’s 0-fer cut the cord on “blakerockwell”‘s 28-game streak. This means that “pandrews59” is king of the castle with a 26-game run. 31 more consecutive days with hits and “pandrews59” can afford to have one of those gumball machines that has a spiral ramp at the bottom that looks like a waterslide.

A gumball waterslide.

I love those.

Top MLB streakers

? Russell Martin: 15 games

? John Buck: 10 games

? Jeff Mathis: 10 games (DL)

? Jhonny Peralta: 10 games

? J.J. Hardy: 8 games (DL)

? Prince Fielder: 8 games

? Travis Hafner: 8 games

? Derek Jeter: 8 games

I think my least-favorite scenario when it comes to Beat the Streak is when I submit my seemingly fool-proof pick, forget about baseball for a few hours, totally miss out on news that the player who I picked was a late-scratch due to some injury that on the surface looks questionable at best, only to then look at the next morning’s box score and find out that said player heroically scrounged up the strength to pinch-hit for one courageous at-bat, strike out swinging to a pitcher who hasn’t topped 93 on a fastball since forever to simultaneously press reset on my mythological streak button.

Thanks, Manny.

Time for Thursday’s picks.

 

Oh, hello there …

? Robinson cano: .462 AVG (12-for-26) lifetime vs. Rays starter James Shields

? Jason Bartlett: .389 AVG (7-for-18) lifetime vs. Yankees starter Andy Pettitte

? Ryan Braun: .375 AVG (9-for-24) lifetime vs. Pirates starter Paul Maholm

? Dustin Pedroia: .750 AVG (6-for-8) lifetime vs. Twins starter Francisco Liriano

? Chase Utley: .667 AVG (6-for-9) lifetime vs. Cubs starter Ryan Dempster

Feeling kinda spicy?

? Geoff Blum: .400 AVG (6-for-15) lifetime vs. Rockies starter Ubaldo Jimenez. Yeah, I feel totally confident taking a lifetime .251 utility player vs. the unstoppable force that is Ubaldo.

You’ll thank me later …

? Prince Fielder: .081 AVG (3-for-37) lifetime vs. Pirates starter Paul Maholm

? Adrian Gonzalez: .105 AVG (2-for-19) lifetime vs. Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw

? Hanley Ramirez: .125 AVG (2-for-16) lifetime vs. Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright

? Mark Teixeira: .158 AVG (3-for-19) lifetime vs. Rays starter James Shields

Leaderboard time!

Carlos Gonzalez’s 0-for-5 spot vs. the Astros yesterday sucked all the wind out of “lukehartzeim”‘s 27-game streak, leaving “blakerockwell” all alone atop the leaderboard with a 28-game run thanks to Joe Mauer’s 1-for-4.

“blakerockwell” is officially 49.1 percent on his way to that gold-plated pony.

Top MLB streakers

? Russell Martin: 14 games

? John Buck: 10 games

? Jeff Mathis: 10 games (DL)

? Jhonny Peralta: 9 games

? J.J. Hardy: 8 games (DL)

? Prince Fielder: 8 games

 

Everything pretty much came up Milhouse for Streakers yesterday, as the six most popular picks (Shane Victorino, Ichiro Suzuki, Evan Longoria, Robinson Cano, Jayson Werth and Albert Pujols) each recorded hits to extend about 43 percent of streaks combined.

The day’s biggest grim reaper was Miguel Cabrera, whose 0-for-4 performance sonic boomed 3.1 percent of the population, including myself.

It makes too much sense that the first day I choose to openly challenge our top players, I see my streak get reset to zero. In fact, I even managed to completely ignore one of my golden BTS rules of “Never pick a guy who didn’t play the previous day.”

Well played.

Time for Wednesday’s picks.

 

Oh, hello there …

? Manny Ramirez: .500 AVG (15-for-30) lifetime vs. Padres starter Jon Garland

? Shin-Soo Choo: .471 AVG (8-for-17) lifetime vs. Royals starter Gil Meche

? Brian McCann: .500 AVG (7-for-14) lifetime vs. Reds starter Aaron Harang

? Derrek Lee: .455 AVG (5-for-11) lifetime vs. Phillies starter Jaime Moyer

 

Feeling kinda spicy? 

