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 average in all respects.

Over in the American League, we have a great pitching matchup. The Indians are in Boston for Game 1 of the ALCS. First pitch is at 4 p.m. PT. The two leading candidates for AL Cy Young hook up in this one — C. C. Sabathia and Josh Beckett. Holy smokes, I was just looking at Sabathia’s numbers against left-handers this year: .203/.229/.317, with 75 strikeouts against 4 walks.

Looking for a weakness in either guy’s game? Check out — scratch that, there are none. If you love great pitching (as do I), you’re in for a treat.

Happy Friday, folks, and happy watching!

Post from: Knuckle Curve

• 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 Young contenders. Lackey is 4-1 with a 1.92 ERA over his last seven starts. Small sample, but I love that he’s averaging 7 1/3 innings per start over that stretch. David Ortiz had a monster second half (.352/.458/.695) for Boston. Geez, the Red Sox as a team outscored opponents by 121 runs after the All-Star break. That’s sort of disgusting.
• Cubs at Diamondbacks, 7 p.m. PT — Chicago and its $300 million winter shopping spree squeak into the playoffs, while Arizona looks to become the second team ever (’87 Twins) to win the World Series despite having a negative run differential during the regular season. Carlos Zambrano and perennial Cy Young candidate Brandon Webb hook up in the opener. Both of these teams have better pitching staffs than you might realize. The question is whether any of the Diamondbacks bats come to life in October. These are certainly not the best two teams in the postseason, but they are well matched and in some respects, this might be the most fascinating series.

There you go. Happy watching…

Post from: Knuckle Curve

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 — I can hardly write this — .117/.170/.160. Saito has fanned 71 batters and allowed 47 total bases. That’s not quite vintage Eric Gagne, but it’s mighty impressive.

Over in the American League, the situation remains muddy. I’m with Stark on Chien-Ming Wang; I don’t see how that guy is even in the discussion. Then again, he finished second in the voting last season despite mostly pedestrian numbers. Put Harang on the Yankees and he’d win 20, no problem.

I’m also not sure that Cleveland’s C.C. Sabathia has as decided an advantage over Boston’s Josh Beckett as Stark seems to think. Beyond the media hype that will accompany Beckett because of the team he plays for, the guy has had a fantastic season. (So has Kelvim Escobar, with much less fanfare.)

Who do I think should win? Peavy and probably Sabathia (unless something weird happens over the next couple weeks). Who do I think will win? I don’t have a lot of faith in the writers: I’ll say Webb and Beckett.

Post from: Knuckle Curve

Post from: Knuckle Curve

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 Anaheim. That’s roughly 2000-2002 era Vlad Guerrero.

National League

• Diamondbacks at Braves, 4:35 p.m. PT — Playoff implications, Cy Young award candidate, and… um… Lance Cormier. Okay, forget that last one. Arizona is a remarkable 27-16 in 1-run games this year. People keep trying to write off the Snakes, but it’s not going to happen. Brandon Webb is enjoying another fantastic season. He should have more than 12 wins the way he’s been pitching. I still shudder to think what the Diamondbacks are capable of doing if they ever get consistent production out of anyone in their lineup. Facing Cormier, who has allowed eight (!) home runs in 12 2/3 innings this season might help.

One game: Duh, Lackey and Beckett…

[Update: Lackey ended up starting Game 1 and got shelled. The Red Sox jumped out to a 7-1 lead, and it's now 7-4 in the sixth. If they can hang onto win, you've got to like their chances for the sweep with Beckett going up against Santana.]

Post from: Knuckle Curve

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 the tutelage of Leo Mazzone. A guy with Cabrera’s stuff can sacrifice a little in the way of missing bats and still be pretty darned effective.
• Rangers at Blue Jays, 4:07 p.m. PT – What’s up with these “:07″ start times? Anyway, Roy Halladay is pitching for Toronto, and you don’t really need a reason to watch that. Vicente Padilla goes for Texas. Did I mention that Halladay is pitching?

National League

• Cubs at Pirates, 4:05 p.m. PT – Chicago southpaw Rich Hill has been unhittable in the early going. Cubs fans have been waiting a long time for him to emerge as a front-line starter, and now they are being rewarded for their patience. On the other side, Zach Duke has gotten off to a slow start this season. I’m not sure which is worse, the fact that he has just 6 strikeouts in 26 innings or that 5 of those strikeouts came in one game; take that game away, and he’s fanned 1 batter in 20 innings.
• Nationals at Padres, 7:05 p.m. PT – Jake Peavy is off to a tremendous start. He struck out 16 batters in his last start. John Patterson goes for Washington. He’s still looking to recapure the form that made him so successful in 2005. Remember when Patterson and Brad Penny were up-and-comers in the Diamondbacks organization? That seems like decades ago.
• Diamondbacks at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m. PT – Speaking of the Snakes, the always dangerous Brandon Webb starts for them tonight in Los Angeles. The somewhat less dangerous Randy Wolf goes for the Dodgers, who lead Arizona by a half-game in the NL West.

