Can They Play in Cleveland, and Other Games for Monday

I hope you had an excellent weekend. I certainly enjoyed watching the Padres take the home opening series against Colorado. The Giants come to town tonight; that’s just one of the games worth checking out today:

American League

• Mariners at Indians, 1:05 p.m. PT (DH) – Assuming it stops snowing in Cleveland long enough to play baseball, these should be good ones. C.C. Sabathia starts for the Indians in the first game, while Felix Hernandez goes for the Mariners in the second. It would be more entertaining to see them pitch against each other; then again, I think at this point not getting snowed out is probably the priority.
• Yankees at Twins, 4:05 p.m. PT – I’m usually a big fan of good pitching matchups, but sometimes you get one of these that’s just a train wreck waiting to happen. Carl Pavano gets the call for New York, with Sindey Ponson going for the Twins. Quick history lesson: In his 1997 Minor League Scouting Notebook, prospect guru John Sickels ranked Pavano and Ponson as the 26th and 27th best prospects in baseball. What a difference a decade makes, eh?
• Devil Rays at Rangers, 5:05 p.m. PT – Speaking of former top prospects, Edwin Jackson and Brandon McCarthy hook up in this one. Playing in Arlington, things could get ugly, but both of these guys have real good arms. I still think Jackson will turn into something, but maybe that’s wishful thinking on my part based on the fact that I speculated on him in a couple fantasy leagues.

National League

• Phillies at Mets, 10:10 a.m. PT – These morning games kill me. Anyway, Cole Hamels and John Maine go in this one. Division rivals, two promising young pitchers — what’s not to like?
• Rockies at Dodgers, 1:10 p.m. PT – Jeff Francis squares off against Jason Schmidt at Chavez Ravine. Francis is one of the more unheralded up-and-coming pitchers in the game. And who the heck is this kid the Dodgers are throwing out at shortstop while Rafael Furcal is hurt? Their system is unbelievably loaded. Here’s hoping that Ned Colletti will keep giving guys away.
• Giants at Padres, 7:05 p.m. PT – Bruce Bochy, Dave Roberts, and Ryan Klesko return to San Diego wearing the orange and black. In a rematch of both clubs’ second game of the season, Matt Cain goes against Chris Young. Expect another low-scoring affair at Petco Park, as Bochy hopes that Cain can keep the Giants’ bullpen out of the game as long as humanly possible.

Okay, we’ve got some good ones on the table. Enjoy!