? Gerald Laird: .417 AVG (5-for-12) lifetime vs. Athletics starter Dallas Braden. I’m still in the never-take-Gerald-Laird-and-his-.153-batting-average phase of my life.

? Reed Johnson: .700 AVG (7-for-10) lifetime vs. Padres starter Jon Garland. Who here knew that Reed Johnson was on the Dodgers and not the Cubs? Thought so.

 

 You’ll thank me later …

? Vladimir Guerrero: .071 AVG (1-for-14) lifetime vs. Jeremy Guthrie

? Billy Butler: .100 AVG (1-for-10) lifetime vs. Indians starter Justin Masterson

? Adam LaRoche: .192 AVG (5-for-26) lifetime vs. Giants starter Todd Wellemeyer

? B.J. Upton: .194 AVG (6-for-31) lifetime vs. Yankees starter A.J. Burnett

 

Leaderboard time!

Our top two leaders, “blakerockwell” and “lukehartzheim”, whose user names sound straight out 1940s Hollywood, each saw their streaks extended to 27 games thanks to Jayson Werth and Robinson Cano, respectively.

They are now officially 47.4 percent on their way to Everest’s summit.

 

Top MLB streakers

? Russell Martin: 13 games

? Carlos Gonzalez: 12 games

? Jeff Mathis: 10 games (DL)

? John Buck: 9 games

? Ty Wigginton: 9 games

 

 

I caught some flack yesterday from the bloggers, and perhaps deservedly so, for referring to Sunday as a rather uneventful day in Streakland.

As for Monday, well, you tell me what to call it when the day’s top two picks, Miguel Cabrera and Chase Utley, don’t record an at-bat, leaving a combined 20.3 percent of BTSers in neutral for another 24 hours.

Add in the fact that Hanley Ramirez, who recorded only one at-bat, was the lone member of the Top 15 most selected players to actually play in a game and go hitless, and you got quite the little Monday on your hands.

Anyway, I’ve always considered myself a man of the people, and with that said, I’d like to ask our great audience for an invite to the BTS group “bloggers,” which so many of our top users have joined. My e-mail address is david.feldman@mlb.com and I’ll post a little recap of my own personal trials and tribulations on a somewhat regular basis.

And with that said I’m going with Miguel Cabrera today. Mostly because I’m a Tigers fan and he is an Adonis at the plate, but also because he’s 5-for-11 lifetime vs. Freddy Garcia. Did I mention he’s facing Freddy Garcia?

Time for Tuesday’s picks.

 

Oh, hello there …

? Kelly Johnson: .400 AVG (4-for-10) lifetime vs. Marlins starter Josh Johnson

? Miguel Cabrera: .455 AVG (5-for-11) lifetime vs. White Sox starter Freddy Garcia

? Jose Guillen: .438 AVG (14-for-32) lifetime vs. Orioles starter Kevin Millwood

? Vernon Wells: .389 AVG (7-for-18) lifetime vs. Twins starter Carl Pavano

? Kevin Youkilis: .381 AVG (8-for-21) lifetime vs. Yankees starter CC Sabathia

 

Feeling kinda spicy?

? Julio Lugo: .500 AVG (5-for-10) lifetime vs. Royals starter Zack Greinke. I double-dog dare you.

 

You’ll thank me later …

? Dustin Pedroia: .053 AVG (1-for-19) lifetime vs. Yankees starter CC Sabathia

? Ryan Braun: .125 AVG (1-for-8) lifetime vs. Reds starter Homer Bailey

? Mark Teixeira: .154 AVG (4-for-26) lifetime vs. Red Sox starter Josh Beckett

? Brandon Phillips: .133 AVG (2-for-15) lifetime vs. Brewers starter Manny Parra

 

Leaderboard time!

Yesterday’s overall leader, “lukehartzheim,” saw the pause button pressed on his streak thanks to Chase Utley’s day off, while “blakerockwell” rode Justin Morneau to tie “lukehartzheim with 26-game streaks. They are now both officially 45.6 percent on their way to the big bucks and have a .03 percent chance at winning the John Wall lottery tonight.

