And folks said that Diamondbacks fans don’t care. Certainly they do, but as Rodney Dangerfield would say, “about what I have no idea.” Apparently not about dehydration. Oh, the water bottles were empty? My bad.
Either way, Arizona lost the game Brandon Webb started, which creates serious problems for the rest of the series. Friday night’s game (first pitch 7 p.m. PT) features slop-balling left-hander Doug Davis and young flamethrower Ubaldo Jimenez. If Jimenez is on his game (anyone’s guess given his lack of experience), he should have little trouble with Arizona’s hitters. Davis, as is his custom, will be perfectly …read more

Hello, playoffs! Should be some good games on Wednesday:

Rockies at Phillies, 12 noon PT — I’ve rambled at length about this series over at Hardball Times. Cole Hamels starts the opener against Jeff Francis. It’s hard to call Game 1 of any series a must-win, but the Phillies need to win behind Hamels to have any shot; the rest of their pitching staff is very suspect, and even their high-octane offense might not be able to overcome a loss today.
Angels at Red Sox, 3:30 p.m. PT — John Lackey goes up against Josh Beckett in this one. Two legitimate Cy …read more

We touched on the Cy Young award last week — specifically Rich at Baseball Analysts’ take on the leading candidates. Now another heavy hitter — ESPN’s Jayson Stark — weighs in with his thoughts.
Like everyone else, Stark has San Diego’s Jake Peavy and Arizona’s Brandon Webb in the top two slots in the National League. Nice to see Stark also recognize what Aaron Harang is accomplishing on a very bad Cincinnati team.
I still think Dodgers closer Takashi Saito belongs in the discussion. Lefties are hitting just .194/.239/.311 against him this year. They are the lucky ones: right-handers are batting — …read more

Arizona right-hander Brandon Webb’s scoreless innings streak is up to 42. Jacob at Vegas Watch calculates Webb’s chances of breaking Orel Hershiser’s record of 59 set back in 1988. The odds are long, but better than you might think. Still, Webb does have to go through Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun, and the Brewers in Milwaukee…

It kills me that I keep having to list the Red Sox and Yankees in these things, but that’s the way the money bounces. Happy Friday, folks!
American League

Angels at Red Sox, 4:05 p.m. PT — This is the second game of a day-night doubleheader and features not only the AL’s two best teams but also a matchup of Cy Young contenders John Lackey and Josh Beckett. If you like offense, you might also want to tune into the first game, which starts at 10:05 a.m. PT. Ervin Santana goes for the Angels. Opponents are batting .341/.416/.626 against Santana away from …read more

Happy Monday, folks. Hope your weekend was good. Mine would have been better if the Padres had won their 17-inning marathon on Sunday. Still, a bad day at the ballpark beats a good day just about anywhere else.
With that pathetic attempt at wit out of the way, here’s what we’re keeping an eye on today:
American League

Orioles at Tigers, 4:05 p.m. PT – Young? Check. Throws hard? Check. Okay, then, I guess we’ll watch Daniel Cabrera and Jeremy Bonderman square off at Comerica Park. You know about Bonderman, but Cabrera seems to be figuring things out in his second season under …read more

At the risk of straining something while patting myself on the back, I called Wednesday’s Jake Peavy/Brandon Webb matchup the one to watch. Although the outcome wasn’t quite what I’d hoped for, the game was tremendous. Peavy fanned 16 batters and nearly tied Tom Seaver’s record of 10 straight strikeouts. Only a questionable call on a check swing to start the fourth fifth inning kept that from happening. Still, it was fun to watch, and Webb pitched a fine game himself.
But that’s in the past now. What do we have going on today? If you’re a fan of offense, I’ve …read more

Ack, I’ve been slacking. Bad blogger, no cookie! Anyway, here are a few games I’ll be keeping an eye on today.
American League

Red Sox at Orioles, 4:05 p.m. PT – Curt Schilling faces Daniel Cabrera at Camden Yards. Since a poor showing on Opening Day, Schilling has pitched pretty well. Sure, he gave up five runs to the Yankees over the weekend, but have you looked at that lineup? On the other side, Cabrera has his walks down to a reasonable 2.39 per 9 innings so far. That’s down from the very ugly 6.32 he issued per 9 last year. The …read more