Cy Young Candidates and Pennant Contenders

So many games to choose from on a Friday. What to do…

American League

• Red Sox at Orioles, 4:05 p.m. PT — Not that the Red Sox need my help in the hype department, but a battle between Daisuke Matsuzaka and Erik Bedard could be a lot of fun to watch. Bedard has emerged in a big way this season. He’s fourth in the American League in ERA, first in H/9, first in K/9 (11.20!), and first in strikeouts. With all due respect to perennial favorite Johan Santana, Bedard and Oakland’s Dan Haren have to be the front-runners for this year’s Cy Young Award. Of course, we’ve still got plenty of baseball yet to play…
• Yankees at Indians, 4:05 p.m. PT — Two playoff contenders, two up-and-coming young pitchers; what’s not to like? Philip Hughes got knocked around by the Royals last week in his return from an extended stint on the DL. Fausto Carmona, meanwhile, has been one of the bigger surprises in the AL. His low strikeout rate suggests perhaps another Jake Westbrook, so who knows how long this level of success will last. Still, might as well enjoy it. Cleveland has some terrific hitters; the Indians are getting nothing out of second base or right field, but guys like Victor Martinez, Ryan Garko, Grady Sizemore, and Travis Hafner create serious problems for the opposition.
• Twins at Angels, 7:05 pm. PT — I forgot Kelvim Escobar. He could make a run for the Cy Young Award, too. There are a lot of worthy candidates this year. The Twins need to move over to the NL Central. What are they going to do without Torii Hunter next season?

National League

• Braves at Phillies, 4:35 p.m. PT — Speaking of Cy Young, he’s not there yet, but Cole Hamels will be a serious candidate possibly as early as next year. Chuck James is no slouch himself, although he’s up against a ridiculously deep lineup. Do folks in Philadelphia really think Pat Burrell stinks?
• Cubs at Rockies, 6:05 p.m. PT — Meaningful games at Coors Field in August — what’s up with that? The Cubs and Rockies have identical records (59-55) headed into this one, although the Rox play in a much tougher division. According to Cot’s Baseball Contracts, the Cubs had an Opening Day payroll of just under $100 million, while the Rockies check in at about $54 million. Brad Hawpe and Matt Holliday are young studs, and Todd Helton has done a nice job reinventing himself as a productive hitter despite the power outage; the pitching staff, meanwhile, owns a 4.46 ERA (including 4.58 at home) as of this writing. Someone deserves a medal for that.

Got time for just one? Toss-up between Orioles/Red Sox and Braves/Phillies. The former offers a slightly better pitching matchup, while the latter has more far-reaching playoff implications.