 

Top MLB streakers

? Russell Martin: 12 games

? Jason Bay: 11 games

? Carlos Gonzalez: 11 games

? Orlando Cabrera: 10 games
? Jeff Mathis: 10 games (DL)

A rather uneventful Sunday in Streakland, as the day’s top two picks, Mark Teixeira and Jayson Werth, each hit safely to extend the streaks of 25.6 percent of streakers by them lonesome selves.

The day’s biggest bearer of bad news was Albert Pujols, whose 0-for-3 performance judo chopped the streaks of 6.2 percent of our audience.

A little friendly tip to those jonesing to pick Prince Albert, if I may:

Pujols has gone hitless in two of his last four games and is “only” batting .310 on the year. Add in the fact that teams like to pitch around him, increasing his walks and decreasing his at-bat totals, and you might be looking at a guy who is better in real life than in Beat the Streak.

Time for Monday’s picks.

Oh, hello there …

? Brian McCann: .464 AVG (13-for-28) lifetime vs. Mets starter Mike Pelfrey. Our Picks of the Day page says McCann is a career .364 hitter vs. Pelfrey for some reason. It’s wrong. We’re fixing it.

? Miguel Cabrera: .455 AVG (5-for-11) lifetime vs. White Sox starter Freddy Garcia

? Prince Fielder: .429 AVG (6-for-14) lifetime vs. Reds starter Johnny Cueto

? Luis Castillo: .533 AVG (8-for-15) since ’05 vs. Braves starter Derek Lowe

? David Wright: .438 AVG (7-for-16) lifetime vs. Braves starter Derek Lowe

? Derek Jeter: .429 AVG (6-for-14) lifetime vs. Red Sox starter Daisuke Matsuzaka

 

Feeling kinda spicy?

? Ryan Church: .556 AVG (5-for-9) lifetime vs. Phillies starter Kyle Kendrick. Kyle Kendrick …yeah, why not?

 

You’ll thank me later …

? Dustin Pedroia: .000 AVG (0-for-11) lifetime vs. Yankees starter Phil Hughes

? Ryan Braun: .143 AVG (2-for-14) lifetime vs. Reds starter Johnny Cueto

? Alex Rodriguez: .063 AVG (1-for-16) lifetime vs. Red Sox starter Daisuke Matsuzaka

? Jason Bartlett: .000 AVG (0-for-15) lifetime vs. Indians starter Fausto Carmona

 

Leaderboard time!

Tons of new blood atop our leaderboard ,as “lukehartzheim” is now master of the year universe with a 26-game streak and is officially 45.6 percent on his way to buying a few hundred thousand of these. Just like he always dreamed.

 

Top MLB streakers

? Russell Martin: 11 games

? Jason Bay: 10 games

? Carlos Gonzalez: 10 games

? Cristian Guzman: 10 games

? Jeff Mathis: 10 games (DL)

? Orlando Cabrera: 9 games

 

I hoped this day would never come.

After 36 consecutive days of stellar selections, our pal and Canadian mentor, John “cruj” Gartshore, saw his streak snap thanks to Albert Pujols’ 0-for-4 performance.

My days of Bret Hart, poutine and Tim Horton’s references have officially come to an end.

John, it’s been a pleasure. Your 36-game streak will be tough to beat. Time to take a bow, eh?

On to the weekend picks.

 

Oh, hello there …

Friday

? Todd Helton: .465 AVG (33-for-71) lifetime vs. Nationals starter Livan Hernandez

? Alex Rios: .583 AVG (14-for-24) lifetime vs. Royals starter Gil Meche

? Manny Ramirez: .519 AVG (14-for-27) lifetime vs. Padres starter Jon Garland

Saturday

? Andre Ethier: .533 AVG (8-for-15) lifetime vs. Padres starter Kevin Correia

? Adam Lind: .500 AVG (5-for-10) lifetime vs. Rangers starter Scott Feldman

? Delmon Young: .643 AVG (9-for-14) lifetime vs. Yankees starter Andy Pettitte

Sunday

? Mark Teixeira: 1.000 AVG (6-for-6) lifetime vs. Twins starter Nick Blackburn

? Johnny Damon: .414 AVG (12-for-29) since ’05 vs. Angels starter John Lackey

? Brandon Phillips: .389 AVG (7-for-18) lifetime vs. Cardinals starter Brad Penny

 

Feeling kinda spicy?