If I had to pick one game to watch, it’d be Baltimore and Detroit. Get the dirt on the O’s over at Oriole Post. Find out more about the Tigers at (holy shmoly there’s lots of good blogs) Detroit Tigers Weblog, Tiger Tales, TigerBlog, and Mack Avenue Tigers. Enjoy!

Post from: Knuckle Curve

But that’s in the past now. What do we have going on today? If you’re a fan of offense, I’ve got some good news…

American League

• Royals at Twins, 10:10 a.m. PT – Zack Greinke and Boof Bonser sqaure off this morning at the Metrodome. These are two promising young pitchers; we don’t know what they’ll do from start to start, but their names are Zack and Boof, so they’ve got that going for them.
• Red Sox at Orioles, 4:05 p.m. PT – Two days in a row I’ve identified this as a game to watch. Why? Josh Beckett and Adam Loewen: two young pitchers with great stuff and inconsistent results. If both guys are “on,” this could be a fun one.
• Blue Jays at Yankees, 4:05 p.m. PT – A.J. Burnett goes up against rookie Philip Hughes at Yankee Stadium. Hughes is making his big-league debut. If you haven’t heard of him, then you’re probably not reading this. He’s only the most hyped prospect out of the Bronx since, I dunno, Derek Jeter maybe? He’s also, by all accounts, real good.

National League

• Astros at Pirates, 9:35 a.m. PT – As you know, I like good pitching. Wandy Rodriguez and Tony Armas hook up in this one, so that probably won’t be happening here. However, if you like a lot of runs, this might be for you.
• Nationals at Phillies, 12:05 p.m. PT – The Phillies appear to have woken up at long last. Cole Hamels gets the start, and that’s always reason enough for me to watch.

And those are your games for today…

Post from: Knuckle Curve

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 O’s also feature one of the more dynamic young hitters in the American League, Nick Markakis. I was just talking to a buddy of mine the other day about how quickly Markakis developed. He went from a projectable young guy to a bona fide stud faster than you can say Shawn Green.
• Royals at Twins, 5:10 p.m. PT – Like offense? So do Odalis Perez and Sidney Ponson. It’s not that long ago that Perez was a promising young pitcher. He had a great year for the Dodgers in ‘04 and appeared to be poised for a breakout, but nothing much has gone right since then. Opponents are batting .378/.425/.486 against the left-hander this year. That’s a 911 OPS, and 911 is what Perez will be dialing after this one. Ponson, meanwhile, remains in the big leagues despite a profound lack of evidence that he can pitch. Opponents are hitting him to the tune of .389/.450/.667. Man, my neck hurts just thinking about it.

National League

• Brewers at Cubs, 11:20 a.m. PT – Ben Sheets goes up against Ted Lilly at Wrigley. Sheets has struggled in the early going; acknowledging the small sample, his K/9 is particularly troublesome. It’s at 4.00 this year, down from 9.85 in ‘06. Anything can happen in 27 innings, and this could be a fluke; then again… Also, it’s nice to see shortstop J.J. Hardy finally catch up to the other talented young players in that Milwaukee lineup. On the other side, Lilly has looked fantastic and worthy of the huge contract the Cubs gave him this winter. Too bad the rest of his teammates aren’t doing much. Again, it’s early, but if you’re a Cubs fan, how can you not be a little disappointed by a 7-13 start after breaking the bank on free agents? I’m not worried about Lou Piniella’s health just yet, but I’m getting there.
• Braves at Marlins, 4:05 p.m. PT – Is it me, or does it seem like these two teams have been playing each other pretty much since the season started? Tim Hudson and Scott Olsen hook up in this one. Hudson has been brilliant in his first four starts and looks to be over whatever brought him down last year, while Olsen has gotten off to a terrible start in his sophomore season. He’s getting pounded and walking guys — that’s a bad combination.
• Padres at Diamondbacks, 6:40 p.m. PT – My own personal bias notwithstanding, I think this is the pitching matchup of the night. Defending Cy Young Award winner Brandon Webb faces perennial CYA candidate Jake Peavy in Arizona. Webb started the season slowly but dominated the Padres last week in San Diego, fanning 13 batters in the process. Peavy, meanwhile, has pitched extremely well in three of his first four starts. He still isn’t as efficient as he could be, but he seems to be working more aggressively to hitters this year than last, so maybe that will work itself out over time. Either way, this has the potential to be a great pitchers duel.

There you go. Watch some baseball already…

Post from: Knuckle Curve