Friday

? Reed Johnson: .700 AVG (7-for-10) lifetime vs. Padres starter Jon Garland. You realize Garland has a 1.71 ERA, right?

Saturday

? Brendan Harris: .471 AVG (8-for-17) lifetime vs. Yankees starter Andy Pettitte. You realize Harris is batting .203, right?

Sunday

? Omar Infante: .444 AVG (4-for-9) lifetime vs. D-backs starter Dan Haren. This one I actually like. Infante has six hits over his last four games and Haren has been very hittable as of late.

 

You’ll thank me later …

Friday

? Jayson Werth: .111 AVG (1-for-9) lifetime vs. Brewers starter Randy Wolf

? Matt Holliday: .056 AVG (1-for-18) lifetime vs. Reds starter Aaron Harang

Saturday

? Alex Rios: .083 AVG (1-for-12) lifetime vs. Royals starter Luke Hochevar

? Alex Rodriguez: .000 AVG (0-for-7) lifetime vs. Twins starter Scott Baker

Sunday

? Robinson Cano: .000 AVG (0-for-8) lifetime vs. Twins starter Nick Blackburn

? Chase Utley: .153 AVG (2-for-13) lifetime vs. Brewers starter Doug Davis

 

Leaderboard time!

With “cruj” swimming with the fishes, “kevinw23” is now ruler of the universe with a 26-game hitting streak and is officially 45.6 percent on his way to joining the LeBron sweepstakes.

Top MLB streakers

? Elvis Andrus: 13 games

? Miguel Cabrera: 12 games

? Jeff Mathis: 10 games (DL)

? Troy Glaus: 8 games

? J.J. Hardy : 8 games (DL)

? Cristian Guzman: 8 games

? Adam Kennedy: 8 games

? Russell Martin: 8 games

 

 

Another sunny day in Streakland, as the day’s Top 6 picks (Ichiro Suzuki, Andre Ethier, Michael Cuddyer, Albert Pujols, Joey Votto and Adrian Beltre ) each got on base by virtue of a hit, extending the streaks of about 42 percent of our streakers just by themselves.

It might have been the greatest day in the history of ever for our main man and Quebec native John Gartshore, as “cruj” reached a 36-game hitting streak (thanks to Ichiro) on the same day that the Montreal Canadiens defeated Sidney Crosby & Co. in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

I’m sorry, am I really talking about hockey? Anyway, with a 36-game streak, Gartshore is now 63.2 percent on his way to buying as many pizzas at McDonald’s that he ever could dream of.

That’s right, they serve pizza at some McDonald’s in Canada.

Time for Thursday’s picks.

 

Oh, hello there …

? Nick Markakis: .500 AVG (13-for-26) lifetime vs. Mariners starter Felix Hernandez

? Derek Jeter: .400 AVG (6-for-15) lifetime vs. Tigers starter Justin Verlander

? Ichiro Suzuki: .406 AVG (28-for-69) since ’05 vs. Orioles starter Kevin Millwood

? Asdrubal Cabrera: .450 AVG (9-for-20) lifetime vs. Royals starter Zack Greinke

? Miguel Cabrera: .625 AVG (5-for-8) lifetime vs. Yankees starter CC Sabathia

? Brad Hawpe: .444 AVG (4-for-9) lifetime vs. Nationals starter John Lannan

 

Feeling kinda spicy?

? Gerald Laird: .417 AVG (5-for-12) lifetime vs. Yankees starter CC Sabathia. Zero chance I’d touch this one.

? Fernando Tatis: .667 AVG (8-for-12) lifetime vs. Marlins starter Josh Johnson. Or this one.

You’ll thank me later …

? Hanley Ramirez: .167 AVG (3-for-18) lifetime vs. Mets starter Johan Santana

? Mark Teixeira: .083 AVG (1-for-12) lifetime vs. Tigers starter Justin Verlander

? Matt Holliday: .111 AVG (1-for-9) lifetime vs. Astros starter Bud Norris

 

Leaderboard time! 

“Bosox19” (Matt Holliday) and “kevinw223” (Ichiro) each saw their respective streaks extend to 25 games yesterday and are currently pondering whether to go in together on a “cruj” voodoo doll.

 

Top MLB streakers

? Elvis Andrus: 12 games

? Miguel Cabrera: 11 games

? Jeff Mathis: 10 games (DL)

? Troy Glaus: 8 games

? J.J. Hardy : 8 games (DL)

? Russell Martin: 8 games

Derek Jeter (obviously) and Joey Votto (whoops, sorry bout that) each went hitless to combine to eliminate 10.6 percent of our streakers on an otherwise smooth Monday.

The big news came courtesy of Carl Crawford, who went 1-for-6 to extend the streak of our brave hero and leader “cruj” to a Beat the Streak season high 34 games.

“cruj” is now 59.6 percent on his way to the summit of the BTS mountain top and I’m thinking that means he’ll be stocking up on Shreddies, Jaroslav Halak jerseys and Bret “The Hitman” Hart action figures.

That’s because our fearless leader has decided to pull a final scene from “Scobby-Doo!” and unmask himself to the public. And lo and behold, he’s Canadian.

John Gartshore is a manager of the Blackhorse Pub in Fort McMurray, Alberta. Like all Canadian legends, he crew up in a small town, this one called “Asbestos” (that’s right).

To Gartshore’s credit, he successfully escaped the Beat the Streak jinx by continuously writing in his e-mail to me how he was convinced Crawford would go hitless and thus ruin his 15 minutes of fame. Smooth.

Anyway, Gartshore grew up an Expos fan which leaves him without his childhood squad, although he has taken a liking to Evan Longoria and the Rays.

As far as strategy goes, Gartshore tends to look at opposing pitchers with high ERAs and high hits=per-nine-innings ratios when selecting his player for the day.

And obviously, no, he does not read the Beat the Streak Report.

Glad I could help, John. If you weren’t so likeable and, well, Canadian, I’d have the tech department turn your 34-game streak into poutine.

Anyway, best of luck to you John, there couldn’t be a nicer, more mentsch-like guy to have atop our leaderboard.

Time for Tuesday’s picks.

Oh, hello there …

 

? Ryan Howard: .353 AVG (6-for-17) lifetime vs. Rockies starter Aaron Cook

? Jose Reyes: .385 AVG (15-for-39) lifetime vs. Nationals starter Scott Olsen

? Joe Mauer: .350 AVG (7-for-20) since ’05 vs. White Sox starter Freddy Garcia

? Miguel Cabrera: .421 AVG (8-for-19) since ’05 vs. Yankees starter Javier Vazquez

? Manny Ramirez: .536 AVG (15-for-28) lifetime vs. D-backs starter Dan Haren

? Ryan Ludwick: .545 AVG (6-for-11) lifetime vs. Astros starter Brett Myers

 

Feeling kinda spicy?

? Geoff Blum: .625 AVG (5-for-8) since ’05 vs. Cardinals starter Brad Penny. I just don’t see this turning out well.

? Garrett Jones: .500 AVG (5-for-10) lifetime vs. Reds starter Johnny Cueto. Is there a more volatile plyer than Garrett Jones?

 

You’ll thank me later …

? Shin-Soo Choo: .100 AVG (1-for-10) lifetime vs. Royals starter Brian Bannister

? Paul Konerko: .143 AVG (2-for-14) lifetime vs. Twins starter Kevin Slowey

? Russell Martin: .115 AVG (3-for-26) lifetime vs. D-backs starter Dan Haren

Leaderboard time!

“jonnygoska” extended his streak to 25 games and lived to see another day thanks to Evan Longoria, who went 2-for-6 vs. the Angels.

Top MLB streakers

? Alex Rios: 11 games

? Jeff Mathis: 10 games (DL)

? Elvis Andrus: 10 games

? Miguel Cabrera: 9 games

? Alfonso Soriano: 9 games

? Kevin Youkilis: 